Theme Guides to selected programs from the Spring 2012 Visions & Voices program were created in partnership with USC Libraries faculty and staff. Look for recommended books and readings on the people, performances and topics covered by these events. Visit the current season of: USC Visions and Voices; view the 2011-2012 season's brochure. Photo: Holly Burt from California, USA, "Flowers for the Walkway", University of Southern California, CC BY 2.0 --> L.A. Philharmonic: Dudamel Conducts Mahler 4 (Theme Guide: Resource Guide - PDF) January 14, 2012 Flutes and sleigh bells being Gustav Mahler’s Fourth Symphony and the last part of Mahler’s “Wunderhorn” symphonies. Built around a single song, Mahler’s Fourth shares different viewpoints, from a skeleton playing a death dance on a fiddle, to a somber processional march and a child’s vision of Heaven. Additional topics in guide: Disney Hall, Frank Gehry, Gustavo Dudamel, Gustav Mahler, Lorin Maazel; USC Libraries contributor: Stephanie Bonjack. Tom Stoppard's Rock 'n' Roll (Theme Guide: Research Guide - PDF) / (Theme Guide: Resource Guide - PDF) January 19, 2012 Rock ’n’ Roll, called “Stoppard’s finest play”, follows the passions and politics of a Marxist professor in Cambridge as well as his Rolling Stones–obsessed protégé, who is fighting for freedom in Soviet-dominated Prague. Additional topic in guide: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead; Guide creator: Sara R. Tompson. Queer Aesthetics and Archival Practices (Theme Guide: Research Guide - PDF) January 24, 2012 A panel discussion of the practical and theoretical aspects of the archive and its relationship to contemporary art today moderated by Malik Gaines with Ann Cvetkovich, Catherine Lord and Ulrike Müller. Additional topics in guide: Advocate, Curve, GLQ, Lambada Book Report, LGBTIQ Archives; Guide creator: Anthony Anderson; Sue Tyson. Our Town (Theme Guide: Research Guide - PDF) / (Theme Guide: Resource Guide - PDF) January 26, 2012 This critically acclaimed Thornton Wilder play stars Helen Hunt and is directed by David Cromer. Additional topics in guide: Twentieth-Century Romance and Historical Writers, Internet Broadway Database (IBDB); Guide creator: Anthony Anderson. Wonderland and the Mathematical Imaginary (Theme Guide: Research Guide - PDF) / (Theme Guide: Resource Guide - PDF) February 22, 2012 Lewis Carroll created a surprising world in which the normal rules don’t apply. The multidisciplinary discussion features Margaret Wertheim, Francis Bonahon and Jim Kincaid; followed by an experimental play/workshop led by Wertheim and Bonahon. Additional topics in guide: Polymath, USC Academy for Polymathic Study; Guide creator: John M. Jackson. ???? The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote (Online Theme Guide: Research Guide) (Theme Guide: Research Guide - PDF) February 23, 2012 The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet will join forces with Phil Proctor of Firesign Theatre to present an entirely new experience of the story of the Knight of La Mancha Additional topics in guide: William Kanengise, USC Thornton School of Music Aquila Theatre in Euripides's Herakles (Theme Guide: Research Guide - PDF) February 28, 2012 L Aquila Theatre, classically trained, modernly hip troupe, will perform Herakles; and following the performance, William Thalmann will engage the audience in conversation with Peter Meineck. Additional topic in guide: Greek drama. L.A. Conservancy Walking Tour: Broadway Theatres (Theme Guide: Research Guide - PDF) / (Theme Guide: Resource Guide - PDF) March 3, 2012 This walking tour of the Broadway Historic Theatre and Commercial District explores the social, cinematic and architectural history of this unique street including twelve movie palaces built between 1910 and 1931 and nearly two dozen major department and clothing stores. Additional topic in guide: Cinema Treasures; Guide creator: Ruth Wallach. Letters from Zora: In Her Own Words (Theme Guide: Research Guide - PDF) / (Theme Guide: Resource Guide - PDF) March 3, 2012 Vanessa Bell-Calloway plays Zora Neale Hurston in this multimedia production written by Gabrielle Pina and directed by Anita Dashiell-Sparks. The piece will feature live music composed by Ron McCurdy and archival images collected by Rebecca Houston. Additional topics in guide: Ron McCurdy, Jazz-Age World, Morgan State University; Guide creator: Michael Hooks. The Metropolitan Opera in HD: Götterdämmerun (Theme Guide: Resource Guide - PDF) March 4, 2012 Robert Lepage directs and James Levine conducts in this broadcast of this powerful play with Deborah Voigt and Gary Lehman. Additional topics in guide: Ring Cycle, Richard Wagner; USC Libraries contributor: Ross Scimeca. Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot (Theme Guide: Research Guide - PDF) / (Theme Guide: Resource Guide - PDF) April 6, 2012 This celebrated work brings together Barry McGovern and Alan Mandell at the Mark Taper Forum. Additional topic in guide: Michel Foucault; Guide creator: Beth Namei. Woody Guthrie's Los Angeles: A Centenary Celebration (Theme Guide: Research Guide - PDF) / (Theme Guide: Resource Guide - PDF) April 14, 2012 The Huntington-USC Institute and the GRAMMY Museum bring together journalists and musicians to celebrate the legacy and impact of the life of Guthrie. Following the symposium, L.A. LIVE’s Nokia Theatre host a tribute concert. Additional topics in guide: Woodrow Wilson Guthrie, William Deverell, Chris Sampson, Ed Cray, Darryl Holter, Ron Briley, Pete La Chapelle, Darryl Holter, Philip Goff, Emily Thompson, Dan Cady, Doug Flamming, Bill Deverell, Bryant Simon, Rick Wartzman, Josh Kun, Bob Santelli, Jackson Browne, Crosby and Nash, Dawes, John Doe, Richie Furay, Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, Kris Kristofferson, Tom Morello, Joel Rafael, Wasserman.; Guide creator: John M. Jackson.