title: Philip Glass

text: In the early 2000s, Glass started a series of five concerti with the "Tirol Concerto for Piano and Orchestra" (2000, premiered by Dennis Russell Davies as conductor and soloist), and the "Concerto Fantasy for Two Timpanists and Orchestra" (2000, for the timpanist Jonathan Haas). The Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (2001) had its premiere performance in Beijing, featuring cellist Julian Lloyd Webber; it was composed in celebration of his fiftieth birthday. These concertos were followed by the concise and rigorously neo-Baroque Concerto for Harpsichord and Orchestra (2002), demonstrating in its transparent, chamber orchestral textures Glass's classical technique, evocative in the "improvisatory chords" of its beginning a toccata of Froberger or Frescobaldi, and 18th century music. Two years later, the concerti series continued with "Piano Concerto No. 2: After Lewis and Clark" (2004), composed for the pianist Paul Barnes. The concerto celebrates the pioneers' trek across North America, and the second movement features a duet for piano and Native American flute. With the chamber opera "The Sound of a Voice", Glass's Piano Concerto No. 2 might be regarded as bridging his traditional compositions and his more popular excursions to World Music, also found in "Orion" (also composed in 2004).


title: Philip Glass

text: "Waiting for the Barbarians", an opera from J. M. Coetzee's novel (with the libretto by Christopher Hampton), had its premiere performance in September 2005. Glass defined the work as a "social/political opera", as a critique on the Bush administration's war in Iraq, a "dialogue about political crisis", and an illustration of the "power of art to turn our attention toward the human dimension of history". While the opera's themes are Imperialism, apartheid, and torture, the composer chose an understated approach by using "very simple means, and the orchestration is very clear and very traditional; it's almost classical in sound", as the conductor Dennis Russell Davies notes.


title: Philip Glass

text: Two months after the premiere of this opera, in November 2005, Glass's Symphony No. 8, commissioned by the Bruckner Orchestra Linz, was premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City. After three symphonies for voices and orchestra, this piece was a return to purely orchestral and abstract composition; like previous works written for the conductor Dennis Russell Davies (the 1992 Concerto Grosso and the 1995 Symphony No. 3), it features extended solo writing. Critic Allan Kozinn described the symphony's chromaticism as more extreme, more fluid, and its themes and textures as continually changing, morphing without repetition, and praised the symphony's "unpredictable orchestration", pointing out the "beautiful flute and harp variation in the melancholy second movement". Alex Ross, remarked that "against all odds, this work succeeds in adding something certifiably new to the overstuffed annals of the classical symphony. ... The musical material is cut from familiar fabric, but it's striking that the composer forgoes the expected bustling conclusion and instead delves into a mood of deepening twilight and unending night."


title: Philip Glass

text: "The Passion of Ramakrishna" (2006), was composed for the Pacific Symphony orchestra, the Pacific Chorale and the conductor Carl St. Clair. The 45 minutes choral work is based on the writings of Indian spiritual leader Ramakrishna, which seem "to have genuinely inspired and revived the composer out of his old formulas to write something fresh", as one critic remarked, whereas another noted "The musical style breaks little new ground for Glass, except for the glorious Handelian ending ... the composer's style ideally fits the devotional text".


title: Philip Glass

text: A cello suite, composed for the cellist Wendy Sutter, "Songs and Poems for Solo Cello" (2005–2007), was equally lauded by critics. It was described by Lisa Hirsch as "a major work, ... a major addition to the cello repertory" and "deeply Romantic in spirit, and at the same time deeply Baroque". Another critic, Anne Midgette of "The Washington Post", noted the suite "maintains an unusual degree of directness and warmth"; she also noted a kinship to a major work by Johann Sebastian Bach: "Digging into the lower registers of the instrument, it takes flight in handfuls of notes, now gentle, now impassioned, variously evoking the minor-mode keening of klezmer music and the interior meditations of Bach's cello suites". Glass himself pointed out "in many ways it owes more to Schubert than to Bach".


title: Philip Glass

text: In 2007, Glass also worked alongside Leonard Cohen on an adaptation of Cohen's poetry collection "Book of Longing". The work, which premiered in June 2007 in Toronto, is a piece for seven instruments and a vocal quartet, and contains recorded spoken word performances by Cohen and imagery from his collection.


title: Philip Glass

text: "Appomattox", an opera surrounding the events at the end of the American Civil War, was commissioned by the San Francisco Opera and premiered on October 5, 2007. As in "Waiting for the Barbarians", Glass collaborated with the writer Christopher Hampton, and as with the preceding opera and Symphony No. 8, the piece was conducted by Glass's long-time collaborator Dennis Russell Davies, who noted "in his recent operas the bass line has taken on an increasing prominence... (an) increasing use of melodic elements in the deep register, in the contrabass, the contrabassoon—he's increasingly using these sounds and these textures can be derived from using these instruments in different combinations. ... He's definitely developed more skill as an orchestrator, in his ability to conceive melodies and harmonic structures for specific instrumental groups. ... what he gives them to play is very organic and idiomatic."


title: Philip Glass

text: Apart from this large-scale opera, Glass added a work to his catalogue of theater music in 2007, and continuing—after a gap of twenty years—to write music for the dramatic work of Samuel Beckett. He provided a "hypnotic" original score for a compilation of Beckett's short plays "Act Without Words I", "Act Without Words II", "Rough for Theatre I" and "Eh Joe", directed by JoAnne Akalaitis and premiered in December 2007. Glass's work for this production was described by "The New York Times" as "icy, repetitive music that comes closest to piercing the heart".


title: Philip Glass

text: 2008 to 2010 Glass continued to work on a series of chamber music pieces which started with "Songs and Poems": the "Four Movements for Two Pianos" (2008, premiered by Dennis Davies and Maki Namekawa in July 2008), a "Sonata for Violin and Piano" composed in "the Brahms tradition" (completed in 2008, premiered by violinist Maria Bachman and pianist Jon Klibonoff in February 2009); a "String sextet" (an adaption of the Symphony No. 3 of 1995 made by Glass's musical director Michael Riesman) followed in 2009. "Pendulum" (2010, a one-movement piece for violin and piano), a second Suite of cello pieces for Wendy Sutter (2011), and "Partita for solo violin" for violinist Tim Fain (2010, first performance of the complete work 2011), are recent entries in the series.


title: Philip Glass

text: Other works for the theater were a score for Euripides' "The Bacchae" (2009, directed by JoAnne Akalaitis), and "Kepler" (2009), yet another operatic biography of a scientist or explorer. The opera is based on the life of 17th century astronomer Johannes Kepler, against the background of the Thirty Years' War, with a libretto compiled from Kepler's texts and poems by his contemporary Andreas Gryphius. It is Glass's first opera in German, and was premiered by the Bruckner Orchestra Linz and Dennis Russell Davies in September 2009. LA Times critic Mark Swed and others described the work as "oratorio-like"; Swed pointed out the work is Glass's "most chromatic, complex, psychological score" and "the orchestra dominates ... I was struck by the muted, glowing colors, the character of many orchestral solos and the poignant emphasis on bass instruments".


title: Philip Glass

text: In 2009 and 2010, Glass returned to the concerto genre. Violin Concerto No. 2 in four movements was commissioned by violinist Robert McDuffie, and subtitled "The American Four Seasons" (2009), as an homage to Vivaldi's set of concertos "The Four Seasons". It premiered in December 2009 by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and was subsequently performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra in April 2010. The Double Concerto for Violin and Cello and Orchestra (2010) was composed for soloists Maria Bachmann and Wendy Sutter and also as a ballet score for the Nederlands Dans Theater. Other orchestral projects of 2010 are short orchestral scores for films; to a multimedia presentation based on the novel "Icarus at the Edge of Time" by theoretical physicist Brian Greene, which premiered on June 6, 2010, and the score for the Brazilian film "Nosso Lar" (released in Brazil on September 3, 2010). Glass also donated a short work, "Brazil", to the video game "Chime", which was released on February 3, 2010.


title: Philip Glass

text: In January 2011, Glass performed at the MONA FOMA festival in Hobart, Tasmania. The festival promotes a broad range of art forms, including experimental sound, noise, dance, theatre, visual art, performance and new media.


title: Philip Glass

text: In August 2011, Glass presented a series of music, dance, and theater performances as part of the Days and Nights Festival. Along with the Philip Glass Ensemble, scheduled performers include Molissa Fenley and Dancers, John Moran with Saori Tsukada, as well as a screening of "Dracula" with Glass's score. Glass hopes to present this festival annually, with a focus on art, science, and conservation.Other works completed since 2010 include Symphony No. 9 (2010–2011), Symphony No. 10 (2012), Cello Concerto No. 2 (2012, based on the film score to "Naqoyqatsi") as well as String Quartet No. 6 and No. 7. Glass's Ninth Symphony was co-commissioned by the Bruckner Orchestra Linz, the American Composers Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. The symphony's first performance took place on January 1, 2012, at the Brucknerhaus in Linz, Austria (Dennis Russell Davies conducting the Bruckner Orchestra Linz); the American premiere was on January 31, 2012, (Glass's 75th birthday), at Carnegie Hall (Dennis Russell Davies conducting the American Composers Orchestra), and the West Coast premiere with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of John Adams on April 5. Glass's Tenth Symphony, written in five movements, was commissioned by the Orchestre français des jeunes for its 30th anniversary. The symphony's first performance took place on August 9, 2012, at the Grand Théâtre de Provence in Aix-en-Provence under Dennis Russell Davies.


title: Philip Glass

text: The opera "The Perfect American" was composed in 2011 to a commission from Teatro Real Madrid. The libretto is based on a book of the same name by Peter Stephan Jungk and covers the final months of the life of Walt Disney. The world premiere was at the Teatro Real, Madrid, on January 22, 2013, with British baritone Christopher Purves taking the role of Disney. The UK premiere took place on June 1, 2013, in a production by the English National Opera at the London Coliseum. The US premiere took place on March 12, 2017, in a production by Long Beach Opera.


title: Philip Glass

text: His opera "", based on a play by Austrian playwright and novelist Peter Handke, "Die Spuren der Verirrten" (2007), premiered at the in April 2013, conducted by Dennis Russell Davies and directed by David Pountney.


title: Philip Glass

text: On June 28, 2013, Glass's piano piece "Two Movements for Four Pianos" was premiered at the Museum Kunstpalast, performed by Katia and Marielle Labèque, and Dennis Russell Davies.


title: Philip Glass

text: On January 17, 2014, Glass' collaboration with Angélique Kidjo "Ifé: Three Yorùbá Songs for Orchestra" premiered at the Philharmonie Luxembourg.


