Some Remarkably Good Romanian Eggs

Ornamental eggs are a signature craft of Eastern Europe. The jeweled Fabergé versions once cherished by Russian nobility are just a high-end version a humbler, older and even more remarkable Easter tradition.

Created on a minute scale and entirely by hand, the art of painting eggs is a careful one. The designs may be simple or complicated, figurative or abstract, and consist of a few or many colors. Nowhere, however, do they have the crisp, delicate geometry of the eggs produced in the northern Romanian town of Ciocăneşti. Located in a historic region that’s partly situated in present-day Ukraine, Ciocăneşti is so attractively preserved that it is considered a museum of Eastern European village life.

The buildings here are distinctive for their elaborate, embroidered-looking motifs, and the town’s several dozen egg-painters work in the same style. There’s an old Romanian saying that holds that when people stop coloring eggs at Easter, the world will end. Is it out of such fear that the humble craftswomen of Ciocăneşti continue to teach the skill to their daughters? Either way, it gets passed on.

Read more about the Romanian egg painters here.

The Egg Painter: Very Good Eggs of Romania

Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did For Love

Composer, conductor, genius, mensch: Marvin Hamlisch (June 2, 1944-Aug. 6, 2012) earned four Grammys, four Emmys, three Oscars, three Golden Globes, a Tony Award and a Pulitzer Prize before his untimely death, Hit after hit, including The Way We Were, Nobody Does It Better and scores for The Sting, Sophie’s Choice and the legendary Broadway hit A Chorus Line, made him the go-to composer and performer for film, Broadway, every U.S. President since Reagan and concert halls worldwide.

With exclusive access to Hamlisch’s personal archival treasure trove and complete cooperation from his family, Dramatic Forces and THIRTEEN’s American Masters explore his prolific life and career in the newly released, acclaimed documentary Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did For Love. In the first film biography about Hamlisch, award-winning filmmaker and four-time Tony Award-winning Broadway producer Dori Berinstein (Carol Channing: Larger Than Life, Gotta Dance, Show Business: The Road To Broadway) presents a deeply personal, insider portrait of one of the greatest artists of our time

Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did For Love