I was browsing for theatre podcasts this morning to see what might turn up (never having accessed any before), and came across a site called The Barestage Theatre, which includes new works and radio plays. It required that I install iTunes, which I've certainly heard of but never thought to add to my computer previously. I knew that iTunes charges 99 cents a song, but didn't realize that its podcasts are "100% free".
Anyway, everything seems to be turning i-This or e-That in this age--until the next "lower case letter phenomenon" is created.
But does an "i" before my name imply I'm an Apple product or user? Is an "e" too generic or ubiquitous? Please help me decide which letter I should be...I'm at a total loss and my entire identity is at stake here!
Until next time...
Rick
Monday, September 17, 2007
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Anglophilia
Having traveled to London annually on business for more than ten years, often extending my stay to explore many parts of England, Scotland and Wales--I guess I'm what you'd call an anglophile.
Of course, having friends and distant relatives in London contributes to the feeling of home when I'm there--as does the lack of a language barrier, the sense of a shared history and, perhaps, a shared destiny.
Compared to when I first visited in 1972, one now finds extraordinary food everywhere in London (Brits being mocked for the blandness of their food since time immemorial!).
And while it certainly rains far more there than here in Southern California, it's not much wetter than the Eastern U.S. if truth be told, and I've experienced some extraordinarily beautiful weather during most of my visits--in all seasons.
Our local PBS station, KOCE has broadcast for years many of the popular British TV series, and we've sampled just about every one of them. But we're partial to that soapish institution East Enders, and KOCE offers two episodes each week (though it's still a couple of years behind the real schedule over there).
It's not brain food, just local color that brings me back again and again to the show. We watched 4 episodes last night, catching up from my recent travels, and one can do a crossword puzzle and check email and engage in other tasks all while watching the inhabitants of this fictional working class neighborhood in London where life revolves around The Vic, it's local pub.
Is it really any better than a typical American daytime or evening soap? Probably not. But it's fun to watch and reminds us of how much we enjoy the English.
Until next time...
Rick
Of course, having friends and distant relatives in London contributes to the feeling of home when I'm there--as does the lack of a language barrier, the sense of a shared history and, perhaps, a shared destiny.
Compared to when I first visited in 1972, one now finds extraordinary food everywhere in London (Brits being mocked for the blandness of their food since time immemorial!).
And while it certainly rains far more there than here in Southern California, it's not much wetter than the Eastern U.S. if truth be told, and I've experienced some extraordinarily beautiful weather during most of my visits--in all seasons.
Our local PBS station, KOCE has broadcast for years many of the popular British TV series, and we've sampled just about every one of them. But we're partial to that soapish institution East Enders, and KOCE offers two episodes each week (though it's still a couple of years behind the real schedule over there).
It's not brain food, just local color that brings me back again and again to the show. We watched 4 episodes last night, catching up from my recent travels, and one can do a crossword puzzle and check email and engage in other tasks all while watching the inhabitants of this fictional working class neighborhood in London where life revolves around The Vic, it's local pub.
Is it really any better than a typical American daytime or evening soap? Probably not. But it's fun to watch and reminds us of how much we enjoy the English.
Until next time...
Rick
Saturday, September 15, 2007
"Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated"--Mark Twain
When I was in New York, I was discussing with my brother the recent article about me in the Orange County Register. I mentioned Mark Twain's oft-quoted statement, and told him how I'm one of the few people who got to read their own obituary while they still live.
Of course, that assumes I won't do anything worthwhile from this point on that might ever be worth talking about.
Don't best on that.
Until next time...
Rick
Of course, that assumes I won't do anything worthwhile from this point on that might ever be worth talking about.
Don't best on that.
Until next time...
Rick
Friday, September 14, 2007
Trend-setting
I just read in today's American Theater Web , a daily digest of theatre news from the U.S. and the U.K., a story in the San Jose Mercury News that Timothy Near, artistic director of San Jose Rep for the past 20 years, will step down after next season.
I had the pleasure of working there when I directed Mitch Albom's Tuesdays With Morrie, which the Laguna Playhouse co-produced with SJ Rep. They have wonderful theatre facility, built in the past 10 years and located in downtown San Jose. They also have a terrific staff who made everything easy for me.
Interestingly, during my week there to tech the show, which began & ran in Laguna for 5 weeks, SJ Rep was also doing a workshop of a new musical by my favorite composer Craig Bohmler. Coincidentally, the leading actor they had for the workshop had dropped out, and Timi (as she is known) phoned my cohort Andy Barnicle to see if he could fly up there and fill in, which he did. So, both of us were in San Jose that week, working at the Rep!
Timi's had many accomplishments there, and the Rep's heyday coincided with the boom of the hi-tech Silicon Valley industries. When it went bust, it hit her theatre very hard, and they are in the midst of a recovery period. Still, I've seen several fine productions there, and have many friends who have worked there, and it's a wonderful company.
