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Notes from a Composer
Author Archives: dannyashkenasi
50 WAYS TO BE 50 – Guess Who Turns a Half Century Today (cough)?
Might as well have some fun with it…. As my mother said, you can’t avoid turning 50 if you want to live… 4. 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover – Paul Simon 9 … Continue reading
Posted in Beginnings, Melodies Linger On
Tagged 50, 50 Cent, 50 Shades of Grey, 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, 50 Words for Snow, birthday, Dollar, Euro, fifty, gif, half dollar, Kate Bush, Paul Simon, States
2 Comments
The Passing of The Oriole’s Song
The Last Question I do not remember what my father said when we last spoke. But my mother remembers … Continue reading
Posted in Beginnings, Literary Lyricism
Tagged 1930, BJ Elder, bombing raid, china, Dave Elder, EastBridge, girlhood, Hunan, Kendal, Meeting, memoir, memorial, poetry, Quaker, The Oriole's Song, wartime, World War 2, Yuan River, Yuanling
4 Comments
Highlights from ART NY 2017
Another year, another visit to the ART NY expo. Here are pictures of some of the works that intrigued me this year (last year’s can be seen here). Some famous names are included here among the up and comers, like … Continue reading
Posted in Melodies Linger On, Two-fisted Touristing
Tagged Amarist, Andy Warhol, Armando Marino, ART NY, Balint Zsako, Banksy, Bjorn Skaarup, Carole Feuerman, Casper Faassen, Christian Vincent, Claudia Alvarez, Claudio Alvarez, Corvengi Mikaelian, Damien Hirst, Dashi, Elizabeth McGrath, Eran Shakine, Eric Zener, Evfrosina Lavrukhina, Fernando Botero, Fidia Falashetti, Frederico Uribe, Gil Bruvel, J. K. Rowling, Jack Tsai, Jeff Koons, Jessica Potenza, Jorge Marin, José Cabo, Julian Voss-Andreae, Justin Bower, Kaï, Kwang Ito Shin, Lady Gaga, Liechennay, Ma Dan, Marck, Metis Atash, Michael Glancy, modern art, Montse Valdes, Moto Waganari, Naoya, Nemo Jantzen, Orit Hofshi, Pablo Picasso, Peter Combe, Polles, Rivero-Cintra, Roberto Fabelo, Roy Lichtenstein, Samuel Salcedo, Sondheim, Tobias Møhl, Toledo del Rio, Tomoko Konno, Toots Zinsky, WhisBe, Zorikto Dorzhiev
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The “Grande Dame” is Back in the Opera
“You are like a circus-horse. As soon as you hear the music, you start dancing.” That’s the loving joke my father used to make about my mother, most likely in German amongst their Berlin friends, since “Zirkuspferd” (circus-horse) is a … Continue reading
CHERRY BLOSSOMS GALORE!
Back in the BBG You don’t know just what you’ll see, boy! Back in the BB Back in the BB Back in the BBG (with apologies to The Beatles:) It’s peek cherry blossom blooming season this weekend at the Brooklyn … Continue reading
SPAMALOT infiltrates EMILY DICKINSON in A QUIET PASSION
Arthur: But I’m alone (Patsy: oh no you’re not!) So all alone (Patsy: I’m here you twat!) All by myself I’m all alone I’m All Alone (from “Spamalot”) – Tim Curry and Michael McGrath What do Monty Python and … Continue reading
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH JAKE – Will it Lead to Sunday in the Cinema with Jake?
When you see a theater production of a piece you know well and love well, after having seen wonderful and celebrated productions of the piece many times before, including the original Broadway production, and watched the dvd of that production … Continue reading
Posted in Cinema Scope, Live! On Stage, Melodies Linger On
Tagged Annaleigh Ashford, Bernadette Peters, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids, Cary Fukunaga, Cyndi Lauper, Finishing the Hat, George Seurat, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kinky Boots, Lapine, Mandy Patinkin, Masters of Sex, movie, musical, NineStories, Riva Marker, Robert Sean Leonard, Sondheim, Sunday in the Park with George
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CANNIBALISM IN THE CARS – a Musical Take on Mark Twain’s Succulent Satire of Congress
Congress … yuck! A distasteful subject! Quite literally even, according to Mark Twain. Every year Congress gives us more reasons to loathe it. This year perhaps more than ever. Thinking ill and making fun of Congress is a sport that … Continue reading
The Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps Plays The Soundtrack to Our Story
Saturday night we attended the Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps Symphonic Band performing a concert at Symphony Space titled “Once Upon A Time … The Soundtrack to Our Story”, with music referencing and inspired by the history of the Gay … Continue reading
Posted in LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Live! On Stage, Melodies Linger On, Notes in the News
Tagged Alicia Hall Moran, Band, Big Apple, Bohemian Rhapsody, Brian Belovitch, Celtic Folk Songs, Colleen Meenan, Gay, Gay Rights, Hair, Henco Espag, Holst, It's Raining Men, Kinky Boots, Kyle Post, lesbian, Let the Sunshine In, LGBTQ, March, Mars, Paul Schaeffer, Pride, queen, Reginald Brown, RuPaul, Symphonic, Symphony Space, The Generations Project
2 Comments
PRE-K 2 GOES ITS OWN UNUSUAL WAY – a surprise diversion in the ongoing saga of Mr. Danny’s Most Sung Song
Another year and another group of Pre-K students are learning “We’re Singing” AKA Mr. Danny’s Most Sung Song – this would be the third yearly installment in what is evidently and unexpectedly turning into a continuing series (the first … Continue reading
Posted in The Teaching Artist
Tagged brooklyn, Children's School, crawl, education, four-year olds, freestyle, gallop, Mister Danny, Most Sung Song, Pre-K, teaching artist, We're Singing
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The Lovers of Grand Army Plaza
The photo above is one of my personal favorites I have taken during my random photo taking walks around New York City. It is of the Bailey Fountain in Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn. The reason I am posting this … Continue reading
Posted in Two-fisted Touristing
Tagged Bailey Fountain, brooklyn, Felicity, Grand Army Plaza, lamb, Lion, lovers, Spring, winter, Wisdom, World Trade Center
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Emma Thompson Tackles Tricky Tuplets in “Beauty and the Beast”
This weekend the Disney live-action remake of the 1991 Disney animation classic “Beauty and the Beast” made a big splash with audiences, critics, and, especially, the box office. I saw it Friday and was completely enchanted. The movie smartly recreates … Continue reading
Posted in Beginnings, Cinema Scope, Melodies Linger On, The Speakeasy Chronicles
Tagged Angela Lansbury, Animation, Beauty and the Beast, Beethoven, Bon Jovi, Crime of the Century, Disney, Emma Thompson, live-action, Living on a Prayer, Pathetique, Shadow and Light, Sonata, Speakeasy, Star Wars, Supertramp, triplet, tuplet
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SNOW SONGS for SNOW DAY (& a PI Song for PI Day)
It’s a Snow Day here in the Northeast. New York City is basically shut down and everyone is staying inside. What was projected to be a nasty blizzard for the city has been downgraded to an unpleasant mix of snow, … Continue reading
