[NEohioPAL]BERKO REVIEWS: RENT/JOSEPH (FROM A CHILD'S VIEWPOINT)

[Roy Berko]

‘RENT’ PLEASES AUDIENCE,’ JOSEPH’ PLEASES ALEX AND
NOAH

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	


Art is representative of the era from which it comes. 
In other words, by looking at the representative
artistic productions of any time period, whether it be
theatre, dance, painting, sculpture, film, or music,
you can get a glimpse of what the attitudes, beliefs,
political and social movements were in vogue at the
time.  

In theatre, for example, the beat generation had
‘HAIR,’ an anti-war, anti-establishment musical.  It
represented the attitudes of a changing world and
started a trend to use the musical as a vehicle to
examine society.  It was an anti-war,
anti-establishment, break the rules snapshot.  The
production included nudity, long hair, and other
against-the-traditional-grain attitudes.  

The millennium generation has ‘RENT.’   It stakes out
territories that were in "vogue" about ten years ago
and still carry over to today.  Issues include AIDS,
drug addiction, homosexuality, transsexualism, the
plight of the homeless, and the search for purpose.  
Though some of the issues are presently in a different
state, such as the development of the medical cocktail
to treat those with AIDS, thus cutting down the number
who die from the disease, the impact of ‘RENT’ can
still be felt.

‘RENT’ has a star-crossed history.  Jonathan Larson
who wrote the book, music and lyrics never lived to
see his show open on Broadway.  Larson died of an
aortic aneurysm on January 25, 1996, ten days before
his  birthday and 19 days before his musical had its
world premiere.   It is ironic that when the cast was
rehearsing "What You Own," the rousing second act
show-stopper about dying at the end of the millennium,
Larson collapsed and asked for an ambulance. He later
told friends that he couldn't believe that the last
burst of music he would hear might be his own song
about dying.  It was!

‘RENT,’ which has played to cheering fans throughout
North America, England, Japan, Australia, Germany and
countless other countries, is an updating of the
opera, ‘LA BOHEME.

‘RENT’ has been to Cleveland four times.  Each
production has been met with sold-out houses.  Whether
you like this musical may well be a generational
thing.  At its recent Palace presentation (January
6-11) the mostly young audience gave the production a
standing ovation and excitedly talked about their love
of the show on the way out.   They screamed with
delight at such songs as "Seasons of Love," "Without
You," "LaVie Boheme/I Should Tell You," and "Will I?"

The cast for this production was adequate.  They
didn’t have the theatrical abilities or the voices of
the Broadway cast or even one of the previous touring
shows, but that didn’t seem to matter to the audience.
  Even weak characterizations by the two leads didn’t
seem to deter the enthusiasm.  

The next stage for the musical?  It’s about time for
the show to be released to community theatres and a
whole new group of people will be exposed to the
story, the music, and the interesting tale of the show
that the author never officially saw staged.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: The young couple sitting behind me
on opening night, hadn’t seen the show before and
didn’t know the story or the music.  Their capsule
judgement at the end of the show, "We loved it."  
And, in professional theatre...that’s what it’s all
about.  Please the audience and you fill the seats.

THE "BOYS" LIKED JOSEPH

When ‘THE LION KING’ came to the area this past summer
I decided to get the real scoop about how the show was
liked by children who attended the production in huge
numbers.  I turned to my grandsons...Noah, age 6 and
Alex, age 8 to do the commentary.  They loved the show
and were quoted throughout my review.  The response to
that analysis was so positive that I decided to put
another show that was "kid friendly" to the dynamic
duo’s critical test.  The boys were taken to see
‘JOSEPH AND HIS AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT’ at Beck
Center.