title: Philip Glass

text: In May 2015, Glass's Double Concerto for Two Pianos was premiered by Katia and Marielle Labèque, Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.


title: Philip Glass

text: Glass published his memoir, "Words Without Music", in 2015.His 11th symphony, commissioned by the Bruckner Orchestra Linz, the Istanbul International Music Festival, and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, premiered on January 31, 2017, Glass's 80th birthday, at Carnegie Hall, Dennis Russell Davies conducting the Bruckner Orchestra. On September 22, 2017, his Piano Concerto No. 3 was premiered by pianist Simone Dinnerstein with the strings of the chamber orchestra A Far Cry at Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, Massachusetts.


title: Philip Glass

text: Glass's 12th symphony was premiered by the Los Angeles Philharmonic under John Adams at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on January 10, 2019. Commissioned by the orchestra, the work is based on David Bowie's 1979 album "Lodger", it completes Glass's trilogy of symphonies based on Bowie's Berlin Trilogy of albums.


title: Philip Glass

text: In collaboration with stage auteur, performer and co-director (with Kirsty Housley) Phelim McDermott, he composed the score for the new work "Tao of Glass", which premiered at the 2019 Manchester International Festival before touring to the 2020 Perth Festival.


title: Philip Glass

text: Glass describes himself as a "classicist", pointing out he is trained in harmony and counterpoint and studied such composers as Franz Schubert, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with Nadia Boulanger. Aside from composing in the Western classical tradition, his music has ties to rock, ambient music, electronic music, and world music. Early admirers of his minimalism include musicians Brian Eno and David Bowie. In the 1990s, Glass composed the aforementioned symphonies "Low" (1992) and "Heroes" (1996), thematically derived from the Bowie-Eno collaboration albums "Low" and ""Heroes"" composed in late 1970s Berlin.


title: Philip Glass

text: Glass has collaborated with recording artists such as Paul Simon, Suzanne Vega, Mick Jagger, Leonard Cohen, David Byrne, Uakti, Natalie Merchant, S'Express (Glass remixed their track "Hey Music Lover" in 1989) and Aphex Twin (yielding an orchestration of "Icct Hedral" in 1995 on the "Donkey Rhubarb" EP). Glass's compositional influence extends to musicians such as Mike Oldfield (who included parts from Glass's "North Star" in "Platinum"), and bands such as Tangerine Dream and Talking Heads. Glass and his sound designer Kurt Munkacsi produced the American post-punk/new wave band Polyrock (1978 to the mid-1980s), as well as the recording of John Moran's "The Manson Family (An Opera)" in 1991, which featured punk legend Iggy Pop, and a second (unreleased) recording of Moran's work featuring poet Allen Ginsberg.


title: Philip Glass

text: Glass counts many artists among his friends and collaborators, including visual artists (Richard Serra, Chuck Close, Fredericka Foster), writers (Doris Lessing, David Henry Hwang, Allen Ginsberg), film and theatre directors (including Errol Morris, Robert Wilson, JoAnne Akalaitis, Godfrey Reggio, Paul Schrader, Martin Scorsese, Christopher Hampton, Bernard Rose, and many others), choreographers (Lucinda Childs, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp), and musicians and composers (Ravi Shankar, David Byrne, the conductor Dennis Russell Davies, Foday Musa Suso, Laurie Anderson, Linda Ronstadt, Paul Simon, Pierce Turner, Joan La Barbara, Arthur Russell, David Bowie, Brian Eno, Roberto Carnevale, Patti Smith, Aphex Twin, Lisa Bielawa, Andrew Shapiro, John Moran, Bryce Dessner and Nico Muhly). Among recent collaborators are Glass's fellow New Yorker Woody Allen and Stephen Colbert.


title: Philip Glass

text: Glass had begun using the Farfisa portable organ out of convenience, and he has used it in concert. It is featured on several recordings including "North Star" and "Dance Nos. 1–5".


title: Philip Glass

text: In 1970, Glass and Klaus Kertess (owner of the Bykert Gallery) formed a record label named "Chatham Square Productions" (named after the location of the studio of a Philip Glass Ensemble member Dick Landry). In 1993 Glass formed another record label, Point Music; in 1997, Point Music released "Music for Airports", a live, instrumental version of Eno's composition of the same name, by Bang on a Can All-Stars. In 2002, Glass and his producer Kurt Munkacsi and artist Don Christensen founded the Orange Mountain Music company, dedicated to "establishing the recording legacy of Philip Glass" and, to date, have released sixty albums of Glass's music.


title: Philip Glass

text: Glass has composed many film scores, starting with the orchestral score for "Koyaanisqatsi" (1982), and continuing with two biopics, "" (1985, resulting in the String Quartet No. 3) and "Kundun" (1997) about the Dalai Lama, for which he received his first Academy Award nomination. In 1968 he composed and conducted the score for director Harrison Engle's minimalist comedy short, "Railroaded," played by the Philip Glass Ensemble. This was one of his earliest film efforts.


title: Philip Glass

text: The year after scoring "Hamburger Hill" (1987), Glass began a long collaboration with the filmmaker Errol Morris with his music for Morris's celebrated documentaries, including "The Thin Blue Line" (1988) and "A Brief History of Time" (1991). He continued composing for the Qatsi trilogy with the scores for "Powaqqatsi" (1988) and "Naqoyqatsi" (2002). In 1995, he composed the theme for Reggio's short independent film "Evidence". He made a cameo appearance—briefly visible performing at the piano—in Peter Weir's "The Truman Show" (1998), which uses music from "Powaqqatsi", "Anima Mundi" and "Mishima", as well as three original tracks by Glass. In the 1990s, he also composed scores for "Bent" (1997) and the supernatural horror film "Candyman" (1992) and its sequel, "" (1995), plus a film adaptation of Joseph Conrad's "The Secret Agent" (1996).


title: Philip Glass

text: In 1999, he finished a new soundtrack for the 1931 film "Dracula". "The Hours" (2002) earned him a second Academy Award nomination. The circular, recurring nature of Glass' music has been praised for providing stability and contrast to frequent jumps across time and geography in the film's narrative. In this way, the soundtrack has a distinctive personality, so much so that director Stephen Daldry believes Glass's music serves as "another stream of consciousness, another character" in the film. "The Hours" was followed by another Morris documentary, "The Fog of War" (2003). In the mid-2000s Glass provided the scores to films such as "Secret Window" (2004), "Neverwas" (2005), "The Illusionist" and "Notes on a Scandal", garnering his third Academy Award nomination for the latter. Glass's most recent film scores include "No Reservations" (Glass makes a brief cameo in the film sitting at an outdoor café), "Cassandra's Dream" (2007), "Les Regrets" (2009), "Mr Nice" (2010), the Brazilian film "Nosso Lar" (2010) and "Fantastic Four" (2015, in collaboration with Marco Beltrami). In 2009, Glass composed original theme music for "Transcendent Man", about the life and ideas of Ray Kurzweil by filmmaker Barry Ptolemy.


title: Philip Glass

text: In the 2000s, Glass's work from the 1980s again became known to wider public through various media. In 2005, his Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (1987) was featured in the surreal French thriller, "La Moustache", providing a tone intentionally incongruous to the banality of the movie's plot. "Metamorphosis: Metamorphosis One" from "Solo Piano" (1989) was featured in the reimagined "Battlestar Galactica" in the episode "Valley of Darkness" and also in the final episode ("return 0") of "Person of Interest". In 2008, Rockstar Games released "Grand Theft Auto IV" featuring Glass's "Pruit Igoe" (from "Koyaanisqatsi"). "Pruit Igoe" and "Prophecies" (also from "Koyaanisqatsi") were used both in a trailer for "Watchmen" and in the film itself. "Watchmen" also included two other Glass pieces in the score: "Something She Has To Do" from "The Hours" and "Protest" from "Satyagraha", act 2, scene 3. In 2013, Glass contributed a piano piece "Duet" to the Park Chan-wook film "Stoker" which is performed diegetically in the film. In 2017, Glass scored the National Geographic Films documentary "Jane" (a documentary on the life of renowned British primatologist Jane Goodall).


title: Philip Glass

text: Glass's music was featured in two award-winning films by Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev, "Elena" (2011) and "Leviathan" (2014).


title: Philip Glass

text: For television, Glass composed the theme for "Night Stalker" (2005) and the soundtrack for "Tales from the Loop" (2020). Glass's "Confrontation and Rescue" (from "Satyagraha") was used in the ending of Season 3 Chapter 6 of "Stranger Things" (2019), whilst "Window of Appearances", "Akhnaten and Nefertiti" (from "Akhnaten") and "Prophecies" (from "Koyaanisqatsi") were used in the finale of Season 4 Volume 1 (2022).


title: Philip Glass

text: Glass lives in New York and in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. He has described himself as "a Jewish-Taoist-Hindu-Toltec-Buddhist" and is a supporter of the Tibetan independence movement. In 1987, he co-founded the Tibet House US with Columbia University professor Robert Thurman and the actor Richard Gere at the request of the 14th Dalai Lama. Glass is a vegetarian.


title: Philip Glass

text: He was romantically involved with cellist Wendy Sutter for approximately five years. , his partner was Japanese-born dancer Saori Tsukada.


title: Philip Glass

text: Glass is the first cousin once removed of Ira Glass, host of the radio show "This American Life". Ira interviewed Glass onstage at Chicago's Field Museum; this interview was broadcast on NPR's "Fresh Air". Ira interviewed Glass a second time at a fundraiser for St. Ann's Warehouse; this interview was given away to public-radio listeners as a pledge-drive thank-you gift in 2010. Ira and Glass recorded a version of the composition Glass wrote to accompany his friend Allen Ginsberg's poem "Wichita Vortex Sutra". In 2014, "This American Life" broadcast a live performance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music that included the world premier of the opera "Help", a short monodrama that Philip Glass wrote for the occasion.


title: Philip Glass

text: "Musical Opinion" said, "Philip Glass must be one of the most influential living composers." The National Endowment for the Arts, while noting that many of his operas have been produced by the world's leading opera houses said, "He is the first composer to win a wide, multigenerational audience in the opera house, the concert hall, the dance world, in film, and in popular music." "Classical Music Review" called his opera "Akhnaten" "a musically sophisticated and imposing work."


title: Philip Glass

text: Justin Davidson of "New York" magazine has criticized Glass, saying, "Glass never had a good idea he didn't flog to death: He repeats the haunting scale 30 mind-numbing times, until it's long past time to go home." Richard Schickel of "Time" criticized Glass's score for "The Hours", saying, "This ultimately proves insufficient to lend meaning to their lives or profundity to a grim and uninvolving film, for which Philip Glass unwittingly provides the perfect score—tuneless, oppressive, droning, painfully self-important."