Timi has been a charismatic leader of that theatre and was an insightful artistic colleague in her work with me during my visit.
Timi's announcement is the second I've received in the past week (the other by another nonprofit executive in Laguna Beach) from a leader giving up the reins.
Did I start a trend?
Until next time...
Rick
I had the pleasure of working there when I directed Mitch Albom's Tuesdays With Morrie, which the Laguna Playhouse co-produced with SJ Rep. They have wonderful theatre facility, built in the past 10 years and located in downtown San Jose. They also have a terrific staff who made everything easy for me.
Interestingly, during my week there to tech the show, which began & ran in Laguna for 5 weeks, SJ Rep was also doing a workshop of a new musical by my favorite composer Craig Bohmler. Coincidentally, the leading actor they had for the workshop had dropped out, and Timi (as she is known) phoned my cohort Andy Barnicle to see if he could fly up there and fill in, which he did. So, both of us were in San Jose that week, working at the Rep!
Timi's had many accomplishments there, and the Rep's heyday coincided with the boom of the hi-tech Silicon Valley industries. When it went bust, it hit her theatre very hard, and they are in the midst of a recovery period. Still, I've seen several fine productions there, and have many friends who have worked there, and it's a wonderful company.
Timi has been a charismatic leader of that theatre and was an insightful artistic colleague in her work with me during my visit.
Timi's announcement is the second I've received in the past week (the other by another nonprofit executive in Laguna Beach) from a leader giving up the reins.
Did I start a trend?
Until next time...
Rick
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Love/Hate Technology
The laptop I ordered arrived and I spent the better part of yesterday setting it up, figuring out things (and failing to figure out things!) and transferring some files onto it.
It was maddening to discover that no matter how simple the instructions seemed to be--online or in quick set-up charts--they didn't match the visual figures and they didn't work correctly. This forced me to (oh, no!) have to phone the support lines.
You can't find the support phone number of Netgear anywhere in the product materials or packaging--they reaaalllly don't want you to call them.
Microsoft's product key (required for registering the product) is combined of letters and numbers and printed in such tiny type on its package that certain numbers appear to be letters and vice versa. Only after phoning Bangalore and reviewing this with their Indian support representative did we figure that out.
The Netgear router problem turned out to be a hiccup in my Cox cable connection. When I phoned Cox, I followed their automated prompts which use voice technology to address routine problems like this. It was actually pretty impressive and fast working with what was essentially a robot. Problem solved.
Of course, I also phoned brother Bob, our family's resident computer guru. He has always been on top of the latest technology dating back to the advent of PCs in the 1980s when he worked closely with a man who conducted regular seminars enabling people to assemble their own DOS-based PCs in a classroom for a fraction of the retail price. It de-mystified the guts of the hardware and saved us a lot of money.
However, Bob told me to phone support or the Geek squad, saying that most of today's technology is beyond him now too.
Well, the laptop is up and running and I can connect via wireless to our home's main internet connection. My final task will be to figure out a way to have a real email account on this rather than using webmail--but that's for another day. No need to get frustrated and angry over setting this up two days in a row!
Until next time...
Rick
It was maddening to discover that no matter how simple the instructions seemed to be--online or in quick set-up charts--they didn't match the visual figures and they didn't work correctly. This forced me to (oh, no!) have to phone the support lines.
You can't find the support phone number of Netgear anywhere in the product materials or packaging--they reaaalllly don't want you to call them.
Microsoft's product key (required for registering the product) is combined of letters and numbers and printed in such tiny type on its package that certain numbers appear to be letters and vice versa. Only after phoning Bangalore and reviewing this with their Indian support representative did we figure that out.
The Netgear router problem turned out to be a hiccup in my Cox cable connection. When I phoned Cox, I followed their automated prompts which use voice technology to address routine problems like this. It was actually pretty impressive and fast working with what was essentially a robot. Problem solved.
Of course, I also phoned brother Bob, our family's resident computer guru. He has always been on top of the latest technology dating back to the advent of PCs in the 1980s when he worked closely with a man who conducted regular seminars enabling people to assemble their own DOS-based PCs in a classroom for a fraction of the retail price. It de-mystified the guts of the hardware and saved us a lot of money.
However, Bob told me to phone support or the Geek squad, saying that most of today's technology is beyond him now too.
Well, the laptop is up and running and I can connect via wireless to our home's main internet connection. My final task will be to figure out a way to have a real email account on this rather than using webmail--but that's for another day. No need to get frustrated and angry over setting this up two days in a row!
Until next time...
Rick
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Two Remarkable Plays and a Star
Just returned from a short business trip to New York. My Sunday was free, so I met up with my brother Bob and we attended two new plays that had been suggested by Ed Herendeen, artistic director of the Contemporary American Theatre Festival.
