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contents

22 | Gregory Harrington Few violinists can juxtapose pop, classical and jazz as seamlessly as Dublin-born Harrington, who plays Gershwin, U2, and Beethoven with the same lyrical ease.

24 | Paul Anka

Glenn Harren, Museum Blue, Oil on panel, 35 x 28 inches.

While Philly pals Avalon, Rydell, and Fabian have faded into obscurity, Anka continues to be one of the highest-paid Las Vegas nightclub performers.

To ICON readers from Bob Perkins “Due to a couple of health situations, I’ve been unable to fulfill my last couple of columns in ICON. I hope these physical conditions will lighten up and Ol’ BP will be able to continue his editions very soon.” We do, too, Bob.

Lynn Beedle, Snowy Farm (detail)

MORE FILM

ESSAY 5|

Bob Beck

26 |

Eugene Robinson Michael Gerson

ART EXHIBITIONS 6|

Works in Wood For the Love of the Loom

28 |

New Hope Arts Paul Anka. Photo: Ruth Eckerd Hall.

Glenn Harren: Just Paint Gallery On Fourth

26 8|

Robert De Niro in The Irishman

FILM ROUNDUP Knives Out The Irishman Ford v Ferrari A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood REEL NEWS Blinded by the Light The King Late Night Screwball

Since 1992 215-862-9558 icondv.com facebook.com/icondv PRESIDENT Trina McKenna trina@icondv.com

10 |

NIGHTLIFE

12 |

THEATER

14 |

BOOKS

16 |

VOICES In the Valley of the Hyacinths

34 |

JAZZ/ ROCK/CLASSICAL/ALT Yoko Miwa Trio Steve Khan Rez Abbasi Anne Marie McDermott Jeff Denson, Romain Pilon, Brian Blade

ETCETERA

FILM 20 |

CINEMATTERS Light From Light

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Raina Filipiak / Advertising filipiakr@comcast.net PRODUCTION Richard DeCosta Susan Danforth Rita Kaplan INTERNS Joey Fonseca CONTRIBUTING WRITERS A. D. Amorosi Robert Beck

Forging a Link: Metalsmiths 30 | FOREIGN FILM Respond to the Mercer Collection By the Grace of God Mercer Museum MUSIC Ai Weiwei’s Golden Age 32 | POP Allentown Art Museum JPEGMAFIA Holiday Show Iggy Pop Bethlehem House Gallery Sheer Mag Spotted Lanternfly Zones of Syncopation (SFZ) Penn State Lehigh Valley

The intersection of art, entertainment, culture, nightlife and mad genius.

EDITORIAL Editor / trina@icondv.com

OPINION

ON THE COVER: Violinist Gregory Harrington. Photo: Daniel D"Ottavio.

ICON

40 |

HARPER’S FINDINGS

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HARPER’S INDEX

42 |

L. A. TIMES CROSSWORD

43 |

AGENDA

Jack Byer Peter Croatto Geoff Gehman Mark Keresman George Miller Susan Van Dongen Keith Uhlich

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.

essay

STORY & PAINTING BY ROBERT BECK

simply heaven

I HAD THE BEST grilled cheese in the world last night. Normally, I’m not allowed anywhere near one of those—something to do with arteries—but I had gone for a dental implant while I was having a crappy reaction to my shingles shot, so I was a miserable soul all around. My lovely wife felt bad for me. The doctor said, “Eat soft food, like grilled cheese,” which was the kind of opportunity a guy has to take advantage of and I dutifully reported his recommendation. She saw through that, but I made myself as pathetic as possible and it worked. Here’s the thing. She didn’t just make me an almost grilled cheese, with healthy bread and boutique organic cheese. She went full Monty. Listen to this. White bread. She got an artisan-baked loaf of white bread. Nothing halfway. Large, soft, sweet, and ready for butter. Yes, butter. Not only did she coat both sides of the sandwich, she buttered the pan. And she used the expensive, high-fat, foil-wrapped brick of butter. If you’re going to go, you might as well go big. Tomatoes. There is NO BETTER time of the year to have tomatoes on anything. Doreen got local heirloom tomatoes at the farmer’s market— deep red and delicious. Succulent is a good word. Cheese. Here’s where we take a turn. None of this fancy pants gourmet, snooty stuff. The whole idea is to connect to the steamy kitchen of my Pennsylvania youth, when tomato soup was king. I prefer to do without the tasteless air-balloon bread I was served back then, but it has to be American cheese. Good ol’ “what is this stuff made of?” white American cheese. No others need apply. Why compromise? We all know what I’m talking about here. Processed cheese. That word casts a scornful shadow over a food category otherwise viewed on the farm quality end of the food spectrum. You won’t find American in the cheese and charcuterie section of your specialty food store. American cheese was originally a variation of cheddar made in the colonies. It was given the name by mongers in the mother country, spoketh with a sniff and a raised eyebrow because it was from away. This was back when being imported wasn’t the best thing that could

happen to food. Once the large U.S. food companies got their return-on-investment hands on it, the disparagement was earned. I give you... Velveeta. The reputation of American cheese took an even bigger hit, and justifiably so, with the advent of the category “cheese food,” which is obviously the lobbyist-adjusted term to describe something that might even make its way through your digestive system without incident if you are the sturdy type and drink a lot of fluids. But there is good American cheese too. It’s not going to rank with the great cheeses of the world—the Asiago, the blue, the brie—but it has a place in the pantheon of comfort food. I specifically requested white American (the yellow is flavored with annatto). It’s fabulous when paired with the aforementioned tomato soup, which, by the way, Doreen also makes without peer. She searched out some good quality block American, rather than buy those dreadful prewrapped slices in the dairy section. You just

have to pay attention. It’s not all good, but it’s not all bad, either. We’re not done cooking yet. Doreen did the butter thing, put the sandwich in a pan with a lid, and set it on 1. She waited until all the butter melted and soaked into the bread. I’m starting to hyperventilate, writing this. She did both sides (No rush—I was having a vodka), then turned it up to 2 until the cheese started to melt and the bread assumed a gentle fawn color. This is when the cheese and tomato juices absorb into the inside of the slices. After both sides exchange vows, she turned it up to 3—just 3—and finished the outside to an even, golden chestnut. It was absolutely superb. You won’t believe this—I don’t believe it myself—but since we had plenty of bread and cheese here, and tomatoes, she made me another one this evening. This sandwich came with the admonition: “Don’t you die on me tonight.” I don’t care. If I do it will be with the biggest smile you’ve ever seen on this face. n

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exhibitions

Tricia Adler, Expand

The Beach

Works in Wood, Through Nov. 10 For the Love of the Loom, Nov. 16–Jan. 5

Glenn Harren: Just Paint

New Hope Arts, 2 Stockton Ave., New Hope Friday, Saturday & Sunday, noon to 5 215-862-9606 newhopearts.org Works in Wood 20th Anniversary Exhibition honors the rich cultural heritage of Bucks County woodworking while celebrating the new visions of contemporary artists who reside in our region and beyond. This national juried exhibition features over 70 works including fine furniture, sculptural forms and vessels in a wide range of styles and techniques. For the Love of the Loom, features contemporary fiber artists, Rita Romanova Gekht, Bojana Leznicki, Susan Martin Maffei, Ilona Pachler, Mary-Ann Sievert, Armando Sosa, and Betty Vera, working with a variety of techniques from traditional to experimental. Though equient may differ, each artist approaches weaving as an artistic medium. Boutique of functional fiber work by local weavers opens on Saturdays starting November 30. In conjunction with the show, on 11/23, 6:00 The New Hope Art Center will present a lecture on Collecting, Commissioning and Conserving the textile art.

Ilona Pachler, Tree of Life Tapestry (detail) 6

Gallery On Fourth 401 Northampton Street, Easton, PA 610-905-4627 GalleryOnFourth.org W-Th 12-7; Fri-Sat 12-9; Sun 12-5 Through December 1 Closing Reception December 1, 12-5 This breathtaking exhibition comprises 26 oil paintings and six intimate pencil sketches on paper by this Bucks County master. The exhibition’s title is not a description of the medium. It is Glenn’s mantra, his raison d’être: “I’m an artist who responds in color and shapes to the world around me. I seek the extraordinary aspects of everyday life, whether in the color of a landscape or the simple dignity of the human form.” Employing bold color and loose brushstrokes, Glenn transforms local vistas into majestic landscapes, and a day at the beach into a timeless study on collective introspection and contemplation. Anonymous, everyday people and places become icons of a shared humanity. We don’t know exactly where we are, yet we feel at home. We may be alone in our thoughts, but we’re not lonely Working in a manner that is reminiscent of the Pennsylvania Impressionists, John Singer Sargent, and Edward Hopper, Glenn’s style is entirely his own.

Pine Hollow Glow

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Forging a Link: Metalsmiths Respond to the Mercer Collection Mercer Museum, 84 So. Pine St., Doylestown 215-345-0210 Mercermuseum.org Through January 5, 2020 Experience the Mercer Museum’s historic artifacts in a new light this fall in the exhibit Forging a Link: Metalsmiths Respond to the Mercer Collection, located within the entire core of the Mercer Museum’s historic castle. This exhibit is a collaborative partnership between the Mercer Museum and guest curator Cappy Counard, professor of metals and jewelry at Edinboro University, and highlights the work of twenty-three blacksmiths, metalsmiths and jewelers, who represent a diverse cross section of their fields. These artists visited the Mercer Museum in 2018 and the original artwork they produced after their visit was an artistic response to the museum’s historic collection. These new works of art are integrated into the museum’s permanent exhibits and displayed alongside the artifacts that inspired them.

From the left

opinion

From the right

Cummings knew the difference between winning the news cycle and serving the nation

Senate Republicans must weigh the cost of complicity By MICHAEL GERSON

By EUGENE ROBINSON There are moments when the U.S. Capitol feels like a sanctified space, a holy temple dedicated to ideals that transcend the partisan squabbles of the politicians who work there. The enormous paintings that tell the story of America, normally like wallpaper to those who work in the building, demand attention as if they are being seen for the first time. The marble likenesses of great men—and too few great women—seem to come alive. October 24 was such an occasion, as the body of Elijah Cummings, the Maryland congressman who died at 68, lay in state in one of the Capitol’s grandest spaces, Statuary Hall. There was a sense of great sadness and loss, but also an even more powerful sense of history and purpose. Cummings was the first African American lawmaker to be accorded the honor of lying in state at the Capitol. That his casket was positioned not far from a statue of a seated Rosa Parks would have made him smile. Something Cummings once said seemed to echo in the soaring room: “When we’re dancing with the angels, the question we’ll be asked: In 2019, what did we do to make sure we kept our democracy intact?” Cummings was able to give an answer he could be proud of. What about me? What about you? He was the son of sharecroppers who left South Carolina to seek a better life in the big city of Baltimore. When he was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, Jim Crow segregation was still very much alive. Angry whites threw rocks and bottles at him when, at age 11, he helped integrate a previously whites-only swimming pool. He attended Howard University, where he was president of the student government, and graduated in 1973. A friend of mine who was his classmate told me it was obvious even then that Cummings was on a mission to make a difference in people’s lives. He got his law degree from the University of Maryland, went into private practice, served in the Maryland House of Delegates and was elected to Congress in 1996. At his death, he was the powerful chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee. But the reason he was so influential, and will be so sorely missed, has less to do with his title than with his integrity and humanity. In floor debates and committee hearings, he fought his corner fiercely. But I don’t know any member of Congress, on either side of the aisle, who did not respect and admire him. A roster of the great and the good came to the Capitol to pay their respects. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Cummings “our North Star.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke of Cummings’ love for Baltimore. Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, an ideological foe, teared up when he spoke of Cummings as a personal friend. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that “his voice could shake mountains, stir the most cynical heart.” The scene was a sharp contrast with what had happened one day earlier and two floors below. The House Intelligence Committee was scheduled to take a deposition from a Pentagon official as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Trump’s conduct. The closed-door session was to take place in a basement room designed to be secure from electronic surveillance. Before the deposition could get started, more than two dozen members of Congress—including some of Trump’s staunchest and

Sometimes idiocy is a form of confession. With the storming of a secure hearing room, Donald Trump’s strongest supporters in the House essentially admitted their cupboard of personal dignity and rational arguments to be bare. What remains is cheap theatricality and a determination to discredit impeachment by debasing their own institution. The House Republican Iwo Jima turned out to be a seedy carnival sideshow. But any attention given to the House’s shock troops of inanity and unreason is misdirected. With impeachment now a near certainty, there is only one group of legislators that ultimately matters: the 100 jurors of the U.S. Senate. Of that group, 53 Republicans will have their partisan loyalties tested. And of that group, 20 Republicans—the minimum necessary for conviction—hold the fate of the president in their hands. What are Republicans in this position thinking? Here is my best guess, based on a few conversations with GOP legislators over the last week: You moralizing columnists have it easy. I have to live in the real political world. I know President Trump is deeply flawed. But I saw how Democrats and much of the media questioned his legitimacy from the very beginning, making Republicans in my state deeply suspicious about any impeachment process. I don’t think the current process, so far, has been particularly open or fair. And there is a lot at stake. The Democratic Party seems to become more extreme by the day. Ideas like “Medicare for All,” which once were ideological ceilings, have become floors. I think Elizabeth Warren would be a disaster as president, and I really don’t want to do anything to make her election more likely. Besides, you have no idea what politics is like in my state. The old GOP is gone. Coming out against Trump directly would be seen as an act of treason in the culture war—as a surrender to cosmopolitan socialism. Republicans would never forgive me. And I probably wouldn’t get any credit from the other side anyway. So, at least for the moment, my best option is to remain silent on the substance of impeachment, attack the process and see how things unfold. I don’t agree with this line of reasoning, but I don’t discount the difficulties faced by Senate Republicans. Utah Sen. Mitt Romney has shown conspicuous political courage in his criticisms of the president. But I understand why other GOP senators would want to be the 10th to break with Trump rather than the second. The justifications for remaining loyal to the president, however, are increasingly inadequate for a number of reasons: First, there is the shocking obviousness of the Ukraine quid pro quo. As the testimony of Ambassador William Taylor demonstrated, everyone involved knew exactly what was happening. And the effort to squeeze political benefit out of a foreign government was much broader than a single phone call. The president’s fig-leaf defense—no quid pro quo—has been removed. Second, there is the foreign policy nightmare of abandoning the Kurds in such a brutish fashion, and then abandoning Syria to Russian influence. This has been a reminder of the real-world consequences of having an impulsive, blathering dolt as commander in chief. Third, there has been Trump’s predictable turn to racially provocative language (describing his impeachment as a “lynching”) when he gets into

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exhibitions

Complete, one foot in diameter. Lauren Kuhn, Peel Appeal (detail)

Spotted Lanternfly Zones of Syncopation (SFZ)

f Ai Weiwei (Chinese, born 1957), Golden Age, 2015.