In a "thank you postcard" following the show Alex
wrote, "I liked when Grandpa took us to Joseph and His
Tecknickle Colered Raincoat."  (Okay, so how good was
your spelling in second grade?)   Both Noah and Alex
agreed orally that the show was, "really good."  
Noah’s favorite part, "When the guy in the gold suit
(the Pharaoh doing an Elvis imitation) wiggled his
butt." Alex liked IT "when the kids were dancing and
singing," especially Max Kantor as the young Joseph
and "the lady that sang loud"--narrator, Sandra
Emeric.  Their favorite song?  "Benjamin Calypso"--"it
was fun."   They totally enjoyed the Super Finale
curtain call and were on their feet clapping and
dancing in the aisles.  They loved the music and sang
many of the songs on the way home as the CD played.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: "Let’s go back and see it again."
What better review could a theatre want?


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>From "Creativity Course <mail"@create-course.com  Fri Jan  9 10:38:24 2004
From: "Creativity Course <mail"@create-course.com ("Creativity Course <mail"@create-course.com)
Date: Fri, 09 Jan 2004 12:38:24 +0200
Subject: [NEohioPAL]Creativity Workshops in New York City and Europe
Message-ID: <20040109103731.D849F20DF2 at braxton.siteprotect.com>

Upcoming Creativity Workshops in New York City and Europe
http://www.creativity-course.biz/

We are all born imaginative, curious, creative, but these qualities can
fade with the passage of time. The Creativity Workshop's aim is to help
people get their imaginations back.

Hello

My name is Karen Bell, administrative associate of the Creativity
Workshop. Here's the latest news on the Creativity Workshop's
courses in New York City and Europe.
Our next workshop: New York City
March 13 - 16, 2004, 4 day workshop
Saturday through Tuesday, 4 to 7:30 PM

Please see below our complete Calendar including our Summer 2004 workshops 
in Europe.


Whether you are a writer, a business person, a teacher, or an artist,
the Workshop can help you discover and nurture your particular way of
expression and break through the fears and blocks that inhibit
creativity. Working with more than 2,000 individuals, businesses, and
institutions since 1993, the Creativity Workshop helps people believe in
and develop their creative process through using a unique series of
exercises in memoir, creative writing, visual arts, sense perception,
brainstorming, and storytelling. Our concentration is on the process of
creativity rather than the product and emphasizes the importance of play
and the sharing of ideas to nurture creative growth.

You can read more about the workshop below and also go directly to our
extensive informational site: http://www.creativity-course.biz

Regards,

Karen Bell
Administrative Associate
Tel: (212) 922-1555

2004 Calendar and details:

The Creativity Workshop is dedicated to teaching individuals and groups
about their creative processes and how to use them in all aspects of
their work and lives. The Workshop's goal for participants is refined
creative skills, expanded perception, innovative problem solving,
inspired brainstorming and ways of looking at life as exciting and
transformative.

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS IN NEW YORK CITY
at the Creativity Workshop Studios
245 East 40th St. 25th floor
New York, New York 10016
Tel: (212) 922-1555

MARCH
New York City
March 13 - 16, 2004
4 day workshop
Saturday through Tuesday, 4 to 7:30 PM
Tuition Fee: $600

APRIL
New York City
April 17 - 18, 2004
2 day weekend workshop
Saturday and Sunday from 11:30 AM to 4:30 PM
Tuition Fee: $350

MAY
New York City
May 15 - 18, 2004
4 day workshop
Saturday through Tuesday, 4 to 7:30 PM
Tuition Fee: $600

JUNE
Istanbul
June 7 - 17, 2004
9 day workshop

Island of Crete
June 18 - 28, 2004
9 day workshop

Florence
June 30- July 10, 2004
9 day workshop

JULY
Provence
July 12 - 22, 2004
9 day workshop

Barcelona
July 25 - August 4, 2004
9 day workshop

AUGUST
Prague
August 6 - 16, 2004
9 day workshop

Paris
August 18 - 28, 2004
9 day workshop

SEPTEMBER
Venice
September 2 - 12, 2004
9 day workshop

Dublin
September 14 - 24, 2004
9 day workshop

If you are interested in reading more about the Workshop, we can send
you some very interesting magazine articles and interviews with the
directors, Shelley Berc and Alejandro Fogel which will give you a deeper
idea about the workshop's techniques, origins, and results.

