The Secret Virtual Life of Florence Yoo

Florence Yoo: singer/songwriter/wisenheimer/glad participant in this game... Her CDs available on cdbaby.com: INDELIBLE and IN MY MIND I AM 5'9", confirming she is weird AND delusional. Factoids: commission to write the song ART TALK for Lynn Hershman; composer for Julia Cho's fun children's play, BAY AND THE SPECTACLES OF DOOM, La Jolla Playhouse, CA. Copyright 2005-2014 Florence Yoo (ASCAP) All rights reserved, etc., etc., etc....

My Photo
Name:
Location: coming soon..., to a venue near you!, United States

optimistic, determined, happy, lucky, earnest, sentimental, doing my best to move that rubber tree plant...

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Peoples Improv Theater Tonight @ 8PM in NYC!

Business first, ramblings later...

Monolithic thanks to Jen Nails www.jennails.com,
Alex Zalben
http://www.elephantlarry.com/alex.php

the PIT, and Joanna Parson www.joannaparson.com !

From talented Tim Ellis... [who seems to me to be what Andy Rooney's rebellious son might be like...]


timjellis@verizon.net

******

PIT BOSSES

with Tim Ellis & Florence Yoo

Tuesday, November 29, 8 pm

@ The Peoples Improv Theater

154 W. 29th Street, 2nd floor

$8

212-563-7488

http://www.thepit-nyc.com

******

About Tim’s show…

An Inquiry Into Human Understanding:
The Meditations, Confessions, Ethics, Metaphysics,
and Poetics of Tim Ellis


Actor-writer-comedian Tim Ellis ponders the big questions while sweating the small stuff. What is Truth? What is Beauty? Why has Wendy's changed its chicken sandwich? A collection of hilarious discourses -- delivered with deadpan intensity -- on such topics as breakfast, pets, lottery numbers, outer space, and the female anatomy. “An elevation of comic consciousness…” -- Friedrich Nietzsche


About Florence’s show…

Florence Yoo is a singer/songwriter/wisenheimer. Her mom has commented, "I see suffering in NY has been good for you." INDELIBLE is Florence's show about this fact. Songs, jokes, complaints and praise about all of the indelible impressions NY has made on her... Special guest musician may be Mr. Vong Pak, drummer extraordinaire...

more info ~ www.cdbaby.com/florenceyoo03

_________________________________________


The show this past Saturday night at Eric Vetter's
No Name... and a Bag O' Chips was so much fun, I am still recovering! It was great to see Eric do his new, laugh provoking set!

Beloved Intern Barry
was his funny Barry self.

It was good to meet Shani! She told me her name means, "beautiful" in Hebrew or Yiddish... It was so late, my brain was only on half speed...

Joe Dixon
and Michelle Buteau www.michellebuteau.com did their bad ass stand-up thing they do... Watch out for Michelle next month on Comedy Central's
Premium Blend!

Lee Alan
Barret
t worked his magic -- literally and figuratively, and
Annette Guarrasi performed an entertaining excerpt from her solo performance about being a beauty queen of sorts...

X-Large thanks to Eric Vetter, Barry, Shani, and all who were kind enough to come by and partake in the late night madness!


xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox


fresh website catch of the day...

Deborah S. Craig rockin' Broadway so hard...
www.deborahscraig.com
enjoy!



Friday, November 25, 2005

Remedy (not the Jason Mraz song)


My post Turkey Day tip: if you have the misfortune of getting food posioned, eat melon. This information came from one of my former awesome bosses, Lisa Lindsley-Kim. I was once on tour with the Imagination Company in CA, and I got very sick from a dinner I ate at a restaurant the night before. Lisa later told me that should that ever happen again, to eat melon -- water, honeydew, cantaloupe... It works!

As my mind wanders, I think about how Denis O'Hare's performance in Sweet Charity reminds me so much of Richard Loranger in performance...

Wendy Ip www.wendyip.com continues to be the bane of my existence. She keeps making me smile so much, my face is sore. That darn Wendy... and again, thank you...

Everytime I see Jason Mraz' name, I keep wondering if it might be possible to buy him a vowel for his last name... Like how much would that cost? I wonder...

