Category: work

A Russian Melodrama | “Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812” @ UCLA TFT

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Natasha Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (UCLA TFT)Let’s get things out of the way first: I’m not talking about Ukrainian negotiations.

I’ve written before about how I enjoy seeing musicals I’ve only heard (and I’m not talking about the crop of new musicals each year). This year, 2025, is looking to be a bumper crop of these. I’ve already written about Desparate Measures; we’ve also got shows like Bonnie & Clyde: The Musical, Drat! The Cat!, and Spitfire Grill coming up. One such show is Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812.  It started as an immersive production in 2012, and hit Broadway in 2016. But it never toured, and to my knowledge, has never had a production in Los Angeles before. So, when I happened upon a FB post from the UCLA Theatre, Film, and TV school that they were doing a production of the show, I started to plan to book tickets. The problem was that the weekends of the show were full. This meant — horror of horrors — I had to book a midweek show. So, on the day I’m normally working in El Segundo, I opted to go to UCLA on my way home and see the show. As an aside, a lot has changed since I graduated in the mid 1980s.

Great Comet is an odd piece in many ways. How many musicals do you know that are based on Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”. This is: It is based on Volume II, Part V of Tolstoy’s novel, focusing on a 70 page segment describing Natasha’s romance with Anatole and Pierre’s search for meaning in his life. How many shows do you know that are based on Russia in the 1800s? I can think of just a few: Fiddler on the Roof, Anastasia, Tovarich. This incorporates Russian themes and Russian-style music; and of course, lots of vodka. It was designed for an immersive production, or at minimum audience members within the stage.

The story is a bit convoluted. You can read the detailed version on the Wikipedia page, it is summarized in the character summary: There’s a war going on out there somewhere, and ANDREY isn’t here. NATASHA is young; she loves Andrey with all her heart. SONYA is good; Natasha’s cousin and closest friend. MARYA D. is old-school; a grand dame of Moscow. Natasha’s godmother, strict yet kind. ANATOLE is hot; he spends his money on women and wine. HELENE is a slut; Anatole’s sister, married to Pierre. DOLOKHOV is fierce (but not too important); Anatole’s friend, a crazy good shot. OLD PRINCE BOLKONSKY is crazy, and MARY is plain; Andrey’s family-totally messed up. BALAGA is just for fun. And what about PIERRE? Dear, bewildered, awkward PIERRE?

The translation of this: This is a melodrama. Natasha is betrothed to Andrey, who is off at war. She visits her godmother, Marya D., with her friend Sonya. When they go to the Opera, Anatole falls in lust with Natasha. The problem is that Anatole is already married. He works up a plan with Helene and Dolokhov to elope with Natasha. Meanwhile, through all of this, Pierre is having a mid-life crisis. In other words, a typical Russian melodrama.

But at least it is a melodrama with lots of singing and dancing and energy. It isn’t as romcom or downbeat as I expect The Notebook to be.

The setting was strange. The story was set mostly in 1812, but there were points where the timezone was confused. It opened seemingly in  a modern New York park with skaeboarders and joggers. The letter writing song included folks working on iPads. Why? This was never explained. Other than that, the set worked well, They handled the immersion by having an extension of the stage forming a walkway in the audience, taking a number of rows of seats. However, there was seating in the enclosed area that a few folks were brave enough to try (and they got some extra attention from the actors). Set pieces and costumes were generally strong with one exception: In the ballet sequence, the women were wearing tan tops, with visible conventional bra straps showing. Those just served to distract. Get appropriate undergarments.

The performances, as a whole, were very strong. Sabrina Marielle Williams was excellent as Natsaha, and Seth Holt was great as Pierre. I also particularly liked Avery Beckman as Marya D., and Matthew Smith had a lot of fun with Balaga. The dancing was also very strong, especially in the Balaga number. However, there wasn’t a weak performance. UCLA TFT turns out fine actors and I expect these folks to go far.

Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 has four more performances: Thursday, Friday, and two on Saturday (which is why I went on Wednesday, as we have “44” on Saturday). Tickets are available through the UCLA Central Ticket Office. It’s a fun show, rarely done, and well worth seeing.

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Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. Music, lyrics, and book By Dave Malloy. Adapted from War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. Directed by J. Ed Araiza. Choreographed by Danielle Kay.

Cast: Sabrina Marielle Williams Countess Natasha Rostova; Seth Holt Pierre Bezukhov; Quentin Kelley Anatole Kuragin; Quynh Mackenzie Sonya Rostova; Avery Beckman Marya Dmitriyevna Akhrosimova; Emilia Vial Hélène Kuragina Bezukhova; Jack Stuhley Fedya Dolokhov; Janelle Soriano Princess Mary Bolkonskaya; .Oliver Strachan Prince Andrey Bolkonsky; Matthew Beymer Old Prince Nikolay Bolkonsky; Matthew Smith Balaga/Violin; Nick Alcorn Ensemble; Libby Bezdek Ensemble; Zachariah Chasen Ensemble; Hadley Connor Ensemble; Aran Denis Ensemble; Caitlin Devenney Ensemble; Kyle Green Ensemble; Garrett Haun Ensemble/Clarinet; Mireya Nevel Ensemble; Tiffany Orian Ensemble; Ian Pirotto Ensemble; .Ali Qadiri Ensemble/Guitar; Edwin Zha Ensemble/Accordion; Mason Murray Swing; Maisie McPeek Swing.

Music Department: Dan Belzer Music Director, Keyboard Programmer; Jeremy Mann Conductor; Dan Belzer Keys 1; Xander Ambrose Keys 2; Prichard Pearce Accordion; Khris-Raymond M Kempis Bass; Rebecca Yeh Cello; Oliver Walton Cello; Wayne Hildenbrand Drums; Kenneth Lasaine Guitar; Phillip Moore Reeds; Ian Dahlberg Reeds; Mercede Shamlo Viola.

Production and Creative: Jeremy Mann Vocal Director; Elena Gim Costume Design; Em Moore Lighting Design; You Chen Zhang Scenic Design; Jonathan Burke Sound Design; M.T. Barclay Stage Manager; Michaela Duarte Dramaturge; Carly DW Bones Intimacy Coordinator; Michaela Duarte Asst. to the Director; Jim Schwabe, Everett Wall Asst. Stage Managers; Sean Hannah, Matthew Lee, Ana Wang Asst. Costume Designers; Gabe Bate, Salem Hansen, Lucia Lu, Kate Stargardter, Yiyi Yang Asst. Scenic Designers; Gus Cohen, Hope Kozielski Asst. Lighting Designers; Lia Eacott, Ronen Wenderfer Asst. Sound Designers; Ian Pirotto, Jack Stuhley Choral Captains; Libby Bezdek Dance Captain; Elsa Rochelson Follow Spot Asst.

♦ ♦ ♦

Administrivia: I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).

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Not Thinking It Through

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userpic=trumpAs usual, ‘de Tr*mp is not thinking things through when he talks about making Canada a 51st state, going so far as to initiate horrible trade wars that only strengthen Canadian pride, but serve to tank the American economy and stock market. As there are a number of points to make here, I’m doing this as a blog post:

