Author Archives: dannyashkenasi

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.

TOTAL ECLIPSE in PAINTED HILLS, OREGON

Posted on August 22, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

The Total Eclipse of August 21, 2017 As Seen from the Magnificent Painted Hills, Oregon With Eclipstastic Music! We left Redmond, Oregon, at 7:15am. Madras, just north of Redmond, would be smack in the path of totality, but we decided … Continue reading →

Posted in Melodies Linger On, Notes in the News, Two-fisted Touristing | Tagged 2017, A-Ha, Another Day of Sun, August 21, Black Hole Sun, Blondie, Bonnie Tyler, C Moon, David Bowie, desert, Eclipse, Elton John, Fiddler on the Roof, George Michael, Good Day Sunshine, Good Morning Sarshine, Hair, Here Comes the Sun, In the Sun, Invisible Sun, Kate Bush, La La Land, Lea DeLaria, Let the Sunshine In, Man on the Moon, Moonage Daydream, occlusion, Oregon, Painted Hills, Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, REM, Shoe Tree, Sole Tree, Soundgarden, Sun King, sunflowers, sunrise, sunset, The Beatles, The Dark Side of the Moon, The Great Gig in the Sky, The Police, The Sun Always Shines On TV, Total Eclipse of the Heart | 3 Comments

SONGS to RING IN the NUCLEAR APOCALYPSE

Posted on August 12, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

Remember the good old days of daily nightmares of nuclear armageddon? They’re back! Yippee! So let’s replay some golden oldies of the atomic age! Stanley Kubrick’s Cold War satire “Dr. Strangelove or How I learned to Stop Worrying and … Continue reading →

Posted in Beginnings, Melodies Linger On, Notes in the News | Tagged Alphaville, apocalypse, armageddon, Atomic, Blondie, Bomb, Breathing, Dancing with Tears in My Eyes, Dear Leader, Dr. Strangelove, Forever Young, John Oliver, Kate Bush, Last Week Tonight, North Korea, Nuclear, Please Don't Nuke Us, Prokofiev, Russians, So Long Mom, Sting, Tom Lehrer, Ultravox, War, We Will All Go Together, We'll Meet Again, Weird Al Jankovic | 2 Comments

WATER LILIES (Pics and Tunes)

Posted on August 8, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

Testing out the new camera at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Lily #1 (for details on the “Lily” songs, check on the “tags” at the bottom of the post) Lily #2

Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Melodies Linger On, Two-fisted Touristing | Tagged Alexander Desplat, botanic garden, brooklyn, Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter, Kate Bush, Lilly Marlene, Lily, Lily Allen, Lily's Theme, Marlene Dietrich, music, Smile, The Fear, water lily, water plants | 1 Comment

QUEEN, ADAM LAMBERT, my dinky little camera, & ME

Posted on July 28, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

Wednesday I treated myself to the Queen & Adam Lambert concert. Today (Friday) I could have seen them up the street in Brooklyn’s Barclay Center, but I have family visiting, so instead I trekked out to New Jersey’s Prudential Center … Continue reading →

Posted in Live! On Stage, Melodies Linger On | Tagged Adam Lambert, Bicycle, Bohemian Rhapsody, Brian May, concert, Freddie Mercury, Love of My Life, Opera Glasses, pop, queen, Rock, Roger Taylor, tattoos, Two Fux, We Are The Champions, We Will Rock You | 1 Comment

The Passion of Rodin in the Beaux-Arts Court

Posted on July 23, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

Impressions of August Rodin sculptures in the Beaux-Arts Court of the Brooklyn Museum. Most of the Rodin sculptures are casts of studies for Rodin’s monumental Burghers of Calais.

Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Melodies Linger On, Two-fisted Touristing | Tagged adagio, Arvo Pärt, Barber, Beaux-Arts, brooklyn, Brooklyn Museum, Burgher of Calais, Cantus, Court, Cybele, museum, Passion, Prodigal Son, Rodin, sculpture, strings | Leave a comment

Will Whoopi Goldberg Get Andy Serkis his Overdue Oscar?

Posted on July 15, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

“War for the Planet of the Apes” has opened to universal acclaim and a renewed call to give an Oscar to Andy Serkis, the actor who pioneered and perfected motion capture acting as lead ape Caesar in the Planet of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema Scope, Notes in the News | Tagged Academy Award, Andy Serkis, Gollum, Joe Letteri, King Kong, Matt Reeves, Motion Capture, Oscar, Peter Jackson, Special Achievement, The View, War for the Planet of the Apes, WETA, Whoopi Goldberg | Leave a comment

The Birthday Evocation Born in a Memorial Service

Posted on July 12, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

It’s Ed’s birthday today. Happy Birthday, Love. And as is tradition now in our relationship, I will gift Ed another viola/piano duet I compose for the occasion, each one called “Evocation”. This year my husband will receive Evocation … Continue reading →

Posted in Beginnings, Chamber Works | Tagged 15th Street, Alzheimers, chamber music, chamber piece, duet, Evocation, Evocation XXIV, Friends of Friend, KenKen, Meeting House, memorial, New York Times, piano, Quaker, service, Vince Buscemi, Viola | 1 Comment

In Which I Complete the 30 DAY SONG CHALLENGE

Posted on July 6, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

Fun on Twitter. Last month I took on the #30daysongchallenge. Here are the complete results, lightly annotated: No kidding. Kurt Weill’s haunting masterpiece. The subject of one of this blog’s most widely read pieces: Speak Low, Phoenix, Speak Low… … Continue reading →

