Charles Jarrett

Art Calms, Inspires, Delights & Motivates

December 10, 2018 by Charles Jarrett Leave a Comment

With the advent of some graffiti and new-wave street artists such as London’s Banksy, and Lisbon’s “carved-in- stone” portrait artist, Alexandre Farto, and America’s famous Roy Lichtenstein, you don’t even have to go into an art gallery, museum, or retail store to find assemblages of art that can do all of the above. It’s popping up everywhere, on shipping containers, structures, fences, and even on traffic signal utility boxes!

A couple of months ago, while driving down Crow Canyon Road in San Ramon, my wife and Istopped at the corner of San Ramon Valley Boulevard where an artist waspainting some utterly beautiful art nouveau designs on the stop signal control boxes at that corner. Attached to the protective bollard’s at each corner ofthe utility boxes was a simple paper sign that read, “San Ramon Art Work inProgress.” This prompted a discussion which continued until we again observed another strikingly attractive utility box of blazing colors and beautifuldancers at another corner. It didn’t take long to discover that there were five unique and beautiful utility boxes on Crow Canyon Road alone. Now, I seek out these beautiful little pop-up works of art wherever I drive.

I became curious as to whose idea this was, how long it had been going on and what were these communities’ plans for similar public art projects in the future. I went back to the first art project and found the artist’s name and email address onthe side of the box. It turned out that this artist’s name is Sophia Lee. I called her, and she, in turn, advised me to contact Erica Burg at the City ofSan Ramon’s Parks and Community Services for more detailed information and history about this art project.

I interviewed Sophia Lee and asked her how she found out about this art creation opportunity in San Ramon. She explained that once she got into the Public Art Network, the art commission in Redwood City hired her to paint one of that city’sutility boxes. Erika Burg then contacted the Public Art Network, asking about how she could contact similar street artists, similar to those employed by Redwood City. The woman who manages the Public Art program in Redwood City forwarded Sophia’s name to Burg.

After sending in an example of her artwork, Miss Lee secured a commission for her artwork in San Ramon and was awarded the job to paint two large electrical control boxes. She explained that the job was quite time consuming, as she was required to clean the boxes and prime them before she began painting herartwork. The job took far more hours to complete than she originally thought.

This hard-working lady has loved art and painting since she was a child in Taiwan and has become a professional artist who continues to explore her love of art. Sophia’s family left Taiwan in 1979. Her family eventually moved the United States.

Thanks to the help Sophia provided me, I was able to contact Erica Burg who is the recreation coordinator for the arts in San Ramon. She was excited to show me how this program came to fruition, and how pleased the community seems to be. Erica told me that the city has sought out members of the arts community for input and ideas and ultimately sought out individuals who might be interested in just such a project.

Out of a substantial group of applicants, five artists were chosen based upon the proposed artwork they submitted. After a lengthy consideration process, the five artists selected for this most recent program were Suzanne Gayle, Jeanett Braucher-Wolfe, Molly Keen, Sophia Lee, and Lee Burg.

I asked Erica if any of these artists were residents in any of our nearby San Ramon Valley communities and she gave me the name of a Mr. Lee Burg. With her help, I managed to contact Mr. Burg, who lives in Livermore, and met with him at his art project at the corner of Twin Creek’s Drive and Crow Canyon Road. I asked what this project has meant to him. He appreciatively explained that he has been painting and creating art his entire life. Having grown up in Pleasanton, California, he feels quite fortunate to have been so close to fine museums and other places of inspiration nearby. He says that he loves everything; from painting on canvas, to film and digital photography.

Even though he has sold a number of his works, he does not consider himself a professional, but simply an avid, passionate artist. He states that when he was in high school he learned about Pop Art and the work of famous artists such as Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. He says his passion and love of their work inspired him. He also follows the work of current famous street artists, such as Shepard Fairey and Banksy. He has acquiesced to working with a paint brush but his real passion has been in learning to spray paint his subject matter with a style of paint application that is difficult to work in.

He didn’t begin to realize how vital and valuable art was to his existence until in 2011 he suffered a major brain injury and lost feeling in his hands and legs. He was deeply concerned that he would never be able to create anything artistic ever again, but after a few years of intense therapy and slow recovery, which is still progressing, he feels much better and is now able to hold a paint brush (or spray can) again. He still has minor seizures every month and may never have 100% of his brainpower back, but in his own words “I am alive and have plenty more things to create!” And I would say, he is truly alive and living inhis art, and we, the public, are perhaps even more alive and grateful for his endeavor to overcome his disability and provide us with such a wonderful gift—art that is easily accessible.

Photographs by Charles Jarrett, Stephanie Gellepes, and Stacy Belmont.

For more information of these artists, visit their websites:

Suzanne Gayle: Suzanne@starArtsStudio.com; JeanettBraucher-Wolfe: ibwolfe50@yahoo.com; Molly Keen: mollykeenart@gmail.com; Sophia Lee: solee@barkingowls.com; and Lee Burg:leeburg86@yahoo.com.

Love… and The Truth of Right Now!

November 10, 2018 by Charles Jarrett Leave a Comment

I love books. I love to study the history of people, science, civilization and all manner of things. I especially love to explore stories that relate to military history and operations, more so to those tales related to my time in the Navy when I served in the Far East. I also love photography, art of all kinds, and the stories of individuals who have overcome great adversity to survive in our crazy world of today. Books of all kinds are essential in my quest for knowledge, and I am often spellbound as I come to the photography section in a library or bookstore.

I also love to write; to tell my stories in a way that grabs people’s attention, and in a way that engages them and leaves them seeking more. My theme this year for ALIVE is to write about the arts, and today about the art of writing. Where better to publish my stories than a beautiful, well designed magazine produced by this professional publishing company, ALIVE, headquartered in downtown Alamo.

According to Merriam-Webster, writing is considered an art if it is used creatively, with skill and imagination to create something that is beautiful and emotionally expressive. Some writing is considered fine art, including poetry. In my recent columns, I have explored how certain aspects of art have enriched life, making it more rewarding, fulfilling, and perhaps, more tolerable. Today, I will examine how a poorly conducted university class in playwriting challenged a college student to change her course of study from that of becoming an actress, to that of becoming a playwright and eventually an author of richly rewarding, fictional tales.

In September of this year, while serving as a member of the Eugene O’Neill Foundation board, I was involved with communications and photography. I was invited by the Artist-in-Residency program committee to become acquainted with and write about their current guest and artist-in-residence at the Tao house, educator, playwright and author, Kara Lee Corthron. While doing a little research before I was able to meet with her in person, I discovered that while she is a relatively young woman, she certainly is not a novice writer. Miss Corthron has already written 11 plays, a couple of which have just been produced in significant playhouses, garnering excellent reviews. Welcome to Fear City closed at the Kansas City Repertory Theater this past May, as did Listen for the Light, which closed following its world’s premier at the 99 seat Know Theater of Cincinnati. Her debut Simon and Schuster novel, The Truth of Right Now was released last year, and in one of New York City’s premier book stores, Bank Street Books, it has been declared (in September of this year) as one of their Best Books of 2018. Further, it won the Parent’s Choice Gold Award as well.

So how did this very talented lady’s journey evolve from a happy and secure little eight-year-old in Cumberland, Maryland, to a life that drastically changed (basically overnight), when her father passed away, totally unexpectedly, of an embolism in that same year? Kara Lee’s father was an accountant at a paper mill and her mother was a dedicated housewife and mother to several children. Economically, in the 1940s, Cumberland was a thriving manufacturing center with successful industries in glass, breweries, textiles, tire manufacturing, and iron and steel works. But following World War II, these traditional industries began to lose ground to newer technologies and better merchandise transportation. By the 1970s and 1980s, the economy in her home town continued in a serious financial decline. A continuing reduction of jobs in the region and her mother’s lack of money management skills became even more of an issue when her mother contracted heart disease. Eventually her mother became completely disabled. This series of terrible events drove the family into deep financial trouble and psychological despair.

In this community at that time, there were not a lot to opportunities for youngsters of African American lineage to engage in any form of the arts. Kara Leewas able to take dancing lessons and discovered that she loved to dance. Because of her talent as a dancer, she thought that maybe she could get involved in theater. She did, and it was in theater that she did not feel awkward anymore. The first theatrical show she performed in was Jesus Christ Superstar, which became a door opener for her. For the first time she felt truly secure on a path that she could live with and love.

She worked hard and with help from the family, made it to college and therein, focused on theater. She fell in love with dramatic literature and her favorite part in her theater classes came when she actually got to engage in “scene studies” from scripts. At the same time, she also began to discover that rehearsing and reading the same lines over and over in order to memorize a script and rehearsing for hours was starting to bore her. She then realized that she preferred writing and the research that goes into writing. During her last year of college, she took her first playwriting class but found it a very poorly conducted and disappointing class, with a teacher who primarily talked about writing plays but provided the students little opportunity to actually write plays. She said that during the first six months of the class, they simply talked about what they would write, and by the time the class was over, they ended up writing themselves only about ten minutes of a script. Totally frustrating! However, the frustration that she experienced from this class turned out to be good for her, because it made her challenge herself to start writing her own plays.

As I prepared for my interview, I did not have ready access to Kara Lee’s plays, so I instead purchased her novel, The Truth of Right Now. I wanted to properly prepare myself for a meaningful interview about how this writer’s love of writing evolved. As I held the book in my hand, I already knew from the publisher’s praise sheet that the story was about “a touching romance and a poignant coming-of-age story that was considered deeply in tune with the harsh realities many teenagers and young adults face today.” From sexual assault to domestic abuse, to systematic racism, Lily (a white girl) and Dari (a black boy) reveal the perils in their complicated romance with each other. While reading this story, I was able to better appreciate what it must be like to endure life while “living black.” I was so taken with this book—captivated by its realism—that I could hardly put it down, sometimes reading until late into the morning hours. Several times, tears welled up in my eyes as poignant echoes of my own life; my own trials and tribulations and disappointments with family, seemed to parallel Lily and Dari’s family life.

The Truth of Right Now is not only a great novel, but a great work of art. If you should purchase and read this fine novel, and I hope you do, there is a section (like a chapter) entitled, “A Brief Detour – The Ballad of Lily and Bobby,” that is a brilliant detour indeed, making this one of the more unique novels I have ever read.

Kara Lee explained to me that many different issues of social injustice often come up in the world today and that is what motivates her to focus on such issues in her writing. Her next book has a working title of Daughters of Jubilation, and even though she says it may be a year or more before it is published, I will look forward to its arrival.

Kara Lee came to the Eugene O’Neill Foundation’s Artist-in-Residence program to continue her research for another play, which is well on its way to publication. The working title of the new play is What Are You Worth, and is based on her discoveries about the past, present and the future of slavery in our country, which she learned while working at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati last year, where they have an entire room dedicated to slavery. It was there that she learned that there are roughly thirty million enslaved people (in one fashion or another) worldwide, including approximately sixty thousand in our own country, right now. I am looking forward to this play as well. As I am writing this article, Kara Lee has just informed me that she is now excitedly on her way to Los Angeles as she has an opportunity to work as a script-writer for the movie industry. Another door has just opened!

Perhaps it is time for you to consider writing your story. If you have questions as how to approach having your own book published, be sure to visit alivebookpublishing.com. Or better yet, email or call for a personal, confidential, free, one-on-one appointment with one of our publishing consultants! It’s all very friendly, personal and informative. Call 925-837-7303 for more info!

Credit Where Credit’s Due

October 11, 2018 by Charles Jarrett Leave a Comment

I previously wrote about the importance of volunteers in all aspects of the arts. In light of that article, I want to share with you my gratitude for one volunteer in particular: Dr. Samuel Lewis, a former Lafayette pediatrician whom I had the good fortune to meet approximately 15 years ago. He has proven over and over again how incredibly valuable a good heart can be.

Dr. Lewis saw musical theater as a wonderful activity for some of the young people who were not particularly adept at sports. As an alternative, he wanted to provide opportunities for kids to get involved in theater. Plus, he thought of theater as an amazing opportunity for an entire family to experience the enjoyment of theatrical entertainment. With many parents so committed to keeping their children in sports activities, they don’t even think about the beauty and excitement of live theater. Some parents have confessed that their child is not an athlete and did not have the co-ordination or interest in sports. Yet their child was ambitious, strong, active and alive with energy. Some love to sing and dance as well, but just cannot perform as an athlete. Some of these non-athletic kids seem to have a natural stage presence. Even those who are extremely shy and seemingly non-ambitious can learn to come alive and grow more secure in a non-competitive environment.

In the mid-80s, when Dr. Lewis’s son, Rob, was at Happy Valley School, there was a talent show in either his 3rd or 4th grade. Rob tried out and performed well, but the overall general experience was not very good. Then, three young girls came on stage and did a number from The Wiz that was truly amazing; in fact, quite spectacular. After the show, Lewis sought out and conversed with the girls’ families, asking about their training. They said they were working with “this guy called Crazy Eddie” and his Dance Company called “Crazyatrics” in Walnut Creek, which in turn, eventually became Eddie Belasco and the Belasco Theater Company.

After Lewis’s son, Rob, was introduced to “Crazyatrics,” Dr. Lewis began to experience the incredible skill and talent that Eddie Belasco had in inspiring these young people to play any parts given them. However, everybody was frustrated in that the only people who came to shows seemed to be the parents and family friends of the kids in the shows.

Dismayed by the fact that this little theater company was producing superb theater and few were coming to see it, Dr. Lewis decided that he had to find a way to open up the opportunity for all kids, especially minority kids who had not been exposed to theater. It cost $1,200 a year at that time, per child, for classes, rehearsals, and the support they were given. Lewis worked tirelessly to get donors for scholarships.
Oakland-based Dryers ice cream donated $3,000, but as more talent flooded the stage, the need for more donations became quite evident. Dr. Lewis established the Belasco Theater Company’s Outreach program in 1981, a program that has provided free show tickets and transportation to underprivileged kids all over the East Bay for 14 years.

The children who attended the musicals were asked to write a letter to the Belasco Company expressing what they did and did not like about the shows, and one letter in particular from Oakland student, Matthew Martin, left a very important program-changing thought with the producer. “Thank you for letting us see Guys and Dolls,” he said, ”but they should have used real dice and when Big Shirley pulled out a gun, it looked like it was made from cardboard,” he added. He also mentioned a few other thoughtful criticisms, one which he reiterated twice, even in capital letters, “WHERE ARE ALL TH EBLACK PEOPLE?” Consequently, Lewis’s program doubled down on raising money for scholarships, enabling all kids to participate in the acting classes and to perform in the shows.

