Shakespeare Without Tears: Twelfth Night’s Fools For Love

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Here in the US, January 6th has taken on a particular political meaning, but for most of the world, it’s the celebration of the twelfth night of Christmas, partridges in pear trees and all that. It’s a traditional time of partying and celebration, and Shakespeare titled what I believe is his best comedy, Twelfth Night. But it might be have been better called, Love Makes Idiots and Fools of Everyone!

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear the rest of the story as broadcast today on the Arts Express radio program, heard on WBAI-FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Red-Bellied Woodpecker

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(Click to enlarge)

If you look very closely, you can see a faint patch of reddish-orange towards the very bottom of the belly, and that’s how the bird gets its name. This one is a female; the male has the bright red patch extend all the way from the nape to the rest of the crown forward. This is the first time I’ve gotten a photo of this kind of bird.

Prospect Park

Brooklyn, New York

You Got This!

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Recently here in NYC our mayor authorized a Public Service Announcement which featured a perky young woman telling us what to do in case a nuclear bomb fell. After listing what to do, she applauds us by saying, “You got this!” Well we were kind of horrified by it, so we here at Arts Express thought it might be fun to write our own version of that PSA.

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear our version of the PSA as broadcast last week on the Arts Express radio show, heard on WBAI FM and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

The Mrs. Doubtfire Restaurant Scene–As Performed By Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde

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The wild comedic imagination of Eleanor Morton takes the gender switching theme from the Robin Williams film, Mrs. Doubtfire, and transplants it into Robert Louis Stevenson’s horror story. A really brilliant turn by Ms. Morton.

More at Eleanor Morton

Our End-Of-Year Arts Express Thank You Poem

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Twas the end of December and feeling like hell
Covid and flu, do these things ring a bell?
Pre-emptions and scrambling to get the work done
The rain and the snow and the where-is-the-sun?

Inspiration was meager, the cupboard was bare
There was nothing to say, I had nothing to share
I was feeling the blues, and I have to confess
I was stuck for a piece for the next Arts Express...

Find out how it turns out in our year-end Arts Express thank-you poem, as broadcast today on the Arts Express radio show heard on WBAI-FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to listen!

Tilting At Windmills

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Richard Kiley in his greatest Broadway role, as Miguel Cervantes/Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha, book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh, and lyrics by Joe Darion.

Wikipedia tempts us with the information that the original lyricist was to be W. H. Auden, but his lyrics were considered too satirical and biting towards the bourgeois audience and so was replaced.

What I would give to see those discarded lyrics!

Thanks to YouTuber The Ed Sullivan Show

The Mystery of Holly Plus

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Was your correspondent deepfaked by a deepfake? And who owns your voice anyway?

Click on the triangle or mp3 link above to hear “The Mystery of Holly Plus” as broadcast today on the Arts Express radio show, heard on WBAI-FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation.

Let’s Fall In Love: Ella Fitzgerald

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The Great Ella with a terrific song by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler. Not to be confused with Cole Porter’s “Let’s Do It, Lets Fall in Love.”

Accompanied by the Billy May Orchestra, from the Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Song Book.

Thanks to YouTuber JazzBreakTV

2nd Chance: Sex, Violence and Bulletproof Vests

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Why would a man shoot himself in the chest 192 times? In a country that worships guns, explosives, and comic book super heroes, what kind of stories move product? And finally in a country that professes to be deeply Christian and compassionate is there a second chance for all of us—even the worst among us? All this and more are explored in a really intriguing documentary called 2nd Chance. I was happy to talk to the director of 2nd Chance, Ramin Bahrani.

To hear the interview as broadcast today on the Arts Express program on WBAI FM NYC and Pacifica affiliates across the nation, click on the triangle or mp3 link above.