Author Archives: dannyashkenasi

Unknown's avatar

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.

Looking Up in NYC

Posted on November 22, 2025 by dannyashkenasi

There’s an old New York City adage that the only people who look up while walking around in Manhattan are the tourists. Well, I’ve been living here for almost 40 years, and I still look up. And sometimes I whip … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Two-fisted Touristing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

New Musicabre at the Vietnam Memorial

Posted on November 15, 2025 by dannyashkenasi

This Monday I was in Washington DC and took some photos at the Vietnam Memorial which I will share below. The picture above however is not one of the photos I took but a screenshot of footage I was shooting … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Cinema Scope, Poe Musicabres, Two-fisted Touristing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ecclesiastes of my own personal NEW YORKER CARTOON captions

Posted on November 8, 2025 by dannyashkenasi

You do you, but I ain’t callin’ no king’s horses or men or 911 this time! After exhausting movie sequel options in general and the Planet of the Apes movies in particular, the Old Testament continues to be a deep … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Literary Lyricism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Performing at the Piscator Awards

Posted on November 1, 2025 by dannyashkenasi

Michael Lahr von Leitis presenting Cole Escola with the Piscator Award I had the pleasure and privilege of performing October 23 at the Piscator Awards, a dinner and fundraiser at the swanky Upper East Side Lotos Club benefitting the arts … Continue reading →

Posted in Beginnings, LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Live! On Stage, Notes in the News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reflections at the AIDS Memorial

Posted on October 25, 2025 by dannyashkenasi

After completing the No Kings march last Saturday, Ed and I took a break at the Aids Memorial in the Village before going for dinner and taking in a double feature at Newfest (we saw the queer animal documentary “Second … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Beginnings, Cinema Scope, LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Two-fisted Touristing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

NO KINGS – TIMES SQUARE

Posted on October 19, 2025 by dannyashkenasi

I joined some friends (and 300 000 more) in New York City yesterday (plus 7 million more nationwide) to march for Democracy, Truth, Decency, among other things, and against Fascism, Lies, Bigotry, among other things… Above and below, references for … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Literary Lyricism, Notes in the News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rainbow Refractions on the Buddha Heads

Posted on October 15, 2025 by dannyashkenasi
Posted in Arts-a-Poppin' | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Colosseum

Posted on October 9, 2025 by dannyashkenasi

A Tour of the Famous Ancient Roman Amphitheatre In the center of Rome just east of the Roman Forum stands the Colosseum, the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world. It was built … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Two-fisted Touristing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The New Actor Reel Page

Posted on October 2, 2025 by dannyashkenasi

A new page has been added to the Notes from a Composer banner: Actor Reels. Here is where I will be periodically adding clips and edits from my work as an actor. I have been acting in a fair amount … Continue reading →

Posted in Beginnings, Poe Musicabres, Cinema Scope | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Proverbs of my own personal NEW YORKER CARTOON captions

Posted on September 27, 2025 by dannyashkenasi

It’s been renamed Rathattan, and they’re celebrating. Continuing to mine the Old Testament for sequel titles, this is the 18th installment in the personal cartoon caption series. You can find the 17 previous installments in the Literary Lyricism archives. As well … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Literary Lyricism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

TELL-TALE in MILLESIMO

Posted on September 21, 2025 by dannyashkenasi

“The Tell-Tale Heart – a musicabre” wins Best Long Short Movie at the Millesimo – Cairo Montenetto International Film Festival Officially “The Tell-Tale Heart – a musicabre“, the first of my now three short film musical Edgar Allan Poe adaptations … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Cinema Scope, Live! On Stage, Notes in the News, Poe Musicabres | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Comedy and Tragedy on the Bathroom Wall

Posted on September 17, 2025 by dannyashkenasi

It occurs to me that the title of this post may suggest we will be looking at particularly dramatic graffiti in public bathrooms, but no, sorry to disappoint on that account. I am sharing pictures of small tragedy and comedy … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Beginnings | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My Time as a Resurrected Corpse

Posted on September 12, 2025 by dannyashkenasi

Adventures in Acting in Short Films As previously stated I have been cast in a number of short films lately. One of the more fun and “bloggable” shoots was for “Resurrection”, which filmed in Ithaca. I play a recently deceased … Continue reading →

Posted in Beginnings, Cinema Scope | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Climbing Up the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Posted on September 5, 2025 by dannyashkenasi

Join Us On Every Single Step Up The Tilting Tower We took a day trip to Pisa, to see the famous tower in person and climb it. These three videos really give you the experience, starting with this vertical view: … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Two-fisted Touristing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Self Portraits in the Black

Posted on August 28, 2025 by dannyashkenasi

Taking a break in shooting takes for my new short film Poe musicabre, I picked up my phone and took some selfies, taken by the stark look and angles created by the blacks I had set up behind myself in … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Poe Musicabres | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Dulcimer, A Fountain, and a Kiss

Posted on August 21, 2025 by dannyashkenasi

I’m touristing most two-fistedly in Rome at the moment (next stop Florence), which leaves me near to no time to blog, but will give me much material for future Two-fisted Touristing blog posts. I’ll give you a little taste with … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Beginnings, Two-fisted Touristing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments