I remember watching old movies as a child in awe with great ladies like Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Bette Davis and Barbara Stanwyck and thinking one day I will be a great business woman slinging out dry witticisms just like them. I also loved watching the "Beach Blanket Bingo" movies and being slightly turned on by all the clean cut kids dancing on the beach around a bonfire in bikinis.

Well, in Trogg! A Musical! I got everything I wanted from those movies plus the absolutely fabulous campy laughs and gender bending ironic twist on those themes that I’ve come to expect from a David Cerda production. Who else can take a 1970 cult classic about a misunderstood caveman and turn it into a clever laugh riot?

David also has a knack for writing genuinely funny and catchy tunes for his musicals and casting equally talented comedic singers and dancers in his shows like his costar, Ed Jones, who plays the hysterically funny Carol Ann to David Cerda’s classic and deliciously powerful and wry, "Joan Crawford". Alex Grelle who plays "Peanut" is also unbelievably funny in his every gesture and has a real knack for physical comedy.

I really enjoyed the entire cast in this, and Julie Bert Nichols, Megan Keach, Elizabeth Lesinski and Andrew Swan also deserve special mention for their great dance skills and comic turns. Props also to the cast choreographer who kept the theatre hopping with choreography that was highly entertaining, making you feel there was something different and interesting to watch on every inch of the stage. Directed by Scott Ferguson, the deadpan, campy and deliciously visual is perfectly blended together, making "Trogg" a fun-filled experience.

Just like it’s well dressed and coiffed predecessors, "Lady X", "Poseidon! An Upside Down Musical" and "Rudolph the Red Hose Reindeer", "Trogg A Musical" may have a few adorable kitschy and skimpy costumes but it is not skimpy on laughs or great music, so you really can’t find a better way to get real bang out of your theatre buck this summer!

"Trogg! A Musical", written by David Cerda with Cherly Snodgrass and Taylor E. Ross, is currently playing at Chopin Theatre (1543 W. Division) through July 16th. For tickets and more information check out Hell in a Handbag Productions website at www.handbagproductions.org or call 800-838-3006.

I love a good film festival for an exciting and enriching way to spend a few days working for Buzz Magazine in Chicago. Although a large festival like CineVegas, which lasted a full 10 days and had many glamorous parties and red carpets to cover can be exciting, a smaller festival in a quaint, spiritually rich town like Santa Fe can be just the remedy to soothe frazzled city nerves and enjoy some spa pampering while taking in great new and classic films.

2010 was the anniversary of Mark Twain’s death and the much-awaited release of Twain's autobiography for "Twainiacs". When I read that Val Kilmer was named the Honorary Chair of The Santa Fe Film Festival, I decided to attend and try to do the interview I had been planning for Val about his own independent film project on Mark Twain and Mary Baker Eddy while in Santa Fe.

I arranged my visit with the amazingly helpful and nice, Santa Fe Film Festival staff member, Gunther Maier, to cover the entire festival. This was a last minute decision and I was really lucky that La Posada, one of the most beautiful and luxurious spa hotels in Santa Fe agreed to provide the luxury accommodations for my three-night stay just 48 hours before my arrival.

As at any film festival there are just too many good films to see, and when you are in a beautiful destination like historic Santa Fe, you need to pick and choose which showings you can take in personally and which films to watch on DVD while you explore the shops, art galleries and local scenery. The following were my choices for this weekend:

THE ATHLETE (ATLETU)
Davey Frankel’s and Rasselas Lakew’s drama ATLETU tells the inspiring and incredible true story of Abebe Bikila, the two-time Olympic gold medalist in the marathon in 1960 and 1964. An Ethiopian, Bikilia was the first African to win a gold medal and the first repeat champion in the marathon. Bikila was later involved in a tragic car accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. And thus, began the greatest struggle of his life. Told on film as a hybrid of travelogue, biopic and documentary. Bikila’s first Olympic triumph was unprecedented, but his athletic conquests after a paralyzing car accident only add to his legend and impact.

CATCH-22
Director Mike Nichols’ and screenwriter Buck Henry’s 1970 adaptation of Joseph Heller’s scathing satire of life in the Air Force during World War II is the pair’s boldest cinematic display. A brilliant black comedy with an all-star cast including Alan Arkin, Bob Balaban, Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel, Jack Gilford, Bob Newhart, Anthony Perkins, Paula Prentiss, Martin Sheen, Jon Voight, Orson Welles.