Ai Weiwei’s Golden Age Allentown Art Museum 31 N. Fifth St., Allentown, PA 610-432-4333 Allentownartmuseum.org Thru October 16 Ai Weiwei’s Golden Age is an installation in the Museum’s vestibule, and creates an immersive and thought-provoking experience for visitors. The artist spent his childhood in a military re-education camp, where his family was forced to live because of his father’s opposition to Mao. Today Ai Weiwei is an internationally respected artist and human rights activist whose art often criticizes the Chinese government, which has retaliated against him by forbidding him to speak in public, surveilling him, and imprisoning him for three months in 2011. This work draws on Ai’s own experience of suppression but also comments on the more universal dilemma of balancing technology’s allure with its threat to our privacy.

Golden Age, installation. 8

Holiday Show Bethlehem House Gallery 459 Main St., Bethlehem, PA 610-419-6262 Bethlehemhousegallery.com Through January 11, 2020 ’Tis the season and join us in celebrating Bethlehem House Gallery’s Holiday Show, featuring original work by Lynn Beedle, Matthew Blum (InVision Festival Artist), Andrew Depietro, Roy Gruver, Bob Hakun, Norine Kevolic, Lauren Kuhn and Anthony Smith. View the artwork in the new and beautifully curated, fully furnished gallery. Art is brought to life in the environment it belongs. The unique way the art work is hung, in a living environment, reinforces this one-of-a-kind gallery’s motto, “Art belongs in the home.” Nestled in the heart of Historic Downtown Bethlehem, extended holiday hours make it easy to stop by the gallery and then enjoy all that Main Street has to offer in beautiful Christmas City.

Lynn Beedle, Snowy Farm (detail)

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Penn State Lehigh Valley 2809 Saucon Valley Road, Center Valley, PA 610-285-5261, lehighvalley.psu.edu December 2-3 Unveiling and Meet the Artist, Dec. 2, 4-6 Spotted Lanternfly Zones of Syncopation (SFZ) explores the infestation of the spotted lanternfly. The multi-layered and cross-disciplinary Campus Arts Initiative project is led by visiting artist Elsabé Dixon in partnership with Penn State Lehigh Valley. The SFZ project will be installed at the Lehigh Valley campus to bring awareness to the invasive nature of the predatory insect. It will be displayed in Centre Hall for one year beginning December 2. The work of art will be a large data map installation made of adult spotted lanternfly wings at the end of their life cycle.

Elsabe and partiicpants at a community workshop dewinging

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nightlife NOVEMBER

CURATED BY A.D. AMOROSI

13 A HILARIOUS (UNCENSORED) CONVERSATION WITH ALEC BALDWIN

cover versions of chance choices in song to City Winery’s new Philly outlet. City Winery Philadelphia, citywinery.com/philadelphia

6 STEVEN PAGE

Page was the funniest and fuzziest of Barenaked Ladies, so to find him gone, and on his own—and still making frank and goofy pop with a sensualist folksy edge… well,

21 BOB DYLAN

The Bard of Minnesota opened The Metropolitan Opera

Just please no more Trump impersonations. The Kimmel Center, kimmelcenter.org 16, 19 SARA BAREILLES

The woman behind the Waitress musical returns to playing, rather than writing for the Broadway stage and finds bravo. (SteelStacks/Musikfest Café at ArtsQuest Center, steelstacks.org)

House last year with his best, clearest show in decades. Let’s see if he will do it this time out. The Met Philadelphia, themetphilly.com 22 AN EVENING WITH SUTTON FOSTER

9 ELTON JOHN

Currently the star of TV Land’s Younger, Sutton has won Tony after Tony for Broadway shows such as Anything Goes and Thoroughly Modern Millie, as well as appearing in The Drowsy Chaperone, Little Women, Young Frankenstein, Shrek The Musical, and making sweetly shrill albums Take Me to the World, Wish, and An Evening with Sutton Foster: Live at the Café Carlyle. Be there. Merriam Theater, kimmelcenter.org

The bitch is back. No, really. After starting his “Goodbye” tour at the Wells Fargo Center at the beginning of the year, the Rocketman gets a second crack at Philadelphia Freedom. (Wells Fargo Center, wellsfargocenterphilly.com) 12 MARIAN ANDERSON AWARDS

Dedicated to the Africa-American Philadelphia activist and opera singer and the cause of all good and communallygiving passes the baton to Hollywood swingers Kool & the Gang. I’m not entirely certain what beneficent and civic deeds they’re known for, but they’re the funkiest of award recipients. (The Kimmel Center, kimmelcenter.org)

magic in the new music of Amidst the Chaos. The Met Philadelphia, themetphilly.com

13 CARL PALMER’S ELP LEGACY - EMERSON, LAKE &

After a dozen-plus years of inactivity, Maynard and the crew of Tool recently released their most open-ended and spacious new album, Fear Inoculum; a cause for celebra-

PALMER LIVES ON

18 TOOL

Without trying to be funny or mean, it’s got to be a challenge being the last remaining member of a trio, the one

23 DRU HILL & GINUWINE

The warmest executors of late ’90s, early 2000s R&B&H(op) come together for Glenside. Keswick Theatre, keswicktheatre.com 24 TINSLEY ELLIS AND TOMMY CASTRO & THE PAINKILLERS

Two American devisers of manic blues and spirited soul join forces. SteelStacks/Musikfest Café at ArtsQuest Center, steelstacks.org 24 DESSA

Genre jumbling singer and multi-instrumentalist Dessa plays City Winery for the release of her new live album, Sound the Bells, recorded with the Minnesota Orchestra. City Winery Philadelphia, citywinery.com/philadelphia DEC. 2 AN EVENING WITH HOT TUNA ACOUSTIC

who hasn’t died. Even more difficult is the fact that the late Keith Emerson and the late Greg Lake left their progressive rock outfit to the care of their drummer, the legendary Carl Palmer. I hope he’s got some amazing new musicians to help him with this task. (SteelStacks/Musikfest Café at ArtsQuest Center, steelstacks.org) 10

tion, of controversy, of wondering about lyrical absurdities and allegories, and yes, a little fear. Wells Fargo Center, wellsfargocenterphilly.com

Has there ever been a minute when Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady haven’t been together singing and playing the snaky psychedelic folksy blues or bluesy folk or jazz? With special guests Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams. SteelStacks/Musikfest Café at ArtsQuest Center, steelstacks.org

20 MAX WEINBERG’S JUKEBOX

DEC. 3 CHRIS ISAAK

Before Springsteen gets ready to record and tour for 2020, the whole of the E Street band is off on their own, including drummer Weinberg who brings his big band

The smooth and salty, jazzy crooner and f-hole guitarist behind Wicked Games returns. Keswick Theatre, keswicktheatre.com n

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valley theater

city theater

All About Eve. Gillian “X-Files” Anderson and Lily “Downton Abbey” James play viciously articulate rival actors in an adaptation of the memorable 1950 movie, telecast from the National Theatre. (Buck Hall, Lafayette College, 219 N. 3rd St., Easton, Nov. 10)

Dance Nation. Pulitzer Prize-finalist playwright Clare Barron and director Margot Bordelon tackle the surprisingly broadly humorous strokes of a tale of a competitive dance troupe of teenage girls going for the gold. (Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad Street, through Nov. 10)

Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead. Shocked by his pet’s death from rabies, CB seeks the meaning of life and afterlife, aided by a shy pianist and a blanket-missing stoner. (Arena Theatre, Moravian College, 1200 Main St., Bethlehem, Nov. 14-17)

The Last Match. Here’s yet another theater piece dealing with a competitive spirit, championship, and character. Only this dramedy from playwright Anna Ziegler (of Photograph 51 fame) focuses on American and Russian male tennis players (and their women) at a time of triumph and failure. (Lantern Theater Company at St. Stephen’s Theater, 923 Ludlow Street, Nov. 7–Dec. 15)

The Broken Machine. Lehigh University’s theater department commissioned resident artist Liz Duffy to write a realistic fantasy about a brokenarmed hermit and a bad-assed fox trying to escape wildfires and incorrect states of mind. (Zoellner Center for the Arts, 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem, Nov. 15-17, 20-22) Miracle on 34th St. Kris Kringle goes to court to prove he’s the real Santa Claus and not a department-store stand-in in this live radio musical. (Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, DeSales University,, 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley, Nov. 20-24, Dec. 3-8) Waiting for Godot. Women play male roles in Samuel Beckett’s existential circus for two tramps who trick themselves out of despair and boredom. (Lipkin Theater, Kopacek Hall, Northampton Community College, 3835 Green Pond Rd., Bethlehem, Nov. 21-25) Prometheus/Redux. How do we regenerate generations? That’s the pressing question in this provocative play premiered during “Festival UnBound,” last month’s 10-day examination of Bethlehem’s cultural wealth and civic health. Bill George filtered King Lear rage and Peter Pan pathos into Prometheus, a dying ex-steelworker wrestling with his legacy as a builder of American bridges and skyscrapers and a neglectful father of an estranged daughter who becomes his doctor. Ashley Tait-Weller played the doctor-daughter with fine-tuned anger and sorrow; Peggy Pettitt added comic swagger to a sassy nurse. Playwright Gerard Stropnicky carefully dissected plant pride and ethnic prejudice, labor at work and home, and industrial and medical dynasties. Director Christopher Shorr carefully balanced professional and amateur performers, spot-lit soliloquys and projected portraits of steelworkers. The one misstep, an awkward Greek chorus chanting Prometheus’ name, was checkmated by a cleansing gospel doo-wop call for healing. Hidden Seed. Bethlehem’s 18th-century Moravian settlement is usually depicted as a utopia of racial and sexual equality. This gripping play, christened during “Festival UnBound,” casts the community as a tangled web of diversity and discrimination. beautiful ideals and ugly truths. Sitting in the Single Sisters House, an original Moravian dwelling turned into a museum, spectators heard three female ghosts, based on real Moravians, celebrate free healthcare, lessons in reading and writing, and sex as “a foretaste of our ecstatic union with God.” While Margaret, a European-American sister (Laurie McCants), continued to extol blissful harmony, her African-American and Native American brethren Magdalena (Deirdre Sabina Van Walters) and Anna (Candece Tarpley) gradually blasted slavery and deceitful deals disguised as religious manifest destiny. Playwrights Seth Moglen and Bill George created an ebbing, flowing river that Tarpley and Van Walters turned into riveting rafts of righteous rage that made listeners gasp and cry. Credit McCants for generating empathy for a sometimes unsympathetic character and for directing a dancing piece of chamber music brimming with heat and heart. n — GEOFF GEHMAN 12

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Timeprov: The Improvised Doctor Who Parody. As someone who has followed Doctor Who through all 13 of its time lords, nothing could be funnier than an improvisational romp through time and space travel. This Comedy Sportz parody, starring Adam Cooper, David Dritsas, Erica Gooch, Kelsey Hébert, Kelly Jennings, Tom McManus, and Alli Soowal, allows the audience to pick a Doctor, a companion, their villain, and want time and place they’ll get there. Daleks included. (CSz Philadelphia, 2030 Sansom Street, through Nov. 22) Sunset Baby. Playwright Dominique Morriseau’s crisp, curt work about a daughter’s fraught relationship with her lost activist father (a political prisoner and Black revolutionary) is at the center of this smart family drama. Letters of love and personal, political upheaval, tinged with the weight of history and shared between caring parents give this Amina Robinson-directed drama heart. (Azuka Theatre, 302 S. Hicks Street, through Nov. 22) The Hound of the Baskervilles. After a record amount of Barrymore Awards given for its musical run at Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, Norristown’s Theatre Horizon goes for something broad and dippy in its new re-telling of the Sherlock Holmes legend from playwrights Steven Canny and John Nicholson, and director Matt Pfeiffer. Theatre Horizon’s Steve Pacek, Damon Bonetti, and Dave Johnson go all Greater Tuna and play all sixteen characters in this Conan Doyle parody. (Theatre Horizon, 401 DeKalb Street, Norristown, Nov. 11–Dec. 9) On the Exhale. Director Matt Pfeiffer strikes again in this horrifically graphic telling of a violent crime. Here, playwright Martín Zimmerman tells the story of a woman drawn to the ferocity of the weapon that changed her life. That a legislature and public discourse will do nothing gives this liberal college professor a fresh, hellish perspective and the opportunity to teach one lesson too many. This play comes with a trigger warning for its violence to school-age children. (Theater Exile, Theatre Exile, 1340 S. 13th Street, Nov. 29–Dec. 22) An Iliad. Homer’s take on the Trojan War is re-told by Philadelphia actor Mary Tuomanen, local director Rebecca Wright, authors Lisa Peterson, and Denis O’Hare (translated by Robert Fagles) modern and titillating. (Arden Theatre Company, 62 N. 2nd Street, Nov. 13–Dec. 15) Little Red Robin Hood: A Musical Panto. Favored son of Philadelphia musical cabaret and composition, Michael Ogborn, wrote the songs and lyrics to this new mash-up rendition (from Kathryn Petersen) of fractured fairy tales and hero storybooks. All I know is that to start, Robin Hood is dead, and Nottinghamshire has been raped and pillaged by a fresh villainess. Oh, and the whole thing is set in the 1940s. Your guess is as good as mine as to where this goes next. (People’s Light, 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, Nov. 13–Jan. 5) n — A.D. AMOROSI

