Playwright A.R. Gurney has made a career chronicling the waning traditions of upper-class WASPS. First there was the formality of the dining room and, in 1989’s Love Letters, he wrote of a lifelong relationship as seen through the dying art of correspondence. He takes us back to a time — not that long ago — before e-mail or text messages, when people sat down, pen in hand, and … [Read more...]
How Alzheimer’s robbed victim, healthy spouse of their lives
Harvey Gralnick was a 56-year-old esteemed doctor at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland when his wife and colleagues began noticing changes in his behavior -- forgetting things, getting lost, lashing out. A medical examination found nothing wrong, but two years later a physician suggested that Gralnick might be suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s. “I had never … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Oct. 4-5
Art: The Pérez Art Museum in Miami has scored a triumph by landing the first major U.S. retrospective of the work of Beatriz Milhazes, a Brazilian artist whose big, colorful abstract paintings brim with a riot of colors that nevertheless cohere with a pleasant, joyous effect. Jardim Botânico (her studio adjoins a botanical garden) covers the last 25 years of the Rio-based … [Read more...]
The View From Home 54: A spooky double shot from René Clair, plus a slasher and wayward vampires
I Married a Witch and Beauty and the Devil: Given that these two titles were released just in time for Halloween, it’s hard to resist the sort of wordplay that writes itself: In René Clair’s I Married a Witch and Beauty and The Devil, cinematic tricks make for a pair of delectable audience treats. These two gorgeous transfers help solidify the reputation of one of France’s … [Read more...]