Posts

Commander Render Crayton. It was the name that encircled my wrist for the better part of three years. I didn’t know Cdr. Crayton. I had never met him – didn’t know what he looked like, where he was from, if he was married, or had children. I only knew what was etched on the nickel-plated bracelet I bought for $3: his name, rank, and when he became a prisoner of war – 2-7-66. By the time I got the bracelet, Cdr. Crayton had already been a POW in Vietnam for four years…

We all know that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer had a “very shiny nose.” And that he saved Christmas one “foggy Christmas Eve.” And for that he went “down in history.” But do you know how Rudolph came to be? Surprisingly, the story behind Rudolph’s birth is more commercial than sentimental; one of the most beloved Christmas stories of all times was born out of a desire to save money on a holiday promotion for the Chicago-based Montgomery Ward department store…

A couple of weeks ago, I was in the opening night audience of the Woodbury Sketch Club’s “Cabaret.” The show was wonderfully acted, danced, and sung; the set design, costumes, and lighting catapulted the viewers back in time to the seedy underbelly of Berlin, 1931. But most importantly, the show was directed deftly by Pat Mangano, who captured the sociopolitical aspects of a Germany caught up in the madness of Adolf Hitler’s quest for a new world order…

The Sketch Club is opening its 2014-2015 season in October with “Cabaret” to acknowledge one of the most important aspects of theatre. Yes, its goal is to entertain, but, as acclaimed American acting teacher Stella Adler once said, “The theatre was created to tell people the truth about life and the social situation.” Ms. Adler was right; the purpose of theatre is to make people feel – whether it is to feel happy and joyous, or to feel weight of the complexities of humanity…