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new books

Year of the Monkey Patti Smith Knopf 192 pages Following a run of New Year’s concerts at San Francisco’s Fillmore, Patti Smith finds herself tramping the coast of Santa Cruz, about to embark on a year of solitary wandering. Unfettered by logic or time, she draws us into her private wonderland with no design, yet heeding signs—including a talking sign that looms above her, prodding and sparring like the Cheshire Cat. In February, a surreal lunar year begins, bringing with it unexpected turns, heightened mischief, and inescapable sorrow. In a stranger's words, “Anything is possible: after all, it’s the Year of the Monkey.” The year evolves as one of reckoning with loss, aging, and a dramatic shift in the political landscape of America. Taking us from California to the Arizona desert; to a Kentucky farm as the amanuensis of a friend in crisis; to the hospital room of a valued mentor; and by turns to remembered and imagined places, this haunting memoir blends fact and fiction with poetic mastery. The unexpected happens; grief and disillusionment set in. But as Smith heads toward a new decade in her life, she offers this balm to the reader: her wisdom, wit, gimlet eye, and above all, a rugged hope for a better world. How to Read Virginia Woolf HarperCollins 256 pages In its early years, the Times Literary Supplement published some of the finest writers in English. One of the paper’s defining voices was Virginia Woolf, who produced a string of superb essays between wars. The weirdness of Elizabethan plays, the pleasure of revisiting favorite novels, the supreme examples of Charlotte Brontë, George Eliot and Henry James, Thomas Hardy and Joseph Conrad: all are here, in anonymously published pieces, in which we glimpse the thinking behind Woolf’s works of fiction and the enquiring, feminist spirit of A Room of One’s Own. Here is Woolf the critical essayist, offering a playful hypothesis, or a judgment laid down with the authority of a 20th-century Dr Johnson. Here is Woolf working out what’s great about Hardy, and how Elizabeth Barrett Browning made books a “substitute for living” because she was “forbidden to scamper on the grass.” Here is Virginia Woolf the reader, whose enthusiasm for great literature remains palpable and inspirational today. 14

Find Me André Aciman Farrar, Straus and Giroux 272 pages

No novel in recent memory has spoken more movingly to contemporary readers about the nature of love than André Aciman’s haunting Call Me by Your Name. Nearly three quarters of a million copies have been sold, and the book became a much-loved, Academy Award–winning film starring Timothée Chalamet as the young Elio and Armie Hammer as Oliver, the graduate student with whom he falls in love. In Find Me, Aciman shows us Elio’s father, Samuel, on a trip from Florence to Rome to visit Elio, who has become a gifted classical pianist. An encounter on the train with a young woman changes his life forever. Elio soon moves to Paris, where he, too, has a consequential affair, while Oliver, now a New England college professor with a family, suddenly finds himself contemplating a return trip across the Atlantic. Aciman is a master of sensibility, of the intimate details and the emotional nuances that are the substance of passion. Find Me brings us back inside the magic circle of one of our greatest contemporary romances to ask if, in fact, true love ever dies.

The Deserter: A Novel Nelson DeMille Simon & Schuster 544 pages When Captain Kyle Mercer of the Army’s elite Delta Force disappeared from his post in Afghanistan, a video by his Taliban captors made international headlines. But circumstances were murky: Did Mercer desert before he was captured? Then a second video sent to Mercer’s Army commanders leaves no doubt: the trained assassin and keeper of classified intelligence has willfully disappeared. When Mercer is spotted a year later in Caracas, Venezuela, by an old Army buddy, top military brass task Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor of the Criminal Investigation Division to fly to Venezuela and bring Mercer back to America—preferably alive. Brodie knows this is a difficult mission, made more difficult by his new partner’s inexperience, by their undeniable chemistry, and by Brodie’s suspicion that Maggie Taylor is reporting to the CIA. With ripped-from-the-headlines appeal, an exotic and dangerous locale, and the hairpin twists and inimitable humor that are signature DeMille, The Deserter is the first in a timely and thrilling new series from an unbeatable team of True Masters: the #1 New York Times bestseller Nelson DeMille and his son, award-winning screenwriter Alex DeMille.

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The Dutch House Ann Patchett HarperCollins 352 pages At the end of the WWII, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin a real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his sister Maeve are exiled from the house by their steother. The siblings are thrown back into poverty and find that all they have to count on is each other. This bond between them both saves their lives and thwarts their futures. The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Throughout their lives they return to the story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between brother and sister is finally tested.

Do You Mind if I Cancel? (Things That Still Annoy Me) Gary Janetti Flatiron Books 176 pages Gary Janetti, the writer and producer for some of the most popular television comedies of all time, and creator of one of the most wickedly funny Instagram accounts, turns his skills to the page in a hilarious, and poignant book chronicling the indignities of everyday life. Gary spends his twenties dreaming of starring on soap operas while in reality working at a hotel where he lusts after an unattainable colleague and battles a bellman. He chronicles the torture of finding a job before the internet when you had to talk on the phone all the time, and fantasizes, as we all do, about who to tell off when he finally wins an Oscar. As Gary himself says, “These are essays from my childhood and young adulthood about things that still annoy me.” Original, brazen, and laugh out loud funny, Do You Mind If I Cancel? is something not to be missed.

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If you would like to submit an essay, short story, or opinion piece, this page is for you. Professional writers, experts, and amateurs are all invited to contribute. We want writing that is interesting, illuminating, challenging. Make us think. Make us smarter. Make us cry. Or laugh. Send an email with the subject line VOICES to trina@icondv.com. Include your name, address, and phone number. If your piece is going to be published we’ll let you know and only print your name.

voices

In the Valley of the Hyacinths BY GEOFF GEHMAN

OUR FRIEND PAT IS golf carting us through her Bucks County daylily farm, a Matissemeets-Monet wonderland of nearly 2,000 varieties with nearly every conceivable color. The retired high-school science teacher motors around the seventy 100-foot-long rows that she weeds all by herself from March to October, one block per week. The five-acre garden, she explains, is much more than a visual feast, much more than a showstopper. It’s a perennial memorial to her mother, a Burpee Seeds scientist who helped design it with Pat and her three granddaughters while she was dying from breast cancer. It’s an emotional investment for Abby, Rachel and Sarah, who bought new hybrids with their babysitting money, sold flowers to help pay their college costs, and married among lilies jauntily named Curious George, Green Eyes Wink and Rainbow Magic. Pat is partial to flowers she named after her kids: Just Sarah, Rachel My Love and Abigator. She thinks about them and her mom and her former students and friends who married in the garden while she strips, cuts, plants, primps and mows. Her daylily farm, you see, is really a love tapestry. After the tour Mom and l sit under a tent with 30-odd ladies from Pat’s friend’s church for an annual inspirational potluck dinner. We’re the only outsiders, which is both flattering and touching considering that we’re Pat’s relatively new friends. We bonded three years ago in a nearby antiques store that she helped run. We kept her busy and happy by buying everything from a primitive pastel-and-chalk picture of George Washington on a horse at Mount Vernon to an embroidered, jeweled eagle we gave to my sister Meg and Genine as a wedding present. Mom drops a bombshell before Pat tells her guests that grooming lilies is like grooming students. She wants me to plant her a perennial memorial of hyacinths. “Why hyacinths?” “I just love their look, their smell, the way they say spring has sprung. And they’re so hardy—they come up no matter what. They’re Geoff Gehman is a former arts writer for The Morning Call This is a chapter from his forthcoming book Planet Mom: Keeping an Aging Parent from Aging. He lives in Bethlehem, where he and his mom cooked up the book. geoffgehman@verizon.net 16

more reliable than the British postal service.” “Well, I think they look puny and they smell like bad perfume during an Easter service. How about a nice circle of tulips? They’ll give you a splashier show.” “Deer love to eat tulips. You can’t really miss me if all my flowers are missing.” “Well, then, how about a nice bunch of gladiolas? They’re bigger, they’re shapelier, and they come in more colors. You’ll get a bigger bang for your buck.”

“Gladiolas remind me too much of funerals. Remember, I want a living memorial, not a dead one.” While I’m thinking of a livelier perennial memorial, Mom reveals a secret as old as me. “I don’t think I ever told you this but after I had you I couldn’t smell or taste anything for a year because the anesthesia knocked out my senses. The very first thing I could smell was a hyacinth. Ever since then hyacinths have been very special to me. They remind me of little miracles—like you.” That shuts me up but good. How can I argue about a flower that means rebirth to the woman who gave me birth? Three months later we launched Geoff and Pat’s Great Hyacinth Planting Spree. Our pilgrimage began on Gehman Road, named for another branch of the family tree rooted in Berks

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County’s Washington Township in the late 18th century. We cruised for 20 minutes, up and down and up again, until we admitted defeat. My trowel just couldn’t make a dent in the lush grass framing the farm fields. Besides, the lowflying hyacinths surely would have been wiped out by a tractor or a runaway car on the wideopen, naked berm. We drove away disappointed that our flowers couldn’t be neighbors of the Butter Valley Golf Port, a course/runway owned for two generations by Gehmans. We headed to another Gehman sanctuary in Doris, a 2000 Honda Accord named for a dear friend who willed Mom the money to buy her. Ten miles later we stood in the cemetery of the Zionsville Bible Fellowship Church, co-founded in the 1850s by my great-grandfather William, a Mennonite minister, after a feud with a nearby congregation. His gravestone borders memorials for my grandfather, another Mennonite minister named William, and my father Larry, a Madison Avenue advertising man who fancied himself a lay preacher. After we buried Dad’s ashes in 2001, I planted a Montauk Daisy to thank him for planting us on Long Island’s gorgeous South Fork, where I fell in love with Montauk daisies, which have fluttery white petals and a center resembling a tiny egg yolk. Three months before Dad died, he and Mom agreed to share a headstone, a gorgeous gesture for a couple divorced for 37 years. His inscription, courtesy of Thomas Jefferson, is typically vigilant: “I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” Her inscription, courtesy of John Greenleaf Whittier, is typically benevolent: “If thou of fortune be bereft,/and in thy store there be but left/two loaves, sell one, and with the dole,/buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.” Under Whittier’s lines I began digging holes for four hyacinths, one each for Mom, Dad, Meg and me. I was on the second hole when Mom insisted the bulbs would grow better in a trench. Within 30 seconds she was scolding me for shallow troweling, using the same stern, singsong voice she uses when my fly is down. “That’s not six inches.”

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CHRISTKINDLMARKT AT STEELSTACKS Nov. 22–24, Nov. 29-Dec. 1 & Dec. 5-8, 12-15 & 19-22. One of the best holiday markets in the U.S. by Travel + Leisure. PNC Plaza at SteelStacks, 645 East First St. Bethlehem. christmascity.org. 877- 212-2463

CHRISTMAS CITY'S TREE LIGHTING CEREMONY November 29, 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. Cookies, hot chocolate, and a visit from Santa Claus. Bring new or gently used children's books to donate. Payrow Plaza, 10 East Church St., Bethlehem. 484-280-3024

CHRISTKINDLMARKT HOT GLASS EXPERIENCE: ORNAMENT Nov. 22–Dec. 22. Work one-on-one with an artist to create a glass holiday ornament. Christkindlmarkt Glass Tent, PNC Plaza at SteelStacks, 645 East 1st St., Bethlehem. bananafactory.org . 610-332-1300

BETHLEHEM BY NIGHT BUS TOUR Nov. 29–Dec. 30. Visit website for full schedule. Historic Bethlehem Visitor Center, 505 Main St. historicbethlehem.org. 1-800-360-8687

CHRISTMAS HUTS ON MAIN Nov. 22–Dec. 22. Wooden huts filled with unique gift ideas. Main St., Downtown Bethlehem. getdowntownbethlehem.com/huts-on-main2019. 484-280-3024 HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGE RIDES Starting Nov. 22, experience “Christmas City, USA.” Horse-drawn carriage rides are the perfect way to enjoy the lights, sights, and sounds of Bethlehem. Purchase tickets today at HistoricBethlehem.org CHRISTMAS CITY STROLL WALKING TOUR Nov. 22–Dec. 30. Walk through Historic Bethlehem with our certified guide and learn about "Christmas City." Historic Bethlehem Visitor Center, 505 Main St., Bethlehem. historicbethlehem.org. 1-800-360-8687 COUTURE TREES OF HISTORIC BETHLEHEM Nov. 22–Jan. 12. Beautifully decorated Christmas Trees inspired by famous fashion designers. See over 20 trees and vote for your favorite. For tickets and more info visit: HistoricBethlehem.org HOLIDAY PUTZ TRAIL Nov. 22–Jan. 12. Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts, 427 North New St., Moravian Museum of Bethlehem, 66 West Church St., Single Sisters' House, 50 West Church St., 1810 Goundie House, 501 Main St.historicbethlehem.org. 1-800-360-8687 TREES OF HISTORIC BETHLEHEM: CHRISTMAS COUTURE Nov. 22–Jan. 12. An array of Christmas trees beautifully decorated by the Bethlehem Garden Club. historicbethlehem.org. 800-360-8687

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HOLIDAY WASSAIL OPEN HOUSE Nov. 29, 5:30 - 8:00 p.m. After City of Bethlehem tree lighting. Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts, 427 North New St. historicbethlehem.org. 800-360-8687 CHRISTMAS PUTZ AND STAR & CANDLE SHOPPE Nov. 29–Dec. 31. The Christmas Putz is a retelling of the story of Christ’s birth through narration and music. centralmoravianchurch.org. 610-866-5661 BREAKFAST WITH ST. NICHOLAS Nov. 30, Dec. 7, Dec. 14. Doors Open 8 a.m.; Breakfast 8:15–9:30 a.m.; Photos Begin 8:30 a.m. PNC Plaza at SteelStacks, 645 East First St., Bethlehem. christmascity.org. 610-332-3378 HISTORIC TURKEY TROT 5K & FUN WALK Nov. 30, a family-friendly 5K Run/Walk & 1.7 mile walk. See the sights of Historic Bethlehem. To register visit HistoricBethlehem.org THE POLAR EXPRESS – HANKSGIVING Nov. 30, 11:00 a.m. Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas, 101 Founders Way. steelstacks.org. 610-297-7100 CIRQUE MECHANICS Dec. 1, 4. A 42ft menagerie of mechanical marvels. Family friendly. Free parking for event center. Zoellner Arts Center, 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem. Zoellnerartscenter.org. 610-758-2787 ADVENT LOVEFEAST Dec. 1, 11 a.m. A non-sacramental meal of sweet rolls and coffee. Sanctuary, 406 Main St., Bethlehem. centralmoravianchurch.org. 610-866-5661

EDGEBORO MORAVIAN CHURCH CHRISTMAS PUTZ AND CHRISTMAS SHOP December 1–22. Edgeboro Moravian Church, 645 Hamilton Ave. edgeboromoravian.org. 610-866-8793 EAST HILLS MORAVIAN CHURCH CHRISTMAS PUTZ Dec. 1–30. East Hills Moravian Church, 1830 Butztown Rd. easthillsmc.org. 610-868-6481

