October 10, 2008
For her first novel, What Happened to Anna K., Reyn took Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina and wrote a modern update set among Russian immigrants in Queens. A Soviet émigré who arrived in the U.S. at age seven, Reyn tells Kurt about how she still grapples with the Russian soul.
Belarus is called the last dictatorship in Europe. The government censors the arts, so performance troupe Free Theatre Belarus performs secretly, in converted houses, to avoid arrest. American playwright Aaron Landsman went to visit the group in Minsk, and learned what theater is really all about. Produced by David Krasnow and Gretta Cohn.
Georgia used to be something like Russia’s California -- good wine, mild weather, beautiful countryside, and even a vibrant movie industry. Georgian movies were like a breath of fresh air in the ideological Soviet film industry. Pamela Renner reports on how filmmakers today are trying to navigate the twin perils of Russian war and the Western free market.
For 18 years, the historic Jewish quarter of Krakow has been home to a Jewish cultural festival -- nine days of dancing, lectures, and concerts. 25,000 people attend, most of them Poles with no Jewish family. Stephanie Rowden wondered what Jewish culture can mean in a place where it has been absent for 60 years. She produced the story as part of a public art project in Krakow.
The play "Equus" is about a teenager whose obsession with horses turned violent. Daniel Radcliffe, of “Harry Potter” fame, plays the young man on Broadway. His horse, Nugget, is played by Lorenzo Pisoni. Pisoni grew up in a family of circus performers, but this role is challenging him in new ways. Produced by Jill Du Boff.
The musical "9 to 5" debuted in Los Angeles last month, and is headed for Broadway this spring. Kurt talked to Dolly in 2005, when she was working on turning that legendary movie into a musical.
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