Thursday, November 24, 2005

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!

I am thankful for each breath I take... I feel like a cat with nine lives... How many I've used up... I'll never tell... People told me that the thing about NY is not necessarily the place itself, but the people. And while I understand what this means now that I've lived here awhile -- I must say, I think this is how it is for us all, everywhere... God bless y'all out there and hope you are having an awesome holiday!

My random thought of the hour: you know you are watching PBS when they are interviewing a dramaturg...

Hot tip of the day for New Yorkers -- I think funny man, Greg Walloch www.gregwalloch.com was the first person to tell me about this one... for subway directions to your destination, hit ~ www.hopstop.com

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Liza Yu Chen

I stopped by Liza Yu Chen's www.mysticbutterfly.com most excellent gallery last night, 116 MacDougal St., New York, NY, 10012 in the Village. She was in the house. In fact, she seems to always be in da house whenever I stop by. I've also noticed that everytime I stop by, there are more beautiful hats! They seem to multiply like tribbles! But if she is always at work, when, how do all the hats get made? I decided that Liza must have elves on staff -- or maybe gnomes who are assigned to fabricate her fun/funky designs.

I was once talking to my old pal, Amy Moon www.sfgate.com She noted that there is a theory that people like dogs who look like themselves. I said that my favorite dog was the pug. She said, "Oh, they are cute! They're small, and they don't bark too much, and they're not fat -- but they're sturdy looking..." And she burst out laughing while pointing at me...

I just got a voice mail message from Eric Jiaju Lee. www.ericleeart.com He said that the barking on my outgoing message sounded like his dog, Charlie, who is a pug. I just left a message for him informing him that it was not a dog, but me. So maybe in a past life, I was a pug...

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Best Book Signing Ever


I went to Travis Stewart's book reading/signing of No Applause ~ Just Throw Money at the Drama Bookshop in Manhattan last night and it was great. He did a short reading that was quite funny and he sang a song while playing a ukulele -- "Buy My Book!" How could we not? Another fun thing -- his alter ego is Trav S.D. and THAT is the name he used as the author of the book! Loved his painted on glasses (we here at Florence Central are partial to spectacles, after all) and it appeared that his moustache may have been black tape. I've riffled through the book a bit and it looks like it will be an exceptional read. Mazel tov, Travis!

Sunday, November 20, 2005

Wendy and Me


There oughta be a law about Wendy Ip www.wendyip.com

Yesterday morning I woke up and I noticed a new ache. My cheeks were sore from grinning and laughing so much the night before. I immediately knew that this was Wendy's fault. Thank you, Wendy Ip. You rule.

I had a taste of champagne last night -- a 10 year-old bottle of nice Frenchie stuff. I took a sip and then asked Da-veed if he might top it off with a bit of orange juice. He did but commented, "Sacrilege!" Mea culpa, mon amour...

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Sweet Christina


Finally saw Sweet Charity on Broadway. Christina Applegate is a bonafide triple threat as evidenced in this revival. Who knew? I don't think it's an overstatement to say that this is a star making turn for the former child star of tv's Married... With Children. Applegate delivers an astonishingly funny, smart, sensitive performance. Denis O'Hare as her neurotic, mild mannered beau is genuine and hilarious. The chemistry between them is charming, and the comedy that ensues in the elevator scene is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Mad, big thumbs up on this one. It's one of the best shows I've seen on Broadway since Cabaret.

Friday, November 18, 2005

Florence Yoo Live!

December 8th, 2005 @ 7 - 7:30 PM

Florence Yoo
In-Store Appearance at:
NYCD
173 West 81st Street (between Amsterdam & Columbus)
NYC 10024
212.724.4466
www.nycd-online.com

with very special guest musician, Julia Cho, other musicians sitting in to be announced shortly!

Mondo thanks to Tony Sachs and Sal -- for lettin' us back in their *awesome* CD store to
play! And Christine Simpson! And of course, to the always lovely and multi-talented Julia Cho for hanging out with the likes of me!

