“All of the Grantham daughters’ situations are a product of their status as hybrid creatures – all are the daughters of an heiress who cannot in turn be heiresses themselves. They are prevented from becoming their mother, and they know it … The story, then, is of an American matriarchal fortune wearing the court dress of a British patriarchy, and resenting it in ways it cannot quite express.”
Tag: 07.29.12
Crowd-Funding A CD Of Elizabeth Bishop Poems Set To Music
“For the versatile Suzie LeBlanc, financial necessity’s invention has proved to be a strangely welcome change. … The Canadian singer is seeking $60,000 to record newly commissioned settings of poems by Elizabeth Bishop.”
China Wants A Touring Version Of London Olympics Opening Ceremony
“David King, 56, received a call from Beijing hours after the £27m spectacular was watched by a global TV audience of over a billion. Contacts in the Chinese capital – where he already stages a hugely successful annual Christmas show – have asked him to bring a new Olympics-style musical by the end of the year.”
Latest Dance Reality TV Series Mixes Big Brother Into The Footwork
All the Right Moves “follows four friends in Los Angeles as they try to launch a new contemporary dance company with the regrettable name Shaping Sound. The four are not quite famous, but they’re known to avid watchers of dance shows.” Naturally, the series has them sharing a house – and having arguments in the hot tub.
Experimental Theatre Goes Dark In Baltimore
“Some fear that if Baltimore were to go for too long without performances of an international flavor, such as regular visits from Dutch avant-garde dance theaters and Singaporean performance artists, it would become a duller, less cosmopolitan city.”
Who Stole The Missing Pages Of The World’s Oldest Hebrew Bible?
The Aleppo Codex, a thousand-year-old manuscript that is considered the most authoritative text of the Hebrew scriptures, had an odd, murky, clandestine journey from its longtime Syrian home to the Israel Museum. But along the way (and probably after it arrived in Israel), about 200 pages – 40% of the total – went missing.
Marilyn Horne: Stravinsky And Me
As a young soprano (then) in Los Angeles in 1954, Horne sang in the premiere of Stravinsky’s new version of Four Russian Peasant Songs – and she was coached by the composer himself. She became a close family friend. (And she can do a fabulous Stravinsky imitation).
After Aurora, Hollywood Rethinks Screen Violence
“The fact that the Aurora, Colo. massacre occurred at a post-midnight screening of a film depicting murder and mayhem nonetheless has triggered a rare bout of soul searching in Hollywood.”
Working-Class Scottish Author Won’t Take Any Crap From Bourgie Critics
James Kelman: “Obviously as a writer you have to reflect on why your work is provoking such hostility, because all you want to do is write your stories as best you can. You’re forced to reflect on, why is my work so upsetting for people? The agenda behind it is clear. They don’t want to see these people in literature. These areas of human experience [I write about] should not appear in public; we don’t want to know. We know that people are in the street, that they have no money and are maybe begging, but we don’t want to see them in literature. They should be swept under the carpet.”
Rare Books Discovered In Library Cupboard
“The collection includes a 1538 edition of letters by Roman philosopher Cicero and an 1827 illustrated 
edition of John Milton’s Paradise Lost – one of only 50 copies.”