Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine performs during the High As Hope Tour in Chicago in 2018. | Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP
The copyright to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic Jazz Age novel expired at the end of 2020, meaning anyone is now allowed to adapt it to a movie, make it into an opera or stage a Broadway musical without permission from the estate.
NEW YORK — Florence Welch is ditching the machine for musicals.
The Grammy-nominated leader of Florence + The Machine is supplying the lyrics and co-writing music for a stage musical adaptation of “The Great Gatsby,” it was announced Wednesday. No cast or premiere venue was announced.
Welch will collaborate on the music with Thomas Bartlett — who earned a Grammy nomination for best song written for visual media in 2019 for “Mystery of Love” by Sufjan Stevens — and story writer Martyna Majok, who was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for drama for “Cost of Living.” The musical will be directed by Olivier Award nominee Rebecca Frecknall.
The copyright to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic Jazz Age novel expired at the end of 2020, meaning anyone is now allowed to adapt it to a movie, make it into an opera or stage a Broadway musical without permission from the estate.
“This book has haunted me for a large part of my life,” Welch said in a statement. “It contains some of my favorite lines in literature. Musicals were my first love, and I feel a deep connection to Fitzgerald’s broken romanticism. It is an honor to have been offered the chance to recreate this book in song.”
Formed in London in 2007, Florence + the Machine’s 2009 debut “Lungs” was a hit in the United Kingdom and reached No. 14 on the Billboard 200. The band’s breakout track is “Dog Days Are Over.”
Other rock and pop stars who have written original musicals include Cyndi Lauper, Sheryl Crow, John Mellencamp, Sarah McLachlan, Dave Stewart, Tori Amos, Edie Brickell and Trey Anastasio from Phish. For every Elton John, who found amazing success with “The Lion King,” there is U2′s Bono and The Edge, who were battered by “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.”
Some big names in the pop world who stumbled in musical theater include Paul Simon, whose 1998 Broadway show “The Capeman” was the most high-profile failure of his career. “Taboo,” Boy George’s foray into the world of musicals, went fine in London but not in New York.
General manager Ryan Pace will decide whom the Bears will select with the 20th overall pick in Thursday’s NFL Draft. | Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
If they trade up to get one of the highly touted quarterbacks, it likely would buy the general manager another year or two. Oh, and he’d probably draft the wrong guy.
The NFL Draft starts Thursday, making this the perfect time to discuss the greater good as it pertains to the Bears.
Many fans would love for the team to use its first-round pick on a quarterback, the general thinking being that if the Bears ever landed a talented QB, there’d be many more victories ahead and fewer damaged souls wandering around town muttering, “Cade McNown.’’ In this view, life would be good and everybody could stop talking about the franchise’s decades-long quarterback aridity, the way everybody stopped talking about the Cubs’ being cursed once they won the 2016 World Series.
Getting one of the top QBs in the draft will be problematic, given that the Bears are picking 20th in the first round, though when it comes to the buildup to the annual draft, there are no problems, only millions of words of solutions from fans and media. But I can’t help but think people are missing the point here — that if the organization is to have the slightest chance of winning a Super Bowl in the coming years, it has to be rid of general manager Ryan Pace.
This is where we confront the greater good. If the Bears were to trade up Thursday to get an intriguing quarterback – someone like Alabama’s Mac Jones, North Dakota State’s Trey Lance or Ohio State’s Justin Fields – it would feel good in the moment. But it would almost surely buy Pace another year or two on the job, which would feel like a debilitating hangover that refuses to budge. It’s true that one of those three players might turn out to be a “franchise quarterback,’’ a term so titillating to Bears fans you’d think it was erotica. But it’s also true that, given Pace’s history, he’d end up picking the quarterback best suited for a career in mutual funds, architecture or costume design.
Is this what you really want, Bears fans? You want to take the huge chance that Pace has finally figured out the quarterback position? You want himrolling the dice? You want him around for a few more years? And you want him trading future draft picks in an attempt to make up for a massive mistake?
