Dave’s Gone By Interview (6/8/2013): DONALD COLLESTER

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Dave Lefkowitz interviews New Jersey-based theater critic Donald Collester

Topics include: Tony Awards, Musical Revival, New Jersey theater.

Segment originally aired June 8, 2013, as part of the Tony Awards special edition of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.

Please Note: Segments extracted from “Dave’s Gone By” may have music and other elements removed for timing and media re-posting considerations. For the full interview with all elements, please visit the audio of the complete original broadcast.

All content (c)2013 TotalTheater Productions.

More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com

Dave’s Gone By Interview (6/7/2013): BOB CUDMORE (WVTL morning show)

Dave Lefkowitz chats with Bob Cudmore on the latter’s WVTL radio morning show

Topics include: theater

Segment aired June 7, 2013 on WVTL 1570-AM’s “Coffee with Cudmore” in Amsterdam, NY.  

All content (c)2013 TotalTheater Productions

More information on Dave’s Gone By? Visit www.davesgoneby.com.

Dave’s Gone By Interview (6/1/2013): GARY U.S. BONDS & Rabbi Sol Solomon

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Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews rock-and-roll veteran Gary U.S. Bonds

Topics include: That’s My Story, Otis Redding, Elvis Presley, touring, family.

Segment originally aired June 1, 2013, as part of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.

Please Note: Segments extracted from “Dave’s Gone By” may have music and other elements removed for timing and media re-posting considerations. For the full interview with all elements, please visit the audio of the complete original broadcast.

All content (c)2013 TotalTheater Productions.

More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com
More information on Rabbi Sol Solomon: http://www.shalomdammit.com

Dave’s Gone By #425 (6/1/2013): SCHLOCKS & BONDS

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Here is the 425th episode of the long-running radio show/podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired on UNC Radio, June 1, 2013. Info: davesgoneby.com.

Featuring: Rabbi Sol Solomon chats with veteran rocker Gary U.S. Bonds. Plus: Saturday Segue (hospitals), Inside Broadway.

Host: Dave Lefkowitz
Guest: Gary U.S. Bonds

00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN
00:20:30 SATURDAY SEGUE – Hospitals
00:55:00 Sponsors
01:03:00 GUESTS: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews Gary U.S. Bonds
02:07:00 INSIDE BROADWAY
02:37:30 Friends
02:46:00 BOB DYLAN – Sooner & Later – Bonds
03:03:30 Thanks
03:04:30 DAVE GOES OUT

June 1, 2013 Playlist: “That Hospital” (00:21:00; Loudon Wainwright III). “Sister Morphine” (00:24:30; Marianne Faithfull). “Hospital Beds” (00:31:00; Florence + The Machine). “Hospitals” (00:33:00; Counting Crows). “Outside the Hospital” (00:36:00; Wild Man Fischer). “Grace Hospital” (00:40:00; Jane Siberry). “I Don’t Want to Die (in a Hospital)” (00:48:00; Conor Oberst). “Quarter to Three” (01:01:00), “New Orleans” (01:09:00), “Not Me” (01:13:00), “From a Buick 6” (01:38:30), “Soul Deep” (01:49:00) & “This Little Girl” (02:03:30; Gary U.S. Bonds). “These Arms of Mine” (01:30:30; Otis Redding). “Where are All the People?” (02:42:30; Chaplin – The Musical w/ Rob McClure). “We Better Talk this Over” (02:46:30), “Bob Dylan’s New Orleans Rag” (02:51:00) & “I Wanna Be Your Lover” (02:57:00; Bob Dylan). “Sign Language” (02:54:00; Eric Clapton & Bob Dylan). “Finish Line” (03:09:00; Lou Reed).

Gary US Bonds
Rabbi Sol Solomon
hospital

Dave’s Gone By Skit: RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #68 (5/26/2013): Angelina Jolie

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RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #68 (5/26/2013): Angelia Jolie

Aired May 26, 2013 on Dave’s Gone By. Youtube clip: http://youtu.be/0hEA-xui9ds

Shalom Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon with a Rabbinical Reflection for the week of May 26th, 2013.

I don’t know about you, but I already miss Angelina Jolie’s boobs. They were great. They were firm, they were bouncy, there were two of them. They added to the stunning persona that was this fascinating, unstable but smokin’-hot actress. It was a sad day indeed when Ms. Jolie went under the knife to discard her dumplings.

