February 2018 – Observations Along the Road

Nothing Moves Above Their Waist | “Dublin Irish Dance” @ Soraya/VPAC

Posted onTuesday, February 27, 2018Authorcahwyguy

Dublin Irish Dance (Soraya) Over the weekend, we closed out our February live performances with some dance: we saw Dublin Irish Dance‘s production “Stepping Out” at the Saroya [the venue formerly known as the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC)] (FB). This is the “Riverdance” style of Irish Dance, although I must admit I’ve never seen Riverdance.

The production consisted of 8 musicians and 8 dancers doing what I presume is traditional Irish dance — at least that’s what they call it, although I have no idea whether the Irish dancers I know would agree. The music and the dance was technically brilliant and precise. It was beautiful to watch as they attempted to tell a story of Irish immigrants coming to America, back in the time when the Irish weren’t accepted as immigrants,

Although the production was technically brilliant, it left me… cold. I’m not sure why. The music was beautiful, and I listen to Celtic music all the time. In fact, the music sounded a lot like the recent instrumental Irish and Celtic Music podcast. The dance was precise. But unlike stage shows that I go to, there wasn’t a warmth being projected from the dancers. They were coldly precise — were they enjoying the dance? I couldn’t tell.

I think I’ll need to give this particular genre of dance another try, perhaps one day when I’m not as tired (my muscle relaxant was hitting me). It wasn’t that it was bad — it wasn’t at all. It just didn’t wow me as much as I had hoped it might.

To give credit where credit was due: The musical team consisted of Megan Burns [Vocals and Guitar], Kenneth Browne [Accordion, Banjo, Mandolin], Brian Murphy [Fiddle and Guitar], Conal Duffy [Pipes, Flute, and Whistles]; Ryan O Shaughnessy (FB) [Vocals and Guitar]; Oscar Little [Drums and Bodhran]; Marco Andrew Pes [Keys], and David Harte [Bass Guitar]. I do find it interesting that most of the musicians don’t have an identity on the Internet, not even as part of an indie Irish band. I did enjoy their sound quite a bit.

The dancers were (* indicates lead): Sinead Neylon (FB)*, Erin Kuncaitis, Ciara Faber, Jessie Driscoll, Dylan Millar*, Sean Dolan, Lucas Lawton, and Ash Millar. The production was choreographed by Alan Scariff and Ciaran Connolly.

I find it telling that the program only gives bio on the choreographers. Musicians and dancers aren’t interchangable. Tell me something about these people. Celebrate them. Perhaps celebrating your performers over your staff will be reflected out.

***

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre (or music) critic; I am, however, a regular theatre and music audience member. I’ve been attending live theatre and concerts in Los Angeles since 1972; I’ve been writing up my thoughts on theatre (and the shows I see) since 2004. I do not have theatre training (I’m a computer security specialist), but have learned a lot about theatre over my many years of attending theatre and talking to talented professionals. I pay for all my tickets unless otherwise noted. I am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I currently subscribe at 5 Star Theatricals (FB) [the company formerly known as Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB)], the Hollywood Pantages (FB), Actors Co-op (FB), the Chromolume Theatre (FB) in the West Adams district, a mini-subscription at the Saroya [the venue formerly known as the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC)] (FB), and as of Friday, Ahmanson Theatre (FB). Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals). I believe in telling you about the shows I see to help you form your opinion; it is up to you to determine the weight you give my writeups.

Upcoming Shows:

March was supposed to start with the MRJ Man of the Year dinner, but that shifted back a week. This enables us to see a remounting of Leslie Jones starring in Prez – The Lester Young Story that weekend. This is followed on the second weekend with the LA Premiere of the musical Allegiance at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (FB) and the MRJ Man of the Year Dinner. The next weekend brings Steel Pier at the UCLA School of Television, Film, and Theatre (FB). The penultimate Friday of March was to bring Billy Porter singing Richard Rodgers at the Saroya (the venue formerly known as the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC)) (FB), but that has shifted to June and that weekend brings only the joint TBH Brotherhood/MoTAS Mens Seder. The last weekend of March is currently open.

April looks to be a busy month. It starts with Love Never Dies at the Hollywood Pantages (FB) [as an aside, there was just a great interview with Glen Slater, the lyricist of that show, on Broadway Bullet that is well worth listening to]. The second weekend brings A Man for All Seasons” at Actors Co-op (FB). The third weekend brings The Hunchback of Notre Dame at 5 Star Theatricals (FB) (nee Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB)), as well as our annual visit to the Original Renaissance Faire. The last weekend of April sees us travelling for a show, as we drive up to San Jose to see friends as well as Adrift in Macao at The Tabard Theatre Company (FB).

Continuing into May and June: The first weekend in May will bring School of Rock at the Hollywood Pantages (FB), with the following weekend bringing Soft Power at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB). The middle of May brings Violet at Actors Co-op (FB). The last weekend will hopefully bring a Nefesh Mountain concert at Temple Ramat Zion; the weekend itself is currently open. June — ah, June. That, my friends, is reserved for the Hollywood Fringe Festival (FB), including The Story of My Life from Chromolume Theatre (FB). Additionally in June we’re seeing the postponed Billy Porter singing Richard Rodgers at the Saroya (the venue formerly known as the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC)) (FB), The Color Purple at the Hollywood Pantages (FB), and possibly Do Re Mi at MTW. The latter, however, is on a Sunday night in Long Beach, and so Fringing may win out. Currently, we’re booking all the way out in mid to late 2018!