  • First, Canada is far too large to be admitted as a single state. But let’s suppose it was. It would add two senators, who are likely Democratic and a large number of representatives. As the size of the House is fixed, this means that many Republican states would lose representatives. The House would likely go Democratic, and be that way for a long long time.
  • More likely, Canada would insist on each province becoming its own state. So, that’s 20 senators, and again a large number of representatives. Not all would be Democratic, but most would. This means both the House and Senate would go Democratic, again for a long time.
  • Canada would never come in with the status of a territory, as that would be a serious demotion in influence. So statehood would have to be approved in advance, and that won’t happen instantly: each province would need to establish an appropriate and acceptable constitution that fit American jurisprudence, and US institutions would need to be adapted to cover the additional territory. We’re talking at least 5 years.
  • Canada would also (rightfully) insist that none of its citizens lose rights or benefits they already have. That means universal health care would be required, any Canadian social supports would be adapted, and that the Canadian Bill of Rights would apply throughout the US. That means full equality of women, as the Canadian bill of rights and other laws talk about “individuals”, and that the rights “shall continue to exist without discrimination by reason of race, national origin, colour, religion or sex,”.  Transgender rights would also be protected. Oh, and French would be a national language in Quebec.  Folks, Canada is more “woke” than the US, and they would insist on retaining that right.
  • Further, new states are admitted only with the approval of the existing states — more specifically, their representatives in Congress. Would a Republican congress vote to dilute their power and to (in fact) give up their majority? I think not. That’s why Puerto Rico, Guam, and DC have never become states: Because the Republicans didn’t want additional Democratic states. So now for them to admit 6 or more in one action. Not going to happen.
  • Trump talks about buying Canada. From whom and with what? Canada is a sovereign nation: there is no one to buy it from. Further, even if their was, where would the money come from. We’re probably talking trillions of dollars. Talk about increasing the budget deficit!
  • Trump also talks about annexing it. There’s precious little in that option that would make Canada want to do it. They have better health care, a better operating government, and a strong economy.
  • So, annexing would need to be done by force. This would make the USA a pariah among nations, just like Russia for invading Ukraine. The Congress wouldn’t support such a war, nor would it be popular with US people. It also wouldn’t be fast or easy, and it would tank Republican chances for holding Congress.

Tr*mp is a transactional guy. What’s in it for him? Why is he doing this? It would be much better to figure that out, and negotiate a treaty that is win-win for both sides. Knowing how Tr*mp thinks, this is likely all just a negotiating tactic to bully Canada into rolling over and putting their ass in the air for Tr*mp to f— them. Canada, however, is far too smart for that. More likely, the Beaver will recognize the BS, and will remain strong and steadfast. Meanwhile, the US will have tarnished, perhaps forever, the relationship with one of our strongest neighbors.

Now, Mexico, might be a different story. But we all know how Tr*mp feels about Mexicans.

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All The Live Long Day

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

userpic=keyboardA number of articles recently have gotten me thinking about employment and jobs. First, the LA Times has been running a series on the changing workplace. The first part of the series looked at how the relationship has changed between employee and employer. In the past, employers wanted employees to be happy — they wanted long-term employees that were part of the family. They sponsored picnics and special events. I remember those days. Nowadays, except in certain tech industries where it is hard to get the right employees, this employer-love is a thing of the past. The goal is to get the greatest productivity out of the worker. This was explored in the second part of the series, which talked about how employers are tracking employees every move: monitoring what they do on the computer, where they go on breaks, how long and frequent those breaks are. It makes me very glad I’m not in those industries. [Of course, I do get the joy of dealing with sequester related impacts, which is why I decided today would be a great day to take as a vacation day — my office moves tomorrow, and my mother-in-law moved yesterday]

But, of course, for those with good employers, too much can be bad also. For example, Google gives significant employee perqs, such as gourmet lunches. Alas, the IRS is now thinking about taxing those lunches as a benefit, because the lunches are provided on Google’s nickle (pre-tax), not after-tax employee dollars.

Another interesting article looked at what happened to all the secretaries. When I was at SDC in the 1980s, I truly understood the value of a good secretary. Today, many of the tasks have been moved onto the employees, which doesn’t really save money in the long run. I know that although I enjoy arranging my travel and coordinating administrative stuff, it isn’t what they pay me for and it would be better in the long run to have office staff to do it.

[ETA: Dimensionm on LJ also highlighted this article about workers in Texas. Construction is booming, but the workers are paying the price. Working conditions are dangerous, and workers are subject to abuses such as not being paid for all hours worked, not being paid overtime, and/or not being paid at all. Employers also often classify workers as contractors to avoid taxes.]