title: Audra McDonald

text: Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is an American actress and singer. Primarily known for her work on the Broadway stage, she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win in all four acting categories. She has performed in musicals, operas, and dramas such as "A Moon for the Misbegotten", "110 in the Shade", "Carousel", "Ragtime", "Master Class", and "Porgy and Bess".


title: Audra McDonald

text: As a classical soprano, she has performed in staged operas with the Houston Grand Opera and the Los Angeles Opera and in concerts with symphony orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonic and New York Philharmonic. In 2008, her recording of Kurt Weill's "Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny" with the Los Angeles Opera won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Album and the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. She has a close working relationship with composer Michael John LaChiusa who has written several works for her, including the Broadway musical "Marie Christine", the opera "Send (who are you? i love you)", and "The Seven Deadly Sins: A Song Cycle". With her full lyric soprano voice, she maintains an active concert and recording career throughout the United States performing a wide repertoire from classical to musical theater to jazz and popular songs. In 2016, McDonald was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama. She was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2017.


title: Audra McDonald

text: On television, McDonald portrayed Dr. Naomi Bennett as a main cast member of Shonda Rhimes's ABC television drama "Private Practice" from 2007 to 2011. She also portrayed the character of Liz Lawrence in season 4 of "The Good Wife", a role that she reprises as a main cast member in the spinoff series "The Good Fight"; she received two Critics Choice Award nominations for her performance. In 2013 she performed the role of Mother Superior in "The Sound of Music Live!" opposite Carrie Underwood as Maria. She has twice been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie, for her portrayals of Susie Monahan in "Wit" opposite Emma Thompson in 2001 and for her performance of Ruth Younger in "A Raisin in the Sun" in 2008. In 2016, she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance in "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill" for HBO in which McDonald portrayed jazz legend Billie Holiday. She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Program in 2015 for her work hosting the program "Live from Lincoln Center".


title: Audra McDonald

text: On film, McDonald is best known for her portrayals of Maureen in "Ricki and the Flash" (2015), Madame de Garderobe in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" (2017), and Barbara Siggers Franklin in "Respect" (2021). She has been nominated seven times for the NAACP Image Awards for her work in television and film.


title: Audra McDonald

text: McDonald was born in West Berlin, Germany, the daughter of American parents, Anna Kathryn (Jones), a university administrator, and Stanley James McDonald Jr., a high school principal. At the time of her birth, her father was stationed with the United States Army. McDonald was raised in her father's native Fresno, California, the elder of two daughters; her sister, Alison, writes and directs for television and film. McDonald graduated from the Roosevelt School of the Arts program within Theodore Roosevelt High School in Fresno.


title: Audra McDonald

text: She got her start in acting with Dan Pessano and Roger Rocka's Good Company Players, beginning in their junior company. In a feature article about her written when she was a child, she said that she knew she wanted to be involved in theater "when I had my first chance to perform with the Good Company Players Junior Company." She also said that the people who have had the most impact on her life are "Good Company director Dan Pessano and my mother." She studied classical voice as an undergraduate under Ellen Faull at the Juilliard School, graduating in 1993.


title: Audra McDonald

text: McDonald was a three-time Tony Award winner by age 28 for her performances in "Carousel", "Master Class", and "Ragtime", placing her alongside Shirley Booth, Gwen Verdon and Zero Mostel by accomplishing this feat within five years. She was nominated for another Tony Award for her performance in "Marie Christine" before she won her fourth in 2004 for her role in "A Raisin in the Sun", placing her in the company of then four-time winning actress Angela Lansbury. She reprised her "Raisin" role for a 2008 television adaptation, earning her a second Emmy Award nomination. On June 10, 2012, McDonald scored her fifth Tony Award win for her portrayal of Bess in Broadway's "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess", thus tying Angela Lansbury and Julie Harris. Her 2014 performance as Billie Holiday in "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill" earned McDonald her sixth Tony award and made her the first person to win all four acting categories.


title: Audra McDonald

text: McDonald appeared as Lizzie in the Roundabout Theatre Company's 2007 revival of "110 in the Shade", directed by Lonny Price at Studio 54, for which she shared the Drama Desk Award for Best Actress in a Musical with Donna Murphy. On April 29, 2007, while she was in previews for the show, her father was killed when an experimental aircraft he was flying crashed north of Sacramento, California.


title: Audra McDonald

text: McDonald is known for defying racial typecasting in her various Tony Award-winning and -nominated roles. Her performances as Carrie Pipperidge in Nicholas Hytner's 1994 revival of "Carousel" and Lizzie Curry in Lonny Price's 2007 revival of "110 in the Shade" made her the first black woman to portray those traditionally white roles in a major Broadway production. Of her groundbreaking work in encouraging diversity in musical theatre casting, she said in an interview for "The New York Times", "I refuse to be stereotyped. If I think I am right for a role I will go for it in whatever way I can. I refuse to say no to myself. I can't control what a producer will do or say but I can at least put myself out there." In a "Talk of the Nation" interview on NPR, Asian-American actor Thom Sesma said McDonald's performance in "Carousel" "transcended any kind of type at all", proving her to be "more actress than African-American."


title: Audra McDonald

text: McDonald has also performed in opera. In 2006 she made her opera debut at the Houston Grand Opera performing Francis Poulenc's "La Voix humaine" and the world premiere of Michael John LaChiusa's one-woman opera "Send (who are you? I love you)". She had previously performed in the world premiere of John Adams' "I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky" which was given in concert, and can be heard on the 1997 recording of the opera. In 2007 she performed the role of Jenny Smith in Kurt Weill's "Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny" at the Los Angeles Opera. Her performance was recorded and won the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording in 2009. She appeared in a revised version of George Gershwin's opera "Porgy and Bess", at the American Repertory Theatre (in Cambridge, Massachusetts) from August through September 2011, and recreated the role on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, which opened on January 12, 2012, and closed on September 23, 2012. For this role, McDonald won her fifth Tony Award and her first in a Leading Actress category. This American Repertory Theater production was "re-imagined by Suzan-Lori Parks and Diedre Murray as a musical for contemporary audiences."


title: Audra McDonald

text: In 2014, she was featured in Lynn Nottage's short play "Poof!", alongside Tonya Pinkins. It was produced for radio and podcast by Playing On Air.


title: Audra McDonald

text: She appeared at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown, Massachusetts, in Eugene O'Neill's play "A Moon for the Misbegotten" in August 2015, co-starring with her husband Will Swenson.


title: Audra McDonald

text: In 2016, McDonald starred on Broadway as the vaudeville performer Lottie Gee in a new musical titled "Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed" about the making of the 1921 musical "Shuffle Along." "Shuffle Along" closed on July 24, 2016, and McDonald began a maternity hiatus at that time. In 2019 McDonald played as Frankie in "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune" at the Broadhurst Theatre, earning her ninth Tony Award nomination for her performance for Best Actress in a Play.


title: Audra McDonald

text: McDonald played Billie Holiday on Broadway in the play "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill" in a limited engagement that ended on August 10, 2014. After previews that began on March 25, 2014, the play opened at the Circle in the Square Theatre on April 13, 2014. Of the play, McDonald said in an interview:


title: Audra McDonald

text: It's about a woman trying to get through a concert performance, which I know something about, and she's doing it at a time when her liver was pickled and she was still doing heroin regularly...I might have been a little judgmental about Billie Holiday early on in my life, but what I've come to admire most about her – and what is fascinating in this show – is that there is never any self-pity. She's almost laughing at how horrible her life has been. I don't think she sees herself as a victim. And she feels an incredible connection to her music – she can't sing a song if she doesn't have some emotional connection to it, which I really understand.


title: Audra McDonald

text: McDonald won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for this role, making her the first person to earn six Tony Award wins for acting (not counting honorary awards) and the first person to win a Tony Award in all four acting categories. In her acceptance speech, "she thanked her parents for encouraging her to pursue her interests as a child." She also thanked the "strong and brave and courageous" African-American women who came before her, saying in part, "I am standing on Lena Horne's shoulders. I am standing on Maya Angelou's shoulders. I am standing on Diahann Carroll and Ruby Dee, and most of all, Billie Holiday. You deserved so much more than you were given when you were on this planet. This is for you, Billie." This performance was filmed at Cafe Brasil in New Orleans and broadcast on HBO on March 12, 2016. McDonald received a 2016 Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her role in the broadcast.


title: Audra McDonald

text: McDonald had planned to make her West End debut as Holiday in "Lady Day" in June through September 2016, but after becoming pregnant she postponed these plans. She performed in "Lady Day" in June 2017 through September 9, 2017, at the Wyndham's Theatre in the West End.


title: Audra McDonald

text: McDonald has maintained ties to her classical training and repertoire. She frequently performs in concert throughout the U.S. and has performed with musical organizations such as the New York Philharmonic and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Carnegie Hall commissioned the song cycle "The Seven Deadly Sins: A Song Cycle" for McDonald, and she performed it at Carnegie's Zankel Hall on June 2, 2004. She sang two solo one-act operas at the Houston Grand Opera in March 2006: Francis Poulenc's "La voix humaine" and the world premiere of Michael John LaChiusa's "Send (who are you? I love you)". On February 10, 2007, McDonald starred with Patti LuPone in the Los Angeles Opera production of Kurt Weill's opera "Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny" directed by John Doyle. The recording of this production of "Mahagonny" won two Grammy Awards, for Best Opera Recording and Best Classical Album in February 2009.


title: Audra McDonald

text: In September 2008, American composer Michael John LaChiusa was quoted in "Opera News Online", as working on an adaptation of Bizet's "Carmen" with McDonald in mind.


title: Audra McDonald

text: McDonald has recorded five solo albums for Nonesuch Records. Her first, the 1998 "Way Back to Paradise", featured songs written by a new generation of musical theatre composers who had achieved varying degrees of prominence in the 1990s, particularly LaChiusa, Adam Guettel and Jason Robert Brown.


title: Audra McDonald

text: Her next album, "How Glory Goes" (2000), combined both old and new works, and included composers Harold Arlen, Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Kern. Her third album, "Happy Songs" (2002), was big band music from the 1920s through the 1940s. Her fourth album, "Build a Bridge" (2006), features songs from jazz and pop.


title: Audra McDonald

text: In May 2013, Audra McDonald released her first solo album in seven years, "Go Back Home", with a title track from the Kander & Ebb musical "The Scottsboro Boys". To coincide with the album's release, McDonald performed a concert at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City that aired on the PBS series "Live from Lincoln Center" titled "Audra McDonald In Concert: Go Back Home".


