Theatre Review: Don't Miss I Remember Mama by the Transport Group Theatre Company

April 9, 2014, 11:33 am

≫ Next: A Tune From the Middle East, a Bridge to America

≪ Previous: European Young Talents at Carnegie Hall

$

0

0

Traveling to New York from suburban Philadelphia is a trek. I like to drive. No bus or train for me. On Sunday April 6, my girlfriend, Janet and I set out at about 11AM for the Big Apple to see my dear friend Heather Mac Rae in the John Van Druten play,I Remember Mama. The play runs through April 20 and I wanted to catch a performance before it reached its final stages of 'ho hum let's get this play over with' and I was rewarded.

"Look at this gymnasium turned into a study and library. How bizarre," Janet said as we entered the Judson Street gym. I was blown away by the magnitude of the space. About 15 tables covered with books and knickknacks were placed where men and women had dribbled basket balls while the ceiling was an array of track lighting positioned to light up each table.

"Follow me," said a grey haired woman usherette who led us to our seats on bleacher-like platforms. Chairs were placed on top of these platforms that lined three sides of the room. As the lights dimmed, in sauntered the cast one by one. It was a slow beginning, but grew in intensity as each of ten women who played 25 different characters drew me into her story. These women played the roles of men and women without a costume change, but merely with changes in their voices and movements.

I Remember Mama is an American classic about a Norwegian family. It is reborn in a gymnasium once filled with athletes vying for power over each other, but this Sunday there were ten women portraying the machinations, values and harmony within a family. And while the family is Norwegian, it could be any family anywhere USA, as it is about the celebration of love and respect for the family unit through joy and adversity. This subject is rare today -- in our violent video, technologically driven society in which film is either geared towards cardboard cutout lives of animation or comic book creatures brought to life with rage and murderous hearts -- that one can sit down and watch a play about remembering one's mother. A simple premise with layers of emotion built in. A relief from our pumped up hyper kinetic culture. And as each of these women entered the gym, while I did not immediately recall the characters that made these talents icons, I recognized their beautiful faces that were filled with experience. Their beauty was not the 'let's keep ourselves forever young youth culture' that has a tendency to dismiss the beauty of aging as meaningless and as inconsequential as stained toilet paper.

The Transport Theatre Company.... what a name!... chose for this show (directed by Jack Cummings III) veteran actresses from stage and screen.

These icons were: Phyllis Sommerville who played the spirited dead neighbor in the Big C, Barbara Barrie best known for Company, Louise Sorrel who starred for years in The Days of Our Lives, Lynn Cohen whom I remembered from Sex and the City, Susan Lohman known for her performance in Falling, Rita Gardner who starred in the Fantastics, Dale Soules who has filmed a starring role in Orange is the New Black, Alice Cannon known for her performance in James Joyce The Dead, Barbara Andres who was Moma and whom I remembered from On Golden Pond and my friend Heather Mac Rae who starred in Falsettos and who was in the original cast of Hair on Broadway. One of the themes of I Remember Mama is the nurturing of the family which results in the creation of a writer because of her perseverance. This tickled me. After the performance there was a Q&A in which I asked the actors, "Did any of you have difficulty with your tears about your own mother?"

"No, we use it," Louise Sorrel said.

"My mother just died and I am grateful that I could do this play," Heather said. "Some of you may remember her. Sheila Mac Rae. Acting in this play has helped me to deal with her death."

I remembered not only Sheila Mac Rae, but my own mother as the play ended and I dried my eyes.

"Let's all go to dinner. I know a cute bistro around the corner," Heather said and off we went.

Sadly, I did not have time to go to the gallery opening of Sally Benton, also an old friend, who had drawn my portrait when I performed in Stepford Wives as one of the wives. Sally, a Yale graduate, has been dedicated to painting while married to Oscar-winning director (Kramer vs. Kramer) Robert Benton. I would have to miss her show at the First Street Gallery that featured portraits that 'feel the person' and reveal the inner life of the sitter. Maybe I could make it up again as it sounded much like what I believe good writing is as well. Sally's show does not close until April 26. But this trip had been devoted to I Remember Mama which The New York Times Ben Brantley called, "Inspired. Charming." And made it a Critics' Pick which was apparent as it was sold out. I was happy I had caught it. As to Sally Benton's magnificent art, I would still try to catch it. But that's another trip!

http://malloryhollywoodeast.blogspot.com/

---

A Tune From the Middle East, a Bridge to America

April 9, 2014, 11:38 am

≫ Next: The Big Picture: Perspective Is Everything

≪ Previous: Theatre Review: Don't Miss I Remember Mama by the Transport Group Theatre Company

$

0

0

We had a lyricist from Lebanon and an arranger from Iraq. We had a melody composed by Quincy Jones. A Libyan, Egyptian, Palestinian, Syrian, Saudi and Emirati were among 26 artists joining recording sessions in Morocco and Qatar. Our result was sweet music -- a hypnotic hit that raised millions for impoverished children's arts education across the Middle East. It was a literally harmonious case of art transcending politics and improving lives.



I expect few Americans are aware. In fact, I suspect few know much at all about the artistic side of the Middle East. When we get press attention, the datelines are apt to be scenes of misery and strife: Syria, Egypt, Libya.

My brother Quincy Jones and I want Americans to have a fuller story.

We see music and art as cultural bridges from the Middle East to the world. The arts offer the best representation of a people. They transcend politics, race, religion, color and language.

Our charity hit was "Tomorrow/Bokra," bokra being Arabic for "tomorrow." We made it happen through the Global Gumbo Group, the joint venture Quincy and I launched to seed global opportunities for Middle Eastern and North African artists. I am no artist myself, but a businessman from the Emirate of Sharjah, of the United Arab Emirates. I know, however, when it comes to engaging and connecting young people and transforming hearts and minds, art out-muscles any business plan.

Art can also accomplish pragmatic, important things. To hear what I'm writing about, search "Bokra" on YouTube, where we have nearly 10 million hits to date.

Global Gumbo Group has done more. Last November we staged the Middle East's first music trade show, Dubai Music Week, a big step toward creating business models in my part of the world that sustain cultural movements.

"My dream is for these kids to be free to dream for themselves," says Quincy.

Visit Dubai Music Week's Facebook page and you'll see talk of Lady Gaga and Led Zeppelin as well as such Arab stars as Kadhem Al Sahir and Souad Massi. More diversity, more bridges, and more young people finding common creative ground.

But now our work has won notice in the States. For the work of the Global Gumbo Group, the Kennedy Center's International Committee on the Arts honored Quincy and me with its annual Gold Medal in the Arts.

Attention from the likes of the Kennedy Center puts us in closer touch with friends abroad and adds credibility to our efforts at home. But I would particularly like this recognition to serve as the threshold of new, deeper cultural exchanges with the United States.

The Arab world can learn much from the diversity of U.S. culture. Some here might call into question some of its aspects, but nobody can argue its global impact. American music, food, movies and even sports teams have instant recognition and worldwide power. We in the Middle East would do well to learn from some of these examples and embrace culture and art as life tools. We hope to pursue more projects like the Middle East Theatre Academy, which seeks international exposure for young actors, directors, and producers from my region and which I am honored to back with actor-philanthropist Kevin Spacey.

You surely know Kevin, but chances are you cannot name a top Arab actor -- or pop star, poet or painter. It is a dream of mine to see that change and see my region produce cultural ambassadors appreciated, as yours are, around the world. We have begun to build the bridges with art projects that unite and sustain us.

As we stretch beyond all borders I am confident that tomorrow -- bokra -- looks bright.

Badr Jafar co-founded the Global Gumbo Group with Quincy Jones in 2011. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Crescent Enterprises

The Big Picture: Perspective Is Everything

April 9, 2014, 1:18 pm

≫ Next: The Authentic Perspective

≪ Previous: A Tune From the Middle East, a Bridge to America

$

0

0

The Big Picture

"I'm like the painter with his nose to the canvas, fussing over details. Gazing from a distance, the reader sees the big picture." - Author Steven Saylor

My sister Ann passed away, without warning, on the morning of Oct. 9, 2008. An undiagnosed heart condition, hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, took her life. How could that be? She was only 51! She all but sparkled she was so alive. Her death didn't seem possible. Being thoroughly devoted to each other, I had no idea how I was going to live without her.

For the first ten years of our marriages, I had the luxury of Ann only living a mile from me. We got to raise our children together and see each other whenever we liked. In 1998, her husband took a job three hours south of where we lived. I felt the sting of our separation even before she moved. When what I dreaded came to pass, I was shocked that our relationship only deepened. Even though we no longer got to be with each other in person, thanks to cell phones, we were connected more than ever.

Ann and I had gotten into the habit of speaking to each other every morning and at times throughout the day, being detached from her was unfathomable to me. What would I do without her to run every aspect of my life by? There was such a hole with her gone. The minute I learned she had departed, I heard a voice say, "It's time to stretch." My soul knew it was a chance for me to face the world standing on my own two feet. The comfort of leaning on Ann had run its course.

After the shock of her passing lifted, the grief settled in. I went from deep sadness to despair. Worse than my loss was witnessing what her husband and children were going through. Their broken-heartedness pulled me even further into misery.

As the months moved on, slowly, slowly, I began to heal. I still remember the first day that went by where I wasn't consumed with sorrow. As I lay in bed that night, a little pang of guilt pulled me back. Did my happiness mean I was being disloyal? And what about Ann's children? I began to feel what I imagined their anguish to be. I was sinking.

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances."- William Shakespeare

And then she came to me. Ann was in the form of an angel with wings. She reached down, lifted me by the hand and deposited me on a cloud next to her. If my body didn't literally feel the whoosh of being pulled upward, I would have thought I was dreaming. As we sat, she put her arm around me and pointed down to Earth. She told me that whenever I felt myself slipping to look at the big picture. I knew exactly what she meant. I shouldn't let myself become absorbed in the drama on our planet. In the big picture, nothing had changed. She had never left any of her loved ones' sides. It was time for her to move on, but nothing could keep us from her love.

She indicated to me that life would be so much easier if I wore my trials like a loose garment and didn't allow myself to become engrossed in them. When looked at from a higher perspective, the sufferings we go through don't seem so overwhelming. Ann's insight was a gift from one who knew me so well. It proved to be the missing link in the healing of my many of struggles. That experience marked the beginning of my acceptance of what I had considered a loss. Sometimes I still ache for the physicality of Ann being with me, but I no longer resist these feelings. I simply let them move through me. They are part of being human. When I get to the other side of them, I realize nothing has changed.....not really.


My cousin's Marianne and Kate modeled to help bring my vision to life.

I love hearing from you! I've heard so many comforting stories about people who have died and reached out to those they left behind. A great book on the subject is Hello from Heaven. Have any of you had an experience with someone you love who has passed away?

Text and images © Sue Shanahan. All rights reserved.

www.sueshanahan.com
Blog: www.commonplacegrace.com

The Authentic Perspective

April 9, 2014, 1:45 pm

≫ Next: Graffiti Artist RISK Promotes Aerosmith Show at Whiskey a Go Go (PHOTOS)

≪ Previous: The Big Picture: Perspective Is Everything

$

0

0

It was surprising that there was no strong opposition to Nerdrum's Kitsch philosophy or toward Scruton's ideas of beauty at TRAC2014. Could it be that all are in basic agreement of the cultural direction in which this group wants to take us?

Such ambiguous, commonly misunderstood and slippery words such as beauty and kitsch are what we have to work with to talk about the phenomenon before us. No matter what you call it, we are talking about the emergence of an authentic perspective in our culture that demands our attention. It comes about out of a need that our society has and that need is being filled.


The Poacher by Odd Nerdrum, from the Resonating Images III exhibition at the William Rolland Gallery of Fine Art in Thousand Oaks, California.


Pam Hawkes, who gave a demonstration at the conference, and whose work is part of the current exhibition Women by Women at Kwan Fong Gallery in Thousand Oaks had this to say, "Firstly, the conference was well organised and I thought there was a wide variety of papers. You are right, there was no opposition or questioning of either Odd Nerdrum or Roger Scruton, and that's why I'm surprised, and irritated, at some of the comments I've been reading on social media. Why weren't these issues raised at the correct time? We were all encouraged to do it and the end of every paper."


Unraveling by Pam Hawkes, oil, beeswax and metal leaf on board

Greg Escalante, a co-founder of Juxtapoz magazine, also praised the conference but didn't necessarily feel that it was the place for opposition. "I couldn't believe there was such a well organized event in support of figurative/representational painting. An event that could bring out Odd Nerdrum on top of everything else. As far as a voice of opposition, I would vote against it. To me the voice of opposition is the Art world in general that is all around us, so the voice against it is already here, we all know what it is."

"I was surprised more people did not try to contest Nerdrum's Kitsch theory at the conference." Escalante added, "From what I know of it, I love it! The thing I find very interesting are the parallels to Robert William's and his Low Brow Art theory. The both came up with self effacing names for their movement, they both battled the establishment and the thinking of their times. They both fought fiercely with tremendous skill and concept to change the face of the art world. Where Nerdrum in Europe had his apprentices to give back and leverage his philosophy of painting, Williams created a magazine."



Lift by F Scott Hess who has recently had a retrospective exhibition at the Los Angeles Municiple Art Gallery, a solo exhibition at Koplin Del Rio Gallery and a feature article in Juxtapoz Magazine.

There is reason for all of us to be looking at the fruition of these painters labor. It is beautiful, but even more than that, once I met with the those producing the work and talked to them, learned their story, I saw that these people are following the heroic path. Not just theirs, but ours. These painters are living lives that others do not dare. they have honed in on their talents and developed the skill to bring back to us genuine stories carved from their experiences. They are striving to reach their potential as human beings and using that potential to engage us in a dialog that our culture needs to hear. As Peter Trippi, editor of Fine Art Connoisseur said, "The word here is authentic".

Several times while viewing the various exhibitions that accompanied the panel discussions at TRAC2014, I was stopped in my tracks by the work, which is ultimately what we must return to when the dialog falls silent.


Dementia by Candice Bohannon Reyes


Dementia, by Candice Bohannon Reyes, was one such painting. I felt like I was being presented with a more dignified way of dying, the expression on the face felt like one of my own someday, and in spite of the loss of memory, I am flooded with them. They ebb and flow as I look at the painting and I just wanted to stand there and enjoy that pleasant state of being with a great painting. When I asked Candice about this she said that this was a friend of hers, someone she spent time with, connected with and took the time to address this friends situation in a sincere way. There is a deep rooted human attachment here.

And then, just a few steps away, the feeling continued in the soft self portrait by Sadie Valerie. What a beautiful portrait! And then with Teresa Oaxaca, a lounging, living doll. The feeling was that I was witness to a building wave, a powerful, necessary revitalization of painting, sculpture and even more so, at it's best, a revamping of our cultural aesthetic. Notice I said at it's best, for quality craftsmanship here is paramount.


Self Portrait at 41 in the Studio (with Dog) by Sadie Valerie.

Julio Reyes, in his panel presentation spoke straight from the heart, telling a story about his grandmother who would tell him stories about her youth, about how life was for her, about real experience. The humanness that we feel when an elder tells a story needs to show in the work, and come across as authentic, and I see this in Julio's work. Here is a painter with something to say and he says it elegantly, just on the other side of the fence, where industry ends and the rolling hills begin. Here is a man who really understands that there is something that travels from one generation to the next and what it means to respect that which continues and honor its presence, and pass it on. There is an article about Candice and Julio in the March 2014 issue of Fine Art Connoisseur.


Headwinds by Julio Reyes, oil on canvas

Heidi Wastweet, who is serving a four year term on the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, which acts as a conduit between the public and the US Mint, had this to say about TRAC2014, "I understand where Odd is coming from (Kitsch-wise) but I don't think it applies to all generations and cultures. Generally I think Scruton is just a little too narrow in his views. I prefer Odd's ability to find beauty in the unusual vs overdone cliche beauty. In Scruton's talk I found some of his example of art he likes to be a bit boring to me. None the less I strongly admire his and Odd's willingness to stand up against the established art world.

Overall, I haven't been convinced that the art world should be divided into two schools of thought and/or teaching. Isn't this world divided enough as it is? The Traditionalists are bitter for being excluded but now some want to in turn exclude the post-modernists. An eye for an eye leaves all the artists blind. There is plenty of common ground between the extremes of art. I think of it as a bridge of inspiration.I loved the camaraderie and the hope that when we band together what we do can actually have a positive impact on humankind."


Letting Go by Heidi Wastweet, bronze

There are some questions about what this new classically oriented work should be called and how we can talk about it in the post modern era, how it should be taught in our schools, but, aside from the discussions, what is important is that the work is made and that it is here for us to enjoy. Institutions, such as the Art Renewal Center as well as colleges and ateliers around the world are focusing on this, the kind of art that we can be proud of and that addresses our needs.


Felicia Forte, Candice Bohannon Reyes, Kara Ross (of the Art Renewal Center), Julio Reyes, and Sadie Valeri at TRAC2014, photo by Brittany McGinley


In route to TRAC2014 from the Classical Underground headquarters in LA, there was a lively discussion in Alexey Steele's Bronco that came to rest on the importance of the work and its need to be seen. Richard T. Scott put forth that we need to go to the people, that it is with the people that we find sympathy, and understanding. What we are talking about here needs to be more than an art movement, it needs to be a cultural shift.

"It is a new way of accepting and dealing with reality" agreed Alexey reinforcing the words with drama and volume, "And there is much Waaaaaaay much to be done"!


The reconstruction has begun. The work is being done. One painting at a time, one sculpture at a time. The need for genuine talent and authenticity on the cultural landscape is being filled and TRAC2015 is already in the planning stages.

For those of you who are creators, get off the net and do your work! For the rest of you, I encourage you to seek out what these fresh old masters are creating and share it with those who need to see it.

Graffiti Artist RISK Promotes Aerosmith Show at Whiskey a Go Go (PHOTOS)

April 9, 2014, 2:31 pm

≫ Next: Aisle View: Laughter in the Heir

≪ Previous: The Authentic Perspective

$

0

0

On Tuesday April 8, 2014, the rock and roll band Aerosmith performed an intimate set with Slash at the Whiskey a Go Go in Hollywood to announce their 2014 tour dates. The artist RISK made a banner for the event outside of the venue. Here are a few images I took from the event as part of my N(art)ration series.



People gather at Hollywood's Whiskey a Go Go for the Aerosmith show. Photo by EMS.



RISK's artwork is draped outside the historic venue. Photo by EMS.



Grafitti artist RISK. (Photo by EMS)



Slash and Joe Perry warming up before the set. Photo by EMS.



Aerosmith performs the opening song. Photo by EMS.



Steven Tyler. Photo by EMS.



Joe Perry. Photo by EMS.



Steven Tyler. Photo by EMS.



Slash. Photo by EMS.



RISK (left) removes the banner at the end of the concert. Photo by EMS.

(This article is part of an ongoing photojournalism survey of art exhibition openings in SoCal titled EMS N(art)rative. Through my lens I document a photographic essay or visual "N(art)rative" that captures the happenings, personalities, collectors, gallerists, artists, and the art itself; all elements that form the richly varied and textured fabric of the SoCal art world. This reconnaissance offers a unique view for serious art world players to obtain news and information on the current pulse of what's in the now, yet capturing timeless indelible images for posterity and legacy. Here is EMS N(art)rative Nine.)

Aisle View: Laughter in the Heir

April 9, 2014, 4:55 pm

≫ Next: All in the Family

≪ Previous: Graffiti Artist RISK Promotes Aerosmith Show at Whiskey a Go Go (PHOTOS)

$

0

0

Playgoers who left David Ives' 2011 School for Lies blissfully entranced need only be told that Ives -- working once more at the Classic Stage Company -- has done it again with The Heir Apparent. Those fortunate enough to have seen the first will no doubt gleefully head down to 13th Street for the second (through May 4); other theatergoers who are keen for wildly literate, wildly funny, wildly stylish comedy are advised to join the fun.

Ives -- who is best known for his early play All in the Timing, his late play Venus in Fur, and dozens of Encores! script adaptations in between -- has based Heir Apparent on the 1709 Le Légataire universel by Jean-François Regnard, a next-generation successor to Moliere at the Comédie Française. (School for Lies -- loosely grafted atop The Misanthrope -- and Heir Apparent are two of four classic French comedies that Ives has adapted, initially for Michael Kahn's Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC.)

Ives doesn't just adapt these plays; he keeps them carefully in period but provides a continual overwash of up-to-the-minute anachronisms, so up to date in this case that he rhymes the heroine's name "Isabella" with last week's Encores! production of Most Happy Fella. The play is also peppered with a philosophical overlay of pure Marxism; the famed mirror scene from Duck Soup is lovingly inserted in this early eighteenth Century romp, and at one point I half expected Chico to stroll by the upstage window peddling tutsi fruitsi ice cream. The play -- set in yet another one of John Lee Beatty's friendly and openly-cluttered designs -- starts with the grinding of an old grandfather's clock which mixes chimes with what can only be described as a mechanical Bronx cheer. Which breaks the ice, as it were, even before the first rhymed couplet is hurled at us.

This is one of those doddering-old-codger-with-a-million plots, filled with delectable parts for delectable hams. Said codger is played by Paxton Whitehead, over-aged and floppy in nightdress and nightcap with earmuffs, looking like something out of Daumier (with costumes by David C. Woolard). On the other end of the scale is David Pittu, limner of numerous eccentrics over the years, as the scrupulous lawyer Scruple. They are the long and short of it, literally so; the lanky Whitehead towers over the two-foot ten Pittu. (Yes, he's two-foot ten here, working with shoes attached to his kneecaps, as "a lawyer no bigger than a loophole." Which contributes a dozen or so distinct laughs.)

These two actors work their usual comedic magic, although they are out-hammed by the man in the middle, Carson Elrod. Viewers who saw last summer's Explorers Club at the Manhattan Theatre Club will remember Elrod as the droll tribal native in blue body paint who turned out to be a first-rate mixologist. He served time in Peter and the Starcatcher as the pompous orphan Prentiss, and seems to be a head-of-the-class graduate of the Christian Borle Institute of scenery-chewing. At one point, Elrod engages in a knock-down fist-fight, while pretending to be an anachronistic Davey Crockett from Tennessee, which is as funny as anything we've seen of late. (Elrod is the one cast-member who originated his role in the 2011 premiere of The Heir Apparent.) The cast also includes Dave Quay, Claire Karpen, Amelia Pedlow and the veteran Suzanne Bertish, all of whom provide high comedy without quite the opportunities afforded Elrod, Pittu and Whitehead.

But it is Mr. Ives, and his director John Rando (of Urinetown and A Christmas Story) who make The Heir Apparent a ludicrously luscious affair. Unlike other new comedies recently arrived in town, this one is packed with characters, laughs, and enough information for us to discern an actual plot (such as it is). Plus two acts worth of dandily daffy rhymes, like one which mates "far Crimea" with--what else?--"diarrhea" plus some other nonsense about venomous enemas. Both of which directly stem from that sputtering grandfather's clock at curtain's rise, which is intrinsically linked to the play's core.

All in the Family

April 10, 2014, 8:36 am

≫ Next: Wouldn't It Be Lovely?, San Pedro Rep

≪ Previous: Aisle View: Laughter in the Heir

$

0

0

According to a piece Business Section of the Times ("Techology's Man Problem," 4/5/14) Pax Dickinson of Business Insider tweeted,

"it's not misogyny to tell a sexist joke, or to fail to take a woman seriously, or to enjoy boobies."

The tweet was in response to a presentation by two Australians at the TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon who the Times quoted as saying,

"Titshare is an app where you take photos of yourself staring at tits."

According to the Times the exchange caused ripples in at least one part of the tech universe. Dickinson lost both his job at Business Insider and his partnership with a young woman named Elissa Shevinsky with whom he was involved in a start-up called Glimpse Labs. Dickinson apparently made an apology (which not being one to miss a publicity op, he posted on a blog called VentureBeat) and Shivinsky and he made up, but isn't this a little like the Salem witch hunts. Wouldn't those who wish to counter the sexism of the tech world be better off if they fought fire with fire. Why not decree the equivalent of Title IX in intercollegiate athletics? Why not force men to face the same indignities as women by mandating male civil rights violations for educational purposes? Macho tech entrepreneurs could be required to watch a film like Oppressed Majority. The short which depicts a universe where women grope and bully the very men whose talents and abilities they're dismissive of has according to the The Times already received 8.5 million hits on YouTube ("French Film Goes Viral, but Not in France," NYT, 4/6/14). Majorité opprimée, as it's titled in French, was directed by Eleonore Pourriat, a screenwriter and actress, and according to the Times features a scene where bare-chested women jog past its harried stray-at-home dad, Pierre. Back in the 70's Carroll O'Connor played Archie Bunker, a wise cracking neanderthal, who made offensive cracks on All in the Family. The show was a smash hit and also did more to create awareness of discriminatory attitudes than the language police who view political correctness as the salvo to inequity. If only George Carlin were alive to make waves at the next TechCrunch?


(This was originally posted to The Screaming Pope, Francis Levy's blog of rants and reactions to contemporary politics, art and culture}

Wouldn't It Be Lovely?, San Pedro Rep

April 10, 2014, 10:33 am

≫ Next: Germany's Art Festival Quadriennale Envisions the World Beyond Tomorrow

≪ Previous: All in the Family

$

0

0

For all its insistence on the proper use of words, Wouldn't It Be Lovely?, conceived and directed by Aaron Ganz for San Pedro Rep and adapted from George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and the musical My Fair Lady, presents an enchanting spectacle that melds dialogue with song, dance and setting. As with Four Larks' recent production of Orpheus, it fantastically updates a classic, makes it relevant for a new audience. And, in a 99%/1% society, in makes you see the world in a new way.

Transplanted from Victorian London to contemporary New York City, the story's inscribed on our cultural memory. Aristocrats Henry Higgins (Chris Lang) and Colonel Pickering (Phillip Wheeler) make a project out of street urchin Eliza Doolittle (Paris Langle). Less a humanitarian gesture and more a gentleman's bet, the two men wager that she can pass muster at an Ambassador's Ball. The initial meeting, where's she's selling flowers; the diction lessons; her trial run; her triumphant entry into society; the end of the tutelage, they're all there, just as we remember them.

The ensemble effort is excellent. Lang's Higgins is superb as the bumptious and arrogant Higgins. Words he may know but the world-at-large remains a big mystery to him. If this were Victorian times, he'd be called imperialist. Now he's competitive and smarmy, an uber-educated man of means. He's at his funniest in his back-and-forths with Wheeler's Pickering and with his mother, Mrs. Higgins (Dorrie Braun). He one-ups Pickering at every turn while his mother, all too aware of her son's arrested emotional development, cuts him down to size. He shines in his relationship with Langle's Eliza. At the beginning, he's an insufferable pedant. By the end, having watched her blossom, he's smitten and uncharacteristically vulnerable.

Langle's Eliza is a force of nature. Though her accent, word choice, and syntax may betray her low origins, her carriage, her self-esteem, and determination are downright regal. From start to finish we feel her deep humanity, her ambition to further herself. In the street, she's a typhoon but, when she presents herself as a lady, she's an incandescent rainbow.

Though the acting, especially that of the two leads, is enthralling, the staging is memorable. First, there's the space itself. San Pedro Rep utilizes every inch of their admittedly small space. The opening scene, in front of the opera, and the enactment of the Ambassador's Ball, take place out back in the alley. On a gorgeous spring evening, the effect was stunning. Higgins' study is set in what can be called the space's back room. And his mother's sitting room is set in the space that opens out onto the front street. This inventive use of space expands the narrative, bringing us into the production. To add to the intimacy, the actors perform a few feet in front us and, when we're standing, mingle amongst us.

Second, with Brian Moe's choreography, Tamara Becker's costumes and sets, and Patrick Newell's music direction, the piece bristles with unexpected flourishes. Not just the Pygmalion story punctuated with My Fair Lady songs, this update presents dance that, ironically enough, expresses more than words ever could. The scrum of street kids at the beginning, Eliza's urban dance moves at the Ambassador's Ball and with Higgins at the end, all these are presented with West Side Story energy and verve.

Wouldn't It Be Lovely? is just that, lovely. Staged as a dialogue of word and movement, it shows that refinement and cultivation are in the eyes of the beholder. The polite society of Higgins may express itself with words but the world to which Eliza belongs is livelier, more passionate. One's Apollo, one's Dionysius -- when they come together, the effect is magical.

Performances are 7:30pm, Wednesday through Saturday and 2pm Saturday May 3. The production runs until May 10. Tickets are $20-25. The theatre is located at 311 W. 7th Street, San Pedro, CA 90731. For more information, call (424) 264-5747 or visit www.sanpedrorep.org.

---

Germany's Art Festival Quadriennale Envisions the World Beyond Tomorrow

April 10, 2014, 10:33 am

≫ Next: 8 Perfect Nirvana Songs to Add to the Soundtrack of Your Life

≪ Previous: Wouldn't It Be Lovely?, San Pedro Rep

$

0

0

Known for its Kunstakademie (Academy of the arts), the city of Dusseldorf in the North-West of Germany has a long-standing tradition for artistic avant-garde. Currently the beautiful city on the river Rhine is opening its gates for international art connoisseurs indulging in various media describing future concepts of world perception, with a sense of radical liberation only the arts can communicate in that fashion. The third Quadriennale will be held from April 5th till August 10th. With its theme Über das Morgen hinaus (Beyond Tomorrow), artists are given the chance to conceptualize the future through various media, while inspiring the public with new and sometimes well-known perspectives about common global prospects.

Studies of how the past has imagined the future make up a rich and established field in the arts, as well as in science and literature. The Utopian science fiction novel Looking Backward: 2000-1887 by lawyer and writer Edward Bellamy from Massachusetts was published in 1888. The book is, "A fictional account of a Boston man, Julian West, who falls asleep in 1887 and wakes up in the year 2000 to find that America has become a socialist utopia."

At the time, it impacted a large number of intellectuals and created a political mass movement. Over 162 "Bellamy Clubs" were formed in the United States alone, discussing and propagating the book's ideas.

In the early 20th century, the artistic and social movement futurismo (futurism) shaped an entire generation of young, modern artists, as well as Italian society. Eager to free Italy from its past by glorifying the future in the present, futurism embraced the visual and performing arts, politics, and even advertising.

A current exhibition in New York's Guggenheim museum, Italian Futurism, 1909-1944, Reconstructing the Universe is displaying an impressive collection of work by painters such as Giacomo Balla, Mario Chiattone, and Luigi Russolo. The Guggenheim's website reads, "Inspired by the markers of modernity--the industrial city, machines, speed, and flight--Futurism's adherents exalted the new and the disruptive."

Meanwhile from Dusseldorf, a total of thirteen museums, art venues, and partner institutions are working with the following questions: How do artists today imagine the future? What visions did earlier artists express? And what role is played by the material used?

One of them is New York City's electronic media artist Alexander Hahn. The Swiss native and Lower East Side resident is part of the exhibition, The Invisible Force Behind. Materiality in Media Art. His one channel video piece Getting Nowhere from 1981 depicts a very unique Cold War time conversation engaging a computer, named ELIZA. Discussed are the threats of a nuclear strike and its consequences to both humans and computers. The rather one-sided, nevertheless enlightening talk is re-scanned live from an Apple II computer monitor. ELIZA was a 1960's computer program written at MIT by Joseph Weizenbaum -- a parody of "the responses of a non-directional psychotherapist in an initial psychiatric interview," according to Hahn.

The artists Bielicky and Richter, also participants in The Invisible Force Behind, are combining in Why don't we Twitter messages with social topics, such as surveillance, whistleblowing or Information Warfare and project the results on a large surface.

A rather critical view on contemporary lifestyle and culture has Wolfgang Ullrich, professor of art history and media theory at the Hochschule für Gestaltung, the university for composition, in Karlsruhe. He developed the theme, as well as the dramaturgy for this year's Quadriennale. Titled, Neurotics of Sustainability and Prisoners of the Present, Ullrich points out through his work that, "It's not enough to reduce debates on the future to the issue of sustainability, because that would mean understanding the future merely as a continuation of the present, holding up today's status as the standard." Taking a balanced look at the future, Ullrich says, means seeing it as "possessing neither visionary nor utopian power."

Furthermore according to Ullrich, media and the huge selection of "leisure activities" are keeping humans in a constant "mood of suspense" with an almost exclusive focus on the "current moment." Additionally, according to the Quadriennale website, the Swiss philosopher Dieter Thomä names it the "obsession with the present" and blames among other things the "curse of property" for making humanity "cling to the status quo" and lose sight of more forward-looking goals and perspectives.

Thomä has also observed an "addiction to synchronicity" as real-time media gives people a way to be involved in multiple activities simultaneously, filling their lives supposedly with "instant gratification", a very popular contemporary viewpoint. According to Thomä, this leaves neither time nor energy to go beyond the current moment and think about what is to come. The German writer Moritz Rinke even terms the people of today as "fanatics of the moment."

Needless to say, these views reflect matters that often or almost exclusively occur in societies that have the means to provide certain gadgets, internet access and the new way of life that is resulting from circumstances. Meanwhile, the concept of sustainable development is meant to include those, who so far often do not have the privilege to a "synchronistic lifestyle," including the vast options of "leisure activities" that provide "instant gratification".


Picture: © Quadriennale GmbH; Trailer zur Quadriennale Düsseldorf 2014,
GfG/Gruppe für Gestaltung

8 Perfect Nirvana Songs to Add to the Soundtrack of Your Life

April 10, 2014, 10:57 am

≫ Next: Yahya Hassan: Poems of Rage

≪ Previous: Germany's Art Festival Quadriennale Envisions the World Beyond Tomorrow

$

0

0

I first added Nirvana's music onto the private soundtrack of my life when I entered middle school in 1995 (just months after Kurt had died). Kurt Cobain's voice quickly became my companion during evenings sitting on my bunk bed, writing in my journal and struggling to find words for feelings I couldn't yet name. He was with me when I needed to cry myself to sleep, and when I wanted to feel brave. His voice played in my head as I navigated those new and foreign hallways that would eventually lead into adulthood. And since then, he has sung me through so much, past my teen years and into my grown-up life. It's hard to believe that it has been more than 20 years since Kurt Cobain left this world, as his spirit and music still feel so very present. One doesn't need an occasion to listen to Nirvana, but their songs provide a perfect accompaniment to many of our moments.



Ava Dellaira is the author of the new book Love Letters to the Dead.

Yahya Hassan: Poems of Rage

April 10, 2014, 11:29 am

≫ Next: From Pork Chop Hill to the Front Line: Peace As a Korean Human Right

≪ Previous: 8 Perfect Nirvana Songs to Add to the Soundtrack of Your Life

$

0

0

Meet the 18-year-old sensation Yahya Hassan, who has written literary history in Denmark with his powerful, personal poems criticizing his family and Muslims in the Danish welfare system.

Everyone knows that the teenage years can be turbulent, emotional and painful. Many of us have dabbled with tormented poems and had serious clashes with our families: But rarely do angry young men come with the talent of Danish-Palestinian, Yahya Hassan.

Yahya Hassan's debut poetry collection sold 100,000 copies in no time, but the attention also meant death threats and having to live under the protection of the Danish Security and Intelligence Service.

In this interview, Yahya Hassan talks about his poetry, born out of rage, grief, joy, humor and a love of words: "I am driven by an interest in writing. Too me, writing is a quiet room outside the problems of life. Wherever I go, I always have the words with me."

The poetry collection Yahya Hassan has been described as "almost Walt Whitman-like" and has started a heavy debate in Denmark because of its negative description of Hassan's Islamic upbringing. The son of Muslim Palestinian immigrants, Yahya Hassan grew up in a ghetto, in a religious environment, where abuse and crime was part of every day life. Hassan was removed from home and placed at an institution aged just 13.

While Yahya Hassan is angry about many things he has experienced during his own upbringing, he also explains in this interview that he feels right wing extremists are similar to Islamist extremists: "Both sides take society as hostage." Hassan does not want his book to be labelled and states that it is not the books fault how other people choose to use it: "My poems are about many things. They are my way of taking action against things I am dissatisfied with," he says. "If I could control how people received my book, I'd want it to be with joy, understanding and dialogue."

In this interview the young poet also explains how he began to write, starting with rap music but finding it too restrictive. The rules, rap-attitude and values just wasn't him, he says. In the literary world, Hassan feels he can be himself, learn something, and that he has something to say: "Being a criminal does not exclude you from literary activities, just like having a good job in finance does not exclude you from committing fraud."

Yahya Hassan explains some of his views of immigration, social context, war traumas and how he has been interested in finding the root of the problems and dealing with questions of personal responsibility. The book is a result of many of these thoughts: "I don't need to participate in the debate, but I am glad that people are thinking about things. It is healthy to ask questions," he says.

_____


Yahya Hassan (born 1995) is a Danish poet of Palestinian background. His book Yahya Hassan (2013) is the best selling debut poetry collection in Danish history, selling more than a 100,000 copies within just a few months, but Hassan's commercial success is reaching far beyond Denmark's population of 5.5 million, and looks set to conquer the rest of the world.

The German publishing house Ullstein published a German translation of his book in time for the Leipzig Book Fair 2014, which sold 9,000 copies in the first week, an exceptional run for poetry. In April 2014 Yahya Hassan will be at the New York festival Pen Voices along with Salman Rushdie and other renowned authors.

Yahya Hassan's poems were translated by Kuku & Al Agami, authorised by Gyldendal.

Yahya Hassan was interviewed by Marc-Christoph Wagner

Filmed by Klaus Elmer

Edited by Kamilla Bruus

Produced by Marc-Christoph Wagner

Copyright: Louisiana Channel, produced by Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2014.

Supported by Nordea-fonden

From Pork Chop Hill to the Front Line: Peace As a Korean Human Right

April 10, 2014, 11:42 am

≫ Next: 10 Absolutely Incredible Women in Historical Fiction

≪ Previous: Yahya Hassan: Poems of Rage

$

0

0

In the 1959 Korean War movie Pork Chop Hill, directed by Lewis Milestone, a multicultural American infantry company led by Lieutenant Joe Clemons (Gregory Peck), is engaged in a long, tense, casualty-heavy march up a desolate, deforested hill located near the 38th parallel that divides North and South Korea. The battle between U.S. and Chinese forces takes place in April 1953 during ceasefire negotiations that would lead to the signing of the Korean armistice agreement. Pork Chop Hill, which sounds like the expression bok jap hae ("it's complicated," or "complex") used by Koreans during negotiations, is strategically unimportant, which means the company receives little support from higher command. Yet because of its location, the hill is symbolically important, so the company is instructed to keep on fighting despite heavy losses and a lack of bullets.

In the 2011 South Korean film The Front Line, directed by Jang Hoon, troops from North and South Korea have been fighting for a long time over Aerok, a desolate hill located near the 38th parallel, which, like Pork Chop Hill, is strategically meaningless but symbolically valuable as the film is also set during ceasefire negotiations. Control of Aerok is constantly changing, so negotiators don't know what is going on. Soo-hyeok (Go Soo), who was captured by North Koreans at the start of the war, asks, "Do you know how many times this hill changed hands? Nobody knows. I counted up to thirty."

The Front Line concludes as the armistice is signed at 10 am, July 27, 1953. The beat down soldiers on both sides are ecstatic and begin playing in mountain streams, soothing the wounds of war. Yet the armistice does not take effect for twelve hours, so they are instructed to fight once more to take control of Aerok. The climactic battle scene is brutally graphic as soldiers from North and South Korea slaughter each other over a pile of rocks while U.S. warplanes drop bombs indiscriminately on the battlefield, killing soldiers from both sides. At the end, only two soldiers are left standing, one from the South and one from the North. The South Korean asks, "Do you still know what you are fighting for?" The North Korean responds, "I used to know, but I don't any more." As the camera pans the mountain at the end of the film, the ridge is covered in mangled, dismembered bodies, a haunting image of both the past and of a future no one wants.

Tensions are always escalating on the peninsula, a state of emergency that has become ordinary, a state of "crisis ordinariness," to borrow a term from Lauren Berlant's new book Cruel Optimism (Duke UP, 2011). As I write these words just 48 kilometers from the 38th parallel, the Koreas are exchanging fire across a disputed sea border, joint U.S. -South Korea military exercises are about to begin, North Korea is threatening a new round of nuclear tests, and my mother who is planning to visit me in the spring is understandably worried. While set in the past, The Front Line brilliantly captures the absurdity and futility of this cycle of repetition in the present.

The recent Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has fueled a sense of moral outrage in the United States, inspiring Secretary of State John Kerry to channel George W. Bush and declare that North Korea is an "evil place." Yet there has been little critical discussion or debate over the multiple meanings of human rights as this concept applies differently to North Korea, South Korea and to the Korean peninsula as a whole. While South Korea, like the U.S., focuses on the civil and political rights of individuals, North Korea understands human rights in social and collectivist terms, an example of which would be the right to free and universal health care.

Clearly, there are big problems regarding human rights in North Korea, as there are in both South Korea and the U.S. Yet as Judith Butler argues in Precarious Life (Verso, 2006), which addresses the Manichean rhetoric that led up to and supported the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11, and is equally relevant to the situation in Northeast Asia now, we should let "neither moral outrage nor public mourning become the occasion for the muting of critical discourse and public debate about historical events."

The journal Critical Asian Studies (CAS) has recently published two special issues edited by Christine Hong and Hazel Smith that provide some much-needed reflection on the issue of human rights in Northeast Asia. In "Reframing North Korean Human Rights," Hong, an Assistant Professor of Literature at UC Santa Cruz, explains that these special issues of CAS are motivated by concern that the goal of regime change in North Korea has united a broad "spectrum of political actors-U.S. soft-power institutions, thinly renovated cold war defense organizations, hawks of both neoconservative and liberal varieties, conservative evangelicals, anticommunist Koreans in South Korea and the diaspora, and North Korean defectors." We have all seen just how well regime change worked out in Iraq.

These special issues, which "attend to what has hovered outside or been marginalized within the dominant human rights framing of North Korea," as Hong puts it, are essential reading for scholars, journalists, artists, activists and concerned citizens interested in making sure that there are no more Pork Chop Hills or Aeroks.

In 1984, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 39/11, which recognizes "the right of peoples to peace." Suh Bo-hyuk, a Research Professor at Ewha University and former senior researcher at the South Korean National Human Rights Commission, draws on this resolution in "The Militarization of Korean Human Rights." Suh argues that rather than using human rights to deepen the divide between the two Koreas, a peninsular human rights perspective is needed which addresses Korea as a whole. Increasing militarization in both Koreas, and in the region, prevents the right to peace from being realized. Suh writes:

The increase in military expenses and militaristic competition by both Koreas and the conscription of South Korea to the neo-cold war agenda of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region infringes on the right to the pursuit of happiness and the right to peace for the Korean peoples... progress in human rights requires the abolition of militarism as a necessary precondition.

In order to move toward the realization of peace as a human right on the Korean peninsula as a whole, President Obama, winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, needs to acknowledge that the policy of "strategic patience" has not worked and begin dialogue with North Korea.

In an exchange with George W. Bush in 2002, former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, one of the authors of the "Sunshine Policy" (1998-2007), the last period in which there were some glimmers of hope in inter-Korean relations, reminded Bush that:

President Reagan called the Soviet Union an "evil empire," but he had dialogue with Mikhail Gorbachev and sought détente, which brought about change in the communist system and the end of the cold war. President Nixon denounced Chairman Mao as a "war criminal," but he met with him and played a crucial role in normalizing relations with China and fostering its opening and reform. (Memoir, Vol.2, 466-67: Seoul Samin)

In a recent interview discussing matters of reform and reunification, University of Chicago History Professor Bruce Cumings points out that:

If we had an embassy in Pyongyang, we might actually have influence over that government. Diplomacy arose in the world to deal with enemies short of war, not to deny recognition to someone because you don't like them, which is what we've been doing to North Korea for 70 years.

In 2015, 70 years will have passed since Lieutenant Colonel Dean Rusk, Colonel Charles H. Bonesteel and John J. McCloy unilaterally drew a line at the 38th parallel, dividing North from South Korea. This line was never meant to be permanent. And yet, this past summer, in a speech commemorating the signing of the Korean armistice agreement, President Obama triumphantly declared the war a victory.

This past February, the state of emergency became a state of mourning as elderly families from North and South Korea were briefly reunited. I wonder if President Obama could look these long-suffering men and women in the eyes and tell them that the Korean War, that the division of the peninsula, was a victory.

10 Absolutely Incredible Women in Historical Fiction

April 10, 2014, 12:08 pm

≫ Next: Theater: Heir Ball; (Sur)Realistic Joneses

≪ Previous: From Pork Chop Hill to the Front Line: Peace As a Korean Human Right

$

0

0

Too often, even in the twenty-first century, history's all about the men. That's just one reason why I love to read and write historical fiction: It provides the opportunity to explore or create or re-energize the roles of women across the ages. As I wrote Revolutionary, I kept wondering which women from history Deborah Sampson would have known. In 1782 Massachusetts, she probably read chapbooks that told the stories of Joan of Arc, or Mary Rowlandson (who survived being captured by Native Americans) or Hannah Snell (who disguised herself as a man and served in the British Navy). I have no doubt that these stories inspired Deborah to set off on her own adventures, disguising herself as a man, enlisting in the army, and fighting for a year and a half in the Revolutionary War.

How fortunate are we, then, to live in an era so abundant with texts that champion the role of women throughout history. Here are my 10 favorite works of historical fiction that feature women in the main roles. These women come from all sorts of time periods and class backgrounds, but every one of them has to fight and has to believe in herself, no matter what society tells her. Whatever the era, whatever the setting, these are the universal challenges that brave women face.

1. Orleanna Price in The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver:
Each of the women in this novel -- Orleanna, Leah, Rachel, Adah, and Ruth Price -- are powerhouses. Whether you want to see how a fashion-conscious teen adapts to African village life, or how a disabled twin negotiates her relationship to self & sister, this novel showcases strong and vivid American women adjusting to life in the 1950s Congo.

2. Sethe in Beloved by Toni Morrison:
The female protagonists of Morrison's novel, Sethe and her daughter Denver, must battle enemies both past and present as they search for a way not just to escape the history of slavery but to redefine themselves as women. What does it mean to be empowered as a mother or a daughter or a former slave? Morrison's haunting (and haunted) novel is written along a sharp edge.

3. Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne:
The high school students I've taught might disagree, but I find Hester Prynne to be a wonderful exemplar of a woman who strives to overcome her situation, even when society deals her an impossible hand. While the men in this novel cower or conspire, Hester embraces the truth, transcending the shameful role the Puritans have bestowed on her.

4. Anna Frith in Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks:
Like The Scarlet Letter, this novel tells the tale of a woman on the margins of society, yet whom society cannot deny. Young Anna must dodge both the plague and the conventions of 17th century English village life. Brooks considers the matters that still vex women today -- from gossip to social status to love -- while being true to the setting and time.

5. Orlando in Orlando by Virginia Woolf:
Gender-bending and time-bending, the novel's protagonist, Orlando, begins the story as a young man and ends as a middle-aged woman. The novel's plot spans three centuries and as Orlando negotiates all the transformations entailed, s/he elucidates what it means to be a man, or a woman, or, perhaps, simply human.

6. Villanelle in The Passion by Jeanette Winterson:
Webbed toes don't stop Winterson's protagonist, Villanelle. Set on being a gondolier, work which she believes is her destiny, but others view as a man's job, Villanelle works within the labyrinthine world of Napoleonic Venice. In addition to fighting for her position as a gondolier, Villanelle must negotiate passions that society refuses to accept.

7. Mary Sutter in My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira:
Talk about a fearless woman: Mary Sutter is determined to be a doctor, even if it means leaving home and going to Washington, DC in the midst of the Civil War. Not only does she have to confront her family's reluctance to let her go, but she must also convince the medical professionals of the time that she is capable and qualified. With gripping scenes on the battlefield as well as the hospital, this novel is fast-paced and captivating.

8. Joan in Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross:
All the way back in the 8th century, the heroine of this novel fought to be educated. Because nothing she did would earn the respect of her father, she runs away and pursues her education while disguised as a monk. This disguise, while allowing her some freedoms, prevents her from being open with those she loves. In a series of events that are remarkable yet believable, the young woman becomes the head of Catholic Church.

9. Lizzie, Reenie, Sweet, and Mawu in Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez:
Lizzie, Reenie, Sweet, and Mawu are four slave-women who are brought by their masters each summer to a resort in Ohio. The novel negotiates the question of what it means to be a woman in relationship with a man who owns you and explores how these women interact with each other as opposed to the white men who control them. The setting brings these four women up against the possibility of freedom and at what price it might be gained.

10. Dinah in The Red Tent by Anita Diamant:
Dinah, the only daughter of Jacob, narrates this novel, explaining how the women of her family had their own religious practices that ran counter to the beliefs the men upheld. Through Dinah's voice, this novel imagines the women's stories that the Bible doesn't tell. To call it provocative and rebellious is an understatement; it pushes against patriarchy and suggests an ancient and empowering role for women and women's sexuality.

Theater: Heir Ball; (Sur)Realistic Joneses

April 10, 2014, 12:28 pm

≫ Next: Top 10 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Performance Moments

≪ Previous: 10 Absolutely Incredible Women in Historical Fiction

$

0

0

THE HEIR APPARENT *** 1/2 out of ****
THE REALISTIC JONESES *** out of ****



THE HEIR APPARENT *** 1/2 out of ****
CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY

Shall I compare the new David Ives comedy to his last adaptation of a classic comedy (Moliere's Misanthrope), what Ives calls a "translaptation"? The production of School For Lies, also at Classic Stage Company, was quite simply brilliant. The Heir Apparent is very funny, but perhaps slightly broader and not an absolute home run. It's a triple. And who going to bat wouldn't be thrilled with a triple?

Shall I compare The Heir Apparent to all the other new comedies of the theater season? It is far, far better and far, far funnier than anything else I've seen. I've sent people to it and want to see it again. If, like The School For Lies, it doesn't extend or transfer for an open run, it will be a shame.

Based on a play by Jean-Francois Regnard I'd never heard of, it's a silly tale of miserly old men, scheming relatives and servants who suffer these fools while trying to get a little something of their own. Eraste (Dave Quay) is a foppish fool waiting for his tiresome uncle to die already so Eraste can claim what he expects to be a major chunk of change and marry the pretty Isabelle (Amelia Pedlow). They are madly if superficially in love but what's that to her coldly calculating mother Madame Argante (the formidable Suzanne Bertish). If Eraste secures his fortune, all well and good. If not, no dice.

His uncle Geronte (Paxton Whitehead) may be at death's door (indeed, Geronte's every word sounds like the final croak of doom), but Geronte refuses to walk through. What's more, he's making up his will and has several surprises -- large settlements will be made on distant, dubious relatives who have popped out of the woodwork. And rather than bestow cash on Eraste and secure the lad's happiness, Geronte would rather marry Isabelle himself, sire an heir and bequeath the money to the as yet to be conceived child.

Complicating matters is the imminent arrival of Scruple, the shortish lawyer who has never met Geronte but will draw up the will (hmmmm!). Leave it to the able servants Crispin (Carson Elrod) and Lisette (Claire Karpen) who love each other in a practical sort of way and must stop Geronte from getting married, ensure Eraste's happiness, keep Madame Argante at bay, pull the wool over the eyes of the diminutive scribe and make sure they get a little something something out of all this as well.



(Photo by Richard Termine)

In other words, it's all stuff and nonsense, delivered in hilarious rhymed couplets that range from the juvenile (fart jokes, bad puns and the like) to the even more juvenile (rhyming "far Crimea" with diarrhea). The Heir Apparent is deliriously silly. For a while, especially in the first half, it feels a little more slapdash than the strongly rooted in character work The School For Lies. When one of the guys dons a dress and pretends to be one of those scheming distant relatives in order to disabuse Geronte of leaving those people money, you are far from surprised when another guy does the same thing and even less surprised when one of the women shows up as well. It's funny, in a music hall sort of way.

Everything changes in act two because the show provides what has been missing: someone of authority to mock and confuse and mystify. Geronte has been too feeble and Madame Argante took nakedly avaricious herself. But with the arrival of Scruple (David Pittu), everything clicks into place. Scruple has been referred to so often as tiny that it's no surprise to see Pittu literally arriving on his knees (a flowing robe covers his legs). It's a simple visual gag, but his lack of height is not what makes Scruple so hilarious. Yes, he's touchy about his stature and imagines insults where none reside, but he's also fastidious and demanding and the voice of authority. Idiocy swirls around him and he is bewildered, bewitched, suspicious and yet too proud to admit he's not exactly sure what the hell is going on. Indeed, he's the perfect foil for the lunacy, the figure of power desperately needed to anchor this comedy in something other than schtick.

As a capper, the play proves at the last to have an actual purpose, for Geronte realizes everyone has been waiting for him to die and if that's what your life has come down to, he says, you've screwed up. (Geronte uses a more colorful phrase. It doesn't rhyme but somehow it's very funny. When If/Then used such language, it felt like a forced attempt to be naughty and adult. Here it feels absolutely spot on.)

Somehow, the limited space and budget of CSC always brings out the best in set designers and John Lee Beatty is no exception. All the tech elements are excellent, from the costumes of David C. Woolard (jokey outfits rarely work for me, but he pulls it off nicely in one scene) to the lighting of Japhy Weideman, wig and hair of Paul Huntley (especially well done) and sound design of Nevin Steinberg (unashamed to take a bad joke and repeat it, flatulence-wise).

Director John Rando has brought together an excellent cast (with casting by Calleri Casting) and molded them into an ensemble. I felt they were getting away from him for a while in the first act, but it all gelled beautifully in the second. Pedlow is not a detriment, but she's the only one that is notably less present than the others (though I liked her very much in You Never Call Tell with the Pearl Theatre Company). Karpen is very good as the sensible, truth-telling servant Lisette though she mostly must support the plans of the men. The handsome Quay is game and amusing as the desperate to inherit Eraste. Carson Elrod (so good in Peter and the Starcatcher) is the star here as the servant Crispin, doing literally everything for a laugh and winning us over from the start.

