George Gershwin

Delawareans are enriched by the DuPont Company and Family

2011-07-20T11:23:00.000-07:00

I had reported several months ago on a Living History drama with music that I am writing entitled The DuPont Story A Family A Company.
The mission is to take the live multimedia presentation into schools throughout the state. I chose watershed events of the family/company over the past 200 + years and have completed research at Hagley.
Last month I met with 5 Associates of the Dept of Education (DOE) to certify that the show subscribed to not only Social Studies/History Standards but also Visual & Performing Arts and English Language Arts. It was thrilling to see the enthusiasm of these educational professionals. While I initially envisioned the hour production only, collectively they suggested creating a specific “Unit of Instruction” for the project and that my troupe would present as a culmination of the study.
A Delaware contingent – including some of the Associates – had recently returned from a trip to our Sister City, Nemours France. Next spring the trip is reciprocated and my troupe would be invited to stage the show for them.
The more I read about the family and company, the greater my passion grows. There is no state in the Union that has been impacted by a family or a company as have we in Delaware. Students have no understanding of how all our lives have been enriched. Had EI du Pont not chosen Delaware over other locations to found the company and had not AI, PS and Coleman du Pont (The Triumphant Triumvirate) not bought the company from the elders in 1902, we would be demonstrably poorer in so many disciplines.
Here are some facts:
1802 - EI bought 95 acres on the Brandywine for $6700.00 from Jacob Broom (as in street)
He constructed several mills with massive stone walls on 3 sides. The side facing the Brandywine was wood. If an explosion occurred, the force of the blast was carried across the creek. “A trip across the creek” was black humor for being in an explosion; a one way excursion. (In my research I discovered that I am a product of a trip 'across the creek'. The widow of a creek traveler married another mill worker. They are my great great grandparents.)
1902 - the 3 cousins bought the company with NO money down. The trio gave the elders stock in the new company they would create. The purchase price was $12 million. The only cash outlay was $2100 for attorney fees. AI and PS soon went over the books and discovered the true value of the company was $24 million. Now, that's a bargain!
A few years later a bitter rift occurred amongst them. AI paid local kids to bring glass bottles to Nemours. They were broken and implanted on the top of the wall to...”keep everyone out whose last name is du Pont!”
1909 - Coleman trumpeted, “I'm going to build a monument to myself 100 miles long and lay it flat!”. That was Rt 13 and cost $4 million, all his own money. This opened commerce statewide. Later PS paved Kennett Pike to travel unrutted to Longwood.
1919 - PS built the middle school on PA Ave. That was just the start. Soon, 17,000 DE children were given classrooms. He also built 86 schools for Negro children, their first formal education, spending $5 million personally. That was when $5 million meant something!
1927 - then President Lammot du Pont exclaimed, “the future of the company depends upon research. It is more important than profits.” 'Fundamental' research was funded. Gifted scientists were brought to the X Station and given major resources with no particular end product in mind. Wallace Carothers was one of them.
Braunstein's on Market Street was the first retail store in America to sell nylon stockings. 4000 pair were sold in one hour for $1.15 per.
1941 - nylon parachutes were needed and stockings were discontinued production. 2200 pairs of stocking yarn went into 1 parachute.
DuPont gunpowder has been the US arsenal of democracy in every war from 1812 to WWII
For more info, join my FaceBook group – The DuPont Story