LENNONNYC
Marking the 70th anniversary of his birth and the 30th anniversary of his death, Michael Epstein’s documentary LENNONNYC traces the experiences of John Lennon and Yoko Ono upon their arrival in New York City in 1971. After an initial heady period of music, politics, culture and creativity in their new home, a dark period followed for both Lennon’s career as well as their relationship. However, the intertwining of man, artist and adopted city righted itself before the musical legend’s untimely and tragic death.

THE PRINCESS OF MONTPENSIER
Directed by the legendary Bertrand Tavernier and based on a short story by Madame de La Fayette, THE PRINCESS OF MONTPENSIER is a French period romance set during the French Wars of Religion. As he experiences his own forbidden desire for the irresistibly beautiful and much-courted Marie, soldier-scholar Chabannes must also protect her from the dangerously corrupt court dominated by Catherine de Medici. Tavernier translates de Lafayette’s novel into a brilliant evocation of the tragic conflict between duty and passion. The film’s exceptional cast includes Melanie Thierry, Lambert Wilson, Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet, Gaspard Ulliel, Raphael Personnaz.

UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES (LUNG BOONMEERALUEK CHAT)
Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES is a fable about a tamarind and honey farmer named Uncle Boonmee who is slowly dying of kidney failure, and finds the ghosts of departed family members coming back to visit him. The film stars Sakda Kaewbuadee, Jenjira Pongpas, Thanapat Saisaymar.

It goes without saying that the highlight of the Santa Fe film festival screenings for me had to be the special 40^{th Anniversary Screening of the classic film, "Catch 22".}

It was a very special feeling to be enjoying and reacting to the brilliant performances in "Catch 22" on a BIG screen, while sitting just a few seats away from two of the film’s great stars, Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss.

I had just enjoyed a fantastic VIP festival brunch with them at Val Kilmer’s own Pecos River Ranch. Richard and Paula told me that neither of them had seen the film in well over a decade.

There were also a number of very interesting and informative film festival panels going on at various art galleries over the weekend. I chose to attend the one on Women Film Producers. I loved that the panels were held in art galleries so that I could multi-task and enjoy the fantastic array of local artists after the seminars end.

Festival organizer, Gunther Maier, drove me to Val’s Pecos River Ranch for the VIP Party and luncheon. It is about a half hour away from Santa Fe’s center and it is a beautiful drive. The Pecos River Ranch is really impossible to find if you don’t know it’s exact location, there is only one tiny sign at the end of the twisty, hilly, drive that leads to it to let you know that you have made it. I wouldn’t want to attempt this drive in the dark or in winter, when Gunther says few of the roads are plowed to clear snow away.

The land around the house on the drive up to it is very pretty, dotted with barns for the horses and cows.

We arrived before all the guests’ buses, so I was able to wander around a little and see the ranch and river in all its quiet glory. The main house looks very cozy and is not pretentious at all. It is a rustic yet modern adobe style home with two modest buildings connected by a great outdoor porch walkway. I loved that his caretaker’s dogs, came right up to me and plopped down at my feet for petting as I walked to the front door. I was missing my own dog back in Chicago and it was great to see dogs with so much beautiful out door space to play in.

Val had already called me to arrange a phone interview and let me know in advance that he would not be there for the festival party because he was on location shooting his new film by Francis Ford Coppola, "Betwixt Now and Sunrise." But I was still very excited to visit his home of over twenty years. I seemed to be the only guest at the festival party who knew in advance that Val Kilmer would not be able to attend his VIP luncheon, because as I clambered up the hill to the luxury outdoor restroom the fest had set up, Richard Benjamin asked me if Val was coming and looked so forlorn when I said he wasn’t.

The ranch house is lovingly decorated in a clean Southwestern style and is perfectly situated to take in panoramic views of the river and more than 6000 acres of lush wilderness belonging to the ranch that surround it on all sides. There is an adorable full sized teepee hut across the shallow part of the riverbed that children can play in.

It looked gray and rainy when we arrived but by the time lunch was served the sun started shining again and all of the guests had a wonderful, relaxed time wandering down the rocks to the riverbank, enjoying a glass of wine and a cigarette or pipe in the open air to the wonderful sounds of a superb Jazz trio.

The Santa Fe Film Festival VIP party was a great casual event for making new friends like Cynthia Canyon, the beautiful and accomplished owner and publisher of Trend Magazine, and meeting with all of the festival’s stars and long time supporters. Variety magazine also sent a writer to cover the VIP luncheon.

