Word: eras
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...sure, you can't look at West Side Story totally removed from the era that produced it. When it opened, in 1957, Broadway musicals were almost all comedies, set in sentimental fantasylands, whether exotic (The King and I), nostalgic (The Music Man) or contemporary but cartoonish (Guys and Dolls). Here, instead, was an effort to use the musical form to explore serious contemporary social issues: urban slums, race prejudice, the scourge (ah, the '50s!) of "juvenile delinquency." It was also a groundbreaking marriage of pop entertainment and "high culture": choreography that featured classical ballet moves, a score with elements...
...original script, which might be hefty enough for a sung-through opera but here seems too thin to live up to its ambitions. I don't expect a stage musical about street gangs to have the grit or nuance of the better Hollywood films of the same era, like Blackboard Jungle or Rebel Without a Cause (though a cast of gang members who didn't look like they stepped out of a Chorus Line audition might help). But I do want a love story with at least a hint of conviction, plausibility or sexual heat. The attraction of Maria...
...France's indivisible ideology is noble in theory - but often mocked by reality. There are plenty of periods in French history where racial and religious discrimination were rife - from the colonial era to cooperation with Nazi occupiers. The 2005 rioting that spread across France's suburban housing projects - and the international media attention that it drew - provided another reminder that something was seriously wrong in the land of fraternité et egalité. That unrest seems to have finally provoked a period of soul searching in France...
...economy, while Obama still managed to make significant investments in education, energy and health care. But the economy appears to be shifting. And unless Obama finds a way to shift as well, or the economy recovers in a way some economists now think unlikely, Obama's new "Era of Responsibility" may be viewed by historians as no more than another predictable attempt by a political leader to repaint the sides of a sinking ship...
...message, Obama professed a commitment "to diplomacy that addresses the full range of issues before us, and to pursuing constructive ties among the United States, Iran and the international community" and called for an era of "engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect." By placing his overture in the call for a "grand bargain" that addresses all areas of conflict, and speaking of integrating Iran's current regime into a responsible role in the international community, the President expressed an openness to accommodating some of Tehran's key concerns. But Obama also emphasized that "terror and arms...