Jewish History & Culture
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The Dream is Over (Dreamworks)
According to reports in various newspapers last week, NBC-Universal is contemplating acquiring DreamWorks’ live-action feature-film division, or as it used to be called, their movie studio. Regardless of whether the acquisition is consummated, it reflects a sad truth: Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen’s dream of creating a modern major studio has failed. When […]
A Well Lit Place (Steve Wasserman and the LA Times Sunday Book Review)
How does one create a literary community in Los Angeles? It is true that on any given night, there are readings, slams and events at bookstores, bars and auditoriums all over town. Yet rarely does this coalesce into a sense of community, a literary life in Los Angeles. Steve Wasserman, who is leaving the L.A. […]
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"History Happens" (David Hare's "Stuff Happens")
After the intermission, the lights start to dim. A lone woman is on stage. She waits for the audience to settle in. She is well dressed, well groomed. She begins: “For the Palestinians, there is no other context. We see everything in the context of Palestine.†In the June 26 Los Angeles Times’ Art Notes, […]
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Heart to Hart
A few weeks ago, the Geffen Playhouse showcased a memorable special event: “Here’s to Life,†Kitty Carlisle Hart’s cabaret-style one-woman show, accompanied by her musical director, David Lewis. Hart, 94, performed for a little over an hour, reminiscing and singing songs from some of her late friends such as Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, […]
"Old Lessons Never Die" (Abby Mann's "Judgment" in Long Beach) 6-17-05
If, as the bard wrote, “All the world’s a stage,” then let me direct you to a current production that, though seeming of another time, and another era, and based on a film more than 40 years old, offers enduring truths that seem particularly relevant to current events. “Judgment At Nuremberg” Abby Mann’s courtroom drama […]
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Agents of Charity (Jewish Family Service Gala honoring Kurtzman, Lonner, Kurtzman)
As I write this The Jewish Family Service (JFS) of Los Angeles’ annual gala to be held on June 1, 2005 is a few days away. The honorees are CAA agent Rick Kurtzman; his brother, Fox business affairs executive Howard Kurtzman; and their brother-in-law, William Morris Agent David Lonner (married to their sister Janet). JFS […]
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