Bartlett's reworking of the story of Marguerite Gautier, the 19th-century consumptive courtesan, restores some of the saltiness to a tale that has acquired multiple layers of romantic gloss over the centuries. The flashback-structured narrative and the use of the supporting cast as chorus keep the play moving along crisply (though I was bothered by the sight of men in evening clothes moving furniture about). And the Round House technical staff performs its usual fine job, including Rosemary Pardee's costumes and a shower of letter-paper from the flies during the scene of Marguerite's final collapse, played sensitively by Angela Reed. But the production struggles to rise above salon-era sentiment, hindered perhaps by the lack of chemistry between Reed and Aubrey Deeker as Armand, the narrator/alter ego of Dumas. And there were some odd choices of French pronunciation, first among them the name of Marguerite's protegé turned rival, Olympe.

posted: 10:59:43 PM  

Michael Hill visits the studios of Recorded Books.

(Thanks to robot wisdom.)

posted: 1:59:15 PM  

Something I should have realized a long time ago but didn't: the large sans serif numerals in the lower right corner of the reverse of our newer currency bills, the big 20 that makes the double sawbuck look like Monopoly money, is actually a feature designed to assist people with low vision. I can imagine the conference room at Treasury where the greenbacks were designed: fifteen guys with a boatload of high-tech whizbang ideas for making it more difficult to counterfeit the currency, and one guy quietly suggesting (successfully) that they could do something to make the bills easier to use. Of course, what we got in the end is a clunky mashup of design elements that don't fit together.

(Thanks to kottke.org.)

posted: 12:59:03 PM