As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Better-Lemons, Musicals in LA, @ This Stage, Footlights, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411 or that are sent to me by publicists or the venues themselves. Note: Lastly, want to know how to attend lots of live stuff affordably? Take a look at my post on How to attend Live Theatre on a Budget.

Imagination on Stage | “James and the Giant Peach” at Chance Theatre

Posted onSunday, February 25, 2018Authorcahwyguy2 Comments

Imagination is a wonderful thing. It is imagination that allows us to anthropomorphize animals — that is, it is imagination that allows us to believe animals can talk to us in English. It is imagination that allows us to believe that nannies can fly on umbrellas, that fairies protect lost boys, and that genies live in lamps. It is imagination that gives us green ogres with talking donkeys, fairy princesses that swim moats, and kings and queens fighting battles. And it is imagination that gives us little girls using their mind to defeat mean schoolteachers, chocolate bars with magic tickets, and giant peaches.

Movies can capture imagination, but in a realistic way. Through movie magic, we’ve seen all sorts of things, but through special effects or animation, it is presented as if it was real. But on stage — ah, on the stage — it is there that real imaginative creativity happens. It is on the stage that movement and expression can create a world, either alone or through the addition of a few simple props: boxes, umbrellas, goggles, and cloaks. On the stage, performance makes miracles happen — miracles that you didn’t believe were possible because you were looking at live people. Yet they are created nevertheless. This is the magic of the stage, the magic of imagination, the magic that is created through a unique human endeavor: live performance in front of an audience. Further, that magic is amplified when you add music, song, and dance to the creative mix.

All of the examples I’ve given above have taken life — and been successful — on the stage. The last three examples — involving school girls, chocolate bars, and peaches — all come from the fertile and slightly subversive mind of Roald Dahl. They have all been musicalized for the stage. The first two will soon be seen on the stages of Southern California: Matilda is part of the 2018-2019 season at 5 Star Theatricals (FB), and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is part of the 2018-2019 season at the Hollywood Pantages (FB). As for the last, James and the Giant Peach? That’s the subject of this writeup.

For Matilda and Charlie, over the next season, the magic happens on a large stage in a very large building (in a dark room, in an central part of town, filled with people that have paid a lot of money, but that’s a different musical, a class act, so to speak). But it is on the small stage — the intimate stage — that real theatrical magic happens. Large theatres have large budgets and can create large effects. Small theatres are up-and-close, with small budgets, dependent more on the performance and the magic that said performance gives. James and the Giant Peach is the subject of intimate theatrical magic, multiple times a week, on the Fyda-Mar Stage of the Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim, at least until March 11. Even though ostensibly this is a “kids” show, you need to go see it and be swept away by its magic.

I first learned about James and the Giant Peach after seeing a production at last week’s venue, the Chromolume Theatre (FB). They had played a song from the song cycle Edges during a pre-show, which set me off in search of a song. There I discovered a number of additional works by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul beyond the shows I knew: Dogfight (which I’d seen first at the Chance) and last year’s Tony winner, Dear Evan Hansen (coming to the 2018-2019 season of the Ahmanson Theatre (FB). There I discovered that, in addition to Edges and some Emmy-winning and nominated movies, they had also done a musicalization of James and the Giant Peach, (with a book by Timothy Allen McDonald (FB)), and that a cast album was available for download, free even (although that website seems to be down as I write this). I listened to the music, and grew to love the energetic and entertaining combination of styles (proving yet again how this composing team are part of the top tier of new composers). Later, while perusing the Chance season announcement last year, I discovered that Chance was starting their 2018 season with a production of James. HOLD dates were created on the calendar, ticklers were set at my various ticketing sites, and I waited for tickets. Once available, I visited the appropriate website, and made plans for the 2 hour drive to Orange County.

So guess where we were yesterday. Guess where you’ll be in the future, if you’re in the area and can get tickets? I’m sure you guessed it.

I’ll note that Chance is doing this as part of their “Theatre for Young Audiences” series, which means the audience is full of kids. Don’t let that deter you. The magic is amplified when you watch the faces of these children enthralled by the stage magic and performance, some I’m sure for the first time. This is what creates life-long lovers of live performances: seeing magic such as this.

Going in, I was actually unfamiliar with the story of James. I had heard the music, but I’ve never read the book nor seen it on the screen. Here’s how Wikipedia summarizes the story: “The plot centres on a young English orphan boy who enters a gigantic, magical peach, and has a wild and surreal cross-world adventure with seven magically-altered garden bugs he meets. They set off on a journey to escape from James’ two mean and cruel aunts.”. In the case of the stage show, make that five garden bugs (well, six, if you count Glowworm), but that’s the gist of the story. The story in a, well, peach, so to speak.

James and the Giant Peach (Photo Strip) Under the direction of Darryl B. Hovis (FB), a team of nine performers make magic happen. With limited resources and facilities — the Fyda-Mar stage is perhaps 12 feet deep, with no fly space for scenery, no real off-stage space, right up against the audience of at most 98 — this team enthralls you the entrance of the first character and a magical face. Hovis clearly worked with the actors to bring out these magical performances, and it works well. Often, the merit of shows shines in a different way on the small stage — one only see the reaction to Priscilla, Queen of the Desert currently on stage at the tiny Celebration Theatre, and contrast it to the production at the Pantages to understand what I mean (I recall a similar effect seeing Gypsy at an intimate theatre). Hovis makes this work … spectacularly … on the small stage. Through the performances he drew out of the team, and the imagination of the scenic design and properties, he executed a vision that had both the adults and the kids watching in rapture. (at least, that’s what I saw on the faces at my performance).

