‘Journey with Maya’ to be adapted
In the nearly 30-year friendship that Tavis Smiley shared with Maya Angelou, he learned the renowned writer’s views on life and how to live it to the fullest.
One year after Angelou’s death, TV and radio host Smiley is joining with Tony Award-winning director Kenny Leon to develop a stage adaptation of “My Journey with Maya,” Smiley’s new memoir about the relationship.
Angelou, a poet, professor and author of the acclaimed 1969 autobiography, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” had much to share with a young man eager to grow, Smiley said. He was 21 and she was 58 when they first met in the mid-1980s.
Leon’s other projects include directing the newly announced TV and Broadway versions of the 1970s hit musical “The Wiz.”
Smiley said Angelou’s range of achievements in fields ranging from acting to writing to teaching and more are unparalleled. “I’ve been saying for the longest time she may be the greatest Renaissance woman in black America. But I’m really wrestling with whether or not she may be the greatest Renaissance woman, period,” Smiley said.
‘Xena’ star moves to Salem
As if there weren’t enough upheaval in 17th-Century Salem, Massachusetts, this haunted village is about to welcome Lucy Lawless.
Celebrated for such unflinching performances as Xena, Warrior Princess, and Lucretia in the “Spartacus” trilogy, Lawless is now casting her spell on “Salem,” WGN’s witch-war drama, as it begins its second season Sunday.
Phoning from Shreveport, Loui- siana (where she was shooting with castmates including Janet Montgomery, Shane West, Seth Gabel and Ashley Madekwe), Lawless chatted about her role as the Countess Marburg and said she does not believe in witches: “I feel like maybe it’s a choice whether you think they exist or not, and I choose NOT to engage in all that kind of stuff.”
Joni Mitchell hospitalized
Joni Mitchell was in intensive care in a Los Angeles-area hospital on Tuesday, according to the website of the folk singer and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.
“Joni was found unconscious in her home this afternoon,” said a statement on the Mitchell website. “She is currently in intensive care undergoing tests and is awake and in good spirits.”
Los Angeles fire officials said paramedics answered an afternoon 911 call in Bel Air, where Mitchell lives.
The 71-year-old singer-songwriter told Billboard magazine in December that she has a rare skin condition, Morgellons disease, which prevents her from performing.