Shakespeare times two in July

2011-07-06T10:49:00.000-07:00

The Brandywiners mount their 79th season with “Kiss Me Kate'”, Cole Porter's greatest. A show within a show with the interior play being a musical based on The Bard's second greatest comedy, 'Taming of The Shrew”.
Written in 1948, it was Porter's response to the monumental shift in musical productions created by Rodgers and Hammerstein's “Oklahoma”, defined as the first 'integrated' musical, wherein songs and dances are immersed in a well conceived story with dramatic goals and able to evoke emotions other than laughter.
Unlike Gershwin and Berlin, poor Jewish boys from Hell's Kitchen who plied their wares for $.25 a day on Tin Pan Alley, Porter's grandfather owned a uranium mine and sent the scion to Yale. A remarkable bit of trivia about “KMK” is that Porter wrote the piece in excruciating pain from a horse riding accident that crushed his legs. Eventually, both would be lost.
Many of the same faces are back in major roles from last year's “Guys and Dolls”. Director Henry Porreca and Music Director Clint Williams helm the same stations. Debbie Hollingsworth Arnold, who starred in every show during her tenure at DE Children's Theatre, diverts from meek Salvation Army Sarah of last year to the shrewish Kate. Bob Miller, who originally purchased Candlelight Dinner Theatre from the O'Tooles, is the egomaniac Fred. Jeff Santoro, last year's lead, plays industrialist General Howell and sings a song that has nothing whatsoever to do with the plot. I've always felt Porter was obsessed in finding a play for “From This Moment On” and stuck it in “KMK” while the playwright wasn't looking.
Art Bookout as Bill and Erin Cates as Lois round out the supporting cast along with Ted Harting and Jim Conte as the malaprop twins who sing and dance a show stopper, “Brush Up Your Shakespeare.” Porter is my favorite lyricist wit.
From July 28. Admission includes Longwood Gardens. Thank you P.S. du Pont for building Rt 52, your philanthropy and stewardship of the land! Brandywiners.org 478.3355

DELAWARE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL

Having been in business only 1/10th of The Brandywiners fabled tradition, this group mounts for the first time one of The Bard's 'problem' plays. The sobriquet came from the ambivalence of its mission: the first 3 acts are ripe with psychological sturm und drang and the last two are comedic. The lead character suffers insane paranoia to begin the show but apparently can laugh about it in conclusion. (I guess that's why they are called psychotics.)
The most pastoral setting is provided care of the Shipleys and the Bringhursts, former squires of Rockwood Mansion. Picnic baskets are available through Greenery Caterers online.
From July 15. Delshakes.org

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM

I had reported last week on a management change at DuPont Theatre regarding DE All State Theatre. Founder/producer Jeff Santoro told me that there is a good chance they will not be returning. I suggested taking the big bucks delivered to DuPont Company and use it to air condition DE Children's Theatre.

Aisle Say - Much Theatre coming in the fall

2010-09-16T06:49:00.000-07:00

Aisle Say recently commented on the upcoming seasons of The REP Ensemble of the UD and The Media Theatre. Local houses have some entertaining surprises too.

Wilmington Drama League

The Wilmington Drama League opens Sept. 17 with a Lillian Hellman's classic “The Children's Hour.” The drama is set at an all-girls boarding school. An angry student runs away and to prevent being returned fabricates a lie about the two headmistresses and a lesbian affair; destroying the womens’ careers, their relationship and their lives.

Following in October is one of the great dance musicals of all time, “Chicago.” Original Broadway Director/Choreographer Bob Fosse created the most celebrated and imitated (next to Russian ballet legend Petipa) dance movements of all time. New Candlelight Theatre co-founder Jody Anderson, an extremely talented choreo, is on board. One can expect a multitudinous thrusting of pelvises.

For tickets, call (302) 764-1172 or visit WilmingtonDramaLeague.org

New Candlelight Dinner Theatre

New Candlelight commences the fall with “Little Shop of Horrors,” certainly one of the quirkiest plots of any successful Broadway show in history. It's a rock musical, but the rock is from the '60's with Motown and doo wop. A nebbish florist shop employee, Seymour, raises a man-eating plant. Aisle Say suggested to the stage Director that his first wife could play the plant. Little Shop opens Sept. 11. The show has some great tunes. 'Suddenly Seymour' is a classic.

Dr. Suess's immortal characters are front and center beginning Nov. 6 with “Suessical The Musical”. The plot follows the adventures of Horton the elephant. Playing until Dec. 22, this would be great family holiday entertainment.

For tickets, call (302) 475-2313 or visit NewCandlelightTheatre.org

Delaware Theatre Company

Delaware Theatre Company starts a bit late this season with the opening of “Sylvia” on Oct. 20. Last season DTC staged at least one show if not two with actors playing multiple parts. This fiscally prudent plan is revisited with their second production, “Around The World In Eighty Days,” wherein 5 actors portray 39 characters. The pressure is on to have a boffo season.

