Night on Bald Mountain 25 December 1858, has been interpreted as an indication of Mussorgsky's intent to write an opera on the subject of Gogol's short story "St. John's Eve" (, "Vecher nakanune Ivana Kupala", "St. John's Eve"). Gogol's tale contains the elements of witchcraft common to other stories in the "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" collection, but does not feature a witches' sabbath. No further plans for this project were mentioned. The theme of a witches' sabbath, the central theme in all subsequent "Night on Bald Mountain" projects, appears to have been derived from the nonextant play "The Witch" (, "Ved′ma") by
Bare Essence stock villainess obviously modeled on Joan Collins's Alexis in "Dynasty"." Tom Shales of "The Washington Post" wrote that "Bare Essence" "comes up lacking on almost all counts. A better title would be "Bare Minimum"." He praised the female cast members, but noted that "writer-director Walter Grauman has given this talent little to do that isn't ridiculous on the face of it." Bare Essence Bare Essence is an American television soap opera which aired on the NBC network during the 1982–1983 season. It starred Genie Francis as Tyger Hayes, and explored the intrigues of the perfume industry. "Bare Essence" first appeared