Paul on tour with Hugh Masekela

from Ans , 2007-08-12
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Masekela and Simon reunite over Darfur

LEGENDARY musicians Hugh Masekela and Paul Simon - who played together in the controversial Graceland tour of 1986 - are to reunite in a series of concerts aimed at prompting politicians to end the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Beginning next month with a concert in New York, the pair will launch a worldwide tour, with the support of other musicians including the singers Youssou N´Dour and Angelica Kidjo. The first performance is set to coincide with a meeting of the UN heads of state on September 25.
´It will be targeted at people who can be effective,´ said Masekela, who is in Edinburgh for a concert at the Queen´s Hall tonight as part of the Fringe. ´We want to get the heads of state and ministers and say to them, ´This is serious. You have to do something about it.´´

Sudan´s government and the pro-government Arab militias are accused of war crimes against Darfur´s black African population. An estimated 250,000 people have died, with two million more living in refugee camps.

´Are we going to sit around and watch another Rwanda, and just sigh, ´This is bad,´´ said Masekela, who is an African Union goodwill ambassador for Darfur. ´I called Paul and said, ´I´m working with the Darfur people - I need your help.´ He said, ´You just tell me what it is and I´ll be there.´

´We will do the concert in a place where we can get 500 people or so - and focus on people who can do something about it. Then we want to do a tour and hope it helps.´

Masekela, 68, has never shied away from controversy. His song Bring Him Back Home became an anthem of the campaign to free Nelson Mandela, but his involvement with Simon´s Graceland tour brought accusations of breaking a cultural boycott of South Africa.

Paul Simon to Appear at 92nd St Y

from MrBeerbelly , 2007-08-21
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By: Brian Scott Lipton



The 92nd Street Y has announced some upcoming events of particular interest to theater fans.
On Monday, September 10, the Y´s Makor series will host The New Face of Drama, a discussion of theatrical trends featuring Pulitzer Prize winner Paula Vogel and the eight playwrights whose work will be presented this season by Playwrights Horizons: Sarah Ruhl, Jordan Harrison, Kate Fodor, Michael Friedman, John Dempsey, Rinne Groff, Sarah Treem, and Adam Bock.

On Sunday, September 23, three-time Tony Award nominee Alan Alda will speak with playwright Roger Rosenblatt, while on Wednesday, October 24, Rosenblatt speaks with Obie winner Christopher Durang. On Sunday, November 11, Tony winner Victoria Clark will give a vocal master class. On Monday, December 3, British actress Ruth Rosen will present her one-person show William Blake at 250.

Looking ahead to next year, on Monday, January 21, the Y will present Seven, a group of monologues based on the oral histories of women, the playwrights will include Anna Deavere Smith. On Wednesday, February 20, Grammy Award winner Paul Simon, who wrote the Broadway musical The Capeman, will talk with U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins. Finally, on Monday, March 3, Christine Baranski and the cast of TFANA´s upcoming production of Antony and Cleopatra will read scenes from the play and join in a discussion with director Darko Tresnjak and artistic director Jeffrey Horowitz.