On August 19, 1957, “West Side Story” began its pre-Broadway tour at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. About a month later, it opened on Broadway, changing the nature of the American musical and challenging the country’s view of itself. The show dealt seriously with violence, adolescent gangs and racial prejudice—themes rarely included in musicals—and …
(The following is a guest post by Guha Shankar, folklife specialist with the Library of Congress American Folklife Center.) A fall landscape of orange and red foliage rushes by a car winding down a long road…a stern-faced singer draws his bow across a single-stringed lute and sings a ballad in Serbian about the 1389 Battle …
It’s a fair thing to say that classical music, and more specifically opera, is what brought me and my husband together. We met while working at The Denver Post, but our first date – seeing Verdi’s “Un Ballo in Maschera” at Opera Colorado – may have been a sort of test. He didn’t want to …
The Library’s blogosphere kept things cool in the July heat with a variety of posts representing the wealth and breadth of the institution’s collections and initiatives. Here are just a few selections. In the Muse: Performing Arts Blog Ben-Hur and Music to Race Chariots By Robin Rausch talks about musical adaptations of Lew Wallace’s well-known …
There are so many things about the upcoming Library of Congress exhibition, “A Night at the Opera,” that I feel personally connected to. Several of the operas highlighted in the 50-item display are like a program of operas I have sung in my last few seasons as part of The Washington Chorus. Each season, we …
Let’s take a look back at some of the headlines from last month. The Library had several celebrity visitors in May, including lots of musicians and even Swedish royalty. Making the biggest headlines was singer-songwriter Carole King accepting the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. She was feted at both the Library and …
The Library of Congress blogosphere was blooming with great posts. Here are a selection. In the Muse: Performing Arts Blog To Richard Wagner on His 200th Birthday: A Textilian Tale Retold Letters reveal insight into the composer’s private life. Inside Adams: Science, Technology & Business The Aeronauts Jennifer Harbster writes about Civil War aeronautics. In …
There is joy in Mudville today, as we mark the 125th anniversary since “Casey at the Bat” was first published on June 3, 1888, in the San Francisco Examiner. The poem, dubbed the “single most famous baseball poem ever written” by the Baseball Almanac, has inspired everything from political cartoons to entire operas. Written by …
The Library of Congress blogosphere published lots of great content in April. Following is just a highlight. In the Muse: Performing Arts Blog An “Appalachian Spring” Collaboration Students from the Baltimore School for the Arts talk about working with the Music Division collections. Inside Adams: Science, Technology & Business The Great Sheet Cake Mystery Jennifer …