Servant Stage Company’s ‘Christmas Crooners’ revue is touring in Lancaster County, PA; the performance run ends on December 22, 2024

By Steven Brodsky

… Amplify your enjoyment of the holiday season by attending a performance of Servant Stage’s Christmas Crooners!

Tickets are pay-what-you-will, consistent with Servant Stage Company’s mission to make exceptional theatre experiences accessible to everyone.

You’ll find additional information and ticket reservation links at: https://servantstage.org/shows/2024/crooners.

Posted 11-22-24

Those engaged with the arts are more likely to be socially connected

By Steven Brodsky

This press release was issued moments ago by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA):

Washington, DC—A new research brief released today by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) examines recent patterns of arts engagement among U.S. adults, and the relationship between arts engagement and social connectedness. The findings come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey from April to July 2024.

NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD, said: “Timely data on arts engagement in our country is key as researchers seek to measure the health of the arts sector following the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to improve our understanding of how the arts can impact many aspects of our lives, including issues of loneliness and social isolation. The National Endowment for the Arts is pleased to add this report to our expanding body of research on the arts’ benefits for our lives and communities.”

Highlights from “Arts Attendance, Art-Making, and Social Connectedness: Spring/Summer 2024” are below. The findings about the arts’ positive links to social connectedness are especially promising in light of a 2023 Surgeon General’s advisory about the adverse health effects of loneliness and social isolation. See the full NEA research brief for additional statistics, including differences in arts participation rates by age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, and annual income. Future research will examine subgroup differences in the outcomes associated with arts participation.

Arts Attendance and Arts Creation:

• Between April and July 2024, a quarter (25.0 percent) of U.S. adults attended at least one live, in-person performance and/or art exhibit in the previous month.

• 17.0 percent of adults went to the movies in the previous month.

• 16.3 percent of adults created, practiced, or performed artworks in the previous month.

Access to Arts and Cultural Amenities:

• A total of 62.2 percent either agreed (45.8 percent of all adults) or strongly agreed (16.4 percent) with the statement: “There are plenty of opportunities for me to take part in arts and cultural activities in my neighborhood or community.”

• Among those least likely to agree with this statement were younger adults (54.4 percent versus 70.4 percent of those 65 or order); Hispanics and non-Hispanic Blacks (53.4 and 53.2 percent, respectively); and those who did not go to high school.

The Arts and Social Connection:

Attending meetings or clubs:

• Adults who attended arts events and/or created art within the previous month were more likely than those who did not to participate in social groups—such as church groups, unions, fraternal or athletic groups, or school groups—and to do so at higher frequency levels.

  • 42.0 percent of arts attendees reported not belonging to such a group, compared with 52.1 percent of non-arts attendees.

  • 46.4 percent of arts creators—and 57.7 percent of non-creators—reported not belonging to a social group.

• Arts attendees and arts creators are also more likely to attend organization or club/group meetings.

  • 29.2 percent of arts attendees went to organization or group/club meetings 12 or more times. For non-arts attendees, that rate was 15.0 percent.

  • Among arts creators, the rate of participating in such meetings 12 or more times a year was 28.2 percent, versus 19.3 percent of non-creators.

Perceptions of loneliness

• Adults who attended live arts events were less likely than non-arts attendees to report feeling more acute levels of loneliness.

  • 2.7 percent of adults who attended live arts events in person reported “always” feeling lonely, compared with 5.1 percent of non-arts attendees.

  • 38.7 percent of arts attendees reported feeling only “rarely” lonely, compared with 25.4 percent of non-arts attendees.

• However, adults who created or performed art were generally more acquainted with at least some level of loneliness than were non-creators.

  • Only 18.4 percent of arts creators reported “never” experiencing loneliness, versus 27.3 percent of adults who did not create or perform art.

Social and emotional support

• Adults who attended live arts events in the previous month were more likely than non-arts attendees to report receiving the social and emotional support they needed.

  • 29.8 percent of arts attendees reported “always” receiving such support, compared with 23.4 percent of non-arts attendees.

• Arts creators were more likely to receive social and emotional support than were non-creators.

  • 38.8 percent of arts creators, versus 30.3 percent of non-creators, “usually” received the support they needed.

Phone conversations with friends, family, neighbors

• Adults who had attended arts events in the past month were more likely than non-attendees to talk with friends and family on the phone—and to do so more often.

• Arts creators were more likely than non-creators to talk with friends and family on the phone once or twice a week, but less likely to talk five or more times a week.

Time spent with friends and family

• Adults who attended arts events and/or created art were more likely than those who did not to get together with friends or family.

  • 45.1 percent of arts attendees met with friends and family once or twice a week, compared with 30.3 percent of non-arts attendees.

  • 35.6 percent of arts creators got together with family or friends less than once a week, compared with 42.1 percent of non-creators.

About the NEA’s Office of Research & Analysis

Research into the value and impact of the arts is a core function of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Through accurate, relevant, and timely analyses and reports, the NEA elucidates the factors, conditions, and characteristics of the U.S. arts ecosystem and the impact of the arts on other domains of American life. Visit the Research impact page on the NEA’s website for more information, including:

• In-depth reports and analyses of research topics in the arts, including surveys of arts participation and reports on the economic impact of arts and culture.

• The National Arts Statistics and Evidence-based Reporting Center (NASERC)—an online hub for monitoring the U.S. arts ecosystem through a series of national indicators, and for accessing data-driven guides and reports aimed at arts practitioners.

• National Archive of Data on Arts Culture (NADAC)—an online repository of arts and cultural datasets, for analysis by scholars, arts managers, and policy leaders.

• Information on the NEA’s Research Awards: Research Grants in the Arts (RGA) and Research Labs, transdisciplinary research teams investigating the value and impact of the arts.

• Monthly podcast and blog post on arts research topics.

About the National Endowment for the Arts

Established by Congress in 1965, the National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that is the largest funder of the arts and arts education in communities nationwide and a catalyst of public and private support for the arts. By advancing equitable opportunities for arts participation and practice, the NEA fosters and sustains an environment in which the arts benefit everyone in the United States. Visit arts.gov to learn more.

Related Content

• Household Pulse Survey brief and data tables

• Blog by NEA Director of Research and Analysis Sunil Iyengar on Household Pulse Survey (10.31.24)

• Arts Participation Patterns in 2022: Highlights from the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts

Posted 10-31-24

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announces 112 organizations that will receive grants under the ArtsHERE program

By Steven Brodsky

The following press release was issued yesterday, September 24, 2024, by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA):

Washington, DC — The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is pleased to announce 112 organizations recommended for awards under ArtsHERE—a new pilot program in partnership with South Arts and in collaboration with the other five U.S. Regional Arts Organizations—designed to expand access to arts participation across the nation. These nonprofit organizations, each with demonstrated commitment to equity within their practices and programming, are recommended for non-matching grants of $65,000 to $130,000, totaling $12.356 million, to fund specific projects that will strengthen the organizations’ capacity to sustain meaningful community engagement and increase arts participation for underserved groups and communities. Grant recipients will also take part in peer-learning and technical assistance opportunities, and the NEA will report on lessons learned from this initiative.

Read more about the grant recipients and their projects.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is thrilled to provide resources to a group of exceptional organizations through ArtsHERE, a program to help deepen meaningful and lasting arts engagement in underserved communities,” said Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD, chair of the National Endowment for the Arts. “Everyone should be able to live an artful life, and ArtsHERE is an important step in ensuring we are strengthening our nation’s arts ecosystem to make this a reality.”

Historically underserved groups and communities—those whose opportunities to experience the arts have been limited by factors such as geography, race or ethnicity, economics, or disability—frequently report lower rates of participation in various arts activities than other groups do. Managed by South Arts, the NEA announced the ArtsHERE pilot grant program in 2023 in recognition that engaging in the arts is essential to individual, social, civic, and economic well-being and in response to President Biden’s Executive Order that put forward a government-wide effort to advance equity for all Americans.

Recommended grant recipients are from all 50 states, DC, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. ArtsHERE aims to address disparities in arts participation through grants that help organizations better serve and reach their communities. For instance:

• In Juneau, Alaska, JAMM (Juneau Alaska Music Matters) is a tuition-free music program, which uses the power of music and the social experience of ensemble to help youth reach their fullest potential. JAMM is dedicated to preserving the Lingít language, the main Indigenous language in Southeast Alaska, and integrating its cultural wisdom into education. An ArtsHERE grant of $105,610 will support professional development by bringing together Lingít speakers, culture bearers, string teaching artists, and certified music teachers to develop music-based Lingít language instruction and culturally responsive training for educators. Activities will include a summer teacher training and music lab, field research in Sitka, Alaska, and the creation of culturally responsive teaching practice video tutorials.

• In Racine, Wisconsin, the Mahogany Black Arts & Cultural Center is dedicated to the preservation, research, and exhibition of Racine County Black Cultural History. They run programs including an oral histories project; the Wisconsin Black Art & Culture Expo; and a multidisciplinary, emerging artist fellowship. An ArtsHERE grant of $130,000 will help them strengthen their organization through the development of a five-year strategic plan that will include community outreach, board development, and technological investments to grow and manage a member database.

• In Nashville, Tennessee, the Native American Indian Association of Tennessee, Inc., preserves and promotes the cultural heritage of Native Americans in Tennessee. They aim to foster understanding and appreciation of Native American traditions through educational programs and cultural events. An ArtsHERE grant of $130,000 will support enhancement and expansion of their Arts & Culture Education program that focuses on increasing participation in Native American arts, improving cultural representation, and promoting Native heritage through various educational and community engagement activities. Activities will include an organizational needs assessment, strategic planning, community engagement, and field research to improve cultural representation.

• In White River Junction, Vermont, the Special Needs Support Center of the Upper Valley (SNSC) is a group of individuals, families, and professionals throughout the Upper Valley and beyond who proudly work together to create a community where people with disabilities can live their best lives. An ArtsHERE grant of $95,300 will enable SNSC to build capacity in all the arts-focused organizations within the Upper Valley (NH and VT) to create places where people with disabilities have access to the arts. SNSC will work to provide staff training, recommendations on disability-friendly practices, and consulting.

• In San Juan, Puerto Rico, Taller Comunidad la Goyco, Inc. is an organization born from community organizing dedicated to the creation of programs, initiatives, and opportunities that highlight the historical, social, and cultural wealth of the Machuchal community and the Loíza Street sector in Santurce, Puerto Rico. An ArtsHERE grant of $70,000 will support curated programming, promotion and marketing, and training for the volunteers who are ambassadors for their monthly community fairs, where they provide free and accessible arts experiences. They aim to increase audiences for the fairs by 10 percent and effectively communicate the results of cultural programming tied to health and well-being, as well as the environment, in their urban coastal community.

• In Fort Worth, Texas, The Welman Project connects teachers and schools with surplus materials from businesses, promoting creative reuse and sustainability in education. It aims to enrich arts learning experiences while reducing waste and fostering environmental stewardship. To increase their ability to serve their community, The Welman Project will be opening a new, larger makerspace as part of the future Fred Rouse Center for Arts and Community Healing, which was formerly used as a KKK auditorium. An ArtsHERE grant of $74,900 will support strategic planning and cultural competency training to prepare for the opening of its tool library and makerspace and to ensure it operates effectively and sustainably as it expands into a majority Hispanic community.

“We are very excited to work with these organizations on their projects,” said Susie Surkamer, president and CEO of South Arts. “The arts are essential to the fabric of our nation, and at the heart of this necessity are the organizations and individuals who champion them. Through ArtsHERE, we are excited to continue expanding and enriching the arts landscape both nationally and within these unique local communities.”

In addition to grant awards, ArtsHERE grant recipients will also participate in quarterly peer learning workshops, monthly cohort sessions, and one-on-one meetings with technical assistance coaches and field experts. These meetings are designed for knowledge sharing, learning, and capacity-building, to help reinforce the initiative’s opportunities for cross-sector engagement.

As a pilot program, ArtsHERE will be documented and evaluated by the NEA to better understand the project activities supported by this program and how grantees approached the work. These insights may inform the future of ArtsHERE and similar funding programs in the future.

