13 December 2015: No Bel In My Canto

I read Ann Patchett’s BEL CANTO shortly after it came out in 2001.  The diva in the novel was said to have been inspired by opera star Renee Fleming.  So when Fleming announced nearly five years ago that she had optioned the novel for a new opera to premiere at the Lyric in Chicago (music…

11 December 2015: The Ladies and the Trump

Donald Trump’s mother was a Scottish immigrant. To date, he has been married to three lovely ladies, two of whom are East European immigrants.  First there was Ivana Zelnickova from Czechoslovakia, who gifted him with three children, one girl and two boys.  Then came Marla Maples from Georgia (in the United States, not the one…

9 December 2015: “I am Spartacus!”

When I was applying for a visa to visit the United States in the late 1960s, the many forms I had to fill out were full of questions like, “Are you a communist?”  “Have you ever been a communist?”  “Are you a homosexual?”  “Do you intend to become a homosexual?” Then, in the early 1980s,…

4 December 2015: Sweet Smell of Success!

Somewhat optimistically, we set up 50 seats for the December 3rd staged reading of Flesh, Flash and Frank Harris at the Lawrence Public Library.  To my astonishment, as the crowds poured in, we had to add another ten chairs to accommodate everyone.  I was thrilled, not for myself, but for the actors, whose wonderful work after…

My Life As A Publicist (?!?!!)

Back in 1959, when my all-male Catholic high school in Manila staged The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial by Herman Wouk, the Christian Brother (F.S.C.) in charge of the drama club arbitrarily assigned me to take care of publicity.  I was all of fifteen years old.  What did I know about writing press releases, or how to…

3 December 2015: The New Lord’s Prayer

Our NRA Father, which art in America, Hallowed be thy Second Amendment. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in schoolyards and college campuses, As it is in movie theaters and convention centers. Give us this day our daily massacre. And forgive us our assault weapons, As we slaughter them that trespass against us. And…

My Life As An Actor (?!?!!)

For some unfathomable reason, in the summer of 1969, when I was a new student at the University of Kansas, I decided to audition for a couple of Shakespeare plays being presented on the main stage at Murphy Hall.  On the form that I filled out at the audition, I indicated that I did not want…

30 November 2015: Spawns of Ron Willis…

There’s a wonderful profile piece in the Lawrence Journal-World this morning about the indefatigable Ric Averill, founder of the pioneering local theater group called the Seem-To-Be-Players from the 1970s, and current director of performing arts at the Lawrence Arts Center. In the article, Mary Doveton says this about Ric:  “He’s like any of us that…