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.

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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The Passing of The Oriole’s Song

Posted on May 18, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

  The Last Question   I do not remember                     what my father said           when we last spoke.   But my mother remembers       … Continue reading →

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Highlights from ART NY 2017

Posted on May 12, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

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 →

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The “Grande Dame” is Back in the Opera

Posted on May 7, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

“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 →

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CHERRY BLOSSOMS GALORE!

Posted on April 30, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

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 →

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SPAMALOT infiltrates EMILY DICKINSON in A QUIET PASSION

Posted on April 24, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

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 →

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Putting it Together and Together and Together and Together and Together

Posted on April 21, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

LINK TO YOUTUBE VIDEO OF PUTTING IT TOGETHER in ORIGINAL BROADWAY PRODUCTION  Art isn’t easy.  Any way you look at it. After seeing the current revival of “Sunday in the Park with George” and enjoying another live performance of its … Continue reading →

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SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH JAKE – Will it Lead to Sunday in the Cinema with Jake?

Posted on April 17, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

  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 →

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CANNIBALISM IN THE CARS – a Musical Take on Mark Twain’s Succulent Satire of Congress

Posted on April 11, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

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 →

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