"Moving Right Along": New Works From Stage, Film Legend Elaine May & Marlo Thomas at San Francisco's Waterfront Magic Theatre

The most endearing part of the Magic Theatre's new production of Moving Right Along, a trilogy of short plays, occurred at the first preview performance when Elaine May stepped in
front of the audience, and apologized in a sweet way for what might happen during the performances. "We didn't really have a dress rehearsal," she announced sheepishly, "so the set changes might be a little disorganized. You might be asked to come up on the stage, and help us sweep up the stage or something."

That wasn't necessary. The crew did a grand job. The set changes were painless. But not so for all the performances.

Mark Rydell, who's also an Academy Award-nominated director On Golden Pond and The Rose was terrific in the first two plays -- Killing Trotsky, a black comedy set in the Velvet Revolution in the Czech republic in 1993, written by Jan Mirochek, and directed by Elaine May--and On The Way, which was written by May, and directed by her daughter, Jeannie Berlin, who was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in The Heartbreak Kid when Berlin was a kid herself.

The ensemble of actors in Trotsky with Rydell -- Reed Martin, Julia Brothers, and Wanda McCaddon -- were first rate. The play is funny in a murky way, and drips with a cascade of irony and absurdity. Nice stuff for a sunny Sunday afternoon. It's a play about a playwright
who's fought Communist oppression only to find himself teetering on the verge of becoming irrelevant, a condition that's brought on by social liberation, and the collapse of the Soviet system. In all the angst, there is laughter.

Not so in the middle play, On The Way, which is Rydell playing a very different part -- George, an American tycoon in the back of a limo -- who engages the driver, Freddie (Daveed Diggs), in a conversation about fascism, David Rockefeller, the traffic to Teterboro Airport, class struggle, fatherhood, and salsa.

Freddie and George may have arrived at the airport, but I think the audience simply got taken for a ride. I thought the exchange between the two men was rather pointless, and dull.

But the third play,<italic> George Is Dead (yes, our tycoon extends his journey), was delightful, and that was attributed to the wonderful electricity between Doreen (Marlo Thomas -- yes, THAT Marlo Thomas, the Emmy and Golden Globe winner) and Carla, played by the wonderful Julia Brothers. Reed Martin, as Carla's angry, inconsolable husband is a little too blustery. Wanda McCaddon, as Carla's mother, is very powerful. This piece was written and directed by Elaine May, and it's May in top form -- funny, acerbic, snappy, touching, and
insightful. Marlo Thomas still has that girlish break in her voiced as she had when she played That Girl on TV (flipping on Nick At Nite at a tense moment is a nice homage to Marlo's TV days).

Let's face it: seeing Marlo Thomas, who has retained her comic chops, is a real treat, as is having Elaine May in the neighborhood. The second play is a bit stagnant but maybe that can be Killing Trotsky has its existential puzzlements but it's funny. The concluding play George Is Dead is a winner, and worth the trip to the water.

Moving Right Along: Three Short Plays About Life and Death by Elaine May, Jan Mirochek, and directed by Jeannie Berlin & Elaine May is playing at the Magic Theatre, Landmark Building D, Ft. Mason Center, Oct. 28 through Nov. 19. Call (415) 441-8822 or click on www.MagicTheatre.org

Bruce Bellingham is the Arts & Entertainment Editor of Northside and the author of Bellingham by the Bay, a collection of stories about San Francisco and some of her memorable characters.

Is There Life After Tower Records?

I know it's not like a near-native San Franciscan to go shambling around Fisherman's Wharf but that's exactly what I was doing the other day. It's fascinating to see the tourists going about all gaping, and gobsmacked at the sights, sounds and smells. But stunned I was to see a few fellows wandering about, carrying sandwich boards bearing the message: "Out of Business Sale at Tower Records!"

A wave of sadness washed over me.

Tower Records, a symbol of my not-so-innocent youth, and tabernacle of joy for me in the early days of my San Francisco life, was really closing -- and for good. It was death by Internet online marketing, and bludgeoning by discount store juggernauts. Tower founder, 81-year-old Russ Solomon, boasted just a few years ago, "The Web will never take the place of stores." Brave words but it was also a reckless invitation to hubris.

Solomon entered bankruptcy in 2004 but still did not tread carefully enough. He opened his first store in Sacramento 46 years ago. In 1968, that watershed year, he saw the lot at Columbus & Bay, and decided that was the spot for a big Tower Records store. San Francisco cultural history was born. Poet Rod McKuen used to make appearances there. The fans would line up for miles all around Fisherman's Wharf. In Los Angeles, Rod immortalized the store on the Sunset Strip with his poem, Is There Life After Tower Records? Rod described music fans driving from all over the Southland to "browse, meditate, and worship at the L.A. shrine."

When I arrived here in 1970, Tower was the place to go. It was a destination, a place to explore, and at which to marvel. Miles of aisles of all sorts of music -- a massive inventory. I recall being so impressed that a record shop was open 24 hours a day -- which it was. Of course it was. After a night of sodden partying, and debauchery, of wine, women, and herbs, it might be absolutely necessary to find an album by Dave Mason or Steve Miller or Ravi Shankar to cap the evening, to accompany the rising sun. I guess you had to be there to understand such a craving. You could always count on Tower being open. It was the connection for the music junkie. Just last November, Donovan made an appearance at Tower. He had his beautiful Gibson Hummingbird guitar with him, and serenaded a long string of hits to about 40 fans, who sang along on Mellow Yellow at the top of their aging counterculture voices. For a half-hour or so, all was right with the world.

At one time, there were 200 Tower stores worldwide -- and not all that long ago. In the mid-1990s, sales had exceeded a billion dollars. But as fast as you can say "download," the assets spiraled downward, as the online music biz skyrocketed. Not only that, chain bookstores started selling music, and monstrous retailers such as Wal-Mart began to sell CDs for a song. Music specialty stores got buried. Russ Solomon wasn't the kind of fellow to change his style. He simply continued to open new stores, bless 'em. Tower opened a classical music outlet here, across Columbus Avenue. I found it a refuge when I was in trouble. There were in-store listening posts where you could don headphones, and tune in privately, unmolested. One day I found a CD with Renée Fleming singing Purcell's "When I Am Laid In Earth" from Dido and Aeneas. Between the sadly exquisite phrases, I silently thanked Tower Records for restoring some peace in my heart, and I'm grateful to Mr. Solomon for providing all the fun over the years in that great supermarket for the senses at Columbus & Bay.

Bruce Bellingham, the Arts & Entertainment Editor of the Marina Times & Northside, is the author of Bellingham by the Bay, which is no longer available at Tower Records.

A Young Singer, Hilary Hogan, Celebrates Her Father's Life and Music at a Grace Cathedral Recital in San Francisco

It's been 10 years since Bay Area composer David Hogan, and 229 others were killed when Paris-bound TWA Flight 800 exploded off the coast of Long Island. David's daughter, Hilary Hogan, will celebrate her father's life, and her father's work at a special concert at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral on Nov. 19.

Mr. Hogan divided his time between San Francisco and Paris, where, Hilary says, her father's musical life was based. he worked with choruses in Europe. In 1995, he accepted the post as director of the Gay Men's Choir of Paris. he taught at Fountainbleu, where he had studied with the famous Nadia Boulanger. Mr. Hogan was also the co-founder of the Walden School in New Hampshire, where talented kids spent their summers. He was a gifted tenor, and his compositions were widely performed, including his Magnificat, for the consecration of the
National Cathedral in Washington D.C. in 1989.

"My father took me to Europe, and showed me all the great cathedrals," Hilary said on the phone from Washington. "Perhaps for that reason, I began to study design, and architecture. But, by mid-college, I switched my major to music."

It will be Hilary's San Francisco debut as a singer. The occasion also celebrates Hilary's achievement of getting her Master's Degree in music from the prestigious Peabody Institute. The concert will include family, friends, and former students of her father, as well as members
of the Consortium of the Arts, the chorale that her father founded, and members of the Children's Chorus of the Meher Schools, in Lafayette.

The concert will be conducted by Hilary's mother, terry Hogan Johnson, the musical director of the Consortium. This is also a benefit to raise money for the chorus.

