“Work hard, do the best you can,
don’t ever lose faith in yourself and take no notice of what other people say
about you,” Noel Coward
The
Noel Coward production “Private Lives” at Valpo’s Memorial Opera House was very
clever and skillfully rendered. I had
been up late the night before celebrating James graduation from eighth grade. We dined at Red Robin (several entries,
including my French dip and Toni’s fish and chips, included a choice of endless
fries or broccoli refills). Afterwards,
Dave and I watched the Blackhawks win their Western Division series against the
Ducks. Up early for gaming with Dave and Tom (winning 1 of 4, St. Petersburg),
I warned Toni and Cheryl to pinch me if I started snoring, especially after
realizing the play wasn’t a musical. It
wasn’t necessary. Under the direction of
our friend Pegg Sangerman the three-act play – about a divorced couple, Amanda
and Elyot, who meet up unexpectedly while honeymooning with new spouses - kept
my interest throughout. It was ribald, irreverent, and thoroughly entertaining.
The phrase “savage shibboleths”
uttered by Elyot, summed up Coward’s disdain for the absurd constraints society
imposed on individuality. As Amanda, played by Deborah M. Haddad, puts it:
I think very few people are completely normal really, deep down
in their private lives. It all depends on a combination of circumstances. If all
the various cosmic thingummies fuse at the same moment, and the right spark is
struck, there's no knowing what one mightn't do. That was the trouble with
Elyot and me, we were like two violent acids bubbling about in a nasty little
matrimonial bottle.
Describing
her directorial debut in the Playbill, veteran actress Pegg Sangerman wrote:
Private Lives is essentially about relationships. Acting is essentially about
relationships. Much to my surprise,
directing is also essentially about relationships. Once outside of my comfort zone and living
there for the better part of 3 months required me to establish and foster many different relationships. My greatest
joys and fiercest struggles have been in the forging of those relationships.
Noel Coward in 1930
Although
Noel Coward had been a successful playwright for a decade, the Englishman was
just 30 in 1930 when he wrote and then starred in “Private Lives,” along with
Gertrude Lawrence, Laurence Olivier, and Adrianne Allen. A 1931 movie starred Robert Montgomery and
Norma Shearer. A 1983 Broadway revival
featured Richard Burton and Liz Taylor as the explosive couple. Renowned for his wit and versatility, Coward,
a closeted homosexual, wrote a poem that includes the observation that only “Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the
midday sun.” From the 1941 play
“Blithe Spirit” comes my favorite Noel Coward quote: “It’s discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and
how few by deceit.”
Alissa, Blandine, and Frederic with Corey Hagelberg art piece in background
At
Pesto’s after the play, I ordered spinach pizza and took most of it home. I
mentioned that granddaughters Alissa spent an evening in Paris with French
filmmakers Frederic Cousseau and Blandine Huk, which led to a discussion of
their documentary “My Name Is Gary.” While some thought it too negative, it
implicitly condemned economic royalists, not their victims, for Gary’s present
plight; the strength and resilience of those interviewed impressed me greatly. What is palpably unconscionable, in my view
and the filmmakers’, is the neglect by government at all levels – including
Democrats in Washington – of the intolerable number, literally thousands, of
abandoned building that are a cancer on otherwise viable neighborhoods. We rush to aid flood victims in Texas and
Oklahoma but ignore ghetto dwellers left behind in the wake of de-industrialization. Residents should threaten to take matters
into their own hands and invite scavengers to tear down such eyesores brick by
brick, figuratively and literally, perhaps culminating in a huge bonfire.
Spike
Lee is filming in Chicago’s Bucktown for his film “Chiraq,” a title, a takeoff
on Iraq that suggests to some that it will be too negative toward the Windy
City. With double digit shooting
commonly taking place each weekend, it’s high time for a spotlight to be shown
on neighborhoods that have to deal with violence on a daily basis.
ARISE youth committee chair Dionte Glover; photo by Whitney Springfield
A
steady flow of Jerry Davich fans stopped by Remarkable Book Shop to purchase
“Lost Gary.” The author inscribed mine, “Get lost (in my book).” When Jerry remarked that I should have
written the book (the publisher asked me but I declined), I offered to do a
sequel with him entitled, “Found Gary.” In
the acknowledgements I noticed Samuel A. Love’s name next to Steve McShane’s,
Ron Cohen’s, a few others, and mine. A few
months ago, Jerry asked if I’d take him on a tour of Gary; I suggested that
Samuel Love would be a better choice, and he took me up on it. I was pleased to see a section on “The City’s
Deepest Resource: Youth” that featured activities of ARISE – an organization
close to Love’s heart. Davich quoted
Love’s analysis of how Gary resembled African colonies under British rule. The mistreatment and demonization of Gary’s
first African-American mayor, Richard Gordon Hatcher, by local media outlets
throughout his 20 years in office and beyond “fits the colonialist pattern of social control,” Love asserted and added:
There is U.S. Steel, which treats the city as its dump while
most of the mill’s workforce lives beyond the city. There’s the white regionalists – such as the
Regional Development Authority and Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning
Commission – who treat Gary’s assets as their own. Yet they don’t hire local
workers and continually disrespect Gary’s population by putting the wants of
white, non-Gary residents above the needs of our citizens.
There’s the south county slumlords and other
out-of-towners who are sitting on Gary properties, dangerously decrepit houses,
empty lots and so on. There are local
rulers who look like the people they rule over, but who do the deeds of people
who look more like you and I. There’s a
lot of money to be made exploiting Gary and there are plenty of resources to
exploit.
The
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction special didn’t disappoint. Joan Jett led off joined by Dave Grohl, Tommy
James (who wrote her hit “Crimson and Clover”) and Miley Cyrus, who then talked
about what a pioneer and inspiration she was. Other highlights included Ringo Star singing
with Green Day, Paul McCartney, and Joe Walsh, plus Stevie Wonder and John
Legend doing Bill Withers songs. Ringo mentioned that it was appropriate to be
inducted in Cleveland because growing up, he listened to re-broadcasts the Alan
Freed Show emanating from there and got exposed to Little Richard, Chuck Berry,
Elvis Presley, and Jerry Lee Lewis (who was in the house sitting near Yoko Ono).
IUN’s
Northwest News did a feature on 62
year-old Marla Gee, a summer intern with Indiana’s General Assembly who will
start Valpo Law School in the fall. The
Gary Roosevelt grad summarized her 1971 freshman experience in Bloomington: “I failed miserably, but I had a ball.” She subsequently worked as a secretary, for
the post office, and at medical transcription until technology rendered her
skills obsolete. Thanks to an AARP
(American Association of Retired Persons) program, she started back to college
and excelled, graduating from IUN with distinction. Marla credits SPEA professor Dan Tsataros
with mentoring encouraging her to pursue a career in law. Of her summer in Indy she recalled not
minding being the grandma figure and stated:
This internship has been crucial in helping me pinpoint the kind
of law I want to practice. Had I started law school last August, I would not
have been privy to this information. People at the Statehouse have steered me
towards areas of law in the political arena: speechwriting; legal staff
at the regional level for elected officials who are based in Washington;
working on a national campaign. I have met people who know how to make
this happen for me. It has been an amazing experience.
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