Kilmer’s many fans want to know when they will hear my interview with Val. When Val and I talked, I realized that the in-depth interview I had prepared about his film on Mark Twain, Mary Baker Eddy and the precepts of Christian Science, was premature as the project was still in the planning and fundraising stage. Much to my delight, because theatre is my professional forte’, Val asked me to assist him with his compelling one-man show about Mark Twain nationwide.

In his show, "Val provides a rare look into the mind of a true genius, whose stories are more relevant than ever. From politics, to death, love, money, watermelons, God, racism and cats no topic is left untouched. Doors open at 7, trouble starts at 8."

If his already packed film schedule will permit, Val is currently considering a weekend run here in Chicago that I have arranged for November of 2011. The working title for his play on Twain’s work is " I’m Your Huckleberry". Don’t you love it!

So if you are an avid Kilmer fan or traveling "Twainiac" and eagerly anticipating seeing his play you might want to visit him at his website or send him a tweet to let him know you will attend.

I highly recommend attending the next Santa Fe Film Festival in October of 2011 to everyone who enjoys seeing a great selection of film projects in a rich, and natural setting with all the amenities of a five star hotel and spa just footsteps away.

Check out my photo gallery of this event for more great photographs and video of my visit to the Santa Fe Film Festival, and the celebration at Val Kilmer’s Pecos River Ranch at www.flickr.com/photos/kimkatz.

For more information and to purchase tickets for The Santa Fe Film Festival 2011, visit www.santafefilmfestival.com.

For more information on Val Kilmer and his film project or live show about Mark Twain visit www.valekilmer.com and www.twaineddyfilm.com .

For more information on La Posada de Santa Fe Hotel and Spa visit their website at www.laposada.rockresorts.com.

La Posada has had many star visitors including Kevin Costner, Colin Farrell, Bill and Hilary Clinton, to name a few. The hotel is filled with gorgeous and valuable art and there is a delightful afternoon tea served to guests along with an in depth tour of the art and the hotel’s ghostly history. Yes, the beautifully renovated hotel has a delightfully rich history and is believed to be haunted.

The October weekend that I was there was unusually rainy and cold so I did not get to enjoy the pool and garden setting outdoor Jacuzzi very much but I was given the most incredible, gentle "Flowing Water" massage I have had in recent years by the gifted masseuse, Rita Bergmann. Rita is a childhood cancer survivor and is an accomplished master of the intuitive healing touch. Be sure to request and reserve her services way in advance just like stars, Kevin Costner and Colin Farrell have in the past. I followed this much-needed massage healing with a cup of organic tea and a restful steam in the Rock Resort’s Spa eucalyptus steam room.

The La Posada offers a free local destination shuttle van to it’s guests which turned out to be indispensable to me for attending the various film festival parties and screenings which were nearby but a little too far to be considered walking distance. Every driver I received for the shuttle, which I used at least five times a day, were super friendly and informative and really made me feel at home while traveling alone. Two of them even waited for me outside of restaurants or stores while I ordered food or bought groceries to take back to my suite fridge.

Every adobe room or suite at La Posada is very unique in size, shape, and bath amenities so I suggest you ask them to see two or three rooms before you decide, and ask for a newly renovated room if like me you must have a room with a spa tub and quick in/out access- no stairs, near the entrance of the lovely and rustic, sprawling resort.

I like to celebrate my birthday. I learned that from my mom who would always tell us before we got to the restaurant on her birthday to please discreetly inform the wait staff and ask them to sing to her when they bring dessert to the table. Many of my friends scoff at celebrating their birthdays. They say it’s no big deal and that it doesn’t mean anything.

It does mean something, something important and not just to your mother. It means something even to those strangers sitting in Red Lobster who applaud your birthday for ten seconds, and will never see you again.

For one thing, it means that you as an earthling, physically made it this far and to this day, the same date as the first day you shot out of your mother and into the atmosphere of our hostile world. It means you may have made it past many possibly fatal threats to you being alive eating at Red Lobster on this day, your birthday.

You may have out dodged childhood diseases, car accidents, poverty, plane accidents, all the adult diseases, boating accidents, skiing accidents, maybe even hurricanes and tornados came your way and couldn’t take you down. You have been on the planet this many years and are still here!! Albeit you may be lurching about a bit, but you are still here for your loved ones.

Also, if you find any value in astrology, Eastern, Western, and everything astronomical in between, then investigating the archetypal meaning of your birthday can have great eye opening power for you as it did me.