More than 4,000 organizations applied for ArtsHERE funding in late 2023 and early 2024. Applications were reviewed by multiple review panels based on published review criteria, including the applicant’s organizational capacity and their capacity-building project, alignment with ArtsHERE’s commitment to equity, and engagement with historically underserved communities. The selected organizations will receive funding to support their projects, which will take place between October 2024 through June 2026.

ArtsHERE is also supported by The Wallace Foundation through matching funds to the Regional Arts Organizations in support of this program.

About the National Endowment for the Arts
Established by Congress in 1965, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent federal agency that is the largest funder of the arts and arts education in communities nationwide and a catalyst of public and private support for the arts. By advancing equitable opportunities for arts participation and practice, the NEA fosters and sustains an environment in which the arts benefit everyone in the United States. To learn more, visit arts.gov or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

About South Arts
South Arts advances Southern vitality through the arts. The nonprofit regional arts organization was founded in 1975 to build on the South’s unique heritage and enhance the public value of the arts. South Arts’ work responds to the arts environment and cultural trends with a regional perspective. South Arts offers an annual portfolio of activities designed to support the success of artists and arts providers in the South, address the needs of Southern communities through impactful arts-based programs, and celebrate the excellence, innovation, value and power of the arts of the South. For more information, visit www.southarts.org.

About the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations
The United States Regional Arts Organizations (USRAOs)—Arts Midwest, Mid-America Arts Alliance, Mid Atlantic Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts, South Arts, and Western States Arts Federation—are a collective of six nonprofit arts service organizations committed to strengthening America’s infrastructure by increasing access to creativity for all Americans. They serve the nation’s artists, arts and culture organizations, and creative communities with programs that reflect and celebrate the diversity of the field in which they work. They partner with the National Endowment for the Arts, state arts agencies, individuals, and other public and private funders to develop and deliver programs, services, and products that advance arts and creativity. Together, the USRAOs work to activate and operate national arts initiatives, encourage and support collaboration across regions, states, and communities, and maximize the coordination of public and private resources invested in arts programs. In Fiscal Year 2023, they invested over $18.4 million across the United States and Jurisdictions, through nearly 2,400 grants that reached more than 1,000 communities. For more information, visit usregionalarts.org.

Posted 9-25-24

The responsibilities of managing a theater took a toll on William Butler Yeats

By Steven Brodsky

… and inspired Yeats to pen the poem “The Fascination of What’s Difficult” in 1912.

“The Fascination of What’s Difficult”: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43286/the-fascination-of-whats-difficult.

W.B. Yeats received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923 “for his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation.”

Posted 4-23-22

A Conversation With Staś Kmieć

By Steven Brodsky

It’s a challenge to be restrained in praise of the Yiddish-language, Joel Grey-directed, NYTF production of Fiddler on the Roof—the show is that good. Fiddler, about as perfectly constructed a musical as there ever was, is here masterfully presented—reflecting the care and talent of the creative team, cast, and musicians. Dance in Fiddler is an important element—it entertains, reflects cultures and a time in history, and like everything else in this musical carries forth the story.

Staś Kmieć created the musical staging and choreography for this production. Staś is a world-class dancer and choreographer and an expert in Polish folk dance and culture. He was the perfect choice. Staś has performed and toured in many countries with dance icons such as Nureyev. He’s danced with the Boston Ballet, the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, has been on the stages of Broadway, and appeared on film and television. He has choreographed musicals, plays, ballet, and opera in the U.S. and abroad. His background with Fiddler includes being on 2 two-year national tours of the musical with Theodore Bikel and 6 subsequent productions for 1,682 performances. Oh, and he’s also directed Fiddler a number of times.

Staś, this Fiddler is most special, in its creation and performance. How did you feel to be chosen as choreographer?

It is indeed a blessing. I have a long relationship with this show, but this was going to be different. With the recommendation of the Jerome Robbins Foundation and the “keeper of the Fiddler flame,” Sammy Dallas Bayes, I had been in the mix for this production since January. When Joel was officially announced as the Director in March, things took flight. The next day I was asked to meet with him and NYTF Artistic Director Zalmen Mlotek, and in the time it took me to ride the subway back to my apartment, I received notification that I was to be engaged for Fidler Afn Dakh [Fiddler’s title in Yiddish].

My title would be “Musical Staging and Choreography” —basically responsible for the stage picture whenever you hear music in a song, dance, scene or scene-to-scene transition. This would include the body language of the actors and how to incorporate the set pieces to effectively evoke a new location or scene. I also contributed and collaborated regarding blocking, group scenes, props, lighting, and costumes.

Due to my knowledge of the work, the culture and the time period being portrayed, I would provide an anchor to the work, but with one foot in tradition, and the other in concept.

As Fiddler should not be considered as a museum piece, I enjoyed the challenge of breathing new life and a fresh perspective into the work. Joel’s concept allowed me to explore, and I relished this opportunity to create.

The story is familiar. What happens within the story is grounded in the word “tradition.” The staging and choreography reflect realism—inspired by and always with a deep respect to the Jerome Robbins original. Some areas are completely new, while others build upon the original. I added layers of traditional dance, custom, shtetl culture, real actions and interactions, as only someone who knows and admires the work can do.

What were the challenges of choreographing this production?

There were many variables to consider. The size of the cast and the stage were the biggest considerations. Although a cast of 26 is considered large, I am accustomed to working with 40, and a minimum of 35. In so many ways I had to be creative with my use of the actors and the approach to the material.

Because Safra Hall is an auditorium and not a traditional theater space, a unit set was designed that was minimalist and representational. The costume design was also representative of a band of actors of today’s Jewish community who are telling the story of the 1905 Anatevka shtetl-village.

Then there was the glorious, beautiful Yiddish language. While this added a new dimension and colored the work in an exciting way, consideration needed to be made that the majority of the audience would not fully understand it. Combined with the set and costume challenges, the story needed to be conveyed visually. Audience members have remarked at how they became so attuned to the gestures, facial expressions and detail of the staging and choreography, that they experienced the musical from a totally different perspective.

Please describe the interaction that you had with Joel Grey. Collaboration and interaction—Joel and I have become the “perfect match!”

The genius of the original production of Fiddler on the Roof came from the collaboration of its creative personnel headed by director-choreographer Jerome Robbins.

Working with Joel since March during pre-production, auditions and rehearsals have been a treat. Through his eyes, I envisioned new ways of illustrating this classic work and was challenged by the prospect of this unique Fiddler.

Our approach to staging a musical is different, but the “yin and yang” of our relationship has proved to be most beneficial. It was a melding of ideas—we were on the “same page” with our thoughts, and, most importantly, trusted each other.

We have tabled discussion of future joint ventures but have hinted about several ideas we would like to pursue.

The tavern scene is spectacular and conveys by dance and other interaction the dynamic of the Jews and their non-Jewish neighbors. There’s presence of threat, some willingness to narrow a gap, and a semblance of communion brought about through dance. The dancing is wonderful, the acting superb. Speak to us about this scene.

“To Life – L’Chaim” (celebrating the marriage arrangement of Tzeitel to Lazar Wolf) matches the boisterous bravado of the Russians with the inner reserve and pride of the Jewish villagers. Two uniquely different styles of dance.

Robbins’ use of show-specific dance was clear and no better illustrated than in the integrated ethnic dance in Fiddler.

Due to my immense background in folk dance and its authentic elements, I was able to infuse and travel beyond the realm of what was previously done. This amounted to more levels (literally and figuratively) of Russian dance and an even stronger dynamic.

What was it like to choreograph the wedding scene?

The wedding of Tzeitel and Motel is a play in itself and I’ve incorporated many traditional Jewish elements. Beginning with the tying on stage of the customary “gartel” and continuing to the ceremony under the chuppah canopy—the bride is circled around the groom three times (traditionally it is seven) and there is breaking of the wine glass. Stanchions separate the genders, there’s a mothers-in-law koylitsh dance with the bride; and seated in chairs, the couple is hoisted into the air before settling down to more separate dances. I’ve included a “Patsch Tants” and “Freylekh Hora,” so there is even a greater element of traditional dance.

The iconic Bottle Dance is included with embellishments, but remains true to its source. Joel’s first question to me was, “How do you balance the bottles?” I told him, “a bottle, a hat and lots of practice!”

One section that has now been authentically clarified is the role of the “badkhen”—the wedding master of ceremonies, deliciously played by Michael Yashinsky. Serving as a wedding jester of sorts, he is supposed to move the wedding company to laughter (at the expense of others, i.e. Lazar Wolf) and to tears. He commands rapid transitions between extremes with concentrated bursts of melancholy or of joy.

I included a “Mitzvah Tants,” and restored the “kale baveynen,” where the “badkhn” attempts to get the bride and others to cry over serious matters before then making them laugh and rejoice. The text was omitted from the Yiddish translation, as it had evolved as an ad-lib and was never documented in the script.

The wedding scene ends Act 1 with a depiction of the disturbing reality of conflict.

Please speak about your experience of working on other scenes in the play.

I enjoy working with actors, who are in movement as their characters, not as dancers.

“The Fiddler” is a symbol of the traditions Tevye is trying to hold onto as his world changes around him. Played by Lauren Jeanne Thomas, the Fiddler is seen only by Tevye and remains within his struggle of conscience. With a proud, playful, mischievous, defiant, mournful and hopeful disposition, I wanted to bring this relationship via staging to the forefront.

Marrying outside of the Jewish faith is a violation of religious beliefs and grounds for disownment. With the “Chavaleh Ballet,” I strived to simply and effectively evoke happier times in Tevye’s dream-like recollection, and then bring the harsh reality into focus, as he is compelled to reject his beloved daughter. The juxtaposition of these two scenes creates a heart-wrenching poignancy.

Which non-dance moments in Fiddler are most poignant to you?

The opening “Tradition” (“Traditsye”) and the Exodus closing (though there is an element of movement involved in both). They are about identity and community—and are based on the communal circle.

Tevye explains that it is the longstanding traditions of their village, culture, and religion that steady and guide the people of Anatevka. Then the inhabitants of the small-town Jewish village community—the Shtetl emerge. They are close-knit townspeople. Theirs is a culture “lost in time,” which only exists in the memories and in the partial and altered behavior of its members now scattered around the world.

A small moment at the end where the Rabbi bows to his son Mendel and they separate—leaving in two separate directions, gets me every time.

Due to the representational nature of our set, the closing moments had to be considered carefully. I decided to end on a final image that represents the legacy and culture that was left behind and the imprint and memory that lingers on.

Sheldon Harnick, the show’s lyricist, remarked that “the ending is perfect, don’t change a thing.”

What did you find to be most unusual about the staging of this play, other than the language?

I would have to say the sparse production elements. Joel brought me into a design meeting before the rest of the production team. I said, “It’s different, and will challenge my views, and I’m ready to meet that challenge.”

Even though we didn’t have an actual house or tailor shop, and not even a doorway, I insisted that the kissing of the entryway mezuzah (containing a miniature parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah) remain. I taped a line as to where the entrances would be, and the actors identify the space as they mime the action.

How did working with the Yiddish-language script affect you?

It was mostly seamless. I know the text so intimately that I understood it, without exactly understanding it.

In preparation for each section to be staged, I would review the script, which appeared in 3 lines—Yiddish, transliterated English, and the show’s original libretto.

There were occasional areas of departure and lines that fell on different beats. The heart and soul of the work remained, and achieved grater relevance in the language of author Sholem Aleichlem’s 1894 classic Tevye the Milkman and other Tales, on which the musical is based.

Which acting moments are among your favorites?

Several come to mind: Steven Skybell in “If I Were a Rich Man” (“Ven Ikh Bin a Rotshild”), Skybell and Mary Illes in “Do You Love Me?” (“Libst Mikh, Sertse?”), the Chava rejection scene, Hodel’s “Far From The Home I Love” (“Vayt Fun Mayn Liber Heym”), and the kitchen scene with Jackie Hoffman as Yente.

When working on “Rich Man,” I told Skybell that we would discover his personal signature movement. It would not be Mostel or Topol, but him. Steven offers an authentic, honest and intrinsically Jewish portrayal and I see much of my grandfather’s persona in his performance.

Topol, who attended a performance early in the run, remarked about “Do You Love Me?”: “That’s how it should be done! So moving, so intimate, so real, so warm.” My sentiments exactly. Joel and I spent a long journey with this song and we are both moved each performance.

