Thoughts Day by Day

On Sunday I saw 'Aladdin' - the new Disney musical at the beautifully restored New Amsterdam Theatre.  I enjoyed it. Wonderful romantic music, gorgeously extravagant costumes, beautiful sets and lighting and magical special effects.  I enjoyed the very talented cast.  Newcomer Adam Jacobs was a handsome, energetic and comical Aladdin with a beautiful tenor voice, Tony winner James Monroe Engelhart was an hysterically funny showstopping Genie. His big song and dance number 'Friend Like Me' was unforgettable.  And Jonathan Freeman was a perfectly villainous Jafar.  Two days later the catchy song 'Prince Ali' still sings inside my head.  The magic carpet ride was a wondrous special effect.  My only complaint is that the book  of this musical could have been written with a little more sophistication with a focus on the romance, instead of so cartoon-like with a focus on the Keystone Kop chase scenes. Disney on Broadway altered 'Mary Poppi...

I know I am going to be accused of being racist for this blog post. But here it goes. I just read an article in Yahoo News that stated Blacks are vastly under-represented in Silicon Valley jobs.  Less than 2% in fact. Are companies in Silicon Valley intentionally refusing to hire Blacks? I doubt that is the case.  Are American schools denying math and science courses to Black children?  I doubt this also.  Is race a factor in one's ability to learn math and science?  Doubtful.  And certainly Asians and Hispanics are not under-represented in Silicon Valley jobs. So what is the cause of this disparity in hiring practices?  Where are the qualified Blacks? This made me think for a moment about the frustrations of Blacks in America with regard to treatment by the police - which some say is racially biased.  I am not convinced.  But it is true that the high crime neighborhoods in America, where a higher police presence is needed and where m...

New Year's Eve is just 2 days away.  Time to reminisce about a truly terrible year; 2014.  Were there any good news stories this past year?  I'm sure there were some but they were mostly overshadowed by the following: We lost many great entertainers that I will miss.  The funny Joan Rivers and Robin Williams. Fine actors James Garner, Ruby Dee, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Lauren Bacall.  As a teenager I saw Ruby Dee perform Kate in Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew".  It was unforgettable.  Directors Mike Nichols (The Graduate, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Odd Couple, Barefoot in the Park) and Sir Richard Attenborough (The Sand Pebbles, Gandhi) gave us memorably classic plays and movies, but no more  I still recall the movies I watched as a small child that starred Mickey Rooney and Shirley Temple Black.  How sad that their passing was hardly noted by a press so focused on a new generation that does not relate to these great ch...

Since the POTUS, Mayor De Blasio and Rev. Sharpton failed to say this in any of their statements yesterday - please allow me to do so. Thank you to the NYPD for protecting the law-abiding citizens of NYC, and to all policeman everywhere.  Ninety-nine+ % of you are dedicated to our protection and our civil rights and I applaud you. Also, Thank you to the Grand Jury of the Garner case who spent 3 months examining evidence and listening to and evaluating testimony. It could not have bee n an easy job. You exercised your obligations as citizens and I thank you for that even if the POTUS, Mayor and Reverend failed to thank you. I did not sit on that Grand Jury and neither did the POTUS, Mayor or Reverend. The decision was yours to make and I respect that. The Grand Jury has spoken and we should accept the Grand Jury's decision. I do not dismiss the tragic deaths of Eric Garner, Michael Brown and Tamir Rice. But if the POTUS, Mayor and Reverend have forgotten let me remind the...

I am quite upset about the allegations being made against Bill Cosby.  I have always admired him and respected him.  Of course I will stick with the American theorem that a man is innocent until proven guilty. But the accusations made against him, and the number of accusations, is quite troubling.  Among most public figures there is a public and a private persona that sometimes are not in sync with each other. Cosby has always been serious about being an educator, an entertainer, a role model and a mentor to many. He has been critical of the hip-hop. gang and drug influenced street culture embraced by so many African-Americans.  As a self-made man he has always believed that education and hard work can improve ones status in life. He has criticized the embracing of African American Vernacular English (Ebonics) and has preached that it holds back African Americans from breaking through barriers to American success. Several African American colleagues of mi...