For example, I was relieved when I read that the week of my birth is considered to be the week of "The Loner". It really explained to me why I have always chosen to spend so much time alone at home, in libraries or out in nature, often going to movies or dance clubs alone. I’d see large groups of girls going in and out of bars or shops and wonder what’s wrong with me? Why don’t I have that many friends? Why don’t I even have the desire hang out with that many people? Am I alone a lot because I’m a "witch" or "weird"? When I read that description about my being a loner by nature, I realized I’m not a pack animal. It’s not a problem; it’s just the way I was designed to roll.

March 5^{th, The Day of Heaven and Hell}

I actually remember the first time I opened to that paragraph in the BIG, giant, Book of Birthdays while standing in a Barnes and Noble bookstore on the upper west side of New York. I was hungrily searching for clues about my spiritual self and was pretty sure my birthday was going to be called something lovely and impressive like "Dances in Rain On the Day of Beauty and Roses" or "The Day of Laughter and Unicorns" at the very least "Super Duper!!- You’ve got the very best birthday in this whole book!" But no, there it was, mine was the ultimate good news/bad news birthday-"The Day of Heaven and Hell".

The good news? You bring out the very BEST in people! That’s GREAT!

The bad news, you bring out the worst in people. Holy sh-t, that sounded horrible. Almost like an oxymoron, impossible!

Now I think everyone has had that experience of seeing a person clearly and positively at the beginning of a relationship and then maybe a few weeks or months when the masks usually come down, suddenly see the person completely differently, maybe even negatively. This is a normal experience and when there is the desire and the time, this unmasking doesn’t have to mean the end of the relationship, it can actually mean the very beginning of the real relationship.

So what happens for a "piercing insight, able to easily access the feelings of others, and naturally psychic" March 5th baby like myself is that the heavenly, falling in love process, and the hellish, unmasking process, happen very quickly, almost simultaneously and very, very intensely. I say almost simultaneously because they cannot happen at the same time. Heaven and Hell are two opposing forces or concepts and cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Also because "Heaven" or "light" is real, it really exists everlastingly and "hell" or "darkness" is not real and does not really exist or last.

Most people get to play out the above "getting to know you" scenario over a few candlelit dates, or over a period of years or-for a blessed few there is no big change in image, but for those born on March 5th the heaven and the hell are going to make a soul shaking appearance right away, no matter what.

So here’s what happens when I encounter a person I am attracted to, someone I think may be soul mate material (because at my age I’m not looking for anything less.) I’m used to this process, this is old hat for me but for the guy, he’s probably never seen or psychically felt one of "these" ever before. By "these" I mean the unique collection of planetary energies that make up my birthday and year.

I was born in 1965, the Year of The Chinese Wood Snake, considered the most wise, beautiful and psychic of the Eastern traditional signs. I have also four planets or pairs of dolphins in Pisces, also considered by experts to be the most psychic and impressionable "mirrors" of the Western Water signs. Don’t forget four planets in Virgo, the earthy, analytical, fastidious Virgins, and one eternally youthful, Aries Ram Moon, behind the steering wheel of my emotions.

Picture the image of a large powerful mirror, carried by four very careful Virgins. The mirrors’ reflective surface is not made of glass it is made of water, with eight dolphins living in the water, and the mirror is being shoved forward by a ram with a happily coiled snake riding on his back, that’s a pretty good illustration of what I look like astrologically.

At first my guy sees heaven, reflected in the mirror of my eyes. Because I have four planets in Pisces, the very archetype of the Eternal Soul Mate in my lineup, he sees a very real personification of his very own heavenly soul mate, completely equipped with all the heavenly qualities he heretofore only prayed for.

And he sees that I see the heaven in him too. Not just the younger more successful him, maybe 35 years old, when he may have been at the top of his career but the 11 year old him, the pure dreamer with a pure dream, the vast unmolested potential of him still perfect and unbruised in it’s tightly closed bud.

In just one stunning, powerful glance we both get to see clearly the heavenly archetypes we both currently embody including The Victor, The Accomplished Artist, The Spiritually Mature, The King, The Queen, The Humorist, The Hero, The Survivor, The Free Spirit and The Lover.

He also senses that I have enough Pisces power or fairy dust and four times the Virginal earth to make the heaven he only dreamed of real on earth as well.

This is a wonderful process, fantastical at first, but like the Woody Allen quote about not wanting to belong to any club that would have him as a member, he immediately feels certain that I am not seeing the real him, the hellish Devil he fears he has become or that he is seeing the real me.

