Hamptons arts scene this summer

Summer in the Hamptons is more than beaches, parties and celebrity gawking. It's also high season for the arts. Here's a guide to what's going on in theater, music and art.

THEATER 

BAY STREET THEATER: Broadway's Sutton Foster (a Tony for "Thoroughly Modern Millie") inaugurates summer at Bay Street Theater with a concert Saturday night, followed by Damian Lanigan's "Dissonance" - a classical quartet has a string of issues - opening June 1. "The Fifth of July" by Sag Harbor's Pulitzer winner Lanford Wilson opens a day late - on July 6. "Romance," a courtroom farce by David Mamet, closes the season Aug. 10 to Sept. 5.

JOHN DREW THEATER AT GUILD HALL: Besides "Equus," the John Drew is doing "Dear Edwina," a family musical. It also hosts a series of staged readings and cabaret-style concerts - Andrea Marcovicci July 10, Christine Ebersole July 31 - and what's called "A Bipolar Evening with Friends": Florence Henderson and comedy writer/actor Bruce Vilanch July 24.

HAMPTON THEATRE COMPANY: Hampton Theatre Company closes shop for most of the summer. But its spring finale is a British romp by the prolific Alan Ayckbourn, "Bedroom Farce," through June 13. Center Stage presents Kander and Ebb's classic dawn-of-the-Nazis musical "Cabaret" starting July 22. Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center presents a one-night-only staging of "A Jew Grows in Brooklyn," the story of a child of Holocaust survivors, Aug. 8. On the lighter side, a lineup of stand-ups: Susie Essman Sunday, Steven Wright June 11, Bill Cosby Aug. 13 and Kathleen Madigan Aug. 29 at the center.

ART 

ERIC FIRESTONE GALLERY: A new gallery adds a bit more glam to the East Hampton art scene this summer as Eric Firestone opens his Newtown Lane space with "Warhol: Dylan to Duchamp." The centerpiece of this major survey of images are 100 previously unseen photos shot in 1968 during Andy Warhol's filming of "Lonesome Cowboys" in the Arizona desert. Firestone, who also owns a gallery in Tucson, has exhibited photos by such celeb-artists as Annie Leibovitz, Dennis Hopper and the late Robert Mapplethorpe. Eric Firestone Gallery: 4 Newtown Lane, East Hampton, 631-604-2386, ericfirestonegallery.com.

LUCILLE KHORNAK PHOTOGRAPHY GALLERY: Also adding to the Hamptons gallery scene is the Lucille Khornak's new space in Bridgehampton opening Sunday with "In Fashion: Portraits of Iconic Designers," including Giorgio Armani and Geoffrey Beene. Lucille Khornak Photography Gallery: 2400 Montauk Hwy., Bridgehampton, 631-613-6000.

VERED ART GALLERY: On Friday, May 28, Vered Art Gallery in East Hampton opens its exhibit of paintings and drawings by Colombian artist Fernando Botero. Vered Art Gallery: 68 Park Place, East Hampton, 631-324-3303, veredart.com.

GUILD HALL: The first major post-Memorial Day museum exhibit is an appropriately seasonal one: "Winslow Homer: The Pleasure of Summer," opening June 19 at Guild Hall. It runs concurrently with a retrospective on Mercedes Matter, a leading figure among New York abstract artists in the early post-World War II years. Versatile East End artist Barbara Kruger will have the Guild Hall galleries to herself for installations, paintings and prints starting Aug. 14.

PARRISH ART MUSEUM: "Underground Pop" will make a splash at the Parrish Art Museum with 10 artists from across the country presenting a wide array of interpretations of the Pop tradition. It opens Aug. 15, following "Rackstraw Downes: Onsite Paintings," starting June 20, a retrospective on the landscape artist who his splits his time between New York and Texas.

ARTHAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL SHOW: The biggest single-weekend draw for art lovers, and investors, is the third annual ArtHamptons international show and sale July 8 to 11. Works sell from the thousands to the millions. 

MUSIC 

BRIDGEHAMPTON CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL: For 27 years, the highlight of the summer classical music season out east has been the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, directed by flutist Marya Martin. Alan Alda narrates the festival's "Sounds of Nature" concert Aug. 14. The four-week festival opens with a free outdoor "Chamber Cornucopia" concert July 28 and closes with "Fantasy Finale" Aug. 22.

GUILD HALL: At Guild Hall, the John Drew Theater hosts a Midsummer's Nights Music classical series, beginning July 8 with the Manhattan String Quartet. Also on the bill: the Lyric Chamber Music Society of New York, pianist Mikhail Simonyan and other soloists.

OPERA OF THE HAMPTONS: Broadway and opera fans can enjoy a crossover concert by the Opera of the Hamptons, an event that includes a wine-tasting.

WESTHAMPTON BEACH PERFORMING ARTS CENTER: Just added to the pop lineup at Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center are jazz artist John Pizzarelli and contemporary folkie Shawn Colvin on Labor Day weekend, Sept. 3 and 4, respectively. Also at the former Westhampton movie palace: Fleck Hussain Meyer - the harmonic convergence of Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer - opens the season tomorrow night with a fusion of classical, bluegrass and world music. Other highlights include Bryan Adams June 12, up-and-coming jazz stylist Esperanza Spalding June 18, John Hiatt June 27, Rufus Wainwright July 11, Cyndi Lauper July 23-24, The Village People Aug. 7, Lyle Lovett Aug. 14 and John Secada Aug. 21.