Broadway To Vegas

Copyright: October 20, 2024
By: Laura Deni
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THE HILLS OF CALIFORNIA BY JEZ BUTTERWORTH HAS FORKS IN THE ROAD

Laura Donnelly as Veronica coaching her daughters. Photo: Joan Marcus

Far away places
with strange sounding names
calling, calling to me
by Margaret Whiting and Alex Kramer penned in 1948, is probably more relevant to the plot-line, but it is . . .

The hills of california are something to see
The sun will kinda warm ya and drop in the sea.
Though with all the work terrific
The blue pacific is all bouboa claimed it would be
lyrics by Johnny Mercer which gives this script its title - The Hills of California.

The latest effort of Tony and two time Laurence Olivier winning playwright Jez Butterworth and Oscar and Tony-winning director Sam Mendesez has opened at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York City. It has been extended through December 22, 2024.

"In the sweltering heat of a 1970s summer, the Webb sisters return to their childhood home in Blackpool, an English seaside town, where their mother Veronica lies dying upstairs. Gloria and Ruby now have families of their own. Jill never left. And Joan? No one’s heard from her in twenty years… but Jill insists that their mother’s favorite won’t let them down this time. The run-down Sea View Guest House is haunted by bittersweet memories of amusement park rides and overdue bills. Back in the 1950s, each night the four young sisters rehearse their singing act, managed by their fiercely loving single mom. But when a record producer offers a shot at fame and a chance to escape, it will cost them all dearly. When memories from their youth come flooding back, the sisters must confront their past and untangle a web of secrets, betrayals, and profound emotional bonds," according to the official description.

Nicola Turner ("Young Jill"), Nancy Allsop ("Young Gloria"), Lara McDonnell ("Young Joan" – facing away), Sophia Ally ("Young Ruby"), Laura Donnelly ("Veronica"), and Richard Lumsden ("Joe Fogg") in The Hills of California. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Ping-ponging between 1976 to the early 50’s, the backstory of each daughter is laid bare. It's a soap opera bringing into the open the various forks in the road that have been taken.

With ample amounts of heartbreak, regret and desperation, the anguish of one's dreams turning dark and disturbing, this is a woman's story; although so well put together that men can gain an understanding and appreciation of the travail Veronica and her daughters have encountered.

Desperate to provide her daughters a better life that what they have in Blackpool, mother Victoria is determined that her daughters will have a singing career much like The Andrew Sisters, The Cordetts, The DeCastro Sisters all famous in that early era. The mother, Veronica, played by Laura Donnelly is also cast as one of Veronica's daughters, a young Joan.

It is Laura Donnelly who earned a well deserved Olivier Award and a Tony nomination for her role in Butterworth's The Ferryman who both gives the play roots and steals the show. (In private life Donnelly is Butterworth's partner and mother to their two daughters).

Veronica isn't your typical stage mother. While the operative word is 'pushy' stage mothers tend to fall into two types: unattractive and pushy Type 1 who just happens to have a beautiful/handsome child and takes advantage of that - or, Type 2, the pushy, semi-talented wanna be who looks to live fame through her children. Neither are Veronica. Desperate but disciplined, she's had a hard scrabbled life and is trying to survive, having turned her own home into a guest house - taking in short term boarders. It's a layered role in which Donnelly excels. Veronica is a drill sergeant, clothing her daughters in matching outfits with the mantra of practice, practice, practice.

The young quartet entertaining. Nancy Allsop, Nicola Turner, Sophie Ally and Lara McDonnell. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Nightly they comply, their voices are spellbinding, close harmony to perfection. The young actors playing sisters (Nancy Allsop, Nicola Turner, Sophia Ally) deliver rich textured performances, seasoned professionals, obviously comfortable with each other.

Veronica keeps reminding her daughters that: "What is a song? A song is a dream... a place to be. Somewhere you can live. And in that place, there are no walls. No boundaries. No locks. No keys. You can go anywhere...”

The piano is kept tuned.

Sometimes personal life songs end off key.

Incidental and background music plays an important aspect in this play with music.

The agent played by David Wilson Barnes is professional. He knows the ropes and that those rungs are tough to climb. The younger versions of the women have the enthusiasm needed to make it. Laura Donnelly, as the younger incarnation of Joan, is her mother's mini me. In this multifaceted role Donnelly also stands out.

The play opens in the late ‘70s during a bone melting heat wave, with unmarried Jill (Helena Wilson) — who has dutifully remained home with their deteriorating and alcoholic mother — awaiting the arrival of two of her sisters, both married, the spirited Ruby (Ophelia Lovibond), married to Dennis (Bryan Dick) suffers from panic attacks and pragmatic and resentful Gloria (Leanne Best). A fourth sister, Joan (also played by Donnelly, has been estranged from the family for over two decades - ever since she split to California seeking a recording career.

Their unseen mother is upstairs suffering - dying of stomach cancer. Nurse Penny (Natasha Magigi) suggested to stay-at-home daughter Jill (Helena Wilson) that they consider assisted suicide, although those two words are never used. It's suggested that a doctor can give her mother enough medication to stop the pain - and her life. Penny offers to put the daughter in touch with an appropriate doctor. Jill isn't opposed to the idea, but won't proceed on her own, wanting to wait until her sisters arrive.

Both of these backboned women are married to men who are duffuses.

Referring to her milk-toast husband, at one point Ruby quips: "You know if Dennis were to walk out of here and become a missing person, and I had to describe him to the police, I genuinely wouldn’t know where to start."

