Too often discussions of history revolve around the prettiest, richest, and Frenchest. Case in point: Marie Antoinette gets a helluva lot more airtime than Catherine the Great. Never mind that Antoinette totally sucked at queening, and German-born Russian Empress Catherine had drama (and successes) aplenty.
Mark Cruse and Hilde Hoogenboom will give ol' Cath her due during their talk "Catherine the Great and The Theater of Power." The lecture will focus on how the ruler put up a strong front for her people, in spite of tumultuous events including, but not limited to, her hubby's assassination by her baby daddy's brother. Where's her Sofia Coppola adaptation?
Tue., Jan. 15, 7 p.m., 2013