Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Diana Damrau recalled when she learned the Metropolitan Opera's new production of "Rigoletto" would be set in the glitzy Rat Pack-era Las Vegas of 1960, not 16th-century Mantua.

After running at the New York Theatre Workshop earlier this year to acclaimed reviews, the one-man show of 'An Iliad' opens at Washington's Studio Theatre on Friday.

Scott Dressel has risked his life savings to help rescue this struggling old steel town that is still plagued by double-digit unemployment and banking on a natural gas boom that has yet to materialize.
In a break from its usual filmed style, NBC's "30 Rock" went live Thursday night with an episode that was full of fun and, yes, very lively.
Singer and actress Kaye Stevens, who performed with the Rat Pack and was a frequent guest on Johnny Carson's "The Tonight Show," has died at a central Florida hospital. She was 79.

Singer and actress Kaye Stevens, who performed with the Rat Pack and was a frequent guest on Johnny Carson's "The Tonight Show," has died at a central Florida hospital. She was 79.
Singer and actress Kaye Stevens, who performed with the Rat Pack and was a frequent guest on Johnny Carson's "The Tonight Show," has died at a central Florida hospital. She was 79.
Gregg Barson is a documentarian, not a comedian. But when Jerry Lewis let him know that more than a dozen people were waiting in line to tell his story, Barson offered a persuasive punch line.

"Glee" star Matthew Morrison recently announced that he has a duet with Elton John on his upcoming CD. But that won't be all.
Charlie Callas, a versatile comedian whose zany faces and antics made him a regular for more than four decades on television, in films and on casino stages, has died in Las Vegas. He was 83.

Jeneane Marie Cranert boasts of touring Europe with the Funk Brothers and Tito Jackson and warming up the stage over the years for such stars as Frank Sinatra, Liberace and Wayne Newton.

Imagine a recent meeting between President Obama and Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl, talking border issues in the privacy of the Oval Office.
Police say a well-known former gangster who has counseled against violence was killed when he confronted a graffiti-writer in Los Angeles.
Old and irrelevant
Old and irrelevant