“Cumming once wound up with a vicious haircut administered with sheep shears that left the 12-year-old bleeding and half bald. … It’s hard to fathom how the terrorized little boy grew up to be the slender, joyful man who can’t stop cackling as he shows off photos of the pink neon sign saying ‘Club Cumming’ … for his dressing room.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
“Aleppo Is Syria’s Dresden”: Destruction Of Nation’s Heritage Isn’t Collateral Damage, It’s Deliberate Strategy
“Before leaving, the regime soldiers scrawled the same chilling graffiti on the mosque’s water dispenser that was starting to appear all over the country. ‘Al-Assad aw nahriqhu.’ ‘Assad, or we will burn it.'”
Steppenwolf Theatre Co. Has A New Artistic Director
“Martha Lavey, the theater’s artistic director since 1995, said that she will step down from her position at the end of the current 2014-15 season. She will be replaced by Anna D. Shapiro, a longtime artistic associate, ensemble member and director at the theater.”
Frank Gehry’s Eisenhower Memorial Design Finally Gets An Approval
“The 10-to-1 vote by the National Capital Planning Commission represented a significant milestone for the tribute to the World War II general and 34th president, which has been stalled since 2011.”
“I Have A Taste For Being A Nuisance”: Eiko, Without Koma, Creates Her First Solo Dance Work
And it’s in, of all places, 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. “Eiko realizes that she might be an irritant for some hurried travelers. ‘You will have to accept me,’ she said. ‘So how do I deliver the pleasure of being a nuisance? I think I have a taste for it, and that’s the bottom line: I have a taste for being a nuisance.'”
Putin’s Government Puts Ever-Tighter Controls On Russia’s Internet (And Then Denies It)
“As the Kremlin deepens its geopolitical standoff with the West, it’s also tightening its grip over the internet and media at home to better fight what officials here call an ‘information war’ with its adversaries.” Officials argue that their goal isn’t to isolate Russia from the World Wide Web but to prevent other nations from kicking Russia out.
Picasso’s Most Beloved Muse (She’s The One Most Of Us Have Forgotten)
That would be Jacqueline Roque, “a dark-haired divorcée 45 years the artist’s junior, who became his second wife in 1961. Their relationship endured for more than 20 years, until Picasso’s death at 91, making Jacqueline, who took his name when they married, his longest-lasting consort.”
L.A.’s Hot New Site-Specific Opera Company Launches Its Own Record Label
“The new label is called The Industry Records and its first release will be last year’s acclaimed opera, Invisible Cities, which took place at Union Station. The show unfolded in real time throughout the historic building while audience members listened to the music on wireless headphones and singers and dancers appeared in, and interacted with, the crowd.”
A Charles Manson Musical (What Will Those German Theatre Directors Think Of Next?)
“The former cult leader who is serving a life sentence in a California prison is still a touchy subject, at least in the U.S. In Germany, a new stage musical about the convicted killer recently opened and provides a glimpse into Manson’s failed music career and his relationship with his followers who became known as the Manson family.”
Avant-Garde Yodeling Gets Some Dirndls In A Twist
“Christine Lauterburg, a musician from Bern, has layered yodeling over techno beats, and that simply isn’t done. She wears a miniskirt and heels on stage, rather than the Alpine peasant dresses worn by performers sanctioned by the Swiss Yodeling Association, the keeper of the flame. The outfit, called a dirndl, isn’t optional. Ms. Lauterburg isn’t alone in her heresy.”