Youths And More

Frank Galati, an actor, director, teacher and adapter who was a pivotal figure in Chicago’s theater community and a two-time Tony Award winner, has died Frank Galati, an actor, director, teacher and adapter who was a pivotal figure in Chicago's theater community and a two-time Tony Award winner, died Monday, according to Steppenwolf Theatre. He was 79. Galati won twin Tonys in 1990 — best play and best director — for his adaptation and staging of Steppenwolf’s production of John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath,” starring Gary Sinise as Tom Joad. He was also nominated for directing the 1998 celebrated musical “Ragtime.” “Every actor will know what I mean when I say that Frank waited for me. He waited for me. He cast you and then he trusted you. Sometimes he knew me as an actor better than I knew myself,” said Steppenwolf member Molly Regan. His screenwriting credits include “The Accidental Tourist,” for which he was an Oscar nominee. He also was credited for writing the teleplay to...

  The World Film Industry Conference (WFIC) recaps discussions from Global Film Academy Deans Forum held on December 11, 2022. In part with the WFIC series, leaders in film education included the following panelists:   Elizabeth Daley , Ph.D., Dean of USC School of Cinematic Arts,   Susan Ruskin , Dean and Executive Vice President at the American Film Institute and   Brian Kite , Interim Dean, UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television. The theme of discussion among panelists representing the top film education globally was "The Opportunities and Challenges for Higher Quality Film Education in the Context of Globalization". This 50-minute panel started by noting that aspiring filmmakers from all over the world look to USC, AFI, and UCLA as the leading forces in film education. Prior to looking ahead to the future of filmmaking, each Dean examined the challenges tied to the pandemic and how they have been innovative quickly. The conversation then shifted to focus o...

  YG Entertainment, the record label behind a roster of popular K-pop acts including   Blackpink , and Big Bang, are gearing up to launch a brand new girl group this year. A teaser for the new K-pop act called Baby Monster was released on January 1.  Similar to Blackpink, Baby Monster comprises multicultural performers including Jung Ahyeon and Lee Dain from South Korea; and Thai member Nong Prae. All three range between 14 to 17 years old. Though scant information has been released so far, the group’s official YouTube page has already amassed 396,000 followers.  The launch of YG’s new girl group comes at an opportune time where K-pop has fully gone mainstream globally, and where its stars now front some of the  biggest luxury campaigns across Asia , if not the world. The Jing Take:  Despite the recent  crackdowns  on celebrities and fandom culture and the growing scrutiny over idol  misconduct in China , K-pop continues to have a major influ...

  Amid the world’s geopolitical crisis, India has to use both science and spirituality for world peace, said President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday at the launch of the National Campaign on Rising India Through Spiritual Empowerment (RISE). She said, our aim is that India should become a knowledge superpower.  Addressing human development she added, “It is our aspiration that this knowledge should be used for sustainable development, for social harmony, for the upliftment of women and downtrodden sections, for the proper use of the energy of the youth and for the establishment of everlasting peace in the world”. She also said that spirituality is the guiding light which can show the right path to the entire humanity.  The President said that today we are facing an existential threat due to climate change. Conservation of the environment is also a kind of spiritual empowerment because a clean and healthy environment gives us peace.  "This interrelationship of environmen...

  Wemi Jones, Kogi State commissioner for education, science and technology, has said that the World Bank has made the child rights law a precondition for states to access the World Bank’s Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment, (Agile) grants to the eleven participating states in Nigeria. Jones disclosed this to the child rights law advocacy team during a visit to his ministry by the state child rights law cluster, in Lokoja, the state capital. The commissioner also said that the state was among the eleven states that will access part of the $500 million earmarked by the World Bank to fund the Agile project, which aims at improving secondary education opportunities among girls in targeted areas in the participating states. Kogi, like every other participating state, must fulfil the precondition for accessing the fund, which will assist the state achieve its policy objectives in girl child education priority, initiated for the African developing countries by the W...

  Co-founders of the AEON Collective, Princess Noura Turki Al Saud and Princess Mashael Saud Al Shalan and Tony Chan, professor and president at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the AEON headquarters in Riyadh earlier this week.  The MoU comes as a move establish a mutual understanding of the willingness of both parties, to work collaboratively to support the acceleration of sustainable development both nationally and internationally, in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and the kingdom’s Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). AEON Collective is an inter-disciplinary Waqf (A Non Profit Endowment Fund) that is dedicated to sustainability around the globe. The AEON Collective produces, curates and disseminates fact-based & culturally informed knowledge around sustainability, and actively build capacities for “knowledge communities” through multiple activities and initiatives. Princess Noura Al S...

  On Oct. 28, 1939, country performer Bill Monroe joined the Grand Ole Opry. In 1950, “The Jack Benny Program” debuted on CBS. In 1956, Elvis Presley made his second appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” He sang several songs, including “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Hound Dog.” In 1972, the United States Council for World Affairs announced that it adopted The Who song “Join Together” as its theme. In 1977, the Sex Pistols released their album “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols” in the U.S. It was released in the U.K. four days later. Also in 1977, Steve Perry joined Journey for their first public concert together, in San Francisco. In 1981, Metallica were formed, five months after singer James Hetfield answered an ad in a Los Angeles newspaper placed by drummer Lars Ulrich. In 1986, Marie Osmond married for the second time, to record producer Brian Blosil. She had divorced Steve Craig a year earlier. In 1992, singer Sinead (shuh-NAYD’) O’Connor was quoted by a British music m...