Dave Lefkowitz interviews New York Post theater journalist Michael Riedel
Topics include: theater, Broadway, 2011 Tony Award nominations, New York Post.
Segment originally aired June 11, 2011 as part of the 2011 Tony Award Special of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.
SORRY! Technical difficulties added slight audio hiccups to some of the interviews in this episode.
Please Note: Interview 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: Full Episode
All content (c)2011 TotalTheater Productions.
More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com
Click above to listen to the episode (audio only).
Here is the 355th episode–our annual Broadway Tony Awards special–of the long-running radio show/podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired on UNC Radio, June 11, 2011. info: davesgoneby.com.
Host: Dave Lefkowitz Guests: Jonathan Abarbanel (theater critic, WBEZ Radio), John Ekeberg (programming & operations director, Denver Center Attractions), Leslie (Hoban) Blake (vice president, Drama Desk), Rosalind Friedman (theater critic, WMNR adio), Eric Grode (critic, New York Times), Brian Scott Lipton (editor, TheaterMania.com), Michael Portantiere (columnist, BroadwayStars.com), Michael Riedel (columnist, New York Post), Simon Saltzman (president, Outer Critics Circle), Richmond Shepard (producer), David Sheward (editor, BackStage). Bonus Guest: Paul Williams (composer, recorded June 2010).
Featuring: Dave celebrates the Tony Awards with NYC theater critics making picks and predictions on the 7th Annual TotalTheater Tony show. Plus: Chicago critic Jonathan Abarbanel, The Denver Center’s John Ekeberg,Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection on the Tonys, and a chat with composer Paul Williams.
Note: Technical difficulties added slight audio hiccups and truncated the recorded versions of interviews with Leslie (Hoban) Blake and Jeff Goodman. Apologies!
00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN 00:03:00 GUEST: Michael Riedel 00:34:00 GUEST: Eric Grode 00:52:30 DAVE: Sponsors & Quiz, part one 00:57:30 GUEST: Brian Scott Lipton 01:18:00 GUEST: John Ekeberg 01:39:00 GUEST: Simon Saltzman 01:52:30 GUEST: Rosalind Friedman 02:05:00 GUEST: Jonathan Abarbanel 02:21:30 GUEST: Michael Portantiere 02:36:30 GUEST: Richmond Shepard 02:51:30 Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection #17: the 2011 Tony Awards 02:59:00 GUEST: David Sheward 03:20:00 Quiz, part two 03:26:30 Dave – post-show message 03:30:30 GUEST: Leslie (Hoban) Blake 03:42:30 GUEST: Jeff Goodman 03:49:00 Quiz, part three 00:25:30 DAVE GOES OUT 03:56:30 BONUS GUEST: Paul Williams (2010)
June 11, 2011 Playlist: (part one) “Overture” (00:00:02) & “The Company Way” (02:03:00) & “Exit Music” (03:54:30; How to Succeed in Business…, 2010 Bway cast), “Southern Days” (00:30:00) & “It’s Gonna Take Time” (02:08:30; The Scottsboro Boys, 2010 off-Bway cast); “Hello” (00:46:30) & “Turn it Off” (03:23:30; The Book of Mormon, 2011 Bway cast), “Finishing the Hat” (00:50:00; Sunday in the Park with George, 1984 Bway cast), “Thoroughly Modern Millie” (01:14:30; Thoroughly Modern Millie, 2002 Bway cast). “Mad Tea Party” (01:32:00) & “Home” (02:47:30; Wonderland, 2011 Bway cast); “Tonight’s the Night” (01:33:00; Crazy for You, 1992 Bway cast); “Now I Have Everything” (01:34:30; Fiddler on the Roof, 1964 Bway cast); “Someday” (01:36:30; Memphis, 2010 Bway cast); “By the Sea” (01:48:30; Sweeney Todd, 1979 Bway cast); “If This isn’t Love” (02:19:00; Finian’s Rainbow, 1947 Bway cast); “It’s De-lovely” (02:33:00; Anything Goes, 1962 off-Bway cast); “The Song that Goes Like This” (03:16:00; Spamalot, 2005 Bway cast).
Jonathan AbarbanelLeslie (Hoban) BlakeJohn EkebergRosalind FriedmanEric GrodeBrian Scott LiptonMichael PortantiereJeff GoodmanMichael RiedelSimon SaltzmanRichmond ShepardDavid ShewardPaul WilliamsRabbi Sol Solomon
RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #16 (5/14/2011): Israel’s Birthday
(Aired May 14, 2011 on Dave’s Gone By. Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8SWeaSKKVY)
Shalom, Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon, with a Rabbinical Reflection for the week of May 14th, 2011.
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Israel –
You adorable 63-year-old country, you –
You-bastion-of-democracy-in-the-middle-of-Muslim-lunatics, you –
You military marvel even though you’re surrounded by enemies always attacking you, you –
Happy birthday to you!
This past Tuesday, May 10th, marked the Israeli holiday of Yom Ha’atzma’ut – Independence Day! The day back in 1948 that Israel told the United Kingdom, “Thanks for looking after the place for a few years. But, really, it’s time for you to go. We’re a big little country; we can take care of ourselves.”
And do that they have. From the minute Israel booted out the English protectorate, the Arabs attacked. They attacked in 1948, they attacked in 1956, they attacked in 1967, they attacked in 1973 – on Yom Kippur, yet. In 1978, PLO terrorists kept attacking, so in 1982, we attacked. Was nice for a change.
Each time, with the admitted help of American money and missiles, Israel kicked tuchas. All the while, we built schools, farms, hotels, theaters, falafel stands, high-class brothels – don’t ask me how I know about that last one.
Despite having to dump six percent of its gross national product into the military every year, Israel thrives. Despite Jihad rockets launched into Gaza, and threats from charming neighbors like Syria, Lebanon, Libya and Iran, Israel thrives. Despite occasional rotten oranges, like that former Israeli president who raped a girl – (please, Israeli women are loose enough, you don’t have to go raping them. Don’t ask me how I know about that) – despite all that, Israel thrives.
So now we hear that Hamas, the Palestinian party that governs the Gaza strip, has made peace with its old enemy, Fatah, the reincarnated version of the PLO. What kind of names are those anyway? Sounds like you’re coughing up phlegm: Chhhhamas.. F’tah!
For years, these two organizations did what most Arabs have tended to do: hate and kill each other. Ahh, the good old days! But now they’ve made peace…not with Israel, but among themselves, so they can gang up in Israel. Isn’t diplomacy wonderful?
In fact, it works so well that America’s chief envoy to the middle east just resigned. He gave up. After two years of begging for a two-state solution, from a two-terrorist problem. Now, since the death of Yasser Arafat – who should rot in gehenna with scorpions laying eggs in his anus – Fatah has appeared more moderate. Leader Mahmoud Abbas gave indications he might actually work with Israel and the United States to make something decent happen.
But now he’s joined forces with Hamas, aka the Islamic Resistance Movement, aka the kinds of people who think 9/11 was a lucky number. These are the Jihadists, the suicide bombers, the type of folks who could watch an entire episode of Family Guy without one giggle. In other words, terrorist scum.
But hey, Israel has negotiated with bloodthirsty mongrels before. We just wear gloves.
All it would take this time is for Hamas to say two little words: Israel Exists. That’s it. Acknowledge to the world that Israel is a sovereign country that has a right to be exactly where it is. You wanna have a laugh? Go look on google for maps of the Middle East. Do it. I’ll wait.
Okay, if you get a regular website run by normal people, you see little Israel and the rest of the Arab world. Now check ANY Arab-run website. The same map will not even have the name “Israel” on it. It’s either blank or called Palestine. It’s not Palestine, you Bedouin schmucks, it’s Israel – live with it. So we can finally live with you.
You know, I hate Germany. Germany turned a bunch of my ancestors into fertilizer. But I don’t look at a map of Western Europe and go, “Hey, what’s that blue thing between Poland and Belgium? Maybe if I close my eyes, it will go away. Ohhp, no.. still there.”
Israel will talk about two states, the west bank, the Golan Heights – all the land we won fair and square in the Six Day War. We will even listen to ideas about carving up Jerusalem – we’ll listen, doesn’t mean we’ll do it.
But nothing happens – just as it hasn’t happened in 63 years – nothing happens until all the Arabs admit that we are here and here to stay.
Happy Birthday, Israel! Yes, we’re going to a party-party. Just not the Hamas-Fatah party.
This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches.
Dave Lefkowitz interviews satirical comedian Mark Russell
Topics include: politics, comedy.
Segment originally aired May 14, 2011 as part of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.
Please Note: Interview 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: Full Episode
All content (c)2011 TotalTheater Productions.
More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com
Click above to listen to the episode (audio only).
Here is the 354th episode of the long-running radio show/podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired on UNC Radio, May 14, 2011. Info: davesgoneby.com.
Host: Dave Lefkowitz Guest: political satirist Mark Russell
Featuring: Dave chats with satirist Mark Russell. Plus: Inside Broadway (The Book of Mormon, Tony nominees), Bob Dylan – Sooner & Later (Italy), Saturday Segue (Italians), Etta James get-well tribute, and Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection on Israel’s birthday.
00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN 00:20:00 SATURDAY SEGUE: Italy 00:33:00 GUEST: Mark Russell 01:31:30 Bob Dylan – Sooner & Later: Italy 02:01:30 Items in the news 02:05:00 INSIDE BROADWAY (Tony nominees (02:05:00), The Book of Mormon (02:09:00) & news (02:16:30)) 02:19:00 Get Well – Etta James 02:32:30 Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection on Israel’s birthday 02:59:00 DAVE – Friends & Sponsors 03:09:00 DAVE GOES OUT
May 14, 2011 Playlist: (part one) “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” (00:10:00; Walker Brothers); “Mambo Italiano” (00:22:00; Dean Martin); “Calypso Italiano” (00:24:00; Bobby Darin); “Be Italian” (00:27:00; Nine, 2009 film soundtrack); “We Open in Venice” (00:31:00; Kiss Me, Kate, 1949 Broadway cast); Excerpt from 1976 PBS special (01:22:00; Mark Russell, youtube clip); “Tangled Up in Blue” (01:31:30), “Down the Highway” (01:37:00), “Joey” (live w/ The Grateful Dead) (01:40:30), “House Carpenter” (01:49:30) & “When I Paint My Masterpiece” (01:54:00; Bob Dylan); “These Foolish Things” (02:21:30) & “Slow and Easy” (02:25:30; Etta James), “Let’s Get Away from it All” (02:39:00; Frank Sinatra); “Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day” (02:41:00; Sam Cooke); “Fly Me to the Moon” (02:43:30; Tony Bennett); “Young at Heart” (02:47:30; Jimmy Durante); “Opus I, No. 2, 2nd Movement – Minuetto Grazioso” (02:50:00; Frank Zappa); “The Vatican Rag” (02:52:30; Tom Lehrer). (pictured: Mark Russell, Etta James, Italian flag, happy birthday Israel!)
Dave Lefkowitz interviews political pundit John Ruane
Topics include: The Wizards of Spin, Osama Bin Laden, politics.
Segment originally aired May 7, 2011 as part of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.
Please Note: Interview 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: Full Episode
All content (c)2011 TotalTheater Productions.
More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com
Dave Lefkowitz guests and discusses the 2011 Tony nominations on the WVTL FM morning show hosted by Bob Cudmore
Topics include: Broadway, Tony Awards, Book of Mormon, Rabbi Sol Solomon.
Segment originally aired on WVTL FM (Amsterdam, NY) and was re-broadcast May 7, 2011 as part of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.
Please Note: Interview 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: Full Episode
All content (c)2011 TotalTheater Productions.
More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com More information on Rabbi Sol Solomon: http://www.shalomdammit.com
Dave Lefkowitz interviews University of Northern Colorado’s The Mirror newspaper editor, Benjamin Welch
Topics include: journalism, University of Northern Colorado.
Segment originally aired May 7, 2011 as part of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.
Please Note: Interview 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: Full Episode
All content (c)2011 TotalTheater Productions.
More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com
Shalom, Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon, with a Rabbinical Reflection for the week of May 1, 2011.
Mazel tov, mazel tov – it’s over. Finally, it’s over. The biggest merger since A&P took over Waldbaums in 1986. I’m talking, of course, of the wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton, which, barring someone not forever holding their peace, happened Friday in England.
I have to say, I feel terrible. Not for the bride and groom; he’s rich, she’s hot – they’re set for life. No, I feel bad for the morning TV news shows. What will they talk about now that they have to send their cameras back across the Atlantic? How will they fill twenty minutes out of every half hour if they can’t stop English people on the street and say, “Hey, aren’t you excited?” If they’re not careful, these news programs are gonna have to resort to something drastic – like reporting news.
I know, I’m being a killjoy. But find me a Jew who isn’t!
More to the point, I do have mixed feelings about the overdose of media coverage for what is, at its core, a simple ceremony between a man and a woman. Or, if you’re in Massachusetts, a man and a man. Or if you’re in Rhode Island, a woman and a woman…which is my favorite. But turning this semi-sacred ritual into an international media circus rankles, mainly because so much pomp and circumstance and money is frittered away on a one-time event.
Pundits have said the marriage of Billy and Kate is just another distraction, a shiny bauble that hypnotizes us into briefly forgetting just how screwed we are by every corporation in the world. It’s the media saying – “Don’t look at that gas pump with five dollars a gallon on it; look at Buckingham Palace with the horses, pretty horses. What? You’re worried that your home value just depreciated another ten percent? Come watch a princess shop for a dress that’s 30 times the value of your house! Doesn’t that make you feel better?”
Now, I’m not saying there aren’t positives about the whole marital megilla. Certainly England is getting tons of tourism and free publicity, and part-time jobs for people willing to stand on street corners and hawk souvenirs that say, “He gets to bone her in the Palace, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.”
And I will also say that while the wedding is definitely a mindless distraction, it’s also happy news. How much of that do we get? Every day it’s Syria this and Democrats-versus-Republicans that, and a fire in the foothills and a serial rapist in the suburbs, and Tokyo melting down and Charlie Sheen melting down, and cancer victims throwing up and glaciers thawing out until you just wanna pack it in.
So for once, we get a big, bright, beautiful happening: a ritual that upholds tradition while giving everyone a parade and a party. Two nice young kids, the gorgeousness of London, and the old woman can die now, she has an heir – it’s all good.
So while the temptation is to be a sourpuss and go, “millions of people are homeless and starving, and these bluebloods are eating cake; the reality is, people are gonna be homeless and starving no matter what, and a few hours of nuptial noodling isn’t gonna make a farthing’s worth of difference.”
And hey, for those of you who are really jealous of the prince and princess and their billion-dollar wedding just remember: They had one of these 30 years ago – and we all know how that turned out. Let’s just hope this time, when the princess gets slammed in the tunnel, it’s only a metaphor.
This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches, in Great Neck, NY. To the happy couple, L’chaim!
Click above to listen to the episode (audio only).
Here is the 353rd episode of the long-running radio show/podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired on UNC Radio, May 7, 2011. Info: davesgoneby.com.
Host: Dave Lefkowitz Guests: editor Benjamin Welch (UNC Mirror) and author John Ruane, radio host Bob Cudmore
Featuring: Dave chats with college newspaper editor Benjamin Welch and political pundit John Ruane (“The Wizards of Spin”). Plus: Inside Broadway (news, nominations & reviews), Saturday Segue (mother songs), Bob Dylan – Sooner & Later (mothers), Dave’s appearance on WVTL’s “Coffee with Bob Cudmore,” and Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection on the death of Osama bin Laden.
00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN 00:08:00 DAVE GOES OFF – Osama 00:22:30 GUEST: Benjamin Welch 00:45:30 DAVE on “Coffee with Cudmore” w/ Bob Cudmore (WVTL-AM 1570, taped 5/3/11) 00:58:00 INSIDE BROADWAY, pt. 1 – Tony Nominations 01:14:00 BOB DYLAN – Sooner & Later (mothers) 01:40:00 GUEST: John Ruane 02:30:30 Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection – Dead! Dead! Dead! 02:40:00 INSIDE BROADWAY, pt. 2 – Obits (02:40:00) & Reviews (Potato Needs a Bath (02:52:00) & War Horse (02:55:30) 03:04:30 SATURDAY SEGUE: Mothers 03:17:30 Friends & Thank Yous 03:23:00 DAVE GOES OUT
May 7, 2011 Playlist: (part one) “Gimme Some Truth” (00:18:00; John Lennon); “Ain’t That News” (00:43:30; Tom Paxton); “Tell Me, Momma” (01:14:30), “Mama, You Been on My Mind” (w/ Joan Baez; 01:19:30), “Shake Shake Mama” (01:22:30), “Tough Mama” (01:26:00); “Call Letter Blues” (01:30:00) & “Clothes Line Saga” (01:34:30; Bob Dylan); “Turn on the News” (02:26:00; Husker Du); “Small World” (02:37:00; Gypsy 1959 Bway cast w/ Ethel Merman); “A Fact Can Be a Beautiful Thing” (02:48:00; Promises, Promises, 1968 Bway cast w/ Jerry Orbach & Marian Mercer); “Your Mother Should Know” (03:04:30; rehearsal version); “Your Mother’s Here to Stay” (03:07:30; Allan Sherman); “Mother” (03:10:00; Tiny Tim); “Mother Dear” (03:12:30; The Divine Comedy); “What Would My Mama Say” (Roger Miller; 03:24:30).
Pictured from top: John Ruane, UNC Mirror newspaper, Osama bin Laden, 2011 staff of the UNC Mirror (Dave – front row, second from left; Benjamin Welch – back row, third from right), Bob Cudmore, Tony Award, John Ruane’s “The Wizards of Spin,” War Horse, Shona Reppe in Potato Needs a Bath.
(pictured: Mark Russell, Etta James, Italian flag, happy birthday Israel!)
Pictured from top: John Ruane, UNC Mirror newspaper, Osama bin Laden, 2011 staff of the UNC Mirror (Dave – front row, second from left; Benjamin Welch – back row, third from right), Bob Cudmore, Tony Award, John Ruane’s “The Wizards of Spin,” War Horse, Shona Reppe in Potato Needs a Bath.