Born On This Day- October 17th...

Rob Marshall  has been nominated for 6 Tony Awards, an Acadamy Award, a Golden Globe & he is 4 time Emmy winner. Along with screenwriter Bill Condon, Marshall accomplished something that I thought to be impossible: bringing Kander & Ebb's Chicago to the screen & making it work.

Marshall on the right, with husband DeLuca

Marshall: "I’m so proud to be who I am, but I don’t really think in those terms. Honestly, I wish I thought more about that kind of thing. Obviously I grew up loving musicals, & only later in life did I find out that might’ve had something to do with my sexual makeup... whether it has to do with the escapism of it, the beauty of it, or the joy of it. I see my sensibility as something that comes from my taste. I remember Anthony Minghella, who wrote the Nine screenplay, once said to me, “As a director, all you can really bring is your taste.”

Marshall lives in NYC with his husband John DeLuca, also a choregrapher/director who has worked on all of Marshall's film projects & their dogs. Marshall is the older brother of Director/Choregrapher Kathleen Marshall. He turns 51 today.

Born On This Day August 6th... Chicago Reformer Jane Addams

When Jane Addams's travels took her away from her close companion Mary Rozet Smith, she took along a painting of Smith, even though the portrait was a rather bulky piece of luggage.

Jane Addams, a brilliant woman, graduated from Rockford Female Seminary in 1881. With her Rockford classmate, Ellen Gates Star, together they She founded Chicago's Hull House in 1898 along with Rockford classmate Ellen Gates Star. Hull House was an experimental model of reform to help provide for the neighborhood's needs. Much of the early financial support came from Addams' intimate friend, Marie Roset Smith, one of the richest women in America. Addams & Smith traveled together often. Addams would demand a hotel for a double bed, instead of 2 singles. They also shared Smith's summer home in Bar Harbor, Maine. They were together until Smith's death in 1933.

As an educated woman with free time to pursue her interests, Addams was dedicated to the welfare of women & children in Chicago & in locking in legislation for their protection. Addams was involved in other social issues as well. Her social reform efforts included: housing, sanitation issues, factory inspection, rights of immigrants, pacifism & the 8-hour workday. She publicly supported the candidacy of attorney Pearl Hart, long active in juvenile & women's court cases. Hart would later become a well-known civil rights attorney in the McCarthy era & a staunch supporter of gay rights.

Marie Roset Smith

As a pacifist before World War I, Addams spoke out against Republican President William McKinley's instigation of war after an explosion sank the battleship Maine. In 1899, Addams joined Mark Twain, Chicago’s attorney Clarence Darrow & the gay novelist Henry Blake Fuller in an anti-Imperialist League to protest the war in Cuba & the Philippines. She viewed United States involvement as a 'murderous extension of American Capitalism'.

Addams lived a life of commitment to social reform. She received a number of honors during her lifetime. In 1931 she became the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Addams died in 1935, just days after attending a celebratory dinner hosted by another woman who preferred to share her life with female companions, former first lady & UN delegate- Eleanor Roosevelt.

Summer Song # 7... Saturday In The Park

Saturday in the park
I think, it was the fourth of July
Saturday in the park
I think, it was the fourth of July

People dancing, people laughing
A man selling ice cream
Singing Italian songs

Can you dig it? Yes, I can
& I've been waiting such a long time
For Saturday

Another day in the park
I think, it was the fourth of July
Another day in the park
I think, it was the fourth of July

People talking, really smiling
A man playing Guitar
And singing for us all
Will you help him change the world

Can you dig it? Yes, I can
And I've been waiting such a long time
For today

Slow motion riders, fly the colors of the day
A bronze man, still can tell stories his own way
Listen children all is not lost
All is not lost, oh no, no

Funny days in the park
& every day is the fourth of July
Funny days in the park
& every day is the fourth of July

People reaching, people touching
A real celebration
Waiting for us all
If we want it, really want it
Can you dig it? Yes, I can
&  I've been waiting such a long time
For the day

Lamm, Williams

1972

Chicago, the band not the city, were huge when I was in high school. My senior prom was named- COLOR MY WORLD. I can dig it, yes I can!

Isn't It Good, Isn't It Grand, Isn't It Great, Isn't It Swell, Isn't It Fun, Isn't It... Nowadays. Born On This Day- Bebe Neuwirth!

When I lived in NYC in the mid-1970s,  & I was studying at HB Studios, I was living with my sorta boyfriend- WCK3 ( who was studying at Julliard) & I working at ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers). This was a fabulous job as a “music monitor”. I had a small cubicle in the ASCAP building, with a huge window that looked out at Lincoln Center & a smack on view of the Chagall tapestries at the Metropolitan Opera House. It remains one of my favorite jobs of all time, & one of the perks was frequent house seats for Broadway musicals.


The big musical of the moment was a little thing called- A Chorus Line, but my own favorite was the somewhat less popular- Chicago. I loved this show, directed & choreographed by Bob Fosse & I saw it when ever I got a chance. It starred Chita Rivera, Jerry Orbach & Gwen Verdon. At some point,Gwen Verdon fell ill, the victim of swallowing a feather from her costume & she was replaced for 1 month by someone named Liza Minnelli. I was so excited to see Liza up close & personal. ASCAP secured, for me, 2 tickets for her 1st night in the role. WCK3 could not attend, but he suggested that I bring his friend & classmate at Julliard- Bebe.

