Is Shakespeare Still Funny? - Frontseat this Sat

Frontseat, this Saturday 21st April, 8.00am on TV One.

Watch Frontseat stories on TV One's website after the show. Visit www.tvone.co.nz and enter the keyword: Frontseat.

THIS SATURDAY:
- Oliver Driver is in Christchurch for the NZ International Jazz & Blues Festival, and discovers a new precinct devoted to art, design & live music (http://www.sol.net.nz/index.htm).
- Josie McNaught checks out fashion and music inspired by NZ’s burgeoning Asian population.
- Jon Bridges experiments with updating Shakespeare’s 400 year old jokes.
- Fur Patrol’s lead singer Julia Deans melts hearts with My Funny Valentine

THE NEW NEW ZEALAND

Statistics out this week from the latest Census show that of the major ethnic groups, Asians grew the fastest between 2001 and 2006. How’s this impacting on our arts scene? Josie McNaught chats with pr man Alistair Kwun, fashion designer Natalie Chan and one of the hottest new hip hop talents on the block, David Tsai aka DVRDCT.

THE FRONT ROW: IS SHAKESPEARE STILL FUNNY?

Guardian blogger Brian Logan reckons many of the Bard’s jokes are too outdated to get today’s audiences laughing. Not one to back away from a challenge, Jon Bridges grabs his comedian mate Jeremy Elwood, a classic scene from “The Comedy of Errors”, a Shakespeare scholar and a live audience for an experiment of epic proportions.

HOW TO: BUILD THE ULTIMATE MUSIC COLLECTION

Say your MP3 player has wiped its memory, or your CDs have been stolen. Perhaps, more simply, you realise it’s time you filled your music collection with some of the great classic albums. Oliver Driver seeks the help of the experts.

JULIA DEANS SINGS FOR US

Melbourne-based Kiwi alt-rock band Fur Patrol will be back here soon with a new EP and album. But first, their lead singer Julia Deans has some jazz to sing at the NZ International Jazz & Blues Festival in Christchurch this Saturday night: http://www.jazzfestchristchurch.com/.

ARTISTS AT HOME: SCOTT GARDINER

Scott Gardiner works from a high-rise apartment on Auckland’s waterfront. He has an exhibition coming up at Whitespace in August.

Send your story ideas and arts diary submissions to Frontseat's researcher Gabe McDonnell at gabe@frontseat.co.nz.

Thanks to Resene, the paint the professionals use.

ENDS

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