What do you think will be your fondest memories connected to this this production years from now?

The experience of working alongside and exchanging ideas with an icon who I grew up with, have admired for years, and who is now my friend. The cast—a special bend of talent, hard work and raw energy. The dedication of the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, and the unique, creative process of rediscovering a work that I deeply love. There’s always something new to learn.

Originally Posted 7-23-18, Reposted 4-1-20

A Conversation With Steven Skybell

By Steven Brodsky

To be cast in a major role in a watershed theatrical staging of one of the world’s most popular musicals is about as rare an occurrence as hens’ teeth. It’s happened for Steven Skybell. He’s Tevye in the soon to open National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene’s Fiddler on the Roof.

This production is an American premiere of a Yiddish translation by Shraga Friedman that’s reported to have not been staged in over half a century. This Fiddler will very likely bring audiences somewhat closer to the heart of Sholem Aleichem and the shtetl life he wrote about. Fiddler, of course, is an adaptation of a number of Aleichem’s stories; Yiddish was his mother tongue.

Joel Grey is directing the show. He’s working with an esteemed cast and creative team. From Fiddler’s original production, the Folksbiene has engaged Sheldon Harnick (Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning lyricist) and the legendary producer/director Hal Prince as consultants. That production was unforgettable. (I was at one of the performances.) So will NYTF’s Fiddler. It’s a shame that it is scheduled for a run of only 8 weeks.

Steven Skybell has performed on Broadway, Shakespeare’s Globe in London, and elsewhere. He’s an OBIE Award recipient. Steven has taught acting at Yale, Harvard, and Fordham. He is on the acting faculty of NYU.

What went through your mind and what emotions did you experience when you first learned that you were cast as Tevye?

There have been times in my life when things seemed destined to happen. When I heard they were doing a Yiddish production of Fiddler on the Roof, I felt that it was something that I wanted to be a part of, and everything seemed to move into place accordingly. So when I found out that I was going to be playing Tevye in this Yiddish production of Fiddler on the Roof, I was happy beyond belief! I have wanted to be an actor since childhood; there is something about Fiddler on the Roof that holds a special place in a Jewish boy’s dreams. I’ve had the opportunity to be in Fiddler four previous times, beginning as early as age 11, when I held the chuppah in the wedding scene in an amateur production in my hometown of Lubbock, Texas.

The opportunity to be a part of this watershed production with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, is nothing less than a dream come true. It’s an honor and a delight. I am so looking forward to being able to share this amazing story with these memorable characters and melodies, merged with the authentic sound of the language of Sholem Aleichem. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

What aspects of Tevye’s experience and character resonates most strongly to you?

The role of Tevye is an amazing challenge in the world of musical theater. He gets to go through every emotion imaginable in the course of this play. And because he is so fully realized, I think he becomes an everyman for the audience. There are so many aspects of Tevye that I recognize in my own character. Obviously, the chance to play a Jewish person in conversation with his God, struggling to make right decisions concerning his family and his future, resonates very strongly with me. Tevye is a survivor. And while the circumstances of the play seem to overwhelm him, they don’t. I like to think, in my own life, I too am able to withstand and stay positive even in the face of life’s most difficult challenges. It’s that spirit, that life force, that is embodied in Tevye which inspires me and which I’d like to think lives within me as well.

An aspect of Tevye that has become clearer to me in this rehearsal process, is that even though we see him in the midst of what he describes as “a big poverty” and even though he dreams of being “as rich as a Rothschild,” in the course of the evening we see that he is far from being poor and destitute, and that he has been blessed with great richness and riches.

There is obviously a strong tragic vein in this musical, and that’s a challenge and a pleasure to play as an actor, but there’s also great humor and great joy. It’s this merging of “carrying a tear with joy” that makes this role and this musical so special.

What exposure to the Yiddish language did you have prior to accepting this role?

Like many Jewish children of the ’60s and ’70s, I grew up hearing my grandparents speak Yiddish. But sadly, it was only used when they wished to keep their meaning hidden. Later in my life, my brother and I began studying Yiddish together over the phone. We got some grammar books and would go through exercises and drills together over the phone. And then in the summer of 2005 (I believe), I was performing in Chicago, and I contacted the woman who teaches Yiddish at Northwestern University, Khane-Faygl Turtletaub. I went to her home once a week and had private Yiddish lessons. I just loved the language. And I did think that perhaps one day I might be able to find an opportunity to use Yiddish on the stage. When I met with the creative team for this production of Fiddler on the Roof, Zalmen Mlotek asked me why it was that I had learned Yiddish, and I could tell him that I did dream of one day performing with the Folksbiene. Needless to say, it has been an amazing challenge to rehearse in Yiddish, sing in Yiddish, and act in Yiddish. This theater does a great job in helping all the actors feel comfortable in this language.

Describe the challenges that Yiddish is presenting to you as you rehearse and otherwise get ready for the opening of this play.

Some specific challenges about performing in Yiddish include simply trying to memorize a language that is not completely your own. There’s also a difference between which word in English might be stressed and which word in the Yiddish version wants to be stressed, so that is something that has taken some painstaking practice.

Please give us an insider’s vista into Joel Grey’s direction of this play.

This is actually my second time to be directed by Joel Grey. He is, needless to say, an amazing performer. And he has the ability to empathize with the challenges of the actor and he also knows how to best help us, since he’s been on our side of the footlights too. He has such a deep and clear perspective on this play. And it is very refreshing to see that he is urging us all to go deeper than simply trying to recreate the Broadway version. This Yiddish version has its own soul, and Joel Grey is challenging us to dig deep for truth, for humor, and for Jewish soul. He is witty and funny and moving every day in rehearsal. It’s an honor for me to get to work with him, and his boundless energy is an inspiration. I definitely want to be like him when I grow up!

Jerome Robbins helped acquaint the original cast of Fiddler with Orthodox Jewish wedding dancing and other practices by clandestinely taking (with the assistance of a wedding caterer) cast members to Orthodox Jewish weddings. Have you and other cast members found it helpful to do any research to ensure accuracy on stage?

Although I was raised in the Reform movement of Judaism, my siblings and I have all found our way back to a more traditional Judaism over the years. All my siblings are now Orthodox. And over the years I have had the opportunity to observe the more traditional practices in their homes; and I even took part in a Shabbos exchange program through their shul which included spending the Sabbath in an ultra-Orthodox home in Boro Park, Brooklyn.

We also have in our cast, some Orthodox people. And they have been very helpful in filling out moments for us all and answering questions about certain details.

What scenes are you finding to be most enjoyable to rehearse?

The interesting thing about Fiddler on the Roof, is that it is an amazingly constructed piece of theater. It works so well. So truly every scene is a joy to rehearse. There’s nothing that is flawed in this piece. I will say that in rehearsal it has been so amazing to watch the dancers do their stuff. There is some incredible choreography in this musical and already the dancers are performing at such a high level of virtuosity and prowess. It’s a joy to watch.

How old were you when you first got involved in theatre? What stimulated your interest?

There was a children’s theater and a community theater in my hometown of Lubbock, Texas. I began performing there when I was 10 years old and very quickly felt like I had found something that I really wanted to do and loved to do. Since that time performing at the age of 10, I basically have pursued the dream my entire life.

As a high schooler, I spent my summers performing at the Interlochen Arts Academy summer camp in Interlochen, Michigan. That is where I became even more determined to pursue this as a career. I performed in musicals, operettas, and Shakespeare. And it was there that I first played Tevye at the age of 17! From there went on to pursue theater at Yale College and then received my Masters at the Yale School of Drama. I’ve been fortunate to build a career and stay busy on stage, television and film. And while it is not always an easy career, it has remained for me completely fulfilling and rewarding.

Originally posted 6-18-18, Reposted 4-1-20

A Conversation With Jennie Eisenhower

By Steven Brodsky

Performances September 18–October 7, 2018

Erma Bombeck was a national presence despite being a self-proclaimed “ordinary housewife”—in the years when that domestic role was accorded greater value and came with much constraint. As a writer and television personality her reach was enormous. Erma Bombeck’s column, it has been reported, at the apex of its popularity appeared in 900 newspapers. She wrote 15 books; many were bestsellers. She contributed to some of the most widely circulated magazines of her time and was a part of the Good Morning America television program for many years. Humor was a hallmark of Erma Bombeck, and her relatability a bridge to fans who identified with her as she addressed circumstances and travails similar to their own. Bombeck wrote from home—the location where many housewife-readers spent much of their own time. Erma Bombeck (as a character in the play that Jennie Eisenhower is directing at the Bristol Riverside Theatre) says, “The key to my writing is that I’m ordinary.” Her ordinariness, candor, humor, insights, terrific writing, personal initiative, and more, made her extraordinary. The one-woman play Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End, Jennie’s Bristol Riverside Theatre directorial debut, will allow audiences to “meet” Erma Bombeck—the woman much of America knew and adored.

About Jennie: she is a renowned screen and stage actress, has won acclaim for her directorial work, and is a two-time Barrymore Award recipient.

Jennie, how familiar were you with Erma Bombeck prior to being asked to direct this one-woman play at Bristol Riverside Theatre? (Erma Bombeck passed away in 1996.)

I knew the name Erma Bombeck and knew that she was a columnist who wrote about motherhood and family. I had no idea until I began to research Bombeck in preparation for At Wit’s End that many of her one-liners were banging around in my subconscious for years without me knowing they were hers!

What do you most appreciate about the script?

I love that it infuses the biographical elements of Bombeck’s life with her humor and that the majority of the script quotes her directly. With 20 years of columns and 15 books there is so much to draw from and I am glad the authors took advantage of that. I laughed out loud several times during my first pass at the script, which is rare for me. Additionally, though Erma was in the height of her fame in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, I feel that the material is still incredibly relevant and compelling today.

How is directing a one-person play different than directing a play with numerous actors?

At Wit’s End is a solo piece that directly addresses the audience. Therefore the audience is a very active second character in the play and a lot of the work that Licia and I are doing won’t come alive until we have people watching. Most of the plays I’ve directed with large casts employ fourth wall realism and don’t actively engage with the audience and as a result feel very different to rehearse.

Licia Watson is portraying Erma Bombeck. What does she bring to the role?

Casting Erma was difficult. I wasn’t looking for an impersonator but I was looking for someone who could capture Bombeck’s unique mixture of earnestness and mischievousness. When Licia walked into the room to audition for us (we did two days of casting in NYC), she was instantly likable. That quality is, I believe, essential to making the show work and something that can’t be forced. Licia is the sort of person who, like Bombeck, I feel I could spend hours chatting with. Hopefully our audiences feel the same way!

What can you tell us about directing Licia in this production?

Licia is a director’s dream. First of all, she arrived on the first day of rehearsal with our 40-page, single-spaced script committed to memory. Because of her diligent preparation we were able to dive right into staging and begin to bring the play to life. Licia is flexible, brings great ideas to the table, and is a great collaborator. She is a wonderful comic technician and lovely person to spend time with. I am so grateful to have her on this project.

What are your favorite theatrical moments in Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End?

I have two favorites: the first is when Bombeck attempts to impersonate the quintessential ’60s housewife only to nearly vacuum up her child’s hamster. The second is when Bombeck gives really confident and sassy responses to questions during an on-the-road press interview. These are two places where I find the script illustrates Bombeck’s unique personality so well. The juxtaposition of a flustered, can’t-quite-keep-it-all-together housewife and a strong, assertive public speaker—she really was both!—is delightful.

When and why did you decide that you wanted to make acting and directing a career path?

I was very theatrical as a child and loved to sing, act and put on shows for my family, forcing my brother and sister to work as co-stars, lighting technicians—whatever the production demanded! Next, I auditioned for middle and high school musicals and plays. I loved all of that so much I decided to major in theatre at Northwestern University and then pursue theatre for a living. I didn’t pursue work as a director until I had been in the business for about five years. Though as a child I was starring in and directing all of the family shows I created, for some reason it didn’t occur to me that I could be a director professionally. Perhaps it was because I subconsciously internalized the fact that most famous directors (with notable exceptions, of course) were male while I was growing up? Or because none of the shows I was in on campus at Northwestern were directed by women? For whatever reason, directing didn’t seem to be a possibility for me until I had been at it awhile and I became more confident as an artist.

