Author Archives: dannyashkenasi

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About dannyashkenasi

I'm a composer with over 40 years experience creating music theater. I'm also an actor, writer, director, producer, teacher and general enthusiast for the arts.

Into Thin Air with STREB

Posted on April 26, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

Last weekend Ed and I took the L train to Williamsburg and experienced the extra-ordinary feats of STREB in a performance of “Into Thin Air” at the company’s home space, the Streb Lab for Action Mechanics on 51 North 1st … Continue reading →

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CHERRY BLOSSOM EXPLOSION!

Posted on April 19, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

The Most Popular Weekend at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden The recent unseasonably warm and sunny days have led to an early explosion of the cherry blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and that is always its most popular attraction. This … Continue reading →

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Judges of my own personal NEW YORKER CARTOON captions

Posted on April 12, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

It’s the midterms. And the series continues to mine the Old Testament for title inspiration, if not comical inspiration. So far the Judges of the New Yorker, be they the editors (at one time) or the public via on-line voting … Continue reading →

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Early Spring in Brooklyn

Posted on April 6, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

Ed and I enjoyed a sunny day in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden this weekend (that’s me above indulging in the sweet honey scent of the paper bush) and I took some pictures of the first blossoms of Spring. The entrance … Continue reading →

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Artemis Launch Viewed from a Plane

Posted on April 3, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

There are a lot a videos of the Artemis II launch taken from planes. The best one I’ve seen, lasting about two minutes is this one:(https://x.com/HustleBitch_/status/2039728543819497846) I’ve not found the full video on YouTube, only the site formally known as … Continue reading →

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NO KINGS 3/28/26

Posted on March 29, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

We joined the estimated 8-9 million protestors in over 3000 No Kings protests across the USA, not to mention the marches and rallies held elsewhere all over the planet. The NYC protest started at Columbus Circle to march down Central … Continue reading →

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CROCI !

Posted on March 26, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

Spring is finally springing in our backyard! I just had to go out and snap lots of pretty pics of the crocuses. And yes, I call them crocuses, not croci, but using the latin plural is a perfectly acceptable option, … Continue reading →

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Stills from “Oh Jesse”

Posted on March 18, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

The director of “Oh Jesse”, Tokio Sasaki, shared stills from the footage of the short film I acted in a few weeks ago opposite Xiaoxiao Sun. I share them here as an update to the original blog post about that … Continue reading →

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Three Pieces at the Brooklyn Museum

Posted on March 14, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

The other day I was enjoying a special exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum (future blog post about that one), and along the way inside I strolled past three pieces that not only delighted me (as so much does in this … Continue reading →

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Another Short Short Film Shoot

Posted on March 6, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

Tuesday I traveled to Woodside, Queens, to shoot another short film in short order – all in an afternoon’s work. The director liked that I’d regrown my beard for the short film I’d just done, so the facial follicles are … Continue reading →

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Film Shoot and Ice Flows on the Hudson

Posted on March 1, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

A Trilingual Short Film in a Winter Panorama Two weekends ago I was at the Hudson river near Dobbs Ferry shooting a short film. A very short film – we got all shots in half a day. The film is … Continue reading →

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Snow Storm on Our Street

Posted on February 23, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

As Ed and I came home last evening just as the Big Blizzard was kicking in, we just had to take some photos of the snowy landscape our street had become. City Bikes, marshmallow coated

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Light Play on Window Sill

Posted on February 16, 2026 by dannyashkenasi
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Solaris Film Festival Awards “Prelude to a Death”

Posted on February 8, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

The Solaris Film Festival in Helsinki, Finland has given “Prelude to a Death” the award for “Best Unproduced Script”. “Prelude to a Death” is a feature length gothic ghost story. I have sent the screenplay to a handful of festivals … Continue reading →

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Ian McKellen Performs Shakespeare’s Immigrant Speech on the Late Show

Posted on February 5, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

Ian McKellen appeared on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night, and the whole interview is delightful and engrossing – the full video is posted below – musing on Gandalf and Magneto, Christopher Lee and Elvish tattoos, and seeing … Continue reading →

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Vermont Winter

Posted on February 4, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

Frozen Waterfalls at Dusk and Snowy Landscapes in the Snow So the ground hogs all saw their shadow and forecast six more weeks of winter. With all the persistent cold going on far and wide, that did not come as … Continue reading →

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