The Virginian-Pilot January 29, 2015
Art: In classical painting, Salome has been presented both as a naive, innocent teenager and as a seductress by such masters as Titian, Caravaggio and Gustave Moreau.
Book: Oscar Wilde’s 1891 play, which is the origin of the Strauss opera, was considered scandalous when it premiered in Paris in 1896. Since British law forbade depicting biblical characters onstage, Wilde wrote it in French.
Film: The most famous movie version might be 1953’s Technicolor “Salome,” which starred Rita Hayworth and turned the title character into a good girl. In the end, she was transformed into a Christian, converted partially via her love affair with a Roman soldier who had embraced the religion. That movie ends with Salome distraught over her past sins as the words “This is the Beginning” flash across the screen. Before that, though, ravishing redheaded Hayworth does indeed do the Dance of the Seven Veils, to the point that everyone loses count.
Broadway: An early 2000s revival of the Wilde play was something of a disaster creatively, owing to Al Pacino’s strange use of a Brooklyn-Bronx accent as King Herod. Decked out in high platform shoes, Pacino was a spectacle that was, except for the accent, far from the Corleone family. In a later iteration of Wilde’s work, Salome was played by the redheaded Jessica Chastain.
TV: Salome got the vampire treatment in the HBO show “True Blood.” Actress Valentina Cervi plays the ancient vampire and describes Salome’s portrayal in the Bible as a convenient villain, a symbol for dangerous female sexuality.
Video games: “Fatale – Exploring Salome,” is based on Wilde’s play and allows players to manipulate her in a series of vignettes, and have her do the Dance of the Seven Veils.