Why did she do this – especially at a time when so many actresses are getting boob lifts and tucks and inflations and lactations? Hollywood always wants to be doing something to a woman’s boobs. Well, so do I, but at least I’m not surgically tampering with HaShem’s natural gifts. I presume, indeed I hope, that plastic surgery has become as safe as crossing the street. Still, I would think twice before running across Queens Boulevard; so you’d hope women would think three times before turning their silver-dollar pancakes into Egg McStuffins.

But back to Miss Angelina. She elected to have a double mastectomy as a preventative measure. Her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was in her mid-40s, and she lived only ten more years after that. Genetic testing proved that Jolie had a 50/50 shot of getting the same thing. So, rather than play cushion roulette, Brad Pitt’s wife went under the knife.

I admit, I’m ambivalent about this choice. Of course, it’s her body, she can do what she wants with it. I know what I’d do with her body. I know what I’d do with my body – take it down to a pawnshop and trade it in for a 20-year-old athlete’s with a working prostate. And let’s remember that Angelina Jolie has about – what, 314 kids? If she dies young, most of those children would become triple orphans. That’s a heavy thing to lay on a child, even if they’re from some brown country we don’t really care about.

But I don’t know, there’s proactive medicine, and then there’s jumping the gunboats. What would have been the harm of waiting until the first hints of cancer showed up in one hooter? Early detection, aggressive response – yes. But do you really jettison the jugs when they’re still healthy? Last month in Boston, it would have been nice if the FBI had caught the Tsarnaev brothers before they set down their knapsacks, but cancelling the Marathon on a hunch isn’t the answer, either. If I’ve got sour cream in the fridge that expires next Friday, I don’t throw it out today because I know in a month it’ll taste like New Jersey.

Again, Angelina Jolie made a personal decision that she felt was right for her medical profile. It’s not a proclamation that every woman with a headcold should go under the melon baller. After all, too many tug-happy dentists pull wisdom teeth that still have some wisdom in `em. How wise is that? I say this, because Ms. Jolie apparently has a 30 percent chance of getting ovarian cancer. So, what is she doing? That’s right, she’s yanking those out, too. Go figure, the one woman in America who doesn’t have to lose weight is gonna walk around weighing 30 pounds.

If this all pays off and she lives to 90, I’ll be the first one to doff my cap to her. Heaven knows, I’ve doffed my pants to her often enough. And we should be grateful to Angelina Jolie for her openness, for braving media scrutiny, and for showing the world her sweater-fillers many times before they wound up in a jar. In fact, if there’s a lesson to be learned from this actress’s actions, it’s that women: you only get young, nubile bodies one time in your life; show them off! Girls, go wild! Try that nude beach! Flash those construction workers! Wives, take the indiscreet cellphone pictures and tweet them to those curious 14 year olds.

If you’re an actress, do the nude scene, even if it’s not integral to the character. Showing your tits IS redeeming social value. Ladies, I know this because I’m a Rabbi. Trust me.

This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches in Great Neck, NY.

(c) 2013 TotalTheater. All rights reserved.

–> https://davesgoneby.net/?p=28968

Dave’s Gone By Interview (5/25/2013): DANNY ABOSCH & SUSAN DILALLO & Rabbi Sol Solomon

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Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews “Fancy Nancy” theater composers Danny Abosch & Susan DiLallo

Topics include: musical theater, NYU, Fancy Nancy – The Musical.

Segment originally aired May 25, 2013, as part of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.

Please Note: Segments extracted from “Dave’s Gone By” may have music and other elements removed for timing and media re-posting considerations. For the full interview with all elements, please visit the audio of the complete original broadcast.

All content (c)2013 TotalTheater Productions.

More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com
More information on Rabbi Sol Solomon: http://www.shalomdammit.com

Danny Abosch
Susan DiLallo

Dave’s Gone By #424 (5/25/2013): PLAIN & FANCY

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Here is the 424th episode of the long-running radio show/podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired on UNC Radio, May 25, 2013. Info: davesgoneby.com.

