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contents EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Carol Nussbaum, Rulers Mandala. New Hope Arts, A Space.
20 | Bebe Neuwirth
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The star of the stage (Chicago, Sweet Charity) and the small screen (Frasier, Cheers) tackles A Small Fire in Philadelphia.
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Bob Beck
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CINEMATTERS Ms. Purple
OPINION Ed Branson, Glass. PMA Craft Show, Philadelphia.
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Max Boot Jennifer Rubin
ART EXHIBITIONS
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Julia Averett Buteux & Carol Nussbaum New Hope Arts “A” Space 90th Annual Phillips’ Mill Exhibition New Hope Live from New York: SNL Portraits with Mary Ellen Matthews Banana Factory Art Center
Ms. Purple.
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Ronny Quevedo Space of Play, Play of Space Martin Art Gallery 43rd Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show Philadelphia
Linda Ronstadt. Photo: Kirk West.
ON THE COVER: Actress Bebe Neuwirth. Photo: Anthony Wehrun. 4
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Ray Hendershot My World – Chapter Five The Snow Goose Gallery 10 |
NIGHTLIFE
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THEATER
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BOOKS
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PHOTOGRAPHY
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FILM ROUNDUP Joker Pain and Glory Frankie First Love DOCUMENTARY Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice REEL NEWS Sweet Country Yesterday Cold War Maiden FOODIE FILE Savoring Autumn in Atlantic City
MUSIC 30 |
The intersection of art, entertainment, culture, nightlife and mad genius.
Since 1992 215-862-9558 icondv.com facebook.com/icondv PRESIDENT Trina McKenna trina@icondv.com EDITORIAL Editor / trina@icondv.com
FILM
ESSAY
ICON
Raina Filipiak / Advertising filipiakr@comcast.net PRODUCTION Richard DeCosta Susan Danforth Rita Kaplan INTERNS Joey Fonseca CONTRIBUTING WRITERS A. D. Amorosi Robert Beck Jack Byer Peter Croatto Geoff Gehman Mark Keresman George Miller R. Kurt Osenlund
POP
Bob Perkins
J Balvin & Bad Bunny Thom Yorke Rick Ross
Keith Uhlich
JAZZ/ ROCK/CLASSICAL/ALT Erik Charlston & JazzBrasil Perry Smith Quartet Kristin Chenoweth Paul Combs
ETCETERA 34 |
HARPER’S FINDINGS
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HARPER’S INDEX
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L. A. TIMES CROSSWORD
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AGENDA
Subscription: $40 (12 issues) PO Box 120 • New Hope 18938 215-862-9558 ICON is published twelve times per year. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. ICON welcomes letters to the editor, editorial ideas and submissions, but assumes no responsibility for the return of unsolicited material. ICON is not responsible for claims made by advertisers. ©2019 Prime Time Publishing Co., Inc.
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essay
STORY & PAINTING BY ROBERT BECK
PROCESSION THE MOUNTAINS IN THE northeast part of Sicily, near where it gets nudged by the toe of Italy, are modest but steep. They are a beastly climb when the temperature is in the 90s and you are wearing a suit. The town of Montforte San Giorgio is located in the highlands between Melazzo and Messina and is one of those villages that perches perilously on its mountains like icing on its cupcake. For centuries, the rich lowlands have been used for farming while the villages clustered defensively in the stony heights, ready to slide off the edge with a good shake. Montforte San Giorgio is as old world as it sounds. Sicily has settlements dating to the bronze age, and is a crossroads that has welcomed and weathered many cultures over its history. Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans—everybody’s had a shot at them. The town is built on a medieval footprint, so the roads are narrow and follow the topography. There is evidence of simple, inexpensive pleasures, but the ravages of modernity are impeded by natural limitations. Just like the town I go to in northern Maine every year, it’s a throwback of sorts, but you know it’s just a question of when. For now, Montforte San Giorgio remains what a travel brochure would call timeless. This day there was a wedding at the Mother Church of San Giorgio Martire, in the town square. My nephew married a lovely woman in this, her hometown, which is what brought me to Sicily. We Yanks—about 20 of us—were transported to the mountainside village from Milazzo where most of us were staying, but only part way into the old town. Those thousand-year-old roads aren’t bus friendly, so we got out and walked the final blocks to the church, uphill, the youngest helping the oldest, the rest of us doing our best. I already mentioned the temperature and the suit, but throw cobblestones and leathersoled shoes on that, too. Nevertheless, good spirits reigned triumphant and we made it to the church without significant casualties. We were for the most part always a few steps out of the loop when it came to what was going on. This was not the scripted and scheduled event one must endure in the American suburbs, or your Italian wedding in north Jersey for that matter. You know how Germany is known for
things going like clockwork? Italy, not so much. The day’s events unfolded in loose order, each unhurriedly getting underway once the previous one had run a leisurely course. And why not? It’s a celebration. Why strip the fun out of it? That meant when those who knew better were doing things elsewhere, we found ourselves waiting. But that was an opportunity to get a look around. The most recent rebuild of the church, San Giorgio Martire, was in the mid-1800s, but parts go back to 1100-something. More artifact than showpiece, more foundation of the town than aloof, it is the social center. Children wandered around the inside and played. Some people were dressed for a wedding, others much more everyday. There was no stressed solemnity. The church, the ceremony, the people, were all part of a traditional way of life, but with the ease and familiarity of a family holiday dinner. The best part, a part that seems so right, was when the family walked the bride through the streets from the home to the church, joined by
the townspeople. I left my spot in the front pew to go out and see them arrive. I was struck by the quiet, having expected music and festivity. All I heard was the murmur of conversation as they came toward me, and the soft sounds of fabric and footfalls. There was a breeze, and some birds. Nature’s soundtrack. When the marriage ceremony concluded, there was no recessional. The priests walked out a side door, leaving the new couple standing up front. The guests all got up, stretched, and shook off the hour-and-a-half ceremony, then mingled their way up to wish the bride and groom well. It was my first opportunity to meet the bride’s parents. We don’t speak each other’s language, so that didn’t take very long. We smiled and shook hands, but they had a lot of people to talk with, photos to take, and a long night of celebration in front of them; many things to unfold in their own time. It was a matter of course that the 7:30 reception started at 9:30, and the party went on ‘till 2:00. n
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exhibitions
John Mulaney.
Live from New York: SNL Portraits with Mary Ellen Matthews
George Thompson, Perkiomen Sink.
Banana Factory Arts Center 25 W. Third St. Bethlehem, PA 610-332-1300 Bananafactory.org Part of InVision Photo Festival InVision Photo Festival, November 1-24
Carol Nussbaum, Limelight Hydrangea.
Julia Averett Buteux & Carol Nussbaum New Hope Arts “A” Space 37 W. Bridge St., New Hope, PA 215-862-9606 Newhopearts.org Fri–Sun., 12-5
October 4–27, Opening reception, October 5, 5–7pm Buteux’s work, Skyviews, depicts American landscapes taken from 35,000 ft., capturing the shapes of nature and the geometries laid down by man. Incorporating a rainbow of colors into photos normally blue or gray, she gives viewers a new appreciation for the topography of our nation. Her images appear at once to be something abstract but also familiar. Jabuteux.com Nussbaum’s Mandala series comprises a variety of photographic subjects, ranging from bicycle handles to hydrangeas, woven and repeated into a “mandala” or circle. Found in every culture and faith, a mandala is structured around a unifying center and thought to represent both wholeness and the universe. Nussbaum notes, “Weaving elements of my travel photographs or even a trip to a farm stand into a mandala, brings a new mood or movement to the experience.” Carolnussbaum.com
Julia Averett Buteux, Before Salt Lake, Utah. 6
90th Annual Phillips’ Mill Art Exhibition 2619 River Road (Rte. 32), New Hope, PA 215-862-058 Phillipsmill.org 1-5 PM Daily Through October 27 The Phillips’ Mill Art Exhibition has been the premier art show in the Delaware Valley since 1929. Founded by legendary Pennsylvania Impressionists William Lathrop, Edward Redfield, Daniel Garber, and William Taylor, among others, the early shows were intended to display the artists’ work for friends. The exhibition has grown steadily in prestige. More than 350 artists within a 25mile radius submitted works. There are 100 framed pieces and 20 sculptures on display. Robert Seufert is this year’s honored artist.
Judith Sutton, Green Tea. Award for painting of an interior.
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InVision Photo Festival is a month-long celebration of all things photography, as well as photobased arts. Renowned artists, photo walks and discussions make this a unique opportunity for photographers and image-based artists. Join Mary Ellen Matthews November 17 at 4 PM, to hear about her experiences as the top entertainment portrait photographer for over two decades. She will discuss the portraits for the SNL bumpers that go between the show and the commercials, the equipment she uses, and tips and tricks. At 7 PM, go behind the scenes as she discusses her experiences working with some of the most iconic stars and comedians. Q&A follows.
Amy Adams.
From the left
opinion
From the right
The rough transcript is devastating. How could Trump not know that?
The Ukraine conspiracy is plainly bigger than just the president
By MAX BOOT The Washington Post
By JENNIFER RUBIN The Washington Post
At least Richard Nixon had the good sense to resist releasing the “smoking gun” tape until finally forced to do so by the Supreme Court. That is because Nixon, the worst criminal to occupy the Oval Office until now, at least had a modicum of moral sense and self-awareness. He knew what he had said was wrong—he was heard plotting to use the CIA to shut down the FBI investigation of Watergate—and he realized that the tape’s release would be devastating to him. President Trump, by contrast, is so clueless—so lacking in even the most basic sense of right and wrong—that he could actually tweet this morning: “Will the Democrats apologize after seeing what was said on the call with the Ukrainian President? They should, a perfect call—got them by surprise!” Suffice it to say, there were no apologies after the release of the Memorandum of Telephone Conversation (TelCon) between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25. This isn’t a verbatim transcript, and it’s always possible that it was doctored in some way, but what is revealed in its five pages is deeply damaging to Trump. “The United States has been very very good to Ukraine,” Trump tells Zelensky with an undertone of menace. “I wouldn’t say that it’s reciprocal necessarily because things are happening that are not good but the United States has been very very.good to Ukraine.” Eager to placate Trump, Zelensky thanks him “for your great support in the area of defense.” “We are ready to continue to cooperate for the next steps specifically we are almost ready to buy more Javelins from the United States for defense purposes.” (The Javelin is an antitank missile.) The very next words out of Trump’s mouth are: “I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it.” Quid, meet quo. Trump is explicitly tying U.S. military aid to Ukraine to Ukraine’s willingness “to do us a favor.” He then makes clear that the “us” he is referring to is not the United States of America. It is the Trump campaign. Trump refers to a ridiculous conspiracy theory that the Democratic National Committee’s email server has somehow wound up in Ukraine and says, “I would like to have the Attorney General call you or your people and I would like you to get to the bottom of it.” In other words, Trump is politicizing the U.S. legal system and compromising U.S. national security by demanding that the president of Ukraine cooperate with the Justice Department in a far-fetched attempt to absolve Russia of having hacked the DNC — and Trump of having won in 2016 with Russian help. “Whatever you can do, it’s very important that you do it if that’s possible,” he emphasizes. Trump leaves no doubt that, in addition to relitigating the 2016 election, he wants the Ukrainians to help him win in 2020: "There’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it... It sounds horrible to me.” Zelensky tries to placate Trump by assuring him that the next prosecutor “will be 100 percent my person.” Trump doesn’t give up. “I will have
The whistleblower complaint released [September 26] is detailed, professional and compelling. It tells the story of an ongoing scheme primarily by President Trump and his private attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani to invite and even pressure a foreign power to interfere in the 2020 election. Former federal prosecutor Joyce White Vance tells me, “If this doesn’t end the Trump presidency, nothing will.” The complaint is striking on three grounds. First, as House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (DCalif.) put it in a written statement: “The Committee this morning will be releasing the declassified whistleblower complaint that it received late last night from the ODNI. It is a travesty that it was held up this long. This complaint should never have been withheld from Congress. It exposed serious wrongdoing, and was found both urgent and credible by the Inspector General.” In addition to the president, whoever was involved in the decision was acting in intentional, deliberate violation of the law. The only conceivable reason for withholding the document is its indictment of not only the president but also a host of willing enablers in an illegal scheme to betray American democracy. Second, the complaint confirms that perhaps dozens of U.S. officials were witnesses to the conduct and or helped enable it. Schiff notes: “This complaint is a road map for our investigation, and provides significant information for the Committee to follow up on with other witnesses and documents. And it is corroborated by the call record released yesterday." The complaint says: • “More than a half dozen” officials gave information to the whistleblower • “Multiple White House officials” confided in the whistleblower about the call • “Approximately a dozen” White House officials listened to the July 25 call; “multiple” White House officials told him the transcript had been moved to a protected computer system to avoid its discovery • U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland and U.S. special representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker gave advice to the Ukrainians as to how to deal with Trump (making these officials witnesses, if not participants, in the scheme) • The U.S. ambassador to Ukraine was recalled apparently as a result of a Ukrainian official (whose patron was an anti-reformer and opponent of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky) who demanded to talk to Attorney General William P. Barr about the arrangement • And multiple State Department officials tried to “contain the damage” from Giuliani’s activities. Former federal prosecutor Mimi Rocah tells me, “It seems that In addition to all of the crimes we were talking about yesterday we now should add obstruction of justice to the list and a very wide net of possible participants.” Despite all these U.S. officials involved, none stepped forward to alert Congress or the country. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was either the most clueless secretary ever to work at Foggy Bottom, or he, too, was aware of the scheme and approved the recall of the U.S. ambassador. He should be subpoenaed to testify before or after tendering his resignation, either for gross obliviousness or failure to stop the conspiracy in its tracks. Finally, there is no doubt that this is a far-flung conspiracy playing out over months under the direction of Trump. The president has not only betrayed American democracy and used taxpayer-funded aid to pressure a foreign
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exhibitions
Ode to Liga Deportiva Guayaquil de Indoor Futbol (Working Class Epistemology) Enamel and wooden planks on panel, 8 x 12 ft.