What people say about the Creativity Workshop:

The new millennium needs bold, creative men and women who can turn their
dreams into reality... Shelley Berc and Alejandro Fogel show how you can
do this through their challenging and inspiring creativity
workshops...even a simple first contact will prove what these two
talented teachers can do for your own gifts." Dr. Kirpal Singh, Writer,
Professor, Singapore Management University.

I have attended at least 10 creative seminars and this creativity
workshop is far above the others in its inspiration, positive spirit and
techniques for nurturing creativity.The Creativity Workshop changed me
forever and moved me forward in managing my creative companies, but more
importantly in my personal determination, commitment and creativity in
my own projects. This workshop is important for anyone who wants to
better understand, develop and celebrate their creativity in their
  personal or business life.
Barbara Roberts, President and CEO
Acoustiguides, New York

Thank you for the great, great inspiration and fun of the Creativity
Workshop. It helped me get a whole screenplay done during a trip to
Mexico afterwards. It was great for me and my students. I don't think
I've ever seen them so happy. Doris Doerrie, Filmmaker, Professor,
Munich Film School, Germany

Shelley and Alejandro created an atmosphere where everyone from student,
to business professional, to published novelist felt equally comfortable
creating and sharing stories, drawings, experiences. I've explored other
places and workshops that make me feel good while I'm there, that
provide activities that I know I really should make time for when I go
back to the real world. But this workshop is the first to provide
methods and exercises I not only want to use but feel compelled to use,
in fact have already used. I need to mention what I think was one of the
key ingredients of the workshop: the other attendees. I found them to be
amazing, inspiring, fascinating people. Kelly Hevel, Planning Manager,
Pfizer, Inc., New York

"This is my third workshop coming up and I can't wait! Shelley and
Alejandro ever so gently are able to get us fellow travelers (and not
students) in to a discovery mode that emerges us deep into the
experience of our very own creativity. You are magicians who invite us
to return to the best of our childhoods. Once there we recapture those
golden days of play and dream and fantasy. I'm very happy to know and
experience the alchemy that you label a creativity workshop. Professor
Carroll Blue, School of Communications, San Diego State University, San
Diego, USA

"I feel as though I now have a focus, a method, a way of evolving my
ideas and that the means are just as important as the end. I have
created environments just to create in, and environments just to display
the work in. My vision of attending to each detail, sound, smell,
texture, substance... is starting to find a home. Thanks for opening my
eyes to these essential aspects of creating through your guidance and
example." Student. University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA.

"This class was THE MOST enriching, enlightening, inspirational class I
have ever taken. The way I work and what I create will never be the
same." Student. University of Iowa, USA.

"Shelley and Alejandro's Creativity Workshop is amazing in that it
breaks down all your fears about thinking and writing. If it wasn't for
them I fear I never would have finished my master's thesis. I was
blocked until I took this course." Francesca Salidu PHD candidate in
Shakespeare, University of Pisa. San Miniato, Italy.

"Shelley Berc and Alejandro Fogel taught their Creativity Workshop as
American Cultural Specialists under the United States Information
Service auspices. To say that they were extremely effective is a vast
understatement. I would unreservedly recommend their course. They have
abundant creativity, energy, and a wealth of skills." Gloria Berbena,
Asst. Cultural Attache, US Information Service, US Embassy. Rome, Italy.

"A special experience. Berc and Fogel opened us up to new and wonderful
ways of looking at our creativity." Belkis Bottfeld, PHD, psychologist.
Istanbul, Turkey.


The Creativity Workshop has been taught at educational and government
institutions and for corporations.