The first performer we see — he of the magical face — is Tyler Marshall (FB) as Ladahlord. This character is not in the book. Ladahlord serves as a master of ceremonies or narrator, moving the story along, and portraying various minor characters throughout the story. He also has the responsibility of handling the main song of the show, which keeps reappearing: “Right Before Your Eyes”. Marshall has a wonderful singing voice, a remarkably expressive face, and just draws your eye to him whenever he was on stage.

We next meet our main character, James, portrayed by Christopher Diem (FB). DIem captures James’ boyish spirit, energy, and fear quite well. He has a good singing voice, and is believable as James in his interactions.

The villains of the piece are Spiker and Sponge, James’ aunts and only living relatives after his parents are killed. They are portrayed by Shannon Page (FB) and Holly Jeanne (FB), respectively. These are roles that require a level of overplaying — they can’t be played realistically, but too over the top and they become caricatures. Page and Jeanne capture the overplay well, and for the most part, restrain it as appropriate while keeping the fun. The roles are intentionally overdone in the songs, which the performers do spot on (but which also disguises their real voices). As could be seen when the autograph session started at the end of the show, these two are just having fun with the roles.

The remainder of the cast play various small roles — James’ parents, other adults, and handling puppets of various insects, until they transform into the main magically-transformed insects when the Giant Peach is realized. As the larger insects, this team — Erica Schaeffer (FB) [Spider]; Richard Comeau (FB) [Green Grasshopper]; Miguel Cardenas (FB) [Centipede]; Rachael Oliveros Catalano (FB) [Ladybug]; and Alex Allen (FB) [Earthworm] — is mesmerizing. In this group, my eyes were first drawn to Schaeffer and Catalano. Schaeffer reminds me quite a bit of another excellent chance performer, Kim Dalton (FB). She had an incredibly expressive face and movement style (especially as Spider), and I noticed her even in the background of scenes as she continued in character. Truly fun to watch, with a very nice singing voice. Catalano had a different, darker look, but she was a delight as Ladybug in her interactions with both James, Centipede, and Grasshopper. Strong singing, strong performance. On the male side, Comeau was outstanding as Grasshopper, exuding a warm personality and having a really really warm and nice singing voice. The remaining two folks were Cardenas’ Centipede and Allen’s Earthworm. Cardenas plays Centipede as what the other insects describe as a pest; however, his performance shines later during the rescue scenes. Similarly, Allen gets to portray Earthworm as someone living in fear; he comes into his own in the seagull scene (where he as a great performance).

It is at this point where I would normally introduce the band, under the music direction of James Liebson. But there is no band credited, and the music is seemingly pre-recorded. If there was a flaw in this production, this is it. Theatre needs live music; the audience needs to see that music comes from something other than a computer. They need to see people playing instruments, with the real-life variations that creep into such performances. However, I do understand the restrictions of a young artist program (as well as the space limitations) that force compromises such as this. At least the credit of a music director means that this is a Chance pre-recording of local artists (uncredited), which is better that a generic recording provided by the musical’s license holder.

With performance and movement, when stirred with music, comes dance. Working with the director, as Choreographer and Assistant Director, was Christine Hinchee (FB). Hinchee worked with Hovis to bring some remarkable dance and movement to the confined space of the Fyda-Mar Stage, and it worked very well. It certainly had the audience mesmerized.

This brings us to the remaining creative and production credits. I think one of the true stars of this show is Megan Hill (FB), the scenic and properties designer. Looking at her resume, Hill has been responsible for some of the most creative shows we’ve seen at the Chance — Loch Ness and Claudio Quest. Her design is no less imaginative here, with simple props used to create the peach, simple screens for projections, and cute properties to suggest and create seagulls, sharks, and the Empire State Building. Her designs and properties interact with Aaron McGee (FB)’s puppets, McLeod Benson (FB)’s projections, and Alex McClain (FB)’s costumes to create James’ world. The team creates theatrical magic. Supporting this team was Darryl B. Hovis (FB)’s sound design and McLeod Benson (FB)’s lighting designs. Other key production credits include: Courtny Greenough (FB) [Stage Manager]; Oanh Nguyen (FB) [Artistic Director]; and the large list of Chance staff and production team members.

James and the Giant Peach continues at the Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim, at least until March 11. This is an incredibly imaginative and fun production. well worth seeing. Even though it is part of the Theatre for Young Audiences, it will delight young and old, and veteran audiences will appreciate the rapture and delight on the faces of the young audience members as they watch theatre that will instill a lifelong love. Tickets are available through the Chance Website. Discount tickets may be available on Goldstar (although they are currently sold out); I don’t see them at either TodayTix or LA Stage Alliance.

***

Upcoming Shows:

February concludes with this afternoon’s show: Dublin Irish Dance Stepping Out at the Saroya (the venue formerly known as the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC)) (FB).

Political Commentary: Guns, Antisemitism, Chain Migration … What Trumps What?

Posted onSaturday, February 24, 2018Authorcahwyguy

userpic=divided-nation Here’s one last collection of news chum this morning: all articles centering our our current political debates:

The NRA and Antisemitism. Here’s a real interesting article on the underlying Antisemitism of the NRA. It shows how many of the fears and tropes promoted by the organization align with antisemitic fears and tropes. WIthout mentioning Jews by name as a class, the examples that are always cited are Jewish or connected with Judaism. As the piece notes: “This McCarthyite vision of a cancer destroying America, what Richard Hofstadter called “the paranoid style in American politics,” is classic populism. It posits a good, mostly rural, less educated, implicitly white Volk being undermined by a corrupt, mostly urban, over-educated, and foreign set of elites. Sometimes those elites are actual Jews controlling Hollywood, “the media,” banks, or political structures. Other times, they are “structural Jews” – foreigners, Communists, elites, or other outsider-insiders who don’t share the values of “the people.” ” It is yet another example, of implicit racism, often arising from privilege issues (or changes in perceived privilege) that often underlie these shootings. I’ll note I’ve seen this implicit attitude commonly from Conservative folks when they talk about “Globalism”, which is a thinly veiled reference to the notion of a Jewish elite class and the Protocols.
Mass Shooting Statistics. Here are a collection of statistics involving mass shootings. I invite you to tease out what is common in these shooting, and hence, what might be controlled. While doing that, note what isn’t there: understanding of the motives of the shooters, why they did it, and any common emotional or medical issues. If we don’t know the underlying cause, masking the symptoms solves nothing.
Donald Trump’s Faith. Here’s an interesting explanation of how Faith is behind Trump. Why are the evangelicals supporting him? What is the doctrine of prosperity and why is it, so to speak, Trumping Christian behavior. How do power dynamics play into the equation.
Chain Migration Here’s an interesting explanation of why Trump hates chain migration. Again, the real answer boils down to political power, and immigrants often supporting more liberal and progressive causes. The use of “chain migration”, by the way, is pure propaganda. Family reunification is a better term, and it takes much longer to do, results in better citizens, and has much different impacts than are portrayed. By the way, when thinking about “white” vs. “black”, remember that the terms were invented by those supporting slavery and racial superiority beliefs and are relatively modern terms. For most of human civilization, there was no such distinction.
Net Neutrality. Net neutrality has been in the news, yet most folks don’t know what it means. Burger King provides a great explaination. Think about it this way: How would you like to have to pay extra to get your burger faster, while your neighbor who didn’t pay as much had to wait. This about what this means in separating privileged classes who can pay from the classes who cannot.

Be Careful Out There

Posted onSaturday, February 24, 2018Authorcahwyguy

As I continue to clear out the news chum, here are some articles related to security, trust, safety, and cyber. In short: be worried, be suspicious, and everything is not as it seems:

Can You Believe Your Eyes? We’ve all been taught that “seeing is believing”. But is it? We live in an era of forgeries: email can be faked (and has been), and videos can be doctored. I’m sure you’ve all heard about “deepfakes”: Where AI is used to put a different face on a body in a porn video, creating celebrity porn without the real celebrity. The LA Times has an interesting article on the rise of fake videos and their implications. Just think about this: What damage could a faked video do when it spreads on the internet? How could a fake be used for propaganda purpose? We’ve been given the blessing of technology, but its misuse could be the downfall of society (as the 2016 election has shown, with the Russian manipulation of the US electorate through technology).
Financial Scams. The last few years have seen the growth of person to person online financial exchanges like Venmo and Zelle. But the scams are growing as well. The services were intended for use between transfers between people that know and trust each other. There are no safeguards for scammers and fraud, unlike services like PayPal. This is starting to bite people in the butt. Remember: Only Venmo/Zelle funds to someone you know and trust in real life. Once the funds are gone, they are gone.
The Green Padlock. Starting in July, the Chrome browser will mark all sites using the original web protocol, HTTP, as insecure. This is because the protocol does not provide end-to-end security. I initially believed that was overkill: there are many static sites with no forms, that only serve as information providers. Why do they need encrypted transport? But a discussion of the issue highlighted the reason behind Google’s actions. Even for such sites, moving to HTTPS provides assurance that the data coming from the site is what is being received by the consumer of information. In other words, it prevents man-in-the-middle attacks to insert false data, advertising, or malware. I’ve taken the steps to secure my site for the highway pages, and will be doing it for subsidiary pages in the coming months.
Paying for Security. One of the biggest problems that security has is that it is often invisible. If the mechanisms work, nothing bad happens, and you don’t know it is there. It is like high quality building codes, that you don’t discover saved your house until everyone else’s house burned down. As such, consumers haven’t wanted to pay for security; they want new features and whells and bistles, Software and hardware vendors couldn’t justify costly new releases that just added security. Luckily, that’s all changing — a new survey shows that consumers now prefer security over convenience. Will things stay that way? Will the convenience of a simple facial recognition overtake the security of two-factor authentication? Stay tuned.
Fixing Vulnerabilities. Vulnerabilities are on the rise, and keeping up can be hard. Here’s an interesting article that highlights the fact that not all vulnerabilities end up in the CVE/NVD database; and thus relying on that database as your sole source of vulnerability information is a bad idea. For those of us who assess for obvious vulnerabilities, this is an important observation. It is also vitally important to understand that a vulnerability is not the same as a risk. Sceptre and ~~Mindfuck~~ (no) Meltdown are good examples. They are vulnerabilities, and their patches are causing incredible slowdowns, but how easy are they to exploit, and what can they leak? A determined adversary will find a way to exploit anything, but the casual “script kiddie” hacker may not find much utility. The same, by the way, is true of gun laws. Gun control will affect law abiding folk, but the determined adversary will find a way. That’s why it is important not only to address the symptom of the problem — the gun control, the identified vulnerability — but to address the source of the problem. We need to engineer-in safety and security in all of our systems — human and technical — from day 0 to identify and prevent problems BEFORE they happen.
Safety While Traveling. Here’s an interesting article from the folks at Lastpass on how to use your password manager to make your life safer while traveling. There are some interesting notions here, including keeping copies of important travel documents in your password vault, so that if you lose them, you have that information. Other ideas include storing the credit card loss and fraud department phone numbers in your vault with your credit card form fills, so if you lose the physical card, you can easily call and report it.
Pre-Register to Prevent Fraud. An interesting reminder to register and create your account at SSA.gov, before the bad guys do it for you.
Securing the Internet of Things. One increasing risk is the Internet of Things. More and more, everything is being connected to the Internet. Often, what is connected are low-criticality devices (solar panels, refrigerators, light bulbs, dishwashers) with poor security protocols. Miscreants can then use those devices as stepping stones to get a trusted position in a network to jump to a more critical site, or to host a bot net or cryptocurrency mining operation. Luckily, NIST is working on standards for IOT security — and those standards are out for draft and comment.

