17 SYLLABLES

Within all the sights

All I could see was sadness

Alone in the still

Old bus in the view

Yesterday going to there

Today is nowhere

The acquired taste 

Time in a blue sky over

This old gas station 

THE THREE

 

IF A GIRL ISN'T PRETTY

    

Photo by Bruce Glikas used with permission

                                                           

Hello gorgeous! Hello Beanie! So here's the thing, short and sweet. 

FUNNY GIRL is back on Broadway at the August Wilson Theater. I saw FUNNY GIRL in 1964 at the Winter Garden Theater with Barbra Streisand... 

And I greatly anticipated this revival when it was announced. It is now in previews and the feedback at Broadway internet forums is worth discussing. 

Oye, such controversy regarding the decisions in the casting! Some who have seen the show are criticizing the choice of Beanie Feldstein to play Fanny Brice. Under an umbrella of a conversation regarding "her instrument," they talk about her voice not being strong enough and they say the songs are difficult for her. They suggest key changes and even go so far as to suggest some songs be eliminated.

Plus, comments are about Beanie not resembling Fanny Brice. But the most shocking comments are about her personal physical appearance which seems to be difficult for some to accept. They body shame and make snide comments. They get sarcastic and insult her weight. And I find that disgraceful. 

Beanie is a confident woman. Her size does not determine her level of self-esteem. She did not create barriers for herself or close personal opportunities because of road blocks that others may have wanted to place in her way. 

The women of today define themselves in a variety of creative and imaginative ways. Lizzo, Rebel Wilson and Meghan Trainor receive praise when they show their fans they have a place in this world and Nicole Byer is a new role model for girls with big dreams. Today's newly defined female is not starving to fit into an old image that tells women how they have to look to have appeal. There are brands that display in their marketing advertisements proud women with diverse shapes who succeed in tearing down stale guidelines. So many young women are choosing grey hair to become "silver foxes." Gwyneth Paltrow is comfortable wearing only lip gloss and when Alicia Keys is photographed with no makeup, she is changing the face of the concept of beauty. There are bold new looks emerging that are trending and eyeball worthy... women are being accepted for their own personal choices. 

I am rooting for Beanie! I find her voice lovely and I think she has a charming charisma and a sweet chemistry with Ramin Karimloo, who plays Nicky Arnstein. Her Fanny will pave the way for other girls who look like her to feel they too can have chances for which before they would never be considered. I hope doors that previously were closed will now be wide open in every career. Beanie is helping change the outdated "corporate image" and she is an inspiration for the new woman who is growing into the best version of herself that she designs.

Beanie, I am sitting here and cheering you on! I may not be at every performance but my heart is with you. I will be there in spirit and smiling during every standing ovation! You go, girl! 

* The use of possible copyrighted content falls under the guidelines of fair use as described in Section 107 of the Copyright Act.

Barbra Streisand, 1964

 

THE SHADOW OF THE PHOTOGRAPHER

ongoing.... tbc

MEMORY SPOTS

Details to be added soon, and in no particular order, ongoing:

UNCANNY RESEMBLANCES

THE MAGIC

Some of the photos in from THE ATTIC, lost photos, have an uncanny resemblance to the work of famous photographers and one image is similar, in a defined "blurry aesthetic," to a piece of art, GAS, by Edward Hopper. (GAS is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between 1927 and 1977 without a copyright notice)

THE BOOK

THE FUN

Perhaps viewers would like to take closer looks at some of the photos inside the book and examine the details in the compositions and ponder which famous photographers have taken similar pictures. I could give you some hints but that would spoil the fun...

THE CHANGED VIEW

In 2014, the view at 2 plac Grzybowski, at the corner of Prozna Street in Warsaw Poland, was heartbreaking. The very very old buildings had windows and walls covered in photos of those who lived there and who were sent to concentration camps. 

I returned recently to see those buildings with those stunning and sad portraits were no longer there... and as is often the case, they were replaced with buildings of a more modern architecture. 

Old photos certainly do light a particular present and preserve a personal history. 

LAST NIGHT I DREAMED I WAS IN A SCHOOL AGAIN

"Last night I did not dream I went to Manderley again, I dreamed I was a teacher again." 

I entered the classroom of another teacher that was filled with young girls. The girls had on their desks the book "Madame Bovary." One child was crying and struggling to read the words as she was being scolded by a cruel teacher. 

I removed the book from her hands and screamed at that teacher: "How do you expect her to read this book? She is eight years old!" 

The young girl seemed calm knowing I was there and protected her. 

I awakened disturbed, unsettled, and sad and I hoped that wherever that child was... she remained safe. 

I have never read "Madame Bovary" and no teacher ever forced me to read a difficult book and as a teacher I never introduced books that were not on level. 

Could it be we slip into alternate universes when we sleep and appear in strange places where we are needed? 

AT HB STUDIO

 This was taken in 2012 during a poetry reading at Herbert Berghof Studio: 

AN UPPER WEST SIDE DEMOLITION

 THE LINCOLN SQUARE SYNAGOGUE