In NewMusicBox magazine, Andrew Waggoner outlines what might be called a Cistercian musical aesthetic:

The colonization of silence is complete. Its progress was so gradual that even those who watched it with alarm have only now begun to take stock of the losses. Reflection, discernment, a sustainable sense of tranquility, of knowing where and how to find oneself—these are only the most obvious casualties of marauding noise's march to the sea. Much more insidious has been the loss of music itself.

But wait, this can't be: Music is everywhere; we have more of it, available in more forms, more often, than at any time in human history. I can go to the web and find O King of Berio, Baksimba dances from Uganda, something really obscure like Why Are we Born (not to have a good time) of the young Buck Owens, even Pat Boone's version of Tutti Frutti; I can find all of the same at the mall. Surely this is a good thing. I can find renewal of spirit in Sur Incises of Boulez or stand aghast at the toxic grandiloquence of Franz Schmidt's Book of the Seven Seals. Music is everywhere. Long live it.

Just give me five minutes without it; that's all I ask, perhaps all I'll need to bring it back into being for myself. Imprisoned by it as I am now, assaulted in every store, elevator, voice-mail system, passing car, neighbor's home, by it and its consequent immolation in the noise of the quotidian, it is lost to me as anything other than a kind of psychic rape, a forced intimacy with sonic partners not of my choosing. When music is everywhere, it is nowhere; when everything is music, nothing is.

Read it all.

It was standing room only for the students of Trinity Prepartory School of Winter Park, Florida, who put on their production of La Cage aux Folles at the Universal Orlando Theater. Adam Hetrik of Playbill News wrote:

La Cage aux Folles, which was not a part of Trinity Preparatory school's regular theatre schedule, was offered as a summer intensive open to all local high school students, not only those enrolled at Trinity Preparatory School. The program was designed to provide students with a credit for a fine arts requirement by bringing in local theatre professionals in order to allow students the experience of a professional rehearsal and production process.

When the show was publicized at the start of the school year, controversy erupted.

(The) parents and students were aware of the musical's content. Having previously produced A Chorus Line at Trinity Prep, a musical with many progressive central themes, (Department head Janine) Papin hoped audiences and the school were willing to go on the latest journey with her.

However, when Bishop John Howe, head of the Diocese of Central Florida, read of Trinity Preparatory's intended presentation of La Cage aux Folles in a local paper, a letter was sent "officially requesting" the school's headmaster to cancel the production.

The cancellation might have been the end, but news of the move brought forward both a flood of protest and offers from area theater companies and arts groups to put on the show. Playbill reported that the students received at least 15 offers to stage the production. After negotiations it was decided to hold the production at Universal Orlando, but without the official sponsorship of Trinity Prep. Read more here.

Tanya Caldwell of the Orlando Sentinel reported that over 300 people attended the performance on opening night.

The students took the show to Orlando Repertory Theatre after a week of debate about whether the bishop overstepped his bounds or held his moral ground. At least three other theaters also opened their doors to the group.

At least 300 parents, peers and neighbors arrived for the opening night, laughing at the jokes, smiling during the solos and whistling as grinning drag queens danced across the stage.

The Broadway musical has won several awards and was later tuned into an American movie called The Birdcage, which starred Robin Williams and Nathan Lane. La Cage features a gay couple in which one partner runs a French nightclub and the other performs there as a drag queen. The couple has been together for 20 years but make changes when their son bring home his fiancee and her conservative parents.

According to Playbill, Bishop Howe issued the following statement:

"We regret that the scheduling of this performance has been interpreted as a departure from our 40-year history as an Episcopal school. The students who worked hard to prepare for this play had neither a political nor social agenda."

Papin, who is unable to comment publicly on the production due to school administration restrictions, issued the following statement in an official Trinity Prep press release:

"I am quite proud of the students' tenacity and determination through this very difficult process. And I am thrilled that the students will get to perform the show on which they have worked so very hard. I am so grateful to all who supported our students' work."

For Ajinbayo Akinsiku, aka Siku, Jesus is the samurai stranger come to town to shake things up.

Siku is an Anglican who grew up in England and Nigeria in a family of Nigerian descent who is studying for ordination in the priesthood. He has published a Bible in the style Japanese graphic novels called Manga. Intended as a "first taste" to the Bible for young adults and teenagers, the rendition is long on action and drama.