It's no discredit to him or the others to say they stand in the shadows of masterful work by their elders. Olivier winner Suzanne Bertish is immediately commanding as Madame Argante, effortlessly conveying the weight of authority that only old money can provide; even sitting quietly on a couch she draws your attention. Whitehead is equally good in the bigger role of Geronte. His voice is such a croaking death-rattle, I fear for his throat. Geronte's transformation later is literally a miracle, but this is indeed the same actor. What fun he's having and us with him.

But I fall to my knees to praise Pittu, who fell to his knees for the role of Scruple. His every grimace is hilarious, his every suspicious glance a master class in comedy. He can literally do no wrong here in surely one of the must-see performances of the year.

THE REALISTIC JONESES *** out of ****
LYCEUM THEATRE

Tourists will surely be heading to The Realistic Joneses for the chance to see stars Michael C. Hall of Dexter and Six Feet Under, Emmy winner Toni Collette and Oscar winner Marisa Tomei (along with playwright and actor Tracy Letts) up close and in person. But for canny theater-goers, this is the Broadway debut of playwright Will Eno, one of the sharpest and most distinctive voices working today. It might never have happened -- Eno is more like the next Beckett than the next Neil Simon -- but it's a testament to his originality and the draw his work has for actors that it's happened now.

The Realistic Joneses is not the breakthrough work that will allow his talent to reach a wider audience, but it's a fine introduction to his voice and certainly deserved a sharper production than this one overseen by director Sam Gold which repeatedly lets Eno done in the tech elements. That said, the cast is in sync with the material, the writing is wittily intelligent and unsettling and there's enough to chew on here to make it a satisfactory evening. Tourists might be a bit bemused but the show leaves no doubt that Eno is the real deal; he just hasn't dealt aces yet.

Set in a smallish town near some mountains, The Realistic Joneses is not quite surreal enough to enjoy as an off the wall effort nor willing to be real enough to mine genuine human emotion. But it's simple enough to grasp and does indeed anchor Eno's playful dialogue in more plot than usual. Jennifer and Bob Jones (Collette and Letts) live quietly, dealing with the strain of Bob's illness from a rare and terrifying disease. Bob puts all the burden on Jennifer's shoulders and prefers to simply swallow the pills he's handed and ignore as much as possible what is going on.

In contrast, their new neighbors are John and Pony Jones (Hall and Tomei). Pony does not like distress of any sort, faints at the sight of blood (and sometimes even faints without seeing blood) and even when her husband seems to have a seizure of some sort, she leaves it to Jennifer to sort things out and see to his care. These two couples under tremendous stress meet awkwardly at home and in town, sparring verbally as they dance around the disease that stalks them and the disease of unease that can sneak into a marriage.



But it's funny! The temptation is to endlessly quote Eno's dialogue ("Ice cream is a dish best served cold" is hard to resist). But it's not the dialogue on the page that entrances so much as the dialogue brought to life by the strong cast. Hall has the most vivid role and runs away with it. John Jones is an oddball with an oddball sense of humor that's aggressive and circuitous at the same time. John has a tendency to state what people are doing: when he meets Jennifer at the grocery store and after some awkward chitchat she says she's got some stuff to buy, he bluntly makes clear that she wants the conversation to end, an accurate but off-putting comment that leaves her unclear if he's upset by it or just noting it. When he then soon is holding her arm in a not-quite hug after saying she has sad eyes, she feels obliged to say she's happily married. That only prompts John to say he wasn't making a pass; he's not sure what he's doing but it's not that. Every scene with John keeps the other characters on their toes and Hall is a pleasure to watch. He can encourage Bob to have an affair with his wife and then get angry about it and it all makes perfect sense as played by Hall.

As his somewhat dim wife Pony, Tomei has the least interesting part but finds her rhythm in it. Collette and Letts are on more traditional ground (Letts' Bob lashes out from a place of fear over his illness) but they too savor the constant word play that is the currency of the show. It's not quite cerebral at the expense of reality -- secrets are revealed, affairs are had and the like. But ultimately it's not the journey of the characters or the emotions their plight prompts that you remember but rather the off kilter perspective of the playwright.

Director Gold has the cast on the same page, but drops the ball with the technical elements. David Zinn doesn't offer a set design so much as a yard sale, with two sliding doors indicating the homes of the two Joneses and stuff littered about the stage, missing only price tags to make the effect complete. It's not terribly difficult to keep track of where everyone is at (the left side of the stage is the home of Jennifer and Bob while the right side of the stage is the home of their new neighbors). But you shouldn't really have to think about which home people are entering and leaving even for a moment, should you? (And I think they broke the rules and had everyone enter from the right door when they were going to the backyard of the home on the left; friends and I argued for a bit about this, which is not a good sign.)

This vague jumble of two homes is just the start. We can see high up into the rafters, with exposed backstage equipment hinting at the artifice on display. The costumes by Kaye Voyce are innocuous but the lighting by Mark Barton and the sound design by Leon Rothenberg feels bizarrely ominous. Whatever was called for in the script by Eno, it's strange to hear a doom-laden groan of sound at the end of many scenes, with the lighting dramatically calling up another primary color in the rafters at the same time. Exactly what they were going for, I haven't the slightest, but it weighed down the proceedings.

Put all that aside. Eno is a marvelous talent. For me, his play Middletown is the most mature effort yet from him -- it was slightly more surreal than The Realistic Joneses but had more emotional impact. Thom Paine (based on nothing) is a monologue piece that made his name and was a finalist for the Pulitzer. At Signature, they just staged Open House, which offered a clever conceit (the actors in a family all left the stage one by one and returned as different characters), though again it had more intellect than heat. For all the faults of the production, The Realistic Joneses lets four actors spar with dialogue that is inventive and fun and is the Broadway debut for an artist who is approaching greatness. He's in the right neighborhood at least. Maybe he'll flower with work that is more traditional or work that is less traditional, but flower he will.

THEATER OF 2014

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical ***
Rodney King ***
Hard Times ** 1/2
Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead **
I Could Say More *
The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner **
Machinal ***
Outside Mullingar ***
A Man's A Man * 1/2
The Tribute Artist ** 1/2
Transport **
Prince Igor at the Met **
The Bridges Of Madison County ** 1/2
Kung Fu (at Signature) **
Stage Kiss ***
Satchmo At The Waldorf ***
Antony and Cleopatra at the Public **
All The Way ** 1/2
The Open House (Will Eno at Signature) ** 1/2
Wozzeck (at Met w Deborah Voigt and Thomas Hampson and Simon O'Neill)
Hand To God ***
Tales From Red Vienna **
Appropriate (at Signature) *
Rocky * 1/2
Aladdin ***
Mothers And Sons **
Les Miserables *** 1/2
Breathing Time * 1/2
Cirque Du Soleil's Amaluna * 1/2
Heathers The Musical * 1/2
Red Velvet, at St. Ann's Warehouse ***
Broadway By The Year 1940-1964 *** 1/2
A Second Chance **
Guys And Dolls *** 1/2
If/Then * 1/2
The Threepenny Opera * 1/2
A Raisin In The Sun *** 1/2
The Heir Apparent *** 1/2
The Realistic Joneses ***

Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the founder and CEO of the forthcoming websiteBookFilter, a book lover's best friend. It's a website that lets you browse for books online the way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal recommendations every step of the way. It's like a fall book preview or holiday gift guide -- but every week in every category. He's also the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog. Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes.

Note: Michael Giltz is provided with free tickets to shows with the understanding that he will be writing a review. All productions are in New York City unless otherwise indicated.

Top 10 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Performance Moments

April 10, 2014, 12:38 pm

≫ Next: Bob Dylan in the 1980s: A Never Ending Tour of a Cantankerous Canon

≪ Previous: Theater: Heir Ball; (Sur)Realistic Joneses

$

0

0

For the past 29 years the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has been honoring rock and roll music's greats with an induction ceremony and a permanent place at the Rock and Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. For one night, a diverse mix of artists come together to pay homage to their heroes and for that brief moment, time stops and rock and roll magic comes alive. There have been hundreds of magical moments, here are 10 of them:

2004 - Prince, Tom Petty, Steve Winwood, Jeff Lynne, Dhani Harrison and more - "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"

Incredible moments happened throughout the evening, but the clear standout was Prince's emotional tribute to the late George Harrison as as he took the stage in a red fedora with matching jacket to join Tom Petty, Stevie Winwood and George Harrison's son, Dhani.



1999 - Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Bono, Billy Joel and more - "Let it Be"

As the stage cleared for a once-in-lifetime jam, Billy Joel, seated at the piano began to play "Let it Be." As he sang the first line, Paul McCartney stepped up to the mic. Music adviser Robbie Robertson remembered: "...it was a feeling in the air. It was an opportunity to see musical combinations we may never see again as long as we live."



1989 - Mick Jagger, Tina Turner and others - "Honky Tonk Woman"

Jagger, Keith and the boys ripping through "Honkey Tonk Woman" alongside the incomparable Tina Turner was a fitting coda to a raucous night.



1993 - The Doors and Eddie Vedder - "Light My Fire"

Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek said: "That's what the Doors are all about. We got together to do poetry and rock and roll - kind of an extension of poetry and jazz, the Beats in the 50s, Kerouac, and Ginsberg, and McClure, and Ferlinghetti - those are all Jim Morrison's influences.



1999 - Bruce Springsteen and Wilson Pickett - "In the Midnight Hour"

Even rock and roll superstars like Bruce Springsteen have their musical heroes, and Wilson Pickett was one of Springsteen's. "I'm glad you invited me up because you know I wanted to sing with you; a longtime ago, I wanted to kick you in the ass," said Pickett, looking across the stage at Springsteen. "But, you know you're the Boss, so we're going to keep it light."



2010 - Few artists ignite the stage with such ferocity as Iggy Pop. Iggy and the Stooges took the stage at the 2010 inductions after a tearful acceptance by Iggy Pop, blasting through "Search and Destroy." It showed the world how the group's raw power was just as explosive after nearly 40 years.



2005 - U2 and Bruce Springsteen - "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"

For U2's induction performance, he began a rap, "when I say that American is not just a country, but an idea, I'm thinking about people like Bruce Springsteen." Springsteen, playing the guitar, stepped over to the mic and joined Bono for an incredible duet.



1988 - George Harrison, Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and more - "I Saw Her Standing There"

On the occasion of the Beatles' - and Bob Dylan's - Induction, we again remember that our idols are fans as well. Schaffer asked Billy Joel to sing "I Saw Her Standing There." Then he asked Neil Young to play and then Ringo. "Would you participate in the jam?" Schaffer remembers asking the former Fab Four drummer. "Ringo said: 'Absolutely not. There'll be real musicians up there.'"



