Broadway To Vegas

Copyright: April 11, 2021
By: Laura Deni
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TALENT AND TENACITY - JOHN CULLUM IN A ONE MAN SHOW

John Cullum. Photo by Carol Rosegg.

Backed by a piano played by Julie McBride, a black and white intro showing Cullum getting ready to perform, including getting a Covid-19 nose swab. Sitting on a simple stool,he opens the performance singing On a Clear Day, the title song to one of his numerous Broadway productions.

Looking and acting years younger than his actual age of 91, he concentrates on his Broadway years. Occasionally there is a one sentence mention of a film or movie role and two references to his wife who has held that position for 62 years. She inspired him to do this show.

He establishes his identity as a truly great actor without coming across as arrogant.

As an accomplished actor, you'd expect him to know how to ccommunicate and he doesn't disappoint. With rapidly fluid dialogue every word is easily heard and understood. Well constructed, interesting, fast paced.

Marvelously effective lighting design demonstrates that less is more.

Beginning with The Early Years he came to NY in 1956, a Knoxville, Tennessee boy who had never seen a Shakespeare production on stage.

Featuring excellent five operator camera work, Cullum leaves his ego at hope. While many actors got their foot in the door through "contacts" Cullum stresses that much of his success was because of luck and says the evening will showcase some of those "lucky accidents."

However, his body of work would attest that talent and tenacity came into play.

He sings On The Street Where You Live from My Fair Lady. Admitting that he wasn't much of a singer, he began auditioning for musicals because no auditions for plays were available.

Living in a $6.o0 a week room, his agent advised him to to go back to Knoxville.

His first paying job in Saint Joan took place three weeks after arriving in NYC. He carried a spear.

Aspiring actors take note.

Cullum offers important information. An interesting observation is that when he auditioned for his first Shakespearean role he explained that he had never read Shakespeare but he was brought up on the King James version of the Bible, which was translated at the same time Shakespeare was writing - thus thw two bodies of work possess the same type of sentence structure and use of words. Cullum comments that if you can read the Bible outloud you can do Shakespeare.

Six weeks in New York City and he had two paying jobs, rehearsing Shakespeare during the day and carrying a spear at night in Saint Joan. A week before dress rehearsals of Hamlet were to begin personal changes occurred.

His father called telling him that his mother had been killed in an auto accident that morning.

Cullum dropped out of both performances to spend time with his father, a man who had been a skilled baseball player turning down an opportunity to try out for a major team by taking a $10 a week bank job.

Cullum said he has never recovered from his mother's death. She was his most loyal and constant supporter.

His mother learned to drive late in life and had a tendency to do a rolling stop at a stop sign - that is what happened. She hadn't stopped at the sign and was killed instantly when broadsided by a truck.

Cullum admitted that he avoided thinking of his mom because it so dominated his mind.

"Then I decided to stop not thinking about her, remember the good times" and began his own recovery.

Camelot came next and Cullum performed I Know What My People Are Thinking Tonight in a splendid talk song rendition.

Joseph Papp was doing three plays Measure For Measure; Taming of the Shrew and Henry V at Shakespeare in the Park and Cullum was awarded parts in all three plays, plus understudying the leads in two of the plays.

There were no dressing rooms, just tents - still Cullum thought being in all three plays was "not bad for a Tennessee boy who had never seen a Shakespeare play on stage." When the lead in Henry V hurt his leg playing ball in the Broadway Show League, Cullum went on in the lead, pontificated all over the place, chewing up the scenery even though there wasn't much of it.

The next section described as A Different Direction features some amusing anecdotes.

Trying to be cast in Camelot he would be auditioning for Moss Hart, Alan J. Lerner and Frederick Loewe, who asked if he had a song prepared.

Cullum said he would be singing "There But For You Go I" - inquiring - to the men who wrote it - if they had ever heard of it.

Then he received a call asking him to return the next day prepared to sing a whole tone scale - Cullum had never even heard of a whole tone scale - but figured it couldn't be that hard.

It is.

A whole tone scale (sometimes known as the symmetrical scale) is a hexatonic scale which means that it uses only six notes. It's made up entirely of whole step intervals (tones). It's the completely opposite of a chromatic scale – which is made up entirely of half step intervals (semitones). Each note is separated from its neighbors by the interval of a whole tone. The whole tone scale is built by starting on the tonic note, then moving up in a whole note.

Again - it's hard.

There is also the hilarious disclosure that Moss Hart thought the chorus in Henry V was a signing part.

Camelot was his first Broadway musical, a production Cullum describes as "elegant, magical and majestic." He performs the title song Camelot. However, the production had serious issues.

According to Cullum, the huge success of My Fair Lady caused the creatives "to over-reach on Camelot. On the road they were in deep trouble.

Hart came down with a heart condition.

Lerner got an ulcer.

Richard Burton's foster father who was a theatre scholar, not a director, stepped in to patch up the show. They opened in New York to mixed reviews - it was the audiences not the critics who made the show a success.

