Scene4 Magazine | the readers blog

A Libretto Is Written

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:39:38 -0500

I think that it is generous to give the examples of the writing in progress rather than an abstract set of illusions. This is very satisfying it its detail.
Grace Cavalieri
read Karren Alenier's article

Thank you, Michael

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:11:56 -0500

Your comments about what it feels like to be an "unknown playwright" hit home. I've been lucky to have three of my plays done here in Denver, Colorado, but two of them are readings, and the group that is working on "new scripts" here is now committed to doing only readings, and it is very unsatisfying to me as the author. I know what it sounds like; I want to see what it LOOKS like! The feedback that one gets from a reading is valuable, but a play is so much more than the sound of a script; it's what motivates the characters to do the role, it's what the real sounds and sights are. I must get together with this group in Tennessee to see if they are remotely interested. Thank you for being on my side of the fence, even if we're often standing in something in this particular field that we're, well, standing in. Thank you.
Gary Webster
read Michael Bettencourt's article

Link to Playwrights Forum?

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:38:14 -0500

Michael Bettencourt great article! It's great when people take a chance and bring your work to life. I'd like to read your Emma Goldman piece or better yet see it. Is there a link to this mysterious risk-taking playwrights forum?
Conan Moats
read Michael Bettencourt's article

The Art of Cooking?

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:21:34 -0500

To answer your questions - Cooking is about sex, and cooking and sex are about religion and religion is about cooking and as a great religious leader said once: "All life is a paté. Come up and see me some time."
Arthur Meiselman
read Arthur Meiselman's article

Leatherheads

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:14:10 -0500

Dear Mr. Merkis, Thank you for your comment on my review of "Leatherheads." I find it very gratifying that in general you find my reviews among the best articles in Scene4 . And I certainly don't expect you or anyone else to agree with everything (or anything) I say about any given movie. When you say, however, that I'm "off-sides" in my review of "Leatherheads," and then attribute to me statements that are very different from what I actually said, I'm mystified. By defending George Clooney's abilities as a comic actor, you seem to be claiming that I denigrated them. This is what I said: "As the likable con man aptly named Dodge, Clooney is far and away the most compelling reason to see `Leatherheads.'" I also compare him to Clark Gable and Cary Grant. I did find his direction wanting in some of the football scenes, but I had nothing but admiration for his acting, and expressed nothing but admiration. It's true I liked Renee Zellweger's performance more than you did. Nevertheless, when I say that she should stop scrunching up her face so much, I may be a little closer to your opinion of Zellweger than you suggest.
Miles David Moore
read Miles David Moore's article

Jigging and Reeling

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:21:17 -0500

Michael Bettancourt's comments on his aches and pains learning to dance the Irish jig and reel, kicked off a wonderful memory for me. A few years ago at Trinity University in Dublin, Ireland, where my partner, Daystar, was the keynote speaker for the 23rd annual American Indian Workshop and Conference, we took a break from the conference to witness Irish dancing; the real thing not the Broadway pizzazz version. When I asked a security guard where we could find Irish dancing at its best, he pointed across the river to a pub. There, he said, we'd experience unadulterated Irish dancing - "come hell or high water". He was right on target. We experienced first class, full-fledged Irish dancing in a pub setting; turned upside down by an exhibition of splendid, young female dancers from the Irish School of Dancing, ranging in age from about 8 years old into their teens. Their unexpected arrival at the pub, along with their guardians and parents, turned the joint around. The transformation was immediate and complete. Beer drinkers slapped down their mugs. Hitting the tables was a signal to shut up and be quiet. Everyone's faces suddenly lifted with pride and joy. Even the rock band on stage sat silent and respectful, their hands on their laps, like choir boys on their best behavior - ready to break into the jig and reel. For they were about to turn their instruments into the great cause of Irish independence, at least that was the way I saw it; and they achieved their goal with inevitable discipline and dignity. Seated as we were, close to the stage, we were in the thick of it, amazed. The cultural dynamic of transcending the site of a beer hall into a highly respectful display of traditional Irish dancing was loaded with inherent drama. The young dancers were the real McCoy. When they arrived dressed in splendid green taffeta, lavish curls spilling and bouncing around their faces with abandon, they brought on the guardian spirits of lo and behold. The girls danced their hearts out, and, as the poet said, captured our hearts in their hands. Their youth, discipline, maturity of purpose, and, above all else, their joy in dancing, captivated the crowd. I asked a neighbor at our table why, in Irish dancing, the girl's hands are held so stiff at their sides, while their feet continuously move with incredible rhythm and bounce. He said that when the British occupied Ireland, they shut down Irish dancing, Bar maids behind the counter learned to keep their hands stiff at their sides, while their feet moved silently to the rhythm of the Irish jig and reel. Now that particular protest sounds like a tall story, but I'm willing to believe it. Here, in the great democracy of shared low down repressed experiences, the diehard representatives of the American government in the 19th and 20th centuries shut down Indian dancing. In their eyes, and with their weapons first hand, these iron hard defenders of cultural dominance thought of Indian dancing as a display of barbarism decisively to be dealt with. Well, the British failed, and so did the fistful of Americans. To everyone's surprise, what resulted from these viciously repressed indigenous dances turned out to be a blessing for all us - without disguise. Moral: If you are willing to dance under the table for a shared sense of humanity, do it with everything you've got. There may be no second chances.
Ned Bobkoff
read Michael Bettencourt's article

Leatherheads

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:39:58 -0500

I like Miles Moore's reviews very much, some of the best articles published in Scene4. But with this one I think he's off-base, or should I say off-sides. Clooney has really grown as an actor and his comedy skills are outstanding, they carry the movie. It's Renee Zellweger that let's it all down. She has the timing of one of those punch doll toys, up and back, side to side and no stops in between. She just cannot be funny. And if she ever stops squinting into the camera, we might find out one day if she has eyes and not glassy little marbles.
Don Merkis
read Miles David Moore's article

The Art of Cooking

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:28:19 -0500

Is this about sex? Or is this your take on religion in the 21st century? It's certainly not about cooking, is it?
Nina (needs to know)
read Arthur Meiselman's article

Jigging and Reeling

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:20:51 -0500

I jig, I reel, I write. We are two of a kind. Don't ask what kind.
Maureen-a colleen
read Michael Bettencourt's article

Jigging and Reeling

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:51:22 -0500

As a writer, I have always found that parallel art activity provides a stimulating expansion to my work and offers much comfort and respect to what you call, "muses." I am especially fond of dance and even at my age (which I shall not reveal if only to say that it is advanced), I continue to explore ballet. I hope you will too.
Anee S. Waterson
read Michael Bettencourt's article

Greek Art and Art

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:33:57 -0500

Thank you for writing about the exhibit at the Belgravia. This is such a lovely sampling of such wonderful painting. I wish that Scene4 would publish more about the art world and especially about representational art. It does indeed thrive amidst the preponderance of that which passes for modern art.
Anee S. Waterson
read Andrea Kapsaski's article

Jigging and Reeling

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:22:33 -0500

Welcome to the world of heritage dancing. Why Irish dance, is this part of your heritage?
Mac
read Michael Bettencourt's article

Paris

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:18:00 -0500

Illustrious, illustrious, illustrious.
Merci, merci, merci.
P.T. Cuve
read Renate Stendhal's article

Herbie Howell Picture

Thu, 29 May 2008 17:50:22 -0500

Hi Ray, Thanks for posting an update on Herbie. I have a friend in Nashville and I sent him a copy of the Nashville Sound DVD. He said he called Shelby Singleton and asked him if he remembers Herbie. He said several people have asked him about Herbie but he doesn't remember him at all. Which makes me sad. Please e-mail me the photo of you and Herbie. Tell Herbie he has fans out there who wish he had gotten the contract back in 1969, we would love to have heard a record by him. Thank you, Susan-San Francisco-macarthurp@yahoo.com

Whatever Happened to Herbie?

Wed, 21 May 2008 12:08:18 -0500

Thanks for writing that. We just rented the film "The Nashville Sound" and were also wondering about the eventual fate of Herbie. Has feedback from your article yielded any new info? We'd be curious to know.
NH
read Les Marcott's article
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