title: Audra McDonald

text: At the 2010 BCS National Championship Game on January 7, McDonald sang "America the Beautiful" for the sold-out stadium fans to celebrate the final game of the college football season.


title: Audra McDonald

text: In May 2000, Audra McDonald appeared as "The Beggar Woman" in Lonny Price's concert version of Stephen Sondheim's "", performed at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, New York, with the New York Philharmonic with George Hearn and Patti LuPone. She reprised the role in some performances of the March 2014 Lincoln Center concert production, again directed by Price, this time opposite Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson. She performed three concerts, titled "Audra McDonald Sings Broadway", in the Sydney Opera House in November 2015, which also included "The Facebook Song" by Kate Miller-Heidke.


title: Audra McDonald

text: McDonald has also made many television and film appearances, both musical and dramatic. In 1996 she made her film acting debut in "Seven Servants" by Daryush Shokof. After being cast in "The Object of My Affection" and "Cradle Will Rock", in 1999 she appeared on the television series "", in television remake of "Annie" as Daddy Warbucks' secretary & soon-to-be wife, Miss Farrell, and in the television film "." In 2000, McDonald acted in two episodes of "" and in the television film "The Last Debate."


title: Audra McDonald

text: In 2001, she received her first Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for the HBO film "Wit", which starred Emma Thompson and was directed by Mike Nichols.


title: Audra McDonald

text: In 2003, McDonald starred as Sarah Langley in "It Runs in the Family," and as Jackie Brock in nine episodes of short-lived "Mister Sterling." From 2005 to 2006, she acted in several television series and films, such as "The Bedford Diaries" and "Kidnapped," while from 2007 to 2013 she played Dr. Naomi Bennett in "Private Practice", a spinoff of "Grey's Anatomy," replacing Merrin Dungey, who played the role in the series pilot. She sang with the New York Philharmonic in the annual New Year's Eve gala concert on December 31, 2006, featuring music from the movies; it was televised on "Live from Lincoln Center" by PBS.


title: Audra McDonald

text: In 2008, McDonald starred as Ruth Younger in the critically acclaimed television movie "A Raisin in the Sun", and was nominated at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie, and at the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie.


title: Audra McDonald

text: Since 2012, McDonald has served as host for the PBS series "Live from Lincoln Center", for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Program with the show's producers for "", aired in 2015.


title: Audra McDonald

text: In 2013, McDonald appeared in the HBO documentary "Six by Sondheim," and she played Mother Abbess in the 2013 NBC live television production of "The Sound of Music Live!".


title: Audra McDonald

text: In 2016, McDonald starred as Billie Holiday in the filmed stage production, "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill", for which she received critical acclaim. She earned nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series.


title: Audra McDonald

text: In 2017, McDonald starred in Walt Disney Pictures motion picture "Beauty and the Beast" as Madame de Garderobe, earning a nomination at the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.


title: Audra McDonald

text: On August 1, 2017, it was announced that she had been added to the main cast for the second season of "The Good Fight", reprising her role as Liz Lawrence from "The Good Wife" season 4. McDonald stayed in the cast for the next seasons, and was nominated twice for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.


title: Audra McDonald

text: In 2021, McDonald portrayed Rachel Boutella in television series "The Bite" and hosted the television ceremony of the 74th Tony Awards"."


title: Audra McDonald

text: In 2021, she appeared as Barbara Siggers Franklin in Aretha Franklin's biographical musical drama film "Respect", earning a nomination at the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.


title: Audra McDonald

text: McDonald married bassist Peter Donovan in September 2000. They have one daughter, Zoe Madeline Donovan, named after McDonald's close friend and "Master Class" co-star Zoe Caldwell and the late Madeline Kahn. McDonald became close friends with Kahn after they filmed a TV pilot together, and she found out she was carrying a girl the same day she sang at Kahn's memorial. McDonald and Donovan divorced in 2009.


title: Audra McDonald

text: She married Will Swenson on October 6, 2012. On October 19, 2016, she gave birth to their daughter, Sally James McDonald-Swenson. She is the stepmother to Swenson's two sons from his previous marriage.


title: Audra McDonald

text: In October 2020, McDonald joined many other Broadway stars in a virtual voter education and letter-writing party sponsored by VoteRiders to raise awareness about voter ID requirements.


title: Audra McDonald

text: In June 2020, McDonald and a coalition of professionals from across the theatre industry launched Black Theatre United, an organization whose mission is to inspire reform and combat systemic racism within the theatre community and throughout the nation. Emphasizing four goalsawareness, accountability, advocacy, and actionBTU works at the community and national levels to elevate anti-racist causes and support the Black community through various resources and initiatives.


title: Audra McDonald

text: McDonald joined other Broadway stars including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Josh Groban, Idina Menzel, Laura Benanti, and Kristin Chenoweth in 2018 to record Singing You Home, a bilingual children's album designed to benefit organizations that aid families separated at the border.


title: Audra McDonald

text: She joined the Covenant House board of Directors in 2014. Covenant House oversees programs for homeless youth in 27 cities in six countries across the United States, Canada, and Latin America. Audra was the recipient of their 2018 Beacon of Hope Award.


title: Audra McDonald

text: 23 concerts total; the gap between May and October 2013 is due to McDonald's work with television and her album coming out, causing the three and a half month gap. The tour ended due to McDonald's show, "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill" opening on Broadway, but she picked up again with a new tour once the show closed.


title: Audra McDonald

text: 37 concerts; this tour marked her Australian debut. The lack of August shows was due to her run in "A Moon for the Misbegotten".


title: Audra McDonald

text: In 2012, Audra McDonald received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member General Colin Powell.


title: Audra McDonald

text: On September 22, 2016, Audra McDonald was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama for 2015. The Award states, in part: "for lighting up Broadway as one of its brightest stars... In musicals, concerts, operas, and the recording studio, her rich, soulful voice continues to take her audiences to new heights."


title: Pitch Black (film)

text: Pitch Black (titled The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black on its DVD re-release) is a 2000 American science fiction action film directed by David Twohy and co-written by Twohy and brothers Ken and Jim Wheat from a story conceived by the latter. The film stars Vin Diesel, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, and Keith David. Dangerous criminal Richard B. Riddick (Diesel) is being transported to prison in a spacecraft, and escapes when the spaceship is damaged by comet debris and crash lands on an empty desert planet. When predatory creatures begin attacking the survivors, Riddick joins forces with them to escape the planet.


title: Pitch Black (film)

text: "Pitch Black" was the final film credit of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, which merged with Universal Pictures during production. It was shot on a modest budget of US$23 million and received mixed reviews from critics, who praised some promising story elements, the visual style, and Diesel's performance, but criticized the lack of exploration of the alien world and recycled human conflicts. It was a sleeper hit, grossing over $53 million worldwide, and started a franchise centered on the antihero Riddick. A sequel, "The Chronicles of Riddick", was released in 2004 by Universal, with Diesel back as the title character and Twohy returning as writer and director. A third film, titled "Riddick", was released in 2013, with Diesel and Twohy reuniting again.


title: Pitch Black (film)

text: In the distant future, the spaceship "Hunter-Gratzner" is transporting passengers in cryostasis. Among them is Abu "Imam" al-Walid, a Muslim priest guiding three young pilgrims to New Mecca; a teenager named Jack; a pair of prospectors named Shazza and Zeke; a rich merchant named Paris; and a law enforcement officer, William J. Johns, who is escorting notorious criminal Richard B. Riddick. Riddick has surgically modified eyes that are highly sensitive to light. Micrometeoroids rupture the ship's hull, killing the captain and sending the ship off course. The ship's first officer, Owens, and the docking pilot, Carolyn Fry, attempt to land the ship on a nearby planet. As the ship falls apart, Fry decides to dump the passenger section to reduce weight, but Owens stops her. The vessel crashes into the planet's surface, most of the passengers are killed, and Owens is fatally wounded. Riddick escapes into the desert despite Johns' attempts to keep him restrained.


title: Pitch Black (film)

text: The survivors explore their surroundings, noticing that the planet's three suns keep it in perpetual daylight. They find an abandoned geological research settlement, with a water well and a dropship that lacks power to fly. Zeke goes missing, and Riddick is suspected; while searching for Zeke, Fry escapes from aggressive photosensitive creatures after finding his remains in their cave. Johns recaptures Riddick and offers him a deal: if he helps the survivors escape the planet, Johns will allow him to go free. The group takes a power cell to the dropship. One of the young pilgrims is ambushed and eaten while exploring the settlement. An orrery shows that an eclipse is imminent and the creatures will be free to hunt above ground. They realize the geologists must have been all killed by the creatures during the last eclipse. Johns informs Fry that Riddick is a capable pilot and could abandon them, and Riddick reveals that Johns is actually a bounty hunter and morphine addict who denied Owens the drug in his final moments.


title: Pitch Black (film)

text: The group returns to the crash site on a solar-powered sand truck to salvage more power cells for the dropship before the eclipse, but it begins as they get there. Creatures pour out of the ground and devour Shazza and another pilgrim. With his enhanced sight, Riddick agrees to lead the group to the dropship on foot through the darkness. They build a rig from the ship's lighting rods as protection; Paris accidentally destroys the rig and is devoured. Riddick reveals to the group that Jack is female and the scent of her menstrual blood is drawing the attention of the creatures; Johns suggests to Riddick that they use her as bait. Instead, Riddick fights and wounds Johns and leaves him as a distraction. The rest of the group pushes on as Riddick drags the power cells behind him.


title: Pitch Black (film)

text: After Imam's last acolyte is killed and rainfall starts putting out their improvised torches, Riddick hides the others in a cave and goes to start the dropship himself. Inside the cave, the group discovers bioluminescent worms, which they stuff in bottles to use as light. Fry leaves the cave and finds Riddick powering the ship, ready to leave. She pleads with him to help her rescue the others, but instead he offers to take her with him. Riddick is soon persuaded to return after Fry answers his question that she would die for them, and they retrieve Imam and Jack, but Riddick is separated and wounded by the predators; Fry goes back for him but a creature stabs and carries her off. Riddick makes it to the ship and delays engaging the engines to incinerate as many creatures as possible. In space, Jack asks Riddick what they should tell the authorities about him; he tells her to say that Riddick died on the planet.


title: Pitch Black (film)

text: According to Ken and Jim Wheat, the original concept of "Pitch Black" was suggested by David Madden during his tenure in Interscope Communications. His initial premise was: “[t]ravelers visit a planet where multiple suns mean perpetual daylight, but when an eclipse brings darkness, ghosts emerge.” These "ghost" antagonists survived the first draft, but were later replaced by physical predators.