Lerner promised Cullum that he would be cast in his upcoming show On a Clear Day and he was also offered a featured role as a reporter in We Take The Town starring Robert Preston as outlaw Pancho Villa. Cullum was positive that the show would be a raging success. Favorable reviews in New Haven" killed the show" because the writers then refused to alter the script.

The show closed in Philadelphia and never reached Broadway.

Cullum took a role in the film Hawaii. Then Cullum got wind that Lerner was looking for "a John Cullum type" for On a Clear Day - much to the consternation of Cullum who had been told he was already penciled in. Eventually he was permitted to audition for the role he had originally been promised.

He sings Come Back To Me and explains that On a Clear Day was "a big deal for me." For the first time his name was in lights on Broadway.

After a stint in regional theater he starred in Shenandoah.

Then Hal Prince wanted Cullum for the lead in On The 20th Century.

By now a two time Tony award winner, (Best Leading Actor in a Musical for Shenandoah and On the Twentieth Century) Cullum and his wife Emily, who was writing novels, were living in Malibu after Cullum had spent 5 years on the hit television series Northern Exposure when he was presented with a script with "a ridiculous name" - Urinetown.

He speaks kindly of performers he's worked with including Madeline Kahn, Robert Preston, Robert Goulet, Julie Andrews and Richard Burton.

One of his last Broadway shows was The Scottsboro Boys in which he was the only white actor in a cast of black actors, all of whom were wonderful singers and dancers. The musical received 12 Tony nominations. As Cullum pointed out, The Scottsboro Boys didn't live happily ever after and justice wasn't services. Cullum says that he always hopes that someday it will.

A perfectly enjoyable way to spent 80 minutes. Years ago I had the pleasure of interviewing him. He's an intelligent, delightful talent and this is a don't miss presentation.

Vineyard Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals, Irish Repertory Theatre in association with Jeff Berger.
Conceived by John Cullum and Jeff Berger.
Book by David Thompson.
Music supervision by Georgia Stitt.
Music direction by Julie McBride.
Directed by Lonny Price and Matt Cowart.

Director of Photography is Carlos Cardona with costumes by Tracy Christensen and lighting by Megan Peti. Line producer is Adrian White.

Streaming through April 22 with a watch party on April 17 at 2:00 pm EDT.

MUSICAL ROW TAKES AUDIENCES ON A HARROWING AND INSPIRING JOURNEY

The new musical Row with a book by Daniel Goldstein, music and lyrics by Dawn Landes, directed by Tyne Rafaeli is inspired by A Pearl in the Storm: How I Found My Heart in the Middle of the Ocean by Tori Murden McClure. Starring Grace McLean as Tori, John McGinty as her learning disabled brother, Lamar, and Jon Ellison Conlee who plays love interest, Mac McClure. The supporting cast includes Kerstin Anderson, Nehal Joshi, Tamika Lawrence, Kathryn O'Rourke, Lance Roberts, Sean Stack, and Sally Wilfert many appearing in more than one role.

Tori aims to be the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic. As a child, she raised her younger brother Lamar, defending him against discrimination and neighborhood bullies. Now, with nothing but her body and a hand-built boat, she squares off with her own tormentor: the ocean. This world premiere musical reveals the resilience, fear, and ambition inside one individual undeterred by the odds.

Starring as Tori, Grace McLean, a Writer In Residence at Lincoln Center Theater where her first original musical In the Green was commissioned and produced. McLean is known for her roles in various Off-Broadway and Broadway productions such Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812; Bedbugs and Alice by Heart.

Ocean waves beat the shore and anything in their way. It's June 14, 1998. 5:45 a.m. North Carolina. Three hours to launch. Ordinary women don't row solo across the ocean.

Five men have died trying, which doesn't bother Tori (Grace McLean). Her 23 foot long canoe - size of a double wide coffin - which Tori has named American Pearl. Despite being told she isn't ready, it's hurricane season and that her boat will fall apart - she loads it with 40 pounds of books.

Although Grace as Tori speaks fast, her words are articulated, easily understood. The sound balancing is excellent. Her independent feeling drives her on as established in the opening number Independent Spirit a vibrant, energetic number which soars and is guaranteed to be awarded with room shaking applause.

Victoria "Tori" Elizabeth - named after two queens - intends to row across the North Atlantic in 100 days "give or take." She has convinced herself that she is invincible.

She's warned that she will never get used to capsizing. With seven advanced degrees to their credit, her female friends warn her - to no avail - against doing this. Defeated in their attempts to talk some sense into her, they offer to help with things like nutritional support. They also hope she finds whatever it is she is looking for.

The question on everyone's mind is Why?

Why is brought forth in a song Mount Everest which offers no answers other than it is just something she has to do - chasing a silly dream that offers no benefit to anyone else - except publicity for herself and the sponsors. She is criticized for doing something that has no connection to helping the environment or breast cancer. It's a totally selfish pursuit. Is she an adrenaline junkie? Why is she willing to take a chance on her life just to see her name in the record books?