Through his Outreach program, plus finding deals like free student transportation in a Dryers Ice Cream Company provided bus, he made it possible for thousands of kids to see the shows for free. One of Lewis’s brilliant ideas was to sell blocks of tickets to his medical peers and other business professionals, who in turn donated the tax deductible tickets to schools and students all over the East Bay.

When I started writing a theater reviewer’s column in 1986, I had not even heard about the Belasco theater company. My wife and I were called by Barbara Galla, the costume designer for The Lafayette Dramateurs, the resident theater company of the Town Hall theater in Lafayette at that time. Barbara asked me if I had been out to see the Belasco theater company productions in the Del Valle Theater on Tice Valley Boulevard, next door to the Rossmoor community, for whom I wrote my theater columns. I explained that I had never even heard of the company. She said, “I’ve been doing their costumes for a number of years, and this guy Belasco is a truly brilliant 70-year-old former musician and nightclub-performer-turned-producer; a tough but brilliant director.”

So we made arrangements to go and see their production of How to Succeed in Business without Even Trying on May 14 of that year, 2004. Both Karen and I were blown away by the talent, and near adult acting capabilities of this young cast. It was in this production for the first time that I met the 12-year-old actor Dave Abrams, and my quote in my column (which I have retained to this day) said – – “Young Abrams is an exceptional young actor! He can sing, he can dance, he can act, he can do it all, and he can do it extremely well for such a young man. You simply have to see Abrams in action to begin to comprehend just how good, how exciting he really is!” This was not his first show. Young Dave Abrams performed in his first Belasco show production when he was only eight years old. Now as a grown man, I have commended Abrams for receiving the coveted Theater Bay Area (TBA) award for Outstanding Male Actor in a featured role in a musical, for his performance in June of last year for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights. In addition, he recently earned the prestige of becoming a burgeoning member of the Actor’s Equity Association (AEA), an equity professional theater performer.

Yes, Eddie Belasco was, at times, a difficult, yet a caring and obsessed director of children’s theater. But he came to create an atmosphere that inspired many children to become passionate about musical theater and eventually, for some, becoming professional actors and actresses and teachers of theater. For 26 years, it was said that Eddie Belasco brought “Broadway to the Burbs,” because the musical productions he produced with these children from ages 8 to 20, were the well-known hits from Broadway, not musicals written specifically for children.

However, while Eddie Belasco could inspire kids to play adult parts in mature musical productions, he couldn’t do it all by himself. In fact, even though the parents of the children paid for their instruction, there was never enough money at the beginning to make the company either profitable or capable of getting Belasco’s message of theater for children, into a broader platform as he wanted.

Dr. Lewis was an eminent physician who became a generous theatrical benefactor, not only providing his son the opportunity to experience musical theater, but he intently watched what was going on, making important personal suggestions and came up with ideas that he thought would provide more children the opportunity to be able to come to Walnut Creek and participate in what he felt was a tremendous opportunity. Lewis has invested immeasurable time to benefit youth all around the East Bay area for years.

His son, Rob, worked hard to perform and learn his basic skills in that same Belasco Company and today is a proud instructor of the Theater Arts in Southern California. Lewis has given close personal support and advice to many of Belasco’s protégés, and probably none more than the very talented Dave Abrams(who is shown in the attached photograph) while meeting with the Doctor recently to discuss upcoming auditions and shows on his schedule this fall.

My purpose in introducing you to this fine gentleman, Dr. Samuel Lewis, is not only to play homage to a man who acted strictly and competently as a volunteer, but like so many people in our communities, he has given back and paid forward to the youth in the East Bay. Further, my purpose is to also celebrate those of you who are willing, and wanting, and proud to be part of the good will that truly makes this country great.

As I espoused in my July article entitled “The Backbone of Community Arts,” please explore with your friends and family the wonderful contributions that you and they can make, and the joy we can have as volunteers in the world of theater and arts. Today, one of my volunteer jobs is as a member of the Eugene O’Neill Foundation Board and I am proud to do so.

The Speakeasy

September 3, 2018 by Charles Jarrett Leave a Comment

Over the past several months I have explored stories relating to how the arts have contributed to or enhanced the lives of so many people in our communities. This time I will share something old and something new in San Francisco Bay Area performance theater that I like to call “Total Immersive Theater.” The old part of this tale is about a gentleman I met fifteen or more years ago by the name of John Hale, who came to my home as a computer specialist to assist me with some software problems I was having. In the course of that repair job, a discussion took place where I learned that he was not only a highly trained certified professional technician for Microsoft, but he also had a passionate love for live theater and had been performing in the local community theaters that I regularly reviewed in my role of theater critic for the Rossmoor News. He admitted that it took about 15 years after his college days before he risked taking a small part in The Girl of the Golden West, at the Masquers community theatre in Point Richmond.

Now, the new part of this story took place when Hale called me and suggested that I investigate the new Speakeasy Theater in San Francisco. It was at this point that I learned about what he called his first experience with “Truly Immersive” theater. I knew he had at one time worked with the East Bay Entrée to Murder Dinner Theater in which the actors served the meals to patrons and at the same time performed as characters in a murder mystery that occurs during the dinner meal. I told him that I thought that was pretty immersive theater, but he argued that that was nothing compared to this new type of theater he was currently performing in. This past month my friend and fellow theater critic, Sally Hogarty, called me and invited me to join with her and her friends to celebrate her birthday, at of all places, The Speakeasy in San Francisco!

The reason I believe this new theatre concept is truly evolutionary, different and bound to be one of the most sought out venues in San Francisco’s theatrical future, is the audience has to attend in costume and in essence, be part of the show. No, this is not your initiation into a secret society, but hopefully this article will be your personal invitation to an exotic evening of innovative and immersive entertainment; an evening rife with the mystery and allure of the naughty 1920s with all its sensuous, suggestive, and seductive intrigues.

The question is: Are you fearless enough to secure tickets on their website and cloak yourselves in garments of this time period, follow the secretive instructions you will receive, deliver the “code words and phrases” to secretive emissaries, and bravely walk the back alleys and find the secret entrances to The Speakeasy? If you are and you follow your carefully-detailed instructions, you will find an absolutely wonderful and engaging theater of pleasure. After arriving at the special meeting place (a street corner in the city near the hidden venue) and identifying who you are, or who you are sponsored by (ie: “CJ sent me or I’m with Jarrett”), you will be quietly checked out and approved. In addition, you will be slipped an antique-looking prescription form allowing you to purchase medicinal liquor. You then will be quickly guided down an alley or through a mysterious doorway and delivered in short order and in surreptitious fashion, into the dark abyss of prohibition excess. There you will be admitted into a secret cabaret, that is a colorful, beautifully designed, period-specific venue, where the beginnings of an exciting and ribald evening in The Speakeasy awaits.

What took place over the next two to three hours (I lost track of time) is a theatrical experience I believe it is unequaled today in San Francisco. Over the course of the evening, we became part of a 1500 page script in which we journeyed through numerous different rooms of varying sizes (some large, some small) throughout, allowing us to share a variety of complex intrigues in what seemed to be the very real lives and personal situations of this production’s characters. The audience has the freedom to explore as they wish. There are 35 actors who performed various roles as Speakeasy workers, dancers, lovers, musicians, adversaries, missionaries, union members, charlatans and the sorely inebriated, sadly in need of salvation.

Each character actor eventually reveals their own personal stories and experiences as though in real life. As you meander on your own through the various rooms, hallways, and secret doors, you will, in effect, be “choosing-your-own-adventure,” all of which takes place in complete replicas of prohibition-era cabarets, casinos, dressing rooms, cocktail lounges and bars where the actors, can be difficult at first to ferret out. It is virtually impossible for anyone to see the entire show in one evening.

I could go on and on describing the delightful variety of shows and stories taking place throughout The Speakeasy, but that would be giving way too much away. Each show within the show is brilliantly written, conceived, and executed by superbly talented actors and actresses. Many in this diverse cast are also fine dancers, excellent storytellers, vocalists, musicians, and even delightful vaudeville-type comedic talents.

Actor John Hale confirms, “As opposed to watching something on the stage, you get to feel like you’ve really gone into another world, a world in which you become part of the play and even contribute to its artful disposition.” In recent weeks, for a short time, Mr. Hale has become Sal, the owner of the Speakeasy, and in September, he will become the bartender, Mac, and a few months after that, he will be another character in this constantly changing script. Mr. Hale says, “As an actor, one of the best parts for me being a member of the Speakeasy production, is that everyone in it, including the front of house and service people, is that not just the performers, but the entire production crew, are so darn good, that I’m just real happy and proud to be a part of it. It’s so good to be on a team where you have to run to keep up! If you want to be better at anything, you have to play with people who are just a little bit better than you, better enough that you’ve got to stretch to be satisfied.”

The facility was conceived by the Boxcar Theatre Company in 2005 and co-founded by Nick A. Olivero, who is the creator and managing producer of this production. The company has produced over 60 plays and musicals. In 2000 they opened their second theatrical space called the Boxcar Studios in the tenderloin. In 2015, the company signed a lease on a new and much larger space in San Francisco’s North Beach / Chinatown district, now known as The Speakeasy since August 2016. This theater company required a sizable initial investment of about $3.5 million just to create this new show and unique theater space.

Every show requires a cast and crew of approximately 81 people. Everything in this theater is reminiscent of the 1920s time period, including the candlestick phones, custom gaming chips, custom-built vintage reproduction gaming tables, furniture, vintage ceiling tiles and even down to the three 1920 vintage urinals. Since you are not allowed to have cell phones, in keeping with the time period, there is a photo booth where you, your significant other or lover, and guests, may have a group photograph taken, showing all of you in your splendid costumes.

Some people apparently join the experience just to be a part of this unique immersive theater; people who love to dress up and go back in time to have an authentic experience. Others see this as a romantic rendezvous for an anniversary or unique date, while others may celebrate special occasions such as birthdays or bachelorette parties.

I would suggest that everyone go to the company’s website, https://thespeakeasysf.com, to see brief videos of what you’re in for, and to obtain the information as to how you too may become part of this incredible show, and how you can pay for and schedule your participation. Perhaps I will see you there in September!

Photos courtesy Peter Liu

The Backbone of Community Arts

July 9, 2018 by Charles Jarrett Leave a Comment

This morning, I spoke with a friend of mine who expressed anguish at how his father, now retired and in his early sixty’s, has no passion for anything or interest in doing anything other than parking his derriere on his sofa while watching a movie on the TV, listening to a baseball game on the radio, or perhaps watching another sports event being streamed on his smart phone.

With his mortgage paid off, and no job, he has no incentive to do anything with his time other than to let it go by. “What a waste,” says my friend, “With so many jobs available; so many volunteer opportunities to engage in or interesting things to do that could offer him the ability to learn, grow, and engage with or help others, it’s just a waste. This should be the time of his life.”

In the articles that I’ve written over the past several months, I’ve provided examples showing how the arts have saved, transformed, and helped to improve numerous lives throughout our communities. I’ve shared how theater companies, high school drama, art, and dance programs have served young people throughout the East Bay. I’ve shown how troubled and disadvantaged children have found confidence, pride, recognition, and new life through these programs and mediums, and how people involved with the arts have assisted them in finding meaning and satisfaction in their lives.

I have illustrated how young people who began with a passion to become actors and performers eventually altered their artistic and educational paths so that they could do for others what others had done for them, by becoming teachers and mentors themselves.

Today, I wish to congratulate those whom I call our communities’ “backbone benefactors,” the everyday citizen volunteers who support the needs of these institutions, without whom, most of these organizations would fail.

So, while I laud the importance of community and high school theaters’ paid management and owners for providing creative direction and opportunities for our youth, there are many more benefactors who seldom get more than a basic nod when people read promotional material for theater productions. I don’t believe that there are any community theaters in America today who can survive by ticket sales alone.

While there may be many wonderful artistic directors, writers, and composers who can create and guide the production concepts and oversee the quality of community or high school theater productions, it is, in large part, the volunteers –the “backbone benefactors” –who make it all come together, especially where there is little or no funding to pay for professional support staff.

In previous newspaper and magazine articles I’ve mentioned costume designers and seamstresses such as Hope Birdwell, Liz Martin, and Lisa Danz, set builders like Diane McRice and Ryan Terry, sound equipment operators like Randy Knott and Michael Kelly, just to name a few, for whom I have great respect, who work tirelessly to make these shows come to life. Add to this, the lighting designers, scenery painters, poster graphics artists, publicity staff, social media mavins, ushers, and directors, who provide the backbone of these wonderful little theaters.

When I first met my wife at the Town Hall Theater in Lafayette in the early 1980s, her mother, Nancy, acted in and directed shows; her father, Edwin, built sets and stored the reusable materials in his construction company storage buildings in Berkeley for years, without any cost to the theater. My wife even managed lights, sound, and stage props in some of these community shows. It was here that I learned how important it was to have someone who could make sure the appropriate prop was where the actor expected to find it when it was needed, and how important it was to have someone after the production was over, to clean up and take down or “strike the set.”

Sometimes these backbone benefactors go far beyond what anyone might expect them to do just because their child or children are in a company’s show or classes. Take for example Dr. Samuel Lewis, a now retired Lafayette Podiatrist, whose son, Rob, performed in the Belasco Theater company in Walnut Creek. Sandy (as he is known by friends) became so excited by the excitement of the children in Eddie Belasco’s theater company, that in a short time he went from the role of proud parent supporter and funding donor, to assisting in funding the theater by soliciting funds from other professionals who were his peers in the area.

If it were not for so many wonderful philanthropic organizations and individuals of wealth and compassion who have practiced extraordinary acts of philanthropic giving, such as the Dean Lesher family who assisted significantly in the funding of the Lesher Center for the Arts, the old Walnut Creek walnut warehouse theater probably would never have been razed and rebuilt as the Lesher Center for the Arts. Without the Campbell Family’s generosity, the old auto parts store in Martinez would probably not have become the great community asset now known as the Campbell Theatre. If it were not for local city governments finding ways to support the arts, I believe our communities would be less socially responsible, healthy, wealthy and wise.

In conclusion, let me propose to you as I did to our friend in my opening paragraph—share with your friends and family the wonderful contributions that they can make, and the joy they can have as volunteers in our local worlds of the theater and the arts.

Art: A Bridge to a Better Life

June 9, 2018 by Charles Jarrett Leave a Comment

“I’ve Been Framed” has echoed from the courtrooms of Clarence Darrow to Johnny Cochran, and from Thurgood Marshall to Abraham Lincoln. I’m sure this common exclamation has wrung out again and again as a common denominator in thousands of criminal cases. However, it’s probably very seldom that this phrase, “I’ve been framed,” has come to have any relationship to a place of comfort, or a place where art, and love, and colorful expression has meant protection and salvation.

My story today takes us to anartistic little picture frame shop in Martinez, California, where all of these phrases, passions, and expressions of love and art have collided. That place is known as the “I’ve Been Framed” frame shop at 411 Ferry Street, at the corner of Marina Vista Avenue.

This is a place where a longtime artist, Cathy Riggs, and a former troubled teenager, Rick Holcomb, became friends and completely turned around a story that could have been quite tragic, concerning a boy once bullied insufferably.

Being bullied leaves lasting pain in those upon whom it is inflicted; pain and memories that not only may last a lifetime, but may also change our values and distort the way we interact with our peers, parents, co-workers and others.

In former FBI director James Comey’s new book, A Higher Loyalty, he explained how he was bullied as a younger child when his family moved from Yonkers, New York, to Allendale New Jersey. Comey’s parents’ finances may’ve been more meager than his peer’s parents, because the clothes that his parents bought for young James did not always fit properly. His attire often included pants that were too short, and socks that were glaring white, or heavy-soled black shoes that were quite different from the other kids. Worst of all, he carried with him a distinct New York accent, and sounded different from all the kids he knew in Allendale. The next three years of his life were spent carefully avoiding the bully boys. Further, as he grew in height, so did the bullying. He went on to say that being an outsider, always being picked upon, was very painful, but in hindsight it made him a better judge of people. Surviving the bullying requires constant learning and adaptation.

Rick Holcomb’s life was never easy. Before he was two years old, the state took him away from his parents who were “found to be unfit.” Prior to high school he spent a major portion of his life living with other relatives and his grandparents, until his grandfather died. He then found himself back with his father and a new stepmother in Danville, California. Much like FBI chief James Comey’s family, his family subsisted with much less income than the typical kids in his school, who all had the nice stuff, like brand-new Levi’s 501 Jeans and Sperry Top-Sider shoes.

Wearing cheaper looking clothing set him apart from the other kids, so in order to survive the bullying, he modified a lot of what he was wearing into unique clothing styles, perhaps even a bit gothic. Rick said the often repeated comment that cut him the deepest was his stepmother’s favorite bullying tactic, “If I was a kid your age, I sure wouldn’t play with you!”

But this artistic side wanted to be and look different so that he could be his own person. Being different and not fitting in with the kids in school was difficult enough, but being stuffed headfirst into the garbage was more than enough to push him to the point that he no longer wanted to attend school under any circumstances. Rick said that around this time in his life, his love of art began to blossom, and bright colors allowed him to withdraw even further from his button-down collar peer group.

He began to display his art on his clothing where he would set himself apart with very colorful artistic designs on his jeans and shirts. In 1982, he even pierced his nose with a safety pin while in school one day. This unusual pattern of behavior immediately got him suspended. This occurred at the beginning of his rebellion period and caused him to seek out new friends who were of a similar mindset. Unfortunately, his less-than-loving stepmother started getting more and more physically abusive during the first year he lived with her and by the second year, he could hardly go to school without marks on his face. That entire year was so bad, so abusive, that he ran away repeatedly, staying at a friend’s house quite often with a mother who understood his situation, and protected him as best she could.

What started with free-hand drawing using bright colors with abstract and vibrant hues, began to draw him into a new lifestyle that was expressed by his own vision of art. A brick wall might be re-created with a totally different look, or a tree that leaned a certain way might grab his attention as a new art subject matter. He loved to color and visualize things in a different way than most people. He even took a photography class in junior high, which he enjoyed very much. It was about age 13 when everything artistic started to coalesce.

While living in Danville and attending Los Cerros Middle School, he simply couldn’t afford a new camera and fancy equipment the other kids had, so his old, half-working Petri camera had to serve his needs and it did for a while. In between the 8th grade and his freshman year in high school, he was thrown out of his father’s and stepmother’s house and was not allowed to come back, in large part because of his growing rebellion.

At this point in trying to survive and make his new personal statement as to who he was, he and some of his friends entered a life of crime in order to justify their rebel existence. His life over the next several years included more than one stint spent in the county juvenile hall. At one point, following his release again from juve, he had to find a job to survive financially and he applied for a job in a custom frame shop. The older gentleman who owned the shop was quite patient with Rick and even though Rick didn’t understand math very well, he made great effort to keep the job and learn the trade.

That job worked out pretty well and eventually, when the gentleman passed away without any family or relatives to inherit the business, Rick took it over and tried to make it work. Unfortunately, without sufficient business acumen, funds or education, that proved very difficult and caused him the eventual loss of this business. However, that did not deter him from wanting to stay in this type of business. Rick opened another frame shop in Martinez. While working in that community, Rick became friends with a very nice lady by the name of Cathy Riggs who owned a competitive frame shop that is doing business under the clever name of “I’ve Been Framed.” An unfortunate a business situation forced him out of his own shop, but, his friendship with Cathy allowed the two of them to work out an arrangement where he and Ms. Riggs found benefit in working together.

It was here in “I’ve Been Framed” that his love and appreciation of watercolor, oils, acrylics, and all kinds of art creation, finally came to full fruition. The shop’s customers could see that Rick had the eye, and a sense of color balance to fully visualize naturally appropriate combinations of color in both mating and framing material that synchronized well with their art. From what I understand from other artists in the nearby communities, this is one excellent, very reasonably priced shop.

Now, Rick Holcomb is happily married with a wife and three children and loves what he is doing. Once again, Mr. Holcomb’s story bears concrete evidence that the love of art can help make one’s life more enjoyable and fulfilling!

Photo L-R: Customer Mark Hinds; shop owner Cathy Riggs; master framer Rick Holcomb. Photo by Charles Jarrett.

Better Life Through the Arts

May 10, 2018 by Charles Jarrett Leave a Comment

Making life better through the Arts often means having a place in which to make life better through the arts. There is no better example of this than community theaters which spring up in communities all across our country and provide a place for aspiring actors and retired actors to do, as I believe William Shakespeare once said, “put on your bravest suit of mirth.”

People ask me time and time again how and where they can go to get involved in theater in some capacity; a place where their love of theater can be furthered just for the fun of it. Thanks in large part to supportive city councils and city recreation programs, there are still a few companies where anyone can participate in basic community theater free of charge and with little or no experience. In these volunteer community theater programs, you can have fun, make new friends, maybe rekindle some old acting skills and even learn new and more effective skills, if you so desire.

In 1982, Charlotte Meyer (a former San Francisco Ballet set and costume designer) who lived in Orinda, learned that the Orinda Community Center was building an Amphitheater in the Orinda Community Park. She immediately jumped at the chance to seek out and become the artistic director of the new theatrical company in her own community to be known as Orinda Starlight Village Players. Over the years, while the little company has grown over the years, it still remains affordable, convenient, and a closely knit community theater company. Further, it is one of the few that has remained true to its original mission, that of providing a place for neophyte and reconstituted actors to be able to get on a stage in their own community and just plain have fun with a group of other people of like mind. Many of the early members still perform year after year in what they consider “their Orinda Theater,” small as it may be. Being small does not make it insignificant as occasionally professionals have emerged from the shadows of this very amphitheater. A former local actress, Julie Rubio, has now become one of the elite Hollywood Female Five, a group of award-winning female American film directors currently working in Hollywood. At one time, Julie Rubio performed on this very Orinda community theater stage. Anyone can do it. Take for example Dan Phillips, who grew up in Orinda and returned to Orinda after working in Columbus, Ohio as a chemistry professor. In a short time he found himself looking for something new and different and fun to do in Orinda. Dan had never had any previous experience in acting, other than attending live theater performances and having done some volunteer ushering in community theaters while in Columbus Ohio. An article appeared one day in the Orinda news explaining that the Starlight Village Players were looking for volunteers. It caught his attention and he sent an email to Jill Gelster, who invited him to drop by as preparations were being made for a new show. He was welcomed and felt comfortable with the group and very quickly he found joy assisting with the technical part of the show. Before long he got an opportunity to assume some acting assignments, and with the help of his fellow actors, he became an ardent and involved member of the theater company. He has acted in just about every show since that day four years ago, and says that he loves every minute of it. In my role as a theater reviewer and photographer, I was delighted with Dan’s role (as an aggressive street bead hawker) in the 2016 production of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Nile.

Today the opportunity is much the same as when Mr. Phillips first contacted the theater. If you might be interested in this fun filled opportunity to meet other people and perhaps try your wings as a neophyte actor or crew member, all you need to do is come to see their shows and/or offer to join in the creation process. Once you’ve become acquainted with the group you can take any part you’re comfortable with as an actor, set builder, painter, costume creator, or even selling tickets and refreshments to the shows’ audience. This means that any wannabe can become an experienced fun-loving member of this group, all while receiving the mentorship of other members who have been doing this for many years. All members (including people of all ages) volunteer their time and energy, as no one is paid in this basic nonprofit organization’s work. Those who come and experience and learn can do so free of any fees or financial obligation. You too can do this by simply making a phone call to Administrative Director, Jill Jester, at (925) 528 – 9335 or by sending an email to info@orsvp.org .
Their production season for this year begins on June 1st, with an Agatha Christie mystery, A Spider’s Web. Then, Dave Freeman’s comedy, Kindly Keep It Covered, opens on July 20th, followed by P.G. Wodehouse’s 1927 comedy of mannerly romance, Good Morning Bill. Tickets are a very reasonable $20 for adults, $10 for seniors and students, and may be purchased with cash at the theater ticket booth located at the Orinda Community Center Park amphitheater just prior to theater openings. You can also purchase tickets online through Gold Star discount ticket sales.

Another small local community theater company, Onstage Theatre Company, which I first became acquainted with many years ago, was located in what had been an old school house on Oak Park road in Pleasant Hill. Helen Means and her husband Don, who dearly loved Community Theater, had formed their own little company and warmly welcomed all newcomers to see and/or participate in their shows. Similar to the Orinda Starlight Village Players, this little theater company started with the same premise; you can have fun while supporting inexpensive community theater that fosters the same opportunity for adults, youngsters, and seniors to experience the joy of performing on stage or being involved in the process. Their old school house theater eventually was closed by the city of Pleasant Hill due to earthquake safety concerns and the company moved to the Campbell Theater in Martinez. Several people that my wife and I have admired as accomplished community local actors include Jerry Motta, Loren Combs, Sal Russo, Babette Bilger, and Eddie Peabody, all who have nurtured their volunteer acting careers in this same little theater company.

I recently learned that Eddie Peabody began his love of theater through an elementary school acting experience that is almost identical to the story I covered in my January issue of this magazine about Moraga’s Miramonte high school drama instructor, Heather Cousins. It turns out that when Eddie was 11 years old he was in the same fourth grade class with Heather, where their teacher used William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, to introduce her students to the brilliant writing skills of this Elizabethan author. Eddie too had been shy.

Due to the fact that he had a lot of fun in this show, he began to discover just how valuable participation in this kind of group activity could be. He says that there were many positive experiences, including learning how to handle rejection, learning to speak up, coping with the fear of failure, internalizing the joy of successfully memorizing scripts, that had inspired him to perform in Community Theater. A few years later, he met the love of his life, Jennifer Lynn Brown, in Jim Kirkwood’s Diablo Valley College beginning drama class. Eddie is grateful to be employed full time by a swimming pool service company, which allows him the freedom to seek roles as both a volunteer actor and director in any community theater play that he wants, without having to depend on income from the theater company to support his love of this art.

I remember well Eddie’s sterling performance as Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice in Concord’s B8 Theatre, alongside Becky Potter in 2012. As a foot note to this story, it turns out that Eddie is currently directing two shows over the next few months in these same two theaters. A Funny Little Thing Called Love by writers Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten will be presented by the Onstage Theater Company, now the resident theater company in the Campbell Theater at 636 Ward Street in downtown Martinez, starting on May 11th. Tickets are equally reasonable here at $19 for adults, $16 for seniors and $12 for children. Call (925) 518-3277 or visit their webpage at www.campbelltheater.com.com for tickets or additional information. Then, on August 31st, P.G. Wodehouse’s 1927 comedy Good Morning Bill, will open in the Starlight Village Players theater in Orinda’s Community Park Amphitheater at #28 Orinda Way.

The point of this story is how important these theater companies are to the residents in so many ways. They promote safe, clean, inexpensive, wholesome avenues of entertainment, with opportunities for personal growth and personal connection to strengthen the healthy connective fibers of citizens, and to help Make life better through the Arts!

Better Life Through the Arts

April 8, 2018 by Charles Jarrett Leave a Comment

In my journalistic journey entitled “Let There Be Light,” I have introduced you to some wonderful teachers who, through their love of the theatrical arts, have found eager, youthful recipients to join with them on their important journey of self-discovery and of self-awareness. Financial icon, Warren Buffett, pointed out on one occasion that, “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted the tree a long time ago.” In other words, because someone, somewhere, planted a seed, be it in the ground or be it in a receptive mind, today we, or she, or they, will reap the benefit.

This month I’m going to introduce you to a brilliant young actor, Dave J. Abrams (now age 27), an actor, dancer, and multifaceted performer, who, when he was only six years old, followed his uncle, Martin, to a children’s theater rehearsal and took full advantage of that opportunity. While in the dressing room with his uncle, Mr. Belasco—the founder and artistic director of the Belasco Theater Company—was told that this youngster loved to dance and sing. Belasco asked him to give an impromptu performance, which the young Abrams did, and he impressed Belasco so much that he turned to costumer Sandra Gardner and asked her if she had a suit that would fit this young man. She responded that she definitely could find something, and in the very next show, dressed to the hilt, this young man walked across the stage holding the hand of another actor, and that is where this wonderful journey began.

Almost everyone in the world is familiar with Lin-Manuel Miranda’s unparalleled musical sensation, Hamilton, but not too many are aware that while he was in college he wrote another musical about life in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York. In June of this past year, I traveled to El Cerrito, California, to review the Contra Costa Civic Theater’s production of Miranda’s first musical, “In the Heights.” As the show came to the intermission, I reopened the program and specifically looked up the bio of the actor who played “Benny” in that production, as he was exceptional in every aspect of his performance. To my surprise, I discovered that Abrams was the same young actor that I had given great praise to 13 years earlier when, at age 12, he performed the lead role of J. Pierpont Finch in Eddie Belasco’s children’s theater production of “How to Succeed in Business Without Even Trying” in the Del Valle Theater in Walnut Creek in 2004. Further research through my old reviews, revealed that I had even given him praise for his performance as “Oliver,” with Katie Wilhelm as Nancy, at the Lesher Center, when he was only nine years old.

I quickly surmised, here is someone I needed to follow and follow closely. Mr. Abrams also popped up in Fantasy Forum’s “The Greatest Gift” where he played the Jack-in-the-Box in Fantasy Forum’s Lesher Center production. Two months after the Fantasy Forum show, he took on the role of Eddie Souther in the musical “Sister Act” in the Berkeley Playhouse Theater on College Avenue in Berkeley. That show was equally exciting and enjoyable. But that’s not the end of this actor’s aggressive and staggering dedication to build a resume that was bound to garner notice, so once again, within the past five months, I discovered that he was going to be in another musical by the name of “Ragtime.” And once again, Abrams portrays a lead character, now in the demanding role of Coalhouse Walker, an African-American Harlem musician.

The question foremost in my mind: Is this arduous schedule paying off, and how much of a toll is this pace taking on him? Well, in October of 2017, Dave Abrams received the coveted Theater Bay Area (TBA) award for Outstanding Male Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for his performance in June of last year for In the Heights at Contra Costa Civic Theater.

In an interview, he admitted that the pressures commensurate with having to perform in production after production with little or no compensation, is difficult; mentally, physically, and economically. He finds himself trying to justify the sacrifices he has endured towards accomplishing his goal, to become an equity actor. If it were not for the kindness and support of family and many friends, many actors working as arduously as Mr. Abrams could not, and would not succeed!

In large part, Abrams was very fortunate to meet a children’s theater producer like Eddie Belasco, and Mr. Belasco’s incredible support staff including Lafayette pediatrician Dr. Samuel Lewis (his principal fundraiser), costumer Sandra Gardner, choreographer Lawrence Peck, musical arranger James Michael, and many others who volunteered their heartfelt time and energy for the benefit of this young man’s dreams and many other young dreamers their ambitions. Dr. Lewis has been a fundraising and promotional super star in this miniature theatrical hemisphere. He created an outreach program wherein he raised thousands of dollars by asking fellow professionals; doctors, lawyers, business owners, corporate sponsors and more, to donate significant dollar amounts which he in turn used to buy blocks of tickets that were then given away free to schools and their students so that these young people could see this type of musical theater designed primarily for them.

Dr. Lewis asked only one thing of these children, that after they saw the show, they were required to respond in writing to the company telling what they liked and what they didn’t like about the production. Early in this process he received a letter from one of the young students, Matthew Martin from Oakland. The letter thanked the doctor for providing a ticket so that he could see the Frank Loesser’s musical, Guys and Dolls, which he praised, except, on three different occasions in that same letter, he questioned, “Where were the black people?” The last time he mentioned it, the question was emphatically printed in big, bold, black print, reinforcing his disdain that there were no black actors in the show.

It was because of this insistent young man that the Belasco Theater Company expanded its productions into the Oakland unified school district and produced shows such as The Wiz, that were entirely cast with young black actors. Finally, it is largely because of Dr. Lewis that Abrams, whose family had extremely limited funds, was able to keep his dream alive. Now the question is: has he indeed found a way keep his dream on track?

There are many opportunities for us to support the arts in our communities; by attending local theatrical productions, volunteering to serve in community theaters, donating generously, and by encouraging your friends and neighbors and clubs to find ways to help these young dreamers in our own communities.

In our communities there are literally hundreds of stories of people’s lives having been made better through a better understanding of what the arts can contribute to our lives.

Stars 2000

March 8, 2018 by Charles Jarrett Leave a Comment

When I was in high school, I first became acquainted with Shakespeare’s classic tale about good and evil, Othello. You may remember the sad sequence of events graphically described in this poignant tragedy, as to how this military hero and passionate husband, Othello, became a false minister of justice. This proud man was hated by Iago, his fellow soldier and advisor. Iago created a plan to destroy Othello by making him believe his wife, Desdemona, was having an affair with another man.

In keeping with my theme of this series of articles this year, Let There Be Light, allow me to present that famous declaration by Othello as he stood at the bedside of his sleeping wife with candle in his hand, questioning his motives and resolution to take her life.

Yet, she must die, else she betray more men. Put out the light (the candle), and then put out thy light—If I quench thee, thou flaming minister, I can again thy former light restore, should I repent me:– but once put out thy light, thou cunning’st pattern of excelling nature, I know not where is that Promethean heat that thy light relume. When I have plucked the rose, I cannot give it vital growth again, it must needs wither…

Time and time again, ministers of misinformation, whether ill-informed or perhaps ill-intended, have presented unfounded and/or biased information to those who set policy and provide funding in government, to support their belief that the United States agencies’ charged with preserving and supporting the country’s cultural and artistic life, are of insufficient value to be perpetuated.

Recently, when the president’s Blue Print Budget to Make America Great Again came out, the budget proposed eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts as well as the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Institute of Museum and Library services, among others. While wiser heads may have prevailed in keeping these programs from the chopping block at this particular time, only with appropriate information gathering and dissemination of the true impact of the arts will programs that are designed to inspire and educate our youth and population at large, find the sufficient financial means to continue their important work. Allow me to slightly edit and repeat once more that warning that once the light and love of the arts are extinguished, except perhaps by miracle, “…we know not for sure where or when that great Promethean heat can once more, thy former light relume.”

I wish to provide you, my readers, with insights as to the importance of another exceptional, inspirational, and educational theatrical training company within our community. This company, Stars 2000, is another bright light that needs support and funding to be kept shining bright for our youth’s potential benefit.

Diane Kamrin is the founder and artistic director of Stars 2000, now in its 25th year of providing children with an opportunity to discover a love of theater and entertainment and a path to professionalism. She explained to me that her inspiration for working in theater began as a singer and dancer as a child, and as a theater major in college. Diane says, “I was always a klutz, so my mother decided I should go to dance school at about age four so that I would stop walking into walls. I was also very lucky that my high school in San Francisco had a very good dance program. I sang and danced my way through high school, and then in college at San Francisco State, I with a theater major and a special education minor. While in college I began choreographing shows for local high schools.”

Diane eventually became involved in her children’s Pleasant Hill elementary school, doing musicals with the whole school including kindergarten through fifth grade. She did two shows each year and every student was involved. It was there that she began writing her own shows using themes such as “Broadway today,” “Disney shows,” and ”radio shows,” into which she would incorporate popular music, whatever music fit the theme of the show she was writing.

Diane went on to work with junior high school students and found that this group of students is perhaps the most interesting and challenging, in that, from the time you cast students for a particular show in September, to the time the show is actually put together in March, many of the boys voices have changed pitch and they can’t even sing the roles they were cast for. Diane had started working with a program fostered by the Mount Diablo school district called the Fine Arts Summer School, but when prop 13 became effective, that program was abolished by the school district. Now, in addition to the elementary school programs, she is working with her own production company,

Stars 2000, which began in 1992 as a non-profit production company designed specifically for teens and young adults. “We do have a lot of children who want to participate, but have tough lives at home because, unfortunately, they have parents who do not want their children in the arts, especially boys. We’ve even discovered that children who really wanted to be a part of being in the shows have told their parents that they were at work, while they were rehearsing in a show. Fortunately, after these parents have actually seen their children participate in these programs, and seeing the joy and camaraderie they’ve experienced in these shows, they have subsequently changed their minds about the value of their children’s participation in this form of the arts.”

The national theatrical community has indeed been blessed by the talents of Diane’s students. For example, Broadway actress, Alysha Umphress, was nominated for a Tony award last year for her role as brassy cabbie Hildy in the Broadway production of On The Town. Ben Bogan, who had worked with Stars 2000 for many years, was just recently cast as a stand-in or understudy for Frankie Valli in the Jersey Boys touring company. The major point Diane wants to make here is not that she and her staff are just exited for the children who become professional performers in theater, but also that they are on the path to becoming professionals in whatever field of endeavor becomes their passion. For example, Diane’s own children were theatrical performers while youngsters and are still involved in the arts as adults. Now as professionals outside of the arts, Diane’s daughter is a lawyer in managed healthcare here in California and her son is a professor at MIT.

In mid-January of this year, I had the good fortune to attend her Stars 2000 production of the Cole Porter’s upbeat, colorful, and comedic musical, Anything Goes, which was presented in Walnut Creek’s Las Lomas high school theater. I was quite frankly blown away by the high quality show that I thoroughly enjoyed, especially the excellent choreography as directed by choreographer Sheri Stockdale. The show even had a nine- piece orchestra under the direction of Kamrin herself. One must ask, how often does a community musical consisting of high school aged students actually have a full orchestra to work with?

All of this good work of course entails a small family investment for each child who auditions for the next show and is cast in that production. The typical cost runs approximately $430 tuition per child for each show and there are two shows a year. The next auditions are scheduled towards the 21st of March with the upbeat musical story of self-discovery, Legally Blond, which will begin in the middle of June.

There are always tuition scholarships available to those who cannot afford the tuition fees, but want and deserve to be in the show. I invite you to call Diane Kamrin at (925) 944-0900 or email her at dkstars2000@yahoo.com and visit the organization’s website at www.stars2000.org for more information.

The Littlest Angel

February 8, 2018 by Charles Jarrett Leave a Comment

As part of my “Let There Be Light” series of articles, I plan to introduce you to my thoughts and views about the benefits of music and graphic arts enrichment programs, in addition to sharing knowledge about theater companies that specifically are tailored towards ameliorating the needs of our communities’ children. I’m going to start first with a local company that is near and dear to my heart and whose facilitators I have known, reviewed, and with whom I have witnessed incredibly positive results in the children they have mentored and instructed over the past 15 or more years.

At the end of November of 2017, I was invited to review a rehearsal in a children’s theater program entitled “The Littlest Angel,” written and directed by Stephanie Lauck for the Theater Performance Workshop (TPW) which routinely performs in the Danville Village Theater. The artistic director and founder of this program is Jeff Seaberg, who has been directing, writing, and teaching children in the theater arts for the past twenty-six years, at least fourteen of which have remained exclusively in Danville. Prior to that, he spent ten years in El Cerrito managing the Contra Costa Civic Theater and did their drama campaign for ten summers. When he moved to Danville, he asked the CCCT director, Kathleen Ray, if he could conduct their program in this geographic area. She agreed and he began an afterschool program during the school year and a summer camp during the summer.

The afterschool program is a class that meets twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, after school from 3:30 to 4:45 pm. According to Mr. Seaberg, “We do completely original custom-made productions that we have written ourselves. That’s why we call it the Theater Performance Workshop.” Jeff works with his partner and personal assistant, Stephanie Lauck, on these shows. “For example,” says Mr. Seaberg, “if we discover that some of our students have special talents such as singing, or instrument acuity, or gymnastic ability, we will write shows that incorporate the natural talents of our young people.” He will often actually write a part specifically suited to the talents of a particular child or the children in the show. One could call this theater, tailor-made theater. This seems to be one of the reasons why this program is so popular with the children, because it becomes very personal to each and every child involved and helps play to their natural talents and helps to encourage the formation of unknown talents. Jeff Seaberg continues, “For eight weeks we meet twice a week, we do all the basic nuts and bolts, do monologues, script auditions, do auditions, cast the show, block the entire show. The children memorize their lines and rehearse their part.” Depending on how booked the Danville Village Theater is (located at 233 Front St. in Danville), they may rehearse there for a time or in a separate teaching facility located in the Hap McGee Park complex. After about eight or nine weeks of rehearsal, they do five performances over a one weekend time span. They begin with a school matinee on a Thursday night, followed by 7:00 pm performances on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, including two 2:00 pm matinee performances.

Stephanie Locke actually began her exploration of theater arts at the Village Theatre in Danville when she was ten years old, under the direction and instruction of a very well-known children’s theater director at the time, Sonja Lawson. “Sonja (says Stephanie) was incredible. She did musicals. Miss Lawson was my inspiration and she gave me the inspiration and satisfaction to love theater. This was at a time in my life when I really hated school, the reason in part, was because at the same time I was diagnosed with dyslexia. When you have a disability in school it makes it hard to make friends, it makes it hard to keep your grades up, and it really brings you down. Putting me in theater totally brought me out of my shell. I made friends who were much in the same situation. I soon discovered that life is not always as difficult as we might perceive. I even had friends who discovered at ten years of age that they were gay and they couldn’t handle school any better than me. I stayed with the Danville program until I was about age fifteen. When I was twenty-four, I met Jeff Seaberg and he hired me to assist him in this program.”

Over a ten-year period, Jeff and Stephanie estimate that they have graduated over 2000 students who have participated in an accumulation of seventy or more shows. Further, the company has an average rate of return of approximately 50% to 60% of students every year. One girl has been in over twenty plays. As the student’s abilities and expectations grow, Jeff and Stephanie expand and enhance the parts they play to further engage the growing talents of each child. Having the ability to create custom tailored shows sets this theater apart as a great learning place over many other theaters which produce the typical shows. In addition, many times it is difficult to encourage boys, as they, on occasion, are not into dancing and singing. Mr. Seaberg deliberately makes his plays “boy friendly,” by creating a “super hero show, aka/the Captain Cool Show,” every year. In other words, according to Jeff’s motto, “It allows the kids to fit the skin they’re in.” Also, I tell parents that “this is not a star making program, it’s an experiential program.”

If you have a child, grandchild or young person in mind who you feel might benefit from such a program as this, contact this organization by calling (510) 517-1336 and start the conversation. The cost to participate in this program is very reasonable starting at approximately $425 for the TPW (Theater Performance Workshop) afterschool program, and up to $520 for KAOS (Kids Acting On Stage),which is a summer two week program. Children between seven and fourteen need no prior experience is in theater. The summer program takes place over a two week period, in which the children do a full play and make a mini movie. The school runs from nine o’clock in the morning until 3:30 in the afternoon, Monday through Friday.