News

This week on Le Show, Harry presents News of the Bees, What the Frack, News From America’s Longest War, Our Smart House, Apologies of the Week, and more.

This week on The Reading LIfe: Susan talks with authors who’ll be appearing at Improv NOLA: A Festival of Ideas. Jules Feiffer is known for his cartoons, novels, plays and screenplays, as well as his most recent graphic novel, “The Ghost Script.” He appears Saturday, November 9. And Michael Pollan, who has written so widely and beautifully about food and nature, talks about his most recent bestseller, “How to Change Your Mind.” He appears Friday, November 8. For more info, check out improvconferencenola.com.

Excerpts from the medieval musical, "The Play of Robin and Marion", is featured on this Continuum. Composed by the 13th century trouvère Adam de la Halle, this pastoral work is considered by some to be one of the first operas written. The recording is an historic live performance given in 1984 by musicians of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, the famous early music school in Basel, Switzerland. CD is "Le Jeu de Robin et Marion", Focus 913.

New Orleans’ Saenger Theater originally opened in 1927 as a vaudeville palace, and struggled through the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s as a movie theatres accommodated changing tastes. In 1977, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and was renovated for the large musical theatre tours of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Since then, Katrina damaged it in 2005 and it was again renovated and reopened in 2013. As officials plan an implosion on the Hard Rock site across the street, the theater building sits idle.

The 30th New Orleans Film Festival kicked off this week, and one of the centerpiece movies is Burning Cane. The film’s director is 19-year-old New Orleans native Phillip Youmans, who won the prestigious Founders Award at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. NolaVie’s David Benedetto invited Phillip into the studio upon his return back home for the film festival.

Visit ViaNolaVie for a related article written by David Benedetto.

Chakula cha Jua became aware of the Black Liberation Movement, as many other Black Southerners did, while he was serving in the military. From there, he returned home to New Orleans and enlisted in a very different fight— the performance activism of the Free Southern Theater. In this edition of NOLA Life Stories, Mr. cha Jua chronicles a career in theater and activism, beginning with his coming of age in the Calliope Housing Projects.

Ben Jaffe grew up in Preservation Hall, surrounded by jazz legends, immersed in the musical traditions his parents fought to preserve. He marched in Mardi Gras parades and jazz funerals, and toured the country with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, honing his chops as a bass and tuba player. After earning a music degree from Oberlin, Ben moved home to manage the hall. He is now creative director and has opened Preservation Hall to other styles of music. 

The news was hard for some to believe. Tujague’s Restaurant, the second-oldest restaurant in New Orleans, will relocate. But it is happening, and when the move is complete the question may be, do people still believe in Tujague’s?

New Orleans has one of the highest murder rates in the country, and research shows more than half of the young people in this city have lost someone to homicide - most often to gun violence. Students at George Washington Carver High School are no exception, and they have stories to tell - not just about the trauma of losing someone - but about the lives of the people they've lost. Together with WWNO education reporter Jess Clark and radio producer Eve Abrams, a group of Carver students produced the series '"This Is Why It Matters" for WWNO.