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New Jerusalem and Spinoza
Re Steve Cohen’s comments about Spinoza in his review of New Jerusalem at the Lantern—:
What was the real Spinoza like? It’s a little hard to say at this distance; we have to infer the man from the words he wrote, and the barbed wire of his logic doesn’t give us much purchase.
On the other hand, the lonely heroism of his thought does. He was a man who thought with great passion about the hardest things. He endured terrible solitude as a result, but that was going to be his lot with or without a sentence of excommunication. He was a century ahead of his time, though that time would in certain respects have been impossible without him.
Thinking of Spinoza’s rigor, I wonder who was the more merciless: he, or the court that judged him? But posing that question wouldn’t make for entertaining theater.
David Ives has tried to imagine Spinoza as a very young man, still groping toward his thought but already possessed of the certainty of his revelation. (You have to wonder what Jesus would have been like in his 20s— perhaps someone much the same?)
Ives gives him a kind of gee-whiz personality that’s partly endearing but partly, as I suggested in my own review, off-putting, though there’s Sam Henderson’s Americanized performance to consider too. It works because it sets up the tension between naiveté and ruthlessness that functions throughout the play.
Spinoza is set up when he is lured to the synagogue and finds himself the object of a heresy proceeding, but he cuts up his mentor Mortera so that we wonder finally who and what is really on trial: Spinoza’s belief or Mortera’s doubt?
Skepticism, these days, is the default religious option. Thinking about God is a radical pursuit. It doesn’t get any more radical than Spinoza’s.
Robert Zaller
Bala Cynwyd, Pa.
October 19, 2011
Steve Cohen replies: If some miraculous alchemy allowed me to go back in time and meet Spinoza, would I jump at the chance? You bet. Nevertheless, based on what he left behind in his writings, I doubt if I’d experience as much warmth and wit as what’s present on the Lantern stage. That’s not to take anything away from the philosopher, but simply to praise what playwright David Ives, actor Sam Henderson and director Charles McMahon have accomplished.
Two Hands at Annenberg
Thanks so much, Janet Anderson, for your extraordinarily kind words in your review of my show, Two Hands, which ran last weekend at the Annenberg Theater. Great effort and commitment went into the project, and we appreciate your recognition of our efforts. You have made our work worthwhile.
Hua Hua Zhang
Boothwyn, Pa.
October 19, 2011
Adventures in Luceland
Patrick D. Hazard’s memoir about his adventures in Henry Luce’s media empire brought back memories. Time Inc. was a conventional place when I worked there in 1950. Women were the bottom of the holy trinity that produced the product: the magazine’s editorial content.
At Time, men were editors and writers, women the researchers. There were women in positions that were indirectly editorial, like the photo department and copyediting. But women could only move up the ladder to researchers.
It wasn’t until the ’70s that women were permitted to advance to writers and then editors.
As I look back, I am most shocked at myself. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with the system.
Phyllis W. Beck
Center City/ Philadelphia
October 12, 2011
Editor’s note: The writer is a retired Pennsylvania Superior Court judge.
Patrick Hazard replies: The glass ceiling was beginning to crack if not shatter during my part-Time service (1968-72). And I meant to mention that Lindsay Kefauver (yes, she was Estes’s daughter!) had a unique job of dispatching photographers for filmstrips of series like Kenneth Clark’s “Civilization.” She gave me my first photo assignments. She lives happily in San Francisco today, now that Time-Life Films has passed. Come to think of it, there were no women screening with me. I wish you’d write a piece on woman cracking the judicial ceiling for BSR.
Phyllis Beck replies: In 1981, I became the first woman ever to sit on the Superior Court, which was created in 1896. Now women comprise the majority of the judges on that court. But as we used to say at Time: Where is the peg?
Mysteries of conducting
I’d like to clarify a couple of things in Victor Schermer’s “What do conductors really do? A conversation with Sean Newhouse.”
I am quoted as saying, “You have to conduct the orchestra as if they’re not there!” This is an accurate paraphrase, but the context is wrong and incomplete. When I said that, I was not referring specifically to situations involving a soloist, and I qualified the statement considerably. I meant that the conductor must not wait for the orchestra, but at all times show the direction and move forward. Of course, that’s not the whole story, because a conductor must also always be listening to and reacting to the ensemble in real time. It’s a constant balancing act.”