__________________________________________________________________

Tuesday, November 29th, 2005
@ 8 PM

PIT Bosses Solo Performance Showcase
@the Peoples Improv Theater
154 W. 29th St. bet. 6th/7th Aves.
New York, NY 10001
212-563-7488

Admission: a paltry $8 -- less than a movie! Bring Your Own Bottles!

- Florence Yoo
- The Funny and Gifted Mr. Tim Ellis!

Comrades! Please come on by this night of talk and song!
www.thepit-nyc.com

Mondo thanks to Jen Nails, Joanna Parson, Alex Zalben and the PIT!
________________________________________

Saturday, November 26th, 2005 @ 11:30 pm

"No Name... & A BAG O' CHIPS"

at THE COMMON BASIS THEATRE
750 8th AVE. (BETWEEN 46th & 47th STS.)
5th FLOOR (ring buzzer #500)
New York, NY
ADMISSION- FREE!!

PERFORMERS:
* ERIC VETTER -MC
* FLORENCE YOO (singer/songwriter/wisenheimer)
*MICHELLE BUTEAU (comic)
*JANE GALVIN-LEWIS (comic/actor)
*JOE DIXON
*ANNETTE GUARRASI (actor)
Plus: BELOVED INTERN BARRY.

For more info: call (212) 928-1950


-FREE ADMISSION -FREE BAG O' CHIPS -FREE AFTER-PARTY
-FREE ENTRY IN OUR "CHEAP DOOR PRIZE" GIVEAWAY
-50 CENT BEVERAGES (OR B.Y.O.B.)
-YUMMY & INEXPENSIVE BAKED GOODIES BY
"MY SISTER JAN"

www.NoNameNYC.com

BIG thanks to funny dude Eric Vetter for inviting me back!

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Wine Du Jour

I arrived at work early. I was loitering outside the building. My boss, Nancy came up, glanced down at my hand by my side and said, "Ah, ha! Caught ya!" I was perplexed. I said, "What?" She said, "Caught you sm... oh, it's food." "Yeah, it's a Drake's cherry fruit pie. Want one?" I asked.

The wine of the day, as prescribed by impressively knowledgeable Evan Spingarn Wine Events is: Zinfandel 'Workingman's Series' H. Coturri & Sons 2002 (Sonoma, California)

Man, oh, man, talk about a par-tay in your mouth!

Art in NYC

Caught our friend, Anne Klaus' photo exhibition: New Orleans: 1982 - 1986. It's up tonight and tomorrow, 11/16, 11/17 from 7 - 9 pm. All proceeds from sales are going to benefit the Jazz Foundation of America, and their Hurricane Relief efforts. I've never been to New Orleans, but the pictures told stories that seemed like it was a heck of a place to experience. In a statement, Anne wrote that the soul is never destroyed, no matter what harm comes... For more info, please e-mail: annerachel@earthlink.net

I'm meandering around my apartment, getting ready for my day. The Country Music Awards were in town last night. A reporter on tv was interviewing a handsome country singer. She asked him what the difference between Southern women and New York women was. He answered, "Seems like the Southern women will put up with a lot more..." And my mom wonders why I'm single...

Amy Rigby is Comin' to Town!

Awesome singer-songwriter, Amy Rigby has been all over the place touting her new album "Little Fugitive" - this weekend she's returning to the tri-state area:
Fri. November 18 World Cafe/WXPN Philadelphia, PA 12 PM Free
Click here: for reservations for this lunchtime show w/her great band
Sat. November 19 NYCD instore performance New York, NY 3 PM Free
173 West 81st St between Columbus & Amsterdam
Everybody loves NYCD and their intimate instores Click here: NYCD
Sun. November 20 Sunday Night Music Club Watchung, NJ 7 PM/$15
Like a house concert, but with easier parking - BYOB
She's heading to the UK for a December tour so these are her last area shows til early `06!

www.amyrigby.com

Monday, November 14, 2005

Melodia

Got a nice e-mail message from one of my former bosses, playwright/attorney, Cindy Cooper about this upcoming classical event... I will be at work, but maybe some of y'all can go!