Ronny Quevedo Space of Play, Play of Space
Winter Study.
Martin Art Gallery, Muhlenberg College Baker Center for the Arts 2400 Chew Street, Allentown, PA 484-664-3467 Muhlenberg.edu September 18 – November 2 This multi-site exhibition locates the viewer as competitor in an imaginary, negotiated environment. A metaphor for shifting global landscapes, Quevedo interrogates notions of borders and boundaries to explore our relationship to nationalisms, territory, and migration. The show is an investigation of the self, through the games we play by magnifying the role of migration within that transformation. Quevedo’s exhibition is complemented by a field-sized drawing 175 x 125 feet, on Muhlenberg campus, adjacent to the Trexler Library. It is viewable in the round from nearby sidewalks and streets, and visitors are encouraged to directly engage with the work by walking on, over, and through the field.
Errant Globe Soccer, ball bladder and globe stand 14 x 14 x 14, 2015 8
Hughes-Bosca, Jewelry, Gloucester, MA
43rd Annual Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show Pennsylvania Convention Center 12th & Arch Streets, Philadelphia 215-684-7930 Pmacraftshow.org November 8–10 Preview Party, November 7 The show will spotlight 195 contemporary fine craft artists from across the U.S., and 22 guest artists from Israel, who will exhibit in over a dozen categories of fine contemporary craft from ceramics to jewelry, to furniture and fiber. Attendees may interact with the artists, including meet & greet tours, opening night gala and award ceremony, artist demonstrations, and a fashion show on Saturday. Additionally, there will be work by recent alumni and students studying at Drexel University, Moore College of Art & Design, and Savannah College of Art & Design’s Jewelry Graduate Study Program. The Craft Show is produced by The Women’s Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. As the largest single fundraiser of the year for the Museum, the event brings nearly 12,000 people to the city each year and has raised over $13 million dollars over its 42-year history. Proceeds from ticket sales impact the Museum’s ability to purchase works of art and contemporary craft for the permanent collection. Funds raised from the show also help to fund education and community outreach projects, state-of-the-art equipment, and special exhibitions. Tickets can be purchased online now or at the Convention Center the week of the show.
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January.
Ray Hendershot, AWS, NWS (1931–2019) My World – Chapter Five The Snow Goose Gallery 470 Main St., Bethlehem, PA 610-974-9099 thesnowgoosegallery.com November 3 – December 22 Opening Reception: Sunday, Nov. 3, 1–5 pm The Pennsylvania countryside, its inhabitants and way of life provide the subject matter for this watercolor and acrylic painter. Ray is highly regarded for his detailed rural landscapes and antique still lifes. He explained, the subject of his work is not the aging farm buildings, the rustic old mills, or the antiquated crocks and jugs; the real subject is their surfaces. Ray said, “I am intrigued by the texture of a crumbling stone wall, the splintered work of an old farm wagon, or the way the light reflects off a piece of hand-turned stoneware; the signs of wear and hard use.”
In the Workshop.
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nightlife
CURATED BY A.D. AMOROSI
OCTOBER
“Missing You”—not my favorite 80s track, but, certainly one of yours. Steelstacks at ARtsQuest, steelstacks.org
5 PINK MARTINI WITH CHINA FORBES & SPECIAL GUEST MEOW MEOW
13 MICHAEL IAN BLACK
While I can’t vouch for his stand-up bits, Michael Ian Black’s taste in sketch comedy on television shows and groups such as The State, Viva Variety and Stella is impeccable. Plus, he starred in the cult comedy flick, Wet Hot American Summer, so big ups there. Steelstacks at ArtsQuest, steelstacks.org
Pink Martini’s Thomas Lauderdale has long been the guiding light of this Portland-based swirling symphonique
the movie-riffing comic commentary on obscure B-flicks (this time, it’s Jean Claude Van Damme in No Retreat, No Surrender) while travelling with two robots (Crow, and Gypsy). Not for long, however, as this is his retirement tour. Be there. Zoellner Arts Center, zoellner.cas2.lehigh.edu/events
touched by hints of 30s big band, 40s chansons and 60s bachelor-pad lounge jazz. Now, along with highlighting the talents of lead singer China Forbes, the internationally renowned cabaret chanteuse Meow Meow is putting an extra toss of gin in Martini’s mix. Zoellner Arts Center, zoellner.cas2.lehigh.edu/events
15 IT WAS FIFTY YEARS AGO TODAY: A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES WHITE ALBUM
10 MARC MARON
Upper Darby’s Todd Rundgren, Christopher Cross, The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz, Jason Scheff and Badfinger’s Joey Molland all team up in order to cover the Fab Four’s second best album. Yes, I said it. Let the arguments begin. Keswick Theatre, keswicktheatre.com
Stand-up icon turned podcast avatar turned dramedy acting contender (Glow), Maron’s life has changed radically
15, 16 GREAT VAN FLEET
The closest thing that millennials will get to Led Zeppelin in their lifetime does two nights at The Met. The Met Philadelphia, themetphilly.com 20 TOTO
Glossy rock’s longtime punchline has the last laugh after Weezer made Toto popular again by covering “Africa.” Plus, these cats were ’70’s blue-eyed soul’s best backing band (see Boz Scaggs’ Silk Degrees). The Met Philadelphia, themetphilly.com
10 BON IVER + FEIST
Soft electronic soul’s most sensitive man tours behind his new album - i, i, - and now, with the toast of Canadian pop. Wells Fargo Center, wellsfargophilly.com 10 DEEP PURPLE
Deep Purple have a long and storied history with way too many members to recall (Ian Paice, Roger Glover and Ian
since his start, and his always controversial comedy will surely reflect as much. Merriam Theater, kimmelcenter,org 10 YOUNG THUG + MACHINE GUN KELLY
Hip hop’s new #1 artist (Young Thug’s So Much Fun album debut hit the top of the charts upon release last month) and the tall skinny rapper who played Tommy Lee in Netflix’s Motley Crue bio The Dirt hit North Broad’s loveliest room. The Met Philadelphia, themetphilly.com
23 SERGIO MENDES
Along with Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass, Mendes’ Brazil 66 was the sauntering shimmering sound of the summer of your youth, of pop with flavor, of sensuality. Keswick Theatre, keswicktheatre.com 25 DAVID BROMBERG AND BETTEYE LAVETTE
This son of Delaware’s bluegrass scene has fiddled and mandolin-ed his way through the history of folk and rock
10 SHEER MAG
For its sophomore album, Philly’s power pop Sheer Mag bring out the 80s synths sound while maintaining its punkish edge on A Distant Call. Union Transfer, utphilly.com Gillan are among its originators). They all but birthed heavy metal with a progressive, even R&B-ish feel in their early days, and can probably still crush it. Word has it, this is their last tour. That never works out, though—ask The Who. The Tower Theatre, thetowerphilly.com
10 JOHN WAITE
The lead singer, guitarist & composer of the glam-pop The Babys still has good hair, and one of the genre’s most epic songs (“Isn’t It Time”) to call his own, and will surely play
10 MILES DAVIS' IN A SILENT WAY 50TH ANNIVERSARY WITH CHARLIE HALL OF THE WAR ON DRUGS
Hall, best known as the drummer for The War on Drugs, the eccentric Philadelphia male choral ensemble The Silver Ages and The Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society marks the 50th anniversary Miles Davis’ quietest landmark with a team of dynamic locals that include the legendary Philly guitarist Monnette Sudler. World Café Live, worldcafelive.com
in America, playing with Dylan along the way, as well as creating some of the most endearing gypsy jazz you’ll ever hear. Bluesy soul vocalist Lavette is a treasure when it comes to emotional storytelling. If these two play together, even for a minute, my mind will be blown. Steelstacks at ArtsQuest, steelstacks.org 30 BIG FREEDIA
10 MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 LIVE: THE GREAT CHEESY MOVIE CIRCUS TOUR
Original host-creator Joel Hodgson is back on tour with 10
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The boisterous queen of New Orleans’ bounce sound on Mischief Night? Dag, that sounds inviting. Theatre of Living Arts, tlaphilly.com n
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theater
valley theater
city theater
Festival UnBound. Organized by Touchstone Theatre, the Oct. 4-13 arts, culture and sustainability smorgasbord showcases the following new plays: Prometheus/Redux: A dying ex-steelworker confronts medical, familial and tribal challenges. (Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts, 321 E. 3rd St., Bethlehem, Oct. 4-6) The Secret: Humans and puppets perform the words, deeds and dreams of poet/memoirist H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), born and buried in Bethlehem. (Touchstone Theatre, 321 E. 4th St., Bethlehem, Oct. 5-8) Hidden Seed: Bethlehem’s Forgotten Utopia”: Moravian women help settle and are unsettled in a new settlement in a new country. (Single Sisters House, 50 W. Church St., Bethlehem, Oct. 5-9; PBS 39, 839 Sesame Place, SteelStacks complex, Oct. 10) Beyond Utopia: Polish company Teatr Brama explores ending inequality, (Bethlehem Area Public Library, 11 W. Church St., Oct. 10-11) The Hunt for Utopia: Agile Rascal Bicycle Touring Theatre takes spectators on a 1.6-mile trek toward a greener, healthier city. (Performance begins at the Ice House, 56 River St., Oct. 9-12) Embracing Bethlehem (Abrazo a Belen):Bronx-based Pregones Theater unites with local performers to bridge cultures in a city of bridges (Ice House, 56 River St., Oct. 11-12) More information: festivalunbound.com
Young Frankenstein: Mel Brooks’ second funniest film after Blazing Saddles, the one lampooning all of Universal horror’s most manically melodramatic tropes, has been banging the boards of Broadway for well over a decade. Recently, writers Brooks and Thomas Meehan, streamlined the stage musical for the British stage, added two new songs, and premiered it at Philly’s Walnut. Boo. Walnut Street Theatre, through Oct 20, walnutstreettheatre.org
The Suicide Club. A wealthy couple in Victorian London infiltrate a secret society with a heiress who can only afford club admission. Written by Ara Barlieb, the new Crowded Kitchen Players production is based on three stories by Robert Louis Stevenson. (Touchstone Theatre, 321 E. 4th St., Bethlehem, Oct. 18-20, 25-26, Nov. 15-17)
RENT: Sure, the late great Jonathan Larson’s musical theater-altering adventure —crafted in the first age of AIDS—played here not so long ago...like in March. What of it? It’s still a stunning score and story, and this time the national touring cast is joined by Philly native Shafiq Hicks. Plus, Philadelphia’s University of the Arts grad, Lexi Greene, understudies the Maureen Johnson role. Merriam Theater, Oct. 18–20, kimmelcenter.org
Working. James Taylor’s “Millworker” highlights this compelling musical version of Studs Terkel’s oral history of American laborers from all walks and works. (Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, DeSales University, 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley, Oct. 10-13, 16-20) Sunset Boulevard. The Lehigh Valley debut of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s neon-noir musical about a clawing former silent-film star, her tortured young screenwriter beau, and her very protective ex-husband, ex-director chauffeur. (Civic Theatre of Allentown, 527 North 19th St., Oct. 11-12, 1720, 24-27) Best of Broadway: Sondheim and Webber. Allentown Symphony Pops plays standards from such standard musicals as “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Sweeney Todd” with soloists Debbie Gravitte, who won a featured-actress musical Tony for “Jerome Robbins’ Broadway,” and Hugh Panaro, who has performed the title character of “Phantom of the Opera” over 2,000 times. (Miller Symphony Hall, 23 N. 6th St, Allentown, Oct. 12) Amadeus. Mozart, a foolish genius, is tested by a conniving, admiring rival in Peter Shaffer’s brilliant tragicomedy. (Lipkin Theater, Kopacek Hall, Northampton Community College, 3835 Green Pond Rd., Bethlehem, Oct. 17-19)
The Roommate: Philly’s sole cavalcade of comic theater takes on playwright Jen Silverman’s quirky take on two women in their mid-50s, holed up together in a house in Iowa City for various bad reasons. That its stars, two of Philly’s stage legends, Grace Gonglewski and Jennifer Childs, and is directed by Harriet Power, gives an already delicious comedy power. 1812 Productions at Plays & Players Theatre, through Oct. 20, 1812productions.org Theatre Philadelphia’s 25th Annual 2019 Barrymore Awards Ceremony and Celebration: Philly’s version of the Tonys moves beyond inside baseball in this celebration, with an ever-increasing public awareness of diversity in the city’s theater community. Plus, West Philly-based playwright Ed Shockley— gets the Barrymore’s Lifetime Achievement Award, an event alone worth the price of admission. October 14, theatrephiladelphia.org