I felt bad that I had been taunting Bebe, because she shared a name with the Seattle Zoo’s famous gorilla. Beebee & BoBo were a very famous gorilla couple at the Seattle Zoo, & WCK3’s friend had to suffer through my gorilla jokes. I was glad to have a date for Liza’s Chicago debut, & Bebe seemed to have forgiven my ribbing. We had a great date at the theatre, with drinks at Joe Allen’s after the show. I wish that I had been portentous at the time, about my date was Bebe Neuwirth. I would loved to have told her that she would someday go on to win a Tony Award as Velma Kelly, in the most successful revival in Broadway history- Chicago (She would also be the 2nd Sheila in that other show- A Chorus Line): “Hey Bebe… someday, you will win a Tony award for this show & you will go on to be a big Broadway & TV star (winning 2 Emmy awards for her take on Dr. Lilith Sternin on Cheers), how about a kiss? She was a swell date. I regret not trying to make out with her at the end of our evening.

Things turned out pretty well for Bebe. For the last year she has been starring with Nathan Lane in The Aadams Family on Broadway. Bebe never thanks me in her award speeches, although I was the perfect date, footing the cost of the tickets & the drinks, & every bit the gentleman. Today is Bebe Neuwirth’s birthday. I will never forget our date.

Isn't It Good, Isn't It Grand, Isn't It Great, Isn't It Swell, Isn't It Fun, Isn't It... Nowadays?

When I lived in NYC in the mid-1970s, I was studying at HB Studios, living with my sorta boyfriend- WCK3 ( who was studying at Julliard) & I working at ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers). This was a fabulous job as a “music monitor”. I had a small cubicle in the ASCAP building, with a huge window that looked out at Lincoln Center & a smack on view of the Chagall tapestries at the Metropolitan Opera House. It remains 1 of my favorite jobs of all time, & 1 of the perks was frequent house seats for Broadway musicals.

The big musical of the moment was a little thing called- A Chorus Line, but my favorite was the somewhat less popular- Chicago. I loved this show, directed & choreographed by Bob Fosse & I saw it when ever I got a chance. It starred Chita Rivera, Jerry Orbach & Gwen Verdon. At some point,Gwen Verdon fell ill, the victim of swallowing a feather from her costume & she was replaced for1 month by someone named Liza Minnelli. I was so excited to see Liza up close & personal. ASCAP secured, for me, 2 tickets for her 1st night in the role. WCK3 could not attend & he suggested that I bring his friend & classmate at Julliard- Bebe.

I felt bad that I had been taunting Bebe, because she shared a name with the Seattle Zoo’s famous gorilla. Beebee & BoBo were a very famous gorilla couple at the Seattle Zoo, & WCK3’s friend had to suffer through my gorilla jokes. I was glad to have a date for Liza’s Chicago debut, & Bebe seemed to have forgiven my ribbing. We had a great date at the theatre, with drinks at Joe Allen’s after the show. I wish that I had been portentous at the time, for my date was Bebe Neuwirth. I would loved to have told her that she would go on to win a Tony Award as Velma Kelly, in the most successful revival in Broadway history (She would also be the 2nd Sheila in that other show- A Chorus Line). “Hey Bebe… someday, you will win a Tony award for this show & you will go on to be a big Broadway & TV star (winning 2 Emmy awards for her take on Dr. Lilith Sternin on Cheers), how about a kiss? She was a swell date. I regret not trying to make out with her at the end of our evening. Things turned out pretty well for Bebe. She opens next month with Nathan Lane in The Aadams Family on Broadway. Bebe never thanks me in her award speeches, although I was the perfect date, footing the cost of the tickets & the drinks, & every bit the gentleman... Bitch! Today is Bebe Neuwirth’s birthday. I will never forget our date.

Things I Want To Do In My Lifetime...

... Oh, I totally want to do this! I may have to go to Chicago ("my kind of town") for a weekend just to have this experience. The Husband & I once stood on the top of the World Trade Center, not the observation deck, but on the open air roof, on a beautiful October evening at sunset. It was our 20th anniversary. The experience was thrilling & romantic as we watched all the buildings in mid-town turn pink from the sunset. It had rained that morning & then cleared, & we could see way up the Hudson river & into NJ. The Husband says he would want to skip this experience. Who will go with me?

The Sears/Willis building is the grandest tower in a city known for its great architecture, The Willis Tower has served for decades as a mighty symbol of architectural prowess & the triumph of engineering. Just a few years after pioneering the trussed tube construction that allowed the 100-story John Hancock Center to be erected a couple of dozen blocks away, the same architects & engineers came up with another revolutionary construction. The original plan called for a much smaller tower, but the retailer was eventually convinced to concentrate its employees from seven other buildings into the lower portion of the building while leasing out the rest to other companies. It is fortunate that Sears listened to the architects & developers, because it is no understatement to call the result one of the most important buildings on the face of the Earth. As Sears financial fortunes changed, it moved out of this building & to a squat office park in the suburbs. By 2003 Sears had let the naming rights to the building expire. It wasn't until 2009 that the Willis Group consolidated a number of its regional offices into this building, & gained the naming rights in the process. As part of a larger renovation of the "Skydeck" observation level, four small outdoor observation pods were added to the 103rd floor. The transparent glass "Ledges" were designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the same architecture firm that designed the tower back in the 1970s. Each viewing platform extends out from the tower a little over four feet & is constructed from three layers of half-inch thick glass with a weight capacity of five tons - two tons more than is called for in the city's building code. The ledges are retractable & placed on the west side of the building 1,353 feet above ground level.