Up for Discussion

Posted onSaturday, February 24, 2018Authorcahwyguy

Things have been busy, busy, busy, and the chum has been piling up. I’m spending this morning clearing out the backlog. Here are a few articles that didn’t categorize, but I found extremely interesting and worthy of discussion:

Employee Loyalty. At work, one of the big ongoing discussions relates to the company’s proposal to move from our long-standing defined benefit pension plan plus 403(B) to a 401(K). For some employees, it has been reported this could cost them up to $1 Milllion. For others, like me (I’ve been there almost 30 years, I’m on the original retirement pension plan, and have at least 10 years to retire), the impact is significant, but not that high. The proposal has raised questions on the commitment of the company to its employees, and thus this article on “Where Have All The Loyal Employees Gone?” is quite fascinating. It explores why more employees aren’t like me: at one company for 30 years. Employees today don’t find a company and stick with it, unlike our parents or parent’s parents era. The conclusion of the article: There isn’t employee loyalty because employer’s aren’t loyal to the employees — they are just in it for the profit. As the article writes: “Why should anyone be more loyal to you than you are loyal to them?”. It suggests five ways to get employee loyalty: (1) give them long term incentives like you give yourself; (2) give long term employment contracts; (3) pay them market rate or better; (4) give them visibility into the future of the business; and (5) Make your employees’ retirement plans as rich as your own retirement plan. This is great advice — something more companies should heed. Take care of your workers, and they will be there for you.
The Eviction Experience. We’ve all heard stories about people being evicted. But what is the process? This is especially true as folks get evicted as part of gentrification. Here is an interesting tale about someone who has been evicted, through a series of bad circumstances. In this particular case, it was bad circumstances created by Internet Conservatives who directed their political anger at a journalist who was just doing their job — and they destroyed his life. As he wrote: “The salacious news—the black guy who suggested Romney was a racist also beat his ex-wife—ricocheted around the internet, and my job prospects evaporated. I suddenly became unhireable, even for bottom-rung media jobs. The modest severance package I got from Politico drained away in a few months, along with my ability to pay my bills and child support.” (This seems especially interesting now that Romney has rentered the political fray as he campaigns for a senate seat). As for the process itself, it is dehumanizing: deputies show up, pack up belongings in black plastic trash bags, and dump them at the curb. Further, this process disproportionately affects minorities. All sorts of questions get raised, worthy of discussion.
Bodies Are Awesome. The extent to which people are judgmental about others is incredible — certainly, in the Internet echo chamber. This bullying is serious business. Look at many of the mass shooters, and you’ll find they’ve been the target of bullies at some point in their life. No where is this more visible in how people are bullied for their looks. This is an interesting article that celebrates all bodies, shapes, and sizes — by looking at photos of the wide variety of Olympic athletes — all shapes, sizes, and you name it — all making the best of what they were given. The photos alone are fascinating. As the article says, “Bodies are awesome. Everyone should get one.”. I find, as I watch people, the bodies I find the most interesting are not the perfectly airbrushed, plastic surgery ideas; the ones with silicone everywhere. What makes people interesting is not their perfection, but their imperfections. That dimple. That unique look. We must celebrate our differences and stories.
Crafters and Hoarding. If you live with a fabric artist, you know hoarding and craft rooms. Here is an interesting blog post exploring the broader question of “artist as hoarder”. Just consider the opening paragraph: “As an artist, you’re bound to collect stuff. After all, how can you create art without lots of paint, paper, canvas, clay, stone, metal, fabric, thread, and yarn? But how much stuff? Has your textile stash migrated into every part of the house because one closet won’t hold it all? Is your garage so packed with recycled materials for assemblage that you can’t park your car in there? Do you have any space left for yet another bin of plastic pieces in the barn?” Oh, this sounds so familiar.
Comicsgate. If you’ve been on the internet at all, you’re likely well aware of the bullying that goes on — especially towards minorities and women — often coming from the Conservative, sometimes White Supremacist, side. To put it bluntly, the haters. You might recall the Sad Puppies incidents from the Hugos which worked against women and perceived “leftist” authors. You might recall Gamergate, which targeted women in the Video Gaming industry. Both were horrid incidents, reflecting the growth of hate in our society. [As an aside, you want a reason we have so many shooting incidents? The answer is simple: We let hate grow, and we allow weapons to be an outlet to express hate.] There’s a new campaign now: Comicsgate. A campaign by bigots to attack minority and women writers and themes in the comics industry. Recently, as the article notes, “Comicsgate proponents on social media released a public blacklist of names for their followers to boycott. The names are organized under inflammatory titles like the “Pravda Press” and the “SJW Vipers” (“SJW,” for social justice warrior, a derogatory title for progressives). Those attacked are major figures in comics like Larry Hama, Mark Waid, Alex de Campi, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Matt Fraction, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and others. Nearly all of the people singled out are either women, people of color, or left-leaning.” Don’t let the haters win. Support minority and women artists. Fight against the growing intolerance in society: be it intolerance against the immigrant, the intolerance against women and minorities; the intolerance against non-Christians; the intolerance of the non-binary or non-heterosexual. We need to embrace and celebrate difference, what makes us unique, and our unique viewpoints.