You’ll remember that Pace traded up one spot in the 2017 draft to take North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky with the second overall pick. He loved the kid, raved about him, probably would have adopted him if that option had been open. Trubisky failed, and the passers Pace passed on, Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson, very much did not. There is no way in the world I would want Pace drafting a quarterback in the first round.
I don’t trust him to choose the right one.
And I don’t want team chairman George McCaskey to see the presence of a highly touted rookie quarterback on the roster as an opportunity to weasel out of having to fire Pace for another few years.
The safe and correct bet right now is for the Bears to pick an offensive lineman, a wide receiver, a cornerback or anybody whose primary job isn’t throwing a football. The goal of Thursday’s first round is to get a player who can help the team and still get Pace canned.
I know: very defeatist thinking and possibly damaging long term for the franchise. What if Lance is the next Mahomes, an athletic, game-changing quarterback? If he is, then I’ll go with the historical evidence I have and apply it: Pace will look at Lance on Thursday night, find him lacking and draft another, lesser QB.
This is about trust, and when it comes to the Bears general manager choosing a quarterback, I’d have more faith in a nun with a fantasy football addiction making the selection.
This is about moving on, something the organization should have done with Pace and head coach Matt Nagy after its second straight 8-8 season in 2020. The Bears can’t afford to have Pace in charge at this point next season. The absolute worst thing would be for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to announce Thursday: “The Atlanta Falcons have traded the fourth overall pick to the Chicago Bears. With the fourth pick, the Bears select quarterback …’’
It’s terrible that the franchise is in quarterback hell. But don’t forget that the Bears are there because the general manager’s QB record includes Mike Glennon, Trubisky, Nick Foles and now Andy Dalton.
The greater good would have the Bears taking a wide receiver Thursday and Pace looking for work a year from now. The greatest good would involve the McCaskeys selling the team to someone who knows how to hire people who know how to choose quarterbacks who know how to play the position.
But you can’t ask for everything at once with this franchise. You start small. What would you call the Bears’ inability to draft a quarterback in the first round Thursday? A victory.
A man has been charged in a fatal shooting from earlier in April in Lawndale on the West Side.
Antwoine Moss, 35, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Devon Jackson, 33, Chicago police said.
Officers responded to a ShotSpotter alert about 10:30 p.m. April 17, and found Jackson with gunshot wounds to his chest in the 2700 block of West Flournoy Street, police said.
He was brought Stroger Hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Moss turned himself into officers about 1:15 p.m. Monday, and was charged after being identified as the person who allegedly fired the fatal shots, police said.
ChicagoBears (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
For years, Chicago Bears fans have been described many ways. None can be more relatable or true than this: they’re gluttons for punishment.
For what other reason would fans continually support a team, their entire lives, only to be let down more often than not? That’s what makes a fan base respectable, quite frankly. A loyal, committed fan base is hard not to love.
Bears fans have been loyal and committed through a lot of hardships. We have just about seen it all, short of maybe an 0-16 season — yes, that’s a slight to a certain division rival.
With the 2021 NFL Draft straight ahead of us, Bears fans aren’t quite sure how to feel. On one hand, excitement is unavoidable. It’s the draft, baby. This is one of the most eventful segments of our sports year. No matter what, it’s hard not to have at least a little bit of hope.
After all, anything can happen. But, knowing Ryan Pace is at the forefront of every move and decision? Yes — anything can truly happen, and it won’t always be for the good, either.
While fans are hoping the Chicago Bears make one move, Ryan Pace may turn the other direction.
Pace is as unpredictable as they come. A few years ago, the trade for Khalil Mack blew everybody away. It was a monumental move that changed the face of this defense and, quite honestly, the franchise. The team now had one of the most exciting, lethal players in all of football.
While moves like the Mack trade are fun and exciting, Pace has also failed to meet expectations making several other moves. Of course, the quarterback position is a tender subject when it comes to these discussions. Quarterback has never been Pace’s, oh, “thing.”