Probably less than 20% of my Facebook friends can relate to this – but I can recall exactly where I was on Friday, November 22nd 1963 @ 2 o’clock in the afternoon.  I was sitting in my seat in the 3rd row of my 6th period English class in high school.  Mr. Lattimore was my English teacher.  And if you are in your 50s or older – I have no doubt you also know where you were at that exact, same moment. I was a high school freshman back then. I can also recall exactly how the news unfolded – in little pieces of information announced over my school’s public address system by our school principal, Mr. Beale.  First our principal announced that President Kennedy had been shot. An image came immediately to my mind of a photo I once viewed of the President McKinley assassination. But nothing more was stated by our principal.  Minutes later he came back on the public address system and announced that President Kennedy was dead.  That was an even greater shock. ...

Here's a confession.  I avoid Halloween.  I'm never in the Halloween spirit (no pun intended.)  So after work I went to the movies, then did my food shopping before heading home after the sun had set and the Trick-or-Treaters were all gone.  It is not that I'm too cheap to buy candy (I had a large bag ready just in case) - but I hate the idea of answering the door bell every five minutes all evening long.  Bah Humbug! (or whatever is its Halloween equivalent). I went to see "St. Vincent" starring Bill Murray.  Murray played a bitter, nasty old curmudgeon - probably only because Jack Nicholson, who is usually cast in this type of role, was not available.  It is the type of role the late, great Art Carney could do in his sleep.  The title character, Vincent, is a lying, foul mouthed, drunken, chain-smoking, cheating gambler, with no apparent redeeming features, down on his luck and owing money to the bank, to the nursing home that cares for his ...

So here are the absolute worst moments of the 2014 mid-term elections. 1) The " Sean Maloney is a Phony Baloney " campaign.  I do not live in the New York 18th Congressional District and I know virtually nothing about candidate Sean Maloney and his opponent Nan Hayworth except what I hear on this TV commercial which is repeated endlessly night after night.  Would I vote for someone who resorts to 2nd grade level name calling as a strategy to win a seat in the United States House of Representatives?  Of course NOT!  Just based on this infantile TV commercial I would NOT vote for Nan Hayworth.  And I apologize to 2nd graders everywhere.  I don't really believe they would resort to this juvenile tactic even if they were running for 2nd grade class president.  Worst TV commercial ever.   Score 1 for the Democrats.  2)  The " Businesses and Corporations Do Not Create Jobs " statement.  I am shocked at Hillary Clinton.  This is t...

I love traveling into New York City to meet friends, go out for dinner, visit museums and especially to go to concerts or to see New York theater.  It is insane to drive into Manhattan what with the cost of gasoline, tunnel and bridge tolls and the exorbitant parking fees.  The train and Subway is the only sane solution. But I am sick of the Long Island Railroad.  The rail cars are filthy.  Sticky floors, littered and sticky seats.  Are the cars ever cleaned?  If there are rules about bringing drink (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) or food onboard the train those rules are not enforced.  If there are rules about litter and noise - those rules are also not enforced.  The 1-hour 15-minute commute from Ronkonkoma to Pennsylvania Station is a horrible experience.  The view from the dirty railcar windows is one of 50 miles of litter strewn along the tracks.  Why don't they clean their own tracks?  The Ronkonkoma line, ...

Thrilling.   Simply one of the very best plays and productions I have ever seen.  First of all, you can give this production the Tony Awards today for Set Design, Lighting Design, Sound Design, Best Play and Best Direction.  And possibly Best Choreography.  Why wait until June?  A young actor named Alex Sharp played the leading role of Christopher Boone and was on stage for every minute of this almost 3 hour play.  He gave a brilliant and sensitive performance, mesmerizing and charismatic.  The entire cast was excellent (Francesca Faridany as  Christopher's teacher, Ian Barford as the father, Enid Graham as the mother, Helen Carey as the neighbor).   It was true in every detail to Mark Haddon's terrific novel. The geometrically designed boxed  stage was a representation of the confines of Christopher's world and his mind.  The story and play are told in the first person - from the perspective of a 1...

