Mark Morris is an openly gay dancer, choreographer & director from Seattle. He was long noted for the musicality & power of his dancing as well as his amazing delicacy of movement. His body was heavier than the typical dancer, more like that of an average person, yet his technical & expressive abilities outstripped those of most of his contemporaries. He heads his own company- The Mark Morris Dance Group & he started the White Oak Dance Project with Mikhail Baryshnikov. He has created works for San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, and the Paris Opera Ballet. Morris has worked extensively in opera, directing & choreographing productions for the Seattle Opera, Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Opera, English National Opera, & the Royal Opera House. I always appreciated him for his many accomplishments, although he did not have the body or disposition of a typical dancer. My favorite work by Mr. Morris is his fantastic ballet based on The Nutcracker
- Hard Nut, which has been broadcast on PBS.
Ingrid Bergman: beautiful, talented, & controversial star of stage & screen. She won 3 Oscars, two Emmys, & a Tony Award for Best Actress in the first Tony Award ceremony in 1947. She is ranked as the fourth greatest female star of American cinema of all time by the American Film Institute. She is widely remembered for her performance as Ilsa Lund in Casablanca (1942). My favorite performance was her Oscar winning turn in Murder On the Orient Express (1974).
While still married to Dr. Petter Lindström, she became pregnant by Italian director Roberto Rossellini, with whom she was filming The pregnancy caused a huge scandal in the United States. It even led to Bergman being denounced on the floor of the U.S. Senate by Edwin C. Johnson, who referred to her as "a horrible example of womanhood & a powerful influence for evil", there was a floor vote, which resulted in her being made persona non grata. The scandal forced Ingrid Bergman to exile herself to Italy. During Bergman's time in Italy, anger over her private life had continued unabated in the United States, with Ed Sullivan, at one point infamously polling his TV show audience as to whether she should be permitted to appear on his show. Although the audience was mostly in favor, Ed declined to book her. Steve Allen then booked her on his show opposite Sullivan, & answered critics by stating "If it became a principle to keep off TV those performers who have been guilty of adultery, then I am very much afraid that a great many of your favorite programs would disappear." She is, of course, the mother of beautiful & talented Isabella Rosselinni.
Dinah Washington is a life long favorite recording artist of mine. Her penetrating voice, perfect timing & crystal clear enunciation added her own distinctive style to every piece she performed. She made extraordinary recordings in jazz, blues, R&B & pop genres. Washington refused to record gospel music despite her obvious talent for singing it. She believed it was wrong to mix the secular & the spiritual. During the time that she was doing club dates & Las Vegas, she would have to enter through back doors & service entrances because of her color. Washington was married 7 times & had many lovers, including a young Quincy Jones, who at the time was her arranger. She died from an accidental overdose at age 39. What A Difference A Day Makes remains in my top 20 all time favorite recordings. The Husband & I saw a very well done play based on her life- Dinah Was, Off- Broadway in 1998. How about this amazing clip of Dinah doing I Don't Hurt Anymore?
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