As I say when I post my highway headlines: Ready, Set, Discuss.

Thoughts on a Theatre Season – Ahmanson 2018-2019

Posted onThursday, February 22, 2018Authorcahwyguy

As I noted a few days ago, the Ahmanson Theatre (FB ) was on the verge of announcing the rest of their season. Today they did it, and my guess was mostly correct. If you recall, I said: “As for the Ahmanson Theatre (FB), which has two slots to announce, I predict that one will be a show in development, and the other will either be Natasha, Pierre, … , or some form of dance or ballet, like the Matthew Bourne stuff that they’ve done recently.”. Well, I got the Matthew Bourne right, but their other show came out of left field — and I couldn’t be happier, given my daughter is a Yiddish scholar.

So what is the final Ahmanson season, and my thoughts on it? Here goes:

“Ain’t Too Proud—The Life and Times of The Temptations”. August 21 through September 30, 2018. This is the usual musical-in-development that the Ahmanson does (and that the Pantages will never do, unless it is already on tour. Should be good.
“Dear Evan Hansen” . October 17 – November 25, 2018. The big Tony winner last year. Pasek and Paul. ’nuff said.
“Come From Away” . November 28, 2018 – January 6, 2019. I’ve heard the music from this, and it should be spectacular.
Matthew Bourne’s “Cinderella”. February 5 – March 10, 2019. The Ahmanson likes the dance stuff from Bourne. I haven’t seen it; it will be an interesting change of pace.
“Falsettos”. April 16 – May 19, 2019. The only show I’ve seen before, but that production was in an intimate theatre. Should be good.
“Indecent”. June 4 – July 7, 2019. The story of a Yiddish play that had the first lesbian relationship. Wow. I’m surprised by this, and looking forward to it. You normally don’t get two plays out of the Ahmanson.
“The Play That Goes Wrong”. July 9 – August 11, 2019. Great comedy. Should be a lot of fun.

This is one of the best seasons the Ahmanson has had in a while. Suffice it to say that I’m calling tomorrow (so I can split things over 4 payments) to subscribe. Now to figure out how to work things into my calendar….

And You Thought Those Metal Rulers Were Bad

Posted onTuesday, February 20, 2018Tuesday, February 20, 2018Authorcahwyguy

In response to the continuing scourge of school violence with weapons, there are those who believe the answer is not increased gun regulations, but increased armed guard and, in particular, arming school teachers. A few thoughts on that proposal:

The right often quotes a statement by Benjamin Franklin about those who give up liberty for security get neither. This is usually in reference to proposals to ban or take away guns. But it is equally true to the notion of having increased armed presence in public and becoming a police state. Neither is the correct approach.
Although the proposal is to arm the teachers, no one ever asks where those teachers would get the guns, and who would pay for them. Teachers are woefully underpaid as it is, using personal money for classroom supplies and educational material. Do we expect them to find the personal money to buy the guns; money that they don’t have? Do we expect the school districts, which are also underfunded, to supply them? What educational courses do you want cut this time; remember, curriculum has also been cut to the bone due to lack of funds?
In terms of hardening the schools themselves, ask yourself this: In the past — in the time of your parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents — schools were not fortified, and did not have guards let alone fences. Yet there weren’t school shootings. So what has changed?
Would you be comfortable with loaded weaponry, out and accessible, being present in a classroom with curious children? If not, when the unthinkable happens, would you rather the teacher protect the children and get them to safety, or fumble to find the keys to unlock the gun safe to get out the gun, load it, and then shoot? Where should those precious minutes be spent?

Arming the teachers is not the answer, when you think about it critically. Think about what other solutions might work better. I have a few ideas.

[ETA: Over on FB, a friend shared a post that captured three other areas I missed: Training — who will train the teachers and who will pay for it; Liability — who will be liable if the teacher misses and hits someone else; and Psychological — there will be numerous psychological impacts of asking a teacher to potentially shoot a child or a former student, and who will pay for all the counseling afterwards. Yet more reasons this is a poor idea. Here’s the reference to that shared post.]

Powerful Women | “Dessa Rosa” @ Chromolume

Posted onMonday, February 19, 2018Authorcahwyguy

This is the year of the women. Women are speaking up (almost like never before) for themselves. They are speaking up against abuse, harassment, and the traditional patriarchal notions. Unlike some past feminist efforts, the current effort is going beyond equality of pay and equality of work to demanding equality of treatment, privilege, and respect.

So, perhaps, it is with a unique sense of timing that the first show of the Chromolume Theatre (FB) 2018 season is Dessa Rose. Dessa Rose, with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, music by Stephen Flaherty, based on a novel by Sherley Anne Williams, was first produced Off-Broadway in 2005, and is making its Los Angeles premier. The original novel fictionalizes and combines two historical incidents: In 1829 a pregnant slave woman led a revolt against slave traders, and in 1830 a white woman had a habit of taking in runaway slaves. The book combines the two stories, with the two women meeting and participating in a plan to free the runaways. It also times well for Black History Month, as it is based on the work of an African-American writer, and tells a story about powerful and proud black survival in the pre-Civil War South, and is being presented in a minority owned and operated theatre.