What supported you in that decision and what obstacles were in your way?

I had an incredible opportunity to run a magnet arts high school music theatre program in Florida when I was 27. I needed a change and wanted to get away from my work as a musical theatre performer and get out of New York City. That year in Florida I directed two giant musicals and realized I was not only capable of directing but also passionate about it. When I moved from Philadelphia to Florida about 10 years ago I did so with the intention to direct professionally and have had the opportunity to do so at some wonderful theatres in this region. The Philadelphia theatre scene seems to understand that artists have many facets and isn’t as apt to pigeonhole people into one aspect of the industry like some of the larger markets are. Because of that, I have been able to wear many hats, so I am very grateful to the Philadelphia community and specifically Bristol, the Walnut, The Media Theatre and The Arden (so far!).

What aspects of Erma Bombeck’s celebrated “ordinariness” resonate with your own experience?

Motherhood is the great equalizer. I don’t care if you’re the queen of England, a movie star or a pro tennis player—if you’ve had a baby (and I have!), you’ve been thrown up on, kept up all night, and felt both love and frustration beyond what you ever imagined is possible. We are all ordinary when it comes down to the deep love we feel for our kids and how little control we have over their actions or how the world will mold them. That’s why Bombeck’s humor is so enduring.

What do you most admire about Erma Bombeck’s life work in and outside of her role and responsibilities as a housewife?

It’s ironic that when people bring up Erma, the first thing that comes up is “housewife.” Her brand and the humorous writing that made her famous is all about her role as a housewife, but she was a full-time working mother! I admire so much about her and am awed by her ability to raise three children and accomplish so much while doing so. I am grateful to Bombeck for her tireless work campaigning for the ERA. Her political activism not only made an important contribution to woman’s rights but also allowed her fanbase to witness a feminist who was still comfortable embracing the traditional role of homemaker and mother. I think she sent an important message about feminism to American women: that being a feminist didn’t necessarily mean one should divorce their husband, leave their kids, burn their bra or join a commune. A woman could be a stay-at-home mom and still demand the same respect and the same rights awarded to men.

If you would have had the opportunity to meet Erma Bombeck when you were a teenager, what questions might you have asked her?

I actually really wish I could meet Erma now, being a mother. I am endlessly fascinated by women who are able to manage having children and busy careers and what their secrets are. Also, I only have one child—women that have multiple children and are able to do more than get laundry put away blow my mind. So I would have had a lot of questions to ask Erma about how she did it all. It’s a shame she wasn’t with us longer as I would have loved to have met her.

What experiences in your life shape you the most as a performing artist and director?

I believe all artists are shaped by their life experiences and we inevitably bring parts of ourselves to every project we undertake. Every show I direct or perform in requires me to draw from different experiences I have had. On this particular show I am definitely drawing from my own experiences as a mother and as a feminist—and also as the daughter of an incredible mom (Julie Nixon Eisenhower) who raised three kids, was an impeccable homemaker and was STILL able to write a non-fiction book and become a New York Times bestselling author while we were all under the age of 10! This show is definitely for her.

Ticket information about the Bristol Riverside Theatre’s production of Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End is available at: www.brtstage.org.

 Posted Sept. 5, 2018

A Conversation with Playwright Lauren Gunderson

By Steven Brodsky

Lauren Gunderson’s plays are enormously in demand.  American Theatre said that she is “the most-produced living playwright in America, who reaches that spot on the strength of six separate titles.”  One of those is I and You, scheduled for production at People’s Light from March 29 – April 23, 2017.  The script won the 2014 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award.  The questions and responses will endeavor to avoid spoiler territory; the play is best enjoyed in the absence of foreknowledge of its denouement.

What stimulated your interest in theatre? 

The words came first. I loved crafting ideas through language even from an early age. I remember being so proud of a fifth-grade creative writing assignment where I wrote about a baseball being pitched in a World Series game (I was a big tomboy and loved Braves baseball). It was from the baseball’s perspective. The ball flew through the night air, cutting through the bright sports lights, spinning dizzily and arrested in the leather glove with a splash of wind and a smack on it’s cheek. I thought I was the first person in history to play with perspective like that.

I also loved acting and my mom will still tell the story of me playing Baby Bear in my kindergarten’s production of “The Three Little Bears” in Spanish. So playwriting was a combination of two things I loved and it’s what has kept me writing to this day.

At age 16, you wrote a letter to the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Margaret Edson.  Tell us about the letter and the friendship that ensued.

Maggie is an Atlanta writer and teacher. I was overwhelmed with admiration for her play “Wit” when it came out and wrote her a note out of the blue expressing that. Amazingly she wrote me back and invited me over for tea to talk about writing. I couldn’t believe it. I will never forget the power of that gesture to a young writer. The respect and friendship she offered me set me going with confidence and inspiration. We connect every time I get back to Atlanta and I am deeply honored to call her a friend.

Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass is a vehicle of connection for the two characters in the play.  Tell us about your first exposure to that poetry collection and how it affected you. 

I remember reading Whitman in high school on a misty fall night in Atlanta sitting on the roof outside my bedroom window. His poetry was so invigorating to me, so rebellious and bold. It was one of the first American literature assignments that felt so charged and scandalous and rule-breaking. But it was also hopeful – even defiantly so. I think his work really affected my sense of what art can do for us. It can surprise, challenge, inspire and energize us to keep being better people and living louder and seeing the goodness  and connectedness in all of us. Yawp!

How much fun was it to write about teenagers?

The language is fun, swift, rhythmic. It flows really easily and there is a lot of humor – self-deprecating or sassy. They can withstand emotion better than many adults because they can pivot from one feeling to another. The best part about writing teenagers is that they are at a time in their life where their future adulthood is imminent but inaccessible. They are all hope, idealism, and potential. They can be anything they dream… just not yet. That encourages a kind of grand thinking that is fun to write and also meaningful and nostalgic.

What did you experience in your teenage years in common with either or both of the characters? 

I was much more of a nerd like Anthony but way less athletic. I can admit to some of Caroline’s angsty tendencies but I was too much of an optimist to align with her personality.

What are some of the most gratifying comments you’ve received from people who’ve attended “I and You”?

One teenager saw it at a high school matinee and brought her parents and grandparents back with her to see it again! I also love seeing so many young black men on stages across the country in this play. Diversity onstage is deeply important to me and I am proud that this play is a part of that trend towards representation equity in American theatre. 

Was the writing process for this script much different than it was for your other plays? 

Yes! This play works like a music box – the mechanics must be tight yet fluid to earn the pop at the end. I had to really be conscious of creating honest characters with depth of heart so it’s not just about the surprise. But I definitely knew where it was going before I started writing it. I had to know the ending to craft the story just right.

What locations and conditions do you find conducive to writing plays?

Morning + coffee + quiet.

Tell us about your writing routine.

See above

You were the first playwright to present a Perspectives in Criticism Talk at ATCA’s annual conference.  How daunting was carrying out that honor? 

It was riveting actually. I was honored to speak to a room full of theatre nerds and everyone was excited to talk about real issues. The first line of my speech was, “Hello my name is Lauren, I am a playwright and you are a room full of critics and this won’t be awkward at all.”

Have reviews of your plays affected your creativity?

No. I have a policy of enjoying the good reviews and ignoring the bad one. Life is too short to feel bad if someone didn’t understand or appreciate your work. So I just think, “onwards!”

Who do you rely upon for constructive criticism of your scripts?

I have some brilliant friends who are writers and I often ask them to read early drafts. But I learn the most from hearing the work in the mouths and bodies of excellent actors. Their ideas and experiences within my work are always the best lessons on its efficacy and authenticity.

Does rewriting tend to be less joyful than composing first drafts? 

I love rewriting! It’s like solving a puzzle.

Were there many rewrites of  I and You?

There always are. We learned a lot from the first production and continued honing the script after that. A lot of the rewrites were about heightening the tension between the two so it can burst and soften as they really start to connect on a deep, emotional level.  

Information about the People’s Light production of I and You is at: www.peopleslight.org.

Posted 3/21/17

A reminder: ‘The Crafted World of Wharton Esherick’ exhibition at the Brandywine Museum of Art will be open through January 19, 2025

By Steven Brodsky

… Don’t miss this exhibition comprised of more than 70 works by Wharton Esherick!

Some of the Wharton Esherick works that are on display at The Crafted World of Wharton Esherick exhibition:

Photo by Steven Brodsky

Photo by Steven Brodsky

Photo by Steven Brodsky

Photo by Steven Brodsky

The Crafted World of Wharton Esherick | Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art

Posted 11-15-24

The National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden Ice Rink skating season will run from Saturday, November 23, 2024 – Sunday, March 2, 2025 (weather permitting)

By Steven Brodsky

… A number of Entertainment, Culture and More readers are looking forward to skating at this iconic rink during the rink’s soon-to-arrive skating season!

Visitor information is accessible at: Ice Rink at the Sculpture Garden.

This video for Joni Mitchell’s “River” was embedded here last year to accompany an announcement about the prior skating season at the rink:

If you’ll once again be satisfying the wish to enjoyably “skate away” at this rink or if you’ll be visiting the rink for the very first time, happy skating!

Posted 10-30-24

‘The Crafted World of Wharton Esherick’ exhibition to be presented by the Brandywine Museum of Art, October 13, 2024 – January 19, 2025

By Steven Brodsky

Wharton Esherick, Flat Top Desk, 1929 and 1962. Walnut and padouk, 28 x 82 x 36 in. Desk Chair, 1929. Walnut, padouk, laced leather seat, 28 x 18 x 18 in. Desk Figure, Bronze casting of 1929 Cocobolo original, 10 x 5 x 4 in. Wharton Esherick Museum Collection. Photo by Eoin O’Neill, courtesy of the Wharton Esherick Museum.

From a Brandywine Museum of Art press release:

Chadds Ford, PA, September 12, 2024 — Opening at the Brandywine Museum of Art this fall, The Crafted World of Wharton Esherick will explore the artistic legacy of Wharton Esherick (1887-1970), one of the most creative and interdisciplinary figures of twentieth-century American art, craft and design. Co-organized by the Brandywine and the Wharton Esherick Museum (WEM), this major exhibition will detail the artist’s career from his early woodcut illustrations for books by the avant-garde literati to his revolutionary reimagining of furniture forms as organic sculpture. The Crafted World features more than 70 works by the artist and will be the first exhibition to draw exclusively from WEM’s collection of over 3,000 objects. The exhibition will bring together works from across different media mastered by the artist—from painting, sculpture and printmaking to woodworking, furniture making and illustration—including many objects never before seen outside of Esherick’s home and studio. The Crafted World will debut at the Brandywine and will be on view from October 13, 2024 through January 19, 2025. The Museum has also organized a two-venue travel tour for the exhibition that will raise the profile of this remarkable artist.

Esherick is best known as the father of the Studio Furniture Movement, which saw artists bringing their unique voices to handmade, functional objects and craft traditions, often reinventing them with bold, experimental techniques and forms. He grew up in West Philadelphia and later moved to Malvern, PA, where he built his own home and studio on the slope of Valley Forge Mountain. Now operated as WEM, this National Historic Landmark for Architecture houses the world’s largest collection of Esherick’s artworks, spanning seven decades of artistic practice. “Esherick’s creative work was inseparable from his personal identity,” said Emily Zilber, WEM’s Director of Curatorial Affairs & Strategic Partnerships, and curator of the exhibition. “He considered his hand-crafted hillside home and studio, which he designed and built between 1926 and 1966, the best representation of his iconoclastic vision, calling it ‘an autobiography in three dimensions.’ It is significant, then, that The Crafted World is the largest exhibition ever organized from the remarkable collection housed in the artist’s home and studio.”

The Crafted World will be presented in thematic vignettes that focus attention on recurring design explorations across Esherick’s body of creative work. Through a variety of forms, formats and media, these vignettes will invite visitors to examine the artist’s unconventional way of life and some of his key artistic interests—urban versus rural life, the movement of the body in space, the power of patterns, and the organic growth of the natural world. Organized thematically, rather than by chronology or media, the exhibition will allow visitors to witness the evolution of Esherick’s thinking around these primary design concepts.