title: Pitch Black (film)

text: Most of the filming, including all of the external locations, took place in Australia. Multiple locations were used in and around Coober Pedy, South Australia. Most interior sequences were shot at the Village Roadshow Studios, in Oxenford, Queensland. In Los Angeles, New Deal Studios were used for miniature photography and the interior sequence of the spaceship crash.


title: Pitch Black (film)

text: "Pitch Black" opened in 1,832 theaters on 18 February 2000, grossing $11,577,688 over its opening weekend and ranking 4th at the box office. The film has a domestic gross of $39,240,659 and an international gross of $13,947,000, giving it a worldwide total of $53,187,659.


title: Pitch Black (film)

text: At review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 59% approval rating based on 113 reviews, with an average rating of 5.70/10. The site's consensus reads: "Despite an interesting premise (and a starmaking turn from Vin Diesel), "Pitch Black" is too derivative and formulaic to fully recommend to sci-fi or action fans". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Pitch Black (film)

text: James Berardinelli of "ReelViews" gave the film 3 out of 4 stars and stated, "It's not an especially challenging part, but Diesel handles it with aplomb." BBC.com gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and stated it as "an entertainment and quite a good one too." Peter Bradshaw of "Guardian" gave the film a positive review and stated that the film "undoubtedly has something interesting about it, and that something can be summarized in two words: Vin Diesel." Nathan Rabin of "A.V. Club" gave the film a positive review and stated that the film "falters a bit in its last half-hour" and "reduces Diesel to delivering a pithy one-liner-but for the most part, it's terrific."


title: Pitch Black (film)

text: "San Francisco Chronicle" gave the film 0 out of 4 stars and called the film "a tiresome experience." "Austin Chronicle" gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and called the film "a very streamlined exercise in interplanetary mayhem and the logistics of the body count." Roger Ebert of "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film 2 out of 4 stars and stated that "how sad it is that humans travel countless light years away from Earth, only to find themselves inhabiting the same tired generic conventions."


title: Pitch Black (film)

text: "Pitch Black" was released on VHS and DVD on October 10, 2000. It was re-released on DVD in 2004 as "The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black". It was released on HD DVD on July 11, 2006, and on Blu-ray on March 31, 2009. The disc contains the theatrical edition and an unrated director's cut edition, containing 3 more minutes of extra material. A LaserDisc release was also planned, but cancelled by mid-2001 due to waning support for that format.


title: Pitch Black (film)

text: The movie's sequel, "The Chronicles of Riddick" (2004), was also directed by David Twohy. To tie in with the sequel, the film was novelized under the name "The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black," which was written by Frank Lauria.


title: Pitch Black (film)

text: A short animated movie released the same year, "" (2004), was directed by Peter Chung. "Dark Fury" bridges the gap between "Pitch Black" and "Chronicles of Riddick".


title: Pitch Black (film)

text: "Riddick", a live-action sequel to "The Chronicles of Riddick", opened on September 6, 2013, with both David Twohy and Vin Diesel attached. The sequel ties in more closely to the original "Pitch Black".


title: Pitch Black (film)

text: In 2000, a prequel to "Pitch Black" was released named "Into Pitch Black", which was supposed to be a documentary film.


title: Pitch Black (film)

text: "", a game for the Xbox and the PC, was also released in 2004 to critical acclaim. A remake of "Butcher Bay", including a new campaign, was released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on 7 April 2009, under the title "".


title: Ilana Glazer

text: Ilana Glazer (born April 12, 1987) is an American comedian, director, producer, writer, and actress. She co-created and co-starred, with Abbi Jacobson, in the Comedy Central series "Broad City", which is based on the web series of the same name. She was twice nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for the series. Glazer also starred in the 2017 film "Rough Night" and released her debut stand-up comedy special, "The Planet Is Burning", in January 2020. In 2022, she won the Tony Award for Best Musical for serving as a producer for the Broadway show "A Strange Loop".


title: Ilana Glazer

text: Glazer, born in New York City, New York, is the daughter of Sandi and Larry Glazer, who both work in insurance and finance. She grew up in a Reform Jewish family in St. James, New York, on Long Island and is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Her brother, Eliot Glazer, is a producer, writer and actor with whom she has worked on shows like "" and "Broad City" where he plays her brother.


title: Ilana Glazer

text: Glazer began taking classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in 2006, and performed around New York City doing improv and stand-up for the next several years.


title: Ilana Glazer

text: In 2009, along with co-creator Abbi Jacobson, Glazer began shooting "Broad City", a web series starring the two as fictionalized versions of themselves. The series was nominated for an ECNY Award for 'Best Web Series' and was positively received, garnering attention from major media outlets such as "Entertainment Weekly", "USA Today", and "The Wall Street Journal". The series caught the attention of Amy Poehler, who subsequently met with Glazer and Jacobson to help them shop a pilot script based on the series. Poehler also agreed to star in the web series finale.


title: Ilana Glazer

text: In 2011, cable network FX, working with Poehler as the producer, purchased a script commitment for the series from Glazer and Jacobson. However, the network did not approve the script and decided not to proceed with development. Glazer and Jacobson then approached Comedy Central, who agreed to purchase the script from FX and order a pilot.


title: Ilana Glazer

text: "Broad City" made its broadcast television premiere in January 2014 and was received with positive reviews and strong ratings, becoming Comedy Central's highest-rated first season since 2012 among the younger demographics, including adults 18–34, with an average of 1.2 million viewers.


title: Ilana Glazer

text: The show has received critical acclaim from fans and critics alike. Review aggregation website Metacritic noted season 1 received "generally favorable reviews", giving it a score of 75 out of 100, based on reviews from 14 critics.


title: Ilana Glazer

text: In February 2014, Comedy Central renewed the show for a second season. Season 2 received positive reviews, with Metacritic giving it a score of 89 out of 100, based on reviews from 8 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: Ilana Glazer

text: In January 2015, the series was renewed for a third season, which premiered on February 17, 2016. In January 2016, the series was renewed for a fourth and a final fifth season, which premiered on January 24, 2019.


title: Ilana Glazer

text: Glazer starred in the 2013 independent feature film "How to Follow Strangers". The film won top prize at the Lower East Side Film Festival. She appears in the 2015 film "The Night Before". Glazer starred alongside Scarlett Johansson and Kate McKinnon in the 2017 comedy "Rough Night". Glazer stars in the horror film "False Positive", released on Hulu on June 25, 2021.


title: Ilana Glazer

text: Glazer's debut stand-up special "The Planet Is Burning" premiered on Amazon Prime in January 2020. It was directed by Ryan Cunningham and Glazer served as an executive producer.


title: Ilana Glazer

text: Glazer founded the campaign platform Generator Collective in 2016 with Glennis Meagher. The platform promotes female election candidates and general participation in democracy and political discussion.


title: Ilana Glazer

text: Glazer was once roommates with comedian Rachel Bloom after college in Brooklyn. In February 2017, Glazer married her longtime boyfriend, computational biologist David Rooklin, in a private ceremony. Glazer is queer and has credited her work on "Broad City" with helping her understand her sexuality.


title: Ilana Glazer

text: On March 17, 2021, Glazer announced on social media and in a magazine photo shoot that she and Rooklin were expecting a child together. Their first child, a daughter, was born in July 2021.


title: Dorohedoro

text: In North America, the series has been licensed for English-language release by Viz Media in 2009, which began distributing the manga digitally when it launched "SigIKKI", the now defunct online English version of "Ikki" magazine. The twenty-three volumes were published from 2010 to 2019.


title: Dorohedoro

text: A 12-episode anime television series adaptation produced by MAPPA was broadcast in Japan on Tokyo MX from January to March 2020. It was followed by a worldwide streaming release on Netflix in May 2020.


title: Dorohedoro

text: The series is set in a near post-apocalyptic future, taking place across three distinct realms: Hole, a sprawling favela-like city inhabited by humans, heavily polluted from sorcerers' magic; the Sorcerers' world, a vibrant land filled with magic users and controlled by sorcerer crime boss En; and Hell, a torturous underworld occupied by all deceased sorcerers and ruled by demons, presided over by head demon Chidaruma.


title: Dorohedoro

text: Despite appearing similar, humans and sorcerers are two distinct species, the former evolving naturally while the latter originated from a primordial devil named Chidaruma. Sorcerers have specialized circulatory system that allows them to produce "smoke", the source of their unique magical powers. Most sorcerers have weaker powers while others may be capable of far greater feats such as resurrecting the dead or controlling time; these powers are incredibly rare and highly prized. The amount of smoke a sorcerer is capable of producing determines the effectiveness of their magic abilities. Many sorcerers work to improve their smoke output through surgery, or more commonly, the illicit use of black powder, a smoke-enhancing drug distributed by criminals. Smoke can also be bought and sold similar to magic pawning, with sold magic retaining the effects as when it is cast.


title: Dorohedoro

text: Both the magic realm and Hole are overwhelmingly lawless. Historically, Hole was run by violent community vigilantes who would torture and kill suspected sorcerers and their families, though they have since dissolved, the outcome is that Hole's inhabitants are largely helpless to stop sorcerers from experimenting on and killing them, to the point specialist hospitals have to be run to save human victims of magic attacks. Additionally, the magic realm was previously run by traffickers who would drain sorcerers of magic for resale before dumping their bodies; En is one of the few surviving victims of this, ultimately tearing the empire down to establish himself as a ruling mob boss of the magic world.


title: Dorohedoro

text: The realms are structured not unlike a caste system: demons are highest ranked, deeply respected and revered by sorcerer-kind and follow the bidding of Chidaruma; within sorcerer-kind there is a hierarchical system wherein powerful magic users live in luxury selling their skills, whilst sorcerers who are weaker, unskilled, or have less desirable magic can live in abject poverty within their world; and lowest are humans, forced to live in the slums of Hole surrounded by severe pollution and magic acid rain caused by sorcerers. In response to the abuses they endure a number of weak sorcerers and humans join a prevalent gang called The Cross-Eyes, its members identifiable by red cross tattoos on their eyelids, who work to provide weaker peoples with illegal black powder and to oppose En's family.


title: Dorohedoro

text: A man named Caiman is searching for his real identity after a transformation by a sorcerer left him with a reptile's head and no memory of his former life. Along with his friend Nikaido, he violently assaults sorcerers in the Hole, with the aim of taking their heads into his mouth, where a strange face appears from his throat and judges whether the sorcerer he has bitten onto was the one responsible for his transformation or not. Somehow, Caiman is immune to magical effects and as a result is extremely dangerous to sorcerers, especially given his large size and proficiency with knives.