Dec. 9, 7 - 8 p.m. Central Moravian Church, Old Chapel, 412 Heckewelder Place. centralmoravianchurch.org. 610-866-5661 41ST ANNUAL LIVE BETHLEHEM CHRISTMAS PAGEANT Dec. 14 & 15, 1:45. Bethlehem Rose Garden Band Shell on 8th Ave. Goodwill offerings appreciated. facebook.com/BethlehemNativityPageant. 610-865-0274

WHITE CHRISTMAS - CHRISTMAS CLASSIC MATINEES Dec. 5–7, 12:00 p.m. Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem. steelstacks.org. 610-297-7100

A MUPPETS CHRISTMAS CAROL: SECOND SATURDAY KIDS MOVIE SERIES Dec. 14, 10:00. Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas, 101 Founders Way. steelstacks.org. 610-297-7100

CHRISTMAS CITY FOLLIES XX December 5–22. Touchstone’s holiday tradition has been singing, dancing, laughing and cart wheeling its way into the hearts of audiences. 321 East 4th St., Bethlehem. touchstone.org. 610-867-1689

LUMINARIA NIGHT Dec. 14, sundown, city-wide. All proceeds of Luminaria kits go to New Bethany Ministries, benefiting individuals and families in need. newbethanyministries.org. 610-691-5602

54TH ANNUAL COMMUNITY ADVENT BREAKFAST Dec. 7, 8:30–9 a.m. This nondenominational Bethlehem tradition offers holiday music and a generous served breakfast. Christmascity.org. 610-739-3385

BETHLEHEM MUNICIPAL BAND HOLIDAY CONCERT Dec. 18, 7:30. Moravian College, Foy Concert Hall, 324 Main St. 610984-2131

THE TEN TENORS Dec. 7, Home for the Holidays, 7:30. State Theatre, 453 Northampton St., Easton. Statetheatre.org. 610-252-3132. BEL CANTO YOUTH CHORUS WINTER CONCERT Dec. 7, 2:00 p.m. St. John’s Windish Evangelical Lutheran Church, 617 E. 4th St. bach.org/tickets. 610-866-4382 MOSCOW BALLET’S GREAT RUSSIAN NUTRCRACKER Dec. 8, 2 & 6 . State Theatre, 453 Northampton St., Easton. Statetheatre.org. 610-252-3132. BACH CHOIR OF BETHLEHEM CHRISTMAS CONCERT December 8, 4 p.m. First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem, 2344 Center St. bach.org/event/christmas-concert-bethlehem. 610-8664382 CONTEMPLATIVE WORSHIP SERVICE

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE - CHRISTMAS CLASSIC MATINEES Dec. 19-21, 12:00 p.m. Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas, 101 Founders Way. steelstacks.org. 610-297-7100 PEEPSFEST® Dec. 30, 10–5:30. Presented by Just Born Quality Confections. Annual two-day New Year’s Eve festival, SteelStacks, Bethlehem. A PEEPS® Rising Ceremony, culminating with fireworks. steelstacks.org. 610-332-3378 PEEPSFEST® 5K Dec. 31, 1:00. (Registration/Packet pick up at 11 a.m.) Just Born Quality Confections. ArtsQuest Center, SteelStacks, 101 Founders Way. peepsfest5k.itsyourrace.com. 610-332-3378 PEEPS® CHICK DROP Dec. 31, 5:15. Just Born Quality Confections. A 4-ft., 9-inch tall, 400 lb. lit PEEPS® Chick that drops to mark the new year. Fireworks. Levitt Pavilion, SteelStacks, 101 Founders Way. steelstacks.org. 610-332-3378

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cinematters

PETE CROATTO

Light From Light

LIGHT FROM LIGHT CLOCKS in at 82 minutes, and it’s a slog, like walking upstairs in concrete loafers. We know these characters, people who exist in a purgatory of gray. Director-writer Paul Harrill excels at capturing this state but is stuck there himself. These characters need more scenes that provide emotional clarity, that give us a reason to stick around, let alone care. Sheila (Marin Ireland) is a paranormal investigator in Tennessee, an occupation that doesn’t keep her busy. Her full-time job is working the counter at a rental car place in the airport, a humdrum job that’s part of her humdrum life. She’s probably 35 and looks perpetually exhausted, whether she’s making mac and cheese in her brown kitchen or vacuuming out the seat cushions in a sedan. Then a priest (David Cale) hears her guest appearance on a radio show and reaches out. The widower (Jim Gaffigan) of a longtime parishioner claims to have experienced unusual activity in his house. The priest feels Sheila can offer solace he cannot. Sheila agrees to meet Richard, who is

withdrawn and mopey. She does take the job, but she doesn’t accept payment, the sign of someone grateful for an opportunity or bereft of confidence. Client and contractor are finding their way. Richard’s wife died a year ago, and the sudden departure—and the conditions surrounding her death—make him a ghost in his own house. He drifts from room to room, like a man unsure of how he got here. And this assignment means something to Sheila, who has to borrow equient from a fellow investigator. Plus, her teenage son (Josh Wiggins) is edging toward high school graduation and a romance with his friend (Atheena Frizzell), two develoents that will undoubtedly throw Sheila’s world further out of orbit. Sheila and Richard are two damaged souls seeking solace in and from the incomprehensible. But Harrill respects their space too much, so they’re two in a collection of dead-eyed wanderers in Anywhere, U.S.A. The adrift element is the entire movie. I wish there was more inter-

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action between the characters. There’s a scene where Richard and Sheila reveal more about their current state that is authentic and revealing and conversational. Harrill also lacks a defining aesthetic beyond medium shots with wood paneling as the backdrop and characters eating dinner in solitude. There’s an art to portraying small-town desperation, but in Light from Light I felt desperate to know Sheila and Richard. I kept wondering what keeps them upright in a world that knocks them down. The highlight here is Gaffigan, the popular stand-up comic who has enjoyed a nice secondary career as a character actor in fare ranging from Away We Go to The Experimenter. His performance is small and tentative, but it looms large; he’s endured so much hurt that he’s almost powered off. But Harrill expects too much from performances muted and rooted in ennui, so we view characters as needing help from a lower power, like volunteering at a soup kitchen or finding a show to binge watch. That is not a hook on which to build a recommendation. [NR] n

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intervi ew SUSAN VAN DONGEN

Stringtheory “

IF YOU CAN CAPTURE THE SOUL OF WHATEVER GENRE YOU HAVE, WHETHER IT’S BRUBECK, OR HENDRIX, OR ANDREA BOCELLI, IF YOU CAN GET THAT CROSSOVER, YOU HAVE A CHANCE OF CONNECTING WITH THE LISTENER. THERE’S STORYTELLING TO THE MUSIC, AND THAT’S WHAT CROSSOVER IS—CONNECTING

”

THROUGH

STORYTELLING.

THIS

IRELAND IS A COUNTRY that cherishes conversation, storytelling, and, especially, music. Musical ability is so highly valued there, Irish children earn ribbons and trophies the way the United States awards sports, cheerleading, and beauty contests.contests. Violinist Gregory Harrington was born in Dublin and currently lives in New York. He first picked up the instrument at age four, and it was apparent he had a special light around him when he played. Harrington earned degrees from University College in Dublin, the Guildhall School of Music in London, and Mannes College of Music in New York. He embarked on a solo career in 2000, after a stunning debut at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Since then, he’s been circumnavigating the globe, performing in acclaimed venues in his native Ireland and the United Kingdom, the United States, South America, China, and New Zealand. His late father would often accompany him on tour, and his most recent album reflects the deep friendship that went way beyond the typical parent-child relationship. Without You was released on Harrington’s Estile Records and came out this year, just before Father’s Day. It features a mix of eleven songs and compositions arranged and rendered in the violinist’s singular fashion—a blend of passion, power, fragility, and inescapable virtuosity. With compositions by Leonard Cohen, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, and even Irish rock superstars U2, Without You exhibits Harrington’s ability to translate jazz, rock, pop, as well as movie and television theme music into an intimate conversation with the listener. The songs address a host of issues—but love, loss, and remembrance is the central theme. We spoke to Gregory Harrington from his home in New York City. Were your parents very musical? My mom was the musical one, and it was my mom who bought me my first violin. She wasn’t a professional musician, she was a homemaker, but she played piano beautifully; I can remember hearing her play Chopin. Sadly, she died in 1995, when she was only 57. My dad, who was an engineer by trade, was more about getting me the performance jobs, but after my mom died, he got more involved in the artistic side. It was my dad who heard my concert at the Royal Festival Hall and afterward said, ‘I think you

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Photo: Angelos Gavrias

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interview A.D. AMOROSI

UNSTOPPABLE

[] “THE FIRST SINATRA SONG THAT I

CHOOSE TO DO EACH EVENING IS

CRUCIAL. I NEED TO LET THE AUDIENCE KNOW WHAT THIS EVENING WILL BE ABOUT. I DON’T START OFF

FINESSING THEM SLOWLY. IT’S NOT LIKE A KISS ON THE MOUTH. YOU

HAVE TO BEND THEM OVER AND GIVE IT TO THEM.”

Some pop stars slow, and some pop stars retire. At 78 years of age, producer, performer, and composer Paul Anka is doing none of those. “I know my good friend Elton is on that retirement tour of his, and that’s great for him,” said Anka. “I don’t think that I could ever retire.”

NO KIDDING. IN NOVEMBER alone, he’s playing our area five times: November 10 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre, PA; November 12 at Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, NJ; November 13 at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, NJ; and November 15 at Ovation Hall in Ocean Resort Casino, Atlantic City, NJ. After this new run of shows, he’s scheduled to finish work on a new album and documentary before heading back out on the road in 2020. He’s a trooper, part of pop’s firmament since he came down from Ottawa at age 16 and made a smash with his self-penned “Diana,” in 1957, reportedly selling ten million copies. Though he continued his teen idol-dom with hits such as “Lonely Boy,” and “Put Your Head on My Shoulder,” Anka—wise for his years—knew such youthful zeal was fleeting, and wrote his most commanding song for his idol, Frank Sinatra, in “My Way.” Though he continued to have his own hits, there were those Anka created for others, most recently Drake, a fellow Canadian whose Don’t Matter to Me features Michael Jackson’s voice and Anka’s writing from an intended 1983 duets project. No matter. “My Way,” is his North Star, so much so that Anka named his most recent album and tour Sinatra, His Songs, My Songs, MyWay. Along with discussing his time in Philly and “My Way,” I reached deep into his process as a singer and conceptual thinker—something few writers have done in the past. You’re doing a handful of dates in the Philadelphia area. What did this area mean to you coming up in the business? Philly is my old stomping grounds. I was 15 years old, and hanging out there because everybody who was anybody was there. I got my contract, had a hit with “Diana,” and my lot—Avalon, Fabian, Rydell—were from Philly. They were my buddies. We used to tour together. I came down from Canada to New York then to Philadelphia and American Bandstand. I worked the clubs there. This was the beginning of pop music, its infancy, really. Philly was the hub. New York was where the record companies were, but, if you wanted to socialize, you went to Philadelphia. You did the Scorpion album with Drake, and you met with Tyga. Do you think you have an entirely new audience than the swinging Rat Pack-ish fans of yours or the teeny-bop ’50s era aficionados? It’s there if I want it. You have to come up with the ideas, and how deep you want to go

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Photo courtesy of Paul Anka Productions

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film roundup

Knives Out

KEITH UHLICH

Knives Out (Dir. Rian Johnson). Starring: Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans. Writer-director Rian Johnson follows his divisive galaxy far, far away blockbuster, The Last Jedi, with this ebullient murder mystery set in and around a remote country mansion. Daniel Craig plays Benoit Blanc, a Hercule Poirotesque detective (who nonetheless speaks in a hilariously incongruous American Southern accent) investigating the untimely demise of mega-successful novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer). Thrombey’s to-a-one spiteful family (played by, among others, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shan26

non, Chris Evans, Toni Collette and Don Johnson, each clearly having a blast) are all suspects. But there’s also something dodgy about the housekeeper, Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas, the movie’s beguiling heart and soul), who tended to the shrewd, sharp-witted patriarch is his final hours. Johnson does well maintaining the aura of suspense and misdirection. And he allows the story’s more provocative undercurrents (very much of this particular moment) to emerge gradually. The film’s surface cleverness, at which Johnson proves himself impressively adept, masks something profoundly and pointedly corrosive—a sublime dab of

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politicized arsenic on the luxuriant old lace. [PG-13] HHHH The Irishman (Dir. Martin Scorsese). Starring: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci. Martin Scorsese and gangster stories go together like peanut butter and jelly. Still, his 3.5-hour adaptation of I Heard You Paint Houses, the as-told-tomemoir of labor union leader/mob hitman Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran, surprises. Though it has some of the propulsive energy of Goodfellas and Casino, the overall tone is harrowingly melancholic, focusing on the, decades-spanning recollections of an elderly Sheeran, played wonderfully, at many differ-

ent ages and with the help of some judiciously utilized digital spackle, by Scorsese muse Robert De Niro. Did this gun-toting, Candide-like hoodlum befriend and ultimately murder labor union majordomo Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino, equally excellent)? Or is he spinning a colorful tale to give his relatively unremarkable, and often inhospitable, existence some mythic meaning? Many legacies are being grappled with here, both on and off camera. (A hearty welcome back, as well, to Scorsese regular Joe Pesci who plays Sheeran’s unnervingly cool

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reel news

The King

DVDS REVIEWED BY GEORGE OXFORD MILLER

Blinded by the Light (Directed by Gurinda Chadha. With Viveik Kalra, Kulvinder Ghir, Nell Williams.) At some point, every teen reaches the traumatic crossroads of breaking free, or… living with mom for the next 30 years? In this unapologetic fan movie set near London in 1987, Javed (Kalra) is bound to his parents with the strangling noose of Pakistani traditions, a tyrannical father, and a xenophobic culture with full-on march-in-the-street, skinhead intimidation of immigrants. Javed is drowning in the rat hole until a friend gives him two Springsteen cassettes. The Boss may have hoped his lyrics would resonate with his smalltown New Jersey audience, but the themes of a lost, heartbroken, and 28

socially oppressed generation rocked youth around the world. The lyrics and pounding rhythms express Javed’s feelings so eloquently and powerfully that it explodes the eggshell of his downtrodden worldview and opens a universe full of hope and empowerment. For the first time, he feels someone understands him, and it sets him free. Powerful and eloquent acting by Kalra and the father (Ghir) emphasizes the classic father-son power struggle and the traditional second-generation immigrant who’s in limbo between two cultures. In today’s turbulent society, the social issues of 1987 don’t just echo, they scream from the headlines, and Springsteen’s themes are as penetrating as ever. (PG-13) HHHH

