Word: weaker
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...says Cinderella's Prince to the Baker's Wife. It is an apt description of this production of Into the Woods, Stephen Sondheim's musical valentine to the Grimm Brothers' fairy tales. The competent cast does a good job with the funnier first act. But especially in the inherently weaker second act, the actors too often seem lost in pro forma direction and overwhelmed by the pit orchestra from hell. There are saving graces--the well designed set and scene-stealing cow are two examples--but John Weinstein's production of Into the Woods, while polished and charming, is basically...
...introducing the "survival of the fittest" concept, school choice would force the closure of weaker schools and induce struggling ones to renovate and restructure themselves. This would permit otherwise ineligible students to receive an education equal or comparable to that of their more affluent peers...
This act is weaker than the first. Husovsky and Dawson perform their parts well if unremarkably, and Bubriski remains strong. The problem mostly lies in the transition from "opera buffa" to "verismo tragedy," as McNally has labelled it. That contrast contains the play's power, but it also puts a strain on its credibility. It is a difficult trick to plausibly turn a witty, realistic play about aging professionals' romantic entanglements into a violent and grand tragedy, no matter how many references to operatic emotion are strewn throughout. Despite the fine acting, the second act drags a little...
...rubble lies Maastricht. What happened? The ERM tied E.C. currencies to the German mark. But much of Europe -- notably Britain and Italy -- was unable to keep up. The German central bank had jacked up interest rates to dampen the inflation caused by huge deficit spending on eastern Germany. The weaker E.C. countries had a choice: a) match Germany's high interest rates and risk both deep recession and political suicide; or b) drop out of the ERM. Not surprisingly, they chose...
...federal regulators began enforcing the new rules with an iron fist, many banks and borrowers started to howl. Last year the Bush Administration ordered regulators to ease up, but so far, most bankers remain fearful that any laxity on their part will bring regulatory punishment or even closure. "The weaker banks want to spend more time trying to clean up their balance sheets than making new loans," says Verne Istock, vice chairman of Detroit's NBD bank...