The concert marks a tragic event, but it also represents how David Hogan touched so many people's lives through teaching, and through his prolific creation of music.

"I feel so thankful," said Hilary, "for all the people who taught me about my father over the years, and showed me how interesting his world was. I am happily spoiled."

Hilary's parents divorced when she was nine years old. But, she said, they were the best of friends: "He went off to do his music, and she directed choruses. I think they separated because of the geographical dislocation."

Not only will Hilary and friends perform the music of her father, she's including art songs by Leonard Bernstein (Glitter and Be Gay from Candide), Hugo Wolf, Richard Strauss, and Gabriel Fauré. Hilary is versatile. She also singing a little Marvin Hamlisch, and a song that Michael Friedman wrote for the late, great canary, Nancy LaMott. There will also be a few of her dad's Debussy favorites. Yes, it will be an occasion at Grace Cathedral for Thanksgiving.

"We put the concert together in thankfulness," Hilary explained. "It's for all the things that happened since my father's passing. It was traumatic, but all these people came together as a support system for me. It's overwhelming for me to think that someone can have such
influence. It's such a gift they I've been given. I hope to give back a little in a loving way."

Hilary Hogan's Celebration of Friends, Family, and Love, called Love's Perfect Design, will take place at Grace Cathedral, 1100 California Street at Taylor, atop Nob Hill, on Sunday, Nov. 19, at 3 p.m. For details, go to http://www.thanksgivingconcert.org/

Bruce Bellingham is the Arts & Entertainment Editor of Northside and the author of Bellingham by the Bay, a collection of stories about San Francisco and some of her memorable characters.

Local Chanteuse Shows Her Undying Devotion to the Late, Great Oscar Brown Jr.

As long as she's living, Mill Valley jazz singer Linda Kosut will show her affection, and loyalty to Oscar Brown Jr., the great singer/songwriter who composed Brother, Where Are You?, The Snake, and Dat Dere. She's paying homage to her hero with a show, "Long As You're Living: the Songs of Oscar Brown Jr." at Jazz at Pearl's in North Beach, on Nov. 16. She's backed by the Max Perkoff Jazz Ensemble. San Francisco is the launching pad for her tour with the show. Last month, Linda and Oscar Brown's beautiful songs appeared at the Piedmont Piano Company on Third Street and Townsend in S.F., and at Anna's Jazz Island in Berkeley.

But the Jazz at Pearl's show will be a bit different. Maggie Brown, Oscar Brown Jr.'s daughter, will appear with Linda Kosut, and sit in on a few numbers. How cool is that?

"I was about fifteen years old when my brother brought home Oscar Brown Jr.'s two albums, Sin & Soul, and Between Heaven & Hell," Linda says.

"I played them over, and over, and over."

Linda, a smooth contralto, was always singing. "I've been performing Mr Kicks, and Dat Dere for years," Kosut recalls. "I was in New York not long ago when my fiancé told me to start a new project because I was impossible to live with. I wanted to do a new cabaret show that featured some Oscar Brown Jr. songs. Then the idea of doing a whole show of his songs hit me."

Oscar Brown Jr. died in his hometown of Chicago in May of last year after a long illness. He would have been 80 years old last month. He wrote more than 1,000 songs.

Kosut contacted Brown's publisher, Carlin America, to see if she could obtain the sheet music for Brown's songs. The marketing director, named Bob Golden, asked her what her address was, and said, "You owe me nothing." This was beginning to look like a providential adventure for
Kosut. She reached Brown's family in Chicago, and told family members that she was dedicated to getting Oscar Brown Jr.'s music "out there."

Linda asked, "What would you think of a nice, white Jewish girl from New York doing an Oscar brown Jr. show?"

Their response: "He would have loved it."

Kosut went to Chicago to spend time with the Brown family, including his daughter, Maggie, and Oscar's grandchildren. Somewhere along the way, Maggie agreed to sing with Linda at the Nov. 16 show at Jazz at Pearl's.

