PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Pop star Ricky Martin has taken his fight against child trafficking to Cambodia.
Martin, who arrived in the country Wednesday, met with Interior Minister Sar Kheng and visited various projects run by non-governmental organizations fighting child trafficking and sexual exploitation.
"This is a fact-finding mission for us," Angel Saltos, executive director of the Ricky Martin Foundation, told The Associated Press on Saturday. "He wanted to see for himself."
Martin learned of Cambodia's child trafficking problems in February during a three-day United Nations conference in Vienna. He joined Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson, Egyptian first lady Suzanne Mubarak and other dignitaries in calling for action.
Some 2.5 million people are involved in forced labor as a result of trafficking, and 161 countries -- on every continent and in every type of economy -- are affected by the crime, the U.N. said.
Most victims are between the ages of 18 and 24, and an estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year, U.N. figures show.
The Ricky Martin Foundation does most of its work in Latin America.
Sabtu, 29 Maret 2008
Country star Sara Evans gets engaged (AP)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Sara Evans, who finalized a bitter divorce last year, is engaged to former University of Alabama quarterback Jay Barker.
"The couple are enjoying their engagement and look forward to their upcoming nuptials," Lori Genes, the singer's publicist at Sony BMG Nashville, said Tuesday.
No date has been announced for the wedding.
The 37-year-old country singer filed for divorce from husband Craig Schelske in October 2006 after 13 years of marriage. The divorce was completed last September.
Barker, 35, led Alabama to a national championship in 1992 and hosts a morning radio show in Birmingham.
Barker, who's also divorced, has four children while Evans has three.
Evans made her recording debut in 1997 and her 2000 album "Born to Fly" went double-platinum. Her hits include "Perfect," "Suds in the Bucket" and "Real Fine Place to Start."
She was a contestant on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" but pulled out when she filed for divorce.
"The couple are enjoying their engagement and look forward to their upcoming nuptials," Lori Genes, the singer's publicist at Sony BMG Nashville, said Tuesday.
No date has been announced for the wedding.
The 37-year-old country singer filed for divorce from husband Craig Schelske in October 2006 after 13 years of marriage. The divorce was completed last September.
Barker, 35, led Alabama to a national championship in 1992 and hosts a morning radio show in Birmingham.
Barker, who's also divorced, has four children while Evans has three.
Evans made her recording debut in 1997 and her 2000 album "Born to Fly" went double-platinum. Her hits include "Perfect," "Suds in the Bucket" and "Real Fine Place to Start."
She was a contestant on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" but pulled out when she filed for divorce.
'Tale of Two Cities', the Musical, to Open on Broadway in September (Playbill)
No director has been announced, but its not hard to guess that Warren Carlyle, who is fresh out of choreographing the Old Globe Theatres world premiere musical, Dancing in the Dark - and who choreographed the hit tryout of Tale at Asolo Repertory Theatre in Florida in fall 2007 - is on the wish list to helm the teeming epic.
Executive producers Barbra Russell and Ron Sharpe announced the Broadway plan March 25.
Many of the Florida cast members are expected to be invited back, although no casting has been announced. Carlyle choreographed in Florida, where Michael Donald Edwards directed. Edwards is artistic director of Asolo Repertory Theatre, where A Tale of Two Cities was a sold-out smashzilla for his troupe last fall.
The "sweeping musical epic" marches into the house that will be vacated in June by Curtains.
A Tale of Two Cities is "set against the epic backdrop of the French Revolution and based on the classic Dickens novel." Its a musical "about injustice, vengeance and the redemptive power of love."
Broadway newcomer Santoriello penned the shows book, music and lyrics, drawing from the famed 1859 novel that jumps between London and Paris. The piece - with a score that recalls humanity-rich, soaring musical epics such as Les Miserables and Jane Eyre - has been in development for several years.
According to production notes, "When Dr. Manette is released from the French Bastille after 17 years, he must be resurrected from the brink of madness by his daughter, Lucie. In England they meet two very different men: the exiled French aristocrat, Charles Darnay, whom Lucie marries, and the drunken cynic, Sydney Carton. Soon family secrets and political intrigue combine to draw Lucie and her family back to Paris. At the height of the Reign of Terror, the musical finds an unlikely hero in Carton."
The musical is being designed by Tony Walton (scenery), David Zinn (costumes), Richard Pilbrow (lights), Carl Casella and Domonic Sack (sound).
