“[The] story has remained a quintessentially English one, located in Dickens’s own Victorian London with its stiff, inhospitable social hierarchies and its murky backstreets and bywaters upon which the orphaned Pip and criminal Magwitch roam. So the idea to take the Dickensian tale and recast it in Imperial Calcutta appears daring at best and rather impudent at worst.”
Tag: 02.21.11
The Oliver Sacks of Psychopathic Prisoners?
“When Kent Kiehl visits some of the most dangerous prisoners in US jails, he doesn’t just go to talk. He’s there to find out what’s different about the way their brains work. He [talks about] what insights this has revealed about the origins of psychopathic behaviour – and what they could mean for future treatment.”
What The Critics Are Saying About The Royal Opera House’s Anna Nicole
This is how opinion has divided over Anna Nicole: deeply, and down the middle.
Thomas Jefferson Library Discovered
“The 28 titles in 74 volumes were discovered recently in the collection of Washington University in St. Louis, immediately elevating its library to the third largest repository of books belonging to Jefferson after the Library of Congress and the University of Virginia.”
Egypt Reopens Monuments, Museums
“On Sunday, the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, which is just off Tahrir Square and which served as an embattled backdrop during the protests, opened its doors again, and museum workers handed roses to the few visitors who came to see its treasures. The galleries of the museum, which are usually bustling, were nearly empty throughout the day.”
West End Theatre Boom? Not Quite
“Some clever people may be making fortunes out of the West End, but those in charge have a lot to worry about – not least soaring running costs, the difficulty of keeping straight plays afloat, and the prospect of more theatres given over to juke-box musicals that lower the West End’s reputation.”
The Art World Detective
A bestselling writer and broadcaster, Silvano Vinceti has carved out a lucrative niche for himself as the solver of art’s great mysteries. When it comes to cracking cases and codes, there’s nothing in The Da Vinci Code to touch him. Yet Vinceti is keen to dismiss the Dan Brown comparison from the off. “Brown writes novels, and his theses are fantasies. I, by contrast, make findings based on historical investigation.”
Another Doctor Brought In to Heal Spider-Man
“The producers of the Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark have brought on a veteran musical supervisor and conductor, Paul Bogaev, as a consultant to help improve the performance, vocal and orchestration arrangements, and sound quality of the songs and numbers.”
Detroit Symphony Management Says There Is ‘No Plan’ to Replace Striking Musicians
“The orchestra has no plans to hire permanent replacements for the 85 musicians who have been on strike for 21 weeks, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra president Anne Parsons said today. The concept of replacing the musicians raced through the symphony world like brush fire, after media reports … indicated that the DSO is prepared to move forward with replacements.”
Dances With Horses: The Equestrian Theatre of Bartabas
“For over 25 years, Bartabas has been creating his own unique brand of equestrian theatre. It’s an art form that defies easy description: a fusion of dance, music, poetry, classical dressage and shamanistic magic.”