Joan's plane is delayed but eventually she arrives and talks faster than a record can spin.

The sisters, who all possess fractured emotions, exchange sweet memories, unrequited hostilities, dashed dreams, resentments and spite.

In worthy productions the mis-en-scene - composition, sets, props, costumes, and lighting are the co-stars, as is the case in this production.

Music is not only a background component but also a profound story. It is expertly integrated into the mise en scène to heighten emotion, reveal subtext, and elevate the narrative. In The Hills of Californiathat is the case.

Designer Rob Howell has created a revolving performance area showcasing the guest house’s public parlor with a broken jukebox and a faded Tiki bar, once installed in hopes of attracting customers, the family's kitchen and a razz a ma tazz performance stage for the traveling girl quartet. Dominating are large and dark, supernatural staircases, which zigzag above the first-floor leading to guest rooms named after U.S. states resulting in a labyrinth of life, which the family is still attempting to navigate.

Lighting is such as interesting element that the proper use of it can convey any emotion. Lighting designer Natasha Chivers knows her wattage and delivers.

Raquel Adorno's costumes magnificently span repression and poverty to stage glam performance. Nick Powell's sound design is well balanced and appropriate. Kudos to him for his compositions and arrangements.

What led to this fractured family and what happens? You'll have to see the play.

The ensemble cast: Laura Donnely as Joan/Veronica - Leanne Best as Gloria - Ophelia Lovibond as Ruby - Helena Wilson as Jill - David Wilson Barnes as Luther St, John - Ta’rea Campbell as Biddy/Penny - Bryan Dick as Jack Larkin/Dennis - Richard Lumsden as Joe Fogg/ Mr. Potts - Richard Short as Bill/Mr. Halliwell - Nancy Allsop as young Gloria - Sophia Ally as Young Ruby - Lara McDonnell as Young Joan - Nicola Turner as young Jill - Liam Bixby as Tony - Ellyn Heald as Mrs. Smith - Max Roll as Mr. Smith - Cameron Scoggins as Dr. Rose.

The understudies are: Jessica Baglow, Sawyer Barth, Erin Rose Doyle, Liz Pearce, Q. Smith, and Sadie Veach.

The creatives are: Design, Rob Howell; costumes, Raquel Adorno; lighting, Natasha Chivers; composer, arranger and sound design, Nick Powell; choreography, Ellen Kane; musical supervision and arrangements, Candida Caldicot; production stage manager, Charles M. Turner III; stage managers, Ashley-Rose Galligan and Imani Champion; US casting director Jim Carnahan CSA and JV Mercanti, CSA.; US associate director Joan Sergay; US associate choreographer Sara Brians; Associate music supervisor Rebekah Bruce; Vocal coach Kate Wilson; Wigs, hair and make-up Campbell Young Associates; Production management Aurora Productions; Company manager Brittany Weber.

On the downside, the production is too long. I don't think there is anything the matter with my hearing, but there are times when I found it difficult to understand some words. Some of the dialogue is spoken in British English not stage acting English.

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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

THE JEWEL ROOM

The emerald tiara designed by Prince Albert for Victoria. Photo: Kensington Palace

displays commissioned gems for Queen Victoria by her beloved husband Albert.

Comprising a magnificent diamond and emerald tiara, emerald necklace, earrings and brooch, this matching suite of jewels showcases both the exquisite workmanship of 19th-century goldsmiths, and Prince Albert’s own flair for design. The collection constitutes the only known example of a tiara design by a consort for his Queen.

Prince Albert's dazzling gift to Victoria which he presented to her in 1845, the diadem was created to complement a necklace formed of nine oval emerald clusters, each set within a border of cushion-shaped diamonds.

The accompanying pendant earrings and an impressive 20ct emerald and diamond brooch, both of which were also gifts from Albert, were worn by Victoria for her son Prince Alfred’s christening as well as portraits by Franz Xavier Winterhalter in 1846 and 1859.

On display at Kensington Palace in London.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE CURATORS' INTENSIVE TAIPEI 24 recently took place at the Taipel Fine Arts Museum.

Experts discussed: in the current climate of drastic change, how can curating serve again as an effective method for knowledge production and cultural rumination, and meanwhile become a cutting-edge praxis which stimulates cultural creativity?

What crucial issues does curating touch upon as it is confronted not only with the alterations in contemporary people's spiritual realm and perceptual mechanism but also with the strikes of disasters and variances be they natural or anthropogenic?

Organized by Taipei Fine Arts Museum in collaboration with TheCube Project Space under the theme of Evolving Landscape — Contemporary Curating in the Age of 'Crisi-tunity', the International Conference of the Curators' Intensive Taipei 24 (CIT24) attempted to address the aforementioned urgent issues, outline again the momentum that curating should have, and examine the evolving landscape of curatorial praxis as times change.

MALGORZATA MIRGA-TAS

Malgorzata Mirga-Tas, Side Thawenca / Sewn with Threads, 2019. © Malgorzata Mirga-Tas. Courtesy of Tate. Purchased with funds provided by the Russia and Eastern Europe Acquisitions Committee 2021. Exhibition view I Have a Dream, Goteborgs Konsthall, 2023. Photo: Hendrik Zeitler. Photo: Tate St Ives

Tate St Ives in Cornwall presents her first major UK exhibition.

Her visual storytelling is formed by a feminist perspective and a sustained engagement with her community, challenging stereotypical representations of Roma people. The artist is best known for creating colorful textile collages made with materials and fabrics gathered from family and friends. Over 25 works have been brought together at Tate St Ives, including six new works on display for the first time.