Orchestrations are by Edward B. Kessel and Bob Krogstad; arrangements are by Edward B. Kessel and Wendy Bobbitt Cavett.
A Tale of Two Cities is being produced by Barbra Russell and Ron Sharpe (executive producers), Bernard Brogan, Sharon A. Fordham, Theatre Associates/David Sonnenberg, The Monagle Group, Fanok Entertainment, Mary Laminack, Gasperino Entertainment, Vincent Russell (producers), and William Broderick, Harry Casey, David Bryant (associate producers).
For more information, visit www.talemusical.com.
Executive producers Barbra Russell and Ron Sharpe announced the Broadway plan March 25.
Many of the Florida cast members are expected to be invited back, although no casting has been announced. Carlyle choreographed in Florida, where Michael Donald Edwards directed. Edwards is artistic director of Asolo Repertory Theatre, where A Tale of Two Cities was a sold-out smashzilla for his troupe last fall.
The "sweeping musical epic" marches into the house that will be vacated in June by Curtains.
A Tale of Two Cities is "set against the epic backdrop of the French Revolution and based on the classic Dickens novel." Its a musical "about injustice, vengeance and the redemptive power of love."
Broadway newcomer Santoriello penned the shows book, music and lyrics, drawing from the famed 1859 novel that jumps between London and Paris. The piece - with a score that recalls humanity-rich, soaring musical epics such as Les Miserables and Jane Eyre - has been in development for several years.
According to production notes, "When Dr. Manette is released from the French Bastille after 17 years, he must be resurrected from the brink of madness by his daughter, Lucie. In England they meet two very different men: the exiled French aristocrat, Charles Darnay, whom Lucie marries, and the drunken cynic, Sydney Carton. Soon family secrets and political intrigue combine to draw Lucie and her family back to Paris. At the height of the Reign of Terror, the musical finds an unlikely hero in Carton."
The musical is being designed by Tony Walton (scenery), David Zinn (costumes), Richard Pilbrow (lights), Carl Casella and Domonic Sack (sound).
Orchestrations are by Edward B. Kessel and Bob Krogstad; arrangements are by Edward B. Kessel and Wendy Bobbitt Cavett.
A Tale of Two Cities is being produced by Barbra Russell and Ron Sharpe (executive producers), Bernard Brogan, Sharon A. Fordham, Theatre Associates/David Sonnenberg, The Monagle Group, Fanok Entertainment, Mary Laminack, Gasperino Entertainment, Vincent Russell (producers), and William Broderick, Harry Casey, David Bryant (associate producers).
For more information, visit www.talemusical.com.
Kapur subs for Minghella on "New York" film (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - The director who brought Elizabethan England to the big screen will carry on the legacy of a modern British institution.
Shekhar Kapur, the Indian-born helmer of "Elizabeth" and "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," will direct one of the last pieces of writing from the late Anthony Minghella, a segment of the urban ode "New York, I Love You."
Minghella, the Oscar-winning director of "The English Patient" who died in a London hospital last week after a short illness, had written but not cast or shot his segment of the episodic film, which was to have begun shooting in April in Manhattan.
According to Kapur, Minghella had asked him to carry out his vision shortly before going in for cancer surgery two weeks ago.
"He told me his film was about the value of life and how people sometimes just throw away their lives, unable to look beyond into the real beauty of it," Kapur wrote on his blog. "I will direct the film now -- with Anthony in my heart and in presence of his soul."
Two of the films producers, Marina Grasic and Emmanuel Benbihy, confirmed the Kapur attachment.
"Anthony chose Shekhar Kapur to direct the segment he wrote for our film knowing that Kapur would have the deepest respect for his vision. We look forward to working with Shekhar Kapur," they said.
The film, which was to have starred Minghellas son Max before the young actor bowed out several weeks ago, will be set on New Yorks Upper East Side and can be described as a "spiritual love story," producers said.
Kapur is best known for his twin "Elizabeth" pictures, which earned a pair of Oscar nominations for star Cate Blanchett. He also is attached to direct the adaptation of Isaac Asimovs "Foundation" series for Fox.
The status of several other Minghella film projects -- including the Weinstein Co.s "The Ninth Life of Louis Drax" and Miramaxs "The Resurrectionist" -- remains uncertain.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
Shekhar Kapur, the Indian-born helmer of "Elizabeth" and "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," will direct one of the last pieces of writing from the late Anthony Minghella, a segment of the urban ode "New York, I Love You."