A unanimous decision among those who know her is that she "has lost her f------ mind." She isn't going to find her own peace of mind until she crosses her own Rubicon.

A musical about being along in a boat on the ocean could become boring after 15 minutes. Row conquers because the substantial dialogue delivered by Tori is done in an authentic manner deftly switching between the past and present. She also has an excellent singing voice. Author Goldstein has done a brilliant job of mixing flashbacks with the ocean voyage.

Occasionally told with borderline over intense flashbacks, establishing the childhood background that molded her "where were you" Ode to Eric Fee is about her childhood when she was 11, and about taking care of the most vulnerable, including her learning disabled brother who was bullied. It's a forceful song against the adults who should have protected the children but didn't - instead turning their backs and a blind eye.

Rowers row facing the direction of where they have been rather than where they are going, Tori can see her support team getting smaller and smaller she tries to imprint their goodbys into her memory. The press boat, chartered by her sponsors, hangs in there the longest. There are no landmarks and no land.

Scientific information such as info about the Gulf Stream is presented in a captivating way.

The numerous hallucination segments are comic relief and delightful. One conjures up Tina Turner, Dolly Parton and Cher for a rousing number.

Tori has lost track of time and location. When she discovers it is the 4th of July, she fantasizes that she is George Washington crosses the Delaware. The silence is suffocating.

The musical number Oh, Amelia takes place several weeks into the journey; having had no human contact for almost a month, McClure hallucinates a visit with Amelia Earhart.

A girl gotta do is part of an inspirational number after valuable equipment falls into the ocean because Tori was so out of it that she opted to catch a bag of M&Ms rather than lifeline transmission equipment.

She's lost a sense of where she is, her blisters are bleeding and she is alone on the dark ocean. She has no mental control over her body.

Her row boat has no canopy because her sponsors thought that might be misconstrued as a sail.

Tori looks to Aristotle who reasoned that humanity is influence more by fear than faith.

After two weeks of being spoiled with clear skies - a storm is on the way. She reads Moby Dick and sings First Storm, Moby Dick.

The waves are the size of houses. She hallucinates about her childhood as her head slams into the ceiling.

Knowledge Courage - Knowledge Courage is her mantra as the boat surges and her memory centers on childhood torture.

Her phone is broken. A passing professional fishing ship asks if she needs help. She asks the captain to report that she is fine, but that her phone doesn't work. When the captain talks to the press the world takes notice and suddenly people are fascinated by her trip.

Other compositions are about weathering storms - but having never seen anything like you - is offered up as an inspirational tribute to the hard ships Tory has overcome. Asking and answering the question - how do you want to be remembered - was the effort worthwhile - is a gentle composition.

This is not a happy go lucky - love is found, lost and reclaimed musical where you leave the theatre humming a song.

This is a musical about a tormented woman who accomplishes the impossible to exorcise her own demons. In doing so she captivated the world. The musical inspires.

Fascinating, well written and acted.

The show’s creative team includes music director Mary-Mitchell Campbell, associate music director Emily Whitaker, orchestrator Daniel Kluger, sound designer Kai Harada.

The show's subject - Victoria Elizabeth Murden McClure, 58, isn't some oddball nut. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Smith in 1985. She followed that with a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School in 1989, a J.D. from the University of Louisville School of Law in 1995, and a Master of Fine Arts in writing from Spalding University, a private Catholic university in Louisville, Kentucky, where she now serves as President.

While Row highlights her having rowed solo across the Atlantic twice, McClure also holds the distinction of being the first woman and first American to ski to the geographic South Pole and the first woman to climb the Lewis Nunatak in the Antarctic. She also served as the Chair of the Board of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), an outdoor education school headquartered in Lander, Wyoming, that emphasizes environmental ethics and wilderness excursions.

McClure has also worked as a chaplain at Boston City Hospital, the executive director of a shelter for homeless women, and a public policy analyst for the Mayor of Louisville, and she worked for the boxer and humanitarian Muhammad Ali.

She was named 2017 Irish Person Of The Year.

Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced that their 2021 Season will consist of live performances. Row will play July 13 - August 8, 2021. Performances will take place at the Clark Art Institute where the serene reflecting pool will serve as the stage.

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This is not your typical, totally boring textbook.

In the pages of How To Earn A Living As A Freelance Writer (the first to be lied to and the last to be paid) you'll find sex, celebrities, violence, threats, unethical editors, scummy managers and lawyers, treacherous press agents, sex discrimination; as well as a how-to for earning money by writing down words.

ART AND ABOUT

ART AND THE LEGACIES OF THE DUTCH SLAVE TRADE including efforts by museums to present more complete narratives of and perspectives on slavery is presented by the Center for Netherlandish Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Harvard Art Museums, and Harvard University’s Department of History of Art and Architecture. The four part series is a virtual event via Zoom , free and open to everyone.