Schermer remarks that the conductor “must identify with the musicians while simultaneously remaining above them.” I consider this the wrong way to think of the conductor-orchestra relationship. The conductor plays a leadership role, setting the broad artistic vision, but is not “above” the musicians of the orchestra.
Sean Newhouse
Jamaica Plain, Mass.
October 16, 2011
Editor’s note: The writer is assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Arden’s August: Osage County
Steve Cohen’s critique of August: Osage County at the Arden seems to come from a very informed and well intended writer until the reader comes upon his inarticulate assessment of Anthony Lawton, claiming he’s out of place (as he should be among the Weston family) and then demanding that he should be more suave.
I’m sure that Lawton, as a seasoned professional, is way past giving credence to such minutiae, but it’s nonetheless disappointing to see unwarranted negative criticism. Or does Steve Cohen believe he’s not done his job properly unless he’s found an alleged weakness in the production?
Barton Hoffman
Chadds Ford, Pa.
October 13, 2011
Steve Cohen replies: Lawton’s body of fine work shouldn’t preclude anyone from criticizing one performance. Barton Hoffman sees Lawton’s character as noticeably out of place. That’s one interpretation. I suggest that the production would work even better if that character seduced us with the same charm and apparent sincerity he applied to Karen. As she observes, he’s “a Chamber of Commerce guy… a thinker, and he’s just so good. He’s a good man and he’s good to me.” Only later, gradually, should we come to see what a heel he is.
Operas at Curtis
Re Steve Cohen’s review of the Handel-Davies opera twin bill at Curtis—
Both productions were outstanding, even though Davies’s atonal music was hard to take. I also agree that the singing was truly memorable. How is it these talented students all come from California?
J.J. Donohue
Center City/ Philadelphia
October 12, 2011
Hiring local actors
Re “Hiring local actors: Triumph or calamity?”, by Jim Rutter—
Philadelphia is lucky to have an extraordinary pool of actors. The best way for them to grow and develop is to work, work, work.
I take issue with the idea that competition somehow keeps actors sharp and helps them evolve. They develop their skills in the rehearsal room and in front of audiences.
The Philadelphia actors I know and have worked with are incredibly dedicated and hard working. We should be celebrating our Philadelphia talent and our community’s ability to support their work.
Elizabeth Pool
Dramaturg
People’s Light & Theatre Co.
Malvern, Pa.
October 5, 2011
I have to agree with many of Jim Rutter’s points— with one to add. Many great actors live in this town who don’t get enough work, mainly because they are not part of the “in crowd.”
I have been attending theater for more than 25 years in this city, and see many, many plays a year. Many companies, as you said, hire the same actors over and over again. So while the plays that they choose “may” be “risky,” their choice of actors is safe.
It would be nice to see some of the actors that I have seen in productions by smaller theater companies (Luna, Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium, Flashpoint and Quintessence, just to name a few) more often. Many of these actors rival the biggest names in Philadelphia’s theater scene.
Looking to New York isn’t necessarily the way to go. Look in your own back yard and you’ll find some really great actors who just haven’t been part of the popular crowd at school.
It’s sad to think that the Philadelphia theater scene can emulate the high school cafeteria, but unfortunately, in some instances, it does.
Maria Vasquez
Old City/ Philadelphia
October 5, 2011
Jim, I agree that there is such a thing as overexposure (file that under “problems most actors would like to have"), and there will always be room (and need) here for imported talent. However, I reject the idea that “Directors who hire only actors they know and trust might stop taking risks.” If anything inhibits risk for me as either actor or director, it’s being in a rehearsal room filled with people I’ve never worked with before.
My greatest growth as an artist so far has come through being an ensemble member with Curio Theatre Company. If that’s a “dubious formula”, then I’m proud to be a part of the equation.
Liam Castellan
Center City/ Philadelphia
October 5, 2011
Well done article. But you only need to go see August: Osage County at the Arden to know we Philadelphia theatergoers are in good hands and didn’t give up anything.
Whatever the reason— budgets, local loyalty or just commitment— we’re lucky to have great theater and all its components here in our city. There is enough competition to ensure that our plays are staffed with the necessary level of “homegrown actors.” Let’s celebrate this scene and support it to its fullest.
