Publisher: Clink Street Publishing
David Fawcett has spent over twenty years commuting to work in London from his home in Kent. His paintings depict the things, the people and the places he has seen during the thousands of hours he has spent on public transport. He captures beautifully the idiosyncracies and charms of a London in motion.
The seminal rap group A Tribe Called Quest brought jazz into the genre, resurrecting timeless rhythms to create masterpieces. This narrative follows Tribe from their early days as part of the Afrocentric rap collective known as the Native Tongues, through their first three classic albums, to their eventual breakup and long hiatus. Their work is placed in the context of the broader rap landscape of the 1990s, one upended by sampling laws that forced a reinvention in production methods, the East Coast-West Coast rivalry that threatened to destroy the genre, and some record labels’ shift from focusing on groups to individual MCs. Throughout the narrative, poet and essayist Hanif Abdurraqib connects the music and cultural history to their street-level impact. Whether he’s remembering The Source magazine cover announcing the Tribe’s 1998 breakup or writing personal letters to the group after bandmate Phife Dawg’s death, Abdurraqib seeks the deeper truths of A Tribe Called Quest, truths that—like the low end, the bass—are not simply heard in the head but are felt in the chest. Digging into the group’s history, Abdurraqib draws from his own experience to reflect on how its distinctive sound resonated among fans like himself. The result is as ambitious and genre-bending as the rap group itself.Show book
Histories of American rock music and the 1960s counterculture typically focus on the same few places: Woodstock, Monterey, Altamont. Yet there was also a very active college circuit that brought edgy acts like the Jefferson Airplane and the Velvet Underground to different metropolitan regions and smaller towns all over the country. These campus concerts were often programmed, promoted, and reviewed by students themselves, and their diverse tastes challenged narrow definitions of rock music. Rockin' in the Ivory Tower takes a close look at two smaller universities, Drew in New Jersey and Stony Brook on Long Island, to see how the culture of rock music played an integral role in student life in the late 1960s. Analyzing campus archives and college newspapers, historian James Carter traces connections between rock fandom and the civil rights protests, free speech activism, radical ideas, lifestyle transformations, and anti-war movements that revolutionized universities in the 1960s. Furthermore, he finds that these progressive students refused to segregate genres like folk, R&B, hard rock, and pop. Rockin' in the Ivory Tower gives listeners a front-row seat to a dynamic time for the music industry, countercultural politics, and youth culture.Show book
Austin is a distinguished Bostonian with a WASP pedigree, an unbeatable squash game, and a frightening secret. After he meets up with his old flame Ruth, they begin a comic and painful voyage of self-discovery.Directed by Robert RobinsonProducing Director: Susan Albert LoewenbergAn L.A. Theatre Works full-cast recording starring:Valorie Armstrong as The Other WomenDavid Dukes as AustinJudith Ivey as RuthDavid Hyde-Pierce as The Other MenRadio Production: Raymond GuarnaStage Manager and Sound Effects Artist: Amy StrongAssistant Stage Manager: David SperoShow book
The New York Times–bestselling author delivers “a real tour de force” celebrating the fauna in Handel’s operas—with original illustrations by Michael Sowa (News—Austria). When acclaimed novelist Donna Leon is not conjuring up tales of crime and corruption in Venice—or appreciating its delicious cuisine—she revels in music. And for Leon, that usually means the work of her favorite composer, George Frideric Handel. Over the years, Leon has noticed that the great musician filled his operas with arias that make reference to animals. Rich in symbolism, the perceived virtues and vices of the lion, bee, nightingale, snake, elephant, and tiger, among others, resonate in his works. Here, Leon draws on her love of Handel and her expertise in medieval bestiaries, illustrated collections of animal stories, to assemble a one of her own—twelve chapters that trace twelve animals through history, mythology, and the Handel arias they inhabit. Each exploration is joined by whimsical original illustrations by German painter Michael Sowa. A fascinating, utterly original book that is “as clever as it is entertaining,” Handel’s Bestiary springs to life with Leon’s knowledge, passion, and wit (Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung—Germany).Show book
Who better to travel to Italy with than Charles Dickens? From the travails of 19th century travel to the wonder of discovering the great art of western civilization, all are brought to life with the characteristic humour, wryness, sentimentality, fervour and love that are poured into the best of the author’s fiction. Modern readers will recognise many of Italy’s historical treasures that millions have enjoyed since Dickens described them over 150 years ago; in that sense surprisingly, little has changed. What might be more interesting to us today are the nature and mechanics of tourism in 1846. So used are we to the relative comfort and speed of global transport that we forget the discomforts (and at times horrors) undertaken by those few that would endeavour to see the world in previous centuries. By comparison we journey at our leisure whereas Dickens’ journal is more the record of a pilgrim and pioneer. Far be it from him however to dwell on the rigours of Victorian tourism, indeed he saves his pithiest wit for such times and is much more interested, as he always is, in the humanity of all he encounters. His vibrant and colourful description of the Roman Festival is as joyful as his reserved observation of an execution is sombre and reserved. Dickens is not enamoured of all he experiences and is quick to let us know when he suspects sham commercialism, hypocrisy or injustice.Show book
One of Shakespeare’s most popular plays, As You Like It is a pastoral comedy of mistaken identity, wit, and love. Daughter of a banished duke and forced to flee the court, Rosalind hides in the Forest of Arden disguised as a man. When her true love Orlando also shows up in the forest, she courts him without revealing her identity. Meanwhile, Phebe mistakenly falls in love with her disguise, Silvius pines for Phebe, Jacques philosophizes, and Touchstone makes fun of it all, and love and happiness triumph (for the most part) as Rosalind orchestrates a happy ending amid the confusion. (Summary by Rosalind Wills) Cast:Duke Senior – hefydDuke Frederick – ChugoshAmiens – Cecelia PriorJaques – Elizabeth KlettLe Beau – Simon LaroisCharles – Leon MireOliver – Larysa JaworskiJacques du Boys and Second Lord – David LawrenceOrlando – mbAdam – Brian EdwardsDennis – Annoying TwitTouchstone – Mark F. SmithSir Oliver Martext – Aaron ElliottCorin – Sibella DentonSilvius – David NicolWilliam – Ernst PattynamaHymen – Lorelle AndersonRosalind – Rosalind WillsCelia – PhilippaPhebe – Charlene V. SmithAudrey – Mindy HFirst Lord – MirzaFirst Page – Ruth GoldingSecond Page – David O'ConnellForester – pla303Stage directions – Laurie Anne Walden Audio edited by Rosalind WillsShow book