Art Museums and the Legacies of the Dutch Slave Trade: Curating Histories, Envisioning Futures is organized by Sarah Mallory, Kéla Jackson, and Rachel Burke, all doctoral students in Harvard University’s Department of History of Art and Architecture, and Joanna Sheers Seidenstein, the Stanley H. Durwood Foundation Curatorial Fellow in the Division of European and American Art, at the Harvard Art Museums.

Part 2, Friday, April 16, Part 3, Friday, April 23, Part 4, April 23, 2021.

NON PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND FOUNDATIONS have banded together to offer patrons an online survey about arts and culture during the Pandemic.

This is a "national research study on how arts, culture, and creativity fit into people's lives during this difficult period — and how cultural organizations can become better for you in the future."

The questions take about 15 minutes to answer, and "they’re about how you’ve been spending your time during the pandemic and how arts or culture organizations can help."

The survey is available in multiple languages and is being conducted by independent researchers on behalf of nonprofit organizations and foundations.

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SWEET CHARITY

JOSH GROBAN IS FULL OF BEANS The guy with the beautiful voice and the quirky sense of humor has teamed up with Bush Beans to take on that flatulence reputation.

The company which had used in their commercials Butch the talking dog, states: "At Bush’s, we believe beans are the world’s most beautiful food. And as That Beautiful Bean Co., we couldn’t stand by while the most famous song about beans was a childish tune about flatulence. So with Josh Groban’s help, we’re giving the world a glorious new tune that finally gives those beans a song worthy of their beauty."

"We knew our big, beautiful bean song needed a big, beautiful voice. We needed Josh Groban. Turns out Mr. Groban is as big a beanhead as we are and was inspired to help us put the flatulent old tune behind us. The result? A beautiful bean ode that will change bean song history forever," promises Bush Beans.

Bush’s and Josh Groban collaborated to create The Beautiful Bean Song and music video, which flashes back to his childhood and lunchroom taunts over his beloved beans and progresses to a celebration of the mighty legume - and even features a cameo from his own dad on the grill.

In addition to releasing this beautiful bean ballad, Bush’s is donating 250,000 cans of Bush’s Beans to Feeding America to help spread even more bean goodness. This donation is part of Bush’s decades-long partnership with Feeding America, helping to provide food to people in need.

JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA SEPTET WITH WYNTON MARSALIS BENEFIT CONCERTS for the Bucks County Playhouse on April 17 and 18.

"With ongoing capacity limits mandated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, these Playhouse performances showcase the JLCO Septet with Wynton Marsalis in a rare small group configuration that will leave audiences inspired and uplifted with the full vigor, vision, and depth of America’s music."

Under Music Director Marsalis, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) performs a vast repertoire, from rare historic compositions to Jazz at Lincoln Center-commissioned works, including compositions and arrangements by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Fletcher Henderson, Thelonious Monk, Mary Lou Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Charles Mingus, and many others.

The Bucks County Playhouse performances will "showcase the JLCO Septet with Wynton Marsalis in a rare small group configuration that will leave audiences inspired and uplifted with the full vigor, vision, and depth of America’s music."

Two shows on April 17 and one on April 18, 2021 at Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, PA.

HARTFORD STAGE GALA in Hartford, CT featuring The Bacon Brothers is streamung online through April 17.

Purchase of a $300 Gala Ticket also includes an exclusive pre-show virtual cocktail party and a Celebrate Hartford Gift Bag. Gift Bags will be available for pick-up and local delivery only.

SPREADING THE WORD

ART AND ACTIVISM: AGNES GUND AND CATHERINE GUND IN CONVERSATION WITH ANNA DEAVERE SMITH takes place Wednesday, April 14, a free watch presentation by 92Y in New York City.

Join Agnes Gund, along with Emmy-nominated director Catherine Gund as they discuss Aggie, a feature-length documentary that explores the nexus of art, race, and justice through the story of art collector and philanthropist Agnes “Aggie” Gund’s life. Together they talk to Anna Deavere Smith about the power of art to transform consciousness and inspire social change.

NOTHING MATTERS a two-person play about one of the world's greatest writers, Ambrose Bierce, is presented by the East Lynne Theater Company - which received the fourth AEA contract in the country since the shutdowns began in March 2020 to create this fully-staged production, with no audience. Filmed with three cameras and edited, it originally ran in the fall of 2020. Written by Dave Geible, it stars Broadway actor James Rana, with ELTC’s artistic director, Gayle Stahlhuth, who also directed.

The setting is Ambrose Bierce's room in Washington D.C. in early July, 1898. Seeking Bierce's advice on how to be a better writer, Amanda Wentworth intends to merely drop off samples of her work, but ends up having a lively discussion with this fascinating journalist who worked for William Randolph Hearst, along with other newspaper publishers. Bierce's philosophy was "nothing matters," but of course, many things mattered to him. He was known as "the wickedest man in San Francisco" because he pursued the truth no matter who was the target of his journalist wit and humor. Having fought in the Civil War, his stories based on the experience are especially poignant, and An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is considered by many scholars to be one of the best short stories ever written. His most famous book, The Devil's Dictionary, was named one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration in 1976, and Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Zweig wrote that it is "probably the most brilliant work of satire written in America. And maybe one of the greatest in all of world literature."

