LOOK

look
around
look
outside
look
within.

look
above                      
look
below
look
ahead.

look
at others
look
at yourself
look
to your heart.
-dg

Shows with Icons

I recently attended a show at the new Valley Performing Arts Center in Northridge, a great hi-tech, state-of-the-art building that the San Fernando Valley has been eagerly anticipating for many years. Yes, there's Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, but that's quite a ways out. So bravo to this new venue and its proximity to Valley residents.
I saw An Evening with Shirley MacLaine at this venue on May 6, and as much as I adore MacLaine, I couldn't help but realize that the woman could sit and read the phone book and she would have fans hanging on every word she said. She looks great at 77, still has a wonderful sense of humor and is as down-to-earth as all get out. Nothing has changed about her. Thank God, for we need intelligent spokespeople like her and Jane Fonda, who are first and foremost accessible to us and then go out there and struggle tirelessly to make the world a better place.
There were many slides and film clips of MacLaine's personal as well as movie/television career and a few choice comments about old Hollywood and its legendary stars like Elizabeth Taylor or Bette Davis or Clint Eastwood, and of course some metaphysical talk as well as Democrat/Republican remarks involving the lady's politics. But it didn't matter because Shirley MacLaine is a true icon and is pleasurable to listen to. It's as if we were sitting in her living room, sharing her life with her, and everyone had a good time. The two+ hour show included questions from the crowd which were innumerable and which MacLaine had to put a lid on after about 40 minutes. Otherwise, we would have been there all night. I love how she credits her success to her discipline as a dancer, that it made her go forward and always sustained her. I especially loved her comparison of life to the theatre and how we are the costumers, make-up artists, hairdressers, actors, directors and producers of our daily lives, and how it is our responsibility to give it our all. Brava!

In Honor of Diva Dona

My guest blogger Dona Eduardo Gregorio is receiving much attention these days. Visit her:

The Chronicles of Columnist Diva Dona. Go to latest reviews blog and you will find her link listed to the right.

She's quite the little international flirt!

Retro Birthday Parties in Black and White

Here's the party below in black and white. Might make an interesting TV screenplay!

Birthday Parties

I think I'll write a novel and title it Me and Stan's Friends. What an assortment of characters! I love them all!!

Hoorah for Seniors!!!

Who had the unmitigated gall to remark that seniors are dispensable?

“They’re too old to understand or appreciate what’s out there” is a frequent complaint from those obviously out of touch with reality. The government makes budget cuts, denying them benefits, because they consider them at the far edge of the productive work force. This is hardly true, as seniors give back more to society than anyone else.  Entertainers, painters, writers, chefs and other artists just get better with age. It is difficult to imagine any field where a senior would not fit in successfully. OK, they may not be able to build a bridge or run a marathon, but most professional careers that require depth of expression and wisdom will be blessed to boast of senior participation.

Let’s look at the world of entertainment and celebrity seniors. Grandma Moses, Anna Mary Robertson was a self-taught painter and did not become famous until her late 80s. Imagine Christmas books without her beautiful outdoor wintry scenes! Tony Bennett, who sings better than ever in his 80s, puts out a CD that becomes an instant best-seller and does a TV special that soars in the Nielsen ratings. What about actress/author Shirley MacLaine? In her 70s she still makes films and is acting at the top of her form in a plethora of feisty character roles. In In Her Shoes, her sparkling performance as the grandmother stole the movie right from under Cameron Diaz’ and Toni Collette’s noses. And what about Cloris Leachman, who attempted dancing in her 80s on TV’s Dancing with the Stars? Let's not forget Betty White, still beautiful at almost 90. She's knocking 'em dead in Hot in Cleveland, where she now gets to spout out gutsy one-liners like Golden Girl Sophia! If she’s not a model for seniors to live up to, I don’t know who is!

The list of senior contributions to our society goes on and on. Lesser known seniors are also getting a lot of attention in the media. My 75 year-old neighbor was recently commended for rescuing his granddaughter’s kitten. He did not call the fire department, but got a ladder, climbed up the tree to the branch where the kitty was cowering, grabbed hold of it and then backed down slowly with the precious furry creature in tow. He’s a hero, not only in his grandchild’s eyes, but with the entire town. He accomplished more in that one act than a dozen men half his age. My 96 year-old grandmother did the unthinkable. She went bowling for the first time in her life and helped win a major tournament for the members of her senior residence. What a sport!

Seniors do not deserve the bad rap they are getting. Their enthusiasm for life, and just plain stamina and courage in tackling the obstacles of the everyday world put them up on a pedestal for everyone to admire. Oh...and in the love department? - they've still got the stuff!

Don Visits Firehouse 61

(photo credit: Angela George) Sandra Cusimono, moi and Stan Mazin at the Whitefire to see Firehouse, Pedro Antonio Garcia's play about the horrors of racism.
The topical issues of a play are always inspiring. I think I should continue with an old idea of writing a fictionalized version of my great-grandfather working for the railroad in New England. Adventure, intrigue...who knows where that could lead?