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The King (Director David Michôd. Starring Timothée Chalamet, Joel Edgerton, Robert Pattinson and Ben Mendelsohn.) Though following the basic storyline of Shakespeare’s Henry V, this modernized Netflix streaming version combines several earlier plays and historical accounts for a thoroughly modern and accessible saga. The young Prince Hal, in a hate-hate relationship with his warmongering father, Henry IV, deserts the castle for a hedonistic lifestyle, but when dad dies, he’s forced to the throne. Now instead of loose women and pints of ale, he’s surrounded by a royal court of conniving advisors and backstabbing noblemen. Eventually, circumstances drive him into war with France. Though vastly outnumbered, Hal wins a history-

making battle and marries the Queen of France to unite the nations. The epic follows the benchmark Shakespeare set for poignant, richly-developed characters who face deeply complex moral dilemmas of trust, loyalty, ego, and love, friendship betrayal. With Chalamet as Henry V, Edgerton as his best friend and confidant, Flagstaff, and Pattinson as his French arch foe, Dauphin, the drama captures beauty of friendship, the pain of betrayal, and the horrors of hand-to hand combat on corpse-laden battlefields. (NR) HHHH Late Night (Director by Nisha Ganatra. Starring Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, Hugh Dancy, Denis O’Hare, John Lithgow.) This feel-good, empowerment movie

veers across the center stripe for a head-on collision with the white, male-dominated world of comedy and the television workplace. Yet instead of shout-out righteous anger or a fist to the teeth, we get a nuanced backhanded slap based on cheeky satire and dreams fulfilled. Katherine Newbury (Thompson) has hosted a late-night talk show for nearly three decades and won every award possible, but now her show is on the brink of cancellation. Her comedy persona as an arrogant Brit (which she profoundly is) and her intellectual guest list haven’t keep relevant with current issues and pop attitudes. Something has to change, and the network thinks the solution is a young, hip, white, male host. In full-emergency crisis, Katherine orders her producer (O’Hare) to hire a token woman so the writing team will look more balanced. By a fluke of timing, Molly Patel (Kaling), who has a satirical comeback for every putdown, but no comedy or writing experience, gets the job. From here on the arc of the story plays off two women fighting for recognition, Molly as an intruder in the bro-culture writing staff, Katherine as a has-been trying to reinvent a more relevant self. The script, written by Kaling largely from her own experiences, complies with fully dimensional, relevant characters. The women battle the establishment with wit, wile, and determination and eventually reach a happy-ever-after denouement. (R) HHHH Screwball (Director Billy Corben. Starring Tony Bosch, Porter Fischer, Tim Elfrink.) In 2013, a Miami journalist broke the truth behind a scandal that everyone knew, or openly suspected, was rampant in Major League Baseball. Those bulging biceps of the hottest home-run hitters and biggest stars came from doping hormones. Director Billy Corben’s Netflix streaming documentary takes us behind the scenes for a truth can be as absurd as fiction, and more comic, exposé. The story begins with Tony Bosh, a charlatan Cuban-American conman with a fake doctor’s degree from Belize. He opens an anti-aging practice in south Florida and pedals growth hormone supplements to athletics in micro doses that blood tests can’t detect. He operates out of mobbed-up tanning solons and enlists the help of Porter Fischer, a “tanning professional,” to market illegal supplements to MLB stars. When Manny Ramirez becomes a late-career homerun sensation, Alex Rodriguez wants in on the magic. The sleaze meets idiocy finally makes headlines when Porter can’t get the cut he wants and leaks stolen files to Miami journalist Tim Elfrink. When the MLB sends investigators, the stink rises from both sides of the swamp. Corben’s unorthodox storytelling emphasizes to the lunacy by using child actors in uniform to reenact meetings described in the interviews and lip-sync the dialogue. The whole affair turns into a three-ring circus with the MLB, A-Rod, and Bosch vying for the most outrageous clown outfit. (NR) HHH ICON | NOVEMBER 2019 | ICONDV.COM | FACEBOOK.COM/ICONDV

foreign film PETE CROATTO

By the Grace of God

IT IS UNWISE TO condemn a genre of film, but I’d like to see the “let’s portray an ongoing cultural or news story right now” at least put on hiatus. You can’t comment on the subject with verve, because not enough time has elapsed to capture the impact and provide a perspective. A filmmaker can only take a straight-ahead approach, and that serves little purpose when most of the population get relentlessly updated news from their pockets. We don’t need facts. We need to exercise our empathy. We crave clarity. That myopic fate plagues By the Grace of God, the French-language film based on the Lyon priest scandal that started in 2014 and finally led to a conviction this past March. There is no moment that leaves you breathless, that makes you reconsider your worldview. The closest veteran writer-director François Ozon comes to the emotional payoff of Spotlight is when that movie’s poster hangs on a wall. There is value in this portrayal of a collective raging against an abusive higher power desperate to maintain the status quo. And it’s fascinating to see these men lobby for change in the Catholic Church, which tries to move forward while keep-

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ing both feet in creaky, protective traditions. The movement starts when two dads talk about their time at summer camp. That leads to “Did Father Preyant molest you too?” Bernard Preyant (Bernard Verley), has returned the Lyon region, where he’s teaching Bible study to preteens. Alexandre (Melvil Poupaud), a devout Catholic on the receiving end of that question, lobbies his concern with an unusual amount of politeness. He tells his decades-old story of the priest’s continuous molestation. He even meets with Preyant, who admits to the acts. Preyant refuses to go public; he doesn’t leave the church. The Lord’s Prayer is said, followed by a Hail Mary, and all is set. That perturbs Alexandre, who keeps firmly and patiently requesting significant change. Finally, he files a claim with the police. Investigators dig around. They find a second victim, François (Denis Ménochet), who goes public and starts a group to bring down Preyant and force the church to take action beyond admonishments. That grabs the attention of Emmanuel (Swann Arlaud), a squirrely loner, who comes forward with his story. The construction of this group, which is more supportive and nurturing than

the church, provides a bittersweet pull. It’s too bad that Ozon can’t summon such emotions consistently. He rehashes events like a newspaperman loath to use adjectives, leaning on voiceovers and meetings and accusers giving statements to stoic detectives. For all of Spotlight’s supposed lack of technical flair, there were stakes. Characters showed their vulnerability beyond a cursory scene. And the camera moved. Director Tom McCarthy commented beyond the source material, whether it was showing an AOL billboard by the Boston Globe’s office or ending his film with a barrage of ringing telephones. The stylistic elements in By the Grace of God feel staid or hokey— Emmanuel looking up at the imposing Lyon Cathedral as he walks home; Alexandre’s teenage son asking his father if he still believes in God. Even the flashbacks have a crippling uniformity that undermines their impact: Preyant eyes a young boy and escorts him into a tent or isolated classroom en route to a horrendous, unpreventable rendezvous. By the Grace of God covers too important a topic to serve as more than a slightly stylized recap. It feels like the bloated middle part of a better, more nuanced movie, one I hope gets made soon. [NR] n

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pop

A.D. AMOROSI

JPEGMAFIA HHHH All My Heroes Are Cornballs EQT

Iggy Pop HHH1/2 Free Lorna Vista

The title “experimental rapper” usually means that the hip hop that follows is an often antiseptic, overly precious sweat-less brand of soul. Nothing, however, could be farther from the truth when it comes to Baltimore-based

Against a bank of shimmering synths and a muted trumpet’s blare, the wiry, deep-voiced Pop sing-speaks that phrase until it becomes a stage whisper. From there, Pop’s free focus finds him on the hardened edge of a path he’s taken before—the searing, spoken word of Avenue B (1999), the jazzier Préliminaires (2009), and Après (2012). His voice now often has the chatty warble familiar to BBC Radio listeners of “Iggy Confidential.”

Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks: JPEGMAFIA. Whether he’s in a live performance or on an album like Veteran, the rapper zealously mixes things up in a messy collage of noisy samples, lo-fi guitars, and industrial rhythms. JPEGMAFIA’s sophomore effort, All My Heroes Are Cornballs, pushes the needle, that much further, into the red, while blossoming into something alluringly accessible. A cross between Suicide and Wu-Tang Clan, All My Heroes Are Cornballs unfurls with discordant tones balanced by haunting, quieter passages and dark, poetic politicized/gender-focused humor. When he’s not yearning to be a black man adopted by Madonna (“Dots Freestyle Mix”), barking about rednecks (“Papa I Missed You”), or declaring war on the slums he left behind (“Post Verified Lifestyle”), JPEGMAFIA finds softer, soulful sounds and a twist in gender politics in “Thot Tactics.” JPEGMAFIA is riveting stuff, and you can hear them live at Union Transfer, November 5. 32

His famous, rich, quivering vibrato, and “you’ve done it all” soliloquy gives the subtly melodic “Page” the feel of an actor at the end of his rope, or even a Sinatra going about his way. The Lou Reed-written “We Are the People,” has a similar thespian’s roll to it, just Iggy, his piano, and Leron Thomas’ trumpet playing into the night, talking about lies and desperation. Only Pop’s quiet rant about life’s heavy emptiness is focused on “moving beyond national pride” and into something absurd and evil. If this isn’t Pop’s first political phrasings, Reed’s or otherwise, I’d be surprised. (One should add here that Leron Thomas wrote nearly half of Pop’s lyrics for Free, an odd move for Pop and honor for the Houston-based jazz-bo). The chugging electric guitar riff (thanks to Nu-Shoegaze god,

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Noveller, who wrote much of the music of Free) and drum thwack of “Loves Missing,” pairs rhythmically with the Pop-penned tales of “clock’s ticking.” It’s a handsome union—that taut clicking and his tight warble (think Bowie’s “Valentine’s Day”). With a trumpet’s soft toot prancing like a tap dancer across that pulse, it’s an awesome noise, a trajectory which, when sailing upward, opens itself to higher tension, and Iggy’s more dramatic yelping, as he howls, “she’s thinking, and that’s not gonna help.” Such gentle humor drifts into the spare “James Bond,” an infectious track that finds Pop toying with something of an accent—or not, after a dozen listens I still can’t say—while intoning tales of spies in the house of love, and flavors sweet to the taste, but bitter to the gut. A more spare sound—that of a blip and twinkle—drifts in the background of “Glow in the Dark, a tone poem in which Iggy’s brutal, FX-filled voice speaks volumes about his present condition with lines like “I’m not exempt from the whitest of noise.” That such noise catches up with Pop in a tangle of trumpets and grouchy guitars is only fitting for a man who just mumbled, “Your sense of community is going to kill you.” On the Pop-penned “The Dawn,” the album’s melancholy last track, Iggy reminds the listener that he’ll never rest on his laurels, or lay down on the job for, like a shark, to stop means to die. “In my stage of the game, you don’t point out memories,” rattles Iggy with what sounds like a score’s outtake from Blade Runner, behind him. As he ends that tune with “Love and sex are gonna occur to you, and neither one will solve the darkness,” you’re tempted to hear a wise man’s musings, and think of this as elegiac and doomy, his “Blackstar.” But Iggy isn’t leaving anytime soon. He’s got too many stabs at love and sex to go, and a game far from over.

Sheer Mag HHH A Distant Call Wilsuns RC Philadelphia has never lacked brazen, scuzzy, garage-punk bands with issues to raise and hard points to make. South Philly’s Sheer Mag just does it best. Since 2014, the rugged powerpop outfit, fronted by mighty vocalist Christina Halladay—with lyrics mostly by guitarist Matt Palmer, along with Halladay—has controlled its own destiny, releasing music on their Wilsuns Recording Co. label. A Distant Call would seem at first to smooth its edges with ’80sinfluenced synths, sequencers, and 808s with an early grunge feel for

rock-out good measure. But, don’t let the synth noodling fool you; they haven’t lost an ounce of righteous rage or punk spunk. As on previous recordings, there are the socio-conscious ragers like “Blood From A Stone,” which touches on income inequality and meager existences without sounding like a Bernie Sanders speech, and “Steel Sharpens Steel,” an anthemic howler about fighting the good fight. With “The Right Stuff” hitting hard, and on close-to-home matters of body issues, Halladay touches on some of the most personal pieces of her past on “Cold Sword,” and the mournful tale of an alcoholic father. By expanding their rage deeper and deeper into the personal, Sheer Mag has made their takingnames stance more universal without tempering its hard-nosed intentions. Smashing stuff, this. n

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jazz / classical / alt Yoko Miwa Trio HHHH1/2 Keep Talkin’ Ocean Blue Tear Music Born in Japan 1970, pianist Yoko Miwa now calls Boston home, where she teaches at the Berklee College of Music and establishing a career as a performer (such as with the late singer Kevin Mahogany). Keep Talkin’ is her sixth album as leader, and it’s an accessible joy without pandering or blandness. “Sunset Lane” is a ballad in the classic sense, the kind of tune one might hear in a movie as a young Liza Minnelli

haunting acoustic bass solo by Will Slater and some gorgeous gospel-flavored chords from Miwa. It’s both panoramic and leisurely, Miwa placing notes as a painter might apply dabs of color. Yet never drifting into unfocused rambling, as if she knows where she’s going but takes her sweet time in getting there. It feels both open-ended and totally complete and that, Dear Reader, is a neat feat. Radio programmers: The title track, a suavely rollicking number evoking the hit-making era of Ramsey Lewis and Fat Albert Rotunda-era Herbie Hancock. Get an icy beverage (whatever the weather) and chill at will with this platter. (74 min.) yokomiwa.com Steve Khan HHH1/2 Patchwork Tone Center This Khan fellow—son of songwriting legend Sammy Cahn—has been plying his trade since the mid-1970s, on the albums of Billy Cobham, Aretha Franklin, Steely Dan, and Bob James.

