Quick Takes: FYF Fest retools

Marked by a lack of water, interminable lines and an overall dearth of organization, 2010’s FYF Fest wasn’t the Labor Day celebration of underground music that promoter Sean Carlson had hoped for. Yet Carlson promises a more grown-up fest for 2011, having turned to local promotion powerhouse Goldenvoice to anchor Sept. 3’s FYF Fest, to be headlined by punk vets the Descendants, alt-rock forebears Guided by Voices and gloomy instrumentalists Explosions in the Sky.

“We wanted their expertise,” Carlson said Tuesday of Goldenvoice, the AEG-owned promoter behind the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.

With Goldenvoice at the helm, the fest has shifted from its location the last two years, moving out of Chinatown’s Los Angeles State Historic Park and onto the streets surrounding L.A. City Hall. The area around First Street and Main Street had been previously used by Goldenvoice to stage the LA Weekly-sponsored Detour Fest.

Tickets will be priced at $35, and go on sale to the general public Friday at 3 p.m. via TicketWeb.

—Todd Martens

‘Mormon’ ticket demand grows

Scoring tickets to Broadway’s “The Book of Mormon” has been a challenge since the musical began performances in February. Now that the show has won nine Tony Awards, landing a seat for the comedy looks even more daunting.

Advance ticket sales for “Mormon” at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre in New York City have reached an estimated $20 million to $30 million, which means many performances are sold out weeks or months in advance. The day after the Tony Awards, producers hiked the price of tickets by $13 for an orchestra and front mezzanine seat, bringing the top non-premium ticket price to $155. (During holiday weekends, a non-premium ticket can go as high as $175.)

—David Ng

Samuel Jackson says nighty, night

Samuel L. Jackson is narrating the audio book for the profane hit nursery rhyme “Go the F— to Sleep.”

The star of such films as “Pulp Fiction” and “Snakes on a Plane” is known for his way with a four-letter word. The book is this summer’s surprise hit by tired dad Adam Mansbach.

The hardcover book and audio version went on sale Tuesday. Film rights have already been sold.

A free download of the book is available through audible.com.

—Associated Press

Domingo honors Daniel Catan

Celebrated tenor Placido Domingo on Tuesday dedicated upcoming Paris performances of “Il Postino” to the opera’s late composer, Daniel Catan.

The Mexican composer was found dead in bed in Austin, Texas, in April. He was 62.

Domingo said with Catan’s passing, the world has lost “an extraordinary man of the theater and I have lost a great friend.”

Catan’s death has turned rehearsals for “Il Postino” — which opens at Paris’ Theatre du Chatelet on Monday with a four-performance run — into an emotional roller coaster.

“Every 15 minutes, someone starts crying because something reminds them of Daniel,” said Domingo, who plays Chilean poet Pablo Neruda in the opera, which premiered in Los Angeles last December.

—Associated Press

Springsteen: sax man is ‘beloved’

In his first public comments since E Street Band member Clarence Clemons suffered a stroke, Bruce Springsteen called the saxophonist a “beloved comrade” and described the stroke as serious.

“Clarence will need much care and support to achieve his potential once again,” Springsteen said Tuesday on his website, Twitter and Facebook.

—Associated Press

Hugh Hefner wedding is off

Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner says his fiancee has called off their wedding, which was planned for Saturday.

The 85-year-old Hefner said in a Tuesday message on Playboy’s official Twitter feed that 24-year-old Crystal Harris has “had a change of heart.”

Hefner announced in December that he and the former Playmate were getting married.

—Associated Press