Often working together with other women, she creates patchworks from materials including curtains, jewellery, handkerchiefs, shirts, and sheets, which are sewn together to form what she calls 'microcarriers of history’.

She also re-imagines artworks from across the centuries that have presented Roma identity in negative ways and transforms them into vibrant images imbued with strength and dignity. The works combine realism with the building of a visual dictionary of Romani culture, alongside scenes which present figures and animals in an abstracted space. The artist has also looked back to specific historical moments, including creating works commemorating victims of Romani genocide during the Second World War.

Mirga-Tas was the first artist of Romani heritage to have her works enter Tate’s collection, and all three of those works are on show in the exhibition. They include Sewn with Threads 2019 and My Mother 2019, part of a wider 10-part series ‘Roma Madonna’ (2016–2020), depicting scenes from the everyday life of Roma women in Poland. Both works consist of freestanding, folding wooden screens, with three double-sided fabric panels, made from vivid patchworks painted with acrylic. The Three Graces 2021 is on show for the first time since being acquired by Tate. The work is based on a photograph taken in the 1980s by the artist’s uncle Andrzej Mirga, the only Roma ethnographer in Poland at that time.

These are joined by six of her 2022 portrait series Siukar Manusia (meaning great or wonderful people), which depict first-generation Romani inhabitants of the Nowa Huta district in eastern Kraków, ranging from concentration camp survivors and activists to eminent musicians, created using found and donated textiles.

The exhibition also includes one of the monumental fabric panels Mirga-Tas created for the 59th Venice Biennale, where she was the first Romani artist ever selected to represent a country.

Malgorzata Mirga-Tas is supported by the Malgorzata Mirga-Tas Exhibition Supporters Circle and Tate Members. The exhibition is organized by Tate St Ives in collaboration with the Whitworth. Curated by Anne Barlow, Director, Tate St Ives.

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SWEET CHARITY

2024 EVENING OF DELIVERING GOOD takes place on Tuesday, October 39 at Gotham Hall in New York City.

National nonprofit Delivering Good has announced the 2024 honorees who will be recognized at its annual gala fundraising event on Tuesday, October 29. Celebrating leadership and excellence in fashion, academia, and technology, this year’s An Evening of Delivering Good will be held at Gotham Hall in New York City. The event will honor some of the most respected and influential figures in these industries.

This year’s gala award honorees are:

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Abbey Doneger - President and CEO, Doneger | Tobe

VANGUARD AWARD
Dr. Joyce F. Brown - President, Fashion Institute of Technology

INNOVATION AWARD
Prashant Agrawal - Founder and CEO, Impact Analytics

IMPACT AWARD
Brieane Olsen - CEO, PacSun.

This year, Delivering Good will also present its first Luminary Special Recognition to John Pomerantz, Retired Chairman of the Board of The Leslie Fay Companies. The Luminary special recognition honors an individual or organization whose visionary leadership and extraordinary contributions have significantly illuminated the path for others in their field.

With the gala, Delivering Good will launch its "Small Comforts, Big Impact" campaign, aiming to unite the fashion industry in providing Basic Comforts Packs— a critical resource in disaster recovery.

"We’re providing more than just clothing; we’re offering a starting point - a foundation of hope, dignity, and opportunity for those facing the aftermath of tragedy. These packs go beyond providing essential items - they serve as a starting point for individuals and families to rebuild their lives,” said Matthew Fasciano, CEO of Delivering Good.

Fasciano will co-emcee the evening alongside Daiane Sodre, Ambassador of Delivering Good. The event will include a cocktail reception, followed by a dinner program and recognition of the honorees. A lively auction will also take place, with all funds raised supporting Delivering Good's work year-round making an impact in the lives of millions.

Delivering Good is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides people impacted by poverty and tragedy with new merchandise donated by retailers and manufacturers. Since 1985, Delivering Good has distributed more than $3 billion of new clothing, home goods, toys, furniture, books, and other consumer products through its network of more than 800 community partners, offering hope, dignity, and self-esteem to at-risk children, families, and individuals. By uniting retailers, manufacturers, foundations, and individuals, Delivering Good strives to help create a more equitable world where children, adults, and families facing economic, medical, social, and environmental challenges have useful items needed to overcome adversity and achieve their full potential.

ABINGDON THEATRE COMPANY'S 32 ANNIVERSARY BENEFIT GALA honoring longtime board member, Emmy, Olivier, and six-time Tony Award-winning producer Jim Kierstead takes place Monday, October 28, 2024 at the Edison Ballroom, NYC. The evening will include cocktails, dinner, and an auction, with a live performance directed by Producing Artistic Director Chad Austin with musical direction by Robbie Cowan and choreography by Ilda Mason.

Celebrating ATC’s 32nd season will be Tommaso Antico, Maria Bilbao, Kennedy Caughell, Claybourne Elder, Keri René Fuller, Drama Desk Award Winner Mandy Gonzalez, Ashley D. Kelley, Blaine Krauss, Kara Lindsay, Olivier Award Winner Lesli Margherita, Bianca Marroquín, Shereen Pimentel, Rachel Potter, Shereen Pimentel, Carolina Rial, John Riddle, Nyla Sostre, Carrie St. Louis, Marty Thomas, Tony Award Nominee Tony Yazbeck, Curtis Wiley, and Alyssa Wray.

Established over 30 years ago, Abingdon Theatre Company (ATC) develops and produces critically acclaimed brave, new American work by emerging and established artists.

