I was at Hair We Are on Central getting a trim from Roda when she asked me what I thought of Beyoncé’s acting performance  — rather than singing performance — at the Obama Inauguration. By now, it’s well…

Continue

   Stand in a semi-circle. On cue, stomp your right foot, then clap your hands, then thrust your right hand in the air while speaking a letter of the alphabet, clap your hands again, then stomp your left foot. Then the person…

Continue

   Outside, a million people streamed through the streets in revolt. Inside, a million thoughts swirled through my head.

   On May Day, 2006, protestors across the…

Continue

   Three weeks ago, The Kingston Trio traveled through town between dates. They graciously agreed to stop for an interview. We set them up on our stage with the main curtain as a backdrop and…

Continue

   I wish I had been a better student.

   I attended Eisenhower College for my bachelor’s degree. Don’t bother looking for it. It no longer exists. Its syllabus…

Continue

   I watched a video yesterday of Steve Jobs telling the 2005 graduating class at Stanford, “You’ve got to find what you love. ... Your time is limited, so don't waste it…

Continue

         Some mornings it’s tough to know what business I’m in.

     I work in a basement office. I process numbers, edit words, answer phone calls, attend meetings, monitor budgets. How different is that from any other office job?…

Continue

     “I'm gonna live forever, I'm gonna learn how to fly high.”

     People who perform for a living do it for the glory, right? They just want to be…

Continue

     If two performers meet on Christmas Day — or New Year’s Eve or Thanksgiving — one will certainly ask “Where’s your show tonight?” People in show biz work a lot of holidays.…

Continue

     When I first watched the video of Alice Tan Ridley singing on America’s Got Talent, I had the same reaction as the judges: surprise, awe and a shiver of joy. When I…

Continue

    Last week, I had to find a kid’s choir for the upcoming David Benoit show, A Charlie Brown…

Continue

Spectacles most often are built on numbers: numbers of people, numbers of decibels, numbers of lumens. Whenever you can say “biggest” about your event, you have a spectacle. (Think about the ongoing Albuquerque International Balloon…

Continue

In ancient Greece, theaters were only active twice a year. The elders considered drama powerful enough that it was rationed to the public so as not to cause too much emotional distress for citizens.

In Shakespeare’s day, there were only a handful of theater companies, so…

Continue

This Sunday, as you are probably already aware, marks the 10th anniversary of the attack against our nation that resulted in nearly 3,000 deaths in New York, NY,…

Continue

Our musical tastes segment us. Our radio stations play specified lines of music. Pandora finds songs for you similar to those you already like. SiriusXM, among its more than 180 channels, offers pop…

Continue

I’ve been thinking a lot about cooperation lately. I’m not sure why. Maybe I’ve been watching the lack of cooperation in Congress and am hoping for better.



Whatever the roots, my thoughts tend toward the performing arts. Artists are known for their egos and their temperaments, but what they should be known for instead is their cooperative attitude, especially those in the performing arts. Yes, there are those whose egos become impediments to cooperation, but most performers I’ve… Continue