Category Archives: Notes in the News

On current and historic events, likely with a musical angle

LGBT is Thrown Around All the Time, But Where is the “B”?

Posted on November 20, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

Notes from the “BiView: Bisexual Representation in Media Panel” at NewFest2017 October 21st I attended the panel discussion on Bisexuality in the Media, the first of its kind at a NewFest/Outfest film festival. Moderated by bisexual activist and journalist Eliel … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema Scope, LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Notes in the News | Tagged 13, Alexandra Bolles, biphobia, biplus, bisexual, Bob's Burgers, Callie Torres, David J. Cork, Denarii Grace, Eliel Cruz, GLAAD, Grey's Anatomy, House, How To Get Away With Murder, Insecure, LGBT, LGBTQ, media, NewFest, Olivia Wilde, polyamory, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, Queer, Sara Ramirez, Studio Responsibility Index, Taylor Behnke, The Bold Type, Wonder Woman | Leave a comment

NAZI LEGACY ALIVE AND WELL IN AN AUSTRIAN CEMETERY

Posted on October 6, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

I came upon a plaque on the church wall in the cemetery at the edge of the Austrian ski resort town of Kitzbühel that profoundly disturbed me. The chiseled marble commemorates a soldier who died in World War II. There … Continue reading →

Posted in Beginnings, Notes in the News, Two-fisted Touristing | Tagged Adah Gleich, Austria, Berlin, cemetery, churchyard, Confederate, Fatherland, Germany, grave, Heimat, Heldentod, Holocaust, Homeland, Karl Prieler, Kitzbühel, memorials, Monika Skowronski, Nazi, Propaganda, Schindler's List, Stahnsdorf, Stolpersteine, Tirol, Vaterland, Vergangenheitsbewältigung, World War 1, World War 2 | 3 Comments

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

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

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

The Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps Plays The Soundtrack to Our Story

Posted on April 10, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

Saturday night we attended the Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps Symphonic Band performing a concert at Symphony Space titled “Once Upon A Time … The Soundtrack to Our Story”, with music referencing and inspired by the history of the Gay … Continue reading →

Posted in LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Live! On Stage, Melodies Linger On, Notes in the News | Tagged Alicia Hall Moran, Band, Big Apple, Bohemian Rhapsody, Brian Belovitch, Celtic Folk Songs, Colleen Meenan, Gay, Gay Rights, Hair, Henco Espag, Holst, It's Raining Men, Kinky Boots, Kyle Post, lesbian, Let the Sunshine In, LGBTQ, March, Mars, Paul Schaeffer, Pride, queen, Reginald Brown, RuPaul, Symphonic, Symphony Space, The Generations Project | 2 Comments

SNOW SONGS for SNOW DAY (& a PI Song for PI Day)

Posted on March 14, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

It’s a Snow Day here in the Northeast. New York City is basically shut down and everyone is staying inside. What was projected to be a nasty blizzard for the city has been downgraded to an unpleasant mix of snow, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema Scope, Melodies Linger On, Notes in the News | Tagged 3.14, 50 Words for Snow, A Single Man, Abel Korzeniowski, Academy Award, Brokeback Mountain, Gustavo Santaolalla, Kate Bush, Nutcracker Suite, Pi, Pi Day, Snow, Snow Day, Snowflakes, Stephen Fry, Tchaikovsky | Leave a comment

MOONLIGHT – the triple least “Oscar Baity” Oscar Winner

Posted on March 5, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

“I just hope the weird pandemonium doesn’t overshadow the fact that a $1.5 million independent film by a black director about black, gay, poor people was named Best Picture. The process to get there was very weird, but it’s an … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema Scope, LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Notes in the News | Tagged Academy Awards, Argo, Ava DuVarnay, Barry Jenkins, Best Picture, Birdman, black, Brokeback Mountain, Carol, Gay, indie, La La Land, LGBTQ, low--budget, Mahershala Ali, Moonlight, Oscar Bait, Oscars, Selma, Tarell Alvin McCraney, The Artist | Leave a comment

#OscarsSoCrazy – The Worst Best Thing that could have happened to La La Land and Moonlight.

Posted on February 27, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

In a moment that will be hard to beat as the strangest, most gasp-inducing thing to have ever and might ever again happen at the Oscars, “Moonlight” was revealed to have been the actual Best Picture winner after “La La … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema Scope, LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Notes in the News | Tagged Awards Daily, Barry Jenkins, Best Picture, Brokeback Mountain, Crash, Damien Chazelle, director, Gay Movie, Justin Hurwitz, La La Land, Linus Sandgren, Moonlight, PricewaterhouseCooper, Sasha Stone, Spotlight, The Revenant | Leave a comment

TRUMPIAN PARODY TUNES – Lyrical Agitprop Updates for Cabaret & The Producers

Posted on February 13, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

Tinkle Tinkle Tinkle, tinkle little tzar Putin put you where you are Up above the law so high In your penthouse tweeting lies Tinkle, tinkle little tzar Putin put you where you are Last night, at a … Continue reading →

Posted in Notes in the News | Tagged agitprop, Cabaret, lyrics, Nasty Woman, parody, resist, songs, Springime for Hitler, The Producers, Tomorrow Belongs to Me, Trump | 1 Comment

COMPLETE OSCAR NOMINATIONS LIST – with plenty personal notes, comments and trivia – updated with winners

Posted on February 4, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

This year’s Oscar nominations have been announced, and for once the media pundits and social media consensus are much happier with the overall outcome, with few gripes and much to celebrate. Which doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty sighs about … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema Scope, LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Notes in the News | Tagged 2017, Academy Awards, Amy Adams, animated, Arrival, August Wilson, Debzel Washington, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, Hugh Grant, Kevin O'Connell, La La Land, Lion, Lord of the Rings, Loving, Mahershala Ali, Manchester by the Sea, Meryl Streep, Moonlight, Nominations, O.J.: Made in America, OcarsSoWhite, Oscars, short film, sound, The Red Turtle, Viola Davis, Zootopia | Leave a comment

SIGNS OF THE TIMES – Women’s March against Trump in NYC (also, NfaC’s 200th post!!!)

Posted on January 22, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

We Shall Overcome – Bruce Springsteen (The Seeger Sessions) “Tell me what Democracy looks like” “This is what Democracy looks like”

Posted in Melodies Linger On, Notes in the News | Tagged Barad'hur, Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper, Demonstration, Dumbledore, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Harry Potter, Hermione, I Am Woman, Imagine, Love, New York City, NYC, Protest, Shout, signs, Tears for Fears, Trump, Trump Tower, Trump World Tower, Voldemort, We Shall Overcome, Womens March | 2 Comments

A Fond Farewell

Posted on January 19, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

Signed Sealed Delivered I’m Yours – Stevie Wonder A small gesture of thanks and appreciation. To a fine example of our ability to be decent, empathetic, smart, wise and caring. A reminder to act in good faith and listen to … Continue reading →

Posted in Melodies Linger On, Notes in the News | Tagged Barack, Farewell, Hope, Michelle Obama, Obama, Obama Family, Signed Sealed Delivered I'm Yours, Stevie Wonder, thanks, Yes We Can | Leave a comment

New Categories for Movies, Theater and LGBTQ Themed Articles

Posted on January 15, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

Three new categories have been added to the Notes from a Composer archives: Cinema Scope – For the love of movies, and not just the musicals Live! On Stage – Live performances / a life in the theater … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema Scope, LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Live! On Stage, Notes in the News | Tagged archive, category, Cinema, Danny Ashkenasi, LGBTQ, music, Notes from a Composer, theater | Leave a comment

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