Minghella, the Oscar-winning director of "The English Patient" who died in a London hospital last week after a short illness, had written but not cast or shot his segment of the episodic film, which was to have begun shooting in April in Manhattan.
According to Kapur, Minghella had asked him to carry out his vision shortly before going in for cancer surgery two weeks ago.
"He told me his film was about the value of life and how people sometimes just throw away their lives, unable to look beyond into the real beauty of it," Kapur wrote on his blog. "I will direct the film now -- with Anthony in my heart and in presence of his soul."
Two of the films producers, Marina Grasic and Emmanuel Benbihy, confirmed the Kapur attachment.
"Anthony chose Shekhar Kapur to direct the segment he wrote for our film knowing that Kapur would have the deepest respect for his vision. We look forward to working with Shekhar Kapur," they said.
The film, which was to have starred Minghellas son Max before the young actor bowed out several weeks ago, will be set on New Yorks Upper East Side and can be described as a "spiritual love story," producers said.
Kapur is best known for his twin "Elizabeth" pictures, which earned a pair of Oscar nominations for star Cate Blanchett. He also is attached to direct the adaptation of Isaac Asimovs "Foundation" series for Fox.
The status of several other Minghella film projects -- including the Weinstein Co.s "The Ninth Life of Louis Drax" and Miramaxs "The Resurrectionist" -- remains uncertain.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
DC's Shakespeare Theatre Announces Cleo, Antony and Caesar Casting for "Roman Rep" (Playbill)
The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC, announced that its upcoming "Roman Repertory" of the related Shakespeare plays Antony and Cleopatra and Julius Caesar will feature Helen Hayes Award winner Andrew Long as Marc Antony in both productions.
Acclaimed British actress Suzanne Bertish (HBOs "Rome," Broadways Nicholas Nickleby, and multiple productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company) will play Cleopatra.
Julius Caesar will be played by Dan Kremer, a regular at the Oregon and Utah Shakespeare festivals.
Additional casting will be announced. The productions will play The Shakespeare Theatres new Harman Hall, in repertory, April 26-July 6.
Artistic director Michael Kahn directs Antony and Cleopatra, which begins April 26. David Muse directs Julius Caesar, which begins April 27. Associate artistic director Muse makes his mainstage directing debut.
According to The Shakespeare Theatre, "Featuring some of the most sublime poetry of love and loss ever written, Antony and Cleopatra is a dark, intimate portrait of an ill-fated love affair. The play begins two years after the events of Julius Caesar, with civil unrest roiling imperial Rome. The aging Marc Antony, one of the empires three rulers, lives a decadent life in Egypt, carousing with Queen Cleopatra. As Rome reasserts its claim on him, Antony struggles between his sense of duty to his country and his consuming love for Cleopatra."
Julius Caesar, billed by the company as "swift and enthralling as a political thriller," focuses on "the life-and-death struggle for power in Rome. Fearing that Caesars growing strength and constitutional ambitions threaten the Republic, a faction of politicians plots to assassinate him. But when Caesar is killed, chaos engulfs Rome. Alive with stunning rhetoric, Julius Caesar investigates the intoxicating effects of power and the dangers of idealism. In Caesar, Brutus and the young Marc Antony, Shakespeare created three fascinating, dynamic characters."
Shakespeare Theatre Companys Sidney Harman Hall is located at 610 F Street NW, Washington, DC.
For more information visit www.shakespearetheatre.org.
*
Shakespeare Theatre Companys current production is George Bernard Shaws Major Barbara, through March 23.
Acclaimed British actress Suzanne Bertish (HBOs "Rome," Broadways Nicholas Nickleby, and multiple productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company) will play Cleopatra.
Julius Caesar will be played by Dan Kremer, a regular at the Oregon and Utah Shakespeare festivals.
Additional casting will be announced. The productions will play The Shakespeare Theatres new Harman Hall, in repertory, April 26-July 6.
Artistic director Michael Kahn directs Antony and Cleopatra, which begins April 26. David Muse directs Julius Caesar, which begins April 27. Associate artistic director Muse makes his mainstage directing debut.
According to The Shakespeare Theatre, "Featuring some of the most sublime poetry of love and loss ever written, Antony and Cleopatra is a dark, intimate portrait of an ill-fated love affair. The play begins two years after the events of Julius Caesar, with civil unrest roiling imperial Rome. The aging Marc Antony, one of the empires three rulers, lives a decadent life in Egypt, carousing with Queen Cleopatra. As Rome reasserts its claim on him, Antony struggles between his sense of duty to his country and his consuming love for Cleopatra."
