NEW YORK -- Liza Minnelli won't become another Ozzy Osbourne. VH1 has pulled the plug on the singer's planned reality TV show, complaining that her husband, David Gest, was impossible to work with.
LOS ANGELES -- Tennis sensation Serena Williams has gone Hollywood with a guest spot Wednesday night as a kindergarten teacher on ABC's "My Wife and Kids."
LOS ANGELES -- Eight years later, we're still talking about Kurt Cobain. "I'm going to be a superstar musician, kill myself and go out in a flame of glory," he announced as a 14-year-old, and he was right. And because he was right, because he went out in a flame of glory, we just can't get enough of him. Next month will see the long-awaited publication of Cobain's journals, an 800-page epic that tracks his life, in his own words, from the pre-Nirvana days straight to the time leading up to his suicide-by-shotgun on April 5, 1994.
"We will keep on singing 'till we're heard," reads the closing piece, "One Voice." And they will be heard. At 7 p.m. on Sunday evening at the IU Auditorium Singing Hoosiers -- under the direction of Michael Schwartzkopf, Bloomington Instrumentalists and Singers, and IU alumnus and two time Grammy award winner Sylvia McNair -- will hit the stage for the highly anticipated Sing for the Cure event to raise awareness about and funding for breast cancer research.
NEW YORK -- The sounds of boat engines recorded beneath the Hudson River echo through a World Financial Center walkway. In another, photos of landfill containing the twin towers' debris cover windows overlooking the World Trade Center site. Nine works focusing on changes Sept. 11 wrought on lower Manhattan were unveiled Tuesday in the public spaces of the battered World Financial Center, in what organizers call a vital part of its revitalization.
Those who were looking for entertainment last Sunday afternoon certainly found it. The University orchestra performed its second concert this year under the baton of the world-famous guest conductor Uri Mayer. As is typical of IU's musical ensembles, the orchestra gave a masterful performance of a wonderful program. And perhaps the best thing about the concert was that it was completely devoid of the dissonant monstrosities that slightly dampened most other performances.
NEW YORK -- NBC is promoting a night of Halloween-themed series as "Must Scream Thursday." The WB is pitching "Haunted Thursday." We can meet "Ghost Detectives" on Discovery Channel, cackle at Mel Brooks' masterpiece "Young Frankenstein" on Comedy Central, or, on VH1, get creeped out by a circa-"Thriller" Michael Jackson. Then we can throw the jack-o'-lantern out and clean the eggs off our car. But Halloween TV won't be over until Monday when, fashionably late, Stephen King's high-school horror "Carrie" premieres on NBC, starring Angela Bettis in the title role that launched Sissy Spacek a quarter-century ago.
More than 30 students gathered in Foster Shea's ground floor lounge last Thursday night to celebrate the German tradition of Oktoberfest. This event, which was run by the German House, embraced the spirit of Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest, which began in 1810 as a celebration of Crown Prince Ludwig I's wedding, has become one of Bavaria's proudest moments and one of the world's largest public spectacles.
Beverly Sills, 73, the noted operatic soprano who has appeared on stage in more than 70 roles spoke at 3:30 p.m. Friday in Auer Hall. The IU Foundation sponsored her visit. Sills will also attend the third annual presentation of the Herman B Wells Visionaries Awards, given at a dinner later Friday evening. Gwyn Richards, dean of the IU School of Music, introduced Sills to a crowd of roughly 250 people by calling her "a cultural icon and national treasure." He then spoke for a few minutes repeating what he told the IDS earlier last week when he said he felt it was ironic that Sills would speak at IU on the same day "Julius Caesar" would open at the IU Opera, a work important to Sills' career. So important that following her opening night of "Julius Caesar" in 1967 with the New York City Opera, Sills received invitations to then appear at many of the world's most well-regarded opera venues, including La Scala and Covent Garden.