[ETA: I’ll note that abuses of workers is the real reason that unions were started. No, it wasn’t to provide plush jobs for union leaders or to lobby politicians or to create arcane working rules. Unions were originally created to use the power of labor and the ability to stop or slow down work to achieve workplace reforms that made life better and safer for the worker. In these days of anti-union rhetoric, we often forget the good that unions did related to working conditions. Have both weekend days off? Thank the unions. Get sick days and vacation. Thank the unions. Have a 40 hour week? Thank the unions.]

Lastly, there’s the issue of lawyers. Tom Paxton once sang about having too many lawyers. It’s happened. Even at the best law schools, newly minted lawyers are having trouble finding jobs. Some lawyers are even suing their schools for promising jobs that aren’t there.

What’s the point of all this? Simple. Don’t go into a job for the money or the perqs. Work at a job because you enjoy that type of work. That’s where your joy should come from.

Music: Sweet Sixteen (Reba McEntire): “You Must Really Love Me”

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Furious News Chum: Hostages, Logos, and Sex

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userpic=observationsAlas, I seemed to have come back from ACSAC with a cold; that combined with a lot of backed up stuff has delayed any posts. Still, I do have a few stories about people getting furious about things that I want to share:

  • A Hostage Situation. When I returned to the ranch here at Circle A, I eventually needed to visit the men’s restroom. Upon entry, I was presented with a wall detailing an odd hostage situation. Evidently, someone had left their reusable Starbucks mug on a shelf. They forgot about it, and came back and posted a note requesting its return. This was followed by a number of pictures showing the cup in various places (the top of A1′ with a gnome, at the top of a Christmas tree, with Santa). There was also a ransom note, done in the normal cut out letter font, indicating that the cup was still alive (and including a picture of the cup and today’s newspaper to prove it was alive). The note requested that 2 STE (staff-time equivalents) of charge number be deposited in a particular job order (9990-00) if the cup was to be returned alive. There was also a handwritten note from the cup indicating they were threatening to recycle it. I think some people have slipped over the edge. [ETA: The wall has grown with a note from a concerned party indicating that the cup is required to administer an critical chemical solution to its owner vital to the owner’s technological output, a photoshop of the cup on the side of a milk carton, and a disposable Starbuck cup with a Post-It stating “Found in Stall #26”. I’d take a picture, but we can’t use cameras at work.]
  • A Logo Situation. The University of California has redesigned their logo, and everyone is up in arms about it. Most people think it is undignified, and looks like a loading symbol. It has gotten so bad that memes have developed with people doing strange things with the logo. I agree with the Lt. Gov. — the new logo should be ditched. A simplified version of the current logo could easily be designed for webpages; not the radical silly redesign they have done.
  • A Sexual Situation. There’s another furor about UC — this time about sex. Specifically, a columnist for the Daily Cal took advantage of the lack of people on campus the day before Thanksgiving to explore where she and her partner could, umm, conduct human relation experiments. Naturally, the prudish folks protested to the Daily Cal in the comments, and the story was picked up by the newservices. Insert predictable response about those crazy students at radical Berkeley.
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The Hanging Axe is No Longer Hanging

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Those of you who know me know that I’ve been stressing about the Ranch of late (the Ranch is my employer, who I tend not to name in blog posts). The source of this stress was an upcoming reduction in force that was announced three weeks ago.

The axe fell today.

It missed me. It did, however, hit a number of my esteemed colleagues, and I feel so, so, sorry for them. These are folks who I”ve worked with for years upon years, who I respect highly, and who are so very talented. These are people that influenced my life for the better, and I thank them for all they have done for me. I wish them well upon their journey, and I hope they know they can call upon me for good words and good cheer. One of these many people was our vanpool operator; as a result, I have inherited a vanpool. If you know of anyone looking for a vanpool seat from the Northern San Fernando Valley to El Segundo every weekday morning, please have them get in touch with me.

This was an extremely odd RIF. Because of the way it was handled, everyone felt that they might be the target. We were all scared, and I’m sure that will affect us for a while: both those who were RIFfed and those who survived. I”m sure this is normal. As for how the RIF was handled, I’m still pulling my thoughts together, and I’m not sure they belong in a public forum. Perhaps I’ll post them publically with a greater time distance from the event.

