Getting to be Grandpa Again

The Ancient One's season with Culver City Public Theatre (CCPT) ended last Saturday. Actually, the 2011 season in Carlson Park ended on Sunday, August 22 and was very successful. But the Popcorn Children's Theatre production of The True Story of Jack and the Beanstalk was invited to do 2 performances last Saturday as part of the Long Beach Sea Festival and we had large, appreciative audiences at the Bixby Park Band Shell.

It was fun being The Old Man and serving as co-producer of the production. And Heidi Dotson wrote another amazing script with venerable old story being narrated by the cutest cow you ever did see.

But now it's on to a new production for The Ancient One. He has been cast once again as Grandpa Martin Vanderhof in the 1936 Pulitzer Prize winning play, You Can't Take It With You. It was great fun trying to bring this amazing character to life in the summer of 2009 for CCPT. Now he gets to be grandpa again and will be on stage to reprise the role at Manhattan Beach Community Church (MBCC) for 5 performances in October (15 ,16, 17, 22, 23). Thanks to that chance meeting with Director Alan Peterkofsky while walking through a shopping center in June. . .and his invitation to the auditions.

It's not often that an actor gets to play out the antics of a character as wonderful as grandpa. But to get to do it a 2^nd time is pure joy. Rehearsals are going well and learning the lines seems easier this time. Being part of a wonderful cast helps too. I'll talk more about this later and I'm looking forward to seeing many familiar faces in the MBCC audiences come mid-October. Join us there!

Family Portrait (partial)

It's 3 weeks since neighbors Janette and Paul got married. A wonderful evening for 2 special people. And, of course, pictures were taken including this one of The Ancient One with wife Donna flanking offspring Seth and Alicia. (It would have been nicer if the Brooklyn branch of the family could have been in the photo with us.)

Enjoy!

A Voice and Memory From the Past

The Ancient One spends too much time on Facebook. But every now and then something happens that makes it all worthwhile. A few weeks ago I received a "friend request" from a woman who wondered if I was someone she knew many years ago when our families were friends and near neighbors. As soon as she mentioned her maiden name I knew who she was; I had not seen her or anyone in her family since some time before I left Detroit nearly 50 years ago. I accepted the friend request.

Earlier this week, my new old friend posted the following photo on Facebook:

When I saw the post, I gasped. I recognized it immediately. It was taken around 1943. It shows my mother, Martha Cohen (on the left) and her good friend Dorothy Masserman, in their Motor Corps uniforms. They were among a large group of women serving their country during World War II. With so many of the men away fighting in Europe and the Pacific front of the war, these women drove newly manufactured military vehicles from the automobile plant assembly lines to the railroad yards where they were shipped to military bases to be used by the troops.

The Ancient One was only about 5 years old when the picture was taken. But I clearly remember mom in her uniform. I am not sure who the photographer was but it might have been my father who was a photo buff and took a lot of pictures during that period, many of them of the Motor Corps women and troops who passed through the USO in Detroit.

Oh, what a memory. Thank you Sally.

Memories of Old Homes

The Ancient One has lived in many locales over his 6-dozen+ years. Born and raised in Detroit (MI), he spent 4 years in Chapel Hill (NC), followed by 7 in Albany (NY), then 9½ in Springfield (IL) and finally bringing back Donna home to southern California nearly 30 years ago. Memories of some of those early homes were brought to mind (and eye) earlier this year.

First, son Seth and friends started the MLB baseball season touring stadiums "back east." After watching my beloved Tigers at Comerica park in downtown Detroit, he called and asked for my "boyhood address." Soon thereafter, my cell phone vibrated and the following visual message appeared:

That is a photo of 2265 Chicago Boulevard in Detroit where The Ancient One spent much of his youth. His family moved in 1-week before his 7^th birthday (1/19/45) and remained there for 12 years. It looks better now than I remember it being then. Looks like folks have taken good care of that old house in the more than 50 years since I left it. (As a side note, most of the time we lived in that house, the house to the left was occupied by the Campeau family and for a few years the house with its edge just visible on the right housed my aunt and uncle Sibby and Sam Glucksman.) It was a grand old house and at some point in the future I may proffer some memories of momentous occasions that took place within its walls.

