Let Me Entertain You

November 19

Dogs smoke in France. ~ Ozzy Osbourne

Money doesn’t talk, it swears. ~ Bob Dylan

Saturday we got an email from friends that Elsa Lee would be at the winery that afternoon. That was nice to hear – we did not have a scheduling conflict so were delighted to appear for one of our favorite performers . . .

Remember: Always walk in the light. And if you feel like you’re not walking in it, go find it. Love the light. ~ Roberta Flack

[I had concerns about backlit photographs . . . ]

Music makes one feel so romantic – at least it always gets on one’s nerves – which is the same thing nowadays. ~ Oscar Wilde

[But those backlighting windows really added an artsy touch . . . ]

My music is my expression of what I feel in a moment. ~ Roberta Flack

[We have made light of John’s (on the left) continuing request for Elsa to learn some Roberta Flack songs. Some day, perhaps. Elsa already has a fabulous repertoire of songs from our era . . .]

Walking in the dark, seeing lovers do their thing. That’s the time, I feel like making love to you. ~ Roberta Flack

Strumming my pain with his fingers, singing my life with his words, killing me softly with his song. ~ Roberta Flack

I couldn’t believe Clint Eastwood was calling me (re: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face). I almost passed out! ~ Roberta Flack

It was unexpected and breathtaking. The transition from my life in Washington as a teacher into this kind of attention was surreal. ~ Roberta Flack

I didn’t try to be a soul singer, a jazz singer, a blues singer – no category. ~ Roberta Flack

I hope that one day we will be seen for the people we are, not for our race, gender, age or nationality. ~ Roberta Flack

I sang it about soldiers, then, later, about gay men. It touches me deeply every time. I used to perform this song at Mr Henry’s and people would be totally silent. I knew it moved them. ~ Roberta Flack

The first time ever I saw your face I thought the sun rose in your eyes. ~ Roberta Flack

Aging can be fun if you lay back and enjoy it. ~ Clint Eastwood

[All 75+ and still kickin’ it!!]

I didn’t want to let women down. One of the stereotypes I see breaking is the idea of aging and older women not being beautiful. ~ Annie Leibovitz

[Are released on their own recognizance for a couple hours every other Sunday. During such time, they must not attempt casting fraudulent votes, attend any religious services contrary to their beliefs, and never drink white wine with fontina cheese . . . ]

November 20

Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths pure theatre. ~ Gail Godwin

A high school production that came under assault by the local morality police. Fortunately each of the four performances drew wonderful crowds. I’d like to express my appreciation to the local denizens for doing such. And as usual the kids did not disappoint – they were terrific! ~ Me

There’s no real theatre without taking risks. ~ Haris Pasovic

A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theatre admission and the babysitter were worth it. ~

Alfred Hitchcock

Theatre is immediate gratification. ~ Chita Rivera

You need three things in the theatre – the play, the actors and the audience, and each must give something. ~ Kenneth Haigh

The theatre, when all is said and done, is not life in miniature, but life enormously magnified, life hideously exaggerated. ~ H. L. Mencken

All the best performers bring to their role something more, something different than what the author put on paper. That’s what makes theatre live. That’s why it persists. ~ Stephen Sondheim

The word theatre comes from the Greeks. It means the seeing place. It is the place people come to see the truth about life and the social situation. ~ Stella Adler

Make them laugh, make them cry, and hack to laughter. What do people go to the theatre for? An emotional exercise. I am a servant of the people. I have never forgotten that. ~ Mary Pickford

Primarily, I am a prose writer with axes to grind, and the theatre is a good place to do the grinding in. I prefer comedy to ‘serious’ drama because I believe one can get the ax sharper on the comedic stone. ~ Gore Vidal

I want my audience to be constantly captivated, bewitched, so that it leaves the theatre dazed, stunned to be back on the pavement. ~ Francois Truffaut

I have the terrible feeling that, because I am wearing a white beard and am sitting in the back of the theatre, you expect me to tell you the truth about something. These are the cheap seats, not Mount Sinai. ~ Orson Welles

There are two golden rules for an orchestra: start together and finish together. The public doesn’t give a damn what goes on in between. ~ Thomas Beecham

[A major selling point for the production was how well the orchestra, down in this pit, synced with the acting, singing, and dancing on stage. Amazing.]

I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of theatre to be engaged. ~ Peter Brook

[What was apparently the crowd size for each performance . . . ]

Free speech means the right to shout ‘theatre’ in a crowded fire. ~ Abbie Hoffman

For the theatre one needs long arms… an artiste with short arms can never make a fine gesture. ~ Sarah Berhhardt

Rock ‘n’ roll will never die. There’ll always be some arrogant little brat who wants to make music with a guitar. ~ Dave Edmunds

The musician is perhaps the most modest of animals, but he is also the proudest. It is he who invented the sublime art of ruining poetry. ~ Erik Satie

Up Next: Looks like girls hockey as we head into Thanksgiving . . .