Looking Over the President’s Shoulder: Ooh, this should be good. Philadelphia theater and film veteran Brian Anthony Wilson stars in playwright James Still’s and director David Bradley’s look at the true tale of the butler who witnessed four presidencies. OK, that’s basically the same story as Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013). Still, a great idea is worth repeating. Act II Playhouse, Oct 22.–Nov. 17, act2.org Come from Away: A musical with book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein about the true story of 38 planes being ordered to land unexpectedly in the province of Newfoundland the week after Sept. 11 doesn’t sound rousing, yet it manages something magical and uplifting without being cloying or predictable. Academy of Music, Oct. 22–Nov. 3, kimmelcenter.org Buried Child: The late Sam Shepard’s stark Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about the secrets and myths that created, lifted, then destroyed the idea of the American Family. With Director Dane Eissler behind the production, I suspect Buried Child will be as fresh and painful as when Shepard first ripped the bandage off. EgoPo Classic Theater at the Latvian Society, Oct. 23–Nov. 10, egopo.org
Into the Woods. Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine crisscross and topsy-turvy storybook stars--Cinderella, Rapunzel, Beanstalk Jack--in a highly entertaining, highly inventive musical about the twisty, twisted morality of fairy tales. (Baker Center for the Arts, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown, Oct. 25-27, Oct. 31-Nov. 3) n
Mandy Patinkin. I struggled with the idea of putting this in ICON’s Nightlife section, but having one of the Broadway stage’s greatest actors and vocalists (e.g. Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George) open his new show in Philly—however, it’s theme-based (Diary) and ripe with songs by Paul Simon, Stephin Merritt (The Magnetic Fields), Randy Newman, Biff Rose, and Patinkin, which gives it the greater weight of theater. So there. Oct. 30, Kimmel Center, mandypatinkindiary.com n
— GEOFF GEHMAN
— A.D. AMOROSI
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books What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence Metropolitan Stories: A Novel by Christine Coulson Other Press LLC Hidden behind the Picassos and Vermeers, the Temple of Dendur and the American Wing, exists another world: the hallways and offices, conservation studios, storerooms, and cafeteria that are home to the museum's devoted and peculiar staff of 2,200 people—and a few ghosts. A surreal love letter to this private side of the Met, Metropolitan Stories unfolds in a series of amusing and poignant vignettes in which we discover largerthan-life characters, the downside of survival, and the powerful voices of the art itself. The result is a novel bursting with magic, humor, and energetic detail, but also a beautiful book about introspection, an ode to lives lived for art, ultimately building a powerful collage of human experience and the world of the imagination. “This series of vignettes goes beyond what a casual visitor to the museum might see and offers a witty, enjoyable look at the elegant and sometimes unhinged world that exists within its walls.” —Town and Country
by Stephen A. Schwarzman Simon & Schuster People know who Stephen Schwarzman is—at least they think they do. He’s the man who took $400,000 and co-founded Blackstone, the investment firm that manages over $500 billion (as of January 2019). He’s the CEO whose views are sought by heads of state. He’s the billionaire philanthropist who founded Schwarzman Scholars, this century’s version of the Rhodes Scholarship, in China. But behind these achievements is a man who has spent his life learning what it takes to achieve excellence, and live a life of consequence. His story is an empowering, entertaining, and informative guide for anyone striving for greater personal impact. From deal making to investing, leadership to entrepreneurship, philanthropy to diplomacy, Schwarzman has lessons for how to think about ambition and scale, risk and opportunities, and how to achieve success through the relentless pursuit of excellence. Schwarzman not only offers readers a thoughtful reflection on all his own experiences, but in doing so provides a practical blueprint for success. “Steve’s lessons challenge me to think bigger and move faster. His insights apply to our work and personal lives, and his leadership has always embodied the principle of doing what is right, even when it is hard.” — Mary Barra, Chairwoman / CEO of GM
Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law
Disrupted Realism: Paintings for a Distracted World
by Haben Girma Grand Central Publishing
by John Seed Schiffer
Disrupted Realism is the first book to survey the works of contemporary painters who are challenging and reshaping the tradition of Realism. It includes the works of 38 artists whose paintings respond to the subjectivity and disruptions of modern experience. Author John Seed has selected artists he sees as visionaries in this developing movement. The artists’ impulses toward disruption are as individual as the artists themselves, but all share the need to include perception and emotion in their artistic process. Interviews offer additional insight into some of the most incisive painting being created today. “Disrupted Realism doesn’t focus on facile representation...it centers on the opposite—that something remarkable happens when the so-called ‘real’ is smeared, blurred, broken, battered, or even just a bit bruised.” — Anne Harris (artist) 14
Haben, a disability rights lawyer, public speaker, and the first deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law, takes readers through her unaccommodating world. Born in the Bay Area in 1988, Haben spent summers in her family’s homeland of Eritrea, in the capital Asmara, where her deafblind older brother hadn’t been allowed to attend school. While living in the U.S. afforded her more opportunity, she missed out on assignments, jokes, and life’s nuances: “It’s a sighted hearing classroom, in a sighted hearing school, in a sighted hearing society. In this environment, I’m disabled.” At a young age, Haben vowed to change that environment and pushed beyond her own comfort zones: dancing salsa, helping build a school in Mali, and climbing an iceberg. At Lewis & Clark College she advocated for a braille cafeteria menu; at Harvard Law, she developed a text-to-braille system, which allowed a second party to communicate details to her during classes. “An inspiring and illuminating memoir.” — Kirkus Reviews.
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The Testaments by Margaret Atwood Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group More than 15 years after the events of The Handmaid's Tale, the theocratic regime of the Republic of Gilead maintains its grip on power, but there are signs it is beginning to rot from within. At this crucial moment, the lives of three radically different women converge, with explosive results. Two have grown up as part of the first generation to come of age in the new order. The testimonies of these two young women are joined by a third voice: a woman who wields power through the ruthless accumulation and deployment of secrets. Awood opens up the innermost workings of Gilead as each woman comes to terms with who she is, and how far she will go. “A fast, immersive narrative that’s as propulsive as it is melodramatic.” — Michiko Kakutani,
The New York Times
Bad Days in History: A Gleefully Grim Chronicle of Misfortune, Mayhem, and Misery for Every Day of the Year by Michael Farquhar National Geographic Publishing Michael Farquhar uncovers an instance of bad luck, misfortune, and mayhem tied to every day of the year. From Caligula’s blood-soaked end to hotelier Steve Wynn’s run-in with a priceless Picasso, these 365 tales of misery include lost fortunes, romance gone wrong, and truly bizarre moments (like the Great Molasses Flood of 1919). “Mr. Farquhar's latest, Bad Days in History, may offer consolation to the great mass of quotidian bellyachers....whose piddling misfortunes and regrets will snap neatly into perspective when set against the record of idiocy and disaster he has assembled.”
— Wall Street Journal
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photography Confessions of an
OUTSIDER LOOKING IN I THINK IT ALL started when I was nine years old and my parents and grandparents conspired to make me take accordion lessons. A couple of years later, they signed me up for tap dancing lessons. I was never quite the same after that. I became a social outsider who often felt as if he was upside down while the rest of the world was right side up—leaving me with good credentials for that supremely delicate sense of awareness necessary for producing what I think we call art. Fifteen years later, at the age of 24, I experienced a moment of Zen-like clarity which galvanized my choice of the camera as my brush, film as my canvas, and all of life around me as subject matter. While standing in the middle of a hot, dusty street in Gia Dinh, South Vietnam, I took a picture of a burning Shell Oil station. It was May 6, 1968, and that filling station had, until recently, been the scene of a fierce battle between Communist forces and soldiers of the army of South Vietnam…what later history books would refer to as a part of the “mini-Tet” offensive of 1968. Now the building was engulfed in smoke and flames. The tall station sign was partly destroyed—the “S” burned away, leaving the word “hell,” surrounded in a dark field of billowing smoke. The irony of that telling detail was not lost on me, and that is why I decided to take the picture. It was if a voice from another world had reached out, saying “look at me.” From that moment on I was hooked, and since then I have devoted my photographic life to following that voice, and the kinds of visual manifestations it heralds. Three hundred years ago, Japanese Zen master Hakuin wrote a koan—a kind of riddle—about the sound of a “Single Hand.” I believe he wrote that as an instrument to help his students cleanse their minds of traditional, linear thinking—and as a way of removing their sense of “Self” when approaching the world around them. The problem is that the human mind is much too uptight and busy with all that “Monkey Mind” business—labeling, classifying, judging the world around it. Looking, but never “seeing.” Listening but never “hearing.” Part of my search as a photographer has been to learn to hear Hakuin’s “Single Hand” and utilize the lessons it holds for my craft. I studied camera theory and darkroom technique, but more importantly I began to absorb the work and thinking of the modern masters of my craft: 16
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Diane Arbus, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Garry Winogrand. I devoured the writing of Gonzo journalist Hunter Thompson. And then I discovered the humorous photographs of Elliott Erwitt. All this work eventually became a part of my personal twist on recording “reality.” I learned that the camera had its own unique “take” on the world, and that this small box I held in my hands was not always a faithful witness to the “facts” it was supposed to record. I think Winogrand said it best when he wrote, “ I photograph things not for what they look like, but for what they look like photographed.” That simple statement really put the hook in me. Early on I preferred using the wide-angle lens. This perspective drew me in close to the action, and my ideas about what was the center of interest in the frame gradually became more complex. Foreground and background became equally important, and I became aware that my visual reactions to situations were sometimes pivoting off a “something” of which I was not always fully conscious. My contact sheets became little surprise packages. I would ask myself, “Did I really see that? Where the hell did that come from?” I began to turn in self-assigned projects to fulfill my need to make pictures that did more than just illustrate some editor’s preconceived notion of how a story should be photographed. These projects allowed me to pursue visual storytelling the way I needed to do it. While photographing, I occasionally experienced bursts of creative excitement—what Zen philosophy-followers would call Satori moments: those flashes of insight and recognition when you know you’ve captured something significant. Those moments have always sent a chill up my spine; the same chill I first experienced many years ago on that hot, dusty street in Vietnam. I was a long way from that hot, dusty street in Vietnam, and yet I was also about to come full circle to my beginnings as a photographer. I keep listening for that little interior voice that whispers, “Look at me.” n — Bryan Grigsby Bryan Grigsby: Still Photographer/Audio Specalist. Department of the Army Special Photo Office. (DASPO) 1967-1970. Photos from this period published in the Time-Life book series, The Vietnam Experience. Nominated for Pulitzer Prize in Feature Photography. 1983. Photo Editor. The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1985-present. Adjunct Lecturer. Drexel University. Photography and photojournalism. 1994- 2000. Columnist. News Photographer Magazine. 1995-2000.
