100 New Yorkers of the 1970s — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
100 New Yorkers of the 1970s
John Stuart Mill · en
Recently divorced from his Swedish wife, Barry makes frequent overnight
trips to Sweden to see his children. He has to be back at the WMCA
studio on Sunday at 11 a.m. for his four-hour live show with guests. Two
weeks ago, he asked Robert Violante, who was shot and partially blinded
by Son of Sam, what it felt like to be shot in the head. Questions like this
tend to provoke as many listeners as they fascinate, and that is why Barry
prefers not to be too specific about his address.
"I don't do a Merry Mailman kind of show," he says with a half-smile.
"One of my fantasies is to have a hit man from the Communist Party, the
Nazi Party, the PLO, and the Black Panthers approach me from four
different directions and fire all at once -- and I duck."
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WESTSIDER SUZANNE FARRELL
Star of the New York City Ballet
5-19-79
She arrived in New York like a fairy princess -- a wondrous creation
whose beauty and talent left audiences gaping in astonishment. At 16, she
became the youngest person ever to join George Balanchine's New York
City Ballet, and at 19, she was promoted to the rank of principal dancer.
Since that time, 14 seasons have come and gone, but Suzanne Farrell, the
girl from Cincinnati, is still the darling of America's foremost ballet
company.
In a dressing room interview last week at the New York State Theatre, the
slender, angelic-looking Miss Farrell spoke at length about her public and
private life, quickly revealing the two qualities that have enabled her to
remain one of the world's top ballerinas for so long. First is her boundless
energy; second is her genuine love for people and the world of ballet.
Warm, funny, and articulate about her art, she discussed with enthusiasm
the upcoming television special, _Choreography by Balanchine, Part
One_, which will be aired May 23 on Channel 13.
"This is one of four programs we taped in Nashville," she said, in a voice
as clear and melodic as an actress's. "The name of the ballet I'm in is
_Tzigane_; the music is by Ravel. We did the finale before the beginning
because they wanted to let go the four extra couples that were needed for
that part. It was very strange -- like having dessert before the meal." She
laughed lightly, tossing back her long, silky brown hair. "The TV studio
is very small, and the camera sees things differently than the audience sees
when you're on stage. Things that are done in a circle look like an oval.
And diagonal movement has to be done in a straight line."
Suzanne's brightest moment in the program is a solo at the beginning,
which she performs to the music of a solo violin. "One of the things I like
about doing ballet on television is that you can reach many people who
have never seen live dance before. About two years ago I got a beautiful
letter from an older man in Oklahoma who was certainly not in the habit
of writing fan letters. Now, every time I tape a new program, I think of
that man.