Featuring: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews Susan DiLallo and Danny Abosch, authors of Fancy Nancy – The Musical. Plus: Inside Broadway, Bob Dylan – Sooner & Later (twisters), Saturday Segues (The Doors, fancy things), and Rabbi Sol on Angelina Jolie.

Host: Dave Lefkowitz

Guests: musical-theater writers Danny Abosch & Susan DiLallo

00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN
00:04:00 SATURDAY SEGUE – Fancy
00:40:30 INSIDE BROADWAY
01:13:00 GUESTS: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews Danny Abosch & Susan DiLallo
01:50:00 Sponsors, Weather & upcoming guests
01:58:00 BOB DYLAN – Sooner & Later (Twisters)
02:30:00 RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #68 (Angelina Jolie)
02:37:00 DAVE SAYS BYE – Ray Manzarek of The Doors
03:00:00 Thanks & Friends
03:05:00 DAVE GOES OUT

May 25, 2013 Playlist: “Fancy” (00:04:30; The Kinks). “Warm Love” (00:06:30; Van Morrison). “Oh, Lonesome Me” (00:10:00; Neil Young). “Fancy Funeral” (00:13:30; Lucinda Williams). “Fancy Definitions” (00:18:00; Benny Bell). “Rocky Raccoon” (00:20:30; The Beatles). “The Ballad of Mack the Knife” (00:24:00; The Threepenny Opera, 1954 off-Broadway cast w/ Gerald Price). “Ironbound/Fancy Poultry” (00:27:30; Suzanne Vega). “Dunford’s Fancy” (00:33:30; The Waterboys). “The Soul of a Man” (01:01:00; Kinky Boots, 2013 Broadway cast w/ Stark Sands). “Anyone Can be Fancy” (01:10:00), “You’ll Always Feel Much Better After Tea” (01:19:30), “Shark Rap” (01:24:00); “You’ll Always Be My Star” (01:34:30) & “A Fancier Place” (01:47:00; Fancy Nancy – The Musical 2012 off-Broadway cast). “Jokerman” (01:59:30), “Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie” (02:06:00), “Thunder on the Mountain” (02:13:00) & “Shelter from the Storm” (02:19:00; “Hard Rain” live version; Bob Dylan). “Break on Through” (02:35:00), “Unhappy Girl” (02:46:00), “You Make Me Real” (02:47:30), “Waiting for the Sun” (02:50:30), “Blue Sunday” (02:54:30), “Take it as it Comes” (02:56:30) & “Light My Fire” (03:09:00; The Doors).

Susan DiLallo
Danny Abosch
Ray Manzarek
Angelina Jolie
Rabbi Sol Solomon

Dave’s Gone By Skit: RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #67 (5/19/2013): Tax Evasion

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RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #67 (5/19/2013): Tax Evasion

Aired May 18, 2013 on Dave’s Gone By.  Youtube clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmZ2gCJc0ro

Shalom Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon with a Rabbinical Reflection for the week of May 19th, 2013.

Okay, everybody reading or hearing this: raise your hands if you like Adolf Hitler. Okay, now, raise your hands if you like leukemia. Fine, Fine. Now, raise your hands if you like the Internal Revenue Service.

I am guessing that not one hand went up for all three of those plagues upon the universe. Hitler’s dead, and leukemia comes from God, but the IRS . . . That is a man-made horror that, like so many government programs, began as a good little fish, then ballooned into a whale, and eventually morphed into a poison octopus.

Nobody likes paying taxes, but intelligent people who don’t throw tea over the sides of boats realize that roads, bridges, schools, police, parks, community groups and concert halls are made possible, in part, by the chunk of money Uncle Sam takes out of our paychecks. Now, old Uncle Shmuel may take a lot more than he needs, and spend a ton more than he should, but most of us understand the need for a reasonable taxation with representation.

What we don’t want is to be hounded, or audited, or visited by white men in black suits with affidavits in one hand and padlocks I n the other. What we also don’t want is for the IRS to play favorites. When a billionaire fills his return with enough loopholes to fit a dozen city buses, this is bothersome. When the working poor break their backs for companies that break the bank – and then get tax breaks, something’s broken. And when charities and non-profits and religious institutions come pleading for special cuts, they damn well better make the cut.

