Back to One part One

When I was at SUNY Purchase, I remember going to the theater on campus to watch a Jerome Robbins review. He was in the audience with Baryshnikov. There was electricity in the air. I remember leaving the theater and going to the dance building , entering a studio and meditating there afterward. "Those were the Good Old Days." As the devil from the musical Damn Yankees would say.


 May I share the following quote with you?  It is from Pat Riley's book "The Winner Within A Life Plan For Team Players":

"A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams."  John Barrymore.

One of my all time favorite films is Twentieth Century. Barrymore and Carole Lombard were brilliant.

Mr. Sam Shepard sat in the audience for the writer's rehearsal of his new play Heartless. One can see a glimpse of the East Village performance art of the 1960s of this playwright's foundation. Thank goodness. The collaborators really do an awesome job with the staging, lighting, costumes, and come to think of it, a microphone-less production? Theater, raw and rare made by the people for the people.



Mabel , the role that Lois Smith plays is a character to be treasured, and this type of character I hope we will see more of throughout the acting mediums of theater and film. Of course , none will ever compare to Mr. Shepard's creation of rock your socks straight shootin' easy on the toppings writing style. Years from now, it will be quite a recollection to be able to say :  I was there at the Signature Theater in New York City, and howled with the audience watching with awe when Lois Smith originated the archtypal role in Heartless. One of the women I saw the show with called this character "Patrician".


Great theater , like great comedy is when everything is fair game. The writer says some interesting things about Los Angeles culture. Poetically he weaves a movement of family drama . Go see it.
Enjoy the film noir moments .  Shine the mirror ever so clearly as Hamlet would agree.

I rented the film  A Letter to Three Wives to honor the passing of Celeste Holm. May this screen and stage actress rest in peace.  She did the voiceover for the antagonist character for this award winning film. .  Wow! The classics rock.  And there was a great actress in this film that went on to play a supporting role to Marilyn Monroe in another favorite film of mine The Misfits.


And now, "Everybody back to one."

Twenty First Century Innocence

Hello Again! Last blog I was celebrating first experiences. Well, I must tell about the Oak Tree that is growing outside my building. It was a gift to me, just below a foot high. Now , Merlin, whom I successfully transplanted in April is branching out before my very eyes. Before the end of this year he must be planted into the earth and as Nietzsche said :  " In order to grow big , a tree wants to strike roots in hard rocks."

This week was a truly magnificent week..


I went to the theater to see the fully realised  Broadway play Harvey.  Fortunate to see on it's closing night, it was such a delight to watch and experience well conceived characters come to life through brilliant acting live on stage. The theme of innocence was played out to a T. The lead character is kind of like the Chauncey Gardener from Peter Sellar's film Being There.  Both had no ulterior motives, and both looked for the goodness in human beings or the purity in every situation.


 Film buff that I am, I have not seen any screen version of Harvey. And probably will have to revisit Jimmy Stewart in Bell Book and Candle first to finish watching that to its end. I know , it has nothing to do with the previously mentioned works, and represents a different decade altogether.

I  will say that seeing live theater is really a transformative experience and I recommend it highly. The 21st century is still young in it's evolution. And there are masters all over the world dedicated to bringing lucid storytelling to their audiences. Have you allowed the art of the theater to transform you lately?  Or live performance in the arts? If so, how? Please share!

I remember being at a writer's birthday party. All his women friends were there and we all met for the first time. One woman got up and recited a poem so passionately. She was a writer and reporter. Not long after that event, she was killed in a foreign country. This the writer conveyed to me years later. Her recitation was a theatrical experience. I will never forget her thunderous voice. We must enjoy every moment with our friends and family!


 Sunday, tonite,  I go for the second time to the Pershing Square Signature Center. My colleague is taking me to see "Heartless", by Sam Shepard.