To any other girl, born on a day not as "naturally psychic" or "piercing" he might suddenly reveal that he leaves his socks on the floor, is lactose intolerant, or is isn’t happy in his work, but in my case I quickly get to see the real "Hell" him. These shadow archetypal versions of him might include the hellish Hypocrite, The Coward The Procrastinator, The Pervert, The Failure, The Bully, The Misogynist, The Cheater, The Liar, The Psycho, The Icy Cynic, The Cheapskate, The Hermit, The Impotent, The Weakling, The Depressive, The Idiot, etc.

Now I’m not like Lady Gaga, I don’t want your "bad romance", your disease, your revenge or your horror, I only want your love.

I SEE that perfect child still alive in you. It is one of my gifts that I have the ability to actually see and touch the real, eternally ageless, heavenly version of you and that’s the only one I want.

Because I’ve been through this experience already with several other soul mates in my 46 years I already know that the "Hell" version of you is not even real. At most, these thoughts and behaviors are just collections of symptoms left over from not being in true love with a soul mate for a while.

I know too that the fearful hellish images he temporarily imposes on me, i.e.,

The Whore, The Goody-Goody, The Critic, The Prude, The Bitch, The Workaholic, The Cry Baby, The Old Maid, The Needy One, The Jokester,

The Victim, are all unfounded too, just shadow figures, just reflections of fearful thoughts quickly passing across the surface of my water mirror.

Now, it’s in my nature to butt heads and then quickly swim, slither, and run away from someone who appears so demonic and threatening to me. That’s a good thing, a protective safety hatch in nature. I believe we have more than one soul mate in this short life and it is crucial to choose to spend time with the right one at the right time for that union to be truly positive and fruitful emotionally for both people, as truly heavenly in every way possible. Connecting with one of your soul mates in this brief lifetime is always amazing but choosing the wrong Soul mate to connect with at the wrong time can lead one down a path of disaster that takes you off your true, spiritually prosperous life path for many important years, maybe for the rest of your life.

I guess this is an open letter to my future soul mate, letting him know not to be afraid of what he sees in my mirror or of what he sees me seeing in him. Yes, I see it all; mostly the good, but also the bad and the ugly and I reflect it all. For lack of a better term, I’m a psychic-reflective-visionary! It’s a good thing, one of my gifts. Apparently I can’t hide it and I can’t help that you SEE me, seeing it ALL.

But know that if our timing on earth is right, we can just laugh at the distorted "Funhouse mirror" versions of ourselves, set the mirror straight and see heaven clearly, together.

It is my belief that nudity and simulated sex are not a part of the craft of theatre and film acting and should not be engaged in at any point in their career by actors and actresses who are sensitive enough and talented enough to be considered artists and craftspeople.

In the same way that drinking three shots of whiskey and then “acting” in a drunk scene is not acting, so is actually being nude or engaging in real “simulated” sex not acting.

In the same way that eye gouging is not allowed or a part of the skill and sport of playing professional basketball or football, so should nudity not be allowed in artistic acting projects that consider themselves to reflect the superior quality of the craft of theatre and film acting.

Why isn’t eye gouging allowed in professional sports? Well, obviously eye gouging has nothing to do with the skill or gifts required to perform in professional sports. The second and most obvious reason why eye gouging is not allowed in sports is because it causes permanent injury to the player. In fact, after just one or two good eye gouges the talented sportsperson will be lacking the required facility – eyesight- to perform in the sport ever again.

No one wants to admit that nudity in film and TV is dangerous to your health or your career but we all know it is. The only question to ask yourself when casting an actress in a role that requires nudity is-would I cast a friend in this part? The answer will almost always be no. Why? Because you know that this actress will be subjected to a process that is demeaning at best and psychologically crippling at worst. That the chances of appearing nude in a feature film or TV show like ‘ Entourage” could very easily be the worst career move of her life, causing future casting directors to look on this actress’ resume as belonging to a stripper/exotic dancer type or a permanent extra player.

I’m not going to run down a list of actresses whose careers have either gone into a tailspin after doing nudity in film or never resumed forward momentum in career status because I don’t want to do any further damage to artists who have essentially consented to being “molested” on camera. In fact with the advent of the internet these actresses are reminded every day that the few seconds of film in which they appeared nude are being downloaded as freeze frames ad infitum just like any porn star with no acting training, experience or gift at all.

