Category
December 1, 2005
Many With Gaucher Unaware of Disease
Gaucher is sufficiently rare that many doctors weren\’t and still aren\’t aware of it. And when LaBelle was diagnosed, \”they were just doing research, and there was not a glimmer of hope\” for a treatment, she said
‘Munich’ — a Risky Move for Spielberg
The billboards for Steven Spielberg\’s new film \”Munich,\” which opens Dec. 23, will soon be sprouting on buses, benches and boulevards around the nation. The image is simple and stark. A lone man sits gloomily in a dark, heavily draped hotel room, his body sparely illuminated by the light of a single window. His shoulders are hunched disconsolately and a pistol dangles from his hand. He seems very much alone.
A Small Man With Big Dreams
Thirty-seven year old Ami Ankilewitz weighs just 39 pounds; he suffers from a rare disease called spinal muscular atrophy, which has prevented his muscles from growing and functioning. As a result, his body is skeletal; his small, fragile bones seem mangled and twisted, thinly covered by skin pulled tight. His eyes stare out dark and black from a gaunt, bony face, which appears too large and too animated for Ami\’s debilitated body.
Stages of Faith: Light, Dark, Absurd
The intelligent design vs. Darwinism debate presumes that one or the other theory provides the answer to life and all its mysteries. Playwright Seth Greenland explores the falsity of this dichotomy in \”Jerusalem,\” his play opening Friday at the NoHo Arts Center. Greenland\’s five principal characters — a Jewish psychiatrist, his Protestant wife and his in-laws — have varying degrees of religious faith, as well as varying degrees of conviction about psychoanalysis. In the end, Greenland seems to say, the wise man understands the merits of both religion and science. Even the wise man, though, knows the limits of his knowledge.
Perils of the ‘Perfect’ Student
In New York, parents tell horror stories about the pressure to get their 5-year-old kids into the right kindergartens, the kind attended by Woody Allen\’s kids. In Los Angeles, the social cachet may be even more skewed.
\”So and so from the Lakers\’ kid goes to some school,\” says playwright David Levinson, whose play, \”Early Decision,\” at the Edgemar Center for the Arts in Santa Monica, has tapped into the Zeitgeist about the mania surrounding college admissions.
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