Nothing Matters is available from Monday, April 12 through Sunday, May 9, every day at 8:00 PM, EST. Tickets are free or pay-what-you-will (minimum $5) and may be obtained at tinyurl. Viewers have 24 hours to watch Nothing Matters, and it may be paused and even stopped to return to later. ELTC premiered Nothing Matters in 2000 before playwright/performer Dave Geible took it on the road with The Wyoming Shakespeare Company. Geible has revisited the script for this current production.

THE SMITH CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS in Las Vegas has announced that it's Broadway series will return in October. First up is Cats the beloved musical with breathtaking music—including one of the most treasured songs in musical theater, Memory. Featuring new sound design, direction and choreography for a new generation — Tuesday, October 12 -October 17, 2021.

An Officer and a Gentleman takes to the stage Tuesday, October 26 – Sunday, October 31, 2021. Based on the Oscar-winning film starring Richard Gere, An Officer and a Gentleman celebrates triumph over adversity and includes one of the most iconic and romantic endings ever portrayed on screen. Features the Grammy Award-winning, #1 hit single Up Where We Belong.

A Christmas Carol has performances Tuesday, November 23 – Sunday, November 28, 2021. This magical new interpretation of Charles Dickens’ timeless story welcomes theatergoers of all ages into an immersive experience that is brimming with Christmas spirit. Featuring dazzling staging, moving storytelling, and 12 cherished Christmas carols.

My Fair Lady holds court Tuesday, January 25 – Sunday, January 30, 2022. From Lincoln Center Theater comes Lerner & Loewe’s My Fair Lady boasting such classic songs as I Could Have Danced All Night; The Rain in Spain, and Wouldn’t It Be Loverly, directed by Bartlett Sher.

The Band's Visit does just that Tuesday, February 15 – Sunday, February 20, 2022 This critically acclaimed smash-hit Broadway musical is the winner of 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, making it one of the most Tony-winning musicals in history. It is also a Grammy Award winner for Best Musical Theater Album. With a score that seduces your soul and sweeps you off your feet, and featuring thrillingly talented onstage musicians, The Band’s Visit rejoices in the way music makes us laugh, makes us cry, and ultimately, brings us together.

Tootsie closes out the season Tuesday, May 24 – Sunday, May 29, 2022. This laugh-out-loud love letter to the theater tells the story of Michael Dorsey, a talented but difficult actor who struggles to find work until one show-stopping act of desperation lands him the role of a lifetime.

THE L.A. STAGE ALLIANCE SELF DESTRUCTS

The 46-year-old nonprofit L.A. Stage Alliance has permanently ceased operations after a mass resignation of members following what has been called "disrespectful treatment" of Jully Lee, who was nominated for Featured Actress in a Play for Hannah and the Dread Gazebo, a co-production of East West Players and the Fountain Theatre.

Lee’s firstname was mispronounced (correctly pronounced Julie) when the nominees were read during the Ovation Awards' ceremony, and a photo of a different Asian actress was shown onscreen. “We take full responsibility for the oversight and we deeply regret any harm this may have caused,” the organization said in a written apology that failed to placate anyone.

“It is with deep regret that the Board of Governors has unanimously decided to cease all operations for LA Stage Alliance,” the organization said in its Instagram post.

“We have come to this conclusion with a heavy heart - our intention was to represent and promote the entire Los Angeles theater community, but at this time we are unable to continue. For the past 46 years, LASA has worked to acknowledge, support, and celebrate artists and theatres from all communities. We believe in equity, diversity, and inclusion at all levels. As individuals, we are committed to continuing our support of this community which we hold so dear. We wish the entire theatre community and its stakeholders continued success.

After the above mentioned 2021 ceremony, more than two dozen southern California theater companies withdrew their membership from L.A. Stage Alliance citing not only the mistreatment of Lee but the group’s practice of only acknowledging one theater company per production.

East West Players was not named during the awards, despite being a co-producer on a number of shows nominated. Among them were The Great Leap mounted at the Pasadena Playhouse and Hannah And The Dread Gazebo at the Fountain Theatre.

East West Players is a national troupe founded to showcase Asian-American work beyond the narrow roles most common in mainstream Hollywood.

East West Players Producing Artistic Director Snehal Desai released a blistering statement against L.A. Stage Alliance to encourage support of theatres to leave the organization.

“You have stood behind an embarrassingly outdated policy of only recognizing one theatre per production—a patently false assertion and an exclusionary situation that you have set up,” the statement reads. “Every time East West Players co-produces in an effort to bring Asian-American actors more visibility in L.A. theatres, only the other, predominantly white organization is listed and uplifted. This is what erasure of our work and our community looks like. To the Ovation Awards and LA Stage Alliance we do not exist, nor does our artistic voice matter. Our craft and our artistic community are secondary to the predominantly white institutions and can swiftly be ignored and forgotten.”