On the weekends in Bloomington, an angel comes out to play at the John Waldron Arts Center. Bloomington sculptor Joe LaMantia is one of four artists currently commissioned to create angel sculptures that will be exhibited at the West Baden Springs National Historic Landmark between Thanksgiving and Twelfth Night, which is Jan. 5, 2003. LaMantia's angel is being worked on Fridays and Saturdays at the Waldron as a public and collaborative art project available for viewing to people who walk by or who come to work on it. "The purpose of the project is to demystify the notion of art as being something untouchable; it is touchable," LaMantia said.
Brilliant. Excellent. Powerful. These arethe words that describe the Saturday night performance of Eugene O'Neill's "A Moon for the Misbegotten." The show opened Friday at the Wells-Metz Theatre on Jordan Ave. "Moon" is set in a beat-up farm house in 1923 Connecticut, with drinking pals James Tyrone, Jr. (Ira Amyx) and tenant farmer Phil Hogan (Chris Nelson) amusing themselves while in a drunken stupor. In a casual joke, Tyrone says he'll sell his farm and evict Hogan. Hogan, now afraid for his home and way of life, schemes to manipulate the affections between Tyrone and his daughter Josie, played by Sheila Regan.
On her 70th birthday, Sylvia Plath's intense voice greeted a small but devoted audience. The event held at Auer Hall Sunday was not a seance but a commemoration concert. Of course, Plath wasn't really there -- her recorded radio interview with the BBC was projected for all to hear. Not only did she talk about her poetry and her personal life's influence on her art, but she also recited her poem "Fever 103 ." This introduction prepared the audience for what they were about to hear -- an intense exploration of Plath's effect on music and musicians.
Eugene O'Neill was the only American playwright to win the Nobel Prize, and the last work written before his death "A Moon for the Misbegotten" will run for 10 performances beginning tonight (Friday) at the Wells-Metz Theatre.
Tonight the IU Opera will perform George Friderick Handel's "Julius Caesar," an opera that tells the story of Caesar's affair with Cleopatra that resulted in her being made queen of Egypt. Dr. George Calder, head of IU's opera department, said the opera (first produced in 1724 in London) is the most popular of Handel's 35 operas. The story, which is based on actual events, is a tale of political intrigue and a woman's use of her charms to gain power. It may be historical, but "The plot is eternal. It could take place as much today as 2000 years ago," Calder said.
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif.-- On a studio soundstage filled with friends and colleagues, 80-year-old Fyvush Finkel bends over his birthday cake, takes a deep breath -- and then breaks up the room with an off-color joke.
IU Graduate Student Carmen Meyers will star in a cabaret of her own creation opening tonight at the Bloomington Playwrights Project, 312 S. Washington St. "Hot Wet Fun" is the title that came from an inspiration Meyers had while in Brown County.
On Friday, Oct. 18, the Union held an "Around the World" event, hosting activities from different countries. In the city of Paris, France, which was located at the Commons, a Poetry Slam contest was held. "Poetry Slam is a competition in which you sign up to read your poetry. Then, five people who are selected from the audience judge you. The highest scores and the lowest scores are cut from moving on to the next round. The average of the scores are allowed to move on to the next round," said Jessica Williams-Gibson, director of the Fine Arts Committee.
Princesses, witches, ninjas and ghosts decorate the streets annually one night a year, when kids have a reason to stay up late and consume massive amounts of candy. As the years progress, so do children's costumes, until middle school or high school when they are "too old" to go trick-or-treating. However, you're never too old to go trick-or-treating and celebrate Halloween, a perennial favorite among IU students.
The Sicilian region of Italy has had a long history between other countries in Europe, resulting in an exotic mixture of ingredients in their culinary recipes. If you are looking for a quiet romantic place to experience such delicacies, then venture off campus to Flora, 620 W. 5th St. This moderately priced restaurant features family dishes of pasta, chicken and pizza, all of which will enlighten and delight your taste buds. This restaurant offers a limited amount of appetizers. Nevertheless, most of the entrees come with a small house salad and freshly baked bread directly from the oven. Be sure to add some olive oil and parmesan on your bread to help evoke thoughts of Mediterranean islands.
