[Mb-hair] Good press

[Beverly Bremers]

Katie - Ditto that! Congrats on a job well done!

Beverly

----- Original Message -----
From: "Robin McNamara" <olhippie at tampabay.rr.com>
To: mb-hair at islandlists.com
Subject: Re: [Mb-hair] Good press
Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2005 16:48:37 -0400

> 
> Congratulations Katie, sounds like you did a wonderful job & yes a show should 
> go on the road, that way through press & interviews we could articulate how 
> relevant Hair is today in contemporary times instead of changing it like they 
> did in London. In my opinion Hair is a powerful period piece in American 
> Culture & should stay that way.
> 
> Love forever
> Robin
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Katie Kasben" <katiekasben at hotmail.com>
> To: <mb-hair at islandlists.com>
> Sent: Friday, September 23, 2005 3:24 PM
> Subject: [Mb-hair] Good press
> 
> 
> > Hey Kids,
> >
> > I wanted to share with you a great letter to the editor of the Raleigh News 
> > and Observer (our state capitol's paper, and about 4 hours away from here):
> >
> > *the last two paragraphs are my favourite...
> >
> > Mark Schultz
> > Orange County editor
> > The News & Observer
> > Chapel Hill News editor
> > (919) 932-2003
> >
> > Now is the time to act
> > Perry Young column for September 05
> >
> > A few weeks ago, a very nice lady organized a genteel gathering at
> > the downtown post office in support of Cindy Sheehan's anti-war
> > protest outside the President's vacation ranch in Crawford, Texas.
> > I hung about the edges, expecting to be bored by the usual liberal
> > speeches.  But, no, this woman said there would be no speeches, just a
> > quiet show of support.  And, so, for several long minutes, we just
> > stood there.
> >
> > I finally wandered off, frustrated that nobody was saying anything,
> > nobody was doing anything.  More to the point, why wasn't I doing
> > more?
> >
> > After witnessing the obscenity of the senseless slaughter in Vietnam
> > as a correspondent, I came back and joined in every major peace march
> > on Washington.  Then, as now, our President showed a profound
> > indifference to poor people in this country and the devastation we
> > were causing half way around the world.  As we sang, "All we are
> > saying is give peace a chance," armed troops surrounded the White
> > House and turned the tear gas on us.
> >
> > Now it seems one pathetic Gold Star mother has finally aroused our
> > outrage about the lies that led to the current quagmire in Iraq.  Ms.
> > Sheehan's courageous and timely stand was pushed to the back pages by
> > hurricane Katrina and  the unbelievable pictures of the needless
> > suffering and dying of people not in Somalia or Iraq, but in our own
> > backyard.
> >
> >
> > We looked in the mirror and were appalled by our own self-image.  The
> > richest country the world has ever known was simply incapable of
> > taking care of its own people in a time of crisis.  The Bush
> > administration was suddenly exposed for what it has been all along:
> > an incompetent bunch of ideologues who are simply not worthy of the
> > high offices they've been pushed into.
> >
> > It is one thing to giggle and grin about the sport of hardball
> > politics; it is quite another when these kinds of self-serving
> > decisions result in the loss of lives and livelihoods of hundreds of
> > thousands of people.  The President is guilty of criminal neglect on a
> > scale never before seen in America.  We are left with the indelible
> > images of the poor people in Louisiana and Mississippi crying out for
> > help while Condi Rice gads about New York and Bush blithely flies off
> > to San Diego for another multi- million dollar fund raiser.
> >
> > It is eerie to watch; as Bush actually seems to look more and more
> > like Nixon with his weirdly inappropriate facial gestures and that
> > loony giggle that often follows even the most solemn words written for
> > him to mispronounce.
> >
> > But in this moment of our country's dire need, some rays of hope
> > shine through.  The glamorous stars of television came alive as never
> > before and proved themselves worthy of the profession of Edward R.
> > Murrow.  For once, the administration could not put a happy face on
> > yet another catastrophe.  This time, their lies could be proven by the
> > pictures, live and in color from the battlefront.
> >
> > And in spite of our leaders indifference, the American people have
> > responded with an outpouring of love and generosity unparalleled in
> > our history.  People aren't just giving money, they're offering up
> > their times, their homes, their very lives to help.  Maybe we are
> > finally overcoming the greed and selfishness of the 1980s and 1990s.
> > As if in answer to my personal yearning for the 1960s, I was recently
> > invited back to Asheville for a new production of the rock musical,
> > Hair.
> >
> > Now, if you think nothing could be more dated than this show which I
> > first saw as a cabaret skit at Cheetah discotheque in New York in
> > 1967, you are dead wrong.  As I sat listening to the joyful music of
> > protest to war, to racism, to the destruction of the environment, I
> > realized that every word was just as relevant today as it was 40 years
> > ago.  Tears flooded down my face as an Asheville delegation of
> > Veterans for Peace staged the last scene in this version of Hair,
> > bringing in the flag-draped casket of the young hippie who got drafted
> > and killed in Vietnam.  I urged the incredibly talented young
> > director, Katie Kasben, to take the show on the road.  All America is
> > ready to renew those anthems of peace and  "let the sunshine in"!
> >
> > Just as I remembered from the 1967 show, there were  "peace and love"
> > people outside the theater getting signatures on petitions and signing
> > people up for the bus ride to the next big peace march on Washingtron.
> > It'll be on Saturday, September 24.  I plan to be there; I love the
> > smell of tear gas in the morning.
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Mb-hair mailing list
> > Mb-hair at islandlists.com
> > http://www.islandlists.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mb-hair
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Mb-hair mailing list
> Mb-hair at islandlists.com
> http://www.islandlists.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mb-hair



Visit my websites:
www.beverlybremers.com
www.voicercise.net