CELEBRITIES SUPPORT STONEWALL NATIONAL MUSEUM'S BACK TO DRIVE 2 FUNDRAISER Jacqueline Bisset headed the Hollywood & 20th Anniversary of Gay Rom-Com Latter Days celebrations.

Others in attendance included: Stonewall Board Chair Karen Kelley, producer Kirkland Tibbels, writer/director C. Jay Cox, Wes Ramsey, and Executive Director, Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library, and Robert Kesten.

Hundreds of Stonewall supporters and Latter Days movie fans in Fort Lauderdale, Florida came to The Venue in Wilton Manors on October 17 where they enjoyed a delectable meal, drinks, screened scenes from the now classic Latter Days film and an intimate Q and A with the Latter Day crew.

They were supporting Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library’s Back to the Drive 2 fundraiser while also celebrating the 20th anniversary of their trailblazing, gay rom-com, Latter Days.

"Hearing the fearless and iconic Jacqueline Bisset, Wes Ramsey, C. Jay Cox and Kirkland Tibbels reminisce about the pride, resolve and backlash they faced in making this film 2 decades ago— a film that breaks down barriers and attacks stigmas while celebrating diversity, bravery and all shades of love— was an inspired reminder that the LGBTQ+ community has come far but our quest for equality is far from over," said Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library’s Executive Director Robert Kesten.

Latter Days tackled the love story between a LA party boy, closeted Mormon missionary and the changes they brought to one another's lives. Initially released in 2003 at the Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and OutFest, it quickly gained groundbreaking acclaim from viewers across the U.S. and around the world.

Back to the Drive 2 serves to support Stonewall National Museum, Archives, & Library's Stonewall National Education Project (SNEP). As books and education remain under threat in a growing number of states and regions; as LGBTQ+ history, culture and human rights are under attack, SNEP- a decades-old education program- continues to ensure that our nation's most marginalized students not only have a safe and welcoming school environment, but that LGBTQ+ history and culture will be taught along with all other invaluable subjects.

SPREADING THE WORD

DESIGNING FOR BROADWAY hear from Tony Award-winning set designer and architect David Rockwell as he reflects on 25 years of working on Broadway and prepares for his upcoming Broadway shows.

The talk takes place in the Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre at the V&A South Kensington in London.

In celebration of the V&A’s permanent acquisition of four original Rockwell-designed stage set models, join one of Broadway’s most celebrated scenic designers as he discusses his work on productions like Hairspray, She Loves Me, Kinky Boots, Into the Woods, On the Twentieth Century, and many more. Rockwell will share memories of his early love for the theatre and explore how his theatrical designs both inform and are informed by the other work of his world-renowned multidisciplinary architecture and design firm, Rockwell Group.

In conversation with V&A Senior Curator of Theatre & Performance, Simon Sladen, Rockwell will explore how performers and audiences interact with set design, and how design is integral to storytelling.

David Rockwell’s Broadway set for Hairspray will be on view in the newly renovated Performance Gallery, which will be open that evening for ticketholders.

ENCUENTRO 2024: WE ARE HERE – PRESENTEL! Nineteen theater companies and 165 artists from 12 cities across eight states and Puerto Rico will electrify downtown L.A. during a three-week national theater festival of dynamic, contemporary Latiné theater. Latino Theater Company presents Encuentro 2024: We Are Here – Presente!, at The Los Angeles Theatre Center from October 24 through November 10, 2024.

Featuring public performances, cross-company collaborations, and rich discussions, Encuentro 2024 will celebrate the resilience, creativity and strength of our Latiné communities, reaffirming Latino Theater Company’s commitment to fostering new voices and inspiring the next generation of artists.

The work of each company will be presented on a rotating schedule, with performances running simultaneously every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday in six different spaces within The LATC complex.

Companies represented include:

Bilingual Foundation of the Arts (Los Angeles, CA) will present La Vida es Sueño (“Life is a Dream”).
Borderlands Theater Company (Tuscon, AZ) presents Borderline Theater Company Cordially Invites You to an In-Process Showing of Antigona.
Camino23 Collective (San Diego, CA) presents Stone Heart.
Cara Mía Theater Company (Dallas, TX) presents Your Healing is Killing Me.
GALA Hispanic Theatre (Washington, DC) presents The 22+ Weddings of Hugo Múltiple.
Glass Half Full (Austin, TX) presents Yamel Cucuy.
Grupo de Teatro SINERGIA (Los Angeles, CA) presents Ayotzinapa (Siutuación: Desaparecido).
Gabriel Diego Hernández (Jersey City, NJ) is the writer and performer of Quarter Rican.
La Vuelta Ensemble (Chicago, IL) presents Memorabilia.
Latino Theater Company (Los Angeles, CA) presents Whittier Boulevar.
Latino Theater Company (Los Angeles, CA) presents A Girl Grows Wings.
Pitchblack Immersive (New York, NY) presents ODD MAN OUT.
Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater (Bronx, NY) presents The Red Rose.
ProyectoTEATRO (Austin, TX) presents CABAREX 2: RevoLUZiones.
Repertorio Español in collaboration with Tantai Teatro PR (New York, NY) presents La Golondrina.
Su Teatro (Denver, CO) presents Interview with a Mexican, a stage adaptation by Anthony J. García of the ¡Ask a Mexican! column by Gustavo Arellano
Teatro Alebrijes (San Jose, CA) presents Carlota: Alhajero de Secretos.
Teatro Público (San Juan, PR) presents Blanco Temblor.
Water People Theater (Chicago, IL) presents The Delicate Tears of the Waning Moon.