Among those theatres that issued statements in solidarity with the Asian-American theatre company, as well as announcing their decision to leave LASA, were Center Theatre Group, Deaf West Theatre, Geffen Playhouse, and Pasadena Playhouse.

BILL WOULD BAN POLICE FROM LYING ABOUT EVIDENCE DURING INTERROGATION

With more than 2,700 wrongful convictions tallied around the country, false confessions have been identified as one of the leading causes of wrongful convictions. Now, for the first time in U.S. history, lawmakers in three states have introduced legislation that would ban the use of deceptive interrogation tactics, like falsely telling a suspect that his fingerprints or DNA was found at a crime scene. These kinds of lies about the evidence have long been identified as risk factors for false confessions and have contributed to some of the most notorious known wrongful convictions, like those of the Exonerated Five, previously known as the Central Park Five.

Several of the nation’s leading experts on confessions and interrogations - including Laura Nirider, Rebecca Brown, and law enforcement leaders - are backing elected officials in a push to ban the use of deceptive interrogation tactics, which remain legal across the country thanks to an outdated U.S. Supreme Court decision from 1969.

Frazier v. Cupp, 394 U.S. 731 (1969), was a United States Supreme Court case that affirmed the legality of deceptive interrogation.

Acting on a tip, police picked up and interrogated Martin E. Frazier, a 20-year-old U.S. Marine, about his possible involvement in the murder of Russell Anton Marleau. Frazier, along with his cousin, Jerry Lee Rawls, were seen at a bar with the victim before the murder.

During the interrogation, police falsely informed Frazier that Rawls had already confessed and implicated him in the murder. Frazier denied any involvement in the crime and suggested speaking with an attorney, but police continued to question him. Police elicited a confession, which was used against him at trial.

Frazier was convicted of the murder.

Nirider, a Clinical Professor of Law and co-director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, and Brown, the Director of Policy at the Innocence Project, are among the leaders speaking out in strong support of bills in Illinois, Oregon, and New York that, if passed, would bring about a wave of interrogation reform. Nirider also co-hosts the Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions podcast, which hit #1 on the Apple True Crime podcast charts last year. In Illinois, State Senator Robert Peters (D-13th District) has sponsored Senate Bill 2122, which would ban the use of deceptive interrogation tactics when youth under 18 are being questioned. Set for a committee vote on April 16, that bill has the support of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. Similar bills have been introduced in Oregon by State Senator and former law enforcement officer Chris Gorsek (D-25th) and in New York by State Senator Zellnor Myrie (D-20th). The bill in Oregon would prohibit the use of deceit, trickery, or artifice during police interviews of youth, while the New York legislation would ban police deception in the interrogation room while requiring that courts evaluate the reliability of confession evidence before allowing it to be used.

For experts like Nirider and Brown, these bills are welcome steps on the path of much-needed reform to prevent false confessions. Nirider has spent her career representing individuals who falsely confessed to crimes they never committed – and driving reform in the interrogation room and the criminal justice system. She has represented, among many others, Brendan Dassey, whose story was featured in the Netflix Global series Making a Murderer, as well as Damien Echols of the West Memphis Three. Brown joined the Innocence Project in 2005 and directs its federal and state policy agenda, which seeks to prevent & reveal wrongful convictions and ensure compensation for the wrongfully convicted upon release from prison.

According to the Innocence Project, of the 375 DNA exonerations in its records, false confessions contributed to 29 percent of those wrongful convictions. Studies show that minors are particularly susceptible to offering false confessions due to police deception, as children and teenagers tend to be impulsive, motivated by short-term rewards, and vulnerable to pressure.

The state of Illinois alone has over 100 false confessions on its books, including Trevon Y. of St. Clair County, who was 17 years old when he was questioned by police about an armed robbery. Despite Trevon’s repeated and tearful assertions of his innocence, police subjected him to an hours-long interrogation in which they lied to him, telling him that witnesses had identified him as the perpetrator and that he might avoid incarceration if he confessed. After spending nine months in jail, Trevon was released when prosecutors viewed his interrogation video and recognized his confession was false.

The passage of Senate Bill 2122 in Illinois, as well as the legislation pending in Oregon and New York, would be a major step towards preventing more cases like Trevon’s…and so many others.

OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY

THE NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATURE and Governor Cuomo came to an agreement on the 2021-2022 State Budget, providing $1 billion in small business, arts, entertainment and restaurant relief, including:

• COVID-19 Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant Program: $800 million in grant funding for small businesses including for-profit arts and cultural institutions impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Arts and Cultural Organization Recovery Grant Program: $40 million to provide grants through the New York State Council on the Arts to eligible arts and cultural nonprofit organizations to assist in the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

• New York City Musical and Theatrical Production Tax Credit: Up to $100 million in tax credits to jump start the industry and support tourism activity in New York City.