Saturday, Nov 19th, '05 at 8 pm
St. Peter's, Chelsea, 346 20th St, between 8th & 9th Aves.
New York, NY

Tickets $15 in advance, $20 at the door

Reservations: 212-757-2945

or e-mail: womenschoir@mindspring.com

Secure credit card purchases: www.melodiawomenschoir.org

Melodia Women's Choir of NYC presents Twilight in the Garden of Dreams, a gorgeous mix of mystical, transcendent pieces by Gustav Holst, Peter Warlock, Meredith Monk and we're also celebrating the 200th birthday of Fanny Mendelssohn by performing some of her rarely heard works...

Conducted by Cynthia Powell
Kyung-A Lee, piano
The Momenta String Quartet:
Miranda Cuckson and Song-A Dell'Aquila Cho, violins;
Stephanie Griffin, viola; and Joanne Lin, cello
with Rachel Calin, double bass, and Morgan Russell, flute
Jennifer Clarke, founder & producer

Eric Jiaju Lee's Art

checked out our good pal, eric jiaju lee's open studio last night! what a scene! thought i was just going to look at eric's new beautiful paintings, but it was definitely jumpin' by the time we rolled up! (sonia yi www.uyaf.org and me...)

networking, imbibing, folks buying art... oh, what fun! check it, yo...

www.ericleeart.com

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Alexander Graham Bell and Me


Wendy Ip
www.wendyip.com rushed into the lobby and asked if my phone was working and if I got her messages. She asked if it was ringing. She whipped out her cell phone, flipped it open and dialed my number to do a test. She asked me why my phone wasn't ringing, because she couldn't hear anything. I replied, "I bet it is ringing in Brooklyn." She realized that she had been calling my home phone number. I added that even if she had called my cell phone, that, too, would be ringing in Brooklyn, because it was in my kitchen. She looked at me as if I were mad. I explained that I am eccentric and I don't really have a cell phone that I use.

Indigo Som www.indigosom.com tells me it's my "imaginary cell phone."


Speaking of phone matters, I had been playing phone tag with dear friend, Dave Budrys in Chicago. I called, he took a few days to call back. A little bit after that I called again, left another message and he, again, took a few days to call back. He apologized. I told him to not worry because I, myself, have been known to be tardy in returning phone calls. He explained that being tardy once
was excusable, but it being twice in a row, well, that just made him re-tardy. I burst out laughing and I asked if I could write about this exchange here on the blog. Dave said that he, in no way, wanted to offend anyone who is developmentally disabled but also, that he would be willing to take the hit, in the name of comedy...

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Words Du Jour

adamantine

One entry found for adamantine.

Main Entry: ad·a·man·tine
Pronunciation: "a-d&-'man-"tEn, -"tIn, -'man-t&n
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin adamantinus, from Greek adamantinos, from adamant-, adamas
1 : made of or having the quality of adamant
2 : rigidly firm : UNYIELDING
3 : resembling the diamond in hardness or luster


Richard Loranger inscribed his superfine Poems for Teeth for me with a word I had never heard before, "adamantium."

At first, I mistakenly looked up the word, "adamantine", as above.

Then I realized my mistake and found the following:

Adamantium is a virtually indestructible man-made steel alloy which does not occur in nature and whose exact chemical composition is a United States government classified secret. Adamantium is not an element: its properties do not qualify it for any known space on the Periodic Table of Elements. Rather, Adamantium is a series of closely related compounds of iron created through a secret process discovered by the American metallurgist Dr. Myron MacLain.

Author Monique Truong was the first person to tell me to use
www.webster.com
to look up words because I made the comment that I know a lot of words only by sight and therefore, I don't know how the heck to pronounce them. She informed me that there was a function on the webster page where you just click and hear how it is said. Thanks so much for the helpful hint, Monique!

The best thing I saw on television last week:

Def Jam mogul, Russell Simmons in the back of a limo... A dude was playing a rough cut of a new hip hop/rap song that started with trumpets and horns, as if gladiators were about to enter a stadium... Russell was so excited he put his foot behind his head -- a yoga-like move that made me cock my head to the side, much like Scooby Doo, and audibly say, "Huh?"