Harvey Kimmel
Center City/ Philadelphia
October 6, 2011
Please stop writing about things you know nothing about and have no business writing about. Philly actors aren’t always looking for the next gig. We are constantly working on the here and now, more so than New York actors.
Directors working with actors they know isn’t a new idea. It happens all the time, in regional theaters across the country and films too. It allows directors to take risks. They know where to push and how to talk to the actor. They can get even more from a working relationship than a new relationship.
Cindy Spitko
West Philadelphia
October 6, 2011
Thanks for all the free press.
Pete Pryor
King of Prussia, Pa.
October 10, 2011
Aging theater audiences
Re ”Philadelphia’s aging theater audience,” by Jackie Atkins—
Some museums elsewhere offer free entrance to local residents. Good idea. Theaters here might try reduce pricing for Philadelphia residents. After all, we pay the “taxes” they don’t as non-profits.
Richard Carreño
Center City/ Philadelphia
October 2, 20111
Matisse and Barnes
“Matisse and Barnes: A tale of two museums,” by Richard Carreño, is so rife with inaccuracies and unattributed statements as to be a complete fiction.
A first year art student would know that Matisse was not an Impressionist. The Barnes gallery in Merion is not a “villa”; it was purpose-built as a gallery for a school (not a museum) from Day One.
The author cites no source for his statement that Barnes disliked the La Danse mural and for the conclusion that Barns and Matisse parted association. The evidence is to the contrary, since there are Matisse works in the Barnes Foundation that postdate the mural.
I think this is evidence enough that the author is working in the realm of fantasy. A true story would describe how know-nothings like the author are now running the Barnes Foundation and how, thanks to them, the Matisse mural will end up in a place the painter and his patron never intended it to be.
Nick Tinari
Jenkintown, Pa.
October 5, 2011
I don’t understand why so many presumably well-informed writers feel it necessary to slime Albert Barnes and why editors print this trash. In a comparison of Matisse collections, is it necessary to allege Barnes’s marital infidelity? Do we need to read once again that Barnes was “irascible,” ad nauseam?
The man was an astonishingly courageous connoisseur who was widely vilified by “experts” and yet assembled the breathtaking collection we all treasure. Show him some respect!
Donald Eckard
St. David’s, Pa.
October 17, 2011
Aspects of Love at the Walnut
Re Steve Cohen’s review of Aspects of Love at the Walnut—
I call it Aspects of Lungs. Walnut’s singer/actors did their best with a terrible operetta.
Of course, I admit I am deeply prejudiced against all forms of “musical theater” that contain no spoken dialogue. I thought the cast did a heroic job with an unlistenable and boring (to me) score.
Liz Matt
Cinnaminson, N.J.
October 5, 2011
Moneyball
Re Madeline Schaefer’s review of Moneyball—
Michael Lewis’s book Moneyball (2003), a non-fiction account of Billy Beane’s revolutionary ideas about running a baseball team, is one of the most influential books ever written about baseball. In the last month, Sports Illustrated ran a long article on Billy Beane and on Brad Pitt’s involvement with the movie version.
How can one write a review of the movie without referring to the book? There is no evidence in Madeline Schaefer’s review that she even knows the book exists and that the movie (which I have not yet seen) is a dramatization of actual events. Judging by Ms. Schaefer’s review, the movie accurately translates the real Billy Beane’s character onto the screen.
Dan Coren
Queen Village/ Philadelphia
October 5, 2011
‘Look! On Lancaster Avenue’
While I am delighted that Madeline Schaefer reviewed the “Look! on Lancaster Avenue” project and the included exhibition at 3808 Lancaster Avenue, I must make a correction. The show at 3808— Art on the Avenue Gallery— is not just of my work. While I curated “Queries” and do have work in it, four other artists are featured, including photographers John Woodin and Thomas Gartside, printmaker Daniel Loewenstein and sculptor Virginia Maksymowicz.
Blaise Tobia
Powelton Village/ Philadelphia
October 10, 2011
Trudy Pitts appreciated
I am glad to see that Trudy Pitts is warmly remembered on this Philadelphia-based arts website. (“In sushi heaven with Trudy Pitts,” by Dan Coren, December 2010.) Trudy was an iconic figure on the Philadelphia jazz scene, and a wonderful, generous person as well. She was a brilliant, eclectic musician and one of the greatest jazz organ players of all time.
