Good Morning, Everyone.
I hope everyone enjoys their weekend.
Les Misérables ( /leɪ ˈmɪzərɑːb/ or /leɪ ˌmɪzəˈrɑːb/; French pronunciation: [le mizeˈʁablə]), colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz /leɪ ˈmɪz/, is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel by Victor Hugo.
The music was composed by Schönberg, and the lyrics were written by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, with an English-language libretto by Herbert Kretzmer. Set in early 19th-century France, the plot follows the stories of many characters as they struggle for redemption and revolution. An ensemble that includes prostitutes, student revolutionaries, factory workers, and others joins the lead characters.
The musical opened at the Barbican Centre in London, England on 8 October 1985. It is the second longest-running musical in the world after The Fantasticks,[1] the second longest-running West End show after The Mousetrap,[2] and the third longest-running show in Broadway history. In January 2010, it played its ten-thousandth performance in London, at Queen’s Theatre in London’s West End.[3] On 3 October 2010, the show celebrated its 25th anniversary with three productions running in the same city: the original show at London’s West End; the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary touring production at the original home of the show, the Barbican Centre; and the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary concert at London’s O2 Arena.[3]
BackgroundOriginally released as a French-language concept album, the first musical-stage adaptation of Les Misérables was presented at a Paris sports arena, the Palais des Sports, in 1980.[4] However, the first production closed after three months when the booking contract expired.
In 1982, about six months after producer Cameron Mackintosh had opened Cats in London, he received a copy of the French concept album from director Peter Farago. Farago had been impressed by the work and asked Mackintosh to produce an English-language version of the show. Initially reluctant, Mackintosh eventually agreed.
Mackintosh assembled a production team to adapt the French musical for a British audience. After two years in development, the English-language version opened in London on 8 October 1985, at the Barbican Centre.
[edit] ReceptionAt the opening of the London production, critical reviews were negative, and literary scholars condemned the project for converting classic literature into a mere musical. Public opinion differed—the box office received record orders. This three-month engagement sold out and reviews improved.
The Broadway production opened 12 March 1987, and ran until 18 May 2003, closing after 6,680 performances. It is the third longest running Broadway show in history and was the second-longest at the time.[5] A fully re-orchestrated Broadway revival opened on 9 November 2006 at the Broadhurst Theatre.
The show was nominated for 12 Tony Awards and won eight, including Best Musical and Best Original Score. It placed first in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the “Nation’s Number One Essential Musicals” in June 2005, receiving more than forty percent of the votes.[6]
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Empathy Wars: Mitt Romney and the Republican Party’s Bully Politics
Mitt Romney likes firing people. Mitt Romney drives vehicles with terrified family pets strapped to the roof. Mitt Romney assaulted a gay student while in prep school. Mitt Romney tricked a blind teacher, apparently one he “liked,” letting the man walk into a glass door. He is a bully. Mitt Romney is also the presumed Presidential nominee for a political party of unapologetic bullies. Ergo he is a near perfect leader for the Tea Party GOP.
American politics in the Age of Obama is beset by deep divides in partisanship, ideology, and political values. These debates are about more than policy. They have devolved into disagreements about the very nature of empirical reality, facts, and science. For example, is global warming real? Do tax cuts for the rich pay for themselves as they trickle down to the rest of us? Can one cut a country’s budget in a time of deep economic crisis and somehow miraculously produce economic growth? Is Barack Obama a United States citizen? Is the President a closet, Muslim, Manchurian candidate Socialist? Are white people “oppressed” in America?
http://wearerespectablenegroes.blogspot.com/2012/05/empathy-wars-mitt-romney-and-republican.html
Psychiatry’s “Bible” Gets an Overhaul
Psychiatry’s diagnostic guidebook gets its first major update in 30 years. The changes may surprise you
By Ferris Jabr | May 7, 2012 |21
Editor’s Note: Read our blog series on psychiatry’s new rulebook, the DSM-5.
In February 1969 David L. Rosenhan showed up in the admissions office of a psychiatric hospital in Pennsylvania. He complained of unfamiliar voices inside his head that repeated the words “empty,” “thud” and “hollow.” Otherwise, Rosenhan had nothing unusual to report. He was immediately admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of schizophrenia.
Between 1969 and 1972 seven friends and students of Rosenhan, a psychology professor then at Swarthmore College, ended up in 11 other U.S. hospitals after claiming that they, too, heard voices—their sole complaint. Psychiatrists slapped them all with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and stuck them in psychiatric wards for between eight and 52 days. Doctors forced them to accept antipsychotic medication—2,100 pills in all, the vast majority of which they pocketed or tucked into their cheeks. Although the voices vanished once Rosenhan and the others entered the hospitals, no one realized that these individuals were healthy—and had been from the start. The voices had been a ruse.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=redefining-mental-illness
WE’RE NOT GOING BACK
When it comes to marriage equality, Romney would write discrimination into the Constitution
President Obama has offered his support for marriage equality: “Personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that same-sex couples should be able to get married.”
On the same day, Mitt Romney reaffirmed his adamant opposition to marriage equality and civil unions:
“I do not favor marriage between people of the same gender, and I do not favor civil unions if they are identical to marriage other than by name.”
http://www.keepinggophonest.com/when-it-comes-to-marriage-equality-romney-would-write-discrimination-into-t?source=em12_20120512_sc_tt&utm_medium=email&utm_source=obama&utm_campaign=em12_20120512_sc_tt
The media is trying to give Mittens a pass and push that he is now being BULLIED for coverage of him BULLYING. UMMM, NAW SON; he is running for POTUS, and he will get called out for it, just like PBO got chased around for his college years, his birth certificate, Rev. Wright, adnaseum. GTFOH
tell me about it.
it’s called VETTING.
ok, this was sorta cute
Love Les Mis. Thanks rikyrah.
I’OIN’T KNOW NOTHING ‘BOUT NO GAY PRANKS!
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Good Morning, rikyrah & Everyone! :-)
*sigh* I miss SouthernGirl2.