Latest news with #JulieAdams
New York Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
In Des Moines, Big Operas and Big Ambitions Fill a Tiny Theater
Richard Wagner may be the opera composer most associated with epic grandeur: huge orchestras, huger sets. I never imagined I'd hear a full performance of one of his works while sitting just a few feet from the singers. But Des Moines Metro Opera, a four-week summer festival founded in 1973 and running this year through July 20, has made a specialty of squeezing pieces usually done in front of thousands into a startlingly intimate space. The company's 476-seat theater wraps the stage around the pit and juts deep into the audience, drawing even the last row into the action. At the opening of Wagner's 'The Flying Dutchman' in the last week of June, the bass-baritone Ryan McKinny could brood in a murmur as the endlessly wandering captain of the title, while the choruses of raucous sailors were ear-shakingly visceral. It registered when the subtlest Mona Lisa smile crossed the face of Julie Adams as Senta, whose romantic obsession leads her to sacrifice everything for the Dutchman. Try that at the Met. 'When you first get here, it's a little intimidating,' said the mezzo-soprano Sun-Ly Pierce, a Des Moines regular in recent years. 'There's no hiding, or even trying to. Everything is in hyper detail. Everything is in close-up.' The effect would be striking enough in Mozart or chamber opera. But the company has made a habit of putting on big, challenging works of a sort rarely if ever done in theaters so small: 'Salome,' 'Elektra,' 'Pelléas et Mélisande,' 'Billy Budd,' 'Peter Grimes' and 'Wozzeck,' with modest adjustments to some orchestrations, given a pit that fits about 65 musicians. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Georgia appeals court upholds ruling saying election officials must certify results
ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling that said county election officials in the state must vote to certify results according to deadlines set in law. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney had ruled in October that 'no election superintendent (or member of a board of elections and registration) may refuse to certify or abstain from certifying election results under any circumstance.' The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Republican Fulton County election board member Julie Adams, who abstained from certifying primary election results last year. A three-judge panel of the Georgia Court of Appeals last week upheld McBurney's ruling, saying 'Adams' contention that the trial court erred by declaring she had a mandatory duty to certify election results is without merit.' Certification, an administrative task that involves certifying the number of votes, became a political flashpoint when President Donald Trump tried to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 general election. Republicans in several swing states refused to certify results during primary elections last year, and some sued to try to keep from being forced to sign off on election results. In the run-up to last year's presidential election, Democrats and some voting rights groups worried that Trump-allied election officials could refuse to certify election results if he were to lose to then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump ended up beating Harris. Georgia law says county election superintendents, which are generally multimember boards, shall certify election results by 5 p.m. on the Monday after an election, or the Tuesday after if Monday is a holiday. McBurney had written in his order that Georgia law allows county election officials to examine whether fraud has occurred and what should be done about it. They should share any concerns with the appropriate authorities for criminal prosecution or use them to file an election challenge in court, but cannot use their concerns to justify not certifying results, the judge wrote. The Court of Appeals opinion echoed McBurney's ruling. The appeals court also noted that state law limits county election officials' review of documents to instances when the total number of votes exceeds the total number of voters or ballots and also limits the review to documents related to the relevant precinct. To the extent that McBurney's ruling allows a more expansive review, the judges sent it back to him for reconsideration.
Toronto Star
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Georgia appeals court upholds ruling saying election officials must certify results
ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling that said county election officials in the state must vote to certify results according to deadlines set in law. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney had ruled in October that 'no election superintendent (or member of a board of elections and registration) may refuse to certify or abstain from certifying election results under any circumstance.' The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Republican Fulton County election board member Julie Adams, who abstained from certifying primary election results last year.
Al Arabiya
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Georgia Appeals Court Upholds Ruling Saying Election Officials Must Certify Results
A Georgia appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling that said county election officials in the state must vote to certify results according to deadlines set in law. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney had ruled in October that no election superintendent (or member of a board of elections and registration) may refuse to certify or abstain from certifying election results under any circumstance. The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Republican Fulton County election board member Julie Adams, who abstained from certifying primary election results last year. A three-judge panel of the Georgia Court of Appeals last week upheld McBurney's ruling, saying Adams' contention that the trial court erred by declaring she had a mandatory duty to certify election results 'is without merit.' Certification–an administrative task that involves certifying the number of votes–became a political flashpoint when President Donald Trump tried to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 general election. Republicans in several swing states refused to certify results during primary elections last year, and some sued to try to keep from being forced to sign off on election results. In the run-up to last year's presidential election, Democrats and some voting rights groups worried that Trump-allied election officials could refuse to certify election results if he were to lose to then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump ended up beating Harris. Georgia law says county election superintendents, which are generally multimember boards, 'shall' certify election results by 5 p.m. on the Monday after an election or the Tuesday after if Monday is a holiday. McBurney had written in his order that Georgia law allows county election officials to examine whether fraud has occurred and what should be done about it. 'They should share any concerns with the appropriate authorities for criminal prosecution or use them to file an election challenge in court, but cannot use their concerns to justify not certifying results,' the judge wrote. The Court of Appeals opinion echoed McBurney's ruling. The appeals court also noted that state law limits county election officials' review of documents to instances when the total number of votes exceeds the total number of voters or ballots and also limits the review to documents related to the relevant precinct. 'To the extent that McBurney's ruling allows a more expansive review,' the judges sent it back to him for reconsideration.
Washington Post
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Georgia appeals court upholds ruling saying election officials must certify results
ATLANTA — A Georgia appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling that said county election officials in the state must vote to certify results according to deadlines set in law. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney had ruled in October that 'no election superintendent (or member of a board of elections and registration) may refuse to certify or abstain from certifying election results under any circumstance.' The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Republican Fulton County election board member Julie Adams, who abstained from certifying primary election results last year.
