Pianist Mihaela Ursuleasa dead at 33
VIENNA, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Romanian pianist Mihaela Ursuleasa died of a suspected brain hemorrhage in her apartment in her adopted hometown of Vienna, her representatives said.
She was 33 when she was found dead Thursday morning.
"We have not only lost a wonderful person but one of the greatest artists our musical world has known," a statement on her official Web site said. "We are in deep sorrow because of her sudden unexpected death. Our thoughts are with her daughter and her mother."
Ursuleasa had been due to play with the National Youth Orchestra Saturday in Berlin, the BBC said.
She won the Clara Haskil Competition in 1995 and performed at renowned venues such as Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, the Philharmonie Cologne, Konzerthaus Vienna, Tonhalle Zurich and Carnegie Hall in New York.
Her second solo album, "Romanian Rhapsody," was released in March 2011.
Broadway lights to be dimmed for Vidal
NEW YORK, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- The Broadway community says it will mourn the death of writer Gore Vidal by dimming the marquees of its theaters for a minute Friday evening.
Vidal died Tuesday from complications of pneumonia at his home in Los Angeles. He was 86.
"For over six decades, Gore Vidal never stopped writing novels, memoirs, plays, essays and screenplays, and was a ubiquitous cultural commentator. His plays were timely and timeless, as evidenced by the current production of 'The Best Man' now playing on Broadway. Our thoughts go out to his friends, family, and fans," Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of The Broadway League, said in a statement Wednesday.
Vidal was an American writer who wrote plays, television dramas and screenplays, and published 25 novels, two memoirs and several volumes of essays. He was known for such best-selling novels as "Burr" and "Myra Breckenridge," the plays "Visit to a Small Planet" and "The Best Man," and for essays on subjects from politics and literature to sex and religion.
Premiere set for River Phoenix's last film
NEW YORK, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- "Dark Blood," a movie actor River Phoenix made before his 1993 death from drug-induced heart failure, is to premiere at the Netherlands Film Festival Sept. 27.
Phoenix, the star of "Stand By Me," "Explorers," "A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon," "Mosquito Coast," "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," "My Own Private Idaho," "I Love You to Death" and "Running on Empty," was 23 when he died outside West Hollywood's Viper Room nightclub after using cocaine and heroin.
Director George Sluizer recently re-edited "Dark Blood" and is now ready to show it to the public, the New York Post reported. Co-starring Judy Davis and Jonathan Pryce, the movie is about a hermit living at a nuclear testing site. It is to debut at the festival Sept. 27, the Post said.
Brooks to perform at teachers' benefit
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Garth Brooks has joined the lineup of performers for the upcoming Teachers Rock benefit concert in Los Angeles, organizers said.
Also booked to take the stage at Nokia Theatre on Aug. 17 are Carrie Underwood, Dierks Bentley, Fun. and Josh Groban. The concert will air live on CBS.
Teachers Rock will honor America's educators with personal recollections from music icons Dave Grohl, Usher, Adam Levine and James Valentine, as well as film and TV stars Meryl Streep, Viola Davis, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jennifer Garner, Morgan Freeman, Matthew Morrison, Pauley Paurrette and Miranda Cosgrove, among others.
The show will feature scenes from Walden Media's upcoming movie "Won't Back Down," starring Davis and Gyllenhaal as two determined mothers -- one a teacher -- who will stop at nothing to transform their children's failing inner-city school.
Proceeds from Teachers Rock will benefit three non-profit organizations: DonorsChoose.org, Feeding America and Teach for America.
