From Bombay To New York (By Way Of London)

Meera Syal has a big London success in London with her musical Bombay Dreams. She’s hoping the show will translate to New York next month. “You wouldn’t have put money on Bombay Dreams. It isn’t based on a pop group’s output or a film, it features a whole new culture and an unknown cast. And even though [composer] AR Rahman is a demi-god in India, he was unknown to anyone here who didn’t watch Hindi films.”

What Makes A Great Violinist?

What makes a great violinist? “The Genius of the Violin festival, which starts in London later this month, is designed to display the instrument’s extraordinary versatility in everything from Bach to bluegrass. It is a tribute to the impresario Joji Hattori’s powers of persuasion that three of the world’s top fiddlers should be participants.”

Study: UK Book Industry Not Diverse

A new study of the UK publishing business reports that the industry is overwhelmingly white. “It says that nearly half those questioned felt they worked in a white, middle-class ghetto whose employees were drawn from a small ethnic pool. The findings in the survey, which was conducted by the Arts Council and the Bookseller, are supported by several senior publishing executives who say that nothing will change until recruiters look beyond Oxford and Cambridge.”

Vendler Chosen For Jefferson Address

Helen Hennessy Vendler has been chosen by the National Endowment for the Humanities to deliver this year’s Jefferson Lecture. Vendler is “a leading interpreter of English language poets, a professor at Harvard for nearly 25 years, and has written extensively on William Shakespeare, William Butler Yeats, Seamus Heaney and John Keats.”

Is Gay The New Black?

“It’s never been more fashionable or popular to be gay or lesbian than now, if television coverage is anything to go by. If they’re not building or renovating homes, they’re winning Oscars and thanking their boyfriends, getting married in San Francisco, or “zhushing” straight guys. Does this mean queer is the new black?”

Virtual Orchestra Wins West End Les Miz Job

The British Musicians’ Union concedes that it can’t stop producer Cameron Mackintosh from using a virtual orchestra for Les Misérables. The virtual music box Sinfonia, “widely used in US touring productions, needs only one operator who can synchronise its output with that of any real instruments left in an orchestra and with the voices of singers on stage.”