Encuentro 2024: We Are Here – Presente! marks the tenth anniversary of Latino Theater Company’s first National Encuentro in 2014. Since then, the company has produced an Encuentro every three yearsNow in its 39th year, LTC has operated The Los Angeles Theatre Center, a facility of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs and a landmark building in Downtown’s Historic Core, since 2006.

EISENHOWER: THIS PIECE OF GROUND currently playing at the Olney Theatre Center in Olney, MD has been extended through November 3, 2024.

Tony Award-winner, John Rubinstein portrays Eisenhower.

ALAN ALDA CERTAINLY STAYS CURRENT on Monday, October 13, 2024 NASA's Clipper mission to Jupiter's moon Europa had a successful launch.

The following day Alda's "Clear and Vivid"podcast launched his interview with Lynnae Quick whose doctoral thesis led to her becoming a member of the team behind that successful launch.

His podcast with her titled "Could an Icy Moon Harbor life? discusses how her contribution "could help find out if beneath its thick ice crust, Europa is friend to life."

"Clear & Vivid" can be heard on however you listen to your podcasts.

THE RADIO CITY ROCKETTES are in rehearsal at St. Paul the Apostle Church for the 2024 Christmas Spectacular which returns to the Great Stage at Radio City Music Hall from November 8, 2024 through January 5, 2025.

The Radio City Rockettes, is the longest-running precision dance company in America.

KING CHARLES AND QUEEN CAMILLA arrived in Australia with the famed Sydney Opera House greeting the couple with a spectacular photo light show highlighting their previous visit to Australia. Backdrop for the illuminated photographs were the "sails" on what is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architecture.

The royal couple won't be attending any evening events meaning they won't be able to see Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Blvd on stage at the Joan Sutherland Theatre through November 1, 2024 or Yentl at the Playhouse through November 10, 2024.

What is on the packed agenda? The couple will pay their respects to the country’s fallen at the Australian War Memorial and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander memorial.

The indomitable Charles will also meet with award-winning professors Georgina Long and Richard Scolyer – the current Australians of the Year. They’ve been working on a treatment for melanoma, one of Australia’s most common cancers, and Scolyer himself has been treated for brain cancer.

The King will also participate in several environmental engagements, and the couple will attend a timeless Aussie ritual – a community barbecue.

Queen Camilla looked positively regal in a royal blue silk crepe dress by Fiona Clare, adorned with the Australian wattle brooch - a gift from the Australian people to Queen Elizabeth II.

Camilla's Best Dress listed husband wore an impeccable, blue pinstripe suit and coordinated tie.

Several "meeting the public events" are also scheduled including the couple returning to the Opera House Tuesday for a 4.20 pm: Meet Their Majesties on the Opera House forecourt.

AS YOU LIKE IT a comedy by William Shakespeare, directed by Emil Weinstein is the 2024 Globe for All production. The comedy will tour venues throughout San Diego and Tijuana, being performed at 15 different locations from October 29 through November 24, including two low-cost performances at The Old Globe in Balboa Park.

This show features a multi-talented company of artists bringing a stirring production to various economically, geographically, and culturally diverse communities throughout San Diego County and Tijuana, Mexico. And for the first time in Globe for All history, the free Shakespeare tour has been expanded from three to four weeks of shows.

Banished from the court by her distrustful uncle, the Duke, Rosalind and her cousin Celia journey to the magical Forest of Arden to escape from their world of oppression. Far from the confines of court life, the duo encounter the dashing Orlando and the follies of young romance ensue. Inspired by the beautiful and storied history of San Diego, Shakespeare’s rollicking romantic comedy comes to life with color and music to weave a charming tale of mistaken identity, self-exploration, and the endearing pursuit of love.

The cast of As You Like It includes Jose Balistrieri, Lu Garcia (Amiens), Michael Underhill (Silvius/Charles), Jake Millgard, Emma Svitil (Phoebe), Danielle Chaves, Luana Fontes (Celia), Carter Piggee (Orlando), Vandous Stripling II (Oliver), Layth Haddad (Understudy), and Ella Serrano (Understudy).

In addition to Weinstein, the creative team includes Kristen Flores (Scenic and Props Design), Mayté Martinez (Costume Design), Chandra R.M. Anthenill (Production Stage Manager), and Evelyn G. Myers (Assistant Stage Manager).

Since the inception of the Globe for All tour in 2014, approximately 16,000 community members have experienced a performance. These tours offer free-of-charge admission to shows in non-theatrical venues such as gymnasiums, cafeterias, shelters, senior centers, refugee community centers, military installations, and correctional facilities, and give audiences an intimate and compelling theatrical experience that fosters a shared sense of connection between performers and audiences. Often the majority of attendees are experiencing live theatre for the very first time.

THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF WALES HAVE A SWEET TOOTH William visited Duchy College Stoke Climsland in Cornwall on October 17 to learn more about the college's programs for young people in rural areas, and made his sweet tooth admission during a stop at a student-run café. Video shared to the Prince and Princess of Wales' X account show the heir to the throne dropping into Sam's Cafe and chatting with people behind the counter — where desserts were a topic.

According to Hello!, Chef Darren Watson said he learned from his research that Princess Kate's favorite sweet treat is sticky toffee pudding, which Prince William verified and said, "Very good."

When given some cake, William replied: "Thank you very much, that's very sweet of you, any kind of sweet thing I will take, I'm a sucker for anything chocolate and anything sweet."

