Karl Marx Rocks (and Rolls?)

From my "War On The 60s" Book Proposal:

“Karl Marx said that when we arrive at the perfect society, an ordinary person will be able to go fishing in the morning, spend the afternoon working and read Plato in the evening. In other words, he would be at home in Nature, he would make a willing, useful contribution to society, and he would be possessed of an educated and curious mind.

Is there anything wrong with that?”

Now the Tucson Weekly's Daily Dispatch - and the BBC - report that  a Chinese director is creating a Karl Marx musical in Shanghai, complete with singing and dancing.

But the idea may not be as crazy as it might at first sound:  "We will bring [Marx's] economic theories to life in a trendy, interesting and educational play, which will be fun to watch," director He Nian told the state-run China Daily.

"Those behind the project say this approach will help people understand what many consider a dry, philosophical text. But the producers promise they will not trivialise Marx's central message.

"To make sure that does not happen, Zhang Jun, an economics professor at Shanghai's Fudan University, will act as an advisor on the production. "It seems good timing to do the play when the global economic crisis has become a key phrase in people's lives," he said.

The BBC reporter says nowhere epitomises modern China's communist-capitalist approach more than the modern, capitalist city of Shanghai, "But director He said the money-driven city was a perfect place to stage the production, particularly now, with global capitalism coming under fire."

He sure has a point....