In 1986,
On Sept. 30, 1791,
Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute” premiered in Vienna, Austria.
In 1777,
the Continental Congress — forced to flee in the face of advancing British forces — moved to York, Pennsylvania.
Boston dentist William Morton used ether as an anesthetic for the first time as he extracted an ulcerated tooth from merchant Eben Frost.
In 1846, In 1915,
the D.H. Lawrence novel “The Rainbow” was published in London by Methuen & Co.
after co-signing the Munich Agreement allowing Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain said, “I believe it is peace for our time.”
the first college football game to be televised was shown on experimental station W2XBS in New York as Fordham University defeated Waynesburg College, 34-7.
the Berlin Airlift came to an end.
actor James Dean, 24, was killed in a two-car collision near Cholame, Calif.
James Meredith, a black student, was escorted by federal marshals to the campus of the University of Mississippi, where he enrolled for classes the next day; Meredith’s presence sparked rioting that claimed two lives.
the Republic of Botswana became independent from Britain.
Roberto Clemente hit a double against John Matlack of the New York Mets during Pittsburgh’s 5-0 victory at Three Rivers Stadium; the hit was the 3,000th and last for the Pirates star.
In 1938, In 1939, In 1949, In 1955, In 1962, In 1966, In 1972,
the U.S. released accused Soviet spy Gennadiy Zakharov, one day after the Soviets released American journalist Nicholas Daniloff.
France’s Roman Catholic Church apologized for its silence during the systematic persecution and deportation of Jews by the pro-Nazi Vichy regime.
Five people were killed when an overpass near Montreal collapsed. Tony Award-winning actress Isabel Bigley died in Los Angeles at age 80.
In 1997, Ten years ago: Five years ago:
A U.S. drone airstrike in Yemen killed two American members of al-Qaida, cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and recruiting magazine editor Samir Khan.
One year ago:
Just hours before a midnight deadline, a bitterly divided Congress approved, and President Barack Obama signed, a stopgap spending bill to keep the federal government open. Kelly Renee Gissendaner, the only woman on Georgia’s death row, was executed by injection, making her the first woman put to death by the state in seven decades. (Gissendaner was convicted of murder in the 1997 slaying of her husband after she’d conspired with her lover, who stabbed Douglas Gissendaner to death.) Prosecutors declined to charge Caitlyn Jenner in a California car crash the previous February that killed another driver, Kim Howe, citing insufficient evidence.
“Nothing you can’t spell will ever work.” — Will Rogers, American humorist (18791935).
It’s only five NEW YORK — letters just her first name,
— unadorned. All in lowercase, with a period at the end.
“Frozen” and Broadway star Idina Menzel has a new introspective album out this month after a tumultuous few years and its simple title — “idina.” — is as strippeddown as it gets.
“I guess I want people to feel like they really get to know me on a first-name basis,” she says. “The period says some kind of confidence but the lowercase is like not completely arrogant.”
In the eight years since her last original studio CD, Menzel has shot to global fame singing “Let It Go,” had her name mangled by John Travolta at the Oscars, given birth to a son, poured her heart into a new Broadway show and seen her marriage to Taye Diggs collapse. She’s come out the other end with a mature pop album and a new engagement continued from D1 to actor Aaron Lohr.
“It’s a new beginning — personally, in my life,” she says. “The music was written and is about things that I was experiencing in the last couple of years, sort of putting an end to one era of my life and figuring out how to start again.”
The new album is strong and incredibly personal, with storm clouds seemingly everywhere. “Heaven knows, I went through hell,” she sings on “Show Me.” On “I See You,” she says: “Here’s to the hopeless/The almost forgotten/To those who got lost along the way/I see you.” The woman who once sang “Defying Gravity” is now singing “goodbye gravity” on one song.
Menzel leaned on two producers — Eric Rosse and Greg Wells — and she had a hand in writing virtually every song, from “I Do,” with its clear dig at Diggs (“Remember you told me/You’re my one and only”), to the upbeat, hear-me-roar “Queen of Swords” (“Don’t go asking me for apologies”).
The 45-year-old singer and actress says her personal turmoil came at the same time as career success, spinning her head. She’d go into the studio angry at the world and yet emerge with hopeful songs.
“I was going through a divorce and, simultaneously, my career was taking off in a bigger way than ever, with ‘Frozen’ and all of that. And so here I am singing at the Oscars and then dealing with mediation and visitation agreements,” she says. “The dichotomy of that, the contradictions and the guilt and regret that I was feeling all at this wonderful time professionally, was very dynamic for me.”
Dan McCarroll, president of Warner Bros. Records, signed Menzel three years ago while she was starring in the Broadway musical “If/Then.” The two met over dinner and talked about what kind of album she wanted to make.
“She was very clear that night about what she wanted to do. For me, the album represents exactly what we talked about,” he says. “She was true to who she is and said what she needed to say.” He added: “There’s some really deep stuff on this record.”
Menzel also recently finished shooting a Lifetime remake of the 1988 film weepie “Beaches,” taking on the role originated by Bette Midler. That’s quite a change for an actress who likes original roles.
“People think I’m so cool because I’m in all these original musicals, but it’s also because I don’t want to be compared to Barbra Streisand or Bette Midler. I’m too scared. So it was a hard decision for me to do it. But then I learned there’s a whole generation of women that have never seen ‘Beaches’ or heard of it,” she says.