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cinematters
PETE CROATTO
Ms. Purple A GREAT MOVIE IS under here, somewhere, but this version of Ms. Purple isn’t it. Director and co-screenwriter Justin Chon (Gook) crams his work with stylistic flourishes that distance us from the main characters, a brother and sister who are too young to live a life this desperate. Chon contributes to their inertia instead of revealing why they’re in it. The movie opens with the heroine, Kasie (Tiffany Chu), stumbling through the pre-dawn streets of Koreatown in Los Angeles in a traditional South Korean dress, before launching into a flashback that foretells her misery. She is a young girl, showered with praise by her father (James Kang), who is desperate to win her mother back. Kasie doesn’t rebel, and it sets the tone for her life up to this point. Obedience has exacted a toll. She is the world’s oldest 23-year-old. Her days are spent caring for her father, who is now nearly vegetative, in their tiny, drab, dark ranch. The wallpaper her mother hung to give the house some life still hangs like wilted pedals on a dying flower. At night, Kasie provides companionship—and, 18
yes, it leads where you dread—to a wave of handsy Asian business bros at a karaoke bar. It’s an enervating cycle of distractions. Then there’s a shake-up. The nurse who cares for Kasie’s father quits under the strain of tending to a man meant for hospice. When Kasie’s attempt to recruit nurses in a parking lot get her tossed out by a security guard, she calls her estranged brother, Carey, who drifts from day to day in clothes that look like thrift store rejects. Carey agrees to help, even though he left home as a teenager after he came to blows with his father. What happens next is hard to say. Carey adjusts to his new role, and wheels his father outside to get some sun; Kasie begins a stint as the funded girlfriend to a pseudo fashion industry hotshot (Tony Kim). The siblings are pissing their youth away, but Chon fails to flesh out their stasis. Misery isn’t really that interesting without a cause, and Chon’s moves obscure and frustrate. The blue-tinged photography straight from Moonlight; the fact that Kasie is shot from behind, a non-stop reminder that she’s not in
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control; the overuse of flashbacks and grainy slow-motion. Chon uses these techniques to delve into Kasie and Carey’s woe, but they’re tossed into the narrative and prevent the film’s dramatic rhythm from building. Chon puts us right in a moment, which provides an immediate jolt. How did Kasie end up wandering the streets? But the director doesn’t offer clues or visual enticements. So, we retreat to the past, which takes us further away from the present. Ms. Purple is a tangle more than an emotional patchwork. You’re too busy identifying what’s wrong with the movie’s mechanics to focus on the characters. After this emotional warfare, we want to feel a good exhaustion: the characters either break through or realize they’ve gone as far as they can go. With Ms. Purple, we’re bombarded by technique, including an otherworldly ending that is more tiresome than ambitious. The exhaustion comes from indifference. These are people we want to care about, but we don’t know them beyond the pain that imprisons them. [NR] n
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interview A.D. AMOROSI
Bebe Neuwirth Catches Fire TWO-TIME TONY- AND Emmy Award-winner Bebe Neuwirth will star in the Philadelphia premiere of Adam Bock’s wildly humorous, yet poignant theater piece, A Small Fire. Bock’s deliciously detailed play captures the life of Neuwirth’s character, Emily Bridges, from great strength to humbling weakness as she loses her senses, yet ultimately manages to maintain power and stay the boss. Anyone who has witnessed Neuwirth on television as the literally commanding presence of Lilith Sternin/Crane in Frasier and Cheers, or Velma Kelly in the revival of Chicago or Morticia Addams in The Addams Family—the latter two on Broadway —knows that she’s got a lock on the boss role. Nickie, too, Neuwirth’s role in the Bob Fosse musical, Sweet Charity, is strong albeit within the vulnerability of being a taxi dancer by trade. Even her most recent roles in television’s The Good Wife, Madam Secretary, and Blue Bloods radiate the efficacy that comes with a position of strength. Yet, having been a dancer most of her life, there is grace alongside the guile in everything Neuwirth does. “I can say that I’ve never worked with a more rigorous and passionate professional than Bebe,” Producing Artistic Director Paige Price told Broadway World upon the casting of her pal, Bebe. “Her work ethic is unparalleled and she demands more from herself than anyone in the room. Her standards are unbelievably high and she inspires everyone to do their very best work. The role of Emily is massively complex— she’s a strong woman, who owns and operates her own construction company, and for better or worse wears the pants in the family. The role requires enormous bravery and intelligence and empathy. Bebe is absolutely perfect for this part and is rightly both attracted to it and understands the incredible excavation she’s about to undergo.” I caught up with Neuwirth in New York City, in preparation of her Philly rehearsal schedule. Your theater credits are as long as my arm, with a heavy emphasis on musicals. I’m curious—I ask this of opera singers and stage ac20
tors—do you have a secret weird rock band past? I throw this out there because, on your solo album, Porcelain, you tackle both Tom Waits’ Foreign Affair, and Brecht/Weill songs with real tension and gusto. Huh. I’ve never been in a band. I don’t have a secret past. But I do approach songs, singing songs, as if I’m acting. Everything is acting. Whether you’re singing, dancing, talking, or being quiet—it’s all acting. I approach a song,
“
THE GREATEST ACTORS THAT WE’VE SEEN ON STAGE ARE DANCERS. OUR BODIES EXPRESS AND TELL THE STORIES, AND THE CHARACTERS ARE EXPLAINED PHYSICALLY. AN ACTOR’S PHYSICALITY WILL CHANGE WITH A ROLE, AND YOU CAN EXTRAPOLATE FROM THERE THAT THAT IS WHAT DANCING IS.
” any song, from a character’s point of view, and a story’s point of view. And not only do I pay attention to the lyrics’ sense of story and character, but how the music, too, describes the story and the character. Would you give me an example? There are pieces of Weill’s where, even if you didn’t know the words, or if I was singing in German, you would get the feel of it, all that he’s trying to evoke. There’s another Tom Waits song, “Martha,” that when I sing it, tells its story without even knowing its lyrics. The music is what truly offers me cues as to what the story is, and what the characters are about. Then I have to go about the business of making it all sound good. It’s still more about the emotion and the expression.
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If acting informs everything you do, how does acting inform your dancing? I’ll say this: one of the greatest actors that I’ve ever seen on a stage was Rudolf Nureyev when he was doing an Ionesco play that was being adapted in to a ballet, The Lesson. When I studied acting, I learned that acting is living truthfully, moment to moment, under imaginary circumstances. So, that it doesn’t matter if there is music or no music, or if you’re talking, singing or listening, you are living truthfully. When I was 13 years old, dancing the role of The Cat in Peter and the Wolf, I was absolutely acting. I was dancing en pointe in a ballet, with Prokofiev music behind me, but that Cat… I was living truthfully, moment to moment, under the imaginary circumstances…here, though stalking a bird. The greatest actors that we’ve seen on stage are dancers. Our bodies express and tell the stories, and the characters are explained physically. An actor’s physicality will change with a role, and you can extrapolate from there that that is what dancing is. The last ten years of your career, and your choices of roles on stage and television, are so different from the decade or so before that. How does the actor who went in for a A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Blue Bloods differ from the actor who did Chicago and Frasier? There’s probably not that much difference. At a certain point, however, probably in the last five years, I started thinking maybe I don’t have to do everything that comes my way. That’s something—a point—that takes a very, very long time to “A” be lucky enough to be in that position, and “B,” to recognize, as an artist, that you don’t always have to say yes. And there are times when I do say no to things that are great, they’re just not right for me, or maybe it’s the timing. I’ve eased up. Knowing what’s right—is that intellectual or instinctive?
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film roundup
Penélope Cruz in Pain and Glory.
