Canadian Lawyer

16 J U L Y 2 0 1 5 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m The reviews were generally good, but the play sounds pretty serious and there's no singing and dancing. I think I can do better. The one-act "buddy" comic opera Scalia/Ginsburg premieres in July at the prestigious Castleton Festival in Vir- ginia. It sounds promising. "Justice will be sung," the advertisements announce. Justice Antonin ("Nino") Scalia's open- ing aria begins: The Justices are blind! How can they possibly spout this? The Constitution says absolutely noth- ing about this . . . Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg later replies: You are searching in vain for a bright- line solution To a problem that isn't so easy to solve, But the beautiful thing about our Con- stitution Is that, like our society, it can evolve. So, there's singing, serious singing, lots of it, in Scalia/Ginsburg, but, as far as I can figure out, no dancing. My favourite depiction of a U.S. Supreme Court justice is Kate McKin- non's Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Satur- day Night Live. The Washington Post calls McKinnon's SNL Ginsburg "a trash-talking, dancing machine." "I'm ready to rumble!" she says. "I gotta push same-sex marriage through before God remembers I'm still alive. The grim reap- er, he came for me once, but I punched his lights out, I stole his robe." SCOTUS justices have deeply pene- trated the American popular conscious- ness. And they seem to enjoy their fame. All this is a good thing. It shows a national engagement with the institu- tions of governance, and an attractive affection for irony and creative politi- cal satire. Nothing comparable has hap- pened in Canada. A few years ago I T O P C O U RT TA L E S O P I N I O N @philipslayton DUSHAN MILIC Abella! the musical It might be coming to a theatre near you, but don't count on it. By Philip Slayton y latest project is Abella! It's a rock musical about the Supreme Court of Canada, featuring Rosie Abella, its most interesting and colourful justice. There will be singing and dancing. "It's madness," the editor of this magazine told me. I don't think so. I'm just going down the path laid out by our entertaining American neighbours. If it's madness, there's method in it. So, what's up down south that offers inspiration? The Origi- nalist, a play about Justice Antonin Scalia of the United States Supreme Court, described as "a daring new work about pas- sionate people risking heart and soul to defend their version of the truth," opened in Washington D.C. on March 6 to enthusiastic audiences. M

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