1997 - Crosby, Stills & Nash and James Taylor and Emmylou Harris - "Teach Your Children"

At the end of the epic evening, CSN sang a powerful "Teach Your Children" with Emmylou Harris, Tom Petty and James Taylor. Petty tackled Neil Young's vocal parts for the performance, creating a once-in-a-lifetime vocal event.



2009 - Metallica "Enter Sandman"

They blew our face off with a blistering rendition of this heavy metal anthem. The moment was shared by more than 7,000 people - the first time tickets were ever made available to the public. Metallica fans came from around the world to celebrate with the band in Cleveland.



2012 - Beastie Boys medley featuring "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" So What'cha Want" "Sabotage" and "The New Style"

A who's who of hip hop took the stage: inducted by Chuck D and LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys were honored with a featured performance by Kid Rock and Travie McCoy, backed by the Roots. Collectively they rocked the house to pay homage to these hip hop pioneers. The event was even more poignant as Adam Yauch passed just a few weeks later.



These are just a few of the powerful moments in Induction history. There are too many to mention. As Bruce Springsteen said as he inducted U2 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005: "You want the earth to shake and spit fire. You want the sky to split apart and for God to pour out. It's embarrassing to want so much, and to expect so much from music ... except sometimes it happens."

---

Bob Dylan in the 1980s: A Never Ending Tour of a Cantankerous Canon

April 10, 2014, 1:37 pm

≫ Next: How Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram Are Revolutionizing Modern Art

≪ Previous: Top 10 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Performance Moments

$

0

0

If you remember the pointing finger songs of Saved (1980) and Shot of Love (1981), the din and drone of Dylan and the Dead anesthetizing half-filled stadiums or the inconsistencies of Knocked Out Loaded (1986) and Down in the Groove (1988), you might remember Dylan in the 80's at his most discombobdylanated.

But the release of A Tribute to Bob Dylan in the 1980s challenges the perception of Dylan falling to the mat in the decade of Ronald Reagan. With no obviously common sonic strings connecting these seventeen songs, producers Jesse Lauter and Sean O'Brien and an eclectic group of hipster rockers interpret tunes from Dylan's eight 80's studio albums, previously unreleased material and a cut from the Traveling Wilburys.

If the question at the heart of this project asks what was really off about Bob Dylan in the 1980s, the answer it returns is surprising. How we hear Dylan's supposed nadir says a lot about what distinguishes art and artists that last.

Dylan Uncovered
In the beginning there was Bob Dylan, and about a nanosecond later, there was an industry of Bob Dylan covers. (Expecting Rain lists all Dylan cover albums here.)

Recent years have seen a spike in these cover collections -- from Bryan Ferry and Charlie Daniels to the exhaustive Chimes of Freedom spanning from Cash to K'naan to emo/pop punk bands' Listen to Bob Dylan (2005) and From Another World, which which brings together musicians from around the word to play Dylan using their native instruments and styles.

Great artists -- or artists with great aspirations -- must master the work of those who came before them in order to become masters themselves. This is the story of the rock and roll canon, and Dylan is its ultimate keeper.

Gone But Not Forgotten
The term canon was most famously applied to the Bible, addressing which materials were authoritative and which were not.

When it first started out, rock was all about covers and testing the possibilities of its emergent canon. The Beatles did Little Richard and Chuck Berry. Eric Clapton and the Stones did Robert Johnson. No James Joyce or Virginia Woolf without Plato and Hobbes. No rock and roll without roots.

Dylan is the towering figure of this transition not only because he mastered the masters, but because after Dylan, all rock stars would need to write and perform their own material to prove that they were for real.

Dylan was also the first of the major rock artists to curate his own canon. He pioneered the greatest hits formula in the late 60s and early 70. Biograph (1985) curated hits, previously unreleased cuts and liner notes by Dylan himself. Then came two decades (and ten volumes) of The Bootleg Series, comprised of outtakes and live or unreleased material.

All of rock's A-list followed Dylan's lead yet again. Now almost anyone who has made a record or two makes a box set case for careful review of his or her work.

A Can-Do Canon
Spin took the piss out of rock's canonical obsession with itself in its preview of the best rock box sets of 2013.

As William Faulkner once wrote after receiving a three-CD 20th-anniversary edition of In Utero as a Christmas gift, 'The past isn't dead. It isn't even past. And this new Steve Albini mix is incredible...'

As much as canons ensure a common record of artistic achievement, they can also be impediments to creativity -- not to mention, as Spin makes clear, wildly inaccurate reflections about what made history.

Look at the biblical canon for what a canon can and cannot do: Once Scripture was canonized in the first century or two of the Common Era, the world exploded with creativity. Church Fathers shaped a movement so compelling that it usurped the belief system of the Roman Empire. Bereft of the Temple, the rabbinic movement reinvented Judaism, producing the Talmud, which has served as a common model for keeping law and lore alive for fifteen hundred years. But too much attention to canonical fundamentals leads to fundamentalism, a trend we see everywhere today.

What is true of religion is also true of art. Dylan's magic has been his endlessly restless interpretation of his own canon, inviting and even demanding the same approach from all who wanted to learn from it.

This restlessness not only led to many gems that Bob Dylan in the 1980s highlights -- "Death Is Not the End" (Carl Broemel), "Pressing On" (Glen Hansard), "When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky" (Lucius), "Covenant Woman" (Hannah Cohen) and "Dark Eyes" (Dawn Landes and Bonnie "Prince" Billy) to name a few -- but seeded the ground for a blossoming of excellent albums, a book, a film and rejuvenated touring in the 1990s.

Infidels (1983) emerged at the end of Dylan's most extreme evangelical phase. It's an album of both wonders and duds. "Jokerman," covered by Built to Spill on Bob Dylan in the 1980s, is one of its best cuts:

Well, the Book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy
The law of the jungle and the sea are your only teachers

Here is the canon as clear it could be -- legal, repetitive and immutable texts in the hard center of the Pentateuch tempered by the wildest of nature's blessings and dangers. These are the only teachers that Jokerman claims, but they are more than enough to learn everything he needs to know. Both by instinct and necessity, artists keep rediscovering Bob Dylan's canon for the very same reason.

How Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram Are Revolutionizing Modern Art

April 10, 2014, 1:43 pm

≫ Next: So, You Want to Publish Your Book?

≪ Previous: Bob Dylan in the 1980s: A Never Ending Tour of a Cantankerous Canon

$

0

0

If you would like a succinct peek at the present online art scene, sit down for a chat with California-based comic artist and animator Andrew Stewart.

Stewart (also known as @Viruul), like so many of his colleagues, is knee deep in an artist renaissance, which, unlike previous artistic blooms that were typically tied to specific neighborhoods and cities, is moored within the social media world -- specifically sites like Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and deviantART.


Andrew Stewart on Instagram

These social networks are providing artists with professional and artistic development, moral support, new jobs and opportunities, and loads of fun. The growing popularity of art collabs (themed artistic collaborations whereby artists submit contributions to a just-for-fun project via Twitter and Tumblr) provides an excellent example of what's happening online.

I recently spoke with Stewart about his experience with the present online art scene and the collab he organized, in which he invited his friends to contribute illustrations of their favorite characters from a long-running and beloved anime series called One Piece.

Our interview below touches on the inspiration behind this particular collab (which is still taking in submissions), the relationship between social media and an artist's career, and the manner in which sites like Kickstarter, Instagram and Facebook are enabling artists to expand their horizons in inspiring new ways.


A progress shot of Andrew Stewart's One Piece Collab

Simone Collins (SC): What inspired you to choose One Piece for the theme of your collab?

Andrew Stewart (AS): One Piece is a huge inspiration for me in so many ways and its something I knew was beloved by so many other artists. Its a series that has touched people around the world. I also knew it had over like 400-plus characters to choose from so there was enough to go around.


Chopper by Iza

SC: What sets One Piece characters apart from other characters in popular anime shows? Does the show's animation style set them apart? Or is there something different about their personalities that makes them particularly fun to draw?

AS: The characters in One Piece are different not only in their designs, but in their personalities. No two characters are designed or written the same. Well, unless they're supposed to be designed as a matching pair! Most of the One Piece characters have a unique laugh, personality quark, habit, problem, etc. People actually signing up for the collab had such a hard time choosing between a main character or a minor one because the designs are all just so appealing.


Fisher Tiger by KineticKola

SC: What character have you chosen to contribute to the collab, and what drew you to that character in particular?

AS: I chose to draw Nightmare Luffy and King Riku Dold the III. I gravitated to Nightmare Luffy first because I love Luffy, but I didn't want to nab the main character from my own collaboration. So I chose my next favorite version of him. I then chose King Riku Dold the III because I wanted to draw someone from the more recent chapters of the manga. He has become an instant favorite for me. I love his strange salt and pepper hair and pajama like garb.


Nightmare Luffy by Andrew Stewart

SC: Could you elaborate a bit on your background as a storyboard artist, comic artist and 2D animator?

AS: So far I've only done freelance storyboarding for various commercial studios and art tests for cartoon studios. As for Comic art I am currently a colorist for the webcomic VIBE created by Dan Ciurczak and his short comic series The Adventures of Big Red. I am currently producing my own webcomic that will come out this year called Prom Fight and a mini comic called Space Coppa. They will both be hosted on the website Cup of Comics.

SC: Has your involvement in social media-related art stuff online (such as collabs) ever led to job opportunities, or is this purely for fun and development?

AS: Social media has led me to a few freelance illustration jobs. I thank Twitter because of it being a huge communication tool to organized the collab. Though I didn't start the One Piece collaboration with the mindset to get any jobs from it. I originally started it because a friend of mine Dan Jones and Justin Chan started their own for Zelda Monsters and Pokemon collab for fun.

SC: How has social media (e.g. deviantART, Tumblr, Twitter, etc.) influenced your development and career as an artist?

AS: Websites like Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram have helped me thrive as an artist; A LOT! Twitter as I said earlier lately has been a huge help for me getting some small freelance work. I like that it's able to be used like you're texting someone on your phone, but without the hassle of giving out your phone number. I use Tumblr as a blog/portfolio site where I post sketches, drawings, and miscellaneous stuff. I oddly enough really enjoy Instagram, but not for taking selfies or food photos. I use Instagram more to post traditional sketches kind of like a digital sketchbook.

SC: Do you think that social media is shaping the evolution of art, design, cartoons, and even fine art in any significantly new ways, or are developments in the art world happening the same way you imagined they happened in artistic communities in the past (that just happened to be offline- in artistic niches of cities like Paris and Vienna)?

AS: I believe Social media is shaping a new era for art and artists in all kinds of ways. Websites like Kickstarter, which use crowdfunding to allow people to make things like video games, cartoons, music, films, and so much more. People can then use Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook and all these social networking websites to promote their creative projects. Kinda like how I used twitter to promote the One Piece Collab!

Art communities use to be on small forums and specific sites like deviantART, SheezyArt, and GaiaOnline. It was these small cluster of places that isolated different types of artists from each other. Now I feel like artists have found homes in so many different social media websites that are not just specific to a type of art group.