My virtual hat is off in honor of my colleagues who weren’t so lucky today. May you find a new job swiftly, or may you have a wonderful retirement. Do keep in touch.

Music: Aspects Of Love (1989 London Cast): In A Train Compartment (inc. ‘Seeing Is Believing’)

 

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Reflections on the Ranch

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Reflection the First. I’ve written in the past about the pending demolition of our former headquarters building, now that our new headquarters has completed construction. Well, starting January 1st, the active demolition started: the fences have gone up, and they are prepping the building to come down.

I’m finding it quite interesting to watch the demolition process (and it is oddly relaxing to walk outside to stretch my legs and watch for a minute or two). The first phases were pretty dull: you could see the plastic go up as they did the asbestos removal, see shadowy figures inside the building, presumably removing all the interior partitions and such. This last week or two, however, it has gotten much more interesting. First, they are putting up a sound wall to protect the main campus. This consists of a two-story high scaffolding from which they are hanging heavy plastic coated quilt-like objects from each side (thus creating a blanket-air-blanket sandwich). This isn’t fully assembled, so I can still see the other demolition (it should be up before the main building comes down).

The most interesting part, however, is the further prep for demolition. This week, they started reducing each floor to the bare concrete. This involved breaking the office windows (yes, they broke them, presumably because they wouldn’t remove easy) and removing all the exterior window supports. They did about a floor each day, starting with the windows (lots of glass breaking), and then with the walls (lots of banging to break out the metal side supports). By the time they were done, the only “rooms” that were left were the elevator lobbies and the restrooms (which appear to have concrete support walls). Surprisingly, the restrooms still work — or at least the sinks do, because I’ve seen workers washing their hands! But one could see straight through the floors, and see the honeycomb pattern on the bottom of each flooring slab. They’ve also removed most of the exterior shade panels (except for the ones from the roof): these were lifted up and out whole. At this point, the only floor with the glass still in is the 1st floor, but that might be gone by Tuesday.

As I look at the building reduced to its concrete members, I wonder how much work it would take at this point to retrofit, and why (perhaps) it was not earthquake safe. Our two story buildings are, and they appear to have the same construction. My guess is that it is the height (6 floors) that is a major factor, creating much more swaying, supported only by relatively narrow concrete pillars and the endcaps. If those weren’t steel-reinforced adequately (this is 1963 construction standards), they could be problematic for a 6-floor building, but might be acceptable for a 2-floor building. There is also the possibility that the floors might not be as strongly tied to the pillars, or they would have had to reinforce each floor. I still wonder if, with the building stripped like this, they could retrofit it. I guess not, even if they were to jacket the support pillars and attempt to tie things better.

I’m not sure how they are going to bring the structure down. I don’t think an implosion is likely, due to the risk of ancillary damage. It will either be cutting it apart and removing each piece with a crane, or using a wrecking ball. Are there 6-story wrecking ball cranes?

Watching this has left an impression on me. I now look at our modern buildings, and try to imagine the time when they will be torn down. How will our large steel skyscrapers come down. They can’t easily remove the glass skins safely. In 200 or 300 years, will our downtowns look the same? Our housing tracks? Will they be full of forlorn buildings, seemingly sad as they become devoid of their occupants? Will they look as tired as the stacks of dead streetcars did 50 years ago? It’s odd to look at a building, and think about it devoid of its skin, reduced to floors and support members.

Reflection the Second. Turning to something much happier. Last night, I was reading the Magnet Newsletter for my daughter’s high school. In it, I read that students from the school will be participating in two national Engineering Contests: the Test of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics, and Science (TEAMS) Contest and the Herndon Science Seminar. The latter item caught my eye because it is sponsored by the ranch. Now, I’ve seen the projects set up in the campus mall before, but I’ve never gone down and looked. This year I think I will, because I might run into someone from Van Nuys. It looks like Van Nuys is the only Valley high school participating in the contest.

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