Friday, November 11, 2005

Purity by NaRhee Ahn

i had a fantastic time last night at a private screening of the
brand spanking new indie feature,
purity (for more info, please
visit
www.dragonladyproductions.com )

i must confess, my favorite moment of the night was watching narhee's
adorable, almost two year-old nephew, dancing while watching the
movie. it was sorta pocket sized axel rose meets ricky martin
moves... sooooo cute!

it was also great to run into talented, singer-songwriter, kevin so.
www.kevinso.com

the lead was played by
susane e. lee who had a recurring role as kyon,
the korean exchange student on the wb's,
the gilmore girls. once i
was watching the show -- and i started yelling at the tv. i thought
the asian girl playing "kyon" had the
fakest korean accent. i figured
she was really chinese or something. no sooner did i stop shaking my
fist at the tv-- when the chick busted out in
fluent korean -- much,
much better than mine...

i feel very honored and lucky to have one song in the film - called,

thank you god
. THANK YOU, NaRhee Ahn! i originally wrote this
song for my friends, julia and ed's engagement party, and it
actually comes with a side of a joke about potato chip sandwiches...
thank you julia cho and ed chung and mrs. chung, (ed's mom) who
originally asked me to write this song!

i guess
god does work in mysterious ways...

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Vong and Me

This is a picture of virtuoso drummer, Mr. Vongku Pak and me at St. Mark's Church in the East Village, NY from Richard Loranger's superfun book release par-tay on November 4th, 2005.

Gargantuan thanks to our actor/musician friend Jewel Brimage for stopping by and taking this photo!

I love the internet. I got a cool mass e-mail message from singer-songwriter, Ellis. She wrote about November being national novel writing month -- write a novel in one month! How cool would that be?
www.nanowrigmo.org

I was talking to my boss, Lisa Civita at work. I asked her what she thought about microwave ovens because I am a hypochondriac and I gave mine away a couple of years ago because I thought nuking my food was an unhealthy idea. She told me that she never uses one herself and applauded me not using one either. So much for my plan to buy a new one to save time when I heat up leftovers...

Actor, Suzie Cho sent me this link to vote for nice Daniel Dae Kim! Go Daniel! Go Daniel! Go! Go! Go!

Click on the following link to vote for People Magazines "Sexiest Man Alive" poll

Daniel Dae Kim is currently in 7th (Isn't that Awesome!!!)

people.aol.com/people/packages/
0,19939,1113899,00.html

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Rock Stars, Movie Stars...

This morning I was very groggy. Not enough sleep... I need at least seven hours to feel sentient.
Otherwise, I think I'm closer to being a bowl of pudding...

Walked by the rock star guy from Sugar Ray... What was his name again? Marky Mark? Mark McGrath... Oh, wait, it was Ethan Hawke... I wonder if there's a factory somewhere, where all the rock stars and movie and tv stars are made... And maybe they all have a tattoo somewhere
that discloses where this is...

Monday, November 07, 2005

If I Only Had a Brain

..I could make sense of all the debris flying around in my head.. Sometimes it feels like a tornado. And often, I find myself thinking about irrelevant things that really have nothing, in the least, to do with me. Take this morning for instance - I was trying to get my day started and I saw country singer, Kenny Chesney singing on Good Morning America. I had read in the papers a little while ago that his wife, Renee Zellwegger filed for an annulment of their marriage and the reason cited was fraud. She issued an additional statement that "fraud" was a legal term, and did not necessarily have to do with financial matters. It's all so mysterioso... What does this mean? Fraud? Was it a Crying Game kind of a thing? I wonder...

People ask me what I think of erstwhile American Idol hopeful, William Hung who has since enjoyed his fifteen minutes of fame when his infamous audition for the popular tv series was aired over and over. I came to the conclusion that this is clearly a Revenge of the Nerds fantasy gone horribly, horribly wrong...

I saw a tv commercial featuring William Hung and Ryan Seacrest. How petite a man is Seacrest, that when standing next to him, he actually makes Hung look beefy?

I learned something new at work yesterday from Frenchie bartender, musician, David. (Dav-eed) If your wine key breaks in the cork, just go in with another, right next to it, and voila! salvaged vino! Merci beaucoup, David!