title: Dorohedoro

text: The news of a lizard-headed sorcerer-killer immune to magic attracts the attention of En, a powerful sorcerer and head of a syndicate known as “The En Family”, who sends his cleaners Shin and Noi to kill Caiman. En himself is currently attempting to scrub out a gang of low-level sorcerers known as the Cross-Eyes, after an encounter with their legendary boss almost cost him his life years ago. Shin and Noi regularly team up with low-ranking sorcerers Fujita, who seeks revenge as Caiman murdered his partner, and Ebisu, who has lost her memory after accidentally having her face torn off.


title: Dorohedoro

text: As the residents of the Hole, the En family and the Cross-Eyes gang, along with many others, collide with one another, the mystery of Caiman's identity begins to unravel, reigniting ancient grudges and threatening to forever change both the Hole and the sorcerers' world.


title: Dorohedoro

text: "Dorohedoro", written and illustrated by Q Hayashida, began in the first ever issue of Shogakukan's "seinen" manga magazine "Spirits Zōkan Ikki" (re-branded as "Monthly Ikki" in 2003), released on November 30, 2000. "Monthly Ikki" ceased publication on September 25, 2014, and the series was transferred to "Monthly Ikki"s magazine replacement "Hibana", starting on March 6, 2015. "Hibana" ceased publication after a two-year run on August 7, 2017, and "Dorohedoro" was transferred to Shogakukan's "shōnen" manga magazine "Monthly Shōnen Sunday" on November 10 of the same year. The manga finished after eighteen years of publication on September 12, 2018, with its 167th chapter. Shogakukan has compiled the chapters into twenty-three "tankōbon" volumes, released from January 30, 2002, to November 12, 2018. A 14-page special chapter was published seventeen months after the series' finale in "Monthly Shōnen Sunday" on February 12, 2020.


title: Dorohedoro

text: In North America, Viz Media began distributing the manga digitally in 2009 when it launched its SigIKKI site, the former online English version of "Monthly Ikki". The twenty-three volumes of "Dorohedoro" were released in print from March 16, 2010, to September 17, 2019. It was translated by the localization company AltJapan Co., Ltd.


title: Dorohedoro

text: An anime television series adaptation of "Dorohedoro" was announced in the December 2018 issue of Shogakukan's "Monthly Shōnen Sunday" magazine released on November 12, 2018. The series is produced by MAPPA and directed by Yuichiro Hayashi, with series composition by Hiroshi Seko, character designs by Tomohiro Kishi, and music composed by R.O.N of (K)NoW_NAME. It ran for 12 episodes from January 12 to March 29, 2020 on Tokyo MX. A series of six 5-minute-long episode original video animation (OVA) was bundled with the series' second Blu-ray release on June 17, 2020.


title: Dorohedoro

text: "Dorohedoro" was released outside of Japan on Netflix on May 28, 2020. The six short episodes were also made available on Netflix on October 15, 2020, as one long singular episode, labeled as episode 13.


title: Dorohedoro

text: Joseph Luster of "Otaku USA" called the series a "weird title", but he said that the story "makes for some prime manga absorption". He called the artwork "rough and sketchy, but painstakingly detailed", comparing it to the art style of Kentaro Miura and Pushead. Bill Sherman of "Blogcritics" praised Hayashida's writing and her bold artwork with her "in-your-face action and punkish scratchiness". David Brothers of "ComicsAlliance" praised Hayashida's "Dorohedoro" for her ability to find the beauty in the grotesque and compared the drawing to the likes of Simon Bisley, Tsutomu Nihei, and Katsuhiro Otomo. Brothers continues, "It's gritty, but it looks great. Flipping through the book just to gaze at the art is almost as rewarding as actually reading it". Deb Aoki of "About.com" wrote: ""Dorohedoro" is violent and surreal, but it's also infused with Hayashida's dark and goofy sense of humor. Between their killing sprees, Caiman and Nikaido bicker and flirt like workin' class stiffs who appreciate a laugh and a good meal after a hard day at the office". On the other hand, Carlo Santos from "Anime News Network" has criticized the series, saying that the story "never develops a sense of flow" and that Q Hayashida "cannot draw the human body at all".


title: Dorohedoro

text: The "Dorohedoro" anime series was nominated for the 2021 5th Crunchyroll Anime Awards. Lynzee Loveridge from "Anime News Network" praised the story, animation and characters, calling it ""Dorohedoro" somehow perfected the balance of mystery, absurd violence, and humor into a single hellishly beautiful package. The background artistry is a major highlight, especially the scenes around En's mansion and Sorcerer's world where highly detailed minutiae create something both beautiful and frightening. Absurdly funny, well-realized characters, a fleshed-out horrific world". "Thrillist"'s Kambole Campbell wrote: ""Dorohedoro" hooks viewers with a wild premise and a unique, macabre world, but its staying power is in its cast of charming characters, as well as its numerous detours."


title: Richard Belzer

text: Richard Jay Belzer (born August 4, 1944) is a retired American actor, stand-up comedian, and author. He is best known for his role as BPD Detective, NYPD Detective/Sergeant, and DA Investigator John Munch, whom he has portrayed as a regular cast member on the NBC police drama series "" and "", as well as in guest appearances on several other series. He portrayed the character for 23 years, from 1993 to 2016.


title: Richard Belzer

text: Belzer was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Frances and Charles Belzer, a tobacco and candy retailer. He grew up in a Jewish family. He described his mother as frequently physically abusive, and he declared that his comedy career began when trying to make his mother laugh to distract her from abusing him and his brother. After graduating from Fairfield Warde High School, Belzer worked as a reporter for the "Bridgeport Post."


title: Richard Belzer

text: Belzer attended Dean College, which was then known as Dean Junior College, in Franklin, Massachusetts, but was expelled. He worked in a variety of jobs, including sales and as a census taker.


title: Richard Belzer

text: After his first divorce, Belzer relocated to New York City, moved in with singer Shelley Ackerman, and began working as a stand-up comic at Pips, The Improv, and Catch a Rising Star. He participated in the Channel One comedy group that satirized television and became the basis for the cult movie "The Groove Tube," in which Belzer played the costar of the "ersatz" TV show "The Dealers".


title: Richard Belzer

text: Belzer was the audience warm-up comedian for "Saturday Night Live" and made three guest appearances on the show between 1975 and 1980. He also opened for musician Warren Zevon during his tour supporting the release of his album "Excitable Boy".


title: Richard Belzer

text: In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Belzer became an occasional film actor. A short skit of a younger Richard Belzer can be found on "Sesame Street" in a season 9 episode in 1978 when two young men attempt a picnic and boat ride, only to be thwarted by a dog who eats their food. He is noted for small roles in "Fame", "Café Flesh", "Night Shift", and "Scarface". He appeared in the music videos for the Mike + The Mechanics song "Taken In" and for the Pat Benatar song "Le Bel Age", as well as the Kansas video "Can't Cry Anymore". He appeared in "A Very Brady Sequel" as an LAPD detective.


title: Richard Belzer

text: In addition to his film career, Belzer was a featured player on the "National Lampoon Radio Hour" with co-stars John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, and Harold Ramis, a half-hour comedy program aired on 600 plus U.S. stations from 1973 to 1975. Several of his sketches were released on National Lampoon albums, drawn from the "Radio Hour", including several bits in which he portrayed a pithy call-in talk show host named "Dick Ballantine".


title: Richard Belzer

text: In the late 1970s, he co-hosted "Brink & Belzer" on 660AM WNBC radio in New York City. He has been a frequent guest on "The Howard Stern Show".


title: Richard Belzer

text: Following the departure of Randi Rhodes from Air America Radio, Belzer guest-hosted the afternoon program on the network.


title: Richard Belzer

text: Belzer has been a regular guest on the right-wing radio show of Alex Jones and appeared on the episode covering the Boston Marathon bombing, in which he referred to the bombing as a false flag event.


title: Richard Belzer

text: In the 1990s, Belzer appeared frequently on television. He was a regular on "The Flash" as a news anchor and reporter. In several episodes of "," he played Inspector William Henderson.


title: Richard Belzer

text: He followed that with starring roles on the Baltimore-based "" (1993–1999) and the New York-based "" (1999–2013), portraying police detective John Munch in both series. Barry Levinson, Executive Producer of "Homicide", said Belzer was a "lousy actor" in audition when he read lines from the script for "Gone for Goode", the first episode in the series. Levinson asked Belzer to take time to reread and practice the material, then read it again. At his second reading, Levinson said Belzer was "still terrible", but that the actor eventually found confidence in his performance.


title: Richard Belzer

text: In addition, Belzer has played Munch in episodes on seven other series and in a sketch on one talk show, making Munch the only fictional character to appear on eleven different television shows played by a single actor. These shows were on six different networks:


title: Richard Belzer

text: In March 2016, executive producer Warren Leight announced Belzer would return to reprise the role in a May 2016 episode of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit", titled "Fashionable Crimes".


title: Richard Belzer

text: Belzer portrayed Det. Munch for 22 consecutive seasons on "Homicide" (7 seasons) and "Law & Order: SVU" (15 seasons), which exceeded the previous primetime live-action record of twenty consecutive seasons held by James Arness (who portrayed Marshal Matt Dillon on "Gunsmoke" from 1955 to 1975) and Kelsey Grammer (as Dr. Frasier Crane on "Cheers" and "Frasier" from 1984 to 2004). This record has since been passed by Belzer's "SVU" co-star Mariska Hargitay.


title: Richard Belzer

text: Belzer appeared in several of Comedy Central's televised broadcasts of Friars Club roasts. On June 9, 2001, Belzer himself was honored by the New York Friars Club and the Toyota Comedy Festival as the honoree of the first-ever roast open to the public. Comedians and friends on the dais included Roastmaster Paul Shaffer; Christopher Walken; Danny Aiello; Barry Levinson; Robert Klein; Bill Maher; "SVU" costars Mariska Hargitay, Christopher Meloni, Ice-T, and Dann Florek; and "Law & Order" Jerry Orbach. At the December 1, 2002, roast of Chevy Chase, Belzer said, "The only time Chevy Chase has a funny bone in his body is when I fuck him in the ass."


title: Richard Belzer

text: Belzer voiced the character of Loogie for most of the "South Park" episode titled "The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000". He and Brian Doyle-Murray were featured in the tenth-season premiere of "Sesame Street".


title: Richard Belzer

text: Belzer believes there was a conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy and has written four books discussing conspiracy theories:


title: Richard Belzer

text: "Dead Wrong" and "Hit List" were written with journalist David Wayne and reached "The New York Times" Best Seller list. "Someone Is Hiding Something" was also written with David Wayne as well as radio talk show host George Noory. Belzer's long-time character, John Munch, is also a believer in conspiracy theories, including the JFK assassination.