So for the past couple of years, the IRS has been targeting certain organizations that asked for tax breaks but may not have been exemplary examples for exemption. Unfortunately, the groups Uncle Shmuel went after tended to be right-wing, conservative, tea-party lobbyists. When names would crop up like “Patriot” or “Constitution” or “Basement Stockpiled with Canned Meat,” the IRS would look extra hard at their requests and returns.

This, of course, is not right. In a country where all men are created equal – and some of the women, too, if they wear jeans – all tax-paying citizens should be treated equal . . . ly. I don’t know about you, but I want the flag-waving, gun-carrying, Sarah Palin Fan Club scrutinized extra-carefully. However, it’s only fair that the solar-paneled, vegan, hemp smoking, Arianna Huffington Fan Club be vetted with the same vigilance.

Almost every western religion follows a variation on the same creed: Do Unto Others. In America, we pay dues unto others, and we should expect the government to give us our due, even when we’re dunned. Just the way a black guy shouldn’t have to be more, or less, worried about the cop car driving behind him than a white guy, and just the way a young male Muslim getting on an airplane shouldn’t have to endure anything more involved than a screening, a wanding, a pat-down, a dog sniff, a full cavity search and three dunks on a waterboard, so it is that a 501c4 group trying to put prayer in schools should get the same treatment as a group trying to keep guns out of schools.

Having said all this, I do have to make a full-disclosure and say that my synagogue, Temple Sons of Bitches, does not pay taxes. Not only are we a religious institution, but we’re so poor, we start the Sabbath on Thursday afternoon just as an excuse to shut the lights off. We’re so poor, we had to sell our Torah and use a kindle. We’re so poor, on Purim we dress up as tramps and the homeless; the rest of the year, we dress worse.

Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating but shhhhh! Don’t tell the IRS. And I won’t tell them about your questionable deductions and second set of books. See? That’s how this country should work: everyone gets away with the same percentage of fraud. God bless America, and God help the IRS.

This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches in Great Neck, NY.

(c) 2013 TotalTheater. All rights reserved.

–> https://davesgoneby.net/?p=28973

Dave’s Gone By Interview (5/18/2013): ARTHUR BICKNELL

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Dave Lefkowitz interviews “Moose Murders” playwright Arthur Bicknell

Topics include: Moose Murders, theater.

Segment originally aired May 18, 2013, as part of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.

Please Note: Segments extracted from “Dave’s Gone By” may have music and other elements removed for timing and media re-posting considerations. For the full interview with all elements, please visit the audio of the complete original broadcast.

All content (c)2013 TotalTheater Productions.

More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com

Dave’s Gone By #423 (5/18/2013): STYLING MOOSE

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Here is the 423rd episode of the long-running radio show/podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired on UNC Radio, May 18, 2013. Info: davesgoneby.com.

Featuring an interview with Moose Murders playwright Arthur Bicknell. Plus: Inside Broadway. Bob Dylan – Sooner & Later (the office) and a Saturday Segue (flops).

Host: Dave Lefkowitz

Guests: playwright Arthur Bicknell, Dave’s wife Joyce

00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN w/ Joyce
00:05:00 DAVE GOES OFF: Snarky Guy
01:10:00 GUEST: Arthur Bicknell
01:57:30 Sponsors
02:02:30 INSIDE BROADWAY
02:32:00 RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #67 (5/19/13): Tax Evasion
02:49:00 BOB DYLAN – Sooner & Later (the office)
03:21:00 Weather & Friends
03:25:30 The Archives w/ Joyce
03:32:00 DAVE GOES OUT

May 18, 2013 Playlist: “Floppy Boot Stomp” (00:43:30; Captain Beefheart). “Flip Flop and Fly” (00:47:30; Big Joe Turner). “Making Flippy Floppy” (00:50:00; Talking Heads). “Queen Bitch” (00:56:00; David Bowie). “I Want to Boogie with You” (00:59:00; Lou Reed). “Opening Night” (01:03:00; The Producers, 2001 Broadway cast). “How are You” (02:29:30; Nellie McKay). “Summer Days” (02:52:00), “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again” ({alternate version}; 02:56:30) & “I Shall Be Free” ({Witmark version}; 03:13:30; Bob Dylan). “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” (03:02:30; Phranc). “Percy’s Song” (03:07:00; Fairport Convention).

Mount McKinley
Arthur Bicknell
IRS label
Kevin Williamson