T'Ain't Necessarily So

I don't mean to sound like a shill for the New York Times Arts & Leisure section, but I would be remiss if I didn't direct your attention to this article about a fascinating new version of Porgy and Bess being staged in Austin, TX. What fascinates is how the production folds Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans into the opera (even though it is set in South Carolina); as the primary birthplace of the jazz that fueled so much of the Gershwins' music, it seems like an appropriate connection, and a politically timely one.