title: Richard Belzer

text: Belzer's first two marriages were to Gail Susan Ross (1966–72) and boutique manager Dalia Danoch (1976 – c. 1978), both of which ended in divorce. In 1981 in Los Angeles he met 31-year-old Harlee McBride, a divorcee with two daughters, Bree Benton and Jessica. McBride, who had been seen in "Playboy" magazine four years earlier in that year's sex-in-cinema feature, in conjunction with "Young Lady Chatterley", was appearing in TV commercials for Ford and acting in free theater when she met Belzer at the suggestion of a friend. The two married in 1985.


title: Richard Belzer

text: Belzer survived testicular cancer in 1983. His HBO special and comedy CD "Another Lone Nut" pokes fun at this medical incident as well as his status as a well-known conspiracy theorist.


title: Richard Belzer

text: On March 27, 1985, days prior to the inaugural WrestleMania, Belzer requested on his cable TV talk show "Hot Properties" that Hulk Hogan demonstrate one of his signature wrestling moves. After being asked by Belzer several times, Hogan put Belzer in a front chin-lock, which caused Belzer to pass out. When Hogan released him, Belzer hit his head on the floor, sustaining a laceration to the scalp that required a brief hospitalization. Belzer sued Hogan for $5 million and settled out of court. He used the incident in his HBO special "Another Lone Nut" as part of his stand-up routine.


title: Richard Belzer

text: Belzer's older brother, Leonard Belzer, died by suicide at age 73 in the early morning hours of July 30, 2014, by jumping from the roof of the New York City luxury apartment building in which he had resided. Belzer's father had also died by suicide, in 1968.


title: Richard Belzer

text: Belzer moved to the town Bozouls in the South of France, following his being written out of "SVU". He spends his time writing about his passion of conspiracy theories (Corporate Conspiracies: How Wall Street Will Take Over Washington and the upcoming Conversations with Jerry Lewis).


title: Tuareg people

text: The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: "Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn") are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Algeria, Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. Traditionally nomadic pastoralists, small groups of Tuareg are also found in northern Nigeria.


title: Tuareg people

text: The Tuareg speak languages of the same name (also known as "Tamasheq"), which belong to the Berber branch of the Afroasiatic family.


title: Tuareg people

text: The Tuaregs have been called the "blue people" for the indigo dye coloured clothes they traditionally wear and which stains their skin. They are a semi-nomadic people who practice Islam, and are descended from the indigenous Berber communities of Northern Africa, which have been described as a mosaic of local Northern African (Taforalt), Middle Eastern, European (Early European Farmers), and Sub-Saharan African-related ancestries, prior to the Arab expansion. Tuareg people are credited with the spreading of Islam in North Africa and the adjacent Sahel region.


title: Tuareg people

text: Tuareg society has traditionally featured clan membership, social status and caste hierarchies within each political confederation. The Tuareg have controlled several trans-Saharan trade routes and have been an important party to the conflicts in the Saharan region during the colonial and post-colonial era. Some researchers have tied the ethnogenesis of the Tuareg with the fall of the Garamantes who inhabited the Fezzan (Libya) from the 1st Millennium BC to 5th Century AD.


title: Tuareg people

text: The origins and meanings of the name "Tuareg" have long been debated. It would appear that "Twārəg" is derived from the broken plural of "Tārgi", a name whose former meaning was "inhabitant of "Targa"", the Tuareg name of the Libyan region commonly known as Fezzan. "Targa" in Berber means "(drainage) channel". Another theory is that Tuareg is derived from "Tuwariq", the plural of the Arabic exonym "Tariqi".


title: Tuareg people

text: The term for a Tuareg man is "Amajagh" (variants: "Amashegh", "Amahagh"), the term for a woman "Tamajaq" (variants: "Tamasheq", "Tamahaq", "Timajaghen"). Spellings of the appellation vary by Tuareg dialect. However, they all reflect the same linguistic root, expressing the notion of "freemen". As such, the endonym strictly refers only to the Tuareg nobility, not the artisanal client castes and the slaves. Two other Tuareg self-designations are "Kel Tamasheq" (Neo-Tifinagh: ), meaning "speakers of Tamasheq", and "Kel Tagelmust", meaning "veiled people" in allusion to the tagelmust garment that is traditionally worn by Tuareg men.


title: Tuareg people

text: The English exonym "Blue People" is similarly derived from the indigo color of the tagelmust veils and other clothing, which sometimes stains the skin underneath giving it a blueish tint. Another term for the Tuareg is "Imuhagh" or "Imushagh", a cognate to the northern Berber self-name "Imazighen".


title: Tuareg people

text: The Tuareg today inhabit a vast area in the Sahara, stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Algeria, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and the far north of Nigeria. Their combined population in these territories exceeds 2.5 million, with an estimated population in Niger of around 2 million (11% of inhabitants) and in Mali of another 0.5 million (3% of inhabitants).


title: Tuareg people

text: The Tuareg traditionally speak the Tuareg languages, also known as "Tamasheq", "Tamachen", "Tamashekin", "Tomacheck" and "Kidal". These languages belong to the Berber branch of the Afroasiatic family. According to "Ethnologue", there are an estimated 1.2 million Tuareg speakers. Around half of this number consists of speakers of the eastern dialect ("Tamajaq", "Tawallammat"). The exact number of Tuareg speakers per territory is uncertain. The CIA estimates that the Tuareg population in Mali constitutes approximately 0.9% of the national population (~150,000), whereas about 3.5% of local inhabitants speak Tuareg (Tamacheq) as a primary language. In contrast, Imperato (2008) estimates that the Tuareg represent around 3% of Mali's population.


title: Tuareg people

text: In antiquity, the Tuareg moved southward from the Tafilalt region into the Sahel under the Tuareg founding queen Tin Hinan, who is believed to have lived between the 4th and 5th century. The matriarch's 1,500-year-old monumental Tin Hinan tomb is located in the Sahara at Abalessa in the Hoggar Mountains of southern Algeria. Vestiges of an inscription in Tifinagh, the Tuareg's traditional Libyco-Berber writing script, have been found on one of the ancient sepulchre's walls.


title: Tuareg people

text: External accounts of interaction with the Tuareg are available from at least the 10th century onwards. Ibn Hawkal (10th century), El-Bekri (11th century), Edrisi (12th century), Ibn Batutah (14th century), and Leo Africanus (16th century) all documented the Tuareg in some form, usually as Mulatthamin or "the veiled ones." Of the early historians, fourteenth century scholar, Ibn Khaldûn probably has some of the most detailed commentary on the life and people of the Sahara, though he apparently never actually met them.


title: Tuareg people

text: At the turn of the 19th century, the Tuareg territory was organised into confederations, each ruled by a supreme Chief ("Amenokal"), along with a council of elders from each tribe. These confederations were sometimes called ""Drum Groups"" after the Amenokal's symbol of authority, a drum. Clan ("Tewsit") elders, called Imegharan (wisemen), were chosen to assist the chief of the confederation. Historically, there have been seven major confederations.


title: Tuareg people

text: In the mid-19th century descriptions of the Tuareg and their way of life were made by the English traveller James Richardson in his journeys across the Libyan Sahara in 1845–1846.


title: Tuareg people

text: In the late 19th century, the Tuareg resisted the French colonial invasion of their Central Saharan homelands and annihilated a French expedition led by Paul Flatters in 1881. However, in the long run Tuareg broadswords were no match for the more advanced weapons of French troops. After numerous massacres on both sides, the Tuareg were subdued and required to sign treaties in Mali 1905 and Niger 1917. In southern Morocco and Algeria, the French met some of the strongest resistance from the Ahaggar Tuareg. Their "Amenokal", traditional chief Moussa ag Amastan, fought numerous battles in defence of the region. Finally, Tuareg territories were taken under French governance.


title: Tuareg people

text: French colonial administration of the Tuareg was largely based on supporting the existing social hierarchy. The French came to the conclusion that Tuareg rebellions were largely the result of the implementation of policies that undermined the authority of traditional chiefs. The French wished to create a protectorate operating, ideally, through single chieftains. It was proposed that French support for the chieftains would result in them becoming loyal adherents of the colonial authority, and the authority would interact with the Tuareg only through the chieftains. One of the consequences of this policy was that the French authorities did little or nothing to improve the status of the servile portion of Tuareg society, believing that the noble caste, on whom their policy relied, would not survive without slaves.


title: Tuareg people

text: When African countries achieved widespread independence in the 1960s, the traditional Tuareg territory was divided among a number of modern states: Niger, Mali, Algeria, Libya, and Burkina Faso. Competition for resources in the Sahel has since led to conflicts between the Tuareg and neighboring African groups, especially after political disruption following French colonization and independence. There have been tight restrictions placed on nomadization because of high population growth. Desertification is exacerbated by human activity i.e.; exploitation of resources and the increased firewood needs of growing cities. Some Tuareg are therefore experimenting with farming; some have been forced to abandon herding and seek jobs in towns and cities.


title: Tuareg people

text: In Mali, a Tuareg uprising resurfaced in the Adrar N'Fughas mountains in the 1960s, following Mali's independence. Several Tuareg joined, including some from the Adrar des Iforas in northeastern Mali. The 1960s' rebellion was a fight between a group of Tuareg and the newly independent state of Mali. The Malian Army suppressed the revolt. Resentment among the Tuareg fueled the second uprising.


title: Tuareg people

text: This second (or third) uprising was in May 1990. At this time, in the aftermath of a clash between government soldiers and Tuareg outside a prison in Tchin-Tabaraden, Niger, Tuareg in both Mali and Niger claimed autonomy for their traditional homeland: (Ténéré, capital Agadez, in Niger and the Azawad and Kidal regions of Mali). Deadly clashes between Tuareg fighters (with leaders such as Mano Dayak) and the military of both countries followed, with deaths numbering well into the thousands. Negotiations initiated by France and Algeria led to peace agreements (11 January 1992 in Mali and 1995 in Niger). Both agreements called for decentralization of national power and guaranteed the integration of Tuareg resistance fighters into the countries' respective national armies.


title: Tuareg people

text: Major fighting between the Tuareg resistance and government security forces ended after the 1995 and 1996 agreements. As of 2004, sporadic fighting continued in Niger between government forces and Tuareg groups struggling for independence. In 2007, a new surge in violence occurred.


title: Tuareg people

text: Since the development of Berberism in North Africa in the 1990s, there has also been a Tuareg ethnic revival.


