I didn’t watch the show (our cable-less TV doesn’t get that channel), but I found his to be a fascinating take on what was wrong with both the concept and the execution of this show. All this forces the question of who the intended audience was for NBC’s production of Peter Pan Live, a three-hour…
My daughter Carolyn appears as Young Estella in PICT Classic Theatre’s Great Expectations, the first of NEXT Pittsburgh’s “Top 8 events not to miss in December” 1. PICT Classic Theatre’s Great Expectations: December 3 – 20, Stephen Foster Memorial Kick off the holidays with a timeless moral tale that begins on Christmas morning. Follow along with…
I wonder what additional measurable benefits come from *performing* in live theater? Field trips to live theater enhance literary knowledge, tolerance and empathy among students, according to a study published this week by researchers in the University of Arkansas Department of Education Reform…. “What we determined from this research is that seeing live theater produced…
I am thrilled to be part of this great cast. “The thing that makes ‘Fiddler’ so special is the story of family, the story of tradition,” says Tony Marino, artistic director at Stage Right Theatre Company, which brings a production of “Fiddler” to The Palace Theatre in Greensburg from Nov. 21 to 23. Marino says…
This weekend, I will be playing the rabbi in Stage Right Theatre Company’s production of Fiddler on the Roof. Here is a video I made last year, during the dress rehearsal of Children of Eden, using a handheld iPod Touch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHnGyB8dYfs Here is a picture of a rabbi. On his forehead, he’s wearing a phylactery —…
I’m really enjoying the experience. I’ve made a playlist of all the numbers I’m in, and as I drive or do laundry I’m mentally practicing the choreography. What do we do again after the sunburst? Am I supposed to cut in front of or behind Travis when we zip our two separate lines into a…
After last night’s first rehearsal for “Fiddler on the Roof,” things that have made me start singing “Tradition!” in my head so far today: 1) Reading the name “Alyssa.” (Alyssa!) 2) Thinking about textbooks for next semester. (Edition!) 3) Thinking about hell. (Perdition!) 4) Turning on my car engine. (Ignition!) 5) Thinking about my upcoming…
Sources tell Seton Hill University’s Dennis Jerz that online write-ups of TV news stories seldom miss the chance to self-promote. Sources tell Jerz that two of the first three paragraphs in the text version of this Miami CBS TV news story put the name of the TV reporter before any actual news allegedly spoken by some nameless source.…
He’s not holding back here; he is telling these people, now that he’s poked their fear of booze, elites, outsiders, slippery slopes, and those who would interfere with authentic and worthy pursuits they perhaps love like harness racing, that the difference between pool and billards, those six pockets, mark a person as decent or not.…
A thoughtful overview of robots in culture, addressing the fear and hope that go hand-in-hand when humans reflect upon, fictionalize, and create our relationships with with mechanical workers of all stripes. Aaron Dubrow, National Science Foundation media officer, includes his perceptions of a panel on robots in theater, where I brought up the legacy of…
Mary Rodgers, composer of Once Upon a Mattress, also wrote the book Freaky Friday (later made into a movie starring Jodie Foster and remade with Lindsay Lohan). Mary Rodgers, who, as the daughter of a famous musical theatre composer (Richard Rodgers), a musical theatre successful composer herself (Once Upon a Mattress) and the mother of…
“In which the origin of the word “robot” is traced, precursors and context are briefly examined, and the Human soul is displayed for your consideration.” Karel Chapek’s 1920 play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) coined the word ‘robot,” which in the play was applied to an artificial worker, a living being manufactured with a chemical substitute…
Live in the DC area? June 19 I’ll be speaking about the play Rossum’s Universal Robots for a panel on “robots and theater,” sponsored by Cultural Programs of National Academy of Sciences. (The event will also be webcast.) D.C. Art Science Evening Rendezvous (DASER) is a monthly discussion forum on art science projects providing a snapshot…
I got a text message a couple days ago.. would I be available Saturday night to play a judge in a one-act play based (very loosely) on local history? Sure, why not? Similar:AP wins reinstatement to White House events after judge rules government can’t bar its jou…By Inferno's Light #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode…
My wife and I in Biblical costumes for Children of Eden. (We played Storytellers and had walk-on parts as Seth (third son of Adam and Eve) and his wife.) Oh, and she was a polar bear and I was a giraffe on the ark. Dennis G. Jerz. Similar:By Inferno's Light #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5,…
http://youtu.be/reyclH7zuHI Similar:By Inferno's Light #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 15) Dominion / Cardassian edg…In Purgatory's Shadow #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 14) Garak's answers a code…This morning I awoke to YouTube’s live footage of crowds circling a mosque in Mecca. For m…My crowd simulation handles 2000 capsule NPCs at 130fps. I’m really pushing…
Similar:By Inferno's Light #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 15) Dominion / Cardassian edg…In Purgatory's Shadow #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 14) Garak's answers a code…This morning I awoke to YouTube’s live footage of crowds circling a mosque in Mecca. For m…My crowd simulation handles 2000 capsule NPCs at 130fps. I’m really pushing…
This weekend has been magical. Friday night my daughter opened as Mary Lennox in Stage Right’s professional production of “The Secret Garden.” Two other talented girls share the role. Carolyn has learned a lot from them during rehearsals, studying what the other Marys are really good at, and displaying her own strengths. The Marys have…
In the Stage Right production, the role of Mary is triple-cast with each of the three girls, Grace Rusnica of Irwin and Julia Boyle and Carolyn Jerz of Greensburg, acting in one performance this weekend. Carolyn Jerz, a home-schooled 11-year-old student, shares stage time in “The Secret Garden” with her father, Dennis Jerz, who portrays…
Me: Yes, that sound was me choking up while running The Secret Garden lines with Carolyn. Wife: (Laughs.) Me: So, you married a sensitive man. Now shut up. Wife: You should blog that. Similar:AP wins reinstatement to White House events after judge rules government can’t bar its jou…By Inferno's Light #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5,…