PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
Multiple Tony Award-winning playwright Mcnally dies at 81
Terrence Mcnally, one of America’s great playwrights whose prolific career included winning Tony Awards for the plays “Love! Valour! Compassion!” and “Master Class” and the musicals “Ragtime” and “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” died of complications from the coronavirus. He was 81.
Mcnally died Tuesday at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota, Florida, according to representative Matt Polk. Mcnally was a lung cancer survivor who lived with chronic inflammatory lung disease.
His plays and musicals explored how people connect – or fail to. With wit and thoughtfulness, he tackled the strains in families, war, and relationships and probed the spark and costs of creativity. He was an openly gay writer who wrote about homophobia, love and AIDS.
“I like to work with people who are a lot more talented and smarter than me, who make fewer mistakes than I do, and who can call me out when I do something lazy,” he told LA Stage Times in 2013. “A lot of people stop learning in life, and that’s their tragedy.”
Lady Gaga says it’s wrong time for new album ‘Chromatica’
Lady Gaga shelved her forthcoming album “Chromatica” for now, saying it’s not the right time amid a global fight with the coronavirus.
Gaga said on her social media pages Tuesday that “after a lot of deliberation, I’ve made the incredibly tough decision to postpone the release of Chromatica. I will announce a new 2020 release date soon.”
The album had been scheduled for release on April 10. Gaga already had a set of Las Vegas concert dates tied to the release canceled, and said Tuesday that she had also planned a surprise set at the Coachella music festival, which has been postponed.
“This is such a hectic and scary time for all of us,” Gaga said. “And while I believe art is one of the strongest things we have to provide joy and healing to each other during times like this, it just doesn’t feel right to me to release this album with all that is going on during this global pandemic.”
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