Manga uses a strong visual style with a cinematic flair to tell stories that are once dramatic and action oriented and highly textured. These books are popular with teenagers and young adults.

Neela Banerjee writes for the New York Times that:

While younger adults and teenagers are the most avid consumers of manga, Mr. Akinsiku said he had heard from grandmothers who picked up the book as a gift for their grandchildren. The book is meant to be a first taste of the Bible, which many feel too intimidated to read, Mr. Akinsiku said. Every few pages, a small tab refers to the biblical verses the action covers.

“For the unchurched, the book is to show that this thing, the Bible, is still relevant,” he said, “because it talks about what human beings do when they encounter God.”

And...

Mr. Akinsiku says his Son of God is “a samurai stranger who’s come to town, in silhouette,” here to shake things up in a new, much-abridged version of the Bible rooted in manga, the Japanese form of graphic novels.

“We present things in a very brazen way,” said Mr. Akinsiku, who hopes to become an Anglican priest and who is the author of “The Manga Bible: From Genesis to Revelation.” “Christ is a hard guy, seeking revolution and revolt, a tough guy.”

The Art Blog of the Episcopal Cafe has much more including details of the four volumes (The Manga Bible - Raw, The Manga Bible - Extreme, The Manga Bible - NT Raw and The Manga Bible - NT Extreme) and how you can buy them. The Extreme Editions include both the graphic novels and full-text Bibles in the New International Version.

A link to purchase The Manga Bible is available here with the convenience of one-click purchase through the Amazon.com Associates program. All purchases referred from visio-divina.com support Episcopal Cafe Art Blog, Episcopal Church and Visual Arts, and Visio Divina programming.

Read: The New York Times: The Bible as Graphic Novel, With a Samurai Stranger Called Christ

See also: The Art Blog: The Manga Bible (and check out the artwork above!)

This is Siku's web site.

According to The Press Association, The Diocese of London has asked a punk photographer best known for photographing Bob Marley and the Sex Pistols to create images to help explain Easter.

Dennis Morris, whose subjects have also included The Prodigy and Oasis, asked teenagers to play the role of Christ in the photographs.

The photographs will be used by Church of England parishes in London to tell the Easter story to primary school children.

Morris worked with teenagers from St Stephen's and St Mary's Islington in north London to produce the shots, designed to tell the story of Easter in a contemporary urban setting.

Read the story here.

HT to OCICBW and to see more photographs click here.

The Chicago Tribune's photo essay on the Keiskamma Altarpiece is worth a visit.

Grace Cathedral offers a panel by panel view of this monumental artwork.

Ekklesia reports that a new painting of St. George by highly regarded artist Scott Norwood Witts, which depicts the saint as a man of compassion rather than a crusader, is to be unveiled at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. George, Southwark, to mark the saint’s day next week.

The life-size but intimate portrait will be unveiled as part of the ‘St. George in Southwark’ festival (http://www.stgeorgefestival.org.uk/events/). It shows the 'dragon slayer' as a saint of peace and one who chose risky debate over violence, the artist points out.

St George and Dead Soldier was stimulated by the deployment of British forces overseas and the historical misrepresentation of St George. The patron saint of soldiers and England is shown battle weary, identifying another fatality of war - exploding the contrived mythical identity developed during The Crusades, to reveal a man in mourning. As a high ranking soldier of the Roman Empire converting to Christianity was extremely dangerous, yet his faith inspired him to put down his weapons and personally confront the Emperor Diocletian over his persecution of Christians. The lifesize, but intimate portrait shows the ’dragon slayer’ as a saint of peace and one chose debate over violence.

The painting will be displayed on the 19th and 20th April and then officially unveiled and blessed by the Dean on St George’s Day and exhibited until 3rd May.

Scott Norwood Witts has previously exhibited at the American Church in London and the Carmelite Friary in Kent. Commissions have included altarpieces at Dover Castle and the Royal Garrison Church at British Army HQ Aldershot.

See it here.

Episcopal Life Online:

Thirty-one artists contribute works of self-expression to the latest exhibition, Portraits of the Self, launched on the Episcopal Church & Visual Arts [ECVA] website this month.

It is the first exhibit of 2008 and the 25th on the Episcopal artists' website since the organization was inaugurated in 2000.

See the exhibit, curated by David C. Hancock, here.

And don't forget the Episcopal Cafe has its own Art Blog maintained by Mel Ahlborn, President and CEO of ECVA.