THE KANSAS CITY (MISSOURI) ZOO TAKES THREE PENGUINS FOR A PRIVATE TOUR OF A LOCAL ART MUSEUM©

A DELIGHTFUL CULTURAL ARTS MOMENT DURING COVID-19 LOCKDOWN.

Several weeks ago, the Kansas City Zoo did something so wonderfully engaging that not only did it "perk up my day" when I first heard about this story, but it has continued to make me smile whenever I have thought about it over the following weeks while continuing to shelter-in-place.

Back in May, the Kansas City Zoo's Director took a walk on the wild side to the nearby Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art with a trio of Humboldt penguins from Peru in tow. These adorable flightless birds—Bubbles (5), Maggie (7), and Berkley (8)—took in the Museum's Impressionist and Baroque collections.

According to the Museum’s Director, Julian Zugazagoitia, the birds “seemed, definitely to react much better to Caravaggio than to Monet” despite his anticipation that they would prefer Monet’s cool-toned water lilies. The three penguins, being from Peru, also seemed to “really appreciate it” when Zugazagoitia spoke to them in Spanish.

ABOUT THE NELSON-ATKINS MUSEUM:

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art arose from the instincts and ambitions of two private individuals who shared the dream of providing a public art museum for Kansas City and the surrounding region.

William Rockhill Nelson, founder of The Kansas City Star, was convinced that for a city to be truly civilized, art and culture were necessities. When he died in 1915, the bulk of his estate was used to establish the William Rockhill Nelson Trust for the purchase of works of art.

Kansas City school teacher Mary McAfee Atkins had similar aspirations. She provided the city with approximately one-third of her million-dollar estate to purchase the land for a public art museum.

The Nelson estate was combined with Mary Atkins’ legacy to build an art museum for the people of Kansas City.   The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and the Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts opened to the public Dec. 11, 1933. The Main Building was designed by Wight and Wight in the Beaux-Art classical style of architecture.

On June 9, 2007, the Nelson-Atkins unveiled the Bloch Building, an addition designed by Steven Holl Architects, which increased gallery and storage space for the growing collection, which includes art created in various types of media from all over the world -- spanning from antiquity to modern -- representing a wide range of cultures.

(Source: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art)

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THE "GHOST LIGHTS" OF BROADWAY AND OTHER THEATRICAL SUPERSTITIONS©

Broadway theatres and Broadway performing companies are having a tough time right now during the COVID-19 pandemic, as are the performing arts in general.  Shows scheduled for the 2020-2021 Season have been indefinitely put on hold, and Broadway theatres recently announced that they would remain closed, or "go dark", for the rest of 2020.

But Broadway theatres never truly completely "go dark", because for over 100 years, since the late 1800s, one light has remained on inside each of the theatres -- the "Ghost Light".

Simply put, the Ghost Light is a single, unadorned light bulb on a stand placed "downstage center" on an open stage and is turned on while the theatre is empty;  however, it symbolizes so much more than being on for safety reasons to keep the actors and backstage crew from tripping in the dark and falling into the orchestra pit.

Ghost Lights have even had their own "Broadway moments", sharing the stage solo with Tony-award winner Andre de Shields in his Broadway debut in "The Wiz" back in 1974, and again sharing the stage solo with 3-time Tony-award winner Bernadette Peters in 2003 in the Broadway revival of the musical "Gypsy".

According to theatre scholar James Fisher, the exact origins of the Ghost Light is murky, although there are some popular theories. He writes in Historical Dictionary of American Theater: Beginnings that the "ghost light comes from the days of gas-lit theatres and refers to dimly lit gaslights used to relieve pressure on gas valves”.

In another of Fisher's books, The A to Z of American Theater: Modernism,  he relates a popular legend that a burglar once snuck into a Broadway theater, fell from the darkened stage, broke his leg, and then sued the theater.

However, the most pervasive belief is that the Ghost Light will either ward off ghosts or distract them -- and even some guided ghost tours of several of Broadway's historic theatres focus on that belief.