“This exhibition was originally conceived years ago as a small display of Esherick’s woodblock prints from WEM’s collection at the Brandywine Museum of Art, but the remarkable sweep of the artist’s cross-disciplinary creative brilliance quickly led to this more expansive examination,” said Thomas Padon, the James H. Duff Director of the Brandywine Museum of Art. “In a partnership forged over years of visits to the Wharton Esherick home and studio, conversations and deliberations, and marveling together over the artist’s work, Brandywine and our superb colleagues at WEM developed plans for this long overdue reassessment of Esherick’s contributions to American art.” WEM’s Executive Director, Julie Siglin, added, “Esherick engaged with the world in a collaborative way; likewise, this exhibition has been a fundamentally collaborative effort from the start. WEM is thrilled to share Esherick’s legacy more broadly with the world through this exciting partnership with the Brandywine.”

Although The Crafted World is not a comprehensive retrospective of the artist’s career, the exhibition uses WEM’s significant collection, made up largely of the works Esherick surrounded himself with, to highlight his integrated approach to living and artmaking. “Visitors to The Crafted World will be introduced to the artist’s singular voice, creativity and skill in a way that recontextualizes the objects with innovative thematic approaches to his work,” said Amanda Burdan, Senior Curator at the Brandywine, who provided organizational and curatorial guidance and coordination for the exhibition. “Works on view will explore Esherick’s intimate connection to the natural world and its materials, his skillful design approach and problem solving, interest in performance and the body, fascination with the natural world, enduring imaginative spirit, and even his wry sense of humor.”

The Crafted World will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue published by Rizzoli Electa. In addition to an essay by Zilber, this major publication includes contributions by Sarah Archer, a design and culture writer based in Philadelphia; Colin Fanning, Assistant Curator of European Decorative Arts at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Ann Glasscock, Associate Curator and Decorative Arts Specialist at the Taft Museum of Art; Holly Gore, WEM’s Director of Interpretation and Associate Curator of Special Collections; and photography by Joshua McHugh, a renowned New York–based photographer who specializes in interior, architecture and design. Support for the exhibition catalogue is provided by the Decorative Arts Trust and the Furthermore Foundation.

Following its presentation in Chadds Ford at the Brandywine, The Crafted World of Wharton Esherick will travel to the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Posted 9-18-24

The school year is underway

By Steven Brodsky

… and great arts education programs are furthering the ability of students to see and portray the “many colors in a flower.”

Such a program might enable the little boy we met in “Flowers Are Red” to negate the negative impact of his first-day-at-school learning experience.

This would be possible, thanks to the transformative power of arts education and the presence of talented and caring teachers!

Posted 9-13-24

A Conversation With Victoria Browning Wyeth

By Steven Brodsky

Victoria  Browning Wyeth is the granddaughter of Andrew Wyeth and the niece of Jamie Wyeth. She is the great-granddaughter of N.C. Wyeth. Victoria is widely known for her dynamic gallery talks and lectures on the life and art of Andrew Wyeth. Victoria is a gifted photographer; her photos have been exhibited at a number of museums.

What are some of your fondest memories of your grandmother?

One of my fondest memories of my grandmother were our nicknames for each other. I always called my grandmother by two names: “Betsy” or “Mamma Sheep Turd.” I realize the second name might raise a few eyebrows so let me explain. I grew up in New York City, but would spend every summer in Cushing Maine with my grandparents. As a young girl, and as a grown woman, I have always detested sand, dirt and bugs. When I was about nine or so, my grandparents purchased Allen Island (near Port Clyde, Maine), and, in addition, a very large flock of sheep to help with the lawn “maintenance.  Along with the sheep came sheep turds…. EVERYWHERE. So, she called me “City Slicker” and I called her “Mamma Sheep Turd.” When I was in college and we wrote each other letters, the post office at my college would giggle when they handed me a letter because of the return address. I always smile when I think of the looks people gave us when we used these names for each other.

My second fondest memory was when she taught me to put on makeup and put my hair in a French twist. I can still feel her hands in my hair helping me pin it up. When it came to applying makeup she would always say, “Vic… less is more.” To this day I am not much of a makeup person.

Finally, my most recent favorite memory involved cooking for my grandmother (and my uncle Jamie) on Sunday nights. Betsy was the chef in the family – her meals were simply out of this world yummy. Mashed potatoes, cookies, creamed eggs, popovers, etc. You name it and she could make it. After my grandfather died she scaled back her cooking quite a bit. Around six or seven years ago I started cooking Sunday dinners for my family. I wasn’t the best chef at first; I burned fish more than I would like to admit. One of the things that still brings a smile to my face was watching her gobble up every last morsel. She would look at Jamie and me and say, “mmmmm this is good.”

Betsy handled much of the business affairs of her husband Andrew. What prepared her for this?

She always had such a powerful business sense. I’m not quite sure where this came from, but she handled Andy’s business affairs with such grace and intelligence. She was quite the inspiration.

Please describe how Betsy furthered the career of Andrew?

My grandmother helped further his career by supporting him in numerous ways. The most important was through her love: she loved him with all of her heart. She would always tell him what she thought of his newest painting – if he needed to simplify something, if the color was too intense, etc. She was also very instrumental in titling many of his paintings.

What was the extent of Betsy’s involvement in titling the paintings of her husband?

She had a huge role in the titles. Take the painting Wind from the Sea. When my grandparents were discussing the piece Betsy said, “It looks like a wind is coming in from the sea.” Andy replied, “That’s it!! Wind from the Sea.” Her vocabulary was most impressive. For example, she would do the New York Times crossword puzzles in ink. This gave her an incredible bank of words to choose from when she helped to title the work.

Her ability to title wasn’t limited to paintings: when I was in graduate school and writing long research papers, I would call her and tell her my paper topic. She would then call me back with a title. For example, I wrote a paper on shell shock in British troops during World War I. She came up with the title “Over the Top.”

Were you able to observe Andrew while he was painting? If you were, did he discuss what he was working on?

Andy HATED having people watch him paint. He felt that having you watch him paint was an invasion. The only times I watched him paint were: (1) outside my window in the summer. He would work on watercolors or drawings outside my parent’s house in Cushing, Maine. He didn’t know I was looking, but I was. I couldn’t help myself. This is when I was a young girl (under 13). (2) When I would accidentally walk into the house when he was working on something. I would apologize and he would smile and say, “Hi darlin’. I’m just finishing up.” (3) When I posed. This was my favorite because we got to discuss everything. I would barrage him with all sorts of questions about his work, his life, his friends, etc. The last time I posed (back in 2005) I was giving lectures at the Brandywine River Museum. It was so cool because I would incorporate what we talked about into my gallery talk that day. 

How sensitive was Andrew to what critics wrote about him?

He couldn’t have cared less what the critics thought.

Which paintings of his do you believe he remained most attached to? 

He was almost always most attached to the painting that he was working on.

To your knowledge, were there times in Andrew’s life when he was without artistic inspiration? If there were, how did he reacquire inspiration?

To the best of my knowledge this never happened. Even when he was in the hospital (for a hip replacement) he drew his hospital room and the view out the window. He was inspired by everything and everyone.

 Of the photos that you took of Andrew Wyeth, is there one that especially evokes cherished memories? Can you share those memories with us?

The one I took of him painting outside my window in Cushing, Maine. He was painting me and we would start working very early in the morning – 6:45 a.m. I overslept one morning and rushed downstairs. As I looked out of the living room window, I found him sitting out there with his watercolor pad on his lap, tissues everywhere (to blot the paper) and his watercolor box by his side. Whenever I get sad and miss him, this is what I think of and it always makes me smile. 

You’ve given many pro bono talks. Which of those talks have been most gratifying to you? Please tell us why.

My favorite talks, pro bono and paid, have been the ones I have done at the state and local prisons. I feel that those who are incarcerated should be exposed to art as much as possible. Since they can’t go to a museum, I bring a museum to them. For example, this past January I lectured on the work of my grandfather to the gentlemen at the Maine State Prison in Maine. I went on January 16th – which is a very special day for me – the anniversary of my grandfather’s death. It was a beautiful snowy day and I packed my car up with a bunch of my uncle’s and grandfather’s watercolors and drawings and headed to the prison. I thought it would be fun to create a pop-up gallery in the prison and even more interesting to bring one of my grandfather’s models with me. It was a very special day for all of us. I will never forget looking at the reactions on the guys faces as they looked at the art.

The Brandywine River Museum of Art is currently closed to the public (as are other museums) because of the COVID-19 crisis. Is there a painting in the Museum’s collection by Andrew Wyeth that, at this moment, you are especially looking forward to seeing when the doors reopen?

I love seeing my grandmother’s portrait – Maga’s Daughter. I’m very excited to go visit her and say hi.

Posted 6-8-20

Congratulations to the recipients of the 2024 IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards and the 2024 inductees to the International Bluegrass Music Association Hall of Fame 

By Steven Brodsky

… The names of the recipients and inductees appear in this International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) press release:

Raleigh, North Carolina (September 26, 2024) — Del McCoury received the coveted “Entertainer of the Year” Award at the 35th Annual IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards. The Awards show, hosted by artists John Cowan and Missy Raines, was held September 26 at Raleigh, North Carolina’s Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts.

Previously announced inductees into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame – Katy Daley, Jerry Douglas, and Alan Munde were also honored during the show with heartfelt acknowledgement.

The recipients of the 2024 IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards:

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

Del McCoury Band

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

Authentic Unlimited

INSTRUMENTAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

The Travelin’ McCourys

SONG OF THE YEAR

“Fall in Tennessee”

Recorded by Authentic Unlimited

Written by John Meador & Bob Minner

Produced by Authentic Unlimited

Billy Blue Records

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

City of Gold

Recorded by Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

Produced by Jerry Douglas & Molly Tuttle

Nonesuch Records

GOSPEL RECORDING OF THE YEAR

“God Already Has”

Recorded by Dale Ann Bradley

Written by Mark “Brink” Brinkman & David Stewart

Produced by Dale Ann Bradley

Pinecastle Records

INSTRUMENTAL RECORDING OF THE YEAR

“Knee Deep in Bluegrass”

Recorded by Ashby Frank

Written by Terry Baucom

Produced by Ashby Frank

Mountain Home Music Company

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR

East Nash Grass

COLLABORATIVE RECORDING OF THE YEAR

“Brown’s Ferry Blues”

Recorded by Tony Trischka with Billy Strings

Written by Alton & Rabon Delmore

Produced by Béla Fleck

Down the Road Records

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Danny Paisley

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Jaelee Roberts

BANJO PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Rob McCoury

BASS PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Vickie Vaughn

FIDDLE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Deanie Richardson

RESOPHONIC GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Gaven Largent

GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Cody Kilby

MANDOLIN PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Jesse Brock

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR (TIE)

“Fall in Tennessee”

Authentic Unlimited

“Alberta Bound”

Special Consensus with Ray Legere, John Reischman, Patrick Sauber, Trisha Gagnon, Pharis & Jason Romero, and Claire Lynch

2024 Inductees to International Bluegrass Music Association Hall of Fame:

Alan Munde has been at the forefront of bluegrass music as a banjo player, bandleader, and educator for over five decades. Hailing from Norman, Oklahoma, he played in his first band, The Stone Mountain Boys, in 1965. A subsequent jam session with Byron Berline, Sam Bush, and Wayne Stewart led to the recording of the highly acclaimed instrumental album Poor Richard’s Almanac. Starting in 1970, Munde began a two-year hitch with the King of Bluegrass, Jimmy Martin. From there, it was off to California and the country-rock group, the Flying Burrito Brothers. Munde scored a 20-year run with the progressive West Coast group Country Gazette. One of the Gazette’s seminal early releases was A Traitor in Our Midst. Other career highlights include Munde’s teaching bluegrass at South Plains College in Texas, serving as a columnist for Banjo Newsletter, and sitting as member of the IBMA board of directors. He was a 2008 recipient of an IBMA Distinguished Achievement award.

