newsmakers

newsmakers

Penn Museum makes deal for ‘Troy gold’

PHILADELPHIA

A Philadelphia archaeology museum will indefinitely loan ancient jewelry known as “Troy gold” to Turkey in exchange for a future exhibit of artifacts related to King Midas, officials announced Tuesday.

The deal is part of what Penn Museum officials called a landmark agreement with the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism to work more collaboratively on field work and exhibitions over the next several years.

“It will lead to great opportunities — for Penn, for Philadelphia and for the wider archaeological community — to experience more of Turkey’s rich cultural history and heritage in the future,” museum director Julian Siggers said.

Ertugrul Guna, the Turkish culture and tourism minister, said the 24 pieces of jewelry are among thousands of historical artifacts returned to the country over the past two decades, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.

The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology acquired the early Bronze Age objects in 1966 from a now-defunct art dealership. But the origin of the items — including earrings, pendants and pins — was unclear.

The purchase eventually led museum officials in 1970 to adopt a then- unusual policy of refusing to acquire artifacts of unknown provenance that might have been looted.

Siggers said the jewelry remained in storage for years. Then in 2009, scholars found a grain of dirt on one piece that allowed them to identify the collection as most likely being from the historic city of Troy. Discussions for the objects’ return began with Turkish officials last year.

‘Flashdance’ set for Broadway next year

NEW YORK

Dig out those leg warmers and headbands — “Flashdance” is coming to Broadway.

Producers said Tuesday that the stage adaptation of the 1983 hit movie about a working-class Pittsburgh girl with dreams of becoming a professional ballet dancer hopes to boogie into New York in August 2013.

Sergio Trujillo, the choreographer of “Jersey Boys,” “The Addams Family” and “Memphis,” will direct and choreograph “Flashdance — The Musical.”

It features a book by Robert Cary and original screenplay co-writer Tom Hedley, music by Robbie Roth and lyrics by Cary and Roth. The film starred Jennifer Beals.

Producers say it has been “substantially rewritten and completely restaged” after its short-lived debut in London in 2010. A separate company will begin a national tour in January 2013 in Pittsburgh.

Associated Press