Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Feminism: The Soundtrack


I love this story. The Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune has a nice little feature by reporter Rohan Preston on Dorothy Marcic, a former a professor of management at Vanderbilt University, who quit her secure job to indulge her teenage passion: theater. The professor - turned - playwright then did something equally bold. She created a jukebox musical, "Respect: A Musical Journey of Women," based on research she did for her book, Respect: Women and Popular Music. The show -- which had its more humble beginnings as a lecture with music -- has now played in more than a dozen venues in the United States and Australia and is currently playing in Minneapolis. The show's music, which includes swing and jazz, show tunes, rock and country, "Respect," and "I Will Survive," tracks the evolution of the social consciousness of American women in each decade of the 20th century. Says the 58-year-old Marcic, "You have to go with your passion, no matter how long it takes." Check out Dorothy's blog here.

And here's something to sing about:

This week marks the 87th Anniversary of women's suffrage in the US. Yep, that's right. On August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment of the US Constitution was ratified granting women the right to vote. (Hey - if you're anywhere near New Jersey, go celebrate with a trip to Paulsdale!) Now, if we can just use that vote to get our country a real President next time.

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