For tickets, call (302) 594.1100 or visit DelawareTheatre.org

Grand Opera House

In this relatively small environment, Aisle Say consistently preaches performing arts collaboration. The 2010 Annual Grand Gala on Saturday, Dec. 4 will feature a sizzling performance by legendary progressive rock band Procol Harum and the Delaware Symphony Orchestra.

From the first time I heard the ethereal “Whiter Shade of Pale” in 1967, I considered it simply otherworldly. It transcended the hard rock of that era brought to us by Led Zepplin, The Who or The Stones. It provoked me, as a 20 year old, to find out just what a 'vestal virgin' was.

The tune has been judged the most played recording in UK history.

On November 18, 1971, Procol Harum created a seminal moment in pop-rock history by performing with The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and the Da Camera Singers at Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton. Widely credited as the first band to bridge the gap between modern pop-rock and the classical music world, the recording of that concert went on to sell millions of albums and opened the door for the marriage of pop music to symphony programs all over the world.

“Both The Grand and the Delaware Symphony Orchestra have been seeking to present a joint event of this magnitude for the past few years,” said The Grand’s Executive Director Steve Bailey. “When you have the region’s best and biggest house band, you naturally want to show them off, and there could be no better vehicle than the re-creation of the music from that legendary concert by Procol Harum and The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.”

The after party at The Gold Ball Room will return local favorite Club Phred, an eight-member '60s-'70s cover band whose great show last year made the feature act, The Brian Setzer Orchestra, appear robotic in comparison. Setzer dialed that one in. Club Phred takes no prisoners.

Contact Ivy Lane for tickets at (302) 658-7897 or ilane@grandopera.org. More info: TheGrandWilmington.org/Grand_Gala

Aisle Say has the Dog Day August Doublewide Blues

2010-08-27T12:03:00.000-07:00

Aisle Say has the August Dog Day blues...the doublewide blues. No theatre to report on the one hand and on the other some wins and losses for Delawareans. But, as Lady Macbeth urged, I will 'screw my courage to the sticking place' and have at it.

WHYY

At least three-dozen Delawareans woke up and took notice several months ago when their televised nightly sleeping pill, Channel 12's “Delaware Tonight” ceased operation. Scintillating reportage it was not. But it was OUR bland reporting! Yes, they were the quintessential talking heads. But they were OUR talking heads. But, in June of 2009, after obtaining millions in grants from the state for the refurbishing of their Wilmington studio and construction of their Dover studio, WHYY slinked off in the night as stealthily as Mr. Irsay's Baltimore Colts to Indiana many moons ago.

After protestations from Sen. Ted Kaufman and Mayor Baker, Delaware's “coverage” was replaced by an alleged news magazine “First” for an hour each Friday night.

“WHYY is not adequately serving the community needs of its city of license, which is Wilmington,” bellowed Mr. Mayor.

Your intrepid Aisle Say investigative reporter tuned in last Friday to determine how “First” was serving taxpayers. (Even with this indecent behavior they still received $100,000.00 from the Joint Finance Committee this fiscal year.) Last Friday's “news” story featured Balinese dancing.

“The sport carries you where you want”, chanted the Balinese dance guru.

The aged man covered the dance floor slowly, very slowly.

“We would dance if nobody showed up to see us”, he exclaimed.

Yup, that says it all.

The second segment was even more compelling: 15 minutes on dehydrating vegetables.

“But wait,” exclaimed the dehydrator, “we also do macaroons. Wednesday is macaroon day!”

The FCC denied Wilmington's challenge to WHYY for license renewal. They win. We lose.

DELAWARE DIVISION OF ARTS 2011 GRANTS

Eighty-six organizations throughout the state received grants ranging from $1000 to $110,000 totaling $1.4 million. (Last year it was $1.47 million to 84 groups). The funding comes from both the Delaware General Assembly and the National Endowment For The Arts.