KEITH UHLICH
Joker (Dir. Todd Phillips). Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro. Giving everything he has to a film that’s hardly worth the effort, Joaquin Phoenix fully transforms himself (he even lost more than fifty pounds for this role) into the Clown Prince of Crime, whose destiny it is to eventually clash with one Bruce Wayne/Batman. Though the Bat-mythos is alluded to here, Todd Phillips’ self-consciously dour film (a standalone feature, so they say for now) is more an alterna-origin story in which Phoenix’s skeleton-thin sidewalk clown, Arthur Fleck, slow-burns his way toward chaosinducing psychosis in a decrepit Gotham City that resembles 1981era New York. Martin Scorsese is aesthetic godfather, evident in the imagery’s Taxi Driver-esque grit and the casting of Robert De Niro as an officious late-night talk show host (he’s playing what is effectively the Jerry Lewis role in The King of Comedy). That the film fails to live up to either of those knotty masterpieces is the least of its faults. [R] H1/2 22
Pain and Glory (Dir. Pedro Almodóvar). Starring: Antonio Banderas, Asier Etxeandia, Penélope Cruz. Pedro Almodóvar looks in the mirror in his latest color- and emotion-saturated semi-autobiographical feature. He casts his muse, Antonio Banderas, as aging film director Salvador Mallo, a very clear stand-in for Almodóvar himself. Faced with a retrospective screening of one of his earliest works, Mallo reminisces about his upbringing with his mother Jacinta, played by Almodóvar regulars Penélope Cruz and Julieta Serrano at different ages, and tries to make amends with the leading man, Alberto Crespo (Asier Etxeandia), with whom he had a falling out. At once gentle and provocative, especially in its nonchalant treatment of Mallo’s heroin addiction, Pain and Glory sees Almodóvar equally comfortable exploring who he was and who he is, and it packs a cumulative emotional power that has clearly been honed over a very full and robust lifetime. [R] HHHH1/2
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Frankie (Dir. Ira Sachs). Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Brendan Gleeson, Marisa Tomei. Isabelle Huppert plays the cancer-stricken movie actress matriarch, nicknamed Frankie, of a family that gathers in the resort town of Sintra, for a vacation. Taking place over a single day-into-evening, the film’s dramas are decidedly micro: Huppert’s character loses a bracelet in the brush. Her friend breaks things off with a boyfriend who wants to rush into marriage. Her granddaughter heads to the beach to escape her mother, Sylvia (Vinette Robinson). As cowriter and director Ira Sachs drops in and out of these minitempests, the sense of a multifaceted family unit comes profoundly to the fore, aided in no small part by Rui Poças’s expressive, sundappled cinematography (the last shot, especially, is a stunner). We come to know Frankie and her family precisely because of what is elided and what we have to intuit about them. This is a film in which nothing happens, yet everything does. [PG-13] HHHH1/2
First Love (Dir. Takashi Miike). Starring: Masataka Kubota, Sakurako Konishi. The Japanese director Takashi Miike specializes in unpredictability, not only in his choice of what films to make, but in the frequently whiplashing tone of each individual project. The noirish First Love is no exception, beginning at a fever pitch (a yakuza’s head literally rolls before the opening credits have finished) and getting progressively crazier. Our heroes are a boxer, Leo (Masataka Kubota), convinced he has a terminal disease, and a drugaddicted sex slave, Monica (Sakurako Konishi), who escapes her bonds with Leo’s unwitting assistance. Car chases, gunplay, and a swordfight in a hardware store ensues. By the time a wackadoo anime interlude hits, we’re well past the point of everything-andthe-kitchen-sink. The palpable affection that blooms between Leo and Monica keeps all the craziness grounded. Indeed, there’s no better way to express ardor, in Miike’s world, than through copious, graphic bloodshed. [R] HHH1/2
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documentary
Mick Jagger and Linda Ronstadt, Malibu Colony, 1976. Photo: Carinthia West
PETE CROATTO
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice PARKINSON’S DISEASE ROBBED LINDA Ronstadt of the voice that turned her into a superstar in the 1970s and ’80s. Her life now gets little attention in the documentary, Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, which in taking an intimate look at Ronstadt’s career neglects to tell a potentially riveting personal story. Unlike previous music documentaries from CNN Films on Chicago and the Eagles, The Sound of My Voice doesn’t feature a lot of calamity. The only real scandalous terrain directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (briefly) cover is the complicated dynamics of a woman fronting a band full of men and Ronstadt’s fondness for diet pills in the 1970s. The rest is a straight-ahead, well-researched biography, complete with vintage clips and dozens of interviews, including Ronstadt. Ronstadt grew up immersed in music in Arizona, and moved to California to give a music career a shot. She was barely out of her teens when she scored her first hit (“Different Drum”) with the Stone Poneys in 1967. By the late 1970s, she was headlining arenas and gracing magazine covers. Ronstadt was beautiful, the embodiment of 24
“doe-eyed,” but she possessed a crystal cannon blast of a voice that allowed her to make any song her own, Dolly Parton said. That voice opened avenues. She ran in country music circles, where she met lifelong friends Emmylou Harris and Parton. And it allowed her to thrive in several genres of music. She starred on Broadway in The Pirates of Penzance, recorded standards (her mother’s favorite) under the steady hand of Nelson Riddle, and belted the same Mexican songs her father did as a young man. All those diversions were deemed risky. She didn’t care. All were critical or commercial successes. Music was Ronstadt’s full-time passion. It gave her a career and the confidence to be her own woman. It provided her with lovers and friends, whom she met back when open mic at the Troubadour was the place to score a record deal. Now she can only sing in the shower, maybe warble a few bars with her family if she’s feeling ambitious. But she’s not an exhibit in a museum, something Epstein and Friedman overlook. Others haven’t. In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning’s Tracy Smith earlier this year, Ronstadt, 73, exuded deep intelligence
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and droll humility. On the news that President Barack Obama, who honored Ronstadt with the National Medal of Arts in 2014, had a crush on her: “He was being nice to a 70-year-old woman in a wheelchair.” This phase of Ronstadt’s life, ten years removed from her last performance, is the one I want to know more about. She’s been cast out of her world by fate. Harris tears up when she discusses her friend now, and it provides a glimpse into the power of this untold story. Linda Ronstadt was a goddess. She sang like a dream and led groups of men before sexual harassment was taken seriously. If she can be felled, her contemporaries must feel vulnerable. Ronstadt, to her credit, has handled her predicament with grace. “I’ve watched people die,” she told Smith. “So I’m not as afraid of dying. I’m afraid of suffering.” We get few of those insights here. You can’t create a profile out of only context. Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice is a great segment of a better movie, the set-up to a final chapter that presents its hero as a person who must continue her legacy under an awful set of circumstances. [PG-13] n
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reel news
Sweet Country
DVDS REVIEWED BY GEORGE OXFORD MILLER
Sweet Country (Director: Warwick Thornton. Starring Hamilton Morris, Natassia Gorey-Furber, Sam Neill, Ewen Leslie).Unlike the classic American Western that glorifies the stoic, heroic Cowboy, this 1920s-era Australian western focuses on the racial injustices that the cowboy culture inflicted on aboriginals in the Outback. Harry March (Leslie), a new rancher, asks his closest neighbor, Fred Smith (Neill), for a little help around his station. Smith loans him his aboriginal worker Sam (Morris) and his wife Lizzie (Gorey-Furber) for a few days. March brutally rapes Lizzie and tries to gun down Sam, but Sam kills him first. Sam knows what happens when a black man kills a white fella, regardless of the circumstances, and flees into the Outback with Lizzie. The chase story begins with the white posse 26
struggling to survive in the staggeringly beautiful, but brutally harrowing desert wilderness that Sam calls home. Warwick Thornton creates both a cinematic and social-issue masterpiece with epic horizon-tohorizon photography and iconic symbolism framed by the ruthless backdrop of white supremacy, cultural genocide, and one-sided frontier justice. Fully developed, empathetic characters and nuanced subplots give the story an emotional wallop and dimension as broad and dramatic as the vast landscape. [R]
HHHHH
Yesterday (Director Danny Boyle. Starring Himesh Patel, Lily James, Sophia Di Martino) Unlike superhero stories where every scene is fantasy based, this feel-good comedy requires you to suspend belief once, then everything else is based
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on common human experiences and feelings. By a cosmic quirk, the Beatles and all their music are erased from existence for everyone except Jack Malik (Patel), a struggling, hapless songwriter in Suffolk, England. The premise that even a mediocre musician could become a world famous sensation with the Beatles catalogue sets nowhereman Jack up for a high-pressure lifestyle filled with irreverent comedy, stressed-out romance, and the conflict between plagiarism and fame and fortune. Jack tries to honor the Beatles and their historychanging legacy to music and culture, but ambition prevails and he’s soon hopelessly floundering in an tsunami of success and a sea of guilt. Director Boyle keeps Jack’s inner turmoil well grounded in everyday follies and frustrations that strike comic chords we’ve all
experienced. So Jack, epitomizing the ordinary guy, becomes a superhero in his own way, and he has to deal with all the unintended consequences of getting what he wished for. Don’t expect a cultural epic, just a life-affirming story with plenty of laughs, great music with a fresh twist, and a suitable Hollywood ending. [PG-13] HHHH Cold War (Director Pawel Pawlikowski. Starring Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot, Agata Kulesza). The heart of this Cold War romance set in 1950s is hearts broken as only forbidden love can do. From the moment the brooding teen femme fatale Zula (Kulig) steps into Wiktor’s life (Kot), we anticipate a conflagration that eventually will incin-
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foodie file A.D. AMOROSI
WHEN ONE THINKS OF autumnal menus, 7 with drink deals, wine pop-ups, intimate not many of us considered Jersey Shore points. hangs with the chefs such as “Lunch with That is until last year when the first week of NoBobby,” and a hands-on, interactive class with vember hit and in came a big wave of the Savor Iron Chef Michael Symon during “Symon Borgata Ultimate Food Experience. Celebrity Says…Pasta!” chefs with longtime interests and restaurants in If this year is anything like last year, Puck will AC such as Geoffrey Zakarian, Michael Symon, have the most to say. He’s been at the Borgata Bobby Flay, Michael Schulson, and Wolfgang since 2006, and had some interesting solutions Puck among them, held court, served food from as to how Atlantic City could expand its hotel, their fall menus, and generally showed off to fescasino and visitor businesses when we spoke. tivalgoers. Crowds posed with each star chef, and generally—literally and figuratively—ate it up. So successful was the one-day festival, the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa turned their Savor Borgata into an entire weekend, Friday, November 8 and Saturday, November 9. A host of events will lead up to the main event, which will showcase new venues such as Moneyline Bar & Book and Level One Cocktail Bar & Lounge, and exclusive dining and cooking experiences with the Borgata stars Zakarian (The Water Club at Borgata), Symon (Angeline), Schulson (Izakaya by Michael Schulson), Flay (Bobby Flay Steak), Puck (Wolfgang Puck American Grille), Greg and L-R: Michael Symon, Geoffrey Zakarian, Wolfgang Puck, Bobby Flay and Michael Schulson. Marc Sherry (Old Homestead Steak House), Executive Chefs Tom “Don’t forget, we were the first ones in Vegas, Biglan (Borgata), Thaddeus DuBois’s Borgata opening Spago at the Bellagio in 1993, working Pastry, and Executive Chef Alex Guarnaschelli with the people at MGM, who were very happy (Butter Midtown in New York City). with us,” said Puck. Thinking about staying in Then, there is the lead up to all that with AC while the shore town weathered its financial Savor Borgata Restaurant Week beginning Sunstorms, and coming out on top in the present, day, November 3 through Thursday, November Puck has an idea as to how AC can capture even 28