Posted in Beginnings, Melodies Linger On, Musicabilia | Tagged #30daysongchallenge, Beyoncé, Brazil, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Charlene, Cyndi Lauper, Dschinghis Khan, Ella Fitzgerald, Gangsta's Paradise, I'm So Excited, Ian McKellen, Kate Bush, Kurt Weill, Linda Ronstadt, Love and Anger, Miss Marple, Neil Young, NPR, Philadelphia, Scissor Sisters, She Bop, Speak Low, Tears for Fears, The Beatles, Tue Colors, Wind of Change, Witches, Yes Sir I Can Boogie | 1 Comment

The Young Lovers’ Path to Speak Easy

Posted on June 25, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

Two Fawns in the Wood Dance into the Light Maybe it’s just a dream. Maybe it’s real. Maybe it doesn’t matter either way. For the shame and the betrayal are felt just as acutely. In the musical Speakeasy, an … Continue reading →

Posted in LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Literary Lyricism, The Speakeasy Chronicles | Tagged 1920s, 1930s, adultery, Alice in Wonderland, Dance into the Light, Dream, Fawn, Fawn in the Wood, Gershwin, Jane Allison, John Allison, Lewis Carroll, magical realism, musical, Prohibition, Queer, same-sex, sexual identity, Speakeasy, Through the Looking Glass, Trial of the Tarts | Leave a comment

SPEAKEASY – The Irony of the Young Lovers’ Duets

Posted on June 22, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

Curious Colorful Night – It’s a Dream – Momentary Bliss Three lovers’ duets that are not what they seem to the ear Ah, young lovers’ duets. A hallmark of musicals, especially those of the 1920s and 1930s, and so of … Continue reading →

Posted in LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Literary Lyricism, The Speakeasy Chronicles | Tagged 1920s, 1930s, Curious Colorful Night, curiouser, drag ball, duet, ingenue, irony, It's a Dream, Jane Allison, John Allison, Lewis Carroll, lovers, magical realism, Momentary Bliss, musical, Queer, Roaring Twenties, Speakeasy, Subculture, Wonderland | Leave a comment

SPEAKEASY – Advice from a (Lesbian) Caterpillar

Posted on June 19, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

Two songs from “Speakeasy” explore two sides of a closeted 1920’s lesbian For many years I hoped to write a musical about the queer subculture of Roaring Twenties New York, but didn’t find my “in” until I came upon the … Continue reading →

Posted in LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Literary Lyricism, Notes in the News, The Speakeasy Chronicles | Tagged 1800s, 19th Century, Alice in Wonderland, Caroline Chrysalides, Caterpillar, Female Friendships, flappers, Jane Allison, Jazz Age, lesbian, Lewis Carroll, LGBTQ, magical realism, musical, My Passion, operetta, Roaring Twenties, sexual revolution, Speakeasy | Leave a comment

PRIDE MONTH at Notes from a Composer

Posted on June 16, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

The White House in Rainbow Colors. That happened. Specifically that happened in June 2015, after the Supreme Court affirmed Marriage Equality for the United States. But that was the previous administration. This administration won’t even make mention of June being … Continue reading →

Posted in LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Notes in the News | Tagged 1920s, 1930s, Big Apple Corps, bisexual, Cabaret, drag ball, June, LGBT, LGBTQ, logo, March, marriage equality, Pride, Quakers, Queer, Sex addiction, sex on screen, slang, Snow White, Speakeasy, The Handmaiden | Leave a comment

RETURN OF THE ROSES

Posted on June 13, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

I beg your pardon. I never promised you a rose garden. But we can visit one together just up the road. And June is the time it bursts in massive, colorful bloom every year. Last year’s visit to the Brooklyn … Continue reading →

Posted in Melodies Linger On, Two-fisted Touristing | Tagged Barbra Streisand, Beth Ditto, Bette Midler, Blondie, Botanical Garden, brooklyn, Edit Piaf, Glee, I never promised you a rose garden, James Horner, Khachaturian, La Vie en Rose, Poison, Rose, Rose Garden, Rose's Turn, Seal, Second Hand Rose, Spring, sun dial, The Fisher King, Titantic | Leave a comment

KINDERGARTEN’S POWERBALLADS

Posted on June 6, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

The Unlikely Occurrence of Kindergartners Composing Two Soaring Love Songs (and Their Perfectly Rockin’ Antidote) Usually five year olds consider overt declarations of love yucky. So when kindergartners create their own original fairy tales operas, these don’t tend to end … Continue reading →

Posted in The Teaching Artist | Tagged Adele, ballad, Bon Jovi, brooklyn, bucket of tears, Celine Dion, Children's School, fairy tale, girl group, hair metal, Josh Groban, Kindergarten, knight, mermaid, Opera, Power Ballad, Rainbow, unicorn, Witches, wizard, You Give Love a Bad Name | Leave a comment

K-2 Presents: THE WIZARD’S REVENGE (featuring the Garbage-Throwing Machine)

Posted on June 1, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

The Kindergarten K-2 class of the Brooklyn’s Children’s School just presented their original fairy tale opera, for which the children created the story, the lyrics and the melodies: Once upon a time there was a king, a princess and a … Continue reading →

Posted in The Teaching Artist | Tagged fairy tale, garbage, garbage-throwing, Kindergarten, machine, Opera, original, Princess, revenge, stealing, teaching artist, wizard | Leave a comment

50 WAYS TO BE 50 – Guess Who Turns a Half Century Today (cough)?

Posted on May 25, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

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 | 3 Comments

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