Last year Aisle Say took to task some of the perceived imbalance of the grants. It appears more reasonable in FY 2011. The way I define this imbalance is, one, the number of people employed in the organization, two, the number of guests they serve, and three, the positive economic ripple effect it has on the community (e.g. overnight hotel stays, restaurant traffic and visits to other venues).

New Candlelight Theatre justifiably was awarded $25,000. Their quality and their integrity is high and they are the ONLY surviving dinner theatre in the state. And they are the best theatrical value. On the down side their profit margin has all the profile of a flounder laying on the bottom of the bay.

The Grand received $101,000; Delaware Art Museum, $110,000; Opera Delaware, $62,000; DE Symphony, $101,000. That's all good. The Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts – arguably a pioneer on the Riverfront – attracts nowhere near the traffic of The Grand or even New Candlelight, and they received $93,000.

In relation to guests served and economic ripple, it is, however, very difficult to swallow the $43,000 given to the Yorklyn-based Center for The Creative Arts. At least that is down from an outrageous $68,000 in last year's grants!

But for the second year running, the Aisle Say Golden Fleece Award goes to Delaware Dance Company on Elkton Rd. These pre-teens are impossibly cute in their tutus I am sure, but $32,000 (down from $40,000) for a group that is only witnessed by their doting parents and grandparents? We've got to get their lobbyist and send him to D.C. That dude has the suave to bring millions in earmarks to Delaware!

DELAWARE THEATRE COMPANY

Still no news about changes to their fall schedule. Aisle Say was told by their Marketing Manager that the revised schedule was to be out in one week. That was six weeks ago. An e-mail and a call to Mary Ann Ehlshager, the Managing Director, was not returned.

POSTSCRIPT

Aisle Say commented a few months back that Tim Geithner, US Secretary of the Treasury reminded him of Robert Stack when he played Eliot Ness on “The Untouchables.” Well, dear reader, we have another one. I was watching the evening news with my dear sister Liz. Thad Allen, the Coast Guard Commandant in charge of the oil spill was before the podium. Tell me he is not Oliver Hardy reincarnated!

Isolationism at DTC

2010-06-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

Question: What do the World Cup refs, the US in the '20's and the Delaware Theatre Company have in common? Give up? Isolationism.
The refs indubitably feel isolated due to their horrific calls; the US kept to herself during that decade. We took little part in international relations. We isolated ourselves in terms of trade. Tariffs were put on foreign goods to protect American industry. Because they could not sell their goods to America, European countries could not afford to buy agricultural goods from the USA, one of the main causes of The Great Depression.
And DTC? Instead of embracing their public they have instituted a bunker mentality. During their "artistic crisis" there has been virtually no effort - short
of an announcement on their website - to inform the public about a fall
season that is just three short months away. That information is old news
and was posted before the former Artistic Director was let go. In speaking
with a representative there, at least one production - "Three Days of
Rain" - has been shelved and "Sylvia", which was to be the third
production, will now begin the season. An announcement of the full list my
be out in the next two weeks, Aisle Say was told.
All business owners appreciate the value of networking. This requires no explanation. That's why the DE State Chamber, the NCC Chamber and the Wilmington CVB have countless functions.
Point # 1. I own a micro business, distinct from my passion with live theatre. I personally attend at minimum one mixer a week. Over the past five years, I feel safe in reporting I have never seen the marketing director of DTC at any function. Should not someone be out promoting their vision? That individual can't be that busy. One must think DTC are members of all three groups, most especially Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Point # 2. We know that performing arts groups generate approximately 40% of revenue on ticket sales. With the spate of shows in the past few years, that percentage may be less at DTC. At this veritable crisis point (my words) in their almost four decade history, would this not be the time to embrace the public and ask what THEY want? Why not ask season ticker holders to an event at the theatre, fully explain the circumstances and then ask them for their opinions as to the type of shows they would support? Taking it further, why not ask everyone in Delaware what they think and what they want. That outreach will create empathy which will translate into ticket sales.
Point # 3. Reach out to the DE Division of Arts and every other performing arts group in the state. Collaborate. Create ways to help one another. All have similar issues. OperaDelaware collaborates with Delaware Symphony. First State Ballet collaborates with the Symphony as well. Synergism is the key. DTC has always stood 'isolated'.
Point # 4. Call Sandy Robbins, Artistic Director of the U of D's REP Ensemble. As I have mentioned in this column ad nauseam, the REP is the grandest theatre in the state. To understate, it is heavily subsidized by the University. But Robbins is an Elmer Gantry of live theatre, a zealot. He would not turn down the opportunity to advise.
Point # 5. Full disclosure. I sent to the Mary Ann Ehlshager, the person in charge now, personal suggestions of shows for this upcoming season. Two were productions I wrote revolving around Judy Garland and George Gershwin which premiered here in Wilmington and consequently sold to regional theatres around the US. A third idea was my writing an original show using scripts from “I Love Lucy”. The fourth idea was a family oriented “Sound of Music” Sing A Long fund raiser.
Trust me, I have received multitudinous more no's than yes's over the years. However, in the submission to DTC, I received no response at all. I am a Delawarean. I write an ARTS column, hello! It would have been nice for them to say, “thanks, Monsieur Aisle Say, but your ideas suck”.
DTC, don't isolate yourself. Embrace the community and we will hug you back. Even Aisle Say, who has experienced a lifetime of rejection – I'm 0-2 in marriages - on every level imaginable! Create a diverse season of laughter and tears. Make us feel and we will be there for you.

