Heart string art

Referring to Anne Lister as a force of nature is accurate, but it’s also just a starting point. Nature was certainly one of her passions: The 19th-century Englishwoman dressed in stylish black clothes that resembled men’s wear and spent hours walking through the countryside, visiting friends and supervising workers at Shibden Hall, the Halifax, West Yorkshire estate she inherited. Her forceful personality was also evident in the business world; some of her acres were rich in coal, and she relished scrapping with the coal titans of the 1830s as she tried to improve the estate’s fortunes. But her boldness was most evident in matters of love. Many of the 5 million-plus words in Lister’s voluminous diaries, some of which were in code, chronicled her relationships with a string of women she wooed, loved and bedded. Lister’s complicated courtship with the wealthy Ann Walker sits at the heart of “Gentleman Jack,” a historical drama series premiering Monday on HBO (in a coproduction with … [Read more...] about In ‘Gentleman Jack,’ Sally Wainwright Brings a Fascinating Life From Diary to Screen

Ruth Brown, the gutsy rhythm and blues singer whose career extended to acting and crusading for musicians’ rights, died on Friday in Las Vegas. She was 78 and lived in Las Vegas. The cause was complications following a heart attack and a stroke she suffered after surgery, and Ms. Brown had been on life support since Oct. 29, said her friend, lawyer and executor, Howell Begle. “She was one of the original divas,” said the singer Bonnie Raitt, who worked with Ms. Brown and Mr. Begle to improve royalties for rhythm and blues performers. “I can’t really say that I’ve heard anyone that sounds like Ruth, before or after. She was a combination of sass and innocence, and she was extremely funky. She could really put it right on the beat, and the tone of her voice was just mighty. And she had a great heart.” “What I loved about her,” Ms. Raitt added, “was her combination of vulnerability and resilience and fighting spirit. It was not arrogance, but she was just really not going to lay … [Read more...] about Ruth Brown, 78, a Queen of R&B, Dies

If you are a Stephen Sondheim fan, you will have likely booked your ticket to Merrily We Roll Along at New York Theatre Workshop (to Jan 21, 2023) , and possibly not just because Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe , stars as one of the central trio whose relationship we watch in reverse—in tatters and broken at the outset in 1976, and then reassembled, right back to their sweet meeting on an apartment building’s roof in October 1957, as Sputnik passes overhead in the night sky and they pinky-swear their union. This is a wonderful production to see if you can (although tickets are reportedly sold out), the master’s music and lyrics and George Furth’s perfect book based on George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart’s original play all played with precision and deft comprehension. It is strange to think of it as the notorious flop it was when first on Broadway 41 years ago when you see it done so well. It joins the larger-scale, shimmering Into the Woods as another Sondheim jewel … [Read more...] about ‘Merrily We Roll Along’: a Slice of Stunning Sondheim, Starring Daniel Radcliffe

As a student at Colorado College in the late 1980s, Paul M. Lhevine channeled his passion for music into the American Folklore House, a themed, on-campus space he established with a handful of friends who enjoyed playing and listening to folk tunes. “It’s a love and appreciation that goes back to when I was a tiny tot in Tulsa, Oklahoma,” said Lhevine, 47. “It extends through learning how to play violin, piano, saxophone and, eventually, graduating to guitar.” However, Lhevine is not a working musician, nor was he in college. In fact, he graduated with a decidedly non-artistic degree in political science, moved to the East Coast where he received a law degree, then returned to Colorado in 1994 to work a number of high-pressure jobs in politics, education and the nonprofit sector. Without a professional background in music, he might seem like an odd choice to lead Swallow Hill Music , the 36-year-old folk-music association that has enjoyed an unbroken string of successes … [Read more...] about Swallow Hill Music looks to build on record growth with savvy new CEO

In 1883, José Rizal , the future hero and martyr of the Philippine Revolution, was a homesick medical student abroad in Madrid. His longing for bagoong, a paste of seafood salted and left to ferment until it exudes a fathomless funk, grew so great that his worried family in Manila dispatched a jar. But it broke on the ship, releasing its pungent scent and, reportedly, terrifying the passengers. Today, bagoong and other Filipino foods are finally entering the American mainstream, more than a century after the United States Navy sailed into Manila Bay, sank the Spanish Armada and took control of the archipelago, a restive colony of around 7,100 islands and 180 languages. Americans of Filipino heritage now make up one in five of all Asian-Americans, second only to Chinese in number, and the largest percentage of immigrants serving in the United States military were born in the Philippines. Other Asian cuisines have been part of the American landscape for decades. But only in recent … [Read more...] about Filipino Food Finds a Place in the American Mainstream

DANANG, Vietnam — Eight years ago, officials in Danang asked Tran Duc Anh Son to travel the world in search of documents and maps that support Vietnam’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. He did, and he concluded that Vietnam should challenge China’s activities in waters around some of the sea’s disputed islands, as the Philippines successfully did in a case that ended last year. But his bosses would not be moved. “They always say to me, ‘Mr. Son, please keep calm,’” he said during an interview at his home in Danang, the coastal city where he is the deputy director of a state-run research institute. “‘Don’t talk badly about China.’” Vietnam’s top leaders are “slaves” to Beijing, he added bitterly, as torrential rain beat against his windows. “That’s why we have many documents that are kept in the dark.” Dr. Son’s mission, and his bosses’ demurrals, are signs of the times in Vietnam, which has always lived in China’s shadow but also harbors a fierce … [Read more...] about A Defiant Map-Hunter Stakes Vietnam’s Claims in the South China Sea