walks down the beach with her then-beau Peter Allen (ahem)—a sunshine-bright, somewhat carefree melody rich with unabashed romantic sentiment (without getting all gooey ‘n’ sloppy). Then she switches gears entirely with Charlie Mingus’ “Boogie Stop Shuffle,” full of driving boogie-woogie overtones (the kind of bluesy, insistent rolling piano chords that would eventually inspire Jerry Lee Lewis to rock the world) and she tosses in some crashing clusters without losing that hep momentum. Miwa plays with class and reserve even while she’s knocking out the boogie—it’s that tension that makes this a marvel. If non-jazz radio stations still played instrumental platters (it did happen, now shrouded in the mists of time), a pick-to-click (i.e., put in heavy rotation) would be Joni Mitchell’s somewhat dramatic “Conversation”—it’s got an insistent, gregarious melodic line and YM plays it for all it’s worth, crashing two-handed chords giving way to a more tender explorations of the tune without forgoing the flow. If it’s old-school balladeering you seek, the 10-minute closer “Sunshine Follows the Rain” has a lovely, 34

He’s also recorded often as a leader, and while he got established as a fusion guitarist (many albums in the ’70s), he’s gone beyond that. While Patchwork is not fusion per se, Kahn has fashioned a work that incorporates aspects of fusion into a more straight-ahead context. “Naan Issue” is a midtempo groove number with cool

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— MARK KERESMAN

quasi-Eastern undertones and a chugging Latinflavored rhythm—Khan is a descendant of Wes Montgomery stylistically, without being constrained by the influence. He’s a single-note cat with a bright, slightly burred tone and a fondness for deep, soulful notes that hit you where you live. The Latin tinge is continued with Joe Henderson’s “A Shade of Jade” with a guest shot by trumpeter (flugelhorn here) Randy Brecker, who is warm ‘n’ buttery one moment and punchy bebop the next. “T&T” is an Ornette Coleman number that’s interpreted as Tito Puente might, with a chugging rhythm motif that’s hard to resist, Khan picking out piquant, bright notes. “Bouquet” (by Bobby Hutcherson) is Khan acoustic over a shimmering “Crystal Blue Persuasion”-like backdrop and—it’s oddly serene while maintaining a loping, warm rhythm. Khan has the gift of economy—his solos are short, to the point, and engaging—he’s not just scattering notes about or being glib. Patchwork is a somewhat rare item: It’s easyto-like, relaxed yet never doze-y or bland, and creative simultaneously. (9 tracks, 78 min.) shrapnelrecords.com/label/tone-center Rez Abbasi HHHH A Throw of Dice Whirlwind Recordings Born in Pakistan and raised in the USA, guitarist Rez Abbasi was a rock & roll kid until a concert of Ella Fitzgerald & Joe Pass inspired a passion for jazz. Like some eclectic Westerners, Abbasi takes some of the best of both zones (Pakistani/Indian classical music, rock, jazz) to come up with some fascinating sounds. A Throw of Dice is a film soundtrack and it features some captivating fusions/crossings of assorted tones with an arsenal of guitar, electric sitar, woodwinds, cello, bass, and drums. The opener “Mystery Being” lets the listeners know what they’re in for—a mix of motifs, including folk (Eastern and Western), rock (bits of this could have come from early vintage Jethro Tull), and world-fusion jazz. “Jugglers” features swirling soprano sax (closer to Wayne Shorter but laced with Eastern tones) with cyclic guitar (more jazz than Indian but hauntingly minorkeyed) and hypnotic percussion. The entrancing “Love Prevails” features raga-like call-andresponse between electric sitar and tabla. “Changing Worlds” has a truly creepy repetitive guitar figure until the cello and flute arrive to let a bit of light…before a storm with thundering,

crashing Western drumming and searing sax. This is an album of varied temperaments, as be-

fits (many) movie soundtracks—but Abbasi & band have a VERY rich palette for a five-human band. For those that like their jazz laced with music of the East and want to hear stimulating and subtly exciting fusion, this is the place to be. (21 tracks, 60 min.) whirlwindrecordings.com Anne Marie McDermott HHHH1/2 Mozart: Piano Concertos, Vol 1 Bridge Sometimes you have to fall back on the old masters—take Wolfgang A. Mozart for instance. He inspired a fine movie and wrote LOTS of superb music in assorted configurations, and this platter has two examples of it. “Piano Concerto in C Major” is a work of contrasting moods— lots of varying rhythms, emotionally heartswelling yet there’s an aspect of droll playfulness herein. There’s a dynamic contrast between the orchestral passages (big volume) and Anne Marie McDermott’s sublimely spare piano passages. The way she chooses to accentuate the notes, it’s easy to imagine them hanging in the air above your sound-source. There’s a touch of what one might term “schmaltz” in her piano tones—and that’s not meant as a negative. There’s some brisk exultance and some unabashedly blue temperaments too. “Piano Concerto in B Flat Major” is a different sort of bird—whereas “C Major” was often reflective,

“B Flat Major” is considerably more rousing and uptempo (infectious, even), with portions that sound as if it were designed for dancing (in 1782, mind you). The orchestral passages are stirring, McDermott surging, letting loose meticulously measured torrents of notes. Sonic quality is excellent throughout. Devotees of WAM will find this of interest as will piano-and-orchestra-liking newcomers to classical music. (51 min.) bridgerecords.com Jeff Denson/Romain Pilon/Brian Blade HHHH Between Two Worlds Ridgeway Records In rock, a guitar/bass/drums trio is sometimes referred to as a “power trio.” But what of jazz groups, wherein subtlety and interplay is paramount? One answer is right here: Between Two Worlds, a trio of jazz cats: acoustic bassist Jeff Denson; Parisian electric guitarist Romain Pilon; and USA jazz mini-superstar drummer Brian Blade. These cats will not rival Cream or Hendrix as far as volume goes, but it’s a dandy three-way they got going on here, all originals by either Denson or Pilon. Denson has a solid, rippling sound that recalls Charlie Mingus (in terms of forcefulness); Pilon seems a fairly mainstream player (his likely main squeezes are Wes Montgomery and Kenny Burrell) but he lets out some “weird” notes occasionally and worrying sustain (common in rock, but not so much in jazz), stretching at the seemingly mellow parameters of this session—he’s sinewy and undulating but not an attention hog about it. Blade is the conquering hero, making some roundabout racket while the whole time buoying the trio as far as swing goes. (The swing is a little loose but it’s THERE.) High points include the elegantly warm guitar tones contrasting with crackling drums on “Generation” and the weeping bass solo within the eerily airy “Between Two Worlds.” “Song for a Solitary Crow” has a fabulously vibrant contrast between the languid, dreamy tempo and the almost Who-like tension via the rhythm section—Pilon’s guitar notes are as plump as in-season Georgia peaches and there’s some great burred blues undertones in his solo, too. Pilon solos freely but just when you thing he’s going to go the “doodle/noodle” route he pulls back. Those looking for “a little something different” in their jazz guitar (trio) diet are advised to kiss this on their list. (10 tracks, 63 min.) http://ridgewayrecords.net n ICON | NOVEMBER 2019 | ICONDV.COM | FACEBOOK.COM/ICONDV

7 | OPINION FROM THE LEFT

most vocal defenders—made a clown show of barging into the room, ostensibly to protest that the deposition was not being taken in an open session.

ome of those who participated in the sit-in had the right to attend the hearing anyway; some didn’t. But the protest had nothing to do with substance. The point was to stage a noisy, made-for-television stunt in Trump’s defense that could divert attention, if only for a day, from the facts of the case. The interlopers ordered pizza and brought in Chick-fil-A. Some took their cellphones into the secure room, which is very much against the rules. I have deliberately not mentioned anyone’s party affiliation, because the contrast I see between the juvenile behavior in the basement and the Cummings ceremony in Statuary Hall is more fundamental. It is between foolishness and seriousness, between nonsense and meaning, between trying to win the news cycle and trying to serve the nation. Cummings knew the difference. We have lost a great man. The angels must be lining up to dance with him. eugenerobinson@washpost.com. (c) 2019, Washington Post Writers Group

7 | OPINION FROM THE RIGHT

trouble. So, if you are an elected Republican who wants to remain loyal to the president, you need to defend an indefensible act of corruption, explain a massive national security blunder and sacrifice your moral integrity to excuse racism. And add to this the certain knowledge that Trump would not defend you for half a second if it didn’t immediately benefit him. This creates a political environment in which conviction has moved from impossible to unlikely. The national erosion of Trump’s support has been significant. This has removed the political risk for Democrats moving forward with impeachment. But the removal of the president will probably depend on public opinion among Republicans in 20 red or purple states. In most of such places, at least for Republican officeholders, the political cost of criticizing the president remains high. Growing support for Trump’s impeachment has generally resulted from the hardening of existing opposition, not the wearing away of support in the GOP. Given the depth and durability of America’s political divisions, and the deep redness of many red states, this may never happen. Yet for Republican senators, the full cost of complicity in Trump’s corruption is becoming clear. michaelgerson@washpost.com. (c) 2019, Washington Post Writers Group

26 | FILM ROUNDUP

and collected boss Russell Bufalino.) Scorsese orchestrates this introspective epic like a funereal dirge that, even at its bleakest, carries you to provocative and poignant heights. [R] HHHH1/2 Ford v Ferrari (Dir. James Mangold). Starring: Christian Bale, Matt Damon, Tracy Letts. James Mangold’s compelling trifle about the late1960s racing rivalry between car companies Ford and Ferrari is the epitome of dad cinema, a film for any red-blooded dad who likes his Nascar with a dash of sentiment. Vehicle designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) is tasked by Henry Ford II (Letts) with building a prize racer for the prestigious Le Mans competition. He enlists loose cannon driver Ken Miles (Bale) to his cause, despite the fact that loggerheads of varying kinds are assured. Don’t you doubt, though, that these men-among-men will eventually put aside their virile differences and place that checkered finish line in their mutual sights. The film is good for what it is, though Mangold deserves credit for counteracting the corporate tongue-bath implied by the film’s title. This is more a movie about two people caught in the capitalist machine, each doing their best to put love of sport and of family above money and other hollow validations. Your dad will shed a tear, at least, and sometimes that’s enough. [PG-13] HHH A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (Dir. Marielle Heller). Starring: Tom Hanks, Matthew Rhys, Chris Cooper. Everybody loves Mister Rogers, though there was reason to suspect that this semi-fictionalized take on the soft-spoken, unflappably kind children’s show host would lean hard into sugar and schmaltz. In the hands of Can You Ever Forgive Me?-helmer Marielle Heller, however, it becomes something much more interesting. Rogers (Tom Hanks) is more of an enigmatic supporting character, guru to cynical reporter Lloyd Vogel (Rhys)—loosely based on real-life Esquire writer Tom Junod—who has some familial baggage that could stand to be unpacked. Working with the great cinematographer Jody Lee Lipes, Heller creates a stimulating visual dialectic between Rogers’ peaceable world and Vogel’s jaundiced one (several key sequences are even shot on a similar kind of video to Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood). The film’s overarching gentleness— which allows for both men’s perspectives to register with equal, empathetic weight—proves to be its keenest quality. [PG] HHHH n 36

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Al Pacino in The Irishman

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16 | IN THE VALLEY OF THE HYACINTHS

“Hey, will you lay off? I know what I’m doing. I’ve been planting flowers for 40 years.” “Well, I’ve been planting flowers for 70 years and I say that’s not six inches. Don’t argue with your mother superior.” Pissed off, I decided to settle the score with the cardboard ruler stapled to the bulb bag. Lo and behold, my trench was two inches short. My mother, bless her benevolent soul, refused to gloat over her victory. In fact, she apologized for her chiding. “I’m sorry I’m such a mensch.” “Actually, mensch is the opposite word for what you are.”

Pat Gehman at age 89.

“Grinch?” “That’s more like it.” We left the cemetery with a good laugh at a gravestone for the Trumps, never thinking that in eight days they would be very distant relations to America’s new president. We hadn’t even exited the parking lot when I was slammed by the strangest sensation, a sort of déjà-vu tsunami. It took me three seconds to realize that it was the 15th anniversary of the day we buried my father’s ashes right here in Zionsville. I quickly chalked up the incredible coincidence to divine justice for a cemetery caretaker chopping down Dad’s daisy, ambushing it after it sprouted into a wild bush. The next day we scouted suitable spots in rural Northampton County, one of six territories 38

for the weekend countryside jaunts we’ve been taking for six years. After two hours of futility we felt as bleak as the gray, grim weather. We were bouncing along Beacon Road in Moore Township, a rolling, rutted lane between Bath and Nazareth, when we found our grail. There, by a bend by a sweeping field of corn, was a gently magnetic oak tree: huge, ancient, charmingly gnarled. It reminded us of shrine trees in County Clare, where Mom’s mom grew up; where Mom discovered paradise during World War II, safe from the blitzing of her native London, and where I set a book about seeing old rural Ireland through my mother’s eyes. Under the oak I dug a hole in a mound choked by vines and gravel. Carving and chiseling, I cursed myself as a third-rate Johnny Appleseed and a first-rate Doubting Thomas, doubting that any flower, even a spring-awakening, faith-reviving hyacinth, could rise from such a tomb. I felt better knowing that the holefilled tree was already holy, sanctified by a yellow 15 mph sign with an arrow bent in its direction. The next weekend we roamed the Blue Mountain Bowl, our favorite rural destination. We ran into obstacles at two of our favorite pit stops. We were thwarted by an overflow crowd for an annual oyster dinner at Jacob’s Union Church in Jacksonville, and by impenetrable plastic weed cover at Jerusalem Red Church in Kempton. We found happiness at Mt. Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kutztown, site of an unhappy event. It was here in 2015 that Mom had a frightening fall after slipping my grip when I tripped on an uneven sidewalk. After I yanked her up, she prayed hysterically that she wouldn’t add a broken hip to a broken pelvis (2013) and a broken rib (2014). She ended up intact, cushioned by the grass and saved, she swears, by her guardian angel. In honor of her No. 1 deity, we planted three hyacinth bulbs in a garden bed by Mt. Zion’s parking lot. As we rolled out of the lot, Mom rolled down a window and shouted: “Hallelujah—you are forgiven!” The winter was unforgivably harsh to Mom’s health. A scary tumble in the lobby of her apartment building was followed by a two-week hospitalization and rehab for the flu. Every time she caught her breath she was left breathless by bouts of irregular heartbeat. She was buoyed by the thought of seeing her hyacinths in bloom, a testimonial to her buoyant spirit. She even coined a rallying cry, suitable for bumper sticker and banner: ‘The hyacinths have to push up before I push up the hyacinths.” We started our second pilgrimage at Mt. Zion, where our three hyacinths were perfectly