Corporate and Business

The Walt Disney Company, Procter & Gamble, Bristol - Myers Squibb
Colgate-Palmolive, Caterpillar, Berlitz International, Bayer, AG, HBO,
Chartercom, Breslow Partners, Negotiation Mastery Inc. i-traffic,
Go2net, LPK, KFAssociates, Cross Country, Travcorps, lL'actualit?FFFFC8,
The4[creative network], The Nature Conservancy, Zimmerman Financial
Group, RIA, Sprint PCS, Cerebellum, Pfizer


Education and Arts Institutions

National Institute of Education at Singapore University. Singapore.
University of Iowa. Iowa, USA. Munich Television and Film School.
Munich, Germany Yldiz University. Istanbul, Turkey.Nerengi Institute.
Istanbul, Turkey. Scuola Drammatica San Remo. San Remo, Italy. Academy
of Drama and Film. Milan, Italy. Prague Summer Writers Workshop. Prague,
Czech Republic. Writing Beyond the Walls. Lucca, Italy. Spoleto Arts
Symposia. Spoleto, Italy. United World College. Trieste, Italy.
Australian National University. Canberra, Australia. Australian National
Playwright Conference. Canberra, Australia. NSW Writers Workshop.
Sydney, Australia. Performance Studies Department. University of Sydney.
Sydney, Australia. Hungarian Ethnic Artists Festival. Kisvarda, Hungary.
Art School of the Aegean. Samos, Greece. Scuola Sagarana. Lucca, Italy.
The Art Alliance. New York, USA. Portland Stage Company. Portland, ME,
USA. Media Communications Association, USA. University of California,
Berkeley, DePaul University, Columbia University, San Diego State,
University of Michigan, George Washington University, Philips/Exeter
Academy,The American School of Warsaw, International School of Prague,
Washington International School, The American School of Asuncion,
Paraguay, Hong Kong International School, The Chinese University of Hong
Kong, Southampton College, La Guardia Community College, Sidwell Friends
School, The University of Vermont, Minnesota, State University,
Moorehead college, Diablo Valley College, Atlanta International School,
Dominican University of California, University of Missouri-Columbia,
Sarah Lawrence College, University of Nebraska Lincoln, Northern
Michigan University, Creighton University,  IB World School, Canadian
Academy of Japan, The American School in London, The Overlake School,
Brown University, Macquarie University, California State University,
Chico, Open Society Institute , Budapest, St. John's International
School, Indiana University, The University of Wisconsin Madison, Florida
International University, The University of Western Australia, East
Carolina University, Saint Louis Priory School, The American
International School of Budapest ,The University of Prince Edward
Island.


Government

US State Department, Washington, D.C,., USA, US Embassy. Tel Aviv,
Israel., US Embassy. Rome, Italy. US Consulate. Milan, Italy. US
Embassy. Istambul, Turkey. US Embassy. Canberra, Australia. US Embassy.
Budapest, Hungary. US Embassy. Singapore.


The teachers

Shelley Berc is a writer and teacher. She was a professor of the
International Writing Program at the University of Iowa from 1985-2000.
Her novels, plays, and essays which include 'The Shape of Wilderness',
'A Girl's Guide to the Divine Comedy' and 'Theatre of the Mind' have
been published by Coffee House Press, Johns Hopkins Press, Heinemann
Books, Performing Arts Journal and Theatre Communications Group Press.
Her plays have been produced by theatres such as the American Repertory
Theatre, the Yale Rep, and the Edinburgh Festival.


Alejandro Fogel is a visual artist and teacher working in painting, site
installations, video and digital art. He has exhibited his works in
galleries and museums in Argentina, Bulgaria, Cuba, France, Hungary,
Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, United States and Germany. His
ongoing project 'Root to Route' chronicles his father's journey through
the Holocaust years. His work is in private collections and museums
around the world.


Berc and Fogel explain in theory and demonstrate in practice the
concepts of originality, 'appropriation', memory and imagination. Under
their guidance, participants explore their own creative processes
through different writing and drawing exercises. They emphasize the
intimate link between personal and public spheres, individual and social
practices, history and myth, dream and reality. The focus of the
workshop is on process not product and to help participants find
life-long tools of creative expression.


Shelley Berc and Alejandro Fogel have taught their Creativity Workshop
internationally. They have lectured on creativity and their own work at
universities and cultural centers throughout the world.

http://www.creativity-course.biz/

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