this diva looks like that diva
“The first two images of Angelina Jolie as famed diva Maria Callas in Pablo Larraín’s upcoming biopic Maria have been revealed”
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Separated at smirk: base George Sanders and bass René Pape.
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High concept! Joyce DiDonato is Mrs. Roper!
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Tyne Daly will star as Maria Callas in that awful play Master Class, which La Cieca has to say strikes her as somewhat counterintutive. And while we’re on the subject, why hasn’t somebody written a play about Eileen Farrell? [theatermania.com]
A controversial new production of Massenet’s erotically-tinged opera Manon featuring “it girl” soprano Anna Netrebko opened last night in…. Oh, all right. Obviously that’s not our Anna. In fact it’s ecdysiast Dita Von Teese performing her signature “cocktail glass” strip. The model and performer (whose adorably mousy real name is Heather Sweet) has accepted an…
In related macabre news, (reportedly) gay tenor Sergej Larin died this weekend, and La Cieca has just heard an unconfirmed report that another gay tenor, Giuliano Ciannella, has also passed away.
In a startling example of casting against type, protean singer Cecilia Bartoli has agreed to take on the most demanding role of her career in La regina della meschina, an operatic version of the life of Leona Helmsley. (“Voice From the Past Becomes an Obsession” in the New York Times.)
In fact, she became Peggy Lee.
Imagine La Cieca’s delight when she heard that Julia Roberts has been cast in the starring role of Voce di Donna, a biopic based upon the whirlwind adventures of your very own doyenne. Oscar-winner Roberts (left) beat out A-listers Nicole Kidman, Susan Sarandon and Dame Judi Dench to portray “Older Cieca.” The character in more…
Dame Kiri te Kanawa embraces her inner Alexis Morell Carrington Colby Dexter Rowan for this scene from the Handelian pastiche The Sorceress. Despite the film’s 1993 release date, the sensibility is pure ’80s: massive hair, voluminous frock, garish lighting design… and don’t overlook the multitude of smirking supers! (Just so you know, the aria is…
Not the newest observation, but perhaps relevant again at the moment. So, tell me, what do these two ladies have in common (besides the family resemblance, of course)? [UPDATE: I’ve traded out the original image of Joyce Castle for something more representative.]
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