EUGENE O'NEILL & CARLOTTA MONTEREY

Today, for my internship, I was reading a long biography of Eugene O'Neill. I was focusing on the information revolving around his marriage to Carlotta Monterey. He had a complicated family life and was estranged from the mother of his children and largely from his three children. O'Neill had discussed a "pledge" with his first wife, Agnes, that stipulated that "if ever one came to the other and said they loved someone else that we would understand--that we would know that love is something which cannot be denied or argued with." I think this is such a fascinating topic, and a scary one; O'Neill and Agnes made good on this pledge when O'Neill fell in love with another woman.

I have become totally fascinated with their lives, and I think some of the pictures of them are truly stunning.

Despite what some of the less-than-optimistic content of his plays would suggest, O'Neill displayed boundless energy and happiness he exuded in his writings to Carlotta. In one small example, he dedicated a copy of his Mourning Becomes Electra to her by writing to a "mother and wife and mistress and friend! And collaborator! Collaborator, I love you!"

He also is quoted saying "I love life, but I don't love life because it is pretty. Prettiness is only clothes-deep. I am a truer lover than that. I love it naked. There is beauty to me even in its ugliness. In fact, I deny the ugliness entirely, for its vices are often nobler than its virtues, and nearly always closer to a revelation."

On to reading Long Day's Journey Into Night...

JON HAMM & JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT

As we are anxiously awaiting the premiere of the new season of Mad Men, we can at least get our fair share of Jon Hamm elsewhere. Here are some shots from a W Magazine story on Hamm's new movie (directed by Ben Affleck), The Town:

And my personal favorite pop star from childhood, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is all grown up! Remember him in his 10 Things I Hate About You days?

He looks great in the most recent issue of Details magazine:

COUTURE 2010

Some of the Fall collections have already proven fabulous (I agree TOTALLY with Kelly about the Dior), and some collections have been underwhelming. Here are some of my favorite looks:

The Dior, of course. 

Armani Privé:

I think the gowns from this collection are truly elegant. 

The Elie Saab collection was beautiful too, but as a whole, it was not quite as refined as the Armani Privé in my opinion. I did love all of the deep reds. He is definitely not afraid to make gowns dramatic. 

I was disappointed by the Valentino and Chanel collections. I did love the Valentino heels (below):

The collection was titled "The Dark Side of First Love." As has been pointed out, it's a bit too far towards Lolita, and not far enough towards sophistication, no?

And the gloves were admittedly fabulous:

Some of the Chanel was interesting, but none of it was breathtaking like the Armani Privé or the Elie Saab: 

And how about that Chanel hair?

The Givenchy collection was very decadent. Designer Riccardo Tisci designed only 10 pieces, all emulating skeletons. Each gown was a literal work of art (more clearly so than other collections in my opinion), with one gown taking over 1,600 hours to complete. The process was surely a bit obsessive, and Style.com wrote (aptly) that "In obsession is born the cult of couture." I guess collections like this one, not based in beauty as much as in concept and execution, are inevitable in this world of couture. Here are some images:

Thank you, Dior

Flower-inspired and fabulous,
   by John Galliano:

NEW YORK CITY BALLET

Tonight I followed up the American Ballet Theater's Swan Lake with the New York City Ballet. Their program included Who Cares? by George Balanchine. I saw Who Cares? in Kansas City this past Spring and it was interesting to see another company do the same piece. Especially interesting because the New York City Ballet was founded by Balanchine himself! His choreography is truly spectacular and it is a joy to watch.

Tonight the program consisted of Christopher Wheeldon's After the Rain, Alexey Miroshnichenko's The Lady With the Little Dog, and George Balanchine's Who Cares?

I was lucky enough to sit next to a long time patron of the New York City Ballet and a woman employed at Lincoln Center. They explained to me that the last of the Balanchine ballerinas, Darci Kistler, was retiring at the end of this weekend. She is married to NYCB ballet master, Peter Martins.

The most fascinating thing about ballet companies, to me, is that dancers spend their entire careers working in one company. Darci Kistler has been at the New York City Ballet company since 1979 and has been a principal dancer since 1982. Tonight my favorite female principal was Wendy Whelen (principal since 1991) and my favorite male principal was Amar Ramasar.

Anyway, fabulousness (click to enlarge):

SWAN LAKE

Tonight I saw Swan Lake (by the American Ballet Theater) at Lincoln Center, and I am in love. With almost everything that went on.

Lincoln Center:

Those chandeliers! Breathtaking!

The costumes by Zack Brown!

The set! The lake shone, the forest was wet with dew and fog, the castle was beyond decadent!

The dancers! Especially Odette/Odile Paloma Herrera:

And tonights Siegfried, Ethan Stiefel:

There were so many fabulous things I can't really get across here. The sets were truly amazing. The orchestra was great. Other patrons were wearing predictably fabulous outfits. I could easily spend every day watching productions at the Met. Wow! 

I will leave you all with video from ABT Swan Lake productions (some from former shows):