If you read a few interviews at random with actresses of quality about their actual experience doing nude scenes you will see several common claims. That the experience of being nude on a film set with many strangers watching and filming was “upsetting, embarrassing” that they “cried in their trailers afterwards”, that they were “unable to feel confident as actors afterwards” or made it impossible to interact with the other players as professional equals, that they “regret doing the scenes” and “would not do it again.” And importantly, that it not only did not open the career doors that were promised by “taking the risk and baring all” but in fact destroyed the very faculties of extreme emotional and psychological sensitivity and openness that are part of parcel of the skill package required to perform in “top form” in the craft of theatre and film acting ever again. And this happens after just one experience - just as quickly and efficiently as one good eye gouge destroys the eyesight of a pro sports star.

Unfortunately for actresses in particular, providing the nudity that helps “sell” a feature film translates into a “Game Over” situation for that artist.

Kimberly Katz' Platinum Press

National Pastime Theatre has done it again, this time producing Doo Lister’s Blues, a story that takes place in Chicago during the 1960’s amidst riots and revolution. Terry Abrahamson’s powerful story revolves around a black barber, Doo Lister – a songwriter who pushes the envelope by exercising free speech, despite strong warnings from the F.B.I. who view his material as that which could incite race riots.

Abraham’s piece, both thought provoking and inspiring, is beautifully brought together by the outstanding direction of Victor J. Cole, its strong cast, and very memorable musical numbers.

The show wastes no time in getting started as modern day rapping narrator “Nine Pound Hammer” (Al Tamper” Mayweathers) bursts out onto the stage to heavy hip hop beats, setting the stage for this inspiring story. The show then takes the audience back to the mid-1960’s to Doo Lister’s barber shop. Doo Lister (played brilliantly by Warren Levon), an aspiring songwriter, and his uncle “Catfish” (Kenneth Johnson) tend the shop where it is business as usual until outspoken record distributor “Rebecca Zwieg” (Victoria Abram-Copenhaver) enters their lives and changes everything forever. Urging Doo to sing about the important things taking place on the streets and around the nation rather than songs that always equate love to sweets, it takes a personal tragedy before his eyes begin to open.

Doo Lister’s Blues cast couldn’t be more perfect. Lucy Sandy is wonderful as Doo’s wife, Maria Lister. Sandy and Levon exhibit a true genuineness as a couple trying to get by in such a hard time, making the story that much more authentic. Levon also showcases his ability to entertain with hard-hitting spoken word numbers coupled with a strong stage presence. Damien Crim, who is highly believable in a role that could only succeed if just the right amount of conflict and sympathy are brought forth, plays F.B.I. agent Jewel Moton. Terry Froncois should also be noted for his excellent portrayal of younger brother, Buck Lister.

Doo Lister’s Blues is an important piece that is masterfully presented and can be seen through November 27th. Complete with catchy songs, extraordinary acting and a well-suited set, this is a show that should be seen by everyone. For more information on show times, visit www.NPT2.com.  

I have to admit, when I saw “The Beatles Love” at the Mirage, I wasn’t in the mood for love. I was alone in Vegas on a “working” vacation and although I appreciate the Beatles music and their irreplaceable contribution to music and politics, I was afraid to see and hear what would happen when their incredible songs were translated into a full length Vegas production. Well, with Cirque Du Soleil’s Dominic Champagne, Gilles Ste-Croix and Chantal Tremblay at the helm, I needn’t have worried.

The most difficult task of all, re-orchestrating and re-mixing their music was done with such abundant love and creativity by Sir George Martin and his son Giles and then broadcast to the audience with the most incredibly powerful sound system with such force and precision that I can honestly say you will never hear their music sound as dynamic or as fresh as it does here in the “Love” theater.

Although this Cirque production has it’s share of exciting acrobatics and feats of daring like the synchronized in line skaters effortlessly navigating half pipes, or the performers on trampolines who gracefully defy gravity, the main focus of this Cirque show falls squarely on the shoulders of the beauty and strength of it’s dancers and dance itself, as it should.

You don’t often get to see pure modern dance and ballet flowing in this way without the interruption of stunts or spectacles to overshadow the mind-blowing poetry of the trained human body in all its glory. Two great examples of this are in the overwhelmingly sexy, romantic dance numbers of “Something” and “Come Together.” Instead of casting the tall, lanky showgirl type dancers, or an abundance of overly athletic acrobats, “Love” has wisely been cast with genuine petite, youthful Balanchine style dancers, and ballerinas, delicate and full of expression with strong American thighs that perfectly convey eternal youth in motion and the true spirit of sixties freedom and rebellion.