Tunes in GERSHWIN, by GEORGE: The 1936 Radio Show

2009-01-19T08:29:00.000-08:00

This original show, written by playwright Greer Firestone, incorporates all 3 of the Master's genius: Broadway tunes, symphonic and opera. It is available for licensing through BestofBroadwayProductions.com

GERSHWIN, By George!
The 1936 Radio Show
Sponsored by

TUNES

ACT I

1 Strike up the Band - Ethel and Ensemble
2 Lady Be Good - Fred & Adele (Short dance only)
3 My Man’s Gone Now - Anne
4 Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off – Fred & Adele and Ensemble
5 Liza - Al
6 Somebody Loves Me / Embraceable You / Our Love is Here to Stay - Ensemble
7 But Not For Me - Ethel
8 Bess You Is - Anne and Paul
9 Fascinatin’ Rhythm - Fred & Adele and Ensemble
10)Stairway to Paradise - Paul and Ensemble
11Gershwin Medley - Ensemble

ACT II

1Rhapsody in Blue - George
2Medley - Love is Sweeping the Country / ‘ S wonderful / Of Thee I Sing - Ensemble
3The Man I Love - Ethel
4They All Laughed - Ensemble
5Can’t Take That Away From Me – Ensemble
6Someone To Watch Over Me - Paul
7Summertime - Anne
8Swanee - Al
9Clap Yo Hands - Ensemble
10I Got Rhythm - Ethel & Ensemble

Judy Garland as child star

2008-11-28T08:09:00.000-08:00

Hollywood, this “City of Oz” manufactured dreams the way Detroit crafted cars and DuPont synthesized nylon. And yet, Judy, to you, through your travails, Hollywood may have become an evil parody of the land of Oz.
MGM had absolute control over employees. The ‘system’ was something quite different from the ‘glamour’. The system…

Judy: Call it by its right name….indentured servitude. I was personal property with a stamp on my head.

Emcee: Judy, you have talent as substantial as Mt. Rushmore but an ego as fragile as butterfly wings.

Liza: First call was 5AM and Mama was lucky to get home 14 hours later. I never saw her.

Judy: Most of the time we were shooting one movie in the morning and rehearsing for the next one in the afternoon! It was breathtaking in its stress…

Ralph: …tyrannical directors…

Judy: …Busby Berkeley, that bastard! (alt: B-word!)

Liza: …the constant stress of looking like a ‘pin up’.

Judy: (wistfully) I was always too fat. The stage crew guys would always whistle and hoot at Lana Turner and Rita Hayworth. All I got was a “Hi, Judy”. How could I compete with their beauty?