Paula West, the San Francisco jazz singer, has also been a big devotée of Oscar Brown Jr.s' music, and performed with him a couple of years back at the Herbst Theatre. Another well-known interpreter of his songs is New York-based Karrin Allyson, who collaborates with
keyboardist/lyricist Chris Caswell. Chris is also Paul Williams' music director. Paul, the legendary, Hall of Famer songwriter, had a successful run last month at The Plush Room. Chris, at the piano, dazzled the audience.

Linda Kosut says Oscar Brown Jr., who was also an actor and playwright, was the original rap singer, who did not play the game. "He did not want to be handled," says Kosut. "He did not want to be manipulated. Maybe that's why he did not achieve super-stardom. He was very
committed to his mission, which was equality. He wanted the kids in the projects to wake up, and get a good life."

His contentiousness goes back to the biting satire of songs like Forty Acres and A Mule.

"What appeals to me," Linda says, "is that he was a keen observer. He was wry, whimsical yet serious. As a white girl, I think it's important for me to perform Bid 'Em In, Brown's lacerating song about the slave market."

Linda includes some 18 songs in her Oscar Brown Jr. show, such as Brother, Where Are You? ... Column of Birds ... Opportunity, Please Knock ... Tree and Me ... Call of the City ... Summer in the City ... Hazel's Hips ... The Snake ... and Love Is Like A Newborn Child.

Long As You're Living: Songs of Oscar Brown Jr., featuring singer Linda Kosut, with the Max Perkoff Jazz Ensemble with Max Perkoff on piano & trombone, Tom Shader, bass, David Rokeach, drums, & Randy Vincent on guitar -- Thurs. Nov. 16, at Jazz at Pearl's, 256 Columbus in North Beach, San Francisco ... 8 p.m. & 10 p.m. Two drinks, reservations are a must. For more, www.jazzatpearls.com.

Popular Laundromat's Sudden Disappearance Leaves Locals Awash With Puzzlement

The sudden demolition of the long-serving laundromat on Fillmore near Lombard, that was once a famous "pick-up palace," has caught San Francisco Marina District residents off-guard and more than a few are unhappy about it.

"One day it was there, and then one day it wasn't," lamented Abigail Moscowitz, a 12-year Marina resident. "Not only are there too few laundromats around the neighborhood. This is the only one that actually had parking -- that was a great feature."

Parking is always a great feature in the Marina, as it is in most of the rest of San Francisco.

"This is the way of The City," observed Dr. Steven Brattesani, whose Fillmore Street dental practice is located right across the street from the site of the former popular laundromat. "Change is the way of the world, and that's certainly part of life in San Francisco," said
Brattesani, who has aspired to political office in the past. "I would have liked to have seen new housing be constructed, but I understand the property will be divided into two retail businesses -- most likely a bank, and a new coffee shop." Although that sounds like carrying coals to Newcastle around here, Steve was not joking."

A construction worker on the site, who watched the asphalt that was once part of the laundromat's parking lot, was joking when he said, "I think it's going to be a McDonald's."

The building that once housed all those coin-operated washing machines actually has taken its place in San Francisco cultural history. Over thirty years ago, the laundromat was called, believe it or not, the Come Clean Center, and it played a role as a backdrop in Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City, a best-seller that began in serialized version -- as did the novels of Charles Dickens -- in the San Francisco Chronicle. In his stories, Maupin described the Come Clean Center as
the hottest pick-up locale in The City, along with the Marina Safeway.

As life often imitates art, the suds-'n-studs emporium suddenly became a real mecca for assignations -- all part of the sexually-charged seventies that characterized Baghdad-by-the-Bay.

Over the years, the washing machines, and the dryers were turned down to an increasingly tepid temperature, as was the atmosphere of the culture. The Come Clean Center name was changed to a more benign, and robotic-sounding LaundroLand, and the place took on a new persona, that of an ordinary laundromat that happen to have parking.

"I don't know where I'm going to go now to do my laundry," said a somber Abigail. "The parking was the big thing."

Steve Brattesani observed that this might be a good opportunity for an enterprising business person who might want to pick up the slack, and fill the needs of the locals. But the sorts of needs that were satisfied all those decades ago at the Come Clean Center will be not
likely be part of the landscape. As the song goes, "Once upon a time never comes again." Or comes clean again.