Going into this year’s draft, fans should brace themselves for the unexpected. Many of us want to see one thing happen, but Pace might just up and shock the fan base by going the opposite way.
There are three scenarios that would cause a ruckus within the fan base this week. Some may love the moves while others could hate them. Let us know your thoughts on each one.
The Chicago Bulls beat the injury-battered Miami Heat Monday night in the second of their two-game series with the Heat, 110-102 on the road.
Is there evidence that the ChicagoBulls could pull off a berth for the play-in series in the East?
After the Bulls’ most recent win against the Heat on Monday, it certainly seems like they could put the pieces of the puzzle together. If there is one main factor to the Bulls’ win over the Heat and the key to their future success, it’s energy.
The Bulls brought plenty of energy on both sides of the floor. The biggest proprietor of that energy? Tomas Satoransky. Sato was diving after balls, driving the lane aggressively, and even had a block at the rim on an attempted dunk by Gabe Vincent.
Tomas Satoransky races back for the big time DENIAL! ?
This boost of energy translated to players on the floor — Coby White, Daniel Theis, Nikola Vucevic, Denzel Valentine, and others in the company.
Let’s talk about the other outstanding factors that led the Bulls to success on the night, and what could allow them to boot the Washington Wizards out of the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference.
Equal opportunity offense. A Phil Jackson-esque type of offensive night for the Bulls, they had six of their 10 players in double-digit figures and one just a bucket away from joining them (Patrick Williams with eight points). The team recorded a whopping 33 assists to trump the Heat’s 18. The Bulls had four players with five or more assists, just the second game this season they’ve done that. Kudos to their offense for tearing apart the Heat’s 2-3 notoriously good zone.
Daniel Theis and Nikola Vucevic. The twin towers of the starting lineup had themselves quite a game together. They combined for 47 points off of 19/28 shooting and 23 rebounds. Phew. That’s paint presence at its finest. The 1-2 punch on offense with these two has been fantastic and it seemed like they were always in the right spots for rebounds.
Finding their matchups. In the first half of this game, this was something the Bulls absolutely struggled to figure out. On many trips back on defense, Theis would be matched with Goran Dragic or White with Jimmy Butler. In the second half, they got better on defense in transition and found their guys. This is evident by the Heat’s 15 fast-break points in the first half and their five-point second half on fast breaks.
Is there anything the Chicago Bulls can improve on going forward? Of course.
Help Defense. The Miami Heat were short of men on the night, playing without Tyler Herro, Kendrick Nunn, and Andre Igoudala. My point for saying this is that the Bulls need to be comfortable with leaving their men to help. Jimmy Butler scored 33 points in this game on 11/21 shooting (7/8 in the first half). Bulls fans should expect there to be some stunting/double team action from the wings to help this issue. Butler is known to sit in the short corner and isolate. We should hope to see this action against the Knicks, who are a big team.
Turnovers. I know this bullet point is like a broken record but it’s a problem. The Bulls recorded 18 turnovers in this one, in which the Heat capitalized for 20 points. Imagine if they cut half of those turnovers, the Bulls are looking at a much easier win.
Play as a team/energy. Reverting to the point about the future (oxymoron, yes), the Bulls need to bring the energy they did against the Heat to every game. The intensity was clearly higher in this game and it was evident through Sato and White looking mean on the floor and playing aggressively. If they can bring this type of intensity and teamwork to the rest of the regular season, they should be looking at a chance at making the playoffs.
The Bulls will visit the New York Knicks on Wednesday and the Wizards will take on the Lakers at home on the same night. Bulls fans could be seeing a reentrance into the play-in faster than they thought.
Rappers Klevah Knox and TRUTH, known collectively as Mother Nature, have worked tirelessly to ascend through the Chicago scene over the past few years. COVID-19 threw a gigantic roadblock in their path—the same way it did for almost anyone who isn’t a billionaire using a society-shifting pandemic to get billions of dollars richer—but the duo’s labor has continued to bear fruit.…Read More
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