A special feature article by Lindsey Wilson in a 2008 issue of Playbill pointed out that theatrical folk historically are a superstitious lot.  Wishing actors a broken leg (don't ever tell them "good luck"), avoiding whistling backstage (it used to confuse the stagehands), and being careful not to say the word  "Mac . . . . ."  (instead, referring to it as "The Scottish Play" because they believe that it is "cursed"), are just a sampling of the multitude of long-standing theatre traditions.

Other "theatrical stage superstitions" hold that Ghost Lights provide opportunities for ghosts who are "former actors" to perform onstage, thus appeasing them and preventing them from cursing the theater or sabotaging the set or the production.  The Ghost Light is supposed to give them enough light to perform on stage -- AND it is also considered bad luck not to allow these "late thespians" to do this at least once a week -- giving rise to the "legendary" reason why theatres usually only schedule productions for the public 6 days per week.

As for the theatre ghosts themselves, there is no shortage of "ghost sightings" among the legends which accompany many of Broadway's historic theatres and give support to this superstition.  Olive Thomas, for example, a former Ziegfeld showgirl who died in 1920, is a "resident"  at The New Amsterdam Theatre where she regularly performed during her lifetime.  She is often sighted by theatre-goers, blowing kisses to them as they leave the theatre after a present-day performance.

Even if after-hours lighting weren't required for safety purposes, superstitious theatre folk would probably still insist on keeping the Ghost Light burning.   The business of mounting a theatrical stage production for Broadway is risky enough without an irritable spirit or two lurking in the wings -- not unlike one of the most famous -- or infamous -- real or fictional -- of these "spirits" whose initials are "O.G."  (Opera Ghost) -- better known as "The Phantom of the Opera".

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RECENT DISCOVERIES OF ANCIENT MAYAN STRUCTURES IN MEXICO©

Archaeologists and historians have long been interested in the Mayan Civilization in present day Mexico.  Mayan settlements date back approximately 4,000 years to 2000 BCE, when small farming communities began to appear.  During the 500-year time span from 1500 BCE to 1000 BCE, Mayan culture developed, along with larger settlements.

Recently, scientists using an aerial remote-sensing method, discovered a gigantic rectangular elevated platform built between 1000 BCE and 800 BCE in the Tabasco State of Mexico.

Unlike the famous Mayan pyramids constructed much later between 500 CE and 700 CE in Mexican and Guatemalan cities, this very early structure was built with clay and earth rather than stone used in the later structures.  Researchers speculate that this newly-discovered structure was likely used for mass rituals and special occasions, such as celebrations of calendar cycles, because jade axes were found near the center of the structure's highest plateau.

Located at a site called Aguada Fenix, near the Guatemalan border, the structure is approximately 1/4-mile wide, almost 1-mile long, and stood between 30 and 50 feet high. 

What is remarkable is that in total volume, this structure exceeded Ancient Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza which was completed around 2560 BCE -- over 1,500 years earlier.

This most recent Mayan discovery comes just a few years after scientists in 2013 found an entire ancient Mayan city consisting of 15 pyramids --  one of which was 75-feet tall -- ball courts, plazas and several sculpted stone shafts called stelae.  The presence of multiple ball game courts indicates that the site was a very important city.
  


The city had remained hidden for centuries in the rain forests of eastern Mexico.  The scientific team named the city Chactun, meaning "Red Rock" or "Large Rock".  They estimated that the city could have been home to as many as 40,000 people, and likely flourished during the Late Classical Period of Mayan Civilization between 600 CE and 900 CE.

The site, which encompasses around 54-acres, is one of the largest found in the Yucatan's central lowlands,  now entirely covered by the jungle.  It was likely abandoned around 1000 CE due to multiple factors, including climate change and wars between the competing regions of the Mayan Empire during that time frame.

The Mayan Civilization was one of the most advanced in the pre-Columbian Americas.  At its peak, its rule extended over much of modern-day Mexico, and included large portions of the Yucatan, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. 

(Sources: Will Dunham, Reuters, June 3, 2020;  Luc Cohen, Reuters, June 20, 2013.)

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