The first, at the Atlantic Theater Company, entitled "Scarcity," was a visceral and intelligent study of a nuclear family that is imploding from alcoholism and near-poverty--yet love each other in deep and desperate ways. It's also raw and funny, well-acted by an ensemble cast that includes Kristen Johnston ("Third Rock from the Sun").
Later, we saw "100 Saints You Should Know" by Kate Fodor at Playwrights Horizons. Like many productions at PH, which specializes in developing new work, there was an unfinished quality to this play that signaled it's still likely to experience further refinement in subsequent productions. Nevertheless, "100 Saints" is a fascinating and thoughtful piece about people struggling with their faith in God. Janel Moloney ("West Wing") was making her New York theatre debut as part of the ensemble cast.
Returning from a day-long meeting at the Theatre Communications Group, I rode the subway back to my hotel with another TCG panelist staying there, Joan Schirle,co-Artistic Director and a founding member of Dell’Arte International, the North American center for the exploration, development, training, and performance of the actor-creator. It was the tail end of rush-hour, around 6:45, but the number 1 train was packed. I noticed a handsome tall man standing a couple of riders over from us and he looked at me--we both gave one of those expressions of "don't I know you?"
It was Bob Stillman, and we had a great catch-up chat before we arrived at his stop. Bob starred in my production of "The Last Session" in 1998, the Jim Brochu/Steve Schalchlin musical. We had heard about it, so Andy Barnicle and I went to New York to see it (in which Bob was playing the central character) and to meet its producer Michael Alden.
Bob is one of those "triple-threat" performers--he acts, he sings, he plays piano. In "The Last Session," he had to do it all.
A couple of years later, he did it all again for Claudia Shear's play "Dirty Blonde," a comedy about two people obsessed with Mae West. (When I saw the play, however, I missed him because he had the day off.)
And most recently, I saw Bob in "Grey Gardens," the highly acclaimed play about Big Edie and Little Edie Bouvier, cousins to Jacquie Kennedy, and their eccentric lives.
Anyway, as I commented to Joan after Bob descended the train, "New York is the center of the universe and I always run into people unexpectedly there."
Until next time...
Rick
The first, at the Atlantic Theater Company, entitled "Scarcity," was a visceral and intelligent study of a nuclear family that is imploding from alcoholism and near-poverty--yet love each other in deep and desperate ways. It's also raw and funny, well-acted by an ensemble cast that includes Kristen Johnston ("Third Rock from the Sun").
Later, we saw "100 Saints You Should Know" by Kate Fodor at Playwrights Horizons. Like many productions at PH, which specializes in developing new work, there was an unfinished quality to this play that signaled it's still likely to experience further refinement in subsequent productions. Nevertheless, "100 Saints" is a fascinating and thoughtful piece about people struggling with their faith in God. Janel Moloney ("West Wing") was making her New York theatre debut as part of the ensemble cast.
Returning from a day-long meeting at the Theatre Communications Group, I rode the subway back to my hotel with another TCG panelist staying there, Joan Schirle,co-Artistic Director and a founding member of Dell’Arte International, the North American center for the exploration, development, training, and performance of the actor-creator. It was the tail end of rush-hour, around 6:45, but the number 1 train was packed. I noticed a handsome tall man standing a couple of riders over from us and he looked at me--we both gave one of those expressions of "don't I know you?"
It was Bob Stillman, and we had a great catch-up chat before we arrived at his stop. Bob starred in my production of "The Last Session" in 1998, the Jim Brochu/Steve Schalchlin musical. We had heard about it, so Andy Barnicle and I went to New York to see it (in which Bob was playing the central character) and to meet its producer Michael Alden.
Bob is one of those "triple-threat" performers--he acts, he sings, he plays piano. In "The Last Session," he had to do it all.
A couple of years later, he did it all again for Claudia Shear's play "Dirty Blonde," a comedy about two people obsessed with Mae West. (When I saw the play, however, I missed him because he had the day off.)
And most recently, I saw Bob in "Grey Gardens," the highly acclaimed play about Big Edie and Little Edie Bouvier, cousins to Jacquie Kennedy, and their eccentric lives.
Anyway, as I commented to Joan after Bob descended the train, "New York is the center of the universe and I always run into people unexpectedly there."
Until next time...
Rick
Friday, September 7, 2007
A nice article about me
A couple of weeks ago, Orange County Register critic Paul Hodgins emailed me asking me to answer some questions for a piece he was writing about the new season at the Laguna Playhouse, as he wanted to include some information about my tenure there. I was a bit reluctant to respond because I really didn't think it was my place to comment on my own work. Fortunately, the phrasing of the questions Paul emailed me were such that I was mostly spared having either to toot my own horn or be falsely modest. His article appeared online yesterday, though it won't hit the print edition until this Sunday. Alongside his article, which you can read by clicking here., he has added a sidebar with my verbatim answers to his questions, which you can read by clicking here.
Until next time...
Rick
Until next time...
Rick
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