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Python Maurice, 18 Feet Long, Battles Mickey Rourke ‘Wrestler’

By Robert Hilferty

July 31 (Bloomberg) — Eighteen feet long and more than 200 pounds, Maurice Le Grand is a big eater who has a butler to keep her happy with frozen bunnies.
The python has joined circus impresario Jim Rose’s latest traveling show which also features that former bad-boy wrestler Jake “The Snake” Roberts.
Roberts, a model for the down-and-out character Mickey [...]

MNOUCHKINE PRESENTS MINUTIAE OF EVERYDAY LIFE IN “LES EPHEMERES”

By Robert Hilferty

July 6 (Bloomberg) — The 12 intimate stories comprising “Les Ephemeres” include one by the epic drama’s celebrated French director Ariane Mnouchkine. Which story, she’s not divulging — she prefers injecting a bit of mystery into the show.
“Les Ephemeres” begins a two-week run tomorrow night at New York’s Park Avenue Armory as part of the Lincoln Center [...]

Ratmansky Sets War-Torn Love Triangle to Prokofiev: Interview

By Robert Hilferty

 

June 1 (Bloomberg) — During a final rehearsal of his new ballet, “On the Dnieper,” Alexei Ratmansky took center stage amidst the set’s cherry blossoms and wooden fences. The choreographer carefully watched his lithe principal dancers — Marcelo Gomes, Veronika Part and Paloma Herrera — become entangled in an emotionally convoluted yet elegant pas de trois.
The centerpiece [...]


“Two Days of Rain”: A Visit to the 2009 St. Lucia Jazz Fest

By Robert Hilferty

 

Local jazz great Ronald “Boo” Hinkson

 
The St. Lucia Jazz Festival is held on one of the Caribbean’s most lush and mountainous islands. This year’s lineup included such talents as Amy Winehouse, Chaka Khan and Patti LaBelle. Journalist Robert Hilferty reports from the tropical paradise.
 
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For the past 18 years of the St. Lucia Jazz Festival, which [...]

The Trouble With Harry

By Robert Hilferty
The Trouble With Harry

Gay playwright Jon Marans tackles the Mattachine Society — with the help of Ugly Betty star Michael Urie — in his new play, The Temperamentals.

An Advocate.com exclusive posted May 1, 2009

Before Stonewall and Harvey Milk there was Harry Hay. Pulitzer-nominated gay playwright Jon Marans resurrects this fascinating figure and his daring cohorts in The Temperamentals, which opens May 4 at the [...]

Anacondas, Millipedes Terrify Writer Hunting Explorer in Amazon

By Robert Hilferty

 

April 30 (Bloomberg) — After British explorer Percy Fawcett disappeared in the Amazon jungle in 1925, a number of copycat “Fawcett freaks” also vanished while searching for him.
David Grann survived to write “The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon.” It’s a gripping story that has already been optioned by Brad [...]