NEVADA WILL VOTE ON WHETHER TO CONTINUE SLAVERY The Battle Born state has a provision which allows for slavery or indentured servitude as criminal punishment. In the upcoming November election Nevada voters will decide whether to remove that language. If passed the amended text would read:
"Neither Slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever be tolerated in this State."

Commonly known as the "penal exception" to the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States - except as punishment for a crime. In the 19th century, Southern states jumped at an opportunity to use this loophole to enforce punitive Black codes that permitted authorities to incarcerate Black people for petty crimes, such as vagrancy, and force them to work.

Since 2018, a push has been on for voters to remove penal exception constitutional language. States approving the removal are Colorado, Nebraska, Utah, Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont.

FLING YOUR GOURD

Pumpkin Day which has been around since the late 1990s, is technically celebrated on October 26th.

However, communities stage their pumpkin launches when it best suits their locations.

Oak Hill Farm in Sonoma, CA has 17 beds of pumpkins and grows more than 5,000 of them every season. More than 30 different varieties are for sale, along with the farm’s standard complement of fruits and vegetables. They celebrated Pumpkin Day on October 19th. Farm owner Jimi Good and his son Bodhi cranked up the trebuchet and sent pumpkins soaring more than 300 feet into the distance.

What in the world is that trubuchet contraption which is the centerpiece of any Pumpkin Day celebration, no matter where or when it is held.

"A trebuchet (French: trébuchet pronounced treh-boo-shay) is a type of catapult that uses a rotating arm with a sling attached to the tip to launch a projectile. It was a common powerful siege engine until the advent of gunpowder," according to Wikipedia.

"There are two main types of trebuchet," continued the website. "The first is the traction trebuchet, or mangonel, which uses manpower to swing the arm. It first appeared in China by the 4th century BC. It spread westward, possibly by the Avars, and was adopted by the Byzantines, Persians, Arabs, and other neighboring peoples by the sixth to seventh centuries AD.

"The later, and often larger and more powerful, counterweight trebuchet, also known as the counterpoise trebuchet, uses a counterweight to swing the arm. It appeared in both Christian and Muslim lands around the Mediterranean in the 12th century, and was carried back to China by the Mongols in the 13th century. About 1,000 years ago, during medieval times, the trebuchet was the ultimate war weapon, a contraption with the ability to throw boulders and other heavy objects higher and farther than catapults could.

A Trebucket. Photo: Wikipedia

"The largest currently-functioning trebuchet in the world is the 22,000-kilogram (49,000 lb) machine at Warwick Castle, England, constructed in 2005. Based on historical designs, it stands 18 metres (59 ft) tall and throws missiles typically 36 kg (80 lbs) up to 300 metres (980 ft). The trebuchet gained significant interest from numerous news sources when in 2015 a burning missile fired from the siege engine struck and damaged a Victorian-era boathouse situated at the River Avon close by, inadvertently demonstrating the weapon's power."

If you think you've never seen one, you're probably mistaken - at least if you go to action movies.

"A large trebuchet based on Edward I's Warwolf was constructed for a scene in David Mackenzie's movie Outlaw King (2018) about Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. During the film, it hurls an incendiary projectile at Stirling Castle. It recreates the true story that it took some three months to build and Edward would not let his enemy surrender until he could use it," continued Wikipedia.

In recent years several trebuchets has been created capable of throwing cars. In the episode "Carnage A Trois" in series 4 of The Grand Tour the presenters uses a trebuchet to allegedly sling a Citroën C3 Pluriel from the White Cliffs of Dover across the English Channel. The Stamford based YouTube personality and inventor Colin Furze created a 14-metre (46 ft) high trebuchet capable of throwing a washing machine in December 2020.

During the battle for Minis Tirith in the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King the devices that both orcs and men used to fling giant boulders and pieces of stone bridges were trebuchets. In the 2005 movie, Kingdom of Heaven, a fictionalized version on the events leading to the Third Crusade, dozens of trebuchets are used in the siege of Jerusalem."

Back to those important pumpkins.

"The farthest distance to fire a pumpkin is 1,690.24 m ( 5,545.43 ft) and was achieved by Ralph J. Eschborn II, Alex C. Eschborn, Eric J. Eschborn, Pete Hill, Stefan Hill, John Piel, Verne Weidman, Don Brill, and Harry Harding (all USA) using their "Big 10 Inch" air cannon in Moab, Utah, USA, on September 9, 2010."

If you have never seen a pumpkin fly, Punkin Chunkin is your chance. Catapults, air cannons, trebuchets and other powerful machines toss pumpkins up to several thousand feet in a battle between champion Pumpkin Chunkers. Thousands of people come every year to see this hugely popular harvest festival in Western North Carolina near Hayesville that is sponsored by the Clay County Chamber of Commerce.

This year's event took place this weekend, October 19-20.

In addition to the pumpkin throwing, there was be pie-eating contests, live entertainment, food and craft vendors. Old Time Tractors were on display with hay rides, as well as airplane rides.

On November 2, 2024 Lake Charles, LA celebrates their Pumpkin Chunkin Contest. The opening will as well as the following day will kick off with The National Anthem followed by the Punkin Chunkin Song.

The City of Lake Charles and the Region 5 STEM Center are once again teaming up to launch STEM-based fun this fall with the return of their Pumpkin Chunkin’ Contest! Geared towards middle and high school students, teams can register to participate in this high-flying contest. Teams will work to build their own pumpkin launcher and then will have the opportunity to put their creation to the test on Saturday, November 2. This will be a free and open to the public spectator event.