I dislike when reviewers try to describe the amazing special effects and light and set changes that occur in any Cirque show, simply because when you anticipate them as an audience member, it lessens the impact. I will just say that there are so many wonderful eye popping effects going on visually, so rich in color, detail and light, so many fantastic costumes in every number, that you can not possibly take it all in and will say to yourself, I have to see this again, even as the show is unfolding.

My favorite music from the Beatles has to be the songs they created when in the period of experimenting with psychedelic drugs like marijuana and LSD. I feared that this production would “clean up” or “family friendly” the songs too much and lose that spectacular feeling of psychedelic mind expansion and transcendence of the boundaries time and space in music that the Beatles pioneered. Again, I needn’t have worried. At the opening, in a discrete nod to this fact about the Beatles, a few dancers quietly walk the stage as the lead dancer swings a smoking lamp past their faces, like the ones used in churches and the show begins… taking the audience on a magnificent spiritually musical, and visually psychedelic journey that is naturally intoxicating.

Everything about this production shines with the same great humor, lightness of heart

and unique genius that the Beatles themselves conveyed throughout their careers.

It doesn’t matter if you are in the mood for love when you enter the theater because by the time you leave it you will be filled with the joyful feeling that “Love” is truly, all you need.

For more information on “Love” visit www.mirage.com.

Kimberly Katz’ Platinum Press

“This Brilliant Jew is No Dummy!”

I have been eager to see the brilliant comedian and actor Don Rickles live and in concert for so many years. I saw him perform finally at The Venue in Hammond, Indiana last week and I was blown away by his abundant energy and razor sharp rapier wit. Even at 84, Don is still knockin’ ‘em dead with his own, unique brand of insult comedy.

The audience in the sold out house roared as Rickles’ hysterically skewered those in the front rows. “Hey look it’s a black guy in the front row, isn’t that nice, that’s lovely, send them some champagne. Oh and you the Jap, why don’t you take a picture of the nice black couple in the front row with their champagne - you’re never gonna’ see that again!”

I am Jewish too, and there is kind of an unspoken thing that if you ARE Jewish, you can joke about Jews, and since your people survived the Holocaust, well… you can pretty much safely joke about everyone else.

Rickles’ is a long time Democrat, and the thing that actually makes his insult comedy politically correct is that instead of spewing hate, he is actually defusing all the stereotypes and generalizations that most people have bubbling under the surface, and he allows them to come out into the light of day and pop like so many soap bubbles in laughter.

I was surprised to find out that this long time friend of Frank Sinatra is actually in possession of a great set of pipes himself. Rickles’ performs a couple of great tunes in his act with a full orchestra behind him and with great force and emotion. I was very impressed and had no idea he could sing so well!

I also loved the general atmosphere of his show. Many of my relatives, my grandparents and great aunts and uncles have all passed and being there with Don and his audience, which happily had a lot of alta cockers - old Jews in it, was like being back at home at my grandparent’s house in Miami, Florida as we kibitzed around trying to make each laugh. What a wonderful evening it was and I have rarely seen an audience this size and with so many races and ages in attendance, leave a show laughing and with such huge smiles on their faces!

One of my favorite bits was about his wife of 45 years, Barbara. Don says

”I still have to give her what she wants once in a while. When I come home and hear her saying, ‘Pussycat? Pussycat?’ I know I have to jump under the bed and say ‘Meow? Meow’ -Yeah, I still do it for her…because everything is in her name!”

Rickles continues to be very active on the stand-up comedy scene, and is still a popular performer in Las Vegas with many dates booked through the end of 2010. He has no plans to retire and as he recently said in an interview: "I'm in good health. I'm working better than I ever have. The audiences are great. Why should I retire? I'm like a fighter. The bell rings and you come out and fight. My energy comes alive. And I still enjoy it!”

Kimberly Katz' Platinum Press

I enjoyed this piece about an upper middle class family in Glencoe struggling to welcome an errant family member home after his five-year stint in prison.

Tony nominated actor Kevin Anderson plays Doug, the black sheep of the family and does a great job portraying the wild mood swings a person might experience trying to fit in and accommodate alienated family members as he adjusts to the basics of having a nice place to sleep again, nice food to eat and nowhere else to go. Kevin, who is originally from Gurnee Illinois, is well cast in the role and has a good sense of comic timing. Now at age fifty, he has the depth and road weariness to make you believe he is the disoriented, loser of this well educated, moneyed family.