(As an aside, a recently saw a wonderful explanation of why Black History Month is appropriate, but White History Month would not be. Whites typically have the luxury of knowing their past and ethnicity, and knowing where their families came from and when they came to the US. Blacks had that all taken away from them. For many, the best they know is “Africa”, which is a continent, not a nation. They’ve had their past ripped from them, without consent, and Black History Month is a way to reclaim that past, celebrating all achieves of the Black community as their own.)

Dessa Rose also falls into category of music I had heard, but never seen. I’m quite a fan of the works of Ahrens and Flaherty, and how they have a musical style that isn’t repetitive with a particular sound (some other composing teams make it clear when you hear their work who they are). I’ve had the CD of Dessa Rose for quite a few years, but could never wrap my head around the story. Now I can, and hearing those songs in the context of the story makes them so much more meaningful. That’s one reason why I like Chromolume’s season so much: all of their mainstage shows are Los Angeles premieres, shows that I have only heard but never seen.

Dessa Rose tells the story of two women: Dessa Rose and Ruth. You can find a detailed synopsis on the Wikipedia page. The story is presented as the two women telling the story to their grandchildren so that it isn’t loss (a similar motif to Once on this Island, demonstrating the importance of shared storytelling). Dessa’s story concerns how she was born a slave, fell in love at 16, get pregnant, watch the man she loved get killed, and killing the overseer herself in response. She then leads a slave revolt, gets arrested and sentenced to hang. She eventually escapes jail and with the help of other slaves from the revolt, makes her way to Ruth’s plantation. Ruth, who is the black sheep of a different plantation family, marries young to a gambler who abandons her in an unfinished plantation with a new infant. She is accepting of the blacks, and that plantation soon becomes a haven for escaped slaves where no questions are asked. At the plantation, Ruth and Dessa’s stories combine, and the remainder of the musical is how they learn to accept each other, and standup for dignity and freedom.

This is a powerful story, and in some sense, a dark story. Although there are some energetic songs, one can see why it isn’t a typical Broadway story or musical, and thus, never moved from the Off-Broadway Mitzi Newhouse to a larger venue. In the tiny space that is the Attic Theatre (typically configured for 49 seats), it works and the closeness gives it extra power and meaning. It is a clear example of a show that is meant for an intimate theatre space.

What was my reaction? Going in, I really knew only the music, and that it was about the relationship of an escaped slave and a white woman. I’ll note also that I was having a bad afternoon, for reasons I shan’t go into other than to say: Always double check the time for an afternoon matinee, and sometimes it can be equally bad to arrive too early.

So, my reaction: I found this to be an incredibly moving musical, with very strong performances. There were just a few points where I felt a little bit of a drag in the story, and the close of Act I was more of a dark close than one is accustomed to see. But overall, I found the story timely — especially in this era of women speaking up for themselves and not putting up with being mistreated anymore. This was a strong show about women taking back their power and putting their destiny in their own hands — not the hands of their masters or their husbands. It was women finding their own way in society. It is a message that resonates with today.

Dessa Rose (Chromolume) - Cast Image Strip Director , James Esposito (FB) had a challenge in staging this production. Not only did he have to draw powerful performances out of his cast, but he had to figure out how to make the production work in a very tiny space, with very limited sets, options, and budgets. But the true measure of live theatre is creativity, and productions can thrive on imagination and performance, whereas film demands realism. The set here was simple: no real set pieces, just some ramps and spaces. Looking back, there also wasn’t a large number of specific props. Yet none of this was necessary, as the actors through performance alone created all the different places and made them real, so that you saw where you were in your imagination and in the movement. As a small example of that, watch the background performers and their motions. They are doing their house and field work without props, but establishing where and when they are. That’s the type of notion that I believe comes from the director working with the acting team.

In the lead performance positions were Shaunté Tabb (FB, FB) as Dessa Rose and Abby Carlson (FB) as Ruth. Tabb was a knockout. An incredibly strong singing voice (no amplification needed) combined with a powerhouse performance just blew me away. You believed she was who she was portraying. Similarly, Carlson was strong as Ruth. In that role, she had a bit more leeway to let go and relax, and when she did, there was just this natural luster that shone through. Again, there was a strong singing voice and equally strong performance that blended exceptionally well with Tabb’s Dessa Rose.

In more of a supporting role were Mykell Barlow (FB)’s Nathan and Ken Maurice Purnell (FB)’s Harker. Barlow was outstanding. A wonderful voice and a engaging stage presence created an instantly likable and strong character. Purnell’s Harker had a smaller presence, but the two worked well together.

The mothers in this story were repres ented in a different way: Kymberly Stewart (FB) played multiple mothers: Dessa Rose’s mother Rose, Ruth’s Mammy Dorcas, and an additional character, Aunt Chloe. Ruth’s actual mother was portrayed by Claire Buchignani (FB). Stewart’s portrayal of the different Mammy’s was interesting. Traditionally, the “Mammy” is a problematic character and oft stereotypical, but Stewart gave both an interesting rebellious and subversive nature, encouraging both Ruth and Rose, as different mothers, to be their own person and do what is right for them. Buchignani caught my eye from the opening number: there was just something in her face and movement that drew my eyes to her. Both were strong in their shared numbers such as “Ladies” and “Ten Petticoats”, and Stewart was outstanding in “White Milk and Red Blood”, emphasizing how we are all the same.

