Johann Sebastian Bach starts each of his hundreds of fugues the same way: The master composer beckons forth a simple strain of melody before he recapitulates the original tune. From there, he introduces a countermelody, piles on new textures and styles, and reverses the original order of the notes. It all culminates in glorious counterpoint...
Most people know Thurgood Marshall as the first black judge to sit on the United States Supreme Court. Few know the details of the legal slog he had to endure in the years beforehand. Beginning in 1934, Marshall worked as a defense lawyer for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, travelling the...
Log onto Netflix — you’ve got a golden ticket. “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” reappeared in the streaming service’s cache of children’s movies earlier this month, giving a broader audience a chance to revisit the classic tale. Johnny Depp gives his signature, weird rendition of Willy Wonka in the 2005 film, and Roald Dahl’s most...
“A thought experiment, with beautiful visuals.” That’s what the friend next to me in the theater said as the final credits rolled over Denis Villeneuve’s “Blade Runner 2049.” The guy sitting on the end of the row gave the film a Platonic reading on the car ride home. Another person I ran into at the...
Director of Theater George Angell’s last play on a Hillsdale stage has challenged him with a green cast — mostly freshmen — and an unwieldy Shakespeare script. But his young actors have responded with only one thing: excitement. The Tower Players opened Shakespeare’s “All’s Well That Ends Well” Wednesday evening, and performances continue Thursday through...