Julius Caesar, billed by the company as "swift and enthralling as a political thriller," focuses on "the life-and-death struggle for power in Rome. Fearing that Caesars growing strength and constitutional ambitions threaten the Republic, a faction of politicians plots to assassinate him. But when Caesar is killed, chaos engulfs Rome. Alive with stunning rhetoric, Julius Caesar investigates the intoxicating effects of power and the dangers of idealism. In Caesar, Brutus and the young Marc Antony, Shakespeare created three fascinating, dynamic characters."
Shakespeare Theatre Companys Sidney Harman Hall is located at 610 F Street NW, Washington, DC.
For more information visit www.shakespearetheatre.org.
*
Shakespeare Theatre Companys current production is George Bernard Shaws Major Barbara, through March 23.
Diddy denies LA Times' Tupac story (AP)
LOS ANGELES - Sean "Diddy" Combs has denied a report by the Los Angeles Times that his associates were responsible for the 1994 robbery and shooting of Tupac Shakur at a New York recording studio, and that he knew about the attack in advance.
"The story is a lie," the hip-hop mogul said in a statement Monday. "It is beyond ridiculous and completely false. Neither (the late rapper Notorious B.I.G.) nor I had any knowledge of any attack before, during or after it happened. ... I am shocked that the Los Angeles Times would be so irresponsible as to publish such a baseless and completely untrue story."
The 1994 shooting triggered the celebrated feud between East and West Coast rappers that led to the killings of Shakur and B.I.G.
The Times said its story was based on FBI records, interviews with people at the scene of the 1994 shooting, and statements to the FBI by an informant. None of the sources was named. The story says associates hoping to curry favor with Combs -- who was overseeing B.I.G.'s white-hot career at the time -- lured Shakur to the studio because of his disrespect toward them.
The story said that talent manager James Rosemond and promoter James Sabatino arranged the assault. They and Combs declined to be interviewed for the story, which appeared on the Los Angeles Times Web site but not in its paper publication.
Rosemond called the story a "libelous piece of garbage."
"In the past 14 years, I have not even been questioned by law enforcement with regard to the assault of Tupac Shakur, let alone brought up on charges," he said in a statement. "Chuck Philips, the writer ... has reached a new low by employing fourth-hand information from desperate jailhouse informants along with ancient FBI reports to create this fabrication. I simply ask for all rap fans and fans of Tupac to analyze this fiction for what it is."
The story, written by Chuck Philips, was the first investigative report published as a Web exclusive, said Meredith Artley, editor of LATimes.com.
"This piece was perfect for the Web," Artley said. "The Web audience skews younger. We had all these great multimedia elements, and we said we really don't need to wait to fit this in the paper."
A "smaller version" of the story may still run in the paper, she said.
___
On the Net:
http://www.latimes.com
"The story is a lie," the hip-hop mogul said in a statement Monday. "It is beyond ridiculous and completely false. Neither (the late rapper Notorious B.I.G.) nor I had any knowledge of any attack before, during or after it happened. ... I am shocked that the Los Angeles Times would be so irresponsible as to publish such a baseless and completely untrue story."
The 1994 shooting triggered the celebrated feud between East and West Coast rappers that led to the killings of Shakur and B.I.G.
The Times said its story was based on FBI records, interviews with people at the scene of the 1994 shooting, and statements to the FBI by an informant. None of the sources was named. The story says associates hoping to curry favor with Combs -- who was overseeing B.I.G.'s white-hot career at the time -- lured Shakur to the studio because of his disrespect toward them.
The story said that talent manager James Rosemond and promoter James Sabatino arranged the assault. They and Combs declined to be interviewed for the story, which appeared on the Los Angeles Times Web site but not in its paper publication.
Rosemond called the story a "libelous piece of garbage."
"In the past 14 years, I have not even been questioned by law enforcement with regard to the assault of Tupac Shakur, let alone brought up on charges," he said in a statement. "Chuck Philips, the writer ... has reached a new low by employing fourth-hand information from desperate jailhouse informants along with ancient FBI reports to create this fabrication. I simply ask for all rap fans and fans of Tupac to analyze this fiction for what it is."
The story, written by Chuck Philips, was the first investigative report published as a Web exclusive, said Meredith Artley, editor of LATimes.com.