Liza: Mama was given her first amphetamine to ‘pep’ her up - by my grandmother… when she was 9! Do you believe it??

Judy: Mother called them “my vitamins. If someone criticized her, she would quickly put them in their place….. “I’ve got to keep my girl going”.

Emcee: And the irony, Judy, is that throughout your life you did not have to be prodded to perform anymore than you had to be prodded to eat.
In the early 1940’s you, along with Bette Davis, were two of the few stars the studio could take to the bank in the unsettling financial times after the Depression. Your musicals made Leo the Lion purr. In 1943 you starred in a musical set around the World’s Fair in St. Louis, directed by soon-to-be Liza’s dad. In that movie you canonized two songs.

Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin

2008-11-28T07:54:00.000-08:00

The classic trio by 3 of the World's greatest entertainers:

Judy: ( to Frank) You do something to me
Something that simply mystifies me
Tell me, why should it be?
You have the power to hypnotize me.

Let me live ‘neath your spell
You do that, voodoo that, you do so well.

J & F: Cuz you do something to me
That nobody else can do.

J: You look marvelous.
F: I feel marvelous
J: I’m glad you’re here.
F: Well, I’m delighted to be here.
J: (starts to leave) Well, I have to..
F: You’re not leaving me?
J: I was just going to get my pants.
F: I forbid you.
J: Oh, how marvelous.
F: You’ll be listening?
J: Every word!
F: You’re irresistible
J: I try to be.
F: You won’t be long?
J: No. I’ll be very close.
F: Promise?
J: I swear it.

Frank sings TOO MARVELOUS FOR WORDS

J: (Kisses Frank, hands him a rose). Thanks for being so good, oh you’re so good, you’re so good.
F: You enjoyed it/
J: Why yes.
F: You liked it?
J: I loved it.
F: Good.
(sing)
J: You do something to me
Something that simply mystifies me.
Tell me, why can it be?
You have the power to hypnotize me.

(Judy walks to Dean)
J: Let me live under your spell.
Do do that, voodoo that, you do so well.
D & J: But you do something to me
That nobody else can do.

J: You look marvelous.
F: I think he looks terrible.
D: I feel marvelous.
J: I’m glad you’re here.
D: I’m glad I’m here too, Judy.
(Judy starts to leave)
D: Where ya goin’?
J: Well, I thought I’d just go and get my fan.
D: No, no, you come here.
J: Oh, how marvelous.
D: There’s something I want you to hear – and, uh…you’ll be listening?
J: Every word.
D: Promise?
J: Mmmmm
D: Promise?
J: I swear.

(Dean sings Kick in the Head)

J: (kisses Dean) That’s for being so good, oh you’re so good, you’re so good.
D: I was good, I was good. Oh, I was good, yea. You enjoyed it?
J: Yes.
D: Every bit/
J: I loved it.
D: How come I got no flower? (takes Dean’s hand and walks to Frank, who is still holding the rose) Come with me.
(Judy takes flower from Frank)
J: Thank you Frank.
D: Frank you, thank.
(Judy hands flower to Dean. Frank is stunned.)

(all sing)
J: Let me
D: Let me.
F: Let me
ALL: Live under your spell
Keep doin’ that, voodoo that, you do so well.
Cause you do something to me
That nobody else can do
That nobody else can do.
(Judy exits)

(F and D kiss Judy on opposite cheeks. Frank pulls rose from breast pocket. The men clink the roses as a toast and mock drink.)