She was the first jazz artist to perform on the Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center, opening for her dear friend, vocalist Nancy Wilson, on that night. Trudy played the hell out of that instrument, creating a world of many musical genres within a virtually symphonic masterpiece that she composed largely on the spot. She was one for the history books.
Vic Schermer
Bella Vista/ Philadelphia
October 10, 2011
Two-state solutions
Re “The two-state solution meets the elephant in the room,” by Dan Rottenberg (Editor’s Notebook)—
Good idea, encouraging Israelis and Palestinians to share the same cities and neighborhoods instead of submitting to partition. Ireland has in recent years demonstrated that a delicate balance is possible between Catholics and Protestants without a partition. But this can’t happen where either group teaches hate of the other. How can we legislate education and caritas for our beloved, hate-torn Earth?
Helen Buttel
Queen Village/ Philadelphia
September 28, 2011
Well, Dan, if you are challenging the world to name an instance where two neighboring countries didn’t fight wars with each other, it’s hard. It’s probably hard because they wouldn’t have a boundary between them in the first place if they could get along. Maybe the question is better framed if we introduce a time element. The U.S. hasn’t gone to war with Mexico for 150 years, and it hasn’t gone to war with Canada since 1812. That’s American exceptionalism we can be proud of. Even the Civil War was 150 years ago.
Meanwhile, we have gone to war with somebody, roughly at a rate of once every 15 years, and the frequency seems to be increasing.
Maybe, in short, you pose an unimportant question about neighboring boundaries— a question that even Germany, France and Russia seem to have outgrown.
George Ross Fisher
Haddonfield, N.J.
September 28, 2011
Somehow the writings of Sholem Aleichem come to mind:
Life is a blister on top of a tumor and a boil on top of that.
You can’t ride one ass to two fairs.
The best marriage is the worst death.
I was foolish enough to butt in on a married couple in order to make up between them, the outcome of which was that I took it on the chin from my own wife.
Without fingers you can’t thumb your nose.
Joe Glantz
Levittown, Pa.
September 28, 2011
Having watched Benjamin Netanyahu debate the two state solution with Charlie Rose for an hour on Bloomberg TV last night, I’m convinced Netanyahu intends to “settle” once and for all that Palestinians will be persuaded to move out of Israel as more and more Jewish “settlements” make their “one state of Israel” less and less accessible and/or tolerable to Palestinians.
Patrick D. Hazard
Weimar, Germany
September 28, 2011
It is true that two-state solutions between parties who have antagonistic interests and identities have a poor success record, and that the idea of a peaceful Israel and a peaceful Palestine living side by side is at present a fantasy.
A single-state solution, then, as proposed by Noam Chomsky and others (as well as by Palestinians themselves)? The UN understood perfectly well that this wouldn’t work when it voted on the partition of mandate Palestine in 1947. Jews would remain a majority of such a state at that time, but not for long, and the large Palestinian minority would hardly accept its “Jewish” character. In very short order Jews would have to accept being second-class citizens, as Israeli Arabs currently are.
The reality is that Palestinians don’t want to accept the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as their homeland. This is why they have walked away from a two-state solution time and time again. Palestinians figure that time is on their side. Israel fears they are correct.
My good editor Dan Rottenberg says that two-state solutions don’t work. This is particularly the case when neither side wants one.
Robert Zaller
Bala Cynwyd, Pa.
September 28, 2011
September surf song
Re Bob Ingram’s “September surf song”—
I grew up on Long Island and would spend every day body surfing, but the best days were always in September. The water was warm and the waves always better than any during the summer. I still have no idea why that would be.
The only drawback sometimes would be the increased number of jellyfish during that time of year. In any case, your article really brought me back and encourages me, speeding relentlessly into my 60s, to get back to it.
Walton Van Winkle
Bella Vista/ Philadelphia
September 28, 2011
Bob Ingram replies: Get back to it and just do it!
As a Lake Huron/Tawas City summer kid (1938-49), where there was no rideable surf, I envy Ingram’s fierce refusal to lay off.