"This piece was perfect for the Web," Artley said. "The Web audience skews younger. We had all these great multimedia elements, and we said we really don't need to wait to fit this in the paper."
A "smaller version" of the story may still run in the paper, she said.
___
On the Net:
http://www.latimes.com
McCartney campaigns against kangaroo cull (Reuters)
CANBERRA (Reuters) - A British animal protection group is using the face of former Beatle Paul McCartney in an international campaign against a planned cull of hundreds of kangaroos on an Australian military base.
As demonstrators on Wednesday promised human shields to protect the animals, McCartney appeared on a website set up by the British animal welfare group Viva! to condemn the cull of up to 500 animals using tranquilizer darts and lethal injection.
"There is an urgent need for action to protect kangaroos from a barbaric industry which slaughters them for meat and leather," McCartney said in an undated message.
"Please do all you can to help Viva! end this shameful massacre."
The eastern grey kangaroos, which feature on Australias coat of arms, are living on a military communications base in the nations capital Canberra.
Authorities say the animals, on death row since May last year, threaten other local species through overgrazing.
Wildlife Protection Association spokesman Pat OBrien said the cull of animals synonymous with Australia could damage tourism and promised human shields to protect them, with barricades and demonstrations to be set up on Thursday.
"Im sure there will be people standing in front of the dart guns," OBrien told Australian radio.
Viva!, or Vegetarians International Voice for Animals, said it had launched a Europe-wide campaign against the cull and by Wednesday had gathered more than 1,300 protest signatures from 36 countries on an Australian-based web page.
The petition, which had photographs of kangaroos in rifle crosshairs, included supporters from Spain, England, the United States, Switzerland, France, Canada, South Africa and Germany.
In 2004 there was an international outcry over the shooting of 900 kangaroos at a dam supplying water to Canberra. The animals were causing erosion problems through grazing.
Environment Minister Peter Garrett, a former head of Australias conservation movement, said he would not intervene.
"Programs like this, humanely and properly administered, are sometimes necessary," he told reporters.
The cull, Garrett said, would not damage Australias anti-whaling campaign, which has angered Japan amid international efforts to close a loophole permitting scientific whaling.
But Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown said it would bring "further notoriety" for Australias treatment of wildlife.
"(Prime Minister) Kevin Rudd could begin by saving those kangaroos and making sure they are transported to a safe haven ... rather than be given a deadly injection and left as a heap on the ground," he said.
Reuters
As demonstrators on Wednesday promised human shields to protect the animals, McCartney appeared on a website set up by the British animal welfare group Viva! to condemn the cull of up to 500 animals using tranquilizer darts and lethal injection.
"There is an urgent need for action to protect kangaroos from a barbaric industry which slaughters them for meat and leather," McCartney said in an undated message.
"Please do all you can to help Viva! end this shameful massacre."
The eastern grey kangaroos, which feature on Australias coat of arms, are living on a military communications base in the nations capital Canberra.
Authorities say the animals, on death row since May last year, threaten other local species through overgrazing.
Wildlife Protection Association spokesman Pat OBrien said the cull of animals synonymous with Australia could damage tourism and promised human shields to protect them, with barricades and demonstrations to be set up on Thursday.
"Im sure there will be people standing in front of the dart guns," OBrien told Australian radio.
Viva!, or Vegetarians International Voice for Animals, said it had launched a Europe-wide campaign against the cull and by Wednesday had gathered more than 1,300 protest signatures from 36 countries on an Australian-based web page.
The petition, which had photographs of kangaroos in rifle crosshairs, included supporters from Spain, England, the United States, Switzerland, France, Canada, South Africa and Germany.
In 2004 there was an international outcry over the shooting of 900 kangaroos at a dam supplying water to Canberra. The animals were causing erosion problems through grazing.
Environment Minister Peter Garrett, a former head of Australias conservation movement, said he would not intervene.
"Programs like this, humanely and properly administered, are sometimes necessary," he told reporters.
The cull, Garrett said, would not damage Australias anti-whaling campaign, which has angered Japan amid international efforts to close a loophole permitting scientific whaling.
But Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown said it would bring "further notoriety" for Australias treatment of wildlife.
"(Prime Minister) Kevin Rudd could begin by saving those kangaroos and making sure they are transported to a safe haven ... rather than be given a deadly injection and left as a heap on the ground," he said.
Reuters
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