Acoustic Guitar Stylings

A good friend of mine with whom I co-hosted and co-produced a tv talk show several years ago gave me one of the most treasured gifts I own. Casey surprised me a few years ago by taking a cassette tape we had converted from reel-to-reel and made a cd for us of my dad's guitar mastery.

Boy, oh boy, we take technology for granted today, but back in the 60's, all we had was reel-to-reel for quality home recordings. My dad had driven down from Santa Barbara one evening, arriving at our apartment in Anaheim around midnight. My hubby had built a stereo system, of which he was very proud and asked Dad if he would sit down and play. So, off the top of his head, after driving for three hours, he sat down and from memory recorded song after song for over an hour on an inexpensive acoustic guitar, which he gave to Dave.

Well, we relished that recording, but little did we know it would be the only such one of my dad's talent that we would have. Well, I take that back, we did recover some records dad had of a few gigs, but nothing where he was solo, and the quality left a lot to be desired. My dad died six years later in Ohio one day before his 54th birthday.

It's just been recently now that we have all the equipment to make our own cd's that we decided we better get busy and make sure our close relatives, many of whom used to go to Dad's gigs both here and in Ohio to see him, had a copy of this.

When it was on reel-to-reel, we seldom played it because the tape was subject to breaking. Then we had it on cassette and played it for some friends one evening. To my surprise, several years later, our friends, Jim and Ruth, said they hadn't enjoyed a night of music as much as that since. With the holidays approaching, I think it would make a touching gift.

I'm so glad Eddie Teener played Misty for me.

Laughter is good for the soul

This is all I have to show for attending the taping of According to Jim. You cannot take any electrical devices into the show. You are advised to leave your cell in your car, or it may be confiscated. They have their rules.

Actually, I also have a very nice program with this great casts' credits on it as well.

I can't remember a time when I have laughed so hard for so long. My friend, Peggy, organized a group of people who attended this taping as a fundraiser (Cota for Zac) for her friend's son, who is awaiting an organ transplant. When I mentioned to my hair stylist, Rosy, that I was attending the sitcom, she told me it was her husband's favorite show.

On this particular night, we got a treat by seeing an episode that hadn't been shown before. It featured a little girl, playing a spoiled brat pop star. Turns out, Jim's daughter played the little girl. She sang two songs during the episode, and when Jim brought her out (so sorry I can't remember the cutie's name!) to introduce her to the audience, he mentioned that she had never sung before doing that role. Well, she did a very credible job. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of this talented young lady in the future. Just look for the "Belushi" name.

While we were waiting for the show to begin, the warm up comedian came out to greet the audience. Well, it was non-stop laughter after that. Jim Belushi and Larry Joe Campbell, who plays Andy, play off of each other so well. This particular episode, "The Ego Boost," provided much laughter. It was written by Warren Bell and Christopher J. Nowak and directed by Jim Belushi.

Jim came out to warmly greet the audience before the show started. Scenes with Courtney Thorne-Smith,who plays Jim's wife, were taped prior to this evening since Courtney was still tending to her new baby. Jim anwered a few questions from the audience before the taping got underway. If you've never been to a taping of a show, there are many stops and starts. They reshoot each scene at least twice. The role of the warm-up comedian extends beyond the initial greeting.

I had never heard of Ron Pearson before. How anyone can get up and continually make an audience laugh so hard and cover an endless myriad of subjects amazes me. Ron was well traveled as evidenced by the number of audience members from various countries, Sweden, Finland, Australia, Holland, and France, with whom he could somewhat converse and relate experiences. But the most amazing thing this world-renowned juggler did (yes, he has that on his resume as well) is balance a ladder on his chin while juggling. Awesome.

The According to Jim set is really nice. At one point, Ron mentioned that this sitcom costs between $750,000 to $2m per episode! It's our civic duty to watch, don't you think?

Now, would I rather be guest-starring on the show instead of watching from the audience. You bet. Especially since in this episode the guest star had a very funny punch line near the end of the show. But those gigs are a little harder to come by. After watching this taping, I will be tuning in each week. By the way, According to Jim is shown all over the world. Our foreign visitors confirmed that. It's on ABC. Check your local listing. And if you want to attend a taping, this one would be a good one to experience.

Struggling with Weight Issues

A few weeks ago I attended the premiere of the movie, disFIGURED, at the Silver Screen Theater in West Hollywood. My friend, Staci Lawrence, was one of the female leads. In the olden days, I would have said "leading ladies."

Staci plays struggling anorexic, Darcy, who sees herself as hugely overweight. She was shocked when she's rejected by the members of the Fat Awareness Group, who refuse to believe they can have anything in common with the scrawny girl. But Lydia, gloriously played by Deidra Edwards, the self-help group's founder, realizes they're both wrestling the same demon--weight.