Then, a couple of months ago, oldest son Bill's boyhood friend Derek Reynolds was back visiting his parents in Springfield, IL and posted a picture on Facebook of the house they still occupy. I messaged him and asked if he might have a chance to take and post a picture of the house 2 doors away where I lived. A few minutes later, this appeared:

There you see 820 S. Park in Springfield, IL. I'm not sure exactly what year I moved into the house; my guess is that it was about 1975 or 76. Bill spent summers there when he was visiting from Hawaii. I was living there when Donna moved to Springfield and married me and that's where we lived when daughter Alicia was born. Central Illinois was so flat that Donna liked telling folks that our driveway was the steepest hill in Springfield. We always liked that big front porch and it looks like the wooden swing is still hanging there. That house is now nearly 100 years old. There are interesting stories about it that I hope to share one day.

Well, that's it. Two houses from The Ancient One's distant past. Thanks to Seth and Derek for the pictures. Enjoy!

The Ancient One Returns

The Ancient One returns. It has been exactly one year since he last posted here and it seems about time to start again. He's not sure what happened after he returned from that wonderful August, 2009 trip. When last seen blogging, it was about his oldest granddaughter's Bat Mitzvah. He planned to write more. . .but his blogpen fell silent.

It would be easy to blame the silence on writer's block, or too much Facebook, or too much game time on the internet. But that doesn't matter. A lot has happened in the past 12 months about which he should have been writing. Some of that will appear in the coming months but many of the passing events, thoughts and feelings will remain in that silent ether.

So, off to post this now before he finds another excuse to continue his personal void. For now, The Ancient One is back and, hopefully, this is the restart of something good and occasionally interesting.

The Ancient One Dances in Brooklyn

Yesterday was wonderful. Granddaughter Jolee did a magnificent job on her Bat Mitzvah day. She was articulate, eloquent and beautiful. The synagogue service was most enjoyable and the Hawaiian themed party last night was joyful and fun. Wonderful memories will be carried away and more will be written about the day in the future.

One unusual happening at the party last night was the sight of The Ancient One dancing with Donna. Son Seth recorded the event by grabbing the camera and capturing his parents gliding (?) along the dance floor. Thanks Seth!

Now on to our last full day of celebration with all the children and grandchildren here in Bay Ridge. . .

Random Views in NYC

Donna and The Ancient One have completed the first 2 full days of their visit to New York. These were the try to "see things days" prior to the "family event days" beginning tomorrow. The highlight of the visit will be the Bat Mitzvah of granddaughter #1 on Saturday.

Yesterday was spent in "the City," more specifically in midtown Manhattan. After lunch with son Bill (father of the Bat Mitzvah girl), we wandered and walked and walked and wandered leading up to the evening's highlight, a wonderful performance of Altar Boyz. A few pictures were taken, 2 of which are offered here. First, a kind stranger shot a photo of The Ancient One and Donna just after their ride on the Merry-Go- Round in Bryant Park. (Those who know her will truly appreciate that Donna is astride a frog, rather than a horse):

Then, as we wandered up 5^th Avenue, we spotted the spires of St Patrick's Cathedral and decided to stop by for a visit. In this picture I sort of like the juxtaposition of this great edifice with the glass high rise behind it.

Today we wandered through the area where son Bill and family live and where our hotel is located, the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn. We did have some good food and visited a lot of stores and The Ancient One took just one photo along the way. It is of a rather common stone urn on the porch of a home on 86^th Street between 3^rd and 4^th Avenue. Why this picture? Well, there were 2 flower urns just like it in front of the house in which The Ancient Grew did much of his growing up, on Chicago Boulevard in Detroit (ages 7-21 from 1945 to 1959). It just hit me when I saw it and the photo became necessary.

And the day ended on a high note as The Ancient One was surrounded by Donna, all 3 of his children and both of his granddaughters this evening at the Brooklyn Cohen's residence in Bay Ridge. The next few days will surely bring forth many tears of joy. This is one of those wonderful weeks we occasionally get to experience to the fullest extent possible.

Such are the random thoughts and views of the first part of our visit.

YCTIWY Portrait – CCPT 2009

Here is a portrait of most of the cast members (mugging for the camera) in the Culver City Public Theatre (CCPT) production of You Can't Take It With You which closes with 2 final performances on Saturday and Sunday, August 1-2 at 2:00 p.m. in Paul Carlson Park:

Seated in front is Grandpa Martin Vanderhof (The Ancient One); leaning on his knee is Mr. Di Pinna (J.T. Moyé)

The row behind him L/R: Kolenkhov (Robert Kane), Essie (Hilary Chen), Alice (Katrina Straub), Penny (Donna Donnelly) and Rheba (Megan Beasley)

Back row L/R: Ed (John Glass), Tony (Kenny Seliger), Paul (Clyde FT Small), Donald (Jonathan Sherman) and Mr. Kirby (Jacques Freydont)

Missing from the photo, but equally important to the cast, are: Henderson/Mac (J-Man) (John Gutterman), Gay Wellington/Grand Duchess Olga Katrina (Laura Boccaletti), Mrs. Kirby (Melissa Skirboll), J-Man (Kamel Dickinson) and Jim (J-Man) (Chris Bonanno)

The Ancient One thanks Director John Glass for casting him in this wonderful play with such a talented cast. Thanks also to Assistant Directors Michele Howden & Elaine Russell, the "world's best" Stage Manager Suze Campagna, special effects master Paul Porter and Producer Milton Chen. What a great production team!!

