A New Subgenre Develops In Singapore: Mandarin Musicals

“Over the last decade, Singaporean audiences have been treated to regular revivals of Broadway or West End musicals, like Phantom of the Opera and Mamma Mia, and as their appetite for the Western art form grew, it encouraged a few local theater troupes to produce their own” original musicals. Until recently, these shows were in English, but Chinese-language musicals are now attracting enthusiastic viewers.

The Problem With London’s Fringe Theatre

Matt Trueman: “[It] has become a hotbed of half-hearted approximation – a culture in which making do, will do. Time and again, I find myself watching a production that is a shadow of the show it wants to be. Props and furnishings stand in not for their fictional counterparts, but rather for the props and furnishings that would have been bought had the funds been available.” (Same for actors.)

Pasadena Symphony Draws Ire With Conductor’s Departure

“[A] rift has formed between the orchestra’s upper management and its players on allegations that company leaders haven’t been honest about the circumstances behind the longtime conductor’s departure. While the company says [Jorge] Mester quit, his representative says he was fired. … One symphony musician was reportedly let go for expressing outrage at Mester’s departure.”

To Kill A Mockingbird Turns 50, With Fanfare

“Its publisher, HarperCollins, is trying to tap into what appears to be a near-endless reserve of affection for the book by helping to organize parties, movie screenings, readings and scholarly discussions.” Festivities in Harper Lee’s hometown “are not expected to attract an appearance by the mysterious Ms. Lee, who is 84 and still living quietly in Alabama after never publishing another book.”

In Palladio’s Own Hand

Ada Louise Huxtable: “Seeing the original ink-and-wash drawings made almost 500 years ago, with Palladio’s handwritten notes, often done on the site, erases the centuries; they create a miraculous fusion of the distant past and immediate present, a kind of aesthetic time warp that brings the man and his moment wonderfully alive.”