Names and faces

LITTLE ROCK — President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Thursday granting Russian citizenship to Gerard Depardieu,a French movie star and tax rebel. The text of the decree on the Kremlin website said: “The application for Russian citizenship by Gerard Xavier Depardieu, born in France in 1948, is granted under Article 89, item ‘a’ of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.” The actor has bought a piece of property in a village of tax exiles in Belgium and told French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault that he would give up his French passport. Depardieu, who was France’s best-paid actor in 2008, had been pilloried by the French media for announcing his move to Nechin, a village in southern Belgium, less than a mile from the French town of Roubaix. Nechin has many rich French residents who prefer Belgium’s lower income taxes. He originally claimed that he “wanted to leave Paris, the city, its sometimes noisy aspects and find a little quiet, peace and serenity.” He has said he had paid $187 million in taxes over 45 years. Putinsaid in December that if Depardieu “wants to have a residence permit or the Russian passport, then the issue is as good as settled.” Russia has a 13 percent income tax rate, while France’s Socialist government is pushing for a new supertax of 75 percent on the country’s super-rich.

Former Destiny’s Child member Michelle Williams is joining the latest national tour of the musical Fela. Producers said Thursday that the singer, who starred on the UPN sitcom Half & Half , will be onstage when the tour opens at Sidney Harman Hall in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 29. Fela - a biography of Nigerian musician and political activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti - will then play in 16 cities, including Miami, Atlanta, Cleveland, Dallas, Los Angeles, Seattle and Nashville, Tenn. Williams will play Fela’s lover, Sandra Isadore. Williams, part of Destiny’s Child along with Kelly Rowland and Beyonce, is now a solo artist who has released the dance album Unexpected and the recent singles “On The Run” and “Waiting On You.” Jay-Z, Beyonce’s husband, is one of the producers of Fela, which won three Tony Awards in 2010. Williams has appeared on Broadway in Aida, on tour with The Color Purple, and in London starring in Chicago.