Patrick D. Hazard
Weimar, Germany
September 29, 2011
Bob Ingram replies: Thanks for the kind words, although I don’t know about “fierce.”
‘What a Wonderful World’
Re Kile Smith’s dissection of Louis Armstong’s “What a Wonderful World”—
Grady Tate is one of the best studio drummers ever. Just one among many albums I have that he is on, and that I treasure, is Maureen McGovern’s Naught Baby— maybe the best live album devoted to one composer (Gershwin). Kile, you should get it and enjoy. Tate does lots of stuff like you describe— he was always doing something to make the sound better, to add a distinctive element.
Thanks for a great article.
Armen Pandola
Center City/ Philadelphia
October 1, 2011
Kile Smith replies: Bernard Purdie, another great session drummer from the ‘60s and later (still playing!), said in an interview that the sound was his responsibility, no matter the song or style. It was his opinion that recordings later became much too reliant on mic-placement and engineering. It seems that he and Tate come from the same school.
What a wonderful article!
Dan Coren
Queen Village/ Philadelphia
September 28, 2011
Harry Bertoia at Rosemont College
Re Robert Zaller’s review of the Harry Bertoia exhibit at Rosemont College—
Every time I pass the sound statue that I have had for about 40 years, I caress it and thank Bertoia for his work. I remember visiting his studio when he and his gaggle of high-school assistants worked together.
Zaller’s article is informative, but it’s a bit late. I didn’t know about the show at Rosemont. So a post-show review isn’t of much use to me.
I guess I’ll have to wait for Donald Kuspit’s book.
Gerald Weales
University City/ Philadelphia
September 28, 2011
Robert Zaller replies: I’m sorry about the late review, but I only heard about the show myself (through the Inquirer) as it was about to close. I still thought it was worth noting, at least.
Whaddaya mean, 1930 was not a good time to move to Detroit? That’s the year I moved there from Battle Creek!
And my favorite Bertoia project was the interiors he designed in 1956 for the new main terminal at Lambert Field, St. Louis for architect Minoru Yamasaki, another Detroiter. Alas, I understand it has been “improved” by a brutal modernization.
Patrick D. Hazard
Weimar, Germany
October 2, 2011
Our debt to Frank Furness
Re George Wilhelm’s tribute to Frank Furness—
One cannot write about Furness without also mentioning the beautiful red brick and stone Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr, which he designed. It was built in 1890 to serve as the Bryn Mawr Hotel but was soon after leased and then sold in 1922 to Florence Baldwin, who had founded “Miss Baldwin’s School for Girls” in 1888, now an elite Main Line private school.
While the school has added numerous additions over time, it maintains the grandeur of the original building. Nothing was more beautiful than driving down its long driveway in spring as the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. I am a proud graduate, class of 1998.
Milica Stojancic
Wynnewood, Pa.
October 3, 2011
I commend George Wilhelm for his praise of Frank Furness’s Gothic funkiness. I, long a Louis Sullivan buff, was delighted to learn, however belatedly, that Furness nurtured that innovator’s muse.
Patrick D. Hazard
Weimar, Germany
October 8, 2011
Steve Poses, culinary pioneer
Re “Steve Poses and his ‘informal restaurant revolution’,” by Alan Richman (January 2009)—
I was a waitress at Frog, and once in a while it did happen that a waitress sat down at a table. (Probably not when Steven was in the room.) So your memory might not be playing tricks on you.
The atmosphere was very friendly and we had many regular customers who became our friends. I worked mostly lunches, and often my whole section was full of my regulars. I had quite a few, thanks to Maury Levy of Philadelphia Magazine. He named me “best waitress in the city” the first year they did “Best & Worst of Philly” (1973), and for the next two years as well.
I learned a lot at Frog, and some lessons have carried me through my life.
Andi Charkow
Hatboro, N.J.
October 1, 2011
Telemann vs. Bach
Re “Telemann vs. Bach,” by Tom Purdom (October 2009)—
I’m also of the opinion that some of Telemann’s work is at the same level of inspiration and achievement as Bach’s work. For me, Telemann’s Tafelmusik is a towering achievement (and it’s twice as long as Bach’s Brandenburgs!).
Ken Rowley
Box 1912
Mbabane, Swaziland
October 3, 2011
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