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more visiting dining and gambling dollars: “Expand the airport. Open a new one—it’s not so easy to get to,” he said. AC does have Atlantic City International Airport, a joint civil-military airport ten miles away in Egg Harbor Township, but it’s tiny. “Now that gaming is everywhere, you have got to make it easier and more convenient to get here, he said. “It’s beautiful. It’s on the ocean. But it can be a pain to get here.” Michael Schulson, who’s been busy in reviving Osteria with Jeff Michaud, preparing a local grains-based pasta palace in Rittenhouse with Michaud for fall, and watching over newly opened restaurants such as his swanky, semi-private Alpen Rose, got his start in Atlantic City. “Izakaya at Borgata was, and is, the baby of the enterprise, of everything we’ve built since,” said Schulson. “I got a great joy from being with those chefs—we’re all friends now—and working as a team in the same space. It brings back great memories. Savor is a great fun event which brings real energym and is good for Atlantic City. Savor puts AC on the food fest map.” Tickets for all Savor Borgata Weekend events may be purchased at theborgata.com or by calling 1.866.900.4849. Hotel packages are also available throughout the week, including the Savor Borgata Package—starting at $577—featuring an overnight stay on Saturday, dining credit, and two tickets to The Ultimate Food Experience in The Event Center. n
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pop
A.D. AMOROSI
Reviews You Can Use Several essential albums of August and September you may have missed J Balvin & Bad Bunny HHH Oasis Universal Separately, J Balvin and Bad Bunny—respectively, Colombia’s global ambassador of reggaeton and Puerto Rico’s leader of Latin trap—have remade the future of
Caribbean culture and Spanishlanguage hip-hop in their image and, more importantly their heritage. If there is a revolution to be made in the new crossover market, these men have done so by sticking to their guns, and mining their countries’ sonic and social riches, not America’s, for gold. Rather than offer caucasian audiences lyrical signposts to what they’re thinking, Balvin and Bunny make you come to them, with only a shared sense of explosive, downright experimental musicality and almost brutally propulsive rhythm. Several generations of Iglesiases couldn’t do as much. Both were inspired as much by salsa crooner Hector Lavoe as they were by reggaeton king Daddy Yankee (Balvin more the former; Bunny, the latter), each man comes at his individual tone, audaciously and uniquely. Balvin has peeled away layers of reggaeton’s usual misogyny for a sound 30
as compassionate and vulnerable as it is passionate. Rather than barking his stark lyrics, Bunny has a drawling conversational tone to his raps in league with U.S. traphop’s finest. Though Balvin is usually the crooner of the two, Bunny lets it all hang out vocally on “La Cancion,” where his role as a grand balladeer is heightened, and his devotion to the notion of song itself is as sturdy as it is sacred. Then there’s “Odio,” their ode to “spite sex,” where Bunny makes romance an evil, incendiary topic. Finishing up with the sweet samba-R&B feel of “Como Un Bebe,” with Ghanaian Afrobeat singer Mr. Eazi, shows off Balvin and Bunny’s willingness to stretch a taffy already pulled tight with invention. Despite being dedicated to their Latin homelands, there’s always room for something more foreign and equally fanatical. The fact that J Balvin and Bad Bunny do this without a massively obvious single track (the upbeat pop of “Que Pretendes” is as close to the charting reggaeton as you’ll hear here) and are willing to give themselves over to new experiences shows the utter joyfulness and boyish glee of this album. Their Oasis isn’t just a location along the Latin continuum. It’s a universal state of mind. Thom Yorke HHHHH Amina XL Thom Yorke is obsessed with sleep, rest, REM, and dreams: the hope, outward process and inward psychology of it all. Perhaps that ongoing concern is a Jungian reaction to the constant churn of lowlevel anxiety that’s made up the Radiohead man’s existence since 1993’s Pablo Honey, or the deeper
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panic lived out through solo efforts such as the mood wringing “The Eraser” and the electrifyingly mopey “Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes.” In the context of his third solo album, Anima—in a continued menacing fashion, an outgrowth of his song-cycle soundtrack to Luca Guadagnino’s 2018 film Suspiria—Yorke has wrested control of his restlessness and made his messed-up dream state both richly
provocative and proactive while maintaining its desolation. With that, he and producer-collaborator Nigel Godrich have finally wrenched the indirect (yet, still radical) direction of Yorke’s solo oeuvre from that of Radiohead’s … for now. Like a meeting of Arianna Huffington’s The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time and Roni Size’s New Forms, Yorke and Godrich have given restfulness a good hard kick in the frontal lobe. That means that even Anima’s roborhythms—its globby tech-bass pulses and scampering, sequenced drums—have a deliciously fleshy humanity. Rick RossHHHH Port of Miami 2 (MMG/Epic) Even before Rick Ross dropped the first chapter in his defining epic, Port of Miami, he was “The Boss.” Thirteen years ago, the rapper, producer and Maybach Music
Group CEO was making opulent hip hop—from its luxurious ambience and richly warm rhythms to its tony subject matter—and running the label game, all but discovering and releasing records by Wale and Philly’s Meek Mill. The two made quite a pair, showing up for each other at concerts and clubs. It’s funny then, to consider Meek and his mentor now with tables slightly shifted, as Mill furthers his newly cemented public servant status with a cozy relationship with one-time nemesis Drake, and an Amazon documentary series, while Ross drops album number ten of mostly the same music. Luckily, Ross’ usual, along with its quick twists, make Miami great again. Rich and uniquely Rozay-like, Miami 2’s best moments have a luscious sonic sheen, a grand orchestrated feel akin to a trap hop update on Issac Hayes’ multi-layered epics. While “Turnpike Ike” and “Maybach Music VI” (the latter featuring John Legend and Lil Wayne making the best of their smooth soul/rough funk match up) represent Ross’ usual, “Nobody’s Favorite” is more cutting and blunt with a memorable pile-driving bass line. As a rapper, Ross uses his gruff, raw, silken patois and rushing-to-stop flow—sticking to its predictability—in which to discuss acquired wealth and dis Kanye West (“Vegas Residency”). While Meek appears on Miami 2 as an oddly understated feature on the rubbery “Bogus Charms,” it is the late Nipsey Hussle (with Teyana Taylor) who bum rush “Rich %$&*# Lifestyle” with the album’s most potent and poignant socio-cultural blasts and biting digs against Brooklyn rapper (and presumed rat) 6ix9ine. Bracing stuff. n
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jazz / classical / alt Erik Charlston & JazzBrasil HHHH1/2
Perry Smith Quartet HHHH Live in Brooklyn
Sunnyside Multi-instrumentalist, composer and bandleader Hermeto Pascoal made his major mark on Brazilian music (and subsequently American jazz) via many albums as leader in the 1960s and ’70s, as well as three appearances on Miles Davis’ seminal opus Live-Evil. Pascoal also contributed to albums of Donald Byrd, Flora Purim, Airto Moreira, and Mike Marshall. Chicago-born, NYC-based vibist Erik Charlston has given the Collective Us
Smith Tone From the Bay Area but now based in Brooklyn (cradle of Western Civilization), guitarist Perry Smith now makes the world safe for straight-ahead jazz six-string-ism with his take on the Kenny Burrell/Wes Montgomery sound. (Closer to Kenny, re-
Hermeto: Voice and Wind
Hermeto, a tribute to Pascoal (plus a couple of tracks composed by the nearly-as-influential Egberto Gismonti). There’s a fair amount of variety— the hard-swinging, percolating bop of “Aquela Coisa,” Ted Nash’s sax providing lots of genial punch and swirling swing; the vibes-driven “Os Guizos” shimmers like a mirage that gradually becomes crystal-clear, and the panoramic “Fatima” has a subtle Middle Eastern influence within its droll melody, the piano solo of Mark Soskin shimmering like a waterfall, Nash’s clarinet warm ‘n’ woody. Nash’s soprano sax sweetly sizzles on the hard-swinging “Nas Quebradas,” Charlston combining the intellectual flair of Gary Burton with the potent swing of Bobby Hutcherson. Overall, this set has a bright, engaging tenor while sidestepping any sort of bossa nova-esque uniformity and highlights Pascoal’s artistic versatility. This is one of those rare albums that gets thumbs-up for neophytes to classic Brazil-iance as well as the hardcore Devoted. (11 tracks, 60 min.) sunnysiderecords.com 32
ally.) He’s no imitator, mind you, just carrying on in the tradition without being limited by (nor imitative of) it. Smith has got that thick, slightly blurred yet nimble, big cushy-chords thing as Burrell but he’s not as bluesy. He takes sleek bebop flights of fancy and gets mellow with the best of them—listen to the starry-eyed passion he brings to “Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me.” His band includes tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, a lass from Chile who take her cues from Michael Brecker and (especially) Sonny Rollins—“Don’t Worry…” has some gorgeously hearty, hard-shiny horn herein. One of the compelling aspects of Aldana’s playing is her measured approach—while not shy about laying down the notes, she also knows when to dial back (unlike some players that bury the listener in excess notes)—and that she swings like nobody’s business doesn’t hurt either. (She plays straightahead with a few out/free flair-ups, fyi.) They’ve got bassist Matt Aronoff and drummer Jay Sawyer to maintain a crisp, svelte swing throughout. A guitar-and-tenor-team to watch. (6 tracks, 51 min.) perrysmithmusic.com
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Kristin Chenoweth HHH1/2 For The Girls Concord A singer who acts or an actress who sings? For the purposes of this review, let’s just think of Kristin Chenoweth as a singer, albeit one who’s oftappeared on Broadway stages and in TV shows (Pushing Daisies, The West Wing, Glee) and films. Chenoweth has an expressive soprano voice to which she applies here to some durable standards, including “The Man (One) That Got Away” (so very dramaturgical in a good way) and “The Way We Were,” which gets points as Chenoweth doesn’t overly milk the “wistful/nostalgic” while hitting appropriate moments of dignified grandeur. Chenoweth does a stately take on “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” with the right touch of yearning melodrama and “I Wanna Be Around” (that old Tony Bennett gem) gets an optimistically theatri-
cal version. The Dinah Washington hit “What A Difference A Day Makes” gets a slightly boisterous, defiant reading and one can, with the right ears, count the stars in the singer’s eyes in the outro. Some of us will get a grin or two from a proudly defiant version of “I’m A Woman” with fellow singeractresses Jennifer Hudson and Reba McEntire. Stylistically, Chenoweth is a pop singer with some mellow jazz and old-school pop orientation; her backing is tasteful, small group-style with some restrained orchestration—a vocal platter oozing class. (12 tracks, 42 min.) concordrecords.com Paul Combs
Unknown Dameron – Rare and Never Recorded Works of Tadd Dameron Summit Tadd Dameron (1917-1965) is a moniker treasured by jazz aficionados. While not a huge name
beyond jazz, Dameron, composer, pianist, and arranger, impacted the works of Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Benny Golson, many European cats, and several of his compositions are jazz standards: “Good Bait,” “If You Could See Me Now,” “Our Delight,” “Lady Bird,” and “Hot House.” Dameron coled a band with Miles Davis in 1949 and wrote for the big bands of Ted Heath, Jimmie Lunceford (favorite band of Glenn Miller), and Count Basie. Saxophonist Paul Combs dedicated an entire platter to the unrecorded works of Dameron and Unknown… (surprise) is it. The delights are
many—the sublime, bittersweet “Never Been in Love” with a beautifully subdued honey-toned vocal by Danielle Wertz, for one. For another, “Come Close” is an aching ballad that deserves to get discovered pronto—it’s got a sax solo that’s eerie and oddly, tartly beautiful. “The Rampage” is a rollicking bit of bebop with a sly rhythmic hook and punchy drive that’ll have you rocking in your cornflakes and the conclusion rocks. (No kidding.) “Moon From the East” is a mildly exotic mid-tempo elegant swinger (nice Miles-y horn from Derek Cannon)—no “Night in Tunisia” to be sure, but a swanky twilight in Toledo, perhaps. While this set’s concept is seemingly for the Hep Boppers among us, don’t be put off— Unknown Dameron is some of the most engaging mainstream (with plenty of cool quirks) bop to be heard this year. (12 tracks, 67 min.) summitrecords.com n — MARK KERESMAN ICON | OCTOBER 2019 | ICONDV.COM | FACEBOOK.COM/ICONDV
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harper’s FINDINGS
INDEX
Advisers to the Scottish government recommended canceling protections enjoyed by wandering sand dunes in Aberdeenshire that have been destroyed by Donald Trump. In England and Wales, where burial space is expected to run out in five years’ time, a public-health expert called for interring the dead along motorways. A court in Devonshire considered the benefits of re-beavering. Mount Stromboli erupted and killed a man, a 13,000-acre wildfire in Spain was sparked when decomposing chicken feces burst into flames, and German police used antiriot water cannons to cool down Berlin’s trees. Scientists identified 3.5 million square miles of land across the globe where new trees might be planted and discovered an offshore aquifer extending from New Jersey to Cape Cod that contains at least 670 cubic miles of freshwater. The use of ancient indigenous Andean rainwater-management techniques could retain an additional 3.5 billion cubic feet of water every year for the city of Lima. A Polish mass grave associated with the Globular Amphora culture was found to contain the remains of a family who were murdered brutally but buried carefully. The earliest evidence of cannabis use, in the Pamir Mountains, also involved human sacrifice and harp music. Teens who consume their marijuana by vaping have a greater propensity for violent and property crimes. Scientists advised against consuming hypersexual zombie cicadas infected with psychoactive fungus.
