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.

BEST OF THE FEST at RAVENWOOD!

Posted on November 4, 2023 by dannyashkenasi

Oh Canada! The Ravenwood Film Festival has named “The Pit and the Pendulum – a musicabre” Best of the Fest (of all films, short and feature length) at the 2023 edition of their festival. That’s a particularly exciting honor as … Continue reading →

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Son of my own personal NEW YORKER CARTOON captions

Posted on November 1, 2023 by dannyashkenasi

Well you know what they say about trilogies: the third installment is always the best in the series, right? Look up the first and second installments of my unselected New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest submissions here and here. I had … Continue reading →

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Palm Trees on Sunset Boulevard

Posted on October 29, 2023 by dannyashkenasi

Two Fridays ago, when I spent a day in LA for a screening of P&P, I walked to North Ardmore Ave to take pictures of the house where my mother grew up many years ago, and then walk to her … Continue reading →

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P&P in CANADA

Posted on October 25, 2023 by dannyashkenasi

“The Pit and the Pendulum – a musicabre” plays Thursday Night, 9pm at the Ravenwood Film Festival in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario Click Here for Info and Tickets It’s been a busy October for my horror musical short film Edgar … Continue reading →

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P&P wins MUSIC AWARD at P2S

Posted on October 21, 2023 by dannyashkenasi

“The Pit and the Pendulum – a musicabre” wins Best Music Scoring at the Pitch To Screen Film Awards in New York “The Pit and the Pendulum – a musicabre“, my (deep breath intake) short film musical adaptation of the … Continue reading →

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LA P&P Q&A

Posted on October 17, 2023 by dannyashkenasi

In Depth Q&A about “The Pit and the Pendulum – a musicabre” at the LA Indie FilmFest After the well-received screening of my musical short film adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum – a musicabre” at … Continue reading →

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Watch (and vote for!) P&P at P2S!

Posted on October 12, 2023 by dannyashkenasi

“The Pit and the Pendulum – a musicabre” screens on-line at Pitch To Screen Film Festival through Monday Vote for its nominations in 3 categories! My short film musical Edgar Allan Poe adaptation (breathe!) “The Pit and the Pendulum – … Continue reading →

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P&P in LA this FRIDAY

Posted on October 11, 2023 by dannyashkenasi

“The Pit and the Pendulum – a musicabre” screens this Friday in LA, followed by a Q&A LA Indie Film Fest is screening my musical Edgar Allan Poe adaptation this Friday, October 13th, at 7:30pm at The Other Space, 916 … Continue reading →

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P&P wins BEST MUSIC at HAUNTED HOUSE FEARFEST

Posted on October 8, 2023 by dannyashkenasi

“The Pit and the Pendulum – a musicabre” won the award for Best Music at last night’s awards ceremony of the Haunted House FearFest at the Midnight Theater in New York City. Here is a video of my acceptance speech: … Continue reading →

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P&P in HAMBURG

Posted on October 4, 2023 by dannyashkenasi

“The Pit and the Pendulum – a musicabre” screens Thursday in the antikyno in Hamburg Schocktober is being celebrated at the independent cinema antikyno in Hamburg, Germany. And this Thursday, October 5, at 7pm they are scheduling their shortfilm-slam Horror … Continue reading →

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Catherine Gayer on the Radio

Posted on October 3, 2023 by dannyashkenasi

The German radio station Deutschlandfunk has posted a 55 minute program interviewing the opera soprano Catherine Gayer, and playing excerpts from her fantastic 60+ year career, highlighting her work with contemporary music. Listen to it here. Oh, Catherine Gayer just … Continue reading →

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Love and Hope in Barcelona

Posted on September 30, 2023 by dannyashkenasi

“The Pit and the Pendulum – a musicabre” wins Best Experimental Short Film at the Love and Hope International Film Festival in Beautiful Barcelona Above is a video of my acceptance speech upon winning Best Experimental Short Film at the … Continue reading →

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P&P wins L’HIFF Award

Posted on September 24, 2023 by dannyashkenasi

QUICK UPDATE: “The Pit and the Pendulum – a musicabre” wins “Best Experimental Short Film” at the Love and Hope International Film Festival in Barcelona. More posts on the festival and fabulous Barcelona to come!

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P&P – DAY 9 – The Day the Hair Went Bye-Bye!

Posted on September 14, 2023 by dannyashkenasi

Alt Title: The Day the Hair Got Snipped, Shorn and Shaved Off! The announcement, take one (with AD Charlotte Purser): Day 9 in the 10 days shooting “The Pit and the Pendulum – a musicabre” was fully devoted to the … Continue reading →

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The Art of Pompeii

Posted on September 11, 2023 by dannyashkenasi

Part 4 of the Pompeii Series Plenty of ancient Roman art was on display in the first three posts of the streets and homes of Pompeii and Herculaneum. But much more art dug up by the archeologists – sculptures and … Continue reading →

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HERCULANEUM

Posted on September 7, 2023 by dannyashkenasi

Part 3 of the Pompeii Series Above is the entrance gate into the Herculaneum museum/park, and below is the first view one gets of the ruins walking down the path to the official museum entrance. Herculaneum, like its more famous … Continue reading →

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