There's some music news coming soon! Please save the date for us! Wed., Dec. 7th, 7 PM! (I think!) Also, some other stuff will be happening Nov. 17th, Nov. 26th and Nov. 29th...

Saturday, November 05, 2005

About Last Night


Richard Loranger rules!

Mr. Vong Pak, master Korean changu drummer (he has previously made apprearances at Carnegie Hall and Symphony Space) and I performed at Richard's Poems for Teeth book release party last night at the Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church in the East Village in New York. Thanks so much for playing, Vong!

The film about flossing was mucho fun, and the dental presentation by Richard's dentist, Dr. Deborah Pasquale, DDS was entertaining and informative. One hot tip was to get a dental implement at the drug store that makes flossing a breeze. I have never tried this, and today before work, I think I will pick one up. Thanks, Dr. Pasquale!

The publisher, renowned poet/artist/musician, Chris Funkhouser was in the house and he brought a few of their impressive titles along for perusal and purchase.

www.wepress.org

All the poets who read last night were very good, and Regie Cabico who runs the whole darn thing (i.e., the reading series ) was especially funny with his poem about the tooth fairy -- which makes sense because he also does perform at stand-up comedy clubs -- and Richard Loranger was amazing! He is truly pithy -- in that he and his work can bring a smile and make me laugh or reduce me to tears with equal stealth. He's a profound writer of great integrity and artistic and aesthetic uniqueness. I am greatly honored that he invited me to be a part of his wonderful show. One of the comments I liked best was from ace sound dude, David Vogen who told me, "You fit in oddly well!"



Friday, November 04, 2005

All Apologies...

Dear everyone on my e-mailing list and those who used to be on the e-mailing list,

I am so very sorry to everyone who is no longer on the list. I spoke with harpist extraodinaire, Mia Theodoratus www.harpgrrl.com last night and she told me she is off the list. She did not unsubscribe. I did not unsubscribe her. I have figured out from the numbers that about two or three hundred of youse who were once regularly receiving my notices are now gone and lost forever. I have NO idea who is gone -- apparently, deleted by the system. This is a friggin' nightmare.

So anyhow, all I can think to do is to tell y'all out there in Cyberville, mea culpa, Yahoo! groups has no good answers for me, and if you would like to be apprised of my comings and goings, please hit me with an e-mail message at:

florenceloveyoo@yahoo.com

and i will send you an invitation to join the group again...

For any new folks who might be interested in subscribing, here is an excerpt from the newsletter, so ya get a feel for the vibe...

from the oct. 27th issue...

i was following playwright/screenwriter (can you say, JAG?) aurorae khoo around julia and ed's wedding. she ALWAYS cracks me up, so i was pestering her to write a comedy. i fell down laughing when she told me about the scheme she came up with to work with playwright, gary winter and she locked him up with her in an apartment so they could write a script to win a writing contest. apparently, aurorae was allowed to leave, but not gary because he might weaken and not come back. she told me she doesn't write sitcoms. i realize now that it's not her that should write the comedy i wanna see -- but someone needs to write a comedy, with AURORAE as the main character, hatching all sorts of plans for world domination in NYC... so, writers reading this, please let me know if you do, because i wanna watch it!

my ramblings for today...

please come on by the show tonight! richard loranger is one of my favorite poets of all time and his new book, poems for teeth is splendid! also, sure to please, the famous and hilarious, regie cabico! (details below in a previous post!)

i was thinking about canadian rokcer, avril lavigne. is it just me, or would she have been named, "april levine" if she were from long island...?

i bought a st. clare candle to ask for her aid in getting me on television more. i live in a young, media obsessed neighborhood. when i first bought the st. clare candle, there was one row of 'em. now there are several. i guess there are a whole lot of us bugging st. clare... (patron saint of television)

last night's adventures really made me think that the thing that is most wonderful about new york is the people... big, huge ups to sonya yi www.uyaf.org and mayuna shimizu www.bluemusedance.org for all the radical, funky fresh ideas... jesus christ, this place is humbling... in a good way...


Thursday, November 03, 2005

New York Seoul Here We Come!