Rank of Canada among countries resettling the most refugees in 2018: 1 Min. number of years for which the U.S. previously held that distinction: 59 Percentage of Canadians who will return a lost wallet containing money: 64 Of Americans who will: 57 Number of U.S. states that require permits for children’s lemonade stands: 34 Min. age at which citizens of the Netherlands can request euthanasia, with their parents’ permission: 12 Number of Dutch 12- to 17-year-olds who have requested and received euthanasia since 2005: 14 Estimated portion of people in the world who were married as children: 1/10 Number of U.S. states with laws permitting the chemical castration of convicted sex offenders: 8 With laws mandating it in certain cases: 1 % of Americans who say it’s hard to know what speech others will find offensive: 48 Estimated percentage of active police officers who use racist, bigoted, or violent language on Facebook: 20 Of retired police officers: 45 Average no. of times per day the TV series Cops aired in the U.S. this spring: 9 Percentage of U.S. traffic stops that end in arrest: 2 That end in arrest on Cops: 92 No. of the 15 hottest states that lack universal air-conditioning in their prisons: 13 % of state prisoners who are incarcerated for violating parole or probation: 45 % of those prisoners whose violations did not involve the commission of a crime : 55 Percentage of non-L.G.B.T.Q. Americans in 2016 who said they were comfortable interacting with L.G.B.T.Q. people: 63 Who said so last year : 45 Portion of U.S. gay & lesbian adults who are out to most of their friends and family members: 3/4 Of U.S. bisexual adults who are: 1/5 % of U.S. bisexual adults who are in relationships with partners of the opposite sex: 88 Factor by which U.S. men are more likely than women to say they are willing to have sex on the first date: 6 Est. portion of U.S. heterosexual women who have gone on a date for free food : 1/4 Date on which New Zealand released its national budget: 5/30/2019 On which the model featured on its cover left the country because she couldn’t afford to live there : 12/3/2018 % increase since 2015 in U.S. job postings offering unlimited vacation time : 178 % by which the federal minimum wage is worth less today than it was in 1968 : 31 Number of years for which the federal min. wage has remained unadjusted : 10 % of U.S. workers 50+ who lose longtime jobs before they are prepared to retire : 56 Percentage of those workers who never recover their earning power : 90 % change since 1981 in the number of annual U.S. mergers and acquisitions : +104 In the number of annual antitrust investigations undertaken by the Justice Department : −33 % inc. since 2016 in the value of federal govt. contracts with temp agencies : 109 Number of pages of FBI files that were made public in June pertaining to a Bigfoot investigation : 22 Percentage of Americans who think it’s “too much” to expect the average person to recognize made-up news and information : 56 Who think it’s “too much” to expect the average person to recognize satire : 34
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Standard smart speakers can be updated to detect the agonal breathing of cardiac arrest and call emergency services. Truck driving is not as imminently threatened by automation as previously feared. A Department of Energy A.I. correctly anticipated, on the basis of old research, advances that thereafter took place in thermoelectric materials. Computer scientists developed Adaptive Deep Reuse for convolutional neural-network training, reducing the training time by more than half. A.I. can predict future psychosis with 93 percent accuracy from conversational language that is vague and uncommonly focused on words having to do with sound and speech, and can identify depression in children asked to tell a short story by an unencouraging adult. The storytelling style of autistic girls may lead to underdiagnosis. A pediatric endocrinologist disputed the diagnosis that the Mona Lisa suffered from psychomotor retardation, a neurologist determined her smile to be false, and two Italian neuroscientists proposed that Leonardo da Vinci had A.D.H.D. Two thirds of atheists stop identifying as such after a personal encounter with God.
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Native American pear trees face an existential threat from an escaped non-native species, and flower sharing was transmitting infections from honeybees to wild bumblebees. A comparative thanatological analysis of two hundred years of nonhuman primate responses to death noted that the conception of death is important to the evolution of hierarchies and suggested that some primates’ inability to grasp objects prevents them from carrying their dead. The death roll is more common than previously thought among crocodiles, who independently evolved to be vegetarian at least three times. A species of sea slug that has abandoned vegetarianism and now eats other slugs’ eggs was named for Jim Henson. Carp-kun, a goldfish in the Kochi zoo who is the last survivor of a cohort of 200 fry fed to the zoo’s birds and who later outlived a giant salamander who attacked him daily, was enjoying an old age free of predators. Domesticated dogs have evolved a special muscle that allows them to make puppy eyes. 34
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“Harper’s Index” is a registered trademark.
SOURCES: 1,2 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Washington); 3,4 Christian Zund (Zurich) 5 Country Time (NYC); 6,7 Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (The Hague); 8 UNICEF (NYC); 9,10 Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (Beaverton, Ore.); 11 Pew Research Center (Washington); 12,13 Plain View Project (San Francisco); 14 Pineapple Street Media (NYC); 15 Frank Baumgartner, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; 16 Pineapple Street Media; 17 Harper’s research; 18,19 Council of State Governments Justice Center (NYC); 20,21 GLAAD (NYC); 22–24 Pew Research Center; 25 YouGov (NYC); 26 Brian Collisson, Azusa Pacific University (Calif.); 27 New Zealand Treasury (Wellington); 28 Vicki Freeman (Gold Coast, Australia); 29 Indeed (Austin, Tex.); 30,31 Economic Policy Institute (Washington); 32,33 Urban Institute (Washington); 34,35 U.S. Department of Justice; 36 National Employment Law Project (Washington); 37 Federal Bureau of Investigation; 38,39 Pew Research Center.
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20 | BEBE NEUWIRTH
It’s a bit of everything. Intellect comes into it when you’re reading a script and weighing that against what you know about yourself. And, absolutely, the idea of what feels right comes into play. What felt so right about A Small Fire, instinct or intellect? It’s a beautifully written play that I think… well, that was everything. My agreement to play this part, and do this… all parts of me responded to this emotionally and intellectually, in a very global sense. And on top of that, it’s just a fantastic part. Even if it was a small part—and there are no small parts—it would be a very interesting play. It’s so theatrical in how spare it is, the language is beautiful. So, the straight answer is, all of me. [Producing Artistic Director ]Paige Price is an old friend of mine, and she and I have been trying to figure out something for me to do there since she got to Philadelphia. She’s sent me a few lovely plays since her start, and this one just really knocked me out.
What was the connection you felt with your character Emily? I’ve had some discussions with the director, more about the play than a discussion of the character. I hate to sound cute, but I can’t really answer that because I haven’t started rehearsals yet. Emily is just a very fascinating person to whom something interesting happens. As a person, I don’t really relate to her at all. She’s a tough businesswoman running a construction company—that feels foreign to me. There were, however, other forces at work that made me feel as if I’d like to take a crack at it. Still, I can’t really say anything about Emily, until I start rehearsal and find her in the room with everybody else. After you had hip replacement in 2006, you founded The Dancers’ Resource, a program of The Actors Fund. It provides emotional support for injured dancers, as well as providing financial assistance. What’s the backstory? Eight years ago or so, I founded that program to address all of the physical and emotional needs of dancers, especially aimed at those who are working through injuries. Having one program for dancers is a gateway, a portal, into all of things that the Actors Fund does for those in the performing arts. We have dancers who are professionals now or have been, and whatever their needs are—a time of crisis or transition—we have these services. In particular, what I wanted was a group for professional dancers who are working through their injuries, because the emotional trauma that comes with that is theirs and theirs alone. I wanted that specifically addressed. Phyllis Newman passed away the other day—she was a great inspiration for me and The Dancers Resource, because she started a Women’s Health Initiative. I thought couldn’t we do something like Phyllis did for dancers? That was my mission. n A Small Fire will run from October 18 to November 10 at Philadelphia Theatre Company. Producing Artistic Director Paige Price; Director Sarna Lapine; Managing Director Emily Zeck. philadelphiatheatrecompany.org ICON | OCTOBER 2019 | ICONDV.COM | FACEBOOK.COM/ICONDV
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26 | REEL NEWS
erate the lovers. Wilktor and his colleague Irena (Kulesza) scour the countryside of post-war Poland recording traditional folk songs, “the voice of the people.” They gather talented youngsters to form a dance troupe to perform the music across communist Europe. Zulu stars in the production, but she comes with baggage-prison time for murdering her abusive father, and a survivor’s instinct for self-preservation at any cost. Eventually, the government commissar demands that
actually settled in 1985 when Libby Riddles won the grueling 900-mile Iditarod dog-sled race in Alaska with wind chills reaching –100 degrees F. Then Susan Butcher squashed the lame excuses by winning four of the next five years. When the women first started racing the Iditarod, they always came in last. The men they passed quit in shame. The same attitude dominated the male chauvinistic sport of yacht racing in 1989. At age 25, Tracy Edwards organized a 12-women team to enter the Whitbread Round the World yachting race. The competition covers 45,000 miles in 11 legs and takes nine months. The women just wanted a chance to compete using the ocean as the all-powerful equalizer between gender, economics, and social class. The cruel, merciless,
Cold War.
they add propaganda numbers praising land reform, the communist state, and Stalin. Wiktor revolts and devises a plan to defect with his true love, but in a tense Casablanca-quality scene, she fails to show up for the escape. The saga picks up years later in a Paris nightclub where they meet again and discover everything in their lives has moved on except their forbidden, and still hopeless passion. Pawlikowski is actually telling the story of his parents, which the two stars turn into a tale of tragic romance where the power of love is doomed from the beginning, and in the end. Polish with English subtitles. [R] HHHHH Maiden (Director Alex Holmes. Starring Tracy Edwards). Since the 5th-century BC Olympics, men have dominated team sports and not considered women worthy of consideration, much less competition. Some attitudes change slowly, if at all. Whether women can compete with men was 36
Maiden.