"Purdue Polytechnic New Albany Pumpkin Chunking Event took place October 8, 2024 as part of Harvest Homecoming. Their competition featured the launching of 7 to 10 lb. pumpkins at a target 100 yards away!

They also staged an "educational" event. As a school that teaches engineering they took the opportunity to offer instructions on how to built a trebuchet.

They proffered: "You just need a can-do attitude, basic construction skills and the desire to have fun! Each team gets 3 attempts using supplied pumpkins. All machines must use gravity (falling weights) as their only source of power; pass safety and functionality checks; and be ready for competition at their start times. Awards for accuracy, originality, and efficiency will be presented."

Bloomington IN will let the orange objects fly on October 26, 2024 at the Monroe County Fairgrounds, Bloomington.

"Launcher teams send pumpkins soaring through the air in competitions for distance and accuracy. Get a team together to build and enter a pumpkin launching device! Cannons and chemically powered launchers are NOT permitted.

Not a builder? Not to worry! Watch the competitions, and see pumpkins splatter to the ground when we drop them from a bucket truck."

Teams compete in both accuracy and distance contests. Each contest consists of four rounds of launching. Teams must bring a minimum of eight pumpkins weighing between 5 and 8 pounds to the competition.

Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology staged their 14th annual Pumpkin Launch on October 17, 2024 which showcased the designs and mechanisms built by sophomore mechanical engineering students. Fun and some good ole pumpkin splatter make this a Marietta campus tradition at Kennesaw State University.

The San Diego Air & Space Museum in Balboa Park celebrated on October 12, 2024. Participants wore their favorite costume as they constructed a catapult to launch candy pumpkins.

In one of their favorite annual traditions, they did their famous pumpkin drop – some WITH parachutes, and some WITHOUT – from the roof of the Museum during their "scientific exploration."

Punkin’ Chunkin’ Fall Festival 2024 staged by the Howard Fire Company in Howard, PA takes place today, October 19, 2024.

Every year towards the end of October the Howard Fire Company holds a one day festival at the scenic Bald Eagle State Park in Howard, PA. The main attractions of the festival are the catapults, trebuchets, and (possibly) air cannons that launch pumpkins hundreds of feet through the air and send them splashing down into the nearby lake. Hence why we call it Punkin’ Chunkin". With scores of other events one of them is -obviously - a Pumpkin Pie Eating Contest.

One of the best parts about the festival is that it is absolutely free to attend! There are absolutely no parking or admissions costs to come to the festival. Any money donated during the festival will go towards supporting the Howard Fire Company #14 and future Punkin’ Chunkin’ Fall Festivals.

The good folks who run the Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival in Stowe, VT are already planning next year's festival which will take place September 25, 2025. This year's successful festival was held September 29th, 2024. There were 10 teams of chuckers and an estimated record attendance of 2500 spectators enjoying the hurling, chili cook-off judging, arts and craft show, food trucks, 2 bands, a giant robot roaming around the field, kids activities, and a volleyball tournament.

Nearly $40,000 was raised for the Clarina Howard Nichols Center, which works to end domestic andsexual violence, human trafficking, and stalking through advocacy, outreach and education, prevention and social change.

Also announced was a "New Heavyweight trebuchet world record of 879 feet by Jonathan Stapleton’s amazing "Walking Arm" design. The heavyweight division has a trebuchet height limit of 10 feet and the complete trebuchet has a weight limit of 500 pounds. They are required to throw a pumpkin that must weigh at least 5 pounds. To our knowledge, no trebuchet with these limits has thrown a 5-pound pumpkin anywhere close to 879 feet. Last year’s winning throw and previous world record was 861 feet."

Keep on Pumpkin Chuckin'.

E-Book

Soft back Book

GREAT LAKES THEATER WELCOMES NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Brian Barasch. He joins the organization with nearly two decades of experience in arts administration, marketing and nonprofit leadership. His extensive background spans a variety of arts institutions, from classical theater to higher education and youth arts programs.

A formative internship at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company sparked Barasch's early passion for theater, where he spent four summers while receiving his undergraduate degree in Theatre Management at DePaul University. Over the years, Barasch has enjoyed roles at Victory Gardens Theater, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and DePaul University's School of Music. He obtained his MBA from Loyola University as part of their Baumhart Scholars program.

Most recently, he served as Director of External Affairs and Communications at Kent State University, where he played a significant role in boosting visibility and uniting departments through strategic marketing initiatives.

Barasch succeeds Robert Taylor, who retired in September 2023 after a significant tenure with Great Lakes Theater in Cleveland, Ohio.



BABBITT

Judy Kaye, Chris Myers, Matthew Broderick, Mara Davi, and Matt McGrath in Babbitt. Production photos by Teresa Castracane Photography.

by Joe DiPietro. Adapted from the novel by Sinclair Lewis.

Directed by Christopher Ashley.

A satirical novel about American culture and society that critiques the vacuity of middle class life and the social pressure toward conformity. The controversy provoked by Babbitt was influential in the decision to award the Nobel Prize in Literature to Lewis in 1930.

The story centers around George F. Babbitt, a prosperous, middle-aged real estate broker who has a great life. His wife and children adore him, they have a great house in the suburbs, and yet he still isn't happy.

Babbitt an , upstanding, middle-class American everyman seeks meaning to his humdrum existence, Babbitt plunges headlong into the most spectacular rebellion of his life (using the guest towel) and unwittingly turns the world around him upside down.