Mad big thanks to Max Han and New York Seoul for seeing fit to publish my review of The Great Conjurer. Check it out y'all...

www.newyorkseoul.com

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Mazel Tov, Julia Cho!


This picture is of a young man who got drunk at my friends, Julia and Ed's wedding. I am not kidding. He only wanted the good stuff -- the champagne. A man of refined taste, once he had the hooch, he wanted nothing else, and somehow managed to slurp enough down while his mom and grandma weren't looking to get smashed. Ah, Korean men...

Perhaps if he were around tonight he would have raised a glass to Julia for the following reason.... (And from me, please imagine me making a virtual toast to you, dear Julia! You've earned every bit of all of this...!)


The Claire Tow Award is presented in honor of Long Wharf Theatre Board Member Claire Tow. The award recognizes a young theatrical artist of extraordinary promise, Julia Cho.

Ms. Cho is best known locally as the playwright of Long Wharf Theatre's 2004-2005 production of BFE.

"Julia Cho is one of the most gifted writers of her generation," Edelstein said. "Her dramatic imagination and basic human empathy push her to the top of the class."

HONOREE BIOS

JULIA CHO

Julia Cho's plays include BFE (Long Wharf Theatre, Playwrights Horizons), The Architecture of Loss (New York Theater Workshop), 99 Histories (Theater Mu), Durango and The Winchester House.

She has been a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and the recipient of a New York Foundation for The Arts grant.

An alumna of NYU's graduate Dramatic Writing Program and The Juilliard School, she has taught at The City College of New York and The Asian American Writers' Workshop.

Julia is a member of New Dramatists and the winner of a 2004 Weissberger Award for BFE.

The Great Conjurer...

is a new play adapted from the art and life of Franz Kafka by Christine Simpson. I saw the staged reading of it, presented by Fluid Motion Theater and Film, Inc. at the ArcLight Theatre on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Elegant design and direction by Kevin Bartlett.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect. By half-time, I thought, if this is representative of young theater in NYC, then it is a vibrant, exciting, new scene, indeed. Very well-written, the play reminded me of Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George.

I was surprised by the homoerotic sequence, not that there was anything wrong with it...

Sue Jean Kim delivered an impressive, mature performance, displaying a wide range compared to her turn as the hilarious Korean student in this past spring's production of Julia Cho's play BFE at Playwrights Horizons.

I'm a bit confused by the program, so I'm not sure who played Franz, but he was quite winning as the tortured writer in love. Emily McNamara was appealing and funny as his exasperated love interest.

Mr. Sachs, (Tony's dad) who was sitting next to me, turned to me right after it was over and said, "Hey, that was pretty good!" with a big grin. I answered, "It was very good!"

For more info, please visit...
www.fluid-motion.org

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Release the Teeth! This Fri., Nov. 4th @ 10:30 PM!

I am extremely excited about this upcoming show! Please come on by this Friday night! I am betting it will be a hoot!

From dear, sweet friend and artist/wordsmith, RICHARD LORANGER...

RELEASE THE TEETH!

Won’t you Join Us at a release party for

Poems for Teeth

the new book by Richard Loranger

www.wepress.org

NOVEMBER 4, 2005
10:30 pm
(doors open at 10)
The Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church
131 East 10th Street (at 2nd Ave.)
on the lovely island of Manhattan

$8 / $7 students / $5 members

FEATURING:

the delightful musical stylings of FLORENCE YOO,
www.cdbaby.com/florenceyoo03
with special guest musician, MR.VONG PAK

“Halitosis,” a terrific (and rather dental) film by
LAURA ZAJAC,

a presentation on proper dental hygiene by DR. DEBORAH PASQUALE, DDS
(yes, she is my dentist, to whom the book is dedicated),

and the inimitable poetic talents of DAVE KIRSHENBAUM,
MIRIAM STANLEY, RAY POSPISIL, JANET KAPLAN, the hilarious REGIE CABICO, DONALD LEV, JASON TALLON, and a possibly few others, who will each read a tooth poem of their own!

And of course Richard will read from the darn book.

Refreshments and toothbrushes provided.

I hope that you can come!