Jerry Douglas has reigned as bluegrass music’s preeminent Dobro player ever since the middle 1970s when he started with the Country Gentlemen. His fascination with the instrument began at age six when he saw Dobro legend Josh Graves perform on a Flatt & Scruggs show. Throughout the 1970s and ‘80s, Douglas rotated through a series of bands including J. D. Crowe’s New South, Boone Creek, and The Whites. This same period found Douglas becoming an in-demand session player, for both bluegrass and country music albums. In time, he amassed credits on literally thousands of recording sessions. In 1998, he was asked to join Alison Krauss’s Union Station and in 2014 he launched the award-winning Flatt & Scruggs tribute band, the Earls of Leister. Douglas has earned numerous IBMA Awards, including ten for Dobro Player of the Year. He also won fourteen Grammy Awards, and was selected the CMA’s Musician of the Year in 2002, 2005, and 2007. He is also a former vice president of IBMA’s board of directors.

Katy Daley (Patricia Cole Meloon Brown) made her mark as a bluegrass broadcaster in the Washington, D.C., metro area, starting in the early 1970s. Her entry to bluegrass radio came in a circuitous way. She jokingly told WAMU-FM broadcaster Gary Henderson that listening to his program was part of her work assignment at the CIA! A short time later, she signed on at WAMU, preparing and announcing a weekly “Who’s Playing Where” segment. This was followed by a weeknight disc jockey spot from 10:00 to midnight. In November 1978, Daley collaborated on a 13- part series which traced the development of the music: Bluegrass Anthology. In 1980, Daley joined WMZQ, a 24-hour country station in Washington, where her broadcast work included hosting a bluegrass program for three years. Eventually, Daley returned to WAMU’s offshoot, bluegrasscountry.org, and served as a morning air personality. She received two IBMA awards for Bluegrass Broadcaster of the Year and one for Distinguished Achievement. As part of her giving back to the community, she established the Katy Daley Broadcast Media/Sound Engineering Scholarship which is presented each year by the IBMA Foundation.

Awards were voted on by the professional membership of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA). The show was aired on SiriusXM’s Bluegrass Junction channel and was livestreamed on IBMA’s Facebook Live.

Awards sponsors include: Virginia Tourism Corporation, Yamaha Guitar Group, BMI, Boston Bluegrass Union, Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum, Compass Records, Deering Banjos, Mountain Fever Records, Sound Biscuit Productions, and Turnberry Records,.

Posted 9-28-24

Revisiting With Carl Goldstein, Director of the Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival and Treasured Pillar of Bluegrass 

By Steven Brodsky 

Few have done nearly as much for the bluegrass genre and its fans as has Carl. He co-founded the Brandywine Friends of Old Time Music in 1971 and has served in a leadership role ever since. Carl has been the director of the Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival throughout its history, including when it was known as the Delaware Bluegrass Festival. He is chair of the Brandywine Friends. The Brandywine Friends produces the Festival and a concert series. Carl is an inductee into the WVUD Radio Hall of Fame; he has hosted WVUD’s Fire on the Mountain show since it went on the air in 1977. Carl has also significantly contributed to the history, present-day vibrancy, and future of bluegrass music in other ways. 

We’re coming upon the 47th Annual Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival, Labor Day weekend. This Festival is one of the nation’s best (and was recognized as the 2016 IBMA Event of the Year). Carl, when did you have confidence that this Festival was going to have longevity and would reach and maintain the highest level of stature? 

We had no idea how successful we would be for the first several years, even though we had the greatest possible lineup of bluegrass talent headed by Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley. The uniqueness of the concept in the Northeast and weather problems made the first several years tough, but after about year 3 or 4 we started to increase attendance. Of course national attention took a few more years to attain but our progress was steady. 

The website of the Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival contains a list of performers who have appeared at the Festival:      http://delawarevalleybluegrass.org/legacy-of-performers/. Many of the greatest names in the history of bluegrass and country music have been on the Festival’s main stage. Which of the artists might you rank among your personal favorites and what songs of theirs do you most enjoy? 

Of course Monroe and Stanley were pioneers of this music. We were incredibly fortunate to have them as our founders and to this day they rank among my favorites. Others would include the Osborne Brothers, Jim & Jesse, Lester Flatt, the Country Gentlemen, Doc Watson, and our local heroes Ted Lundy and Bob Paisley. In recent years, the Seldom Scene, Alison Krauss, Del McCoury, Sister Sadie, and Patty Loveless would be among my favorites, but let me add, this is a very difficult question to answer. There would be many more if space allowed. To pick specific songs would require even more time and space—so let’s just say a huge number of songs from each of their repertoires remain my favorites. 

Let’s talk about the upcoming Festival. Artists and festival attendees appreciate the capabilities of the Festival’s stage management. Who is involved and for how many years have they stage managed the Festival? What does the role of stage manager at the Festival entail?  

In the early days a very few of us did everything, including MC, stage management, ticket sales and more. More recently Archie Warnock and Howard Parker have adroitly handled stage management. They coordinate all backstage activity, monitor the artists’ performance times and generally get things to run smoothly and on time. Their roles are vital. 

Tell us about the stage announcers.     

We are very fortunate to have two very fine MCs for our festival. Katy Daley is a legend among bluegrass DJs and personalities. She hosted a longtime radio program on WAMU Bluegrass Country and has written widely on the music. She and her co-host Bill Foster, also of WAMU fame, have a deep knowledge of the artists and present and provide a context to the audience to enhance their enjoyment.  

Please touch upon the music and performance lineup of the 47th Annual Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival.   

We have always tried to provide variety, with a view to emphasizing traditional bluegrass and showcasing its roots in old-time and related fields like western swing, traditional country, Cajun, etc. This year we feature two of the hottest acts in bluegrass, Hot Rize with Tim O’Brien, and Jerry Douglas’ Earls of Leicester, who recreate the classic sounds of Flatt and Scruggs. We also feature four of the six IBMA nominees for Emerging Artist of the Year: Mile Twelve, Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, Sister Sadie, and High Fidelity. For variety we have western swing artists the Quebe Sisters, Dom Flemons (formerly of the Carolina Chocolate Drops), Mick Kinney (old-time/ragtime from Georgia), and early 20th century Tin Pan Alley style performers Bill and the Belles. There are a host of other great acts and I encourage your readers to check out our web site where there are not only bios but music clips to enjoy as well. 

What do you most enjoy about Festival weekend, given that you attend to your responsibilities as festival director?  

In addition to hearing as much great music as time allows my greatest satisfaction is watching our audience appreciate and enjoy our offerings, especially those new and unexpected acts we slip in, including folks who rarely and in most cases have never appeared at a bluegrass festival like last year’s Tuba Skinny—Dixieland from New Orleans, or Asleep at the Wheel, or Patty Loveless. 

What are some of your fondest all-time Festival memories? 

There are numerous outstanding memories but I think a couple of them would be the Bill Monroe and Doc Watson duet at our first year at the Salem County Fairgrounds, and the infamous year that Hurricane Edouard hit us head-on and yet, pros that they were, bands like Riders in the Sky played on (with comments like, “Hey those lawn chairs blowing past us look just like tumbleweeds!”). It was a financial challenge but a victory of heart and soul for performers and audience alike. 

The website address of the Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival is: http://delawarevalleybluegrass.org/.

The Fire on the Mountain radio show is on WVUD: http://www.wvud.org/.                       

 Posted 8/1/2018, Updated 6-13-20

A Conversation With Carl Goldstein, Champion of Bluegrass Music

By Steven Brodsky

Among those who’ve done the most to preserve bluegrass music and further its appreciation is Carl Goldstein.  Consistent with the informal yet respectful norm of the bluegrass community, I’m not using the title “The Honorable” before his name; he was a judge in Delaware for 40 years before retiring in 2013.  With two others, Carl founded the Brandywine Friends of Old Time Music in 1971.  He’s provided leadership for the Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival since its start in 1972. (The Festival was called the Delaware Bluegrass Festival until it moved to New Jersey in 1990.) Since 1977, Carl has hosted the Fire on the Mountain radio show on WVUD FM.  In 2011, he was inducted into the WVUD Hall of Fame.

Carl, what are your official roles at the Brandywine Friends of Old Time Music and the Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival?

I’m Chair of the BFOTM and Director of the Festival.

How long have you served in these capacities?

Since the organization and Festival’s inception.

How did you get introduced to bluegrass music?

I became interested in folk music during the “folk music scare” of the ’60s although I had listened to country music and blues even before that time.  I found the more earthy and honest music of early Appalachian music to be even more to my liking.

When you first got involved in bluegrass music, where did you travel to hear the music and to learn more about it?

I travelled with companions to southwest Virginia, western North Carolina and Tennessee to fiddlers’ conventions and the earliest bluegrass festivals.

What drew you to the music and how did it engage you?

The soulful, powerful and yet down to earth nature of the music drew me in.  I started collecting the music and eventually learned to play guitar.

In your early years as a fan of bluegrass music, who were some of your favorite musicians? 

The Stanley Brothers/Ralph Stanley, Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, Mississippi John Hurt, and the Country Gentlemen were among some early favorites.

What were some of your favorite songs? 

Too many to single out I’m afraid.

What memories do you have of Sunset Park (the iconic country music venue that was located in Chester County, Pennsylvania)?

I lived only a half hour or so from Sunset Park.  I went there many Sundays during the summer months and was lucky enough to hear many of the greats of bluegrass and country music.  In addition, each week musicians would jam out in the field.

What caused the Delaware Valley to become a hotbed of bluegrass music? 

During the tough economic years of the ’30s many families from the mid south relocated to the area (NE Maryland, Southeastern PA and Delaware) in search of work bringing with them their culture and music.  Among these families were the Paisleys, the Lundys, and the Campbells (Ola Belle Reed) and many others.

How were Ralph Stanley and Bill Monroe responsible for the first annual Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival?

Ralph Stanley, whom I had known from years of following his music, came to us on behalf of himself and Bill Monroe in 1971 asking whether our organization would host a festival – the first in the northeast. They were to supply the talent (although we did have some limited input) and we were to supply the venue and publicity.  We were delighted to agree. The Festival was set for Labor Day weekend 1972.  That first year it was in a KOA campground but moved to a newly constructed music park – Gloryland Park – the second year.

After the third year Bill and Ralph decided to start their own festivals that weekend in their respective home places.  From that point on we produced the Festival ourselves and after their festivals ended in a few years we had each of them back nearly every other year.

Did you believe that the first Festival was going to become an annual event? 

We had high hopes but that first year was a muddy mess.  They (Bill and Ralph) and we persevered.

Please tell us about a few of your most valued memories associated with the Festival.

It was Lester Flatt who stepped up that 4th year at a fee we could afford so we were able to present a fine lineup our first year on our own.

Doc Watson and Bill Monroe did a rare and historic set together in 1990, our first year in New Jersey.

We had some legendary folks perform for us over the years.  In addition to nearly all of the great bluegrass musicians, we have presented Merle Travis, Hank Thompson, and a number of special tribute sets and reunions that were very memorable like, for example, Ricky Skaggs and Ralph Stanley.

I should mention that the Brandywine Friends and hence the Bluegrass Festival is run by a Board of Directors of 16 members.  They are all interesting, smart and funny human beings.  I mention it here because part of the joy of the Festival is doing it with these exceptional folks.

Congratulations on the Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival winning the award for 2016 IBMA Event of the Year.  What components make the Festival a favorite of musicians and attendees year after year?

I think that because we are nonprofit and all volunteer we have the luxury of presenting a top-notch lineup of talent – top to bottom each year.  While our main focus is bluegrass, we have always presented some variety with comparable genres like old-time music, traditional country music, Cajun and French Canadian.

We also include features like a Children’s Stage and a Kids’ Academy where youngsters can gain instruction in every bluegrass instrument during the course of the weekend.  We are also known as a great jam festival.  Our campground is filled with folks playing day and night.

Please speak about the lineup for the 46th Annual Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival taking place on Labor Day weekend.

Once again we have a great lineup featuring some of the best acts in traditional music – Del McCoury, the Gibson Brothers, and a host of others.  We have the perennial favorites: The Grascals, Blue Highway, and IBMA 2016 Male Vocalist of the Year Danny Paisley.  All that in addition to relative newcomers like Becky Buller and Flatt Lonesome and powerful old-time music from the Foghorn Stringband and April Verch – not to mention Asleep at the Wheel who I will in a moment.

Are there performers that you are especially looking forward to seeing this year?  If so, why? 

