‘Giselle’ in the #MeToo age

April 9, 2018

The ballet “Giselle” – the quintessence of 19th century Romanticism – tells the story of a simple, open-hearted peasant girl driven mad for love of Albrecht, a man who’s hidden his aristocratic identity and engagement to another. Dying, Giselle becomes a Wili, one of the female spirits compelled to avenge themselves on the men who wronged them in life by dancing them to death.

In the excellent, though far from perfect, Bolshoi Ballet production given an encore simulcast last Sunday in theaters around the world, there was a great moment in Act 2 when the Wilis dispensed with Hans, Giselle’s unrequited suitor, whose jealousy of the beloved Albrecht sets the tragedy in motion. Under Yuri Grigorovich’s choreography, two of the lead Wilis basically tossed Hans away. They were like elegant bouncers. The ladies sitting behind us ...

The eye of the Storm(y)

March 26, 2018

Anderson Cooper’s much anticipated interview with Stormy Daniels on CBS’ “60 Minutes” Sunday – was both what you might expect and revelatory. In some ways, Daniels seemed to be the cliché of the adult star. Her looks are hard and voluptuous, with lines and dark circles under the eyes and a big chest that appears particularly broad in a horizontal-striped top.

Her attitude suggested a woman who’s been around the block as well. She was knowing, sassy and utterly credible.

Perhaps the most surprising thing was that for a woman whose profession must require a degree of self-protection and self-awareness, Daniels came across as less self-aware and more vulnerable than you might imagine. ...

Trump’s crisis of leadership

March 17, 2018

The continuing Revolving Door Policy of the Trump Administration has thrown the systemic failure of Alexandrian leadership – leadership from the front – into sharp relief.

President Donald J. Trumpet has surrounded himself with Trumpettes – yes-men and, to a lesser extent, yes-women – and distanced himself from the No, No, Nanettes. Which is odd, considering his professed love of chaos. Wouldn’t you want some tension, some conflict? ...

Nominated for a Lambda Literary Award!

March 13, 2018

It is with delight and gratitude that I announce that I’ve been nominated for a Lambda Literary Award for my novel “The Penalty for Holding,” the second in my series of books dealing with power and rivalries, “The Games Men Play.”

The Lammys, as they’re called, are a group of awards in various fiction and nonfiction categories celebrating works with LGBT themes. This year’s winners will be announced June 4 at New York University’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. ...

Stormy weather with The Donald

March 8, 2018

Don’t know why there’s no sun up in the sky
Stormy (Daniels) Weather
Since Donald Trump and I’ve been together
Keeps raining all the time.

The howling winds, ice-laced downed branches and big, fat raindrops and snowflakes of back-to-back nor’easters are nothing compared to the bomb cyclone that is Trump-et. The man who says he loves chaos – thinking it is somehow the same as a constructive exchange of differing ideas – has plenty of it these days. He’s got porn star Stormy Daniels suing him over the nondisclosure agreement she says he never signed, thus freeing her to show and tell about her relationship with The Donald. ...

The myth of the strongman

March 4, 2018

Syria’s Bashar al-Assad. Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu. North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. The Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte. Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. Russia’s Vladimir Putin. China’s Xi Jinping. And, of course, our own Donald J. Trump.

The world is in the grips of the strongman – tough, reactionary and taking no prisoners. Part of this is a response to the terrible, fascinating transition in which we find ourselves – a backlash to the global, multicultural, digital age to which so-called “feminine” energies (communications skills, sensitivity, a sense of service) are better suited. Part of this is the envy, rage and resentment, particularly in this country, of white, blue-collar males, who lacked the courage, intelligence, industry and imagination to confront their greedy employers and, failing that, reinvent themselves when manufacturing jobs began to dry up in the 1970s. ...

The (American) empire strikes back

February 22, 2018

By now you’ve heard the storyline: The U.S. performance at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang was looking a little, well, lackluster. Blame it on stars aging out of their sports (downhill bronze medalist Lindsey Vonn, skier Ted Ligety), new stars coping with huge expectations (February WAG cover subject Mikaela Shiffrin, figure skater Nathan Chen), poor strategies in the bobsled and cross-country skiing and some tough luck.

But some said, Hold on. Wait for the end of this week. Like a dark horse ...