This allows us to branch out to all kinds of creative people you would never encounter or find on a closed art community website. Places like Tumblr and Twitter allow me to to find so much more than artists that draw similar subjects that I do. I find find artists, musicians, writers, bloggers, youtubers, and so much more. These websites have made for a beautiful creative home for people all around the world and I love it.

I would like to advise people not to overwhelm themselves with social media or become obsessed with becoming popular online. As long as you can keep a good balance, it's an amazing place for creative people to come together and share their work.

So, You Want to Publish Your Book?

April 10, 2014, 2:48 pm

≫ Next: Willy Porter and Music Heard the Slow-Cooked Way

≪ Previous: How Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram Are Revolutionizing Modern Art

$

0

0

Apparently, my last article, about writing a book, reminded quite a few people that yes, they have important stories to tell, and encouraged them to stop waiting and start writing. I'm truly thrilled. At the end of your days, you won't be thinking about how many Facebook friends you had, or how much Candy Crush you played. But you might take comfort in the thought of the books you wrote, and the lives your writing impacted.

Let's say you've written a book, and you're, naturally, thinking of getting it published. I had a great many people ask me for advice on getting an agent and/or being published. Um, I'm not a huge fan of agents. I myself recently fired my own (theatrical) agent, because she wasn't helpful. And she was kind of a big deal. (Big enough that I won't tell you her name, since I'm allergic to being sued.)

I'm not a fan of agents, because I think, unfortunately, a lot of people believe that having an agent frees them from having to take accountability for their career. They can shove all the responsibility onto their agent to bring in the cash and make the deals, as they focus on their craft. But when you give away your responsibility, you also give away your power. Your career is your problem, and responsibility and opportunity. In my opinion, writers and artists have incredible options nowadays. I fired my own agent because I felt she didn't give a damn about my writing. Firing her forced me to get creative about how I was going to network and create the opportunities I needed. I took back my power.

Not to mention, times are tough and it's harder than ever for agents to sell unknowns. Publishing houses are very leery of taking chances with their resources. Unless you're a big name, and/or making a sex tape with someone who is a big name, I'm skeptical as to how much an agent can really do for you.

But you wrote a book, and you want the world to read it. Thus, here's some ideas for how you can publish your own work, and start designing opportunities for you and your work:

1. I love the Book Marketing Expert Newsletter, lots of accessible and realistic ideas.



2. Publish your own book: What's crucial, I think, about self-publishing is to invest the time and energy necessary to find the right company for your book and your goals. Ideally, you want to end up with a book that looks and feels as professional as possible. So yes, exhausting as it is, you're going to have to commit serious time to researching the companies that help authors self-publish. I'd suggest getting started by buying self-published books, and noting which books look the best. How much does it cost to publish? What services -- editing, proofreading, cover art, marketing, to start with -- if any, are offered? Take your time to do this right: spend time on self-publishing websites, Facebook pages, Twitter. Research. Read the fine print, know exactly what you're getting for your buck. Also, seriously consider how much you're going to charge for the finished book. Charge too much, and people probably won't buy it. Too little, and readers will be suspicious. (If you're planning on becoming rich by writing books... oh my, that's a shame.)



3. If you're going to sell your book through Amazon, take a moment and create a solid author's page. This may make you cranky, but many readers will be as interested in you, as they are in your work. Let your (potential) readers in on your journey: readers want to connect with you! Talk about your background, the reason you wrote the book, the writers who inspired you, and your process. You should also understand that you will be perceived as you present, which is a great reason to present as the professional author you wish to be. Take yourself and your writing seriously.



4. Networking to get an agent: Let's say you think I'm crazy with my "will-to-power" philosophy. You're thinking, "Carlota, good luck with your boring walk-uphill-both-ways-through-the-snow crap; I'm an artist. I want an agent. I want to be left alone to write, as my agent soils her hands throwing filthy lucre at me." First of all, you should be creating a list of the agents and publishing houses that focus on your particular genre. (You can do this by noting the names of the publishers of your favorite authors, and the names of agents and/or agencies these authors are citing in their acknowledgments.) These are the people and companies who have more reason to be receptive to your work; now you must figure out how you're going to make these people aware of your existence. Start by identifying your network: high school, college, grad school, fraternities, sororities, band camp, Facebook, LinkedIn. This may seem insanely corny to you, but if there's a fellow college alum at a publishing house that you know dominates the market in the area you write in, you're going to have to grit your teeth, and write your alum a query letter. And when I say "a" query letter, yes, I mean, potentially hundreds -- if not thousands -- of query letters. But if you contact people with whom you have some shared experience, you're giving them a solid reason to at least read your letter and your manuscript. That's the power of networking.



5. Creating buzz: I'm listing this last, but in many ways, it's the most important. If you've written a book, and you don't have a Facebook page and a Twitter account with info about the book, and where people can purchase it, and some juicy reasons about why they should do so... sigh. You took the time out of your life to write a book that, presumably, you care about... why not finish what you started and let the world in on the secret? Yes, at first, you may feel sleazy and gross, putting up links on Facebook to your book and asking people to buy it. And some people who you're sure will support you, won't; meanwhile other people whom you don't even like will buy your book and tell you how much they loved it, and whoa. And the more you do, the more you'll be able to do. The more you do, the more seriously you'll take your work and the better your writing will become. Right around now, go create a Twitter account for yourself as a writer, and start following writers, literary magazines, publishing houses and agents to see what they're talking about, and how you can join the conversation. Tweet out links to your book, make allies, help other writers: get people talking about your book. People talking translates into sales.

The more you do, the more empowered you'll be to push yourself and your talent further. Is it easy? Dear god, no. Sending out hundreds of query letters without receiving a reply can make you want to mix up a gallon of margaritas and curl up in bed with said pitcher and a Krazy Straw and weep. You will have days when you'll feel completely alone and frustrated and hopeless. Days when you can't get anyone to read your book, and your "friends " are on Facebook saying, "like, omg, she's so like spiritual, you know" about Kim Kardashian's latest onslaught on the English language. The very same people who can't be bothered to crack open the book that is your heart and soul.

You will also have days when you'll see a stranger on the subway reading your book and smiling with enjoyment, and you'll think, "I wrote that. I did that. I. Made. That. Happen!" And you'll feel pretty damn invincible. You know what to do. Get to work!

Willy Porter and Music Heard the Slow-Cooked Way

April 10, 2014, 3:08 pm

≫ Next: Chris Beas on the ImageBlog

≪ Previous: So, You Want to Publish Your Book?

$

0

0

The listening room is to music what the slow-food movement is to foodie culture. Both are about a kind of intimacy and focused attention designed to immerse you in the experience of the craft. Did I just use the words "intimacy" and "craft" in relation to food as well as to music? Guilty. In the same way that slow food encourages people to appreciate the culinary mechanics behind each plate, shows witnessed in small venues put the intricate artistry of the musician on full display. And if done well, both yield tasty dishes.

This is an unapologetic piece in favor of supporting the insular room, the basement club, the shaggy backroom of the dive bar, the funky grotto, the modest historic theater, or the quaint church turned music hall. The small room occupies a cherished place in rock/folk lure as the potential scene of nascent greatness. Maybe that night you and your friends found yourselves packaged together like cigarettes in Seattle's Off Ramp Café on a drizzly Thursday evening while some new band called Pearl Jam played. There was that time I passed on going to see Alanis Morissette perform in our tiny college recital hall because I was studying for a punishing Euro-history exam.

"Are you sure?" asked my roommate. "I hear there's another guy on the bill too."

"Oh, yeah? Who?"

"Some guitar guy named Dave Matthews."

Ugh.

It's the truly unique experience of the club venue that sets it apart from an evening of Beyoncé's pyrotechnics in the arena or U2's enormous sound careening through the stadium. Clubs and listening rooms require much of the artists who are as exposed as dirty politicians in the close proximity between stage and audience. In trade, spectators in these spaces must submit themselves to a different type of aural etiquette, one that encourages less tweeting, more listening, less leaning back and checking out, more leaning forward and tuning in.

I recently had the opportunity get my small-venue fix with several shows by Wisconsin-based guitarist/singer-songwriter Willy Porter and singing partner Carmen Nickerson. Porter is a guitar virtuoso whose acoustic acrobatics often leave audiences both wrung-out and panting for more. An accomplished lyricist, Porter knows how to turn a phrase for comedic effect (the bawdy new tune "Fast Food Sex Sandwich" comes to mind), and how to open up the introspective spaces in a haunting breakup song like "What Became of Us." His connection with the crowd is easy, relaxed, and genuine, making the experience feel a little less like a show and more like getting to hang out with one of your favorite college buddies -- that is, until Porter unleashes his incendiary guitar picking. Then there is no mistaking that you are buckled in for an unforgettable musical ride.

The tiny venue complements Porter's highly engaging performance. It lends itself to the way he draws in his audience like light pooling around a solitary bulb, and it rewards the fan with intimacy and a giddy feeling of access. In the course of a week, Porter played Club Passim, the historic basement listening room in Cambridge, Mass.; One Longfellow Square, a mid-sized music club in Portland, Maine; and Londonderry, N.H.'s Tupelo Music Hall, a room made from the bones of a 19th-century barn that achieves high-end music quality with a small-feel atmosphere. Despite the differences in look, space, capacity, and location, every room invited the same kind of fellowship, the same sense of a shared journey into and through Porter's music. And each pathway was distinct, depending on the energy of both the space and the crowd. One Long Fellow was largely hushed, contented with less conversation from Porter and more deep grooves. The Tupelo veered just to the left of actual rowdiness, prompting Porter to deviate down the guitar rabbit hole with spiraling solos and wicked riffs. Porter's dexterity when it comes to reading a room, his ability to lean into its sweet spot and take a risk to honor that energy rather than stick to a reliable set list regardless, is a testament to his sophistication as a musician and performer, but it's also a factor that makes the small room so alluring: that feeling that anything can happen, and that you're somehow a part of it.

Supporting small venues (and you should support them, because they need our scratch to keep the lights on, the water glasses filled, and the scruffy sound dude paid!) means opening yourself up to the kinds of artists like Porter who might fall just outside the industry's stronghold (your loss, suits), and challenging yourself to participate in conscious music consumption, which is to say understanding that your presence in the room matters, shaping the show and fueling the artist. It's an agreement to experience music in a new way: slow-cooked and damn tasty.

Willy Porter and singer Carmen Nickerson at Club Passim (photo by S. Moeschen)

Chris Beas on the ImageBlog

April 10, 2014, 3:44 pm

≫ Next: Aisle View: Don't Speak! Don't Sing!

≪ Previous: Willy Porter and Music Heard the Slow-Cooked Way

$

0

0

Chris Beas
"MP 4/4 1988"
2010
Die cast metal, acrylic on canvas on panel
21 1/4 x 35 3/4 x 7 inches
Image courtesy of Martha Otero Gallery