It’s always a treat for us to surprise our audience with an act that may be unexpected but is fully within our view of traditional music.  This year it is Asleep at the Wheel – the legendary Texas Western Swing band.  That’s gonna be fun.

What do you most enjoy about hosting the Fire on the Mountain radio show?

I think it’s the audience.  Each week I get calls from interesting and informed people.  They have been very loyal over these 40 years and each year those folks lead all programs on the station for our fundraising efforts.  They’re just great.  Besides, if I weren’t playing that music on the air, I’d be home doing the same thing.

What does the future look like for bluegrass music and the Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival? 

If you’d asked me that question 15 or so years ago I might not have been as optimistic as I am now.  There are a great number of younger folks playing bluegrass and old-time music these days.  That in turn bodes well for the festivals.

Information is available at: www.delawarevalleybluegrass.org.

Information about the Brandywine Friends of Old Time Music is at: www.brandywinefriends.org.

Posted 5/27/17

A Conversation with Captain Melbourne ‘Butch’ Arbin III of the Ocean City Beach Patrol (Ocean City, MD)

By Steven Brodsky

It’s an awesome pairing: 10 miles of award-winning beach and the renowned, heritage-rich Ocean City Beach Patrol. Since its start in1930, the OCBP has kept millions of visitors safe. At the helm is Captain Arbin. This is his 46th year with the OCBP. He became captain in 1997.  

There’s an abundance of appreciation for Captain Arbin and the men and women of the OCBP. Subsequent to a radio interview I did with Captain Arbin in 2011, I received an outpouring of comments from listeners praising the work and presence of Captain Arbin and the Patrol. Life is precious. Captain Arbin and the more than 225 lifeguards under his command protect it and enforce ordinances on a nationally top-ranked beach, enabling an outstanding shore experience for Ocean City’s visitors.  

What prompted your decision to sign on as a lifeguard?

I was on vacation with my family in 1972 and met one of the guards. Crew Chief Mark McCleskey was stationed at 43rd Street and aftertalking to him during that week, I thought what a great job this would be and he encouraged me to try out. My father also worked with a man in Baltimore whose son, Greg Pittman, was on the Patrol. I went back to Parkville and my mother signed me up for a senior lifesaving class at Woodcroft pool. The next summer when I was 15 (no age requirement back then) I tried out, but being a runner (I ran track at U of M in college) I was not as fast as the competitive swimmers and they only needed a few guards so I was not hired. I went back to Baltimore and got a job at the Cromwell Bridge Road Holiday Inn as a pool lifeguard. However, when I returned to OC that same summer on the family vacation, I checked in with Captain Craig and since they now had an opening he asked one of his lieutenants to give me the test. It was during the beginnings of a Nor’easter and based on my never quit attitude, I was hired. I was on a stand the next day and had my first rescue at the inlet. My family returned to Baltimore and I remained in OC on my own at 15. My mom tells me she cried the entire way home. It was many years later that Mark McCleskey would reappear back in my life when his son Parker joined the Junior Beach Patrol.  

Another interesting turn of events was that my high school track coach and mentor, Don Wann, who had also graduated from Parkville High School, attended University of Maryland on a track scholarship and returned as a physical education teacher to Parkville (I followed the same path), would retire, move to Ocean City and work for me on the patrol.  

Do many recruits join the OCBP for similar reasons? 

Yes, most (90 percent) are recruited by current or past members of the Patrol. Many tell me that they have been coming to OC their entire lives and always looked up to the guards and wanted to be Ocean City lifeguards. We call them surf rescue technicians or SRTs.   

What qualification testing is done for potential recruits? 

Because of the unique demands of the job, the Beach Patrol does not require or recognize certification of past experience with other agencies. All individuals seeking employment with the Ocean City Beach Patrol must successfully complete all aspects of a 10-phase pre-employment physical skills evaluation and pass an English language verbal comprehension/proficiency test. They must successfully complete: a 500m swim (off-site) or a 400m ocean swim in 10 minutes or less, a series of simulated rescues with and without the aid of a rescue buoy, a deep-water physical skill evaluation of holds and releases, a victim transport training session and victim removal test, a buoy preparation training session and mock buoy-runs, a rescue medley of 150m run and a 100m swim through the surf and 150m return run (on-site). Each applicant must complete a candidate questionnaire and actively participate in an informational interview with beach patrol staff. The final step is an interview with the beach patrol captain after receiving a recommendation from the interview committee to be given an appointment to the Surf Rescue Academy. 

How long into your involvement with the OCBP did you come to realize that you and the beach patrol could develop a decades-long relationship? 

As I was in high school, I needed to decide what I wanted to do in life. After considering police work, joining the Marines or college, the Marine recruiter who had gotten close to me said, “If you go to college and don’t like it we will still take you, so give college a try.” (Captain Arbin attended college and afterwards entered the teaching profession. – S.B.) I knew being an educator would allow me to have summers off….I now warn recruits that if they don’t want to be teachers they probably should not get involved with the Patrol.  

How have the training and work responsibilities of the OCBP’s surf rescue technicians evolved over the years of your involvement?  

The basic job has not changed much at all: watch for people in trouble, run as fast as you can to that area, swim out with a buoy (flotation device), make contact and keep them calm, return them back to safety, run back to the stand and be prepared to do it all again. However, the training and organization have changed tremendously. When I started I tested on day one and was on a stand the next. Now we have 8 days at the Surf Rescue Academy where all training and certifications take place, followed by 3 weeks of on the stand supervised probation. We also have advanced certification as well as a leadership development program. There is also a very objective supervision and evaluation program to assure that all of our employees are progressing as expected. 

What does the training at OCBP’s Surf Rescue Academy entail and what goes into the probation period that follows graduation? 

As we do not require any certifications or prior experience to work as a surf rescue technician, we include everything needed to be successful in the 65 hours at our Surf Rescue Academy, over 8 days. During these 8 days there is a combination of physical training/skills, classroom instruction and on the job training with an experienced supervisor. Following the 8 days, the PSRT (probation SRT) is assigned to a crew for “supervised probation on a stand. Each week, for the 3 weeks of “supervised probation,” the crew chief will provide written feedback to each PSRT in the crew. This will include an evaluation of how they are doing on various aspects of the job, a recommendation on areas for improvement and a goal that has been written by the PSRT. This information is then passed to the next supervisor to assure that the PSRT is making adequate progress towards the goal of being removed from probation and becoming an SRT 1. (This includes a pay increase.) 

Those seeking to return to the patrol have to recertify every year. Tell us about this. 

There are two aspects to veteran recertification. First is requalification. All returning SRTs must requalify on both the timed 400 meter run followed immediately by the 500 meter run. They must meet the same requirements as a candidate trying out for the first time and I personally time every requalification and will not allow even a 1 second failure to continue guarding.  

Second aspect is recertification/retraining. All certifications are updated which include first aid, CPR, AED, critical skills in search and recovery, sand collapse, management of spinal injuries as well as other topics determined to be emphasized that season.  

This is done in a single day and is scheduled in groups of 18-20 while still maintaining full coverage of the beach. 

Teamwork and personal responsibility are essential for OCBP’s surf rescue technicians. Please speak to this. 

Candidates are told during testing that they are being judged on teamwork and encouragement of each other. We work in crews which are like smaller family units (20 crews) with 7-8 members. They are expected to do what is right even if they think no one is watching (integrity) and to always uphold our high standards. Each is the backup for the SRT next to him or her.  

The SRTs interact with all sorts of people. How does the patrol help them to develop the necessary communication skills? 

We start working on this during the testing and we train and practice this during SRA and we include this on the PSRT evaluations. We actually have them practice presenting to each other during SRA. Once placed in a crew, the crew chief will have them assist during safety seminars and give them feedback. If they are going to work with any of our youth programs they are required to attend a specialized training and certification. 

What physical training is required of SRTs during the patrol season?  

All SRTs are required to complete their crew’s designed workout for the day, alternating running and swimming workouts. We also have competitions throughout the season (local, regional and national). We also have competitions specific to women and youth. By using competition to motivate our staff, they work out on their own (without pay), yet it benefits the Patrol.   

This helps the SRTs to remain alert and focused while on the stand, yes? 

Working out does keep you alert. We also give many tricks and tips to help stay alert on the very slow days (cold and rainy). We have a policy that anytime a Beach Patrol mobile unit passes behind the stand that SRT must stand to acknowledge that he or she saw the vehicle. If the SRT fails to stand then we can do a closer check. The most critical skill that an SRT has is the scan (looking north and south and then all around). 

What else is incorporated into the work day to ensure that SRTs are at their best? 

They are expected to get off the stand several times and do ordinance checks from the stands to their north and south. They also are seen by both the crew chief and area supervisor several times each day. They have other tasks that they must do each day: semaphore, working out, filling out the chalkboard on the back of the stand, moving the stand and building a sand pile. 

In August 2015, the patrol had a very busy two days rescuing people from rip currents. Tell us about this. 

Perfect storm…tides, surf, wind, weather, crowds. We had a tropical depression in the Atlantic Basin which caused larger than normal waves. We had some wind (helps waves to build in size), a midday outgoing tide, and we had large crowds all wanting to be in the ocean. 

With all this water coming across the sandbar being trapped in the “trough” it must make its way back out, which is the mechanism for a rip current.   

In OC, MD 95 percent of our rescues are rip current related.  

Once we start seeing this trend, we will pull everyone out of the ocean, have the SRTs call the beach patrons on their beach over to the stand, and give a “safety talk.” This does two things. It educates the people and also stops all the action and allows us to reset.   

What is a typical number of rescues for the patrol in a beach season?  

We say 2,000–4,000. However, if we have little tropical activity we are at the low end; if it is a busy tropical season we are near the higher number. Because of our increased efforts at public education, we are seeing a more informed public which has reduced the number of rescues while on duty, but even more important is there are many fewer deaths while we are off-duty.  

Parent distraction is a safety issue. Please speak to this as a reminder for parents to keep their eyes on their kids while near any body of water. 

People are relaxed on vacation and things are more flexible. What we see quite often is that each adult thought another one was watching and the child has wandered away before the adults realized it. Although we have lost individuals from 1 year old to 90 years old, most are 4–10. What parents don’t realize is that to children all umbrellas look alike and once they are past the “berm” (high spot before the beach slopes to the ocean), they can’t see where they just came from. Also, add in that the current will move people along the beach and that they may exit the water far from where they entered. Once children realize they are lost they start the walk of fear, usually walking with the wind to their backs. We have located children as young as 4 years old many miles from the family. Children should be introduced to the SRT on their beach so they know that the lifeguard is a safe person and they should go to them if they can’t find their family.  

Each SRT is trained in dealing with lost or found individuals. A lost individual is the person a family member reports as missing and a found individual is when we have the person who is missing. A very important part is keeping parents calm and with one of the SRTs, otherwise we locate the child and now have missing parents. The SRT will get very basic information from the parent (name of child, age, color of bathing suit) and send this up and down the beach using semaphore (the flag language used to communicate between stands). Most children are located within 5–10 minutes once we have been alerted. In addition to semaphore, the information is radioed to the 911 center. 

We locate between 1,000–2,000 missing individuals each season, with a 100 percent success rate. Dads lose more children than moms. 

What causes most spinal injuries in beach areas? 

The three major causes are diving into shallow water, body surfing, and body boarding. We always say feet first, as a reminder to check the water depth with your feet not your head. Another very dangerous time is during “shore break” activity. Shore break is when the waves continue to build in size and strength and only break once they arrive onto the beach rather than breaking over a sandbar into a deep trough. The person who is riding that wave is thrown headfirst onto the beach. We call this going over the falls…wet sand is no more forgiving than concrete. If hit wrong it can cause a serious neck or back injury or even death. When riding a body board, you need to remain on the rear half and if you are getting ready to go over the falls you can go off the back of the board and prevent being slammed. 

How do the SRTs deal with possible spinal injuries? 

Because of the unique nature of a spinal injury in the surf zone the method used in a pool or lake (backboard before removal) will not work and has the potential to make the injury worse. 

By working with emergency doctors, we have modified a technique developed in Hawaii. Our method has been continually refined over many years and uses the SRTs to act as a human backboard to remove the injured person from the surf while maintaining stabilization on the head, neck and back until we can lay the person down away from the moving water. Once in this position, we maintain stabilization until a paramedic does an assessment and determines what is the appropriate treatment.  

