Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Weird, weird news from the land of adaptations

I had to post again because yesterday I was indulging my nasty little podcast addiction and I heard two pieces of very odd news.

The first was courtesy of the NYtheatrecast: at the end of a discussion with three producers of independent opera they each announced their seasons. Among the aria cabarets, winter solstice orchestra showcases, and Hansel and Gretels was a workshop of a new adaptation of Tom Stoppard’s Rozencrantz and Guilderstern are Dead, with the Mark Morris Dance Group. Opera, Stoppard, modern dance. In response to this disorienting news I e-mailed my friend Aubrey for whom Tom Stoppard might just be the center of the universe. I am glad to say that I am not alone in my confusion.

The second came from NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me!: I’m just going to come out and say it this time: Disney, David Mamet and the Diary of Anne Frank. Another Fellini-esque trio and possible evidence of the coming apocalypse. To repeat: David Mamet is adapting the Diary of Anne Frank for Disney. But it’s okay, they’re going to down play all the Nazi stuff and pitch it as a young girl’s “coming of age story”.. No word on what rating this movie will carry but is hard to imagine Mamet’s clipped, curse-laden, dialogue in the mouth of any thirteen year old girl, much less Anne fucking Frank.

1 comment:

  1. I think Disney, David Mamet, and Anne Frank might be weirded than ROS AND GUIL the opera. I think the universe is broken.

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