title: Tuareg people

text: Since 1998, three different flags have been designed to represent the Tuareg. In Niger, the Tuareg people remain diplomatically and economically marginalized, remaining poor and not being represented in Niger's central government.


title: Tuareg people

text: The Tuareg traditionally adhered to the Berber mythology. Archaeological excavations of prehistoric tombs in the Maghreb have yielded skeletal remains that were painted with ochre. Although this ritual practice was known to the Iberomaurusians, the custom seems instead to have been primarily derived from the ensuing Capsian culture. Megalithic tombs, such as the jedar sepulchres, were erected for religious and funerary practices. In 1926, one such tomb was discovered south of Casablanca. The monument was engraved with funerary inscriptions in the ancient Libyco-Berber writing script known as Tifinagh, which the Tuareg still use.


title: Tuareg people

text: During the medieval period, the Tuareg adopted Islam after its arrival with the Umayyad Caliphate in the 7th century. In the 16th century, under the tutelage of El Maghili, the Tuareg embraced the Maliki school of the Sunni, which they now primarily follow. The Tuareg helped spread Islam further into the Western Sudan. While Islam is the religion of the contemporary Tuareg, historical documents suggest that they initially resisted the Islamization efforts in their traditional strongholds. According to the anthropologist Susan Rasmussen, after the Tuareg had adopted the religion, they were reputedly lax in their prayers and observances of other Muslim precepts. Some of their ancient beliefs still exist today subtly within their culture and tradition, such as elements of pre-Islamic cosmology and rituals, particularly among Tuareg women, or the widespread "cult of the dead", which is a form of ancestor veneration. For example, Tuareg religious ceremonies contain allusions to matrilineal spirits, as well as to fertility, menstruation, the earth and ancestresses. Norris (1976) suggests that this apparent syncretism may stem from the influence of Sufi Muslim preachers on the Tuareg.


title: Tuareg people

text: The Tuaregs have been one of the influential ethnic groups who have helped spread Islam and its legacy in North Africa and the adjacent Sahel region. Timbuktu, an important Islamic center famed for its ulama, was established by Imasheghen Tuareg at the start of the 12th century. It flourished under the protection and rule of a Tuareg confederation. In 1449, a Tuareg ruling house founded the Tenere Sultanate of Aïr (Sultanate of Agadez) in the city of Agadez in the Aïr Mountains. 18th century Tuareg Islamic scholars, such as Jibril ibn 'Umar, later preached the value of revolutionary jihad. Inspired by these teachings, Ibn 'Umar's student Usman dan Fodio would go on to lead the Fulani jihads and establish the Sokoto Caliphate.


title: Tuareg people

text: The Tuareg society has traditionally featured clan membership, social status and caste hierarchies within each political confederation.


title: Tuareg people

text: Clans have been a historic part of the Tuaregs. The 7th century invasion of North Africa from the Middle East triggered an extensive migration of Tuaregs such as the Lemta and the Zarawa, along with other fellow pastoral Berbers. Further invasions of Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym Arab tribes into Tuareg regions in the 11th century moved the Tuareg southward into seven clans, which the oral tradition of Tuaregs claims to be descendants of the same mother.


title: Tuareg people

text: Each Tuareg clan ("tawshet") is made up of family groups constituting a tribe, each led by its chief, the "amghar". A series of "tawsheten" (plural of "tawshet") may bond together under an "Amenokal", forming a "Kel" clan confederation. Tuareg self-identification is related only to their specific "Kel", which means "those of". For example, "Kel Dinnig" (those of the east), "Kel Ataram" (those of the west). The position of "amghar" is hereditary through a matrilineal principle, it is usual for the son of a sister of the incumbent chieftain to succeed to his position. The "amenokal" is elected in a ritual which differs between groups, the individual amghar who lead the clans making up the confederation usually have the deciding voice. The matrilineal inheritance and mythology among Tuareg clans, states Susan Rasmussen, is a cultural vestige from the pre-Islamic era of the Tuareg society.


title: Tuareg people

text: According to Rasmussen, Tuareg society exhibits a blend of pre-Islamic and Islamic practices. As such, patrilineal Muslim values are believed to have been superimposed upon the Tuareg's traditional matrilineal society. Other, apparently newer customs include the practice of close-cousin endogamous marriages and polygyny in conformity with Islamic tenets. Polygyny, which has been witnessed among Tuareg chiefs and Islamic scholars, is in turn thought to be contrary to the pre-Islamic monogamous tradition of the nomadic Tuareg.


title: Tuareg people

text: Tuareg society has featured caste hierarchies within each clan and political confederation. These hierarchical systems have included nobles, clerics, craftsmen and unfree strata of people including widespread slavery.


title: Tuareg people

text: Traditionally, Tuareg society is hierarchical, with nobility and vassals. The linguist Karl-Gottfried Prasse (1995) indicates that the nobles constitute the highest caste. They are known in the Tuareg language as "imúšaɣ" (approximately pronounced 'imohar' with a French 'r' – also known as "Imajaghan", "the proud and free"). The nobles originally had a monopoly on carrying arms and owning camels, and were the warriors of the Tuareg regions. They may have achieved their social status by subjugating other Tuareg castes, keeping arms to defend their properties and vassals. They have collected tribute from their vassals. This warrior nobility has traditionally married within their caste, not to individuals in strata below their own. A collection of tribes, each led by a noble, forms a confederation called "amanokal", whose chieftain is elected from among the nobles by the tribal chiefs. The chieftain is the overlord during times of war, and receives tribute and taxes from tribes as a sign of their submission to his authority.


title: Tuareg people

text: The vassal-herdsmen are the second free stratum within Tuareg society, occupying a position just below that of the nobles. They are known as "ímɣad" ("Imghad", singular "Amghid") in the Tuareg language. Although the vassals were free, they did not own camels but instead kept donkeys and herds of goats, sheep and oxen. They pastured and tended their own herds as well those owned by the nobles of the confederation. The vassal strata have traditionally paid an annual "tiwse", or tribute to the nobles as a part of their status obligations, and hosted any noble who was traveling through their territory. In the late Medieval era, states Prasse, the previously existing weapon monopoly of the nobility broke down after regional wars took a heavy toll on the noble warrior strata, and thereafter the vassals carried weapons as well and were recruited as warriors. After the start of the French colonial rule, which deprived the nobles of their powers over war and taxation, the Tuaregs belonging to the noble strata disdained tending cattle and tilling the land, seeking instead soldiering or intellectual work.


title: Tuareg people

text: A semi-noble stratum of the Tuareg people has been the endogamous religious clerics, the "marabouts" (Tuareg: "Ineslemen", a loan word that means Muslim in Arabic). After the adoption of Islam, they became integral to the Tuareg social structure. According to Norris (1976), this stratum of Muslim clerics has been a sacerdotal caste, which propagated Islam in North Africa and the Sahel between the 7th and the 17th centuries. Adherence to the faith was initially centered around this caste, but later spread to the wider Tuareg community. The marabouts have traditionally been the judges ("qadi") and religious leaders ("imam") of a Tuareg community.


title: Tuareg people

text: According to the anthropologist Jeffrey Heath, Tuareg artisans belong to separate endogamous castes known as the "Inhædˤæn" ("Inadan"). These have included the blacksmith, jewelers, wood workers and leather artisan castes. They produced and repaired the saddles, tools, household items and other items for the Tuareg community. In Niger and Mali, where the largest Tuareg populations are found, the artisan castes were attached as clients to a family of nobles or vassals, carried messages over distances for their patron family, and traditionally sacrificed animals during Islamic festivals.


title: Tuareg people

text: These social strata, like caste systems found in many parts of West Africa, included singers, musicians and story tellers of the Tuareg, who kept their oral traditions. They are called "Agguta" by Tuareg, have been called upon to sing during ceremonies such as weddings or funerals. The origins of the artisanal castes are unclear. One theory posits a Jewish derivation, a proposal that Prasse calls "a much vexed question". Their association with fire, iron and precious metals and their reputation for being cunning tradesmen has led others to treat them with a mix of admiration and distrust.


title: Tuareg people

text: According to Rasmussen, the Tuareg castes are not only hierarchical, as each caste differs in mutual perception, food and eating behaviors. For example, she relates an explanation by a smith on why there is endogamy among Tuareg castes in Niger. The smith explained, "nobles are like rice, smiths are like millet, slaves are like corn".


title: Tuareg people

text: The people who farm oases in some Tuareg-dominated areas form a distinct group known as "izeggaghan" (or "hartani" in Arabic). Their origins are unclear but they often speak both Tuareg dialects and Arabic, though a few communities are Songhay speakers. Traditionally, these local peasants were subservient to the warrior nobles who owned the oasis and the land. The peasants tilled these fields, whose output they gave to the nobles after keeping a fifth part of the produce. Their Tuareg patrons were usually responsible for supplying agricultural tools, seed and clothing. The peasants' origins are also unclear. One theory postulates that they are descendants of ancient people who lived in the Sahara before they were dominated by invading groups. In contemporary times, these peasant strata have blended in with freed slaves and farm arable lands together.


title: Tuareg people

text: The Tuareg confederations acquired slaves (often of Nilotic origin) as well as tribute paying states by conducting raids on surrounding communities. They also secured captives as war booty or purchased slaves in markets. The slaves or servile communities are locally called "Ikelan" (or "Iklan", "Eklan"), and slavery was inherited, with the descendants of the slaves known as "irewelen".


title: Tuareg people

text: They often live in communities separated from other castes. The Ikelan's Nilotic extraction is denoted via the Ahaggar Berber word "Ibenheren" (sing. "Ébenher").


title: Tuareg people

text: The word "ikelan" itself is plural form of "slave", an allusion to most of the slaves. In the post-colonial literature, the alternate terms for "Ikelan" include "Bellah-iklan" or just "Bellah" derived from a Songhay word.


title: Tuareg people

text: According to the historian Starratt (1981), the Tuareg evolved a system of slavery that was highly differentiated. They established strata among their slaves, which determined rules as to the slave's expected behavior, marriageability, inheritance rights if any, and occupation. The "Ikelan" later became a bonded caste within Tuareg society, and they now speak the same Tamasheq language as the Tuareg nobles and share many customs. According to Heath, the "Bella" in the Tuareg society were the slave caste whose occupation was rearing and herding livestock such as sheep and goats.


title: Tuareg people

text: When French colonial governments were established, they stopped acquisition of new slaves and slave trading in markets, but they did not remove or free domestic slaves from the Tuareg owners who had acquired their slaves before the French rule started. In the Tuareg society, like with many other ethnic groups in West Africa, slave status was inherited, and the upper strata used slave children for domestic work, at camps and as a dowry gift of servants to the newlyweds.