• Extend and Enhance the Musical and Theatrical Production Credit for Four Years: In order to support musical and theatrical productions that occur in the State but outside of New York City, the Budget extends this credit for four years through 2025 and increases it by $4 million to $8 million.

The budget also extends funding for the Film Production Tax Credit for an additional year through 2026.

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JOHNNY MERCER FOUNDATION WRITERS GROVE AT GOODSPEED MUSICALS announced that – 11 Brand New Musicals will be developed during this year’s exclusive virtual retreat.

A total of 20 established and emerging composers, lyricists and librettists representing 11 new musicals will gather in a unique virtual space April 18 – May 1, 2021, creating a for discovery and inspiration.

Goodspeed is pleased to announce that the 2021 participants are (in alphabetical order) Preston Max Allen, Avi Amon, Jake Bernstein, Jonathan Brielle, Sammi Cannold, Isabella Dawis, Ty Defoe, Nolan Doran, Dr. Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin, Jessica Kahkoska, Kyle Puccia, Kalani Queypo, Jorge Miguel Rivera-Herrans, Andy Roninson, Rona Siddiqui, Tidtaya Sinutoke, Khalil Sullivan, Rotana Tarabzouni, Joshua Williams and Zack Zadek.

This year’s participants boast credits as diverse as:

· Grammy Award winner (T. Defoe)
· Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning Journalist (J. Bernstein)
· Saudi Arabian performance artist named one of BBC’s 100 Most Powerful Women (R. Tarabzouni)
· Composer of Treasure in NYC, an immersive musical adventure for autistic children (R. Siddiqui)
· Beacon Award recipient for the documentary Save Our History: Voices of Civil Rights (Dr. A. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin)
· Member of Cirque du Soleil’s Creative Cognoscenti (S. Cannold)
· Founding Member of Musical Theatre Factory (Z. Zadek)
· Mentors for American Theatre Wing High School Musical Theatre Songwriting Challenge (T. Sinutoke, I. Dawis)
· Platinum-selling songwriter, composer and musician (K. Puccia)
· Executive Producer of Broadway for Biden’s “In Our America” Concert (N. Doran)
· Band Leader, Composer and Lead Vocalist for the six-piece ensemble MAD NOISE (Khalil Sullivan)

Over the course of the program, composer/lyricist Jonathan Brielle will again serve as a writer and Producer in Residence. Mr. Brielle is a writer, composer and lyricist. His first Broadway credit was writing music and lyrics for Foxfire starring theater legends Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy (who won the Tony) and Keith Carradine. Subsequently, he became Composer in Residence of the prestigious Circle Repertory Company in New York, providing scores for some of New York’s top playwrights. His Las Vegas shows include book, music and lyrics for Enter The Night (Stardust) and MADhattan (New York, New York). He continues to serve as Executive Vice President of the Johnny Mercer Foundation and for this year’s JMF Writers Grove at Goodspeed will be working with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jake Bernstein on an untitled project.

Clifford Lee Johnson III will serve as Resident Dramaturge. As part of Wonder City Productions, he produces and develops new plays and musicals. Their current projects include moving a musical to Broadway and creating another about a beloved American figure. Between 1993 and 2009, he was the Director of Musical Development at Manhattan Theatre Club; prior to that he was the Assistant Literary Manager at Actors Theatre of Louisville.

Goodspeed’s Artistic Director Donna Lynn Hilton is guiding Goodspeed Musicals’ efforts on The JMF Writers Grove at Goodspeed with additional artistic support from Goodspeed Artistic Associates Anika Chapin and Michael Fling. Chapin will provide further dramaturgical support.

As established in 2013, The JMF Writers Grove at Goodspeed is an unparalleled, long-term residency program devoted exclusively to musical theatre writing. It provides a sanctuary for composers, lyricists, and librettists to embark on new musical theatre work or to devote a substantial amount of time to a work-in-progress in an environment rich with creative energy. Although working remotely, this year’s writing teams will connect regularly, receiving support from dramaturgical experts and Goodspeed’s fine music department. In the evenings writers will meet for informal, salon-style check-ins to share the day’s work. This communal gathering will allow the artists an invaluable opportunity to gain insight from their colleagues. The Grove is the ultimate think tank of veteran Broadway and young working professionals in theater today.

THE OREGON SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL has announced that Anyania (Ahn-ya-nigh-ah) Muse has become Director of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA). In this newly evolved role, Muse will join OSF’s leadership team, providing vision and strategy for the integration of IDEA into all facets of OSF’s operations. Muse will design, communicate, execute and monitor programs and initiatives that actively promote and foster a radically inclusive culture that is an anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-homophobic, and anti-ableist at the company.

"As OSF continues to emerge from the COVID crisis, there is immense opportunity for organizations across all industries and disciplines to lay the foundation of anti-racist structures, systems, and processes," said David Schmitz, OSF executive director. "We are thrilled that Anyania Muse, with her deep background, passion, and dedication to this incredibly important field of work, will be joining us as Director of IDEA, and as a key leader and voice in this ongoing, industry-wide conversation."