This film takes a thought-provoking look at America's body image issues. Everyone can identify even if weight isn't one's biggest problem. Ryan C. Benson also stars in this film, wonderfully directed by the writer, Glenn Gers (Fracture, Mad Money). All of the actors did a fabulous job of telling this story, which I would recommend to anyone you know who could benefit by the positive messages it conveys. Rex Reed calls it "warm, funny, and touching."

It was particularly interesting during the question and answer session with the writer/director and cast after the film to hear about the challenges Glenn had in getting the movie made. Deidra's patience in waiting one year before she could audition until they exhausted all "names" in order to attract financial backing should be a lesson to us actors. Isn't that the way of the business! Staci had it a little easier, as a friend who had read the script recommended her to the director. Of course, she had to deliver on the audition! And that she did.
I was so proud of her...particularly in the emotional scenes near the end. By the way, Staci isn't anorexic, and I could swear that Deidra looked a whole lot thinner at the premiere. I do believe they also had to be quite patient as post production took almost two years.

The film has won awards in various film festivals around the country, i. e., Grand Jury prize in Oklahoma City, Santa Barbara International, Cinequest San Jose, AFI Dallas International and Florida Film Festivals. Glenn was so anxious for the majority of the population to see this as soon as possible that he made the decision to go straight to dvd, rather than show it in the theaters. I believe the latter option is still open to them, but if you want to see disFIGURED, you can rent or buy it now.

Living in the Present

"Great athletes win in it. Great performers work in this state. Great teachers teach in it. The charisma emanating from a famous actor is tangible." They all live in the present, according to Patsy Rodenburg. And she should know.

Patsy is recognized as one of the world's leading voice and acting coaches and has coached such luminaries as Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Holly Hunter, and Ralph Fiennes, among many others. She was voice coach at the Royal Shakespeare Company in London for nine years and Head of Voice at the Royal National Theatre for sixteen years. She also does much work with corporations,
all talking about "The Second Circle," ...How to Use Positive Energy for Success in Every Situation, a book which was just released in America in 2008.

So, when a friend of mine suggested I meet this incredible woman and sign up for a two-day workshop, I have to admit I was a bit intimidated. I needn't have been. For someone who has every right to have an ego, she appeared to have none. She was clearly there to help us achieve our greatest potential, not only in our profession, but our everyday life. At this particular seminar, there were 30 people, most of us actors. She spent the first day working on breath, voice, and body movements. The second day, Patsy generously critiqued each of us as we spouted off our memorized Shakespearean sonnets.

What impressed me so much about Patsy is how individualized her critique really was. A beautiful young girl stepped up, whom I thought had a really interesting voice, but Patsy was concerned for her. Apparently, the raspy quality that I found intriguing could be quite harmful for her long term. Because our class was so big, and because Patsy would not cut anyone short, we ran over an hour.

Many of the exercises we did in this class are found in The Second Circle, available at many of the online book outlets. Taking this workshop reminded me of that psych course my first year in college, where I came home and analyzed my family and friends ad nauseam. I could clearly see where the people currently in my life fall into either the first circle (those whose attention is turned inward and come across as shy and ineffective) or third circle, the people who turn you off by their overbearing speech, talking at you rather than with you.

Hopefully, my following up with the lessons learned here will help me connect with people in an ideal state, "The Second Circle." Check it out.

Pageant of the Masters

Mark your calendar for next July and August. It makes such a nice outing to go to The Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach. It's true. You can't find a more beautiful place to be on a summer day. The Festival of Arts is an outdoor gallery in Orange County, nestled in the canyon and only a few blocks from the ocean in Laguna Beach, one of the most picturesque places in the world.

Feeling the effects of the Great Depression and hoping to attract the attention of visitors attending the Los Angeles Olympics in 1932, a group of Laguna Beach artists came together to host the first Festival of Arts. They turned Laguna into one enormous art gallery, selling their artwork along the main street. The inaugural Festival was a huge success.

Over 75 years later, the Festival of Arts has grown into a world-renowned cultural institution famous for its fine art show and the Pageant of the Masters, which draws visitors from around the world. It had been years since I had seen the "living pictures," the Pageant of the Masters, where works of art are portrayed on a large stage with painted backdrops, live music and narration. It takes many wonderful volunteers to maintain that stillness in recreating these remarkable works of art. It's a tradition that they end the program with The Last Supper. Tickets to the Pageant should be purchased about a year in advance. It's always a sellout.