D: (sniffing rose). Did you see the way she looked at me when she gave me that flower?
F: Gave you the flower? She gave me the…she opened with me!
D: But she took the flower and gave it to me. Ah, Judy, Judy..
F: It’s obvious that you don’t comprehend the beautiful relationship that can be established between a man and a woman pal.
D: (sniffing flower) Forsooth. Oh, Judy, Judy, Judy!
F: You go sniffin’ forsooth, and I’m gonna woo the lady with a song (waves ta ta and exits)

Judy Garland opening night at Carnegie Hall 1961

2008-11-28T07:48:00.000-08:00

Emcee: Last week on the evening of April 23, 1961, 3165 privileged people packed the world famous Carnegie Hall in NYC beyond its capacity; primed to witness what was to be probably the greatest night in show business history. The audience filed in with an almost religious anticipation, described as a musical parallel to a Billy Graham revival. It was as if she was a great faith healer endowed with magical powers. By the time the conductor raised his baton for the overture, the wildly applauding crowd was in a transport of ecstasy.
Miss Garland, tonight we will tell your life story through song…(presents Judy the Sinatra-style hat)…do you mind?

George Gershwin

2008-11-28T07:45:00.000-08:00

The characters of GERSHWIN, by GEORGE: The 1936 Radio show were contemporaries of the great man and who made his tunes their signature songs:

CHARCTERS

GEORGE GERSHWIN – Major requirement is the ability to play well. Polished hair and personality. Loves all his guests. Tuxedo.

ETHEL MERMAN – Booming voice and presence. Takes no guff from anyone. Belt voice, of course. Reflective side comes out in “But Not For Me”. Glamorous period attire

AL JOLSON – Self centered. Egotistic. Does not comprehend or chooses to ignore sarcasm of colleagues. Pin striped double breasted suit.

PAUL "POPS" WHITEMAN – Larger-than-life sophisticate. Large man with slick hair and pencil thin moustache. Natty dresser. In BoB’s two productions, teamed with Anne Brown for "Bess You Is". Generally carried baton as prop. Tux.

ADELE ASTAIRE – Ditzy blonde Gracie Allen- Lucille Ball type. Must be played with that characterization or dialogue makes no sense. High pitched speaking voice would be appropriate.

FRED ASTAIRE – Suave. Debonair. Slick hair. Tails?

JIMMY DURANTE – Comedic icon. The King of Malapropisms. Speaks in ‘dems’ and ‘dose’. Highly energetic. Double breasted suit in bright colors with brown/white or black/white shoes.

NNE WIGGINS BROWN – The first Bess in "Porgy & Bess". Major requirement is operatic voice. Should be African-American. A little out of her element but trying to stay composed. Revered by Gershwin. Cocktail dress.

DON WILSON – Must have professional speaking voice. Tux.

A BIT MORE TALK OF CHARACTERS

Paul Whiteman, Adele Astaire and announcer Don Wilson have faded from memory.

Whiteman was called "The King of Jazz" and conducted a world-renowned orchestra. (In reality, he did little to further jazz. Look to Harlem’s Eubie Blake and his colleague at the Cotton Club for that.) Whiteman was a major influence on Gershwin, provoking him to write "Rhapsody in Blue"

Adele Astaire was Fred’s sister and first dancing partner. I had no idea of her personality. However, to add some ‘30’s zaniness, I made her a real ditz – and a gullible one at that. I assure you her character and the dialogue worked in both of our productions – even the Marconi sequence.

Don Wilson was omnipresent on radio in the ’30’s and ‘40’s. I recall him on tv in the ‘50’s.

Porgy & Bess - Gullah Negroes

2006-12-13T14:06:00.000-08:00

In the summer of 1933 Gershwin went to Folly Island in So. Carolina to live with the very primitive Gullah Negroes. This was the setting for DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy. Gershwin wanted to get a hands on experience of their existence, most especially their form of 'rhythmic shouting' during church services.
He attended their services religiously and became a first class shouter himself. There was no running water on Folly Island, no electricity - a far cry from his Manhattan mansion. Later he was asked why he did not use existing Negro spirtuals in Porgy & Bess. He commented that he wished the entire body of work to be of one fabric, therefore he wrote the spirtuals himself. He called the music an American 'folk opera'.

Judy Garland - From Babe Gumm to Judy Garland

2006-12-04T18:54:00.000-08:00

When Babe (Judy) was 11, Ethel Gumm packed the three sisters and moved lock stock and barrel to LA - without the blessing of Frank Gumm. That began an even more relentless succession of auditions and one night gigs in vaudeville houses.

