Over the course of decades in America, the one thing that has brought a divided country together has been the arts.
Eric Schaeffer – File Photo by Todd Franson
The arts are a vessel that brings ideas to life, introducing each of us to different, and sometimes challenging, points of view. They help us begin conversations and understanding about different people, different ideas and different ways of thinking altogether. They provide a safe place where no one is judged while thoughts and ideas are exchanged. Songs can move us, words can change us and music notes can stir our soul.
I hope the next four years we can use art to heal, accept different points of view and grow as a country that continues to be a melting pot of immigrants founded with the principle of free speech.
As President Kennedy said, “I see little of more importance to the future of our country and of civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist. If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him.”
The opinions expressed in these letters are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations and this magazine, its staff and contributors.
Ellis, a former Trump adviser and opponent of same-sex marriage, accuses Transportation Secretary and husband of treating their adopted children as "commodities."
Jenna Ellis, a conservative attorney and a past adviser to former President Donald Trump, declared that children should only be raised in households with heterosexual parents while taking a swipe at openly gay U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and his family.
Ellis commented on a tweet from a user named @TheRichFromCali, who wrote, "I am extremely saddened by the hateful and homophobic comments made by Mike Pence," referring to a recent joke that Pence, the former vice president, made about Buttigieg taking parental leave at the Gridiron Club dinner.
The White House previously condemned the joke -- which referred to Buttigieg taking "maternity leave" to take care of children he adopted with his husband -- as homophobic, demanding an apology from Pence.
The enchanted woods of past and current Stephen Sondheim productions are full of Mama Roses and Georges and Sweeney Todds. Washington audiences have journeyed up the beanstalk with that giant killer Jack three times in nearly as many seasons.
So, Signature Theatre's outstanding new production of the late Maestro's more rarely produced Pacific Overtures (★★★★☆) sounds doubly refreshing to ears eager to venture somewhere less familiar in Sondheim-land.
The score, with music and lyrics by Sondheim, also simply sounds lovely filling the openness of director Ethan Heard's in-the-round staging, grazing the graceful, watercolor-hued screens set designer Chika Shimizu has wrapped around the Max Theatre. Alexander Tom conducts a nine-piece orchestra -- complete with a booming taiko war drum -- that breathes vitality into those plunking, repeated quarter notes that so sing of Sondheim.
Everything Everywhere All at Once swept the 2023 Oscars, snagging seven of the 11 trophies it was nominated for – and it could only win 10 total, as two actresses were up against one another, so it's a pretty great result for one of the most-talked-about films of the year.
Much of the attention last night and today is focused on the history made and the speeches given from actors and The Daniels, but Gay Twitter (and beyond) also found time to fall head over heels in love with Paul Rogers, the man who took home the Best Editing Oscar for his work on the sci-fi giant.
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