How did I miss this musical when Hugh Jackman played Peter Allen on Broadway?   It is one of the best 'jukebox musicals' I've seen.   Great songs from Peter Allen and a compelling story about a great talent who struggled to reach stardom and died of AIDS just as he grabbed the golden ring.  I feel this musical's book is every bit as strong as that of "Jersey Boys".  Theatre Three in Port Jefferson created a great production.  I cannot imagine it was any better on Broadway except that this production lacks Hugh Jackman.  Steve McCoy, a regular at Theatre Three, played Peter Allen. To his credit he is a great singer and an energetic, credible actor.  But despite the makeup and wig it is obvious he is about 20 years too old for this part and a bit too overweight.  Throughout the performance he kept adjusting the toupee he was wearing to make himself look younger - and it was quite annoying.  The rest of the cast was perfectly chosen ...

This will be a short review - for a short play.  "Disgraced" runs 83 minutes without intermission.  It is the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winner for drama.  I never lost interest for a second during those 83 minutes - it was quite spellbinding as it tackled many 'taboo' subject matters: Islamaphobia, Anti-Semitism, self-identify, duplicity, ethnic prejudice, self-hatred and Affirmative Action.  Yes, that is a lot of hot topics for 83 minutes. "Disgraced" is about the drive for upward mobility among non-white Americans when they believe success requires them to "act White"; to hide and even denounce their family ethnic history, customs, name and identify.  I could identify with some of what was addressed, but learning to be American with an Italian last name is quite different from learning to be American with a non-White complexion or coming from a non-Christian tradition.  This is a play that may require a 2nd or 3rd viewing for me to completely diges...

I finally got around to seeing "Perfect Crime", a murder mystery that has been running Off-Broadway since 1987 and is now the longest-running play in New York.  Not only that, but the original leading lady, Catherine Russell, has been playing the role of Dr. Margaret Thorne Brent for over 11,000 performances and is now in the Guinness Book of World Records.  She has only missed 4 performances in over 27 years. So, what's all the fuss?  It was just 'okay'.  Not anything to recommend.  I figured out most of the multiple 'mysteries' early on and I'm not much of a detective.  It lacked any suspense.  I thought Miss Russell was now much too old for the part.  It somehow felt like an amateur touring production of a 1930s play.  Miss Russell was at times on auto-pilot saying her lines and emoting as if she were phoning-in her performance.  Sometimes she yelled her lines when raising of her voice seemed totally inappropriate.  She just ...

I would not have expected the Scottish Independence vote would be so close.  But the polls show a dead heat.  We should know the results in a few hours.  All this because the Virgin Queen, Elizabeth I, refused to marry and so her Scottish cousin James VI inherited the English thrown uniting the two countries.  Even if the Independence movement loses by a few votes I am certain the referendum will return in a few short years.  Independence is supported by young Scots overwhelmingly and opposed by those over 65.  Time alone will guarantee secession as the older generation dies out. The implications, however, will be far-reaching.  There will now be no stopping the Catalonians and Basques in Spain, or the Walloons in Belgium from copying this movement.  Are there others in Europe?  A few decades ago the Quebecois almost separated from Canada until the popular (Quebec-born) Mulroney quelled that fire.  Might that moveme...

I haven't blogged in a long time.  But I am inspired to write about a refreshingly light and amusing romantic comedy with a New York Jewish theme I saw last night. Crossing Delancey by Susan Sandler was presented by Theatre Three in Port Jefferson. This is a play about Isabelle, a young Jewish woman who works in an Upper East Side bookstore and who has a big crush on a writer named Tyler.  Tyler often stops by the bookstore to check on how his books are selling.  But the self-absorbed and egotistical Tyler hardly notices Isabelle and usually cannot even remember her name. Regardless Isabelle is enraptured with Tyler and keeps hoping they can begin a more personal relationship.  Meanwhile Isabelle's Bubbie (Jewish grandmother), who lives in the Lower East Side, hires a local matchmaker to find a husband for Isabelle - against Isabelle's wishes. Hannah, the meddlesome matchmaker, selects Sam the local pick...