An opportunity for a weeklong contract was signed for a top vaudeville house in Chicago. Ethel Gumm thought nothing driving half way across the country. Comedian George Jessel was the headliner and emcee and saw their act. “There’s only one thing wrong with the Gumm Sisters,” he commented. “It’s their name”, he grumbled. When I introduce them, the audience snickers because the name rhymes with bum, crumb, dumb…or worse yet, Glum….deadly for a singing group…?
Jessel suggested to Ethel Gumm that they change their performing name to Garland, after a friend of his.
The singing Gumm sisters went to the singing Garland sisters overnight. I liked the name Judy, so we changed that too.
Jessel went on to say that, as singers, the older sisters, were fine. But Babe, well, “she sang like a woman carrying a torch for Valentino.”

George Gershwin - Tin Pan Alley

2006-12-04T13:56:00.000-08:00

George was a song plugger at Remick's Publishing House on 28th St. in Manhattan at the age of 14. He played on a series of piano rolls that is available on CD today.
An excerpt from GERSHWIN, by GEORGE: The 1936 Radio Show w/ Fred and Adele Astaire:

FRED
Well anyway, one day a newspaper columnist came to Remick’s to interview a song plugger. The musician played a new tune on a worn out piano. The raspy, steely tones sounded more like reverberations from raspy, clanging…

ADELE

…tin pans, Freddie. Tin pans!

FRED

Tin pans! Right! The columnist wrote that this was “tin pan” music and he coined the term where it was played as “Tin Pan Alley”.

ADELE

Tin Pan Alley and the new American music became (thinks real hard)…monogamous.

Alexei Romanov

2006-12-03T12:35:00.000-08:00

ALEXEI & ME - historical novel for 9-14 year olds. 14 year old Alexei had two impossible burdens; heir to the 300 yr. Romanov dynasty AND hemophilia. The "Royal Disease" in the early 1900's had no cure (before the invention of hemoglobin) and was a death sentence by the early twenties.
The Tsar was in power by Divine Right and therefore the public could not be informed of this 'human' frailty. Only the Siberian peasant monk, Rasputin, had the mesmerizing power to staunch the flow of blood during Alexei's hemophilia attacks. The assassination of the entire family was the executed by Lenin, months after the Russian Revolution. Books are available at www.BestofBroadwayProductions. Author Greer Firestone firestone@delaware.net

Judy Garland

2006-12-02T07:09:00.000-08:00

There WAS Al Jolson, regarded as the world's greatest entertainer. Then, in the early '60's, Judy staged yet another of her comebacks and took the world by storm in a series of concerts at Carnegie Hall in '63 and the London Palladium. She was a performing prodigy - like George Gershwin as a composer - beginning her career on stage as Frances "Baby" Gumm, of the three singing Gumm Sisters. Ethel Gumm, Judy's mother, is known in theatrical history as the quintessential hard-driving, overbearing and obsessed stage mother. She began giving Babe amphetamines at age 9 declaring "I've got to keep my girls going". The woman who should have been her defender, her bulwark against those wishing to 'use' Judy's talent, became her pusher.
At the age of 12 Judy landed an audition with the legendary Louis B. Mayer of MGM. Judy sang a Jewish traditional song in Hebrew, bringing tears to Mayer's eyes. Normally, singing auditions are allied with screen tests. After this one song, Mayer said not to bother with the test. "Prepare the contracts", he said to an aid. Two weeks later Babe Gumm inked a contract for $100.00 per week and the rest is musical history.

George Gershwin - fusing jazz into symphony

2006-11-30T12:41:00.000-08:00

George Gershwin, nee Jacob Gershovitz, fused the jazz of the Negro Harlem musicians into symphony, thereby creating a NEW American music. Before his time, all 'serious' musicians had to be European trained to be considered masters. George's passport was stamped AMERICAN. Added to that, consider the segregationist times of the early '30's. Gershwin, along with DuBose Heyward and brother Ira, wrote the first American folk opera, Porgy & Bess, with an ALL Negro cast. He was the Abraham Lincoln of American music.