Muse is well known throughout the San Francisco Bay Area for her growing body of work in equity and inclusion. In her most recent role as Director of Equity for Marin County, Muse developed, led, and implemented program initiatives to target and dismantle existing systems of oppression within the County, while helping to build and evolve anti-racist frameworks across 22 departments with over 2,700 employees.

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This is not your typical, totally boring textbook.

In the pages of How To Earn A Living As A Freelance Writer (the first to be lied to and the last to be paid) you'll find sex, celebrities, violence, threats, unethical editors, scummy managers and lawyers, treacherous press agents, sex discrimination; as well as a how-to for earning money by writing down words.

FINAL OVATION

PRINCE PHILIP the Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Queen Elizabeth II, died Friday, April 9, 2021. He was 99 years old, two months shy of his 100th birthday.

He will lie at rest at Windsor Castle before a funeral at St. George's Chapel.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain led tributes to Prince Philip, praising his lifelong support for Queen Elizabeth II and adding that he had “earned the affection of generations here in the United Kingdom, across the Commonwealth and around the world.”

“He was the longest-serving consort in history and one of the last surviving people in this country to have served in the Second World War,” Mr. Johnson said in a statement read in somber tones.

Referring to the prince’s hobby of driving horse-drawn carriages, Mr. Johnson added that “like the expert carriage driver that he was, he helped to steer the royal family and the monarchy so that it remains an institution indisputably vital to the balance and happiness of our national life.”

The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, echoed those sentiments, saying that Britain had “lost an extraordinary public servant.”

“Prince Philip dedicated his life to our country — from a distinguished career in the Royal Navy during the Second World War to his decades of service as the Duke of Edinburgh,” Mr. Starmer added in a statement. “However, he will be remembered most of all for his extraordinary commitment and devotion to the queen.”

The marriage of Philip and Elizabeth was one of love, not convenience. She referred to him as "my rock." When then Princess Elizabeth first met Philip she told her father, King George VI, that the naval officer was “the only man I could ever love.” She was 13.

Delightfully opinionated and an expert painter, he was the first president of the World Wide Fund for Nature, later to known as the World Wildlife Fund. He sailed, played cricket and polo, excelled at carriage driving and was president of the International Equestrian Federation for many years. Buckingham Palace calculated he had completed 22,219 solo engagements since 1952,

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award founded by Prince Philip in 1956 has since expanded to 144 nations. Over 8 million young people worldwide have participated.

have taken part. The Duke of Edinburgh's Award programs take between one and four years to complete, and they must be completed by the participant's twenty-fifth birthday. There are around 300,000 new participants annually, with an estimated 461,000 current participants in the UK. The programs are at three progressive levels which, if successfully completed, lead to a Bronze, Silver, or Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award.

. In addition to the queen and their children, Prince Charles (Camilla), Anne, the Princess Royal (Timothy), Prince Andrew, the Duke of York and Prince Edward Duke of Wessex (Sophie), who will eventually inherit his father's title of Duke of Edinburgh, he is survived by eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

PAUL RITTER Tony and Olivier nominated stage and screen star died April 5, 2021 from a brain tumor. He was 54.

A versatile stage actor, Ritter worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and performed at London’s National Theatre. Among his many theatrical credits were roles in The Royal Hunt of the Sun, All My Sons, The Hot-House, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, The Audience, Troilus and Cressida, and The White Devil. He was nominated for an Olivier Award in 2006 for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for his work in Coram Boy.

Ritter made his Broadway debut in 2009 in the revival of Alan Ayckbourn’s three-part The Norman Conquests. The production, which won the 2009 Tony for Best Revival of a Play, earned the actor a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play.

From 2011 through 2020, Ritter played the role of Martin, the family patriarch, in the British TV series Friday Night Dinner, which also starred Simon Bird, Tamsin Greig, and Tom Rosenthal. His other TV credits included Belgravia, Cold Feet, The Trial of Christine Keeler, The Capture, Chernobyl, Resistance, No Offense, Hang Ups, Lovesick, Electric Dreams, Vera, The Hollow Crown, Midsomer Murders, Great Expectations, Without You, Land Girls, and Hidden.

He was also seen on the silver screen in On a Clear Day, The Girl in the Café, Hannibal Rising, Quantum of Solace, Nowhere Boy, Inferno, Their Finest, The Limehouse Golem, and The Audience.

Ritter’s credits also included James Bond film Quantum of Solace; Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince, and the series Belgravia and Cold Feet. He will be seen in John Madden’s upcoming war drama Operation Mincemeat, which stars Colin Firth. Ritter will also be a part of the Friday Night Dinner 10th anniversary retrospective, which is due to air later this yea.

He is survived by his wife Polly and sons Frank and Noah.

Next Column: April 18, 2021
Copyright: April 11, 2021 All Rights Reserved. Reviews, Interviews, Commentary, Photographs or Graphics from any Broadway To Vegas (TM) columns may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, utilized as leads, or used in any manner without permission, compensation and/or credit.
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Laura Deni

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