Programs
Film, Drama, and Musical Theatre
Debra offers a variety of programs to adult audiences in Council of Aging and Community Centers, Independent and Assisted, Long Term Care, Memory Support, Memory Cafes, and other age 55+ Retirement Communities. These include ONE-HOUR INTERACTIVE FILM and THEATRE programs about Broadway musicals, academy-award winning films and popular entertainers. Debra also directs LIVE MUSICAL THEATRE PRODUCTIONS!
INTERACTIVE FILM & THEATRE PROGRAMS.
Fiddler on the Roof
In the village of Anatevka, Tevya, a poor dairyman, tries to instill in his five daughters, the tradition of his tight knit Jewish community in the face of changing social mores and Czarist Russian pogroms. Family relationships and intergenerational differences will be examined.
Show Boat
This 1927 musical follows the lives of the actors, singers and dancers on the Cotton Blossom, a Mississippi River showboat, juxtaposed with the lives of the black dockworkers and cotton pickers in the deep South when the Jim Crow laws were in effect. Songs include Make Believe, Can’t Help Lovin Dat Man, and Ol’ Man River,
Guys and Dolls
This oddball romantic comedy revolves around the uptight missionary Sarah Brown who sets out to reform the evildoers of Time Square, NYC including Sky Masterson, with whom she falls in love. Ms. Adelaide, a nightclub performer, has a chronic cough brought on by her 17 year old engagement to gambler Nathan Detroit. Can love reform people?
Some Like It Hot
Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe star in director Billy Wilder’s 1949 ground-breaking comedy that defied the rules of Hollywood’s Hayes Code! Two male jazz musicians accidentally witness the St. Valentine’s day massacre in Chicago. They cross-dress to join an all-women band traveling to Florida in order to escape Spats Columbo (played by George Raft) and his mob. One of the greatest comedies of all times!
Jews as Portrayed in Film
Beginning with Eastern European immigration of Jews into New York’s lower east side before WW2 , we will analyze “Hester Street” and continue to analyze the portrayal of Jews in the 1980’s coming of age films “Marjorie Morningstar”, ”Avalon”, “The Chosen”, and “Crossing Delancey Street.”
(A series)
Grease
Named after the 1950s working-class youth subculture known as greasers, the musical is set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School and follows ten teenagers as they navigate the complexities of peer pressure and personal core values. Songs include, Hand-Jive, We Go Together, Summer Nights and lots of dance routines!
West Side Story- Romeo & Juliet
In Manhattan’s Upper West Side, two young idealistic lovers are caught between two warring street gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. Staged and choreographed by Jerome Robbins, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, music by Leonard Bernstein, the movie was inspired by Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” We explore the similarities and differences between “West Side Story” and “Romeo and Juliet.” (2 sessions)
INTERACTIVE FILM & THEATRE PROGRAMS
Rodger’s & Hammerstein’s Carousel
Carousel is the second Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. The story revolves around carousel barker Billy Bigelow,’s romance with millworker Julie Jordan. A secondary romance develops between Julie’s best friend, Carrie Pipperidge, and ambitious fisherman Enoch Snow. The musical opens up with a ballet, The Carousel Waltz, and inc,udes The Bench Scene, which is considered to be one of the most important scenes in musical theatre history. Songs include If I Love You, June Is Bustin' Out All Over and You’ll Never Walk. Alone. This was Rodger’s favorite musical!
Irving Berlin’s White Christmas
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
Frank Sinatra & The Rat Pack
We will examine the lives, loves, songs and films of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis and Dean Martin, three charismatic members of THE RAT PACK. (2 sessions)
Bogie Meets Bacall
“You know how to whistle Steve? Just put your lips together and blow.” Lauren Bacall played Slim in “To Have and Have Not” starring Humphrey Bogart. Though she was 20 years younger, the beautiful, young model won the heart of her sex symbol leading man.
Elizabeth Taylor: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Her incredible beauty, memorable film roles, eight marriages, and billion dollar jewelry collection define this “golden age” actress. Her relationship to James Dean, her marriage to producer Mike Todd, an interview with Richard Burton all reveal who she really is.
Judy Garland - Liza Minelli
We view Judy through the lens of her oldest friend, Mickey Rooney, and her daughter, Liza Minelli. We study the different performance styles of these two talented women whose lives were very complex. (2 sessions)
Tin Pan Alley
Many of the world’s most beloved songwriters got their start at Tin Pan Alley in the lower East Side of Manhattan during the late 1800’s to the mid 1950’s. We will discuss the music referred to as the American Songbook written and composed by Irving Berlin, and the music of Cole Porter noted for its witty lyrics and syncopated melodies. (2 sessions)
Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward - Defying All Odds
Married for fifty years, performing artists Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward defied all odds. Their seemingly unbreakable relationship has always kept the public wondering what the secret might have been of a marriage that long and successful, since the lure of fame and vanity was ever-present. Your thoughts? We will discuss film clips from their best movies and rely on your experience to answer the question: how does a marriage last for decades?
NATALIE WOOD: Ingenue to Adult Actress
Actress Natalie Wood was cast as Maureen O’Hara’s daughter Suzie in “Miracle on 34th Street” when she was 9 years old. As a young adult, Natalie was in films about young women coming to terms with psycho-socio challenges such as “This Property is Condemned” with Robert Redford and Gypsy Rose Lee in “Gypsy.” By looking at film clips, we will examine Natalie Wood’s journey from ingenue to adult actress. We’ll reflect on our own personal journeys. At which times in our lives have we had to or wanted to “reinvent” ourselves?
Sammy Davis Jr. & Friends
In the over hyped world of popular music, there are legends and legends with a capital L. Sammy Davis was one of them. He was a super talented singer, actor, drummer, comedian, and vaudeville hoofer.
Every step along the way, however, despite his great success, Sammy encountered racial discrimination. On the road, while he was entertaining with the Rat Pat, he was not allowed to stay in the same five-star hotels as the rest of the group.
If Sammy Davis were to arrive on scene today, would he face the same struggles? Have we progressed or stepped back in time? Lots of film clips, music, and some reflection.
Lucille Ball - Women Comedians Who Led the Way
-Lucille Ball was an American comedian, actress, model, studio executive and producer who continