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Five one-act plays set to run at Norcross
Cultural Center
By
JAMES BECK
Special to GwinnettForum
NORCROSS, Ga., Jan. 6, 2009 -- A collection of five one-act plays
will be performed at the Norcross Cultural Arts and Community Center
on the weekend of January 15-18. The plays will be put on by Onion
Man Productions of Atlanta, which will be presenting works by Atlanta
and Chicago playwrights. Each short play is performed every show.
Beck |
Shows will be January 15-16 at 8 p.m., January 17 at 7:30 p.m.
and Sunday, January 18 at 3 p.m.
The plays and playwrights to be presented are:
- David Kravitz, Duck: 2 Breasts, Sauteed. Kravitz works
as a free-lance writer in Chicago. Duck: 2 Breasts Sauteed
was first produced in Chicago as part of Back Porch Secrets:
An Evening of 10 Minute Plays presented by the B.U.M.S. (Blatnoi
Underground Music Society), a Chicago based playwright co-operative
of which Kravitz is a founding member. He is currently working
on a one-person show entitled, Excuse Me, But I'm Dying Here.
- James Beck, The Attendant. Beck, a native of Atlanta,
has worked as a playwright and actor in Atlanta and Chicago. It
was in Chicago, in 2003, that Onion Man Productions produced the
first workshop and staged reading of his play, The Secret of
the Cat. Inspired by his experience in Chicago, during the
last two years James led a playwright-produced effort that produced
shows entitled 9x9: Nine Plays by Nine Playwrights. His plays,
Julia Roberts Was Pretty Once and Little Red Wagon,
were part of the shows.
- Nick Boretz, Bobbie's Book Club. Boretz is a recipient
of the Schubert Foundation Fellowship for Playwriting, and had
his most recent full-length play Travels in the American Night
selected to be stage read as part of the Salon Series at Working
Title Playwrights in Atlanta. The past two years, his plays Dollar
Man and Harry Goes Away were done as part of 9x9: Nine
Plays by Nine Playwrights.
- David Fisher, Bluethroat. Fisher is relatively new to
playwriting. Two short pieces were produced by Academy Theater's
Late Night project in 2007. In 2008, one spoken word monologue
was performed at Decatur's Arts Festival and another short play
was staged as part of 9x9: Nine Plays by Nine Playwrights. He
is an associate of Working Title Playwrights and is happy to be
invited to work with Onion Man on this new voyage.
- Raymond Fast and Jacki Verde, Therapy. A writer and poet
for many years, Fast began writing for the stage in 2006. Readings
of his first full-length play, Bonneville Love, have been
staged at the Legion Theatre in Cartersville (where he currently
resides), The Academy Theatre and Lionheart Theatre Company. A
native of Beaumont, Texas, Verde makes her home in Phoenix where
she owns her own business. Therapy is her first play.
Among the features performers will be Asha Ahelia, Kim Bennett,
Tanya Carroll, Doug Cashell, David Fisher, Sophie Gatins, Lynne
Jenson, Debbie McLaughlin, Bob Smith, William Szymanski and Erin
Thrift
For reservations, call 404-519-7591 or email jpbeck99@yahoo.com.
Tickets are $15 (cash only). Onion Man Productions will donate $1
per ticket to the Community Involvement Committee through Georgia's
Own Credit Union. The program adopts families during the holidays,
supports an annual Special Citizen's Holiday Party for mentally
challenged kids and adults and supports Children's Healthcare of
Atlanta. For more information: www.onionmanproductions.com.
Those "Yewts" (Utes) and the Capitol
Visitor Center in D.C.
By
ELLIOTT BRACK
Editor and Publisher
JAN. 6, 2009 -- An interesting question in the movie, My Cousin
Vinny, is from the Alabama judge presiding at a murder trial.
He asks, "What is a yewt?" Turns out it's Joe Pesci's
(Vinny) New York pronunciation of "youth."
Brack |
All of Alabama got introduced to a similar sounding pronunciation,
this time of a Utah Ute, at the Sugar Bowl last week, as that team
walloped previously-Number 1 Alabama, and ended the Utah season
as the only undefeated major college football team. It was shocking
to see Alabama fans so quiet. After the shellacking of Alabama,
previously-considered-lightweight Utah rates to be at least Number
2 in our book.
Yep, we became almost saturated with the bowl game viewing over
the last week. Perhaps the best game we saw was Vanderbilt-Boston
College. The Commodores from Nashville had not won a bowl game in
55 years. It was a thrilling game, close all the way, and ended
a Cinderella season for Vandy, this time with a winning (though
only 7-6) record. Vandy grads everywhere must be elated (and shocked)!
Another good game was Mississippi shocking Texas Tech. And though
we didn't have a horse in another race, we thoroughly enjoyed Buffalo-Connecticut,
a game good -- and close -- to near the very end.
But now to 2009. It's good to have 2008 behind us
for several reasons.
* * * * *
You can see by today's top photo that we were in Washington, D.C.
for Christmas. What was most unusual is how mild it was there (and
here), while the Northwest, high plains and the Midwest were besieged
with major snow storms. A mild Washington was delightful.
If you haven't been to Washington in a while, you might be surprised
at what has been going on at the east entrance to the Capitol. A
new Visitor's Center has been constructed underground in front of
the east side of the Capitol. The Center opened December 2. It was
three years behind construction, due in some part to address security
concerns after the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
The site is on the Capitol grounds, and the facility is three stories
-- all underground, at the end of East Capitol Street. The Visitor
Center is huge, 580,000 square feet, almost as big as the Capitol
itself. You go down steps off First Street, S.E., to gain entrance.
Flanking the entrance and across First Street sit the Library of
Congress and the Supreme Court.
The site is huge. It's amenities including an exhibition gallery,
two orientation theaters, a 550-seat cafeteria, two gift shops,
and restrooms. The project took six years to complete and cost $621
million.
Our daughter has just moved nearby, and so we were walking our
dog (Hercules) last week as the sun rose on the Capitol. Here is
a view from the bottom steps of the Visitor Center. Note that the
normally-white Capitol Dome has a pink hue as the just-risen sun
hits it.
The Center is supported by 20-ton steel columns. It is constructed
of sandstone walls, and is covered by a 27-inch thick roofed, topped
with granite. The new center is designed to explain what goes on
in Congress. Among its features are modern methods to screen visitors
before they enter the Capitol building. Documents and artifacts
related to our nation are highlighted in the Visitor Center.
Like all museums in Washington, the Visitor Center is a bargain
for visitors. There is no entrance fee.
When we were at the Capitol, the Visitor Center was not yet open,
and we didn't get a chance to visit it. We anticipate viewing the
new center on our return.
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com
to you at no cost to readers. Today's sponsor is EMC Security,
headquartered in Lawrenceville. EMC Security provides residential
and commercial security with the same service and values that its
parent companies, Jackson EMC, Walton EMC and GreyStone Power, have
delivered for over 70 years. EMC Security's newest division, EMC
Home Technology, delivers all a home's technology needs, including
entertainment networks, home theaters and whole house music/intercom.
Call EMC Security at 770/963-0305 or visit their website, www.emcsecurity.com.
Finds
overheard conversation about race bothersome
Editor, the Forum:
I was bothered by Scott Davis' comments about his voting experience
during the recent election. I was most bothered by his complaints
in the first two paragraphs about being mistreated because he's
a white voter.
Unfortunately, my mind went back to a discussion my wife and I
overheard at Mah Jong's Restaurant in Snellville one Sunday afternoon
before the election. We were seated at a booth behind two elderly
white couples dressed in their Sunday best. They evidently had just
come from church. They were discussing the Obama-McCain race. One
of the husbands said of Barack Obama "You would think people
would see through him." His wife then said "Can you imagine,
a black man running the country."
-- David Brown, Snellville
Dear David: We agree. That's unsettling. And it
shows that though we have progressed tremendously, we still have
a long way to go. It may be more generational than anything else.
--eeb
Current economic crisis
more of a recession than depression
Editor, the Forum:
As we move into 2009, I thought your readers might appreciate a
look backwards and forwards into the "financial crystal ball."
Not surprisingly, many investors are saying "Good Riddance"
to 2008. In the past year, long-held market beliefs and models were
questioned, such as the belief that a well-diversified portfolio
of stocks and bonds will shield one from all risk; that buying and
holding quality stocks is the best long-term strategy; and that
regulators will protect individual investors from market abuses.
Global imbalances have caused Americans to re-examine long-held
assumptions about our standard of living and our financial institutions.
2008 marks the end of an era of global credit expansion based on
the U.S. dollar as the primary international reserve currency.
There is always a disposition in people's minds to think that existing
conditions will be permanent. They won't. Consistently declining
equity prices are not the norm historically. Consequently, 2009
will present opportunities to purchase financial and real assets
at values not to be seen for another few decades.
Much has been made of the parallels between now and the nightmarish
Great Depression of the 1930's. Make no mistake, there are similarities,
however, the current crisis is more akin to the 1973-74 recession,
and an end is in sight. Be patient. While there won't be a fast
recovery, this too shall pass.
-- Emily Sanders, Norcross
Be careful when purchasing
new low flush toilets for rebate
Editor, the Forum:
Over the summer I replaced both of my five gallon toilets with
new 1.6 gallon low flow models, using information based on the information
at http://www.northgeorgiawater.com/html/315.htm.
I expected to get a $50 rebate for each of the $79 toilets I purchased
from Lowe's. Neither toilet qualified for the rebate. "Do It
Yourself" consumers need to know that not just any toilet meets
the strict standards the state requires to get the rebate. It's
not all bad though, now I only carry a three gallon bucket of rain
water through the house to continue to conserve water.
I'm still working on my rain garden to control the water runoff
on my property so I can get a 10 percent credit on my tax bill.
I'll let you know if I get the credit.
Information on the stormwater credits, introduced in 2006 say:
"Rain gardens are boggy, low spots in the landscape, planted
with appropriate native vegetation. Rain gardens collect storm
water runoff and allow it to soak into the ground. Homeowners
who construct rain gardens can receive up to a 10 percent credit."
-- Shirley Holmes, Lawrenceville
Aurora
Theatre will next present comedic thriller, Corpse!
After box-office success in recent years with wintertime dramas
like Dial M for Murder and Wait Until Dark, Aurora
Theatre will present the comedic thriller Corpse! by Gerald Moon.
Daniel May plays Evelyn Farrant and Don Finney is Major Powell
in Corpse!
Photo by Christopher Bartelski. |
The play has its Dress Rehearsal January 13, and will be staged
Thursdays-Sunday from January 15 until February 8. Tickets are from
$16 to $30, and may be purchased by calling 678-226-6222 or on the
web at www.auroratheatre.com.
The year is 1936. The place is London. The story is one of sibling
rivalry as one brother plots to murder the other. The brothers are
identical twins portrayed by one actor, which makes Corpse!
so theatrically brilliant.
Aurora Theatre has tapped one of Atlanta's top talents to take
on the challenge of playing twins, welcoming Daniel May in his Aurora
Theatre debut.
Anthony Rodriguez, Aurora Theatre Producing Artistic Director jokes,
"We did not plan it this way, but in our current economic state,
it is nice to only pay one actor to portray both leading roles.
Kidding aside, it is a testament to our success that this powerhouse
cast of household names in Atlanta theatre are all making their
Aurora debut with Corpse!"
Suwanee
police captain to attend FBI National Academy
Mooney |
Suwanee Police Capt. Cass Mooney heads to Quantico, Va., later
this week to participate in the FBI National Academy, an invitation-only
10-week course of study for law enforcement leaders. Mooney will
be one of six Georgia officers among 250 from around the world to
attend the 236th session of the academy from January 12-March 20.
Less than one percent of law enforcement leaders around the world
have completed the program. Mooney, who commands Suwanee's field
operations bureau, and has worked for the police department for
11 years. Other Suwanee officers who are National Academy graduates
include Chief Mike Jones and Deputy Chief Janet Moon, who participated
while working for the Rome Police Department; Technician Bill Morgan,
who attended as a detective sergeant with the Bedminster, N.J. police
department; and Capt. Clyde Byers.
Smith, left, and Lawson |
Bill Lawson to head
Certified Residential Specialists
The Georgia Certified Residential Specialist of the Georgia chapter
of the Association of Realtors has named Bill Lawson of Gwinnett
as president for 2009. He takes the gavel from Shirley Smith of
Macon, who was president in 2008. Lawson, of Harry Norman Realtors,
is a previous Realtor of the Year of the Gwinnett Association of
Realtors and was president of the North Atlanta Metro Association
of Realtors in 1985.
Movie:
Doubt
Film
asks: Can Faith endure amidst a Modern Sea of Doubt?
Warning: spoiler alert.
If you have not seen Doubt, do not read further. The film contains
a major plot twist, which is discussed here.
The best (and last) line of the Pulitzer-prize winning play-turned-film,
Doubt, exposes the moral squeeze. In a final and complete
reversal of roles, the starch-collar, old school, Catholic Sister
Aloysius reveals to her innocent protégé Sister James
that the hard line absolutist, now has "doubts." What!
Sister Aloysius, now a doubting Thomas? To catch a pedophile, Aloysius
told a lie. True Catholic dogma would never allow such a lie, even
to defeat evil. Does the end really justify the means? Doubt is
a Rorschach test. Aloysius' "case" against the pedophile
is flimsier than the evidence of WMDs in Iraq. History is filled
with evildoers acting from fierce conviction: Mullahs, witch-hunters,
Inquisitors and suicide-bombers. Such Jihads will be wrong more
often than they are right. In the film's final ironic twist, the
seemingly simple-minded innocent protégé Sister James
has the only durable faith, and it is up to her to comfort Aloysius,
in the winter of doubt and despair.
-- James J. Murtagh, M.D
- An invitation: What
Web sites, books or restaurants have you enjoyed? Send us your
best recent visit to a restaurant or most recent book you have
read along with a short paragraph as to why you liked it, plus
what book you plan to read next. --eeb
Longstreet lives
in Louisiana, then moves to Gainesville, Ga.
(Continued from January
2 GwinnettForum.)
Longstreet |
Business, politics, and controversy marked Gen.
James Longstreet's postwar career. With peace restored he moved
to Louisiana, where he engaged in various business ventures, including
the lucrative insurance and railroad industries. Controversy first
swirled around Longstreet when he published a letter in a New Orleans
newspaper advising acceptance of northern terms for Reconstruction
in 1867. Although the letter advocated cooperation with the Republican
Party in order to facilitate the restoration of the South's traditional
ruling class and to control African American voters, most of his
southern peers flatly rejected any collaboration with the "black"
Republicans.
His letter also laid the foundation for a campaign vilifying Longstreet
after Lee's death in 1870. A group of Virginians, led by Jubal A.
Early, fabricated charges that Longstreet failed to execute Lee's
alleged order to attack at dawn on July 2, 1863, thereby costing
the Confederates the victory at Gettysburg. Longstreet's displeasure
with Lee at Gettysburg became the basis for which Early and his
cohorts attacked him, and the campaign also served to absolve Lee
of any responsibility for the defeat.
Such criticism chafed Longstreet, but he was unable to defend himself
well in writing. His continued Republican service only accentuated
his image as the southern traitor. A warm friendship with U.S. president
Ulysses S. Grant, however, helped Longstreet attain numerous patronage
positions in New Orleans.
After a local newspaper invited the general to move his family
to Gainesville, Georgia, Longstreet shifted his political support
to his home state in 1875. He purchased the Piedmont Hotel in Gainesville,
as well as a farm outside town--which his neighbors derisively called
Gettysburg. Once back in Georgia he continued to hold minor political
offices granted as thanks for his work on behalf of the Republican
Party's southern wing. Following a short stint as U.S. ambassador
to Turkey that ended in 1881, Longstreet returned to Georgia and
assumed the duties of U.S. marshal in Atlanta. Evidence of widespread
corruption involving his deputies, however, led to his removal from
that office in 1884.
Longstreet spent his final decades managing his farm and hotel,
writing about the war, enjoying the camaraderie of Civil War reunions
in spite of his tainted image, and spending time with his family.
In 1889 his beloved wife of 41 years, Maria Louisa Garland Longstreet,
with whom he had several children, died. In 1897 he married Helen
Dortch of nearby Carnesville, a woman more than 40 years his junior.
Longstreet, who was once told that he might not live a decade after
being wounded in 1864, succumbed to pneumonia at age 92 on January
2, 1904. He is buried in Gainesville's Alta Vista Cemetery
Thought concerning
how not to handle wealth
"You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."
-- Dr. Adrian Rogers, (1931-2005), via Pam and Jeff Hopper,
Norcross.
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