Francis Guinan also gets high marks for his role as the neurotic, out of work, ineffectual father figure. Guinan’s high strung, detail oriented performance made me actually squirm in my seat with its authenticity. I was waiting for his character to explode, which he does finally when he discovers his precocious genius child has purposely killed all his exotic fish.

I also enjoyed Cynthia Baker’s portrayal of her character “Betty”, a cougar who has been writing to Doug while in prison and who desperately and futilely tries to win his affection and trust by showering him with expensive gifts and unconditional love but to no avail as he bluntly reminds her over and over, “I’m not going to f-ck you.”

Kudos also to set designer, Jeff Bauer, who has designed a sumptuous, spinning set that really makes you feel you are inside and on the patio of a gorgeous Glencoe million dollar home on the edge of a forest preserve.

The luxury and beauty of the home are also quite sterile in the way that many of these homes are and serves to exemplify the main theme that no matter how nice your home,

if you aren’t happy inside it, you might as well be back in prison - prison of another kind.

The feeling of isolation in the home with it’s track lighting and vaulted ceilings, completely surrounded by trees also serves the play in that each family member are so lonely themselves, that just having Doug’s presence there in this big house is a welcome, distraction, kind of like welcoming home a new puppy. They are eager to play with him (Doug) but desperately afraid he will metaphorically crap all over the house and their lives.

There are a few problems with Joel Drake Johnson’s script that only he can iron out - places where the monologues are not cut properly and cause these fine actors to struggle to make them sound natural and believable.

Overall though, I think that the Chicago families who attend theater at Victory Gardens are very much like the one in this play and will see themselves in it in a new and ultimately positive light.

*photo by Liz Lauren - Kevin Anderson (left) and Bubba Weiler

When is the last time you saw full frontal nudity in the theater? Was it “Hair”, “Oh, Calcutta!” or maybe “The Blue Room”? Maybe you have never seen a play with nudity in it, well, here is your chance to experience the liberating effect of live theater specifically designed to give you the feeling that your body - despite its quirks or flaws - is OK just the way it is.

Laurence Bryan, my old friend and classmate from DePaul, is the Artistic Director of National Pastime Theater and he has assembled a really wonderful assortment of plays that each utilizes nudity in an artistically sound fashion. I have already seen two of the one act plays, “The Emperor’s New Clothes” deftly directed by another talented DePaul Alumna, Carolyne Anderson, and “The Living Canvas: Demons”.

I highly recommend buying the festival pass or daily pass to enjoy more than one show because they are all very different in their approach, some farcical, and some more sensual or dance oriented and taken in combination you really get the full effect of  a democracy of positive body image that the Naked July Festival is trying to convey.

“The Emperor’s New Clothes” is a light, funny, very clever take on the original tale by Hans Christian Andersen with a satirical political twist thrown in for good measure.

“The Living Canvas: Demons”, is the seventh show by this company, directed by founder Pete Guither and, by using projected light over nude dancer and actors bodies, beautifully portrays the journey into the mind of an autistic girl and her sister’s attempt to understand that world. It was tremendously moving and exciting to watch. The performance of the lead dancer Emily Mark, who portrays Lily the autistic, was worth noting as she was not only an accomplished dancer but also an accomplished actor in expressing without words a very precise and deeply moving sense of what it must be like to be trapped in a body and mind afflicted with Autism. Also, I think it is a tremendously courageous task to undertake a role like this involving nudity from beginning to end. The neat thing about “Living Canvas” shows is that at the end they allow the audience to strip down and join them onstage under the lights and a lot of people actually went for it and joined in. That in itself was a beautiful, free love kind of thing to see happen in a theater setting in the year 2010, not 1968!

I’ll be honest, I was skeptical. I have always felt that nudity in the theater is something to be avoided at all costs to avoid damaging the delicate psyche of a good actor. However, when it is undertaken in the way that Naked July Festival has with a real eye for liberal thought and artistic merit, it is a tremendously exciting and liberating experience rarely encountered in traditional theater going.

I especially enjoy returning to the atmospheric and historic National Pastime Theater (4139 N. Broadway), which was an actual speakeasy for almost twenty years and fills it’s lobby with wonderful local artwork for sale in the theme of the shows currently running.

I highly recommend attending the Naked July Festival: Art Stripped Down, and I look forward to seeing the last two pieces, “Eros” and “The Tumultuous Tale of the Tragically Transparent Tunic” next weekend. See you there!

Call 773.327.7077 for performance times or check in at www.np2.com.