We know from feedback from past patients as well as medical professionals that our technique not only works but has successfully allowed people whose injuries were life threatening to not only live but to walk again.  

We not only train and practice for our personnel but we have shared this technique with many other lifesaving organizations. Several years ago, we trained workers at the National Aquarium in emergency response that would be needed should employees be injured while working with large mammals. The training was conducted in one of the National Aquarium’s large tanks.  

Most people aren’t aware that the OCBP is involved with marine mammal rescues. Please tell us about this. 

Because of our presence on the beach it is highly likely that a stranding of a marine mammal may occur during our on-duty hours. For this reason, each of our staff have a first responder overview of what to do as well as what not to do if a stranding occurs in his or her area of the beach. 

One of the requirements to be certified for a supervisory position, is that each person must complete the full marine mammal rescue training. This assures that during a response we have a more highly trained individual on the scene who can assist the National Aquarium with determining the best course of action for the particular stranding. This advanced training is taught by staff from the National Aquarium and includes a manual and an end of course exam.   

What events during your service with the OCBP have been the most gratifying? 

…meeting my wife Penny in Ocean City, my son Michael working for the patrol, and watching the SRTs during a serious situation all knowing their parts and doing exactly as expected. 

Although it is not an official part of our mission, we change lives and I get to see individuals grow and do great things. 

I was invited to see one of our past crew chiefs, Matt Maciarello, be robed as the youngest Circuit Court judge in Maryland.  

One of our guys came to us as a high school dropout and was very close to being terminated. But with the discipline of the Patrol, returned to college and received a PhD in physiology. He is now a professor at Miami University. 

What events have been the saddest?  

The preventable loss of life. Each year for 3 years in a row, a parent died while attempting to rescue a child that the parent had allowed to go swimming while guards were not on-duty. In one case, the father and one of his daughters drowned while another was saved with CPR over an hour and a half after lifeguards had gone home for the day.  

In another case, the mom gave in and allowed her 2 sons to swim just 20 minutes before we came on-duty. When they started to yell for help she did what any mother would have—she went in the ocean to help. She drowned.  

In the 3rd case, a family was on the inlet beach when the two oldest sons were pulled away from the beach in a rip current. The father went to help but drowned in the attempt. The 2 boys were picked up by a passing boat and survived. All of this occurred while the wife and mom sat on the beach with an infant in her arms and a 2-year-old crying for her attention as she watched what was happening. Once she realized what had happened she just collapsed into my arms sobbing.  

What do SRTs find most challenging about their work? 

Uncooperative adults who try to hide things from the SRTs. The SRTs have a lot to do, including not only watching the 1,000s of people on their beach but also enforcing ordinances and laws. Yet, grown adults will play games of trying not to abide by the laws and this causes the SRTs to spend too much time trying to get these adults to do what they are supposed to do. 

Another issue is staying alert on days when no one is on the beach. It is a very long day if there is nothing to do or look at.  

What do SRTs most enjoy about their time on and off-duty in Ocean City, MD? 

The fellowship of the other members of the crew and Patrol. For many of our people these become lifelong relationships.  

They also enjoy working out and playing sports.  

You work year-round. (Captain Arbin has another job outside of patrol season.) Do you ever vacation and can you enjoy a beach in a “civilian” mode when off-duty?  

A very sore subject with my wife of 38 years. We never went on a honeymoon and have only taken one family vacation to the Bahamas. However, we do go on a work and witness mission trip each year. 

I can enjoy the beach…but I always have a heightened level of awareness when on the beach, unless I am napping in the warm sun!!! 

If you had it to do all over again, would you hesitate for a moment to submit an SRT application to the OCBP? 

Not for half a second….It has been an incredible 46 years and it has shaped, to a large extent, the man I have become. 

The Ocean City Beach Patrol’s website address is:   https://oceancitymd.gov/oc/departments/emergency-services/beach-patrol/ .                                                    

Posted June 1, 2018

By Steven Brodsky

Mark SaFranko’s readers already know this: Mark is no literary wuss. There’s no evidence of authorial flinching in his novels.  The self-consciousness that swaddles lesser writers is nowhere to be seen. Mark’s writing has been compared to that of Charles Bukowski, Raymond Carver, as well as to some of the most highly regarded current “confessional” and mystery literature. 

Mark, your novel The Suicide has been getting deserved recognition.  Did you anticipate that the novel would be so well-received? 

Steven, I have no idea how anything will ever be received. One of my French translators once remarked that “Nothing in publishing ever makes sense,” and I think that’s certainly true. Whenever any of my work appears, I’m clueless about how it will go over.

The Suicide is recognized in Heather Duerre Humann’s book Gender Bending Detective Fiction: A Critical Analysis of Selected Works (McFarland, 2017).  There, a chapter is devoted to your book: “Detecting Gender in Mark SaFranko’s The Suicide.”  Heather Duerre Humann writes that Ellen Smith, a fictional transgender former police officer character “comes across as complex and sympathetic, and her presence therefore both challenges and represents a departure from the two-dimensional depictions of transgender individuals which were commonplace in decades past.”  Are there analogs in your life that you drew upon in creating Ellen?

Not really. I remember reading in passing a newspaper article about a policeman who showed up at headquarters for work one day in a dress. He was summarily dismissed. That planted the idea for the character in my mind. I think that it’s part of the novelist’s job to be able to immerse himself in the experience of a character — any character. Once I had at least a vague idea of what the novel would be about, I submerged myself in what I thought that character’s inner life might be and took it from there. I do believe, by the way, that Ellen Smith was actually the very first transgender police detective to make an appearance in a novel.

Did you intend for The Suicide to be as strongly character-driven as it is?

For better or worse, all of my work is very largely character-driven. In my estimation, literature of any value must be deeply rooted in character. It’s what I love about the best French films: you watch the characters develop and unfold without concern for pace as if they were in a novel. I say “for worse” because I’m not certain that character-driven work is the royal road to commercial success.

The book is mainly set in Hoboken, NJ, a year after 9/11.  When did you write it?  The place and time add to the tension experienced by the protagonist, Detective Brian Vincenti, do you agree?

Absolutely, though the events of 9/11 aren’t absolutely necessary to the story. I happened to be living in Hoboken around that time, so I had a feel for the atmosphere of the city. My windows looked directly out on the World Trade Center – I could throw a rock across the Hudson and hit it. And in fact my wife worked on the 55^th floor of Tower One until just a year before 9/11. My son when he was very small played in the shadow of that building for years. I started writing the novel shortly after moving out of Hoboken in 2000 and the events of 9/11 wormed their way into later drafts.

How long did Detective Vincenti live within you prior to writing the book?

That’s a very good question, Steven, and one I haven’t given much thought to. I can’t say I thought about him – consciously — as a character until I laid out the plan for the book. And yet he unfolded quite naturally during the writing, so he must have been lurking just below the level of consciousness.

Does he still inhabit your inner world?

I’ve been planning a sequel for years and haven’t gotten around to it yet. This is a matter of allotting time to it, as I’m always in the process of writing several novels and stories at the same time. So I guess the answer is yes, Vincenti – and Ellen Smith  — are both still there.

Detective Vincenti exhibited extreme tenacity in working the case of a woman who died after exiting from an eleventh-floor window. Does tenacity enter into your writing life?  If so, how?

At this point I’ve travelled far beyond tenacity. I just wake up every day of the week, Sunday through Saturday, and go to it. I’ve been doing it for so many years now that it’s reflexive and don’t even give the process any thought. But I suppose the rigorous schedule speaks to a tenacity that was established a long time ago. And yes, tenacity still figures into the process in that I stick with a novel or story, draft after draft, until I come to some point of near-satisfaction with it. I’m never altogether satisfied, but yes, it takes a great deal of tenacity to persevere with something if you’re unsure of whether or not it’s working. Often you never know.

What gives you the ability to not flinch in your writing?

Another good question. There’s an old adage that if whatever you’re writing about makes you uncomfortable, you’re onto something good. I try to stick with whatever that might be.

How disciplined is your writing life?

Very, as I explained earlier. But there’s a looseness built into the discipline that comes from having to deal with real life. You have to walk the dog. You have to take the kid to soccer practice. You have to go to the dentist. But you always come back to what you’re doing. You can’t be too rigid or you won’t have a life at all.

How difficult is it for you to get into a state of creative flow?

Not at all. I can’t seem to get to all the ideas swirling around in my mind. But an ease with overall concepts and ideas doesn’t mean that you don’t stumble around over specifics, like the development of a character who suddenly appears out of nowhere. That’s when it’s more stop and go. Sometimes it’s a little tricky getting from point A to B, or B to C. You might have to stop here and there, but eventually you find the flow again.

What keeps your creative edge sharp?

Work, really. There is no substitute for work. When you sit with your story or novel or song or whatever, going back to it again and again to discover more of its possibilities, your edge stays sharp and more and more ideas occur to you.

How do you keep distractions at bay when working?

I don’t. I allow some of them in. Sometimes I write with the TV on in the background. Sometimes I listen to certain types of music. The dog bugs me to play with him. The telephone rings and I answer it.  I’ve conditioned myself over the years to not seal myself off completely.

Are you ever adversely affected by immersion into the lives and circumstances of your characters?  If so, how do you deal with this?

I try to keep my life and my characters’ lives separate if at all possible, but I suppose there is some seepage, that’s inevitable. But if that’s the case, I’m not conscious of it. My more autobiographical work – the Zajack novels for instance – are more likely to affect me. Then again, all of a writer’s work is autobiographical.

 Do you take vacations from writing?

Uh, no.

When did you know you were a writer?

Originally I wanted to be a writer of music – something I still do. But it began to seriously dawn on me halfway through college.  I was applying to law school when I realized that I had to change directions. The notion had been roiling beneath the surface for some time until it completely took over. By the age of 21, my course was set.

How important was the possibility of publication to you when you started out? 

Well, I wondered whether I could actually complete something decent first.  I don’t know that I thought much about being published in the early days. “Being a writer” was something that seemed very distant, like a star way out there in the firmaments. I’d written a lot before I actually submitted my creative work for publication. For a long time I knew I wasn’t ready, but I kept writing. When I thought I was ready, I wasn’t. The odd thing was that when I wrote for newspapers, I was published on a daily basis, but my creative work I regarded as something else altogether.

Our friend, the late Dan Fante, was encouraged early in his writing career by supportive words of Hubert Selby Jr.  Was there anyone who significantly did the same for you? 

It’s still hard to believe that Dan is gone. I miss hearing his voice. To answer your question, there was my wife. She believed in me and was supportive from the beginning. One writer who was supportive was the late mystery writer Mark McGarrity, aka Bartholomew Gill. But on the whole I had to rely on myself. And it wasn’t easy much of the time, especially in the early days when I had no belief whatsoever in myself.

Did you have a writing mentor?

Only on paper in the form of the writers I idolized. Dickens. Dostoyevsky. Celine. Henry Miller. Isaac Singer. Playwrights like Eugene O’Neill. Sophocles. Euripides. Simenon, maybe above all. Later, guys like Carver and Bukowski and Richard Yates. Paul Bowles. Women like Patricia Highsmith. And too many others to recount.

Can you tell us about your current writing project?

I’m always in the process of writing stories and novels, poems and songs and other things. I go from one draft to the next until I think they’re in some form of completion – and often I’m wrong. I’m working on two new Max Zajack novels that are quite close to being ready. A novel about a child prodigy violinist who happens to be a lesbian. A psychological mystery about a wheelchair-bound philanderer and his long-suffering wife. Etc. One of these days I’ll get to that sequel to The Suicide.

What’s most frustrating about your writing life?

It’s always the business end of it. Finding publishers and markets for my work. I like to say that the writing part is easy. You shouldn’t be doing it if you’re not champing at the bit every morning to get to it. But the reality of the shrinking marketplace? That’s an altogether different beast. That’s the really hard part.

What’s most satisfying?

Not having a boss. Being master of my fate for the hours every day that I’m at the keyboard. Being the Creator for at least a little while.

Mark SaFranko’s website address is: www.marksafranko.com.

Posted 4/10/17