Matt Mancuso (FB), as Adam Nehemiah, was perhaps the villain of the piece, if there was one. Initially a friend to Dessa Rose, after her escape he vowed to capture her, and thus was the hunter to be avoided. Mancuso captured the two different sides of his character exceptionally well: contrast his performances in both “Ink” and “Capture the Girl”.

The remaining actors tended to play multiple characters, both in the ensemble as well as some named characters: Mikhail Roberts (FB) [Bertie, Sheriff Hughes, Auctioneer #2]; Bradley Alan Turner (FB) [Kaine, Phillip]; Zach Campa (FB) [Mr. Steel, Mr. Oscar, Sheriff Pine]; Ambrey Benson (FB) [Annabel, various slaves]; and Margaret Berkowitz (FB) [Susannah]. All were strong singers and ensemble performers; there were a few that shone exceptionally in my mind. Berkowitz’s Susannah brought an interesting sunshine to the piece — not because she was the only blonde, but there was just something about how she portrayed Susannah that had a lightness about her. Roberts captured the cad nature of Bertie, who abandons Ruth, well in the little characterization we had, but a bit more interesting was Campa’s Sheriff Pines in his interaction with Adam Nehemiah when Dessa is almost uncovered. Strong performance. Campo was also great as Mr. Oscar interacting with Ruth. Turner had a strong portrayal of Kaine in his early interactions with Dessa Rose.

The understudies, whom we did not see, were Maya (Sh’von) Thomas (FB) [u/s Dessa Rose]; Jessica Jacobs (FB) [u/s Ruth]; Christopher T. Wood (FB) [u/s Nathan]; and Allen Barstow (FB) [u/s Nehemiah].

Music was provided by an offstage band led by music director Daniel Yokomizo (FB) on Piano, John A. Graves on Bass^†, and Jeff Fish (FB) on Percussion^‡. For a small group, they had a very nice sound that worked well with the small show.
^†: Simon Landau on 2/3, 2/24, and 2/25
^‡: Anthony Jones (FB) on 2/2, 2/3, 2/10, 2/16, 2/17, and 2/23; Jon Lundgren on 2/9, 2/24, and 2/25.

The remainder of the creative and production team were: Michael Marchak (FB) [Choreography]; Kara McLeod (FB) [Costume Design]; Jesse Baldridge (FB) [Lighting Design]; Jasmine Moreno (FB) [Stage Manager]; Ken Werther (FB) [Publicity]. There was no sound design credit. A few notes: the speakers had an annoying buzz that can hopefully be corrected in the future. Marchak’s choreography was simply and appropriate for the show McLeod’s costume seemed to establish period well. Lastly, Baldridge’s lighting established time and mood well.

Dessa Rose has one more weekend in its run at Chromolume Theatre (FB). You should get tickets now if you can; they are selling out fast and you don’t want to miss this show. There were tickets on Goldstar, but they are sold out.

Chromolume just announced their Hollywood Fringe Festival production, and I’m excited. Here’s what they wrote:

We are happy to announce that our 2018 Hollywood Fringe Festival production will be the one-act musical, The Story of My Life! We are also excited to announce we will be performing at the The Hobgoblin Playhouse. We are excited to bring this story to you…coming in June! Click on the link below to find out more!

http://crtheatre.com/story.html

And for those of you who don’t know, if you purchase your season subscription before our current production ends, you will get free tickets to see this production!

We last saw Story of My Life back in 2009, right after the death of our dear friend Lauren. The story touched me in special ways; it is just a beautiful and meaningful show. I’m looking forward to it. Subscribe before Dessa Rose closes, and I believe it will be included in your subscription.

***

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre (or music) critic; I am, however, a regular theatre and music audience member. I’ve been attending live theatre and concerts in Los Angeles since 1972; I’ve been writing up my thoughts on theatre (and the shows I see) since 2004. I do not have theatre training (I’m a computer security specialist), but have learned a lot about theatre over my many years of attending theatre and talking to talented professionals. I pay for all my tickets unless otherwise noted. I am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I currently subscribe at 5 Star Theatricals (FB) [the company formerly known as Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB)], the Hollywood Pantages (FB), Actors Co-op (FB), the Chromolume Theatre (FB) in the West Adams district, and a mini-subscription at the Saroya [the venue formerly known as the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC)] (FB). Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals). I believe in telling you about the shows I see to help you form your opinion; it is up to you to determine the weight you give my writeups.

Upcoming Shows:

February concludes with James and the Giant Peach at the Chance Theatre (FB) in the Anaheim Hills, and tickets for Dublin Irish Dance Stepping Out at the Saroya (the venue formerly known as the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC)) (FB).

March was supposed to start with the MRJ Man of the Year dinner, but that shifted back a week. This enables us to see a remounting of Leslie Jones starring in Prez – The Lester Young Story that weekend. This is followed on the second weekend with the LA Premiere of the musical Allegiance at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (FB) and the MRJ Man of the Year Dinner. The next weekend brings Steel Pier at the UCLA School of Television, Film, and Theatre (FB). The penultimate Friday of March was to bring Billy Porter singing Richard Rodgers at the Saroya (the venue formerly known as the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC)) (FB), but that has shifted to June and that weekend is currently open. The last weekend of March is open for theatre, but there will be the Men of TAS Seder.