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perky. We were happy to see them nestled among equally perky tulips. We were happier to think that churchgoers would think our flowers were planted by angels. In the Zionsville cemetery we witnessed a minor miracle. The four hyacinths by my parents’ headstone had five blooms. Better yet, the bonus bloom was purple, Mom’s favorite color. I plucked a blossom for her to smell, knowing she couldn’t. In 2015 a virus planted a wicked bacteria in a sinus cavity that blocks her from most smells and tastes, hell on earth for a big fan of food and fragrance. We found heaven on earth under the oak tree

The Gehman family. L-R: sister Meg, mom Pat, and the author.

on Beacon Road. Rising from a heap of weeds and stones, our one white hyacinth was a noble sentry, a tiny tower of divinity, a bloody marvel. After staring at it for a good five minutes, I snapped off a bloom for Mom to smell, hoping for a bigger miracle. Filled with grace, she caught a whiff of perfume, her first truly enjoyable smell in 24 months. The car radiated with her larkish laugh and joy. Driving away, we passed a woman walking a dog. Being a gregarious guy, I wanted to tell her to stop by the hyacinth under the oak, there because of the grace of us. Mom, being an exceptionally modest, exceedingly private English woman, told me to leave her be. I agreed, against my better nature. A few hundred yards later, I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw the woman standing at our tree shrine. I peeked at Mom peeking at the stranger in a side-view mirror. Her smile blossomed. n

22 | STRING THEORY

can do this.’ He came out on tour with me, and we had such great experiences together. You have a broad array of musical interests and tastes, from classical music to 20th-century Argentine tango composer Astor Piazzolla, to the Great American Songbook, to jazz and bebop, to Springsteen and even alternative rock like Radiohead. Are you one of those people who listens to and loves all genres of music? Beautiful music is just beautiful music, it either speaks to you, or it doesn’t. And sometimes things speak to you in the most unexpected way, and I think ‘could this be re-imagined and still convey this beautiful message?’ You have to trust your instincts and explore what’s unique for you. If you can capture the soul of whatever genre you have, whether it’s Brubeck, or Hendrix, or Andrea Bocelli, if you can get that crossover, you have a chance of connecting with the listener. There’s storytelling to the music, and that’s what crossover is—connecting through this storytelling.

Playing for Bill and Hillary Clinton on the eve of her primary, April 22, 2016.

Did you have all these different influences when you were a child, first getting started with the violin? It was all classical music when I was young, Yehudi Menuhin, Jascha Heifetz—every great violinist was my listening material. I loved listening to old 78s of classical artists, and Heifetz especially captured me. But later there was jazz, people like Miles Davis and Charlie Parker; Bird really has the sound I love. There was also the gypsy jazz of Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli—they’re gems. If I were going to file or organize your albums in a music library, would they go under classical or jazz? It’s not jazz, it’s not classical, it’s Greg Harrington. What I love best about music is when you close your eyes, and you just know who that artist is—you don’t have so much of that anymore. I still listen to classical, but there’s a way to cross over in jazz that’s beautiful, that really speaks to people. Hopefully, my voice is getting through and resonating. What made you choose to arrange and perform U2’s “With or Without You” for this album? Did the themes of love and loss make you think of

After meeting with Vice President Biden, Harrington wrote: “I love this photo. Far from a perfect shot, it captures that moment after a wonderful conversation with the Vice President. During sound check that morning, I got to know and connect with the VP staff and secret service, and they were all phenomenal to my dad and me. So after my performance, when I approached the Vice President, one of the secret service guys said to me, ‘Loved your performance, let me make sure you get some shots on your phone,’ and he took care of it. And amidst the glare and shadows of the lights, this captures the moment after we had spoken about family and music. Vice President Biden finished our conversation with ‘Greg, if I had your talent, I'd be President.’” — March 2013.

your father? With or Without You is about the dichotomy of being out on tour and wanting to be on stage, but also wanting to be home. Then, when you’re home, it’s the opposite. But even more than With or Without You, my father’s death is especially reflected in my choice of “Oblivion” by Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla. When this project kicked off, my dad was there for the concert, and “Oblivion” was one of the pieces I played. There’s also “Life and Death,” the theme to the television series Lost [by American composer Michael Giacchino] and it’s an incredibly beautiful piece, one of the pieces he loved and saw me play. Right after my dad passed, I was in China, and “Life and Death” was the last piece on the program, so it really was and is a personal homage. So yes, the loss of my father was on my mind very much throughout this project, but not just the low parts of loss—I wanted to celebrate him as well. n Gregory Harrington on the Web: gregoryharrington.com ICON | NOVEMBER 2019 | ICONDV.COM | FACEBOOK.COM/ICONDV

harper’s FINDINGS

INDEX

New studies confirmed the current warming period is without precedent in the past two thousand years. Permafrost in the Canadian Arctic is thawing seventy years ahead of schedule, nitrousoxide emissions from Arctic permafrost are twelve times higher than expected, and it was feared that existing models may underestimate underwater glacial melt by two orders of magnitude. Wildfires ravaged the Arctic, a meltwater lake appeared at the North Pole, and a European heat wave caused the loss of 12.5 billion tons of Greenlandic ice in a single day, as well as record-high temperatures for several countries, including Britain, where the warming climate has enabled the arrival of the black bee fly (Anthrax anthrax), the Jersey tiger moth (Euplagia quadripunctaria), and the purple heron (Ardea purpurea). Only 38 percent of remaining tropical forests have a sufficiently wide latitudinal range to allow animals to move to cooler regions as the earth warms. A U.S.–Russian team found that even a mild warming scenario will increase the habitable area of Siberia several times over. The “early warming” period, from 1915 to 1945, was caused by external factors and not, as previously thought, by natural changes in ocean temperatures. Climate change was expected to make staple crops less nutritious and to lower the global availability of protein by a fifth, and may alter the mating calls of male weakfish. The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt is now a recurring feature of the ocean.

Percentage of U.S. album sales represented by classical music: 2.5 Of U.S. music streams: 0.7 Amount spent globally on virtual goods within video games last year: $93,000,000,000 Factor by which an American aged 8 to 12 is more likely to want to be a YouTuber or vlogger than to be an astronaut: 3 Percentage of U.S. heterosexual couples who met in 2017 who did so via a dating app: 38 Of homosexual couples: 65 Estimated percentage decline from 1982 to 2017 in the number of gay bars in the United States: 40 Minimum factor by which the average American overestimates the U.S. L.G.B.T.Q. population: 5 Portion of Republicans who say small businesses should be able to refuse services to homosexuals for religious reasons: 1/2 Who said so in 2014: 1/5 Percentage of Mexicans who believe migrants from Central America on their way to the United States should be deported: 55 Percentage by which remittances flowing into El Salvador from abroad exceeded Salvadoran social spending last year: 59 Portion of Salvadorian GDP accounted for by remittances: 1/5 Number of U.S. representatives and senators who are naturalized American citizens: 14 Number of these who are Democrats: 14 Rank of Donald Trump among G20 leaders with the biggest carbon footprint last year: 2 Of Shinzō Abe: 1 Percentage of cases in which Trump’s two appointees to the Supreme Court agreed during the last term: 70 In which Barack Obama’s two appointees agreed: 88 Number of think tanks in the United States: 1,872 Factor by which this figure has increased since 1980: 2 Minimum number of national and state bills written by industry groups, corporations, or think tanks from 2010 to 2018: 10,000 Number that were signed into law: 2,100 Number of state legislatures that are controlled by a single party: 49 Number of U.S. states with higher per capita incarceration rates than every other country in the world: 31 Estimated number of people who died between 2014 and 2017 as a result of states refusing to expand Medicaid: 15,600 Percentage of American adults who think the Iraq War was not worth fighting: 62 Of veterans: 64 Number of countries whose militaries had drones in 2010: 4 Whose militaries have them today: 33 Portion of violent protest movements seeking regime change from 1900 to 2014 that were successful: 1/4 Of nonviolent protest movements: 1/2 Portion of Americans under 35 who say they are often angry when checking the news: 2/5 Of Americans over 65: 1/5 Percentage of Americans aged 22 to 28 who say they have begun saving money: 67 Portion of those saving money who are putting away less than $50 a month: 1/5 Percentage of Americans who claim to lose sleep over financial worries: 56 Percentage of American office workers who have cried at work: 45 Estimated chance that smiling will improve a person’s mood: 1 in 14

The European Space Agency investigated how lunar colonists might 3-D-print using moon dust, and experiments on rats sent on a simulated Mars mission determined that the red-wine extract resveratrol would help preserve astronauts’ muscle function. Decorations on alcoholic-beverage bottles contain concentrations of lead hundreds of times the legal limit for house paint. A study of 1,500 years of Arctic ice cores suggested that high atmospheric lead levels have corresponded to periods of peace and prosperity, whereas low lead levels have generally corresponded to periods of war, famine, climate disruption, and economic decline. Fossilized clams in Florida were found to contain microtektites from an ancient meteor, and were then buried beneath a housing develoent. German scientists determined that American gold found hidden inside fool’s gold is more plentiful when the fool’s gold contains higher concentrations of arsenic. Voters who claim more knowledge than they possess tend to vote anti-establishment. New findings contradict the theory that the life-span divergence between educated and uneducated Americans is due to despair. Researchers noted that people often do not care about apathy.

Recorded laughter was found to make dad jokes funnier. Parents who use marijuana are stricter disciplinarians. Male Turkestan cockroaches are one hundred times as excited by the pheromones of female American cockroaches as American males are. Preterm babies, as adults, are 28 percent less likely to form romantic relationships, 22 percent less likely to have children, and 57 percent less likely to ever have sex. A 3.5 percent increase in preterm births occurred among U.S. Latinas following the 2016 election. Married U.S. women aged twenty to forty-five would pay an average of $877 to guarantee they give birth in the spring. An analysis of forty studies published in the past sixty years found a consistent preference for cradling babies to the left, which is more pronounced among women and the right-handed, which may partly be explained by the role of the brain’s right hemisphere in emotional processing. A man’s perceived extraversion and masculinity are improved by a neck lift. Radiologists warned of the risks of wearing magnetic eyelashes in MRI machines. Scientists developed a deep neural network to identify deepfakes and an A.I. to protect people from reading spoilers. 40

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SOURCES: 1,2 Alpha Data (NYC); 3 SuperData (Oakland, Calif.); 4 Harris Insights & Analytics (Arlington, Va.); 5,6 Michael J. Rosenfeld, Stanford University (Calif.); 7 Greggor Mattson, Oberlin College (Ohio); 8 Gallup (Atlanta); 9,10 Public Religion Research Institute (Washington); 11 Reforma (Mexico City); 12 Salvadoran Ministry of Finance (San Salvador); 13 World Bank (Washington); 14,15 Pew Research Center (Washington); 16,17 fromAtoB (Berlin); 18,19 Empirical SCOTUS (Los Angeles); 20,21 Lauder Institute Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program, University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia); 22,23 Arizona Republic; 24 National Conference of State Legislatures (Washington); 25 Prison Policy Initiative (Easthampton, Mass.); 26 Sarah Miller, University of Michigan (Ann Arbor); 27,28 Pew Research Center; 29,30 New America (Washington); 31,32 Sié Chéou-Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy, University of Denver; 33,34 National Public Radio (Washington); 35,36 Harris Insights & Analytics (Rochester, N.Y.); 37 Bankrate (NYC); 38 Accountemps (Menlo Park, Calif.); 39 Nicholas A. Coles, University of Tennessee (Knoxville).

24 | UNSTOPPABLE

with them. But the same thing was true when I worked with Michael. I don’t think I just showed up and was, “Hey, I’m hip-hopping.’ The onus of a thing such as this is on the artist—on Drake—because I finished it, produced it and wrote it.

guys were at RCA at the same time. You know he tried to get the rights to the Italian song on which My Way was based. Did you guys ever get a chance to discuss this? Our paths never crossed at RCA, so that never came up. He was brilliant, though, man—one of a kind.

Okay, so you’re on stage. You’re getting in the groove. When do you hit the sweet spot? With what song? When do you feel the most like Paul Anka on stage? You have to hit the sweet spot right away, man. That’s how you set the tone for the night. There are certainly moments within the material that are elevated, that goes to a different place. It could be “My Way,” but there is, of course, “It was a Very Good Year,” “That’s Life,” and “Purple Rain.” These moments—when and how I put them together—always reach new levels of intensity, for me and for the audience, based on an arrangement. Every song I do, I make sure that we get the maximum out.

Paul Anka, hosting the United Cerebral Palsy annual telethon in 1980, gets a surprise visit from Frank Sinatra.

You’re building intensity within each song and within each set. For years, my whole approach has been—it’s not a secret, but it’s something that a lot of artists don’t do—to make it within the first ten minutes. They have to get you vocally, thematically. You can’t build up to something within that first hour. You’re not Pink Floyd. Uh, uh. You’re dead. My first three songs are crucial. The first Sinatra song that I choose to do each evening is crucial. I need to let the audience know what this evening will be about. I don’t start off finessing them slowly. It’s not like a kiss on the mouth. You have to bend them over and give it to them. That’s how they know that you’re serious—all that you have to give. What was the first song that you fell in love with, and why? The chemicals started brewing with a song called “In the Still of the Night.” The Five Satins did that song. I was 13 or 14 at that time, so I was captivated by a drama I didn’t yet understand. The vibe of the song— when you nail it, that groove is nailed. I listened to a lot of R&B. I always felt that the black experience had driven the culture, had all the magic— and I’m going back 80 years. R&B was always big in my life. Fats Domino became a friend because I broke into his dressing room to get an autograph, and we just kept talking. He became my buddy after that. He took care of me. I have a different way into the question of My Way: David Bowie. You

Cast of the TV special Coke Time all lined up for a photo op during rehearsals in 1960. Bottom to top: Annette Funicello, Pat Boone, Paul Anka, Frankie Avalon, Bob Denver and Edd Byrnes.

