Here is his note:
The simple answer to your question about the running times is that there just wasn’t more of these artists to release. Unlike Carol Lawrence and Barbara Cook, these four men didn’t do as many guest spots on the Bell Telephone Hour. The same was true with Florence Henderson and Shirley Jones, which is why we paired them. We would have liked to have done similar pairings with the latest releases (i.e., Drake / Raitt and Keel / MacRae), but then the cost of the royalties for the increased number of copyrighted songs per video would have made it impossible to release the DVDs at our target price of $19.95.
We often wish we could go back in time and ask the artists to sing different repertoire (“Mr. Drake, can you please sing something from Kismet?”). But, to quote Shakespeare, “what’s done is done.” Our primary goal at VAI is to reach into the dusty archives and make these rare and precious performances – most unseen since their initial airings – available to the general public. It is our small contribution to preserving the memory of these truly irreplaceable artists.
 
Allan Altman
Production Coordinator
VAI
allan@vaimusic.com]
 

Sorry DC Theatre Scene, I totally disagree with your take in trying to make this gong show act into something significant – performance art – yeah, right!

I’m particularly caught off-guard by the little things. Like the fact that he and I often caught the same bus down to Studio in the mornings. This morning, I looked for him at his stop. Old habits, I guess…

It’s impossible to summarize all the ways he contributed to the mood of the office that made us all so happy. I think of these moments, and him, every hour of the day these days. Sometimes when he was having a debate about the logistics of a marketing campaign he would raise both his hands and point his fingers at you, as if wearing sock puppets, and debate the pros and cons of an issue using talking hands… When angry or frustrated, he’s sometimes transform into his alter-ego, Leona Helmsley. When that happened, watch out… And our weekly department meetings seemed to always include a moment when Lance would notice something surprising on the ceiling, out the window, or over in the corner of the room, and we’d all veer off topic for a moment to examine it. Liane, our Director of Communications, would often respond by saying, “Lance, just don’t look up.”

So in honor of Lance this weekend, and going forward, I’ll be following his lead. Be a pal, be a mentor, be a remarkable citizen. And, yes, look up.

Jim

Thank you again for the DC Theatre Scene support! Thank you, especially, to the DC theatre community who have, once again, jumped on this event.

We’ve had over half of the available registration slots filled within 4 days. The Open Call screening will be judged by some of our area’s finest and most experienced actors and directors. The actual competition will be judged by 12, yes 12, directors including 3 who are coming down from NYC!

Readers can follow the updates at http://www.MonologueMadness.net and via our Facebook and Twitter pages.

We’re STILL searching for a venue for the competition night and hope to have one nailed down shortly!

Thank you again!

Edward Daniels 

In my view, however, this play is only incidentally about the profession of journalism and journalistic ethics.  Rather it is about the usual literary suspects — sex and death.  Death?  Each character represents a point on the spectrum of ability to confront life-threatening experiences.  Photojournalist Sarah, who is at the peak of her career, embraces them eagerly.  She is even content to live with her battle scars.  Her boyfriend James, who is less successful, used to as well.  After an unexplained breakdown, however, he has withdrawn to writing dubious analyses of Japanese horror films, which he watches in the comfort of the couples’ Brooklyn living room.  Photo editor Richard, who was once involved with Sarah, expresses mild cynicism about war zone photography.  Robert Capa might have been a bit of a poseur, he suggests, but Richard is only too happy to arrange photos of horrific scenes for tasteful publication.  Meanwhile, all that his naive friend Mandy ever learned about life-threatening experiences apparently came from The Discovery Channel.  Sex?  The characters vary inversely, depending on their willingness to meet pressure head-on, in their willingness to love, couple, and form families.  For Mandy, it is easy.  For Sarah, it is hit or miss.  The tension between sex and death is at the center of the drama.

I was less impressed with the characterizations of Sarah and James.  Sarah is created, or possibly portrayed, as a straight-ahead character; she rarely recoils or reflects.  James, it is clear, has demons inside of him, but we never learn what they are, except possibly through a hint at the end.  I found him less “aching and vulnerable” than insubstantial.  More nuance, more dimensions in the principal characters might have made this play Tony-worthy. 

[Editor's note: Done!]

“War Horse” — the movie — is a tale of love, of friendship, of devotion, of kindness and understanding, of fierce bonding loyalty between a horse and its young master against a backdrop of war … and Mr. Spielberg shows this grandly.  The music score is exquisite.  Emily Watson as the mother of the young man ‘Albert’ – one of only 2 female roles in the entire movie — is VERY good, but the REAL stars (which this review failed to notice or to mention) are the 2 horses who play ‘Topthorn’ and ‘Joey.’ 

If you decide to see “War Horse” — the movie — for no other reason, see it for the BRILLIANCE of these 2 horses.  They’re spellbinding.  Their facial expressions and reactions to lines said by the human actors are amazing.  Even Mr. Spielberg said during an on-camera interview that they just inherently seemed to know what was being asked of them, without any outward force … that they knew what was happening, and they delivered the perfect emotions.
The final scene — when the war is over and Albert returns home to the farm with his best friend ‘Joey’ … both forever changed, and with Albert now having a new understanding for his father … and reuniting with his parents, the glorious burst of deep oranges and emerging dark blue hues of sunset of an England farm could have been a scene right out of Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath.”  It’s glorious.

DON’T go expecting to see the play.  DON’T go expecting fast-pacing or special effects as seen in today’s contemporary films.  You’re not going to find either of them in this film.
DO go expecting to see a simple and beautiful story unfold … a story which takes you back to another time, completely unrushed, void — for the most part — of the graphic horrors of war (but oh, so extremely effective with IMPLYING them), a story told in such a way that you understand the motives and feelings of ALL of the characters, expect to see film directing and cinematography at their very finest, and utterly exceptional performances of ‘Joey’ and ‘Topthorn’ (the 2 lead horses).   Oh — and expect to cry … regardless of your gender.  Again — I went to the 9:40 A.M. showing on Christmas morning, and there were around 35 people in the theatre: a 50 / 50 split men v. women.  I saw several men and women with tears in their eyes leaving the theatre when the film ended.

“War Horse” — the movie — has already received huge accolades.  Very, VERY well-deserved.  This is an extraordinary film.   

I also applaud Rivas for speaking up about this issue.  You may say that you disagree with the issues or the sentiments that brought about the change.  However, there is one that that many minorities cultures do know and that is that history carries the weight of generations.  Minority cultures do have the burden of teaching others, over and over, the fallacy of stereotypes.  If an English director wants to protest the name “seacoal” then by all means, do so.  Educate us about why this is wrong.  If you want to combat white stereotypes, then do so… while being aware that white people by themselves are usually not considered underrepresented in the the arts.