Matthew Broderick making his STC debut as George F. Babbitt. Mara Davi as Storyteller #5. Ann Harada as Storyteller #1. Nehal Joshi Storyteller #2. Judy Kaye Storyteller #6. Matt McGrath Storyteller #3. Chris Myers Storyteller #7. Ali Stroker Storyteller #4.

Understudy are: Ahmad Kamal, Tracy Coffey, Reese Cowley, Sam Rodd and Sadie Oconor.

he creatives are: Director: Christopher Ashley. Choreographer: Stephen Buescher. Scenic Designer: Walt Spangler. Costume Designer: Linda Cho. Lighting Designer: Cha See. Sound Designer: Leon Rothenberg. Original Music: Mark Bennett, Wayne Barker. Wig & Hair Designer: Charles G. LaPointe. Dramaturg: Dr. Drew Lichtenberg. Casting: Stephanie Yankwitt, CSA. Resident Casting Director: Danica Rodriguez. Associate Director: Rosie Glen-Lambert. Production Stage Manager: Martha Donaldson. Assistant Stage Manager: Tyler Larson.

Produced in association with La Jolla Playhouse. Performances at Harmmond Hall at Harmon Hall STC in Washington, DC through November 3, 2024.

BELLRINGERS a finalist in the Women's Prize for Playwriting 2024 by Daisy Hall.

Directed by Jessica Lazar.

"Why shouldn’t it be true? Why shouldn’t there be a perfect peal which will shake loose a thunder storm every time? I mean, there’s a chance, isn’t there?"

Billed as: "a comic and deeply moving drama about being young at the end of the world."

A two hander starring Luke Rollason as Clement and Paul Adeyefa as Aspinall.

"The storms are getting worse, with rains so hard that fish are falling from the sky. But the age-old belief prevails - that the pealing of bells can dissipate the thunder and lightning. It’s an extremely dangerous task – one that now falls to lifelong friends Clement and Aspinall – and as the weather worsens, the young men begin to question whether they’ll make it through the night. With their faith in tradition faltering, they find the only thing in which they have unwavering belief is each other.

The creatives are: designer Natalie Johnson. Lighting designer David Doylce. Intimacy director Imogen Frances. Sound designer Holly Khan. Casting director Sarah Jones.

Performances at the Hampstead Theatre in London through November 23, 2024.

OEDIPUS created by Robert Icke, after Sophocles.

Directed by Robert Icke.

Behind every great man is a great woman.
Election night. The polls predict a landslide victory. Everything is about to change.

Starring Mark Strong as Oedipus and Lesley Manville as Jocasta. With Samuel Brewer (Teiresias), Michael Gould (Creon), Sara Hazemi (Lichas/Understudy Antigone), Gary McDonald (Driver), Bhasker Patel (Corin), Phia Saban (Antigone), Jordan Scowen (Eteocles), June Watson (Merope) and James Wilbraham (Polyneices).

Jim Creighton (Ensemble/Understudy Oedipus & Creon), Derek Elroy (Ensemble/Understudy Corin, Teiresias & Driver), Celia Nelson (Ensemble/ Understudy Jocasta & Merope) and Jake Rory (Ensemble/Understudy Polyneices, Eteocles & Lichas).

The creatives are: Set design by Hildegard Bechtler with Costume design by Wojciech Dziedzic, Lighting design by Natasha Chivers, Sound design by Tom Gibbons, Video design by Tal Yarden and Casting by Julia Horan CDG.

Performances at Wyndham's Theatre, London through January 4, 2025.

RICHARD BEAN'S REYKJAVIK by Richard Bean.

Directed by Emily Burns.

February, 1976. In freezing weather off the coast of Iceland, the sidewinder Graham Greene ices up, heels over, and sinks in seconds, taking fifteen of her crew with her. Such are the realities of the brutal world of trawler fishing. On impulse, despised trawler-owner Donald Claxton flies to Reykjavik to see the survivors, setting in train an evening of drinking, horseplay, romance and story-telling that will change all their lives forever.

John Hollingworth plays trawler owner Donald Claxton. He is joined by Sophie Cox who is making her professional London stage debut; Matthew Durkan; Laura Elsworthy; Paul Hickey; Adam Hugill and Matt Sutton.

The production team, led by Emily Burns, includes designer Anna Reid, lighting designer Oliver Fenwick, sound designer Christopher Shutt, composer Grant Olding, dialect Mary Howland and fight director MC_Combat (Maisie Carter). The Casting Director is Bryony Jarvis-Taylor.

Reykjavik plays the Main Stage at Hampstead Theatre, London to November 23, 2024.

E-Book

Soft back Book

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

MITZI GAYNOR was an American actress, singer, and dancer died October 17, 2024 in her Beverly Hills home of natural causes. She was 93.


Some of her notable films include: South Pacific, We're Not Married! (1952), Bloodhounds of Broadway (1952), The Joker Is Wild (1957), and There's No Business Like Show Business.

She also developed a nightclub act, starring in Las Vegas.

During the 1990s, Gaynor became a featured columnist for The Hollywood Reporter.

On September 30, 2017, Gaynor was inducted into the Great American Songbook Hall of Fame.

Gaynor married Jack Bean, a talent agent and public relations executive for MCA, in San Francisco on November 18, 1954. The union was childless. After their marriage, Bean quit MCA, started his publicity firm named Bean & Rose, and managed Gaynor's career.

On December 4, 2006, Jack Bean, Gaynor's husband of 52 years, died of pneumonia in the couple's home, aged 84.

Next Column: October 27, 2024
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Laura Deni