Amanda Peet of The Romanoffs (and many, many other shows) wanted to get better at tennis so that a play she was writing could be more realistic. But “‘writing is easier than tennis,’ she said. ‘And that’s saying a lot.'”
Category: people
Betzabe Garcia Is Emerging As An Atypical Director Who Takes On Whatever She Wants
Betzabé Garcia broke out with a documentary in 2015, and since then she’s won awards for her short films – and now she’s working on “an over the top, hyper-stylized documentary which peers into the life of Garcia’s roommate, the now-famous YouTuber #Mickey, who at the age of 11 started making videos as a way of dealing with the intense homophobia present in her community.”
Ntozake Shange, Author Of ‘For Colored Girls’ And Many More Plays And Poems, Has Died At 70
The play, a choreopoem whos full name was For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Was Enuf, has been an identity-affirming find for young women for decades. “‘Zake was a woman of extravagance and flourish, and she left quickly without suffering,’ said Ifa Bayeza, her sister who also is a playwright and theater artist. ‘It’s a huge loss for the world. I don’t think there’s a day on the planet when there’s not a young woman who discovers herself through the words of my sister.'”
James Karen, Prolific Character Actor, Dead At 94
After a thriving stage career, he went to Hollywood and appeared in 204 films, from Poltergeist to The China Syndrome to Return of the Living Dead to Mulholland Drive. Among his many TV appearances, he played the villain in the final episode of Little House on the Prairie and was for years the pitchman for Pathmark supermarkets.
Poet Tony Hoagland, 68
“In seven poetry collections, the most recent, Priest Turned Therapist Treats Fear of God, published this year, Mr. Hoagland found insights and imagery in the everyday: a pool in an Austin, Tex., park; a spaghetti strap on a woman’s dress that won’t stay put; an old man dying awash in paranoia from too much Fox News.”
The Writer Anne Frank Never Became (And Whom The World Wouldn’t Have Liked As Much)
“Frank’s diary was not the work of a naïf, but rather of a writer already planning future publication.” (She made plenty of revisions, and they were obviously thought through.) “The problem is that the entire appeal of Anne Frank to the wider world — as opposed to those who knew and loved her — lies in her lack of a future.”
Opera Star David Daniels And U. Of Michigan Sued By Student Who Says Daniels Molested Him
Master’s student Andrew Lipian, an aspiring countertenor, accuses Daniels, now a tenured professor at the school, of sending nude selfies to Lipian, regularly coming on to him in conversation, and, on one occasion, drugging Lipian, removing his clothes, and groping him. (Earlier this year, Daniels and his husband were accused by another young singer of rape.)
After 14 Months’ House Arrest, Trial Of Russian Director Kirill Serebrennikov Finally Begins
The award-winning stage and film director is accused of embezzling from the Gogol Center, the award-winning avant-garde theatre he runs in Moscow. Reporter Oliver Carroll provides some background on both the director and the charges — which many observers say are trumped-up — and points out some basic weaknesses in the prosecution’s case.
It’s Tricky To Talk About Celebrities Who Die Young, But It’s Important
Spencr Kornhaber: “The reasons not to speak ill of the dead are easily understood: They can’t defend themselves, and their loved ones are already in pain. … [Yet,] in each recent shocking celebrity death there are, plausibly, lessons — about mental health, substance use, social media, domestic violence, and other things — that might help curb the darker trends in American life. Can those lessons be heard and discussed without causing offense?”
Painter Harold Gregor Dead At 89
“Gregor first gained national renown in the 1970s within the Photorealism and Abstract Expressionism movements, and his landscapes regularly feature vibrant colors and skewed perspectives. He often broke down his body of work into five categories: ‘Illinois flatscapes,’ ‘Illinois landscapes,’ ‘Illinois colorscapes,’ ‘trail paintings,’ and ‘vibrascapes.'”