As we draw this run to a close, all I can think of are the words of Grandpa, uttered 3 times in the play in totally different contexts, "WELL, WELL, WELL!"

Where Have All the Peafowl Gone?

A few years back there was a nasty political fight in the neighborhood over the number of peafowl gracing our streets, lawns, rooftops, yards, etc. It seemed that people either loved these regal birds or hated them. The Ancient One fell in the "love 'em" category. Yes, I know they are loud, almost like a baby crying in the night. Yes, I hear neighbors complain about how messy they are and how destructive they are of plant life. Well, my garden hasn't suffered and, quite frankly, I find the flocks of crows to be far messier.

Anyway, the fight went all the way to the City Council and an ordinance was passed that allowed for a "thinning out" of the flock. The city, apparently, would supervise the trapping of peafowl and shipping them off to what was described as a "sanctuary" in Colorado. The peafowl population dropped and neighbors started being pleasant to each other again.

But since that happened, the flock has been growing. This past Spring it was larger than I had ever seen and The Ancient One just knew that the fight would start again. This time, maybe because there were so many peafowl about, there was no public fight. Even I had to admit that it might be wise to "thin out" the flock a bit. And sure enough, while not becoming major news, there were references in the local weekly that the City Council had passed a couple of ordinances. One made it a crime, a misdemeanor I'm sure, for citizens to feed the birds. The other provided for the trapping and shipping of the birds in order to reduce the crop. This, by the way, raised a question in The Ancient One's simple mind. How were the peafowl lured into the traps? Was food placed inside these cage like structures to entice them? If so, were city employees breaking the law by feeding peafowl? Or, as agents of the government, were they exempt from the provisions of the anti-feeding regulations?

Anyway, this program must have been carried out successfully. Although I saw no public announcement about the "trap them and ship them" campaign, almost overnight peafowl disappeared. Only a few remain like this lonely peacock I spotted the other day:

In addition, I have seen only 2 or 3 peahens, one of whom had 3 of the smallest peachicks (Is that the right word?) I have ever seen with her. The disappearance of so many peafowl has made The Ancient One wonder if the goal was to eliminate the flock rather than just thin it out. In the absence of a public outcry, I guess I'll never know.

At least a few of these beloved birds remain in the neighborhood. And when they are spotted, they will continue to bring a smile to The Ancient One's face.

CCPT 2009 Season – Weekend 1

What a week it was! The final dress rehearsals and then into Carlson Park for the opening weekend of Culver City Public Theatre's (CCPT) 2009 season. A bit of drama on the opening day when there were problems getting power for the sound system. Finally, everything was up and running 20 minutes before "curtain."

The weekend opened with the CCPT Children's Popcorn Theatre production of Aunt Fondeen and the Lost Dutchman Goldmine (written by Heidi Dotson, a CCPT member of several years. The audience loved it both days. Only 2 pictures are offered here (with apologies to all cast members not pictured).

Harold (Stefan Tabencki) and Aunt Fondeen (Osa Danam) riding off in Betsy Hacklebarney

Crazy Walt (Kamel Dickinson) and P. Pierpoint Ragright (Josh Gren)

The main stage production of Kaufman and Hart's You Can't Take It With You, directed by John Glass followed. It also was greeted by an appreciative audience that was entertained by both the antics on the stage and the special effects emanating from back stage. Since The Ancient One was in the cast, Milton Chen graciously agreed to take pictures, 2 of which follow (with a plan to bring forth more at a later date).

Grandpa (The Ancient One) with Ed (John Glass) and Essie Hilary Chen) Carmichael

Penny (Donna Donnelly), Tony (Kenny Seliger), Mr. De Pinna (J.T. Moye) and Grandpa

All in all it was a truly wonderful weekend with a combined audience of about 240. Now on to the rest of the season. And, of course, a shameless plug: Information can be found at www.ccpt.org .