and unrelenting opposition they encountered from the misogynistic yachting culture was as treacherous as the unforgiving ocean. The team made history, not only by completing the race, but by winning two legs in their division. Director Alex Holmes documents the arc of Edwards’s heroic accomplishment from when she mortgaged her house and convinced the King of Jordan to sponsor them. Weaving dramatic original race footage and interviews with contemporary viewpoints by the women creates a powerful, and often emotional, then-and-now contrast. The documentary undisputedly dispels any notion that in tests requiring raw skill, endurance, and an indomitable human spirit, women are equal. [PG] HHHH n
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7 | OPINION FROM THE LEFT
Mr. Giuliani give you a call and I am also going to have Attorney General Barr call and we will get to the bottom of it. I’m sure you will figure it out.” Trump stresses the point once more before they hang up: “I will tell Rudy and Attorney General Barr to call.” It’s true that Trump didn’t say, “If you expect to see any more aid from us, you’d better investigate Joe Biden and Clinton,” but the threat came through loud and clear, given that at least a week before, he had put a hold on nearly $400 million of aid to Ukraine. On the call itself, Trump pivoted from Zelensky’s request for missiles to Trump’s request for an investigation of his political opponents. Trump did no business on behalf of the United States on this call. He did not once mention any desire to root out corruption in Ukraine or achieve any other foreign policy objective. It was all campaign business — dragging a foreign head of state and his own attorney general into his desperate efforts to win reelection and remove any taint from his initial election. As Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, notes: “The transcript of the call reads like a classic mob shakedown.” The TelCon, far from absolving Trump, greatly strengthens the case for impeachment. If this is supposed to be exculpatory, can you imagine what the inculpatory material contained in the whistleblower’s complaint looks like? What’s truly astonishing is that Trump could have thought anything else. The most devastating aspect of this rough transcript is that Trump didn’t realize how devastating it would be for him. That shows he literally has no idea of what a president is supposed to do — and not do. Recall that Trump’s former secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, said Trump often made illegal requests. The Trump-Zelensky phone call is Exhibit A. n
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7 | OPINION FROM THE RIGHT
power to help him politically, but he has also entangled a horde of government officials whose careers are now in peril, at the very least. In short, the Ukraine conspiracy is plainly bigger than “just” the president but implicates multiple government agencies and departments. Constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe tweets: “The massive White House coverup of Trump’s abuse of power vis-a-vis Ukraine & Biden, including evidence concealment, is now clearly documented. Bill Barr is up to his eyebrows in the criminal conspiracy. He’s Trump’s John Mitchell. Mitchell ended up in prison. It’s all unraveling.” Trump must resign or be removed, but that should be only one step in an effort to surface countless individuals who have used government offices for corrupt purposes, or have been silent as others did. We have the most historically corrupt administration in history. n
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37
The Los Angeles Times SUNDAY CROSSWORD PUZZLE
OFF TO A GOOD START By Gary Larson
1 5 10 14 18 19 20 21 22 24 26 27 29 30 32 33 34 36 39 40 43 48 49 51 52 54 55 56 60 64 65 66 68 70 72 73 74 75 76 78 80 81 82 84 86 88 91 92 93 94 38
ACROSS Dojo maneuver Guitarist Joe of The Eagles Wilts Start of an incantation The last Mrs. Chaplin Slow down Shiraz’s land Trickle Awesome product component? Awesome mattress covering? Step on it Stuck a fork in Glenn Miller Orchestra singer Ray Immortal name in dance Ultimatum word Staring-into-space experiences DEA agent Court game word Routine Stubborn critter Awesome plumbing connector? Tiny toiler Fall collection? More consequence? Poetic adverb “__ & Basie”: 1963 jazz collaboration “True Detective” actor McNairy Bump from the schedule Peacock’s pride QVC sister channel Shot in the arm Wall St. trader Awesome hobby? Awesome hunting dog? Bit of legal advice Lose control Chicken dinner choice Support Gallivant Sound Wine choice Originally called Tool in a kit Shadowed Low-tech note-taking aid Awesome entitlement? Snake’s sound Zodiac animal Vacation spot “Truly, the souls of men are full of
__”: Shak. “We the Living” novelist Big drink of water Retail outlets Low wind Like some receptions In a showily pretentious manner 113 Awesome suit fabric? 115 Awesome predicament? 117 Tennis great Nastase 118 Villain named Julius 119 Points at the dinner table 120 Pepsi rival 121 Picnic staple 122 Cereal grain 123 Mocking sarcasm 124 Arab leader 96 100 104 108 109 112
DOWN 1 Movie mogul Harry and sportscaster Linda 2 Lift 3 Checked out at the library 4 Ease, as symptoms 5 Ring org. 6 Scythe blade shapes 7 Starbucks serving 8 Bar word meaning “cup” in Danish 9 Sage and thyme 10 Pro or con 11 2000s Yankee nickname 12 Sign of something missing 13 Unkind look 14 Whitish 15 Tailgate party recyclable 16 Campaign poster word 17 Most pertinent 22 Org. in Clancy novels 23 Wheel inventor 25 Govt. agency that aids entrepreneurs 28 “Get lost!” 31 Hosp. readout 33 Bolivian export 35 Units of resistance 37 ’80s-’90s Compaq laptop model 38 Prepare sans oil, as a movie treat 40 Israeli leaders? 41 Betray 42 Soldier, at times 44 Electronics whiz
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“Mending Wall” poet 97 Fix, as a hem Wrinkle remover 98 AIDS-fighting drug Continues 99 Salon overhaul Supplier of bills 101 Bridge positions Seductress 102 Novelist Shaw Far from fragrant 103 Actress Davis It may be skipped 105 Kipling’s “__-Tikki-Tavi” Security rounds 106 Less well Locks 107 Word of support Bellow title hero March 109 Small change One looking for a switch, maybe 110 Bothers Those, in Tijuana 111 Critter on XING signs Coastal California scenic 114 Notable time attraction 116 Word of reproof Basenji and Borzoi Flips Answer to September’s puzzle, IT’S A PLUS Katherine of “Suits” Edible seaweed 1970 Kinks hit What’s more Like Miss Congeniality Writer Bagnold Trouble Prominent, after “on” “... but it’ll cost you” __ tax “The Bourne Identity” malady Assist Test for M.A. seekers Yeshiva leaders One involved in a speculative “bubble”
FESTIVALS / AUCTIONS 10/18 not-just-Art Auction, benefitting PA Sinfonia Orchestra. 7:00 Preview, Reception, 8:00. Live & Silent Auctions, original art, gift baskets, jewelry, and more. Brookside Country Club, 901 Willow Lane, Macungie, PA. RSVP preferred. 610-434-7811. PASinfonia.org 11/1–24 InVision Photo Festival, all things photography & photo-based arts. Full schedule, bananafactory.org/events/invisionphoto-festival. Banana Factory Arts Center, 25 W. Third St., Bethlehem, PA. 610-332-1300. 11/8–10 The 43rd Annual Philadelphia Museum of Art Contemporary Craft Show. Preview party 11/7. Pennsylavania Convention Center, 1101 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA. 215-6847930. Pmacraftshow.org ART EXHIBITS
THRU 10/5 Summer Show, Bethlehem House Gallery, 459 Main St., Bethlehem,. 610-419-6262. Bethlehemhousegallery.com THRU 10/18 Kacper Abolik: Year of the Dog, The Baum School of Art, 510 W. Linden St., Allentown, PA. 610-433-0032. Baumschool.org THRU 10/20 Laura Beth Reese Martin Art Gallery, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown, PA. THRU 10/20 Art at Kings Oaks presents work from 28 international artists. 756 Worthington Mill Rd., Newtown. 215603-6573. Kingsoaksart.wordpress.com THRU 10/27 90th Annual Juried Art Show. Phillips’ Mill, 2619 River Rd. , New Hope. 215-862-0582. Phillipsmill.org THRU 10/27 Jean Childs Buzgo. Silverman Gallery, Rte. 202, just north of PA 413, 4920 York Rd., Holicong, PA. 215-794-4300. Silvermangallery.com
THRU 12/7 Crochet Coral Reef. LUAG Main Gallery, Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University Art Galleries, 420 E Packer Ave., Bethlehem. 610-758-3615. Luag.org THRU 12/15 Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. Lafayette College Art Galleries, Easton, PA. 610-3305361. Galleries.lafayette.edu THRU 1/5/2020 A Forging Link, Metalsmiths Respond to the Mercer Collection. Mercer Museum, 84 S. Pine St., Doylestown. 215345-0210. Mercermuseum.org THRU 1/5/2020 Mia Brownell & Martin Kruck: Skeptical Realism; Holly Lee: A Jeweler’s Journey; Cliff Lee: Porcelain Master. Hunterdon Art Museum, 7 Lower Center St., Clinton, NJ. hunterdonartmuseum.org THRU 4/30/20 Purseonality, A Stylish Handbag History. Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts and Moravian Museum of Bethlehem, PA. Tickets at 800-360-TOUR. HistoricBethlehem.org 9/29–12/22 Designing Hollywood, Golden Age Costumes. Allentown Art Museum, 31 N. 5th St., Allentown, PA. 610-4324333. AllentownArtMuseum.org 10/4–10/27 Carol Nussbaum, Mandala and Julia Averett Buteux, Skyviews. A Space, New Hope Arts Center, 37 W. Bridge St., New Hope, PA. 215-862-9606. Newhopearts.org 10/5–11/10 Works in Wood. New Hope Arts, 2 Stockton Ave. New Hope, PA. 215862-9606. Newhopearts.org 11/2–12/1 Anita Shrager. Silverman Gallery, Rte. 202, Holicong, PA. 215-794-4300. Silvermangallery.com
agenda
ing Arts Center, DeSales University, Labuda Center, 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley, PA. 610-282-3192. Desales.edu/act1 10/10 Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live, Great Cheesy Movie Circus. 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem. 610-7582787. Zoellnerartscenter.org 10/10–20 Working, The Musical. Act 1 Performing Arts Center, DeSales University, Labuda Center, 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley, PA. 610-282-3192. Desales.edu/act1 10/11–27 Andrew Lloyd Webber’s, Sunset Blvd. Civic Theatre, 19th Street, Allentown, PA. 610-432-8943. Civictheatre.com 10/17–20 Amadeus: Northampton Community College Theater Department, Lipkin Theatre, 3835 Green Pond Rd., Bethlehem. 484-484-3412. ncctix.org 10/25 Harrison Greenbaum, a comedy and magic show. State Theatre, 453 Northampton St., Easton, PA. 610252-3132 Statetheatre.org
10/11 The Four Italian Tenors. State Theatre, 453 Northampton St., Easton, PA. 610-252-3132. Statetheatre.org 10/18 Scrap Arts Music. Zoellner Arts Center, 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem, PA. 610-758-2787. Zoellnerartscenter.org 10/19 Erin Heisel, Soprano and Daniel Keene, Classical Guitar. 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, NJ. 609-392-6409. 1867sanctuary.org 10/23 Shawna Caspi. 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, NJ. 609-392-6409. 1867sanctuary.org 10/26 The Queen’s Six. Cathedral Arts. Cathedral Church of the Nativity, 321 Wyandotte St., Bethlehem, PA. Donation. 610-865-0727. Nativitycathedral.org
10/25–11/3 Into the Woods. Muhlenberg College Theatre & Dance, 2400 Chew St., Allentown. 484-664-3333. Muhlenberg.edu/Theatre
10/26 Theatre of Early Music performs Coronation of King George II. The Bach Choir of Bethlehem 2019 GALA, St. John’s Lutheran Church, 37 S. 5th St., Allentown. 610-866-4382, ext. 115/110. Bach.org
11/6 Wendy Whelan, Maya Beiser, Lucinda Childs, David Lang. Williams Center for the Arts, Lafayette College, Easton, PA. Williams-center.org
10/27 Riverview Early Music, Come Let Us Howl. 1867 Sanctuary Arts and Culture Center, 101 Scotch Road, Ewing, NJ. 609-392-6409. 1867sanctuary.org
FESTIVAL UNBOUND 10/4–12. Theater, various locations. Bethlehem, PA, 610-867-1689 Festivalunbound.com DANCE
11/3–12/22 Ray Hendershot, My World: Chapter Five. The Snow Goose Gallery, 470 Main St., Bethlehem, PA. 610-9749099. Thesnowgoosegallery.com
11/1–3 Electrify, emerging choreographers concert. Act 1 Performing Arts, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, DeSales University. 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley, PA. 610-282-3192. DeSales.edu/act1
THRU 10/6 The Glass Menagerie. Act 1 Perform-
10/5 Pink Martini, Zoellner Arts Center,
THEATER
420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem, PA. 610-758-2787. Zoellnerartscenter.org
CONCERTS
MUSIKFEST CAFÉ
101 Founders Way, Bethlehem, PA 610-332-1300 Artsquest.org OCTOBER 6 An Intimate Evening of Songs & Stories with Graham Nash 8 An Evening with Dawes 10 John Waite 13 Comedian Michael Ian Black 25 David Bromberg Quintet w/ Bettye LaVette 31 SteelStacks Zombie Ball NOVEMBER 5 Hippo Campus 6 Steven Page (Formerly of Barenaked Ladies)
6 JJ Wilde 7 Comedian Brian Posehn 10 Under the Streetlamp Presents “Hip to the Holidays”
DINNER THEATER THRU 10/31 Murder Mystery Dinner Theater: Crime of Thrones, Fri & Sat. Peddler’s Village, rts. 202 & 263, Lahaska, PA. 215-794-4000. Peddlersvillage.com Dinner and a Show at SteelStacks, Thurs.–Sat. Bethlehem, PA. 5-10, table service, valet parking. SteelStacks.org
EVENTS & FUNDRAISERS THRU 10/27 Scarecrows in the Village, Peddler’s Village, rts. 202 & 263, Lahaska, PA. 215-794-4000. Peddlersvillage.com 10/5 Watchcraft by Eduardo Milieris, artist visit. Heart of the Home. 11–5, 28 South Main St., New Hope, PA. 215862-1880. Heartofthehome.com 10/12, 13 October Feast, a German-themed celebration for the whole family. Peddler’s Village, rts. 202/263, Lahaska, PA. 215-794-4000. Peddlersvillage.com 10/15 Arts Count 2019, Rally for regional growth in the arts. Sigal Museum, 342 Northampton St., Easton. RSVP, info, 610-437-5915. LVArtsCouncil.org 10/19–11/3 Rachel Atherly Trunk Show, Heart of the Home. 28 S. Main St., New Hope. 215-862-1880. Heartofthehome.com 11/2 Cocktails & Collecting, fall fundraiser. Allentown Art Museum, 31 N. 5th St., Allentown. 610-432-4333. AllentownArtMuseum.org 11/2, 3 Apple Festival. Peddler’s Village, rts. 202/263, Lahaska, PA. 215-794-4000. Peddlersvillage.com 11/2, 3 PA Bacon Fest, Get ready to pig out, 10–6. Downtown Easton, PA. PABaconfest.com. Text “Easton Events” to 555-888, for updates on the Fest and other events.
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