This year's theme, All the World's a Stage, paid homage to the works of William Shakespheare. The artwork of Edgar Degas, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Joshua Reynolds were presented, as well as Everett Shinn's painting, "Footlight Flirtation." Also incorporated into the evening was the Italian commedia dell'arte troupe .

Since I had recently attended a two-day workshop with Patsy Rodenburg, one of the world's leading voice and acting coaches, who was voice coach at the Royal Shakespeare Company in London for a number of years, I found the chosen masterpieces particularly interesting. More on Patsy in my next post.

The Irvine Bowl on the Festival grounds holds 2,600, and it was sold-out as usual the evening I attended. The Festival runs through the end of August. If you get there early, you can walk the shops on Pacific Coast Highway and the surrounding streets. There are lots of great restaurants along the way to enjoy as well.

On a Sunday Afternoon

There really aren't enough superlatives to describe the talented pianist, Tamir Hendelman, to do him justice. You just have to hear him to experience something wonderful. I would encourage you to go and hear him live at one of the many venues locally, when he's not traveling the world, accompanying Natalie Cole, or performing with other great vocalists. But, until you have the opportunity to do that, you can now buy his debut cd, Playground.

On this particular Sunday afternoon, the concert was held at The Atelier of David Andersen Pianos, which was a beautiful garden setting, featuring wonderful scultures by Tanya Ragir. Tanya has her studio here and it was a treat to get a sneak peak at it when we took a break for food, drink and conversation after the first set. The garden displayed many pieces of her extraordinary work.

I first met Tamir at a Cathy Segal-Garcia workshop I attended over ten years ago.
What impressed me from the start was his ability to fine-tune the key to any song to fit each of the singers attending the workshop. Now, because my musician father had that ability, I thought all musicians could do that. I found out it takes a special talent. Tamir didn't need to see the music. He had all that in his memory bank. And he was (and still is) young!
Since then, Tamir has done many arrangements for me, which when other musicians see the charts are always impressed!

I must also tell you that I was very interested to see the pianos on display there that day. All exceptional...worthy of a world-class pianist such as Tamir. If you know of anyone looking for a concert grand or other fine piano, I'd check them out. David Andersen Pianos has just announced a new alliance with a fifth-generation Bavarian hand-built piano maker. If theirs are anything like the wonderful sound on Sunday's piano, I'm sure it will be a delight to hear.

What a special musical experience. Tamir's playing always touches my heart.

WINTER

Just saying the word WINTER cools one off in this really hot weather we're having, doesn't it?
I find it so inspiring to go see theatre, especially if one of my friends is associate producing and directing, as in the case of WINTER and Janne Halleskov Kindberg.

This play, by internationally acclaimed Norwegian playwright, Jon Fosse, seemed to be dialogue challenged, as the same phrases were used over and over, eventually with different meanings. It made one listen and watch more intently. It was quite the opposite of David Mamet's works with his clever, terse dialogue, using arcane stylized phrasing.

A lot of talent went into this show besides the Norwegian lead actors, Terje Skonseng Naudeer and Lene Pedersen. Show design by Ray Woodbury (Backstreet Boys, Gwen Stefani, Kelly Clarkson), Lighting Programmer Andy Figueroa (Neil Young, Stevie Wonder), featuring music composed by Gabrial McNair (Green Day, No Doubt) all added to the interesting, innovative elements, which made me happy I came to see this play, even if the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics were going on simultaneously. Janne had a nice crowd despite the competition.

And the locale, The Culver Studios, has such a great history, it makes one feel invigorated just walking through it...or on late nights, golf-carting through it. Gone With The Wind (my favorite movie of all time) was filmed there when it was the David O. Selznick Studios. Throughout the years, sets have been used and reused, from the days of Cecil B. DeMille's enormous stages for King of Kings, later used in King Kong, before they were burned down for the Atlanta sequence in GWTW.

RKO controlled it for 30 years bringing stardom to Bette Davis, Robert Mitchum, Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and those wonderful hoofers, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

Desilu Productions took over in 1956, where television emerged as the primary business at the studio, where Andy Griffith, the Nelson boys, David and Ricky, with their parents, Ozzie & Harriet, and Lassie all could be seen on the lot.

Thanks to the $26 million renovation in the mid-80's by Grant Tinker and Gannett, much of the original luster and beauty was restored. So successful was the restoration that it has served as a model for other studio projects.

In 1991 Sony Corporation bought the studio and sold it in 2004 to PCCP Studio City Los Angeles. Numerous feature films (Rush Hour 3, State of Play) and television projects, such as Deal or No Deal, America's Next Top Model, and The Bonnie Hunt Show are all home to the studio.

Ghostly sightings, i.e., Gloria Swanson roaming the halls of the mansion as she did years earlier, have been unsubstantiated, but eerily similar reports occur year after year