Focusing as you are on My Way done your way, and other standards you’ve written for these shows, why has that song come to define your career, Frank’s career, Sid Vicious’ career? How? I mean, if we’re talking Philadelphia, you even wrote and performed a special version of the song for Sydney Kimmel’s birthday. All the people I worked with after My Way said we must write another one just like it. But it doesn’t work like that. There’s only room for one My Way. The content of the lyrics hit everybody. Reading as I did then—I still read four to five hours a day—I saw that we were getting into the “Me” generation. Women were doing their thing at the end of the ’60s—we all evolved, thankfully. That was a curious notion. Still, I was only 26, and boys, scientifically, do not become adults until after they’re 30. Sorry, folks. Somehow, My Way hit everybody. People got buried to it, married to it, guys write me letters from death row to say they identify with it. I’ve sung it for Putin and Trump. Narcissism runs rampant today, but when it’s under control, this is the perfect song in terms of wrapping up one’s life. We’re all ego-driven. Read Freud enough, and you get that. n ICON | NOVEMBER 2019 | ICONDV.COM | FACEBOOK.COM/ICONDV

The Los Angeles Times SUNDAY CROSSWORD PUZZLE

FOWL PLAY By Ed Sessa

ACROSS 1 Alerts that may lead to roadblocks, briefly 5 Bela Lugosi was buried in one 9 Orkney components 14 Egg boiler’s aid 19 Ball game 20 “You said it!” 21 Steel plow pioneer 22 Ask for “fish ‘n’ chips,” say 23 Action at a coop dance? 26 Catkin producer 27 Make a bundle farming? 28 Fella 29 The Tempter 31 __ fide 32 D.C. fundraisers 33 Confederacy foe 35 See 16-Down 36 Guitarist Clapton 37 Primo 38 Car in a ’60s hit 39 Nestling tossed out of a bar? 43 Eggy quaff 44 Mad fad 46 Silver, to Long John 47 Story subtitled “Murder Most Fowl”? 50 Cotton Club site 54 Imam’s faith 55 Towels off gently 58 Neutral tone 59 Part of a house profile 63 Puffin relative 65 Gp. with many sub-par members 66 Rooster’s wake-up call? 69 Tiny hatchling group? 73 Promgoer’s concern 74 Television station? 75 One of two on a three-speed 76 Inuit transport 79 Income for Inc., say 82 Tailor 86 Unleash a tirade 88 What fussy hens do? 92 Intermittent drip cause 95 Ristorante potful 96 Home-school link: Abbr. 97 Fowl haulin’ a semi? 101 Some boxing wins 102 Disappearing ski resort feature 103 Saudi Arabia neighbor 104 42-Down’s leg count 42

105 107 108 109 112 113 115 117

Breathers? Smack, as a mosquito Start to meter or liter Anarchist in 1921 news Voluminous ref. work Canine complaints Wes Craven film locale: Abbr. “Rooster Wars” sequel in which Hen Solo rescues Princess Layer? 120 Herder’s rope 121 Sun: Pref. 122 Sentiment-al piece? 123 What beavers do 124 Have a feeling 125 Auto bust 126 What’s going on 127 Deserve DOWN 1 Phone programs 2 Plays down 3 Navy aerobatic team member 4 Pain relief 5 Give a hoot 6 “Clueless” director Heckerling 7 Loose dressing gown 8 Same old same old feeling 9 Promise sealed with a kiss 10 Board-and-pieces units 11 Sister of Luke 12 X-rated works 13 Legislative councils 14 Leaves in a cup 15 “You know where to find me” 16 With 35-Across, Japanese Olympian 17 Like paradise 18 Start another eight-ball game 24 Controversial “babysitters” 25 Brief warning to a busybody 30 “Like, obviously!” 33 Eclectic magazine 34 Write, as music 37 Naysayer 38 Part of LGBTQ 40 Online addresses 41 Scholarship consideration 42 Seabed sidler 44 1983 Keaton film 45 Jelly garnish 48 “M*A*S*H” actor Jamie 49 Go south 51 Fat-reducing procedure, briefly 52 Thick & Fluffy waffle brand 53 Beverage that goes back

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98 2001 Audrey Tautou title role millennia 99 Game with ghosts Speed competition 100 High time? Mongolian tent 102 Minor pain Monk’s condition, in the TV show 106 __ Hall No friend of Fido 107 Mae West’s “__ Done Him Swedish university city Wrong” Colorful pond fish 110 Disney collectibles Color of el mar 111 Tony relative Mojito component 113 Iraq War concerns, briefly Having a spat 114 In stitches “The __”: classic Yankee 116 __ kwon do nickname 118 2015 Verizon acquisition 70 Furniture stores that sell 119 Feline call meatballs 71 Astronomer Tycho __ 72 Move, in real estate Answer to October’s puzzle, OFF TO A GOOD START lingo 75 Start to parallel park 77 Torchbearers? 78 Firing site 80 Blueprint detail 81 Crowning point 83 Head honcho 84 London station wagon 85 End of the line 87 Annie who voiced Bo Peep in “Toy Story” 89 Man, in a Desmond Morris best-seller 90 Tango groups 91 Emails a dupe to 93 Encircle, as with a lei 94 Had a midday meal 97 Video game makers 56 57 60 61 62 64 66 67 68 69

FESTIVALS

11/1-11/24 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- 11/10 The 43rd Annual Philadelphia Museum of Art Contemporary Craft Show. Preview party 11/7. Pennsylavania Convention Center, 1101 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA. 215-6847930. acraftshow.org ART EXHIBITS

THRU 11/10 Works in Wood, 20th Anniversary Exhibition. New Hope Arts, 2 Stockton Ave. New Hope, PA. Opening Reception 9/7, 5-8 . Gallery Hours: Friday, Saturday & Sunday, Noon to 5 through 9/15. 215-862-9606. Newhopearts.org THRU 11/23 Kim AltoMare, Transitional Object. Lafayette College Art Galleries, Easton, PA. 610-330-5361. Galleries.lafayette.edu THRU 12/7 Crochet Coral Reef, by Margaret and Christine Wertheim and the Institute For Figuring. LUAG Main Gallery, Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University Art Galleries, 420 E Packer Ave., Bethlehem, PA. 610-758-3615. Luag.org THRU 12/15 Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, Japanese prints from the Taubman Museum of Art’s Permanent Collection. Lafayette College Art Galleries, Easton, PA. 610330-5361. Galleries.lafayette.edu THRU 12/15 Margery Amdur: Blind Site, mixedmedia installation. Recep., 11/1, 6– 9:00; talk 7:30. Private 1-hr conversations with Amdur 11/1 & 11/2 by appt. Also George Shortess: Neural Hallway. Closing recep. both artists 12/15, 1-3:00. New Arts Program Gallery, 173 W. Main St, Kutztown. 610-683-6440. newartsprogram.org. THRU 12/22 Designing Hollywood, Golden Age Costumes from the Gene London Cinema Collection. Free tours of Hollywood, most Sundays. Allentown Art Museum, 31 N. 5th St., Allentown, PA. 610-432-4333. AllentownArtMuseum.org THRU 12/31 Glenn Harren: Just Paint. Closing re-

agenda

ception, 12/1, 12–5. Gallery on Fourth, 401 Northampton St., Easton, PA. W-Th 12–7; Fri-Sat 12–9; Sun 12–5. 610-905-4627. galleryonfourth.org

11/19-2/8/2020 Heide Fasnacht, Past Imperfect. Martin Art Gallery, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown, PA. 484664-3467. Muhlenberg.edu

THRU 1/5/2020 A Forging Link, Metalsmiths Respond to the Mercer Collection. Mercer Museum, 84 South Pine St., Doylestown, PA. 215-345-0210. Mercermuseum.org

12/2-12/3 Spotted Lanternfly: Zones of Syncopation Artist Elsabé Dixon. Penn State Lehigh Valley, 2809 Saucon Valley Rd., Center Valley, PA. Campusarts.psu.edu/projects/Lehigh-valleySFZones@psu.edu

THRU 1/5/2020 Cliff Lee: Porcelain Master. Hunterdon Art Museum, 7 Lower Center St., Clinton, New Jersey. hunterdonartmuseum.org THRU 1/11/2020 Holiday Show, closing reception 1/11/2020, 6–9. Bethlehem House Gallery. 459 Main St., Bethlehem, PA. 610-419-6262. Bethlehemhousegallery.com THRU 1/26/2010 What is Beauty to You? Delaware Art Museum, 2301 Kentmere Pkwy, Wilmington, DE 302-571-9590 delart.org THRU 4/30/2020 Purseonality, A Stylish Handbag History, presented by Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites. Showing at Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts and Moravian Museum of Bethlehem, PA. Tickets at 800-360-TOUR. HistoricBethlehem.org 11/2-12/1 Silverman Gallery of Bucks County Impressionist Art presents, Solo exhibition featuring Bucks County artist Anita Shrager. Receptions: 11/2, 5-8 & 11/3, 1-4. Wed. - Sun. 11-6 (closed on Thanksgiving day). 4920 York R., (Rte. 202), Buckingham Green Shopping Center, Holicong, PA. 215-794-4300. Silvermangallery.com 11/3-12/22 Ray Hendershot, My World: Chapter Five. Opening reception 11/3, 1-5. The Snow Goose Gallery, 470 Main St., Bethlehem, PA. 610-974-9099. Thesnowgoosegallery.com 11/7-1/5/2020 Adam Diller: Project 02. Martin Art Gallery, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown, PA. 484-6643467. Muhlenberg.edu 11/16-1/5/2020 Love of the Loom. Boutique of fiber works opens 11/30. New Hope Arts, 2 Stockton Ave. New Hope, PA. Opening Reception 9/7, 5-8 . Gallery Hours: Friday, Saturday & Sunday, Noon to 5 through 9/15. 215-8629606. Newhopearts.org

THEATER

11/3 Once the Musical. Zoellner Arts Center, 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem, PA. Free event parking. 610-758-2787. Zoellnerartscenter.org 11/20-11/24 Miracle on 34th Street, A Live Musical Radio Play. Act 1 Performing Arts Center, DeSales University, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley, PA. 610282-3192. Desales.edu/act1 11/20-11/24 New Voices | New Visions ’19. A festival of original and student-directed plays. Muhlenberg College Theatre & Dance, 2400 Chew St., Allentown, PA. 484-664-3333. Muhlenberg.edu/dance 11/21-11/25 Waiting for Godot, by Samuel Beckett. Northampton Community College, Lipkin Theatre, 3835 Green Pond Rd., Bethlehem, PA. 484-484-3412. ncctix.org 11/22 An Evening with Sutton Foster. Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA. Kimmelcenter.org 11/24 Academy of Vocal Arts, Le Nozze Di Figaro. Zoellner Arts Center, 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem, PA. Free event parking. 610-758-2787. Zoellnerartscenter.org 12/3-12/8 Miracle on 34th Street, A Live Musical Radio Play. Act 1 Performing Arts Center, DeSales University, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley, PA. 610282-3192. Desales.edu/act1 LECTURES / TALKS

11/9 & 11/21 Meet illustrator, TV personality, and collector Gene London and hear his take on the stars. Allentown Art Museum, 31 N. 5th St., Allentown, PA. 610-432-4333. AllentownArtMuseum.org

11/10 “The Darker Side of Hollywood: Gender & Race.” Allentown Art Museum, 31 N. 5th St., Allentown, PA. 610-432-4333. AllentownArtMuseum.org 11/23 In conjunction with Love of the Loom, The New Hope Art Center will present a lecture on Collecting, Commissioning and Conserving the textile art. 6:00 , New Hope Arts, 2 Stockton Ave. New Hope, PA. 215862-9606. Newhopearts.org DANCE

11/7-11/9 Moving Stories, innovative dance works by emerging choreographers. Muhlenberg College Theatre & Dance, 2400 Chew St., Allentown, PA. 484-664-3333. Muhlenberg.edu/dance MUSIC

11/16 “Youth and Revolution”. Soloist Andres Sanchez, cello, works by Mendelssohn, Haydn and Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony. Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra, First Presbyterian Church, 3231 W. Tilghman St., Allentown, PA. 610-434-7811. PASinfonia.org 11/22 Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox. 8 . 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem, PA. Free event center parking. 610-7582787. Zoellnerartscenter.org 12/1

Advent Lessons & Carols, From Darkness to Light. Cathedral Arts, Cathedral Church of the Nativity, 321 Wyandotte St., Bethlehem, PA. 610865-0727. Nativitycathedral.org 12/7 The Ten Tenors, Home for the Holidays. 7:30 , State Theatre, 453 Northampton St., Easton, PA. 610252-3132, 800-999-STATE. Statetheatre.org 12/7- 12/8 The Bach Choir of Bethlehem presents, Magnificat & Messiah, Part One…glorious Bach & Handel for Christmas. 12/7, 8 , First Presbyterian Church of Allentown, 12/8, 4 , First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem. 610-866-4382. Bach.org

MUSIKFEST CAFÉ

101 Founders Way, Bethlehem, PA 610-332-1300 Artsquest.org NOVEMBER 6 Steven Page (Formerly of

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Barenaked Ladies) JJ Wilde Comedian Brian Posehn Steve Brosky and His Band of Veterans “Hip to the Holidays” Carl Palmer’s Legacy: Emerson, Lake & Palmer Lives On Comedian Ryan Hamilton Tinsley Ellis & Tommy Castro

DECEMBER 2 Hot Tuna Acoustic w/ Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams 8 The Squirrel Nut Zippers Holiday Caravan

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 11/8 Kickoff to the Holidays, 6 -8 . Festive fun, caroling and tree lighting. Peddler’s Village, routes 202 & 263, Lahaska, PA. 215-794-4000. Peddlersvillage.com 11/15 Grand Illumination, 6 – 9 . The Village lights up at 6:15 sharp. Peddler’s Village, routes 202 & 263, Lahaska, PA. 215-794-4000. Peddlersvillage.com 11/15-11/17 Merchants Open House Weekend. Peddler’s Village, routes 202 & 263, Lahaska, PA. 215-794-4000. Peddlersvillage.com 11/15-1/4/2020 Gingerbread House Competition & Display. Peddler’s Village, routes 202 & 263, Lahaska, PA. 215-794-4000. Peddlersvillage.com 11/30 Peace Candle Lighting, 6:30 p.m. Enjoy a full day of family fun with carriage rides, shopping, live music, Santa, and more during Easton’s annual Peace Candle Lighting Ceremony and Small Business Saturday, 10 a.m.- 8 p.m. Easton, PA. Eastonmainstreet.org 12/8 Celebrate the legend and legacy of Hess’s department store. Noon-4, Allentown Art Museum, 31 N. 5th St., Allentown, PA. 610-432-4333. AllentownArtMuseum.org

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