Like a rocking Dylan

New Orleans, April 29 (Reuters): Bob Dylan treated thousands of sun-baked fans to a rocking set of classics like All Along the Watchtower and Like a Rolling Stone to open New Orleans’ first post-Katrina music festival, one the city hopes will kick-start its recovery.

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival started yesterday with a gravel-voiced Dylan leading his sextet on organ through reworked versions of the tunes that defined his early career.

“With Dylan, and to have this happen again means everything to us,” Julie Becker, a native New Orleanian, said while waiting for an encore from the folk-rock pioneer and his band in the blazing afternoon sun. More than 4,000 musicians are slated to perform at this year’s Jazz Fest, which runs till tomorrow, then continues the following weekend. On tap are Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, the Dave Matthews Band and New Orleans luminaries like Allen Toussaint and Irma Thomas.

Porn stars get serious

New York (Reuters): A new television reality show invites porn stars to test their serious acting abilities in London’s theatre district, raising the question: Debbie can do Dallas, but can she take on Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard? “My Bare Lady” will cast four leading ladies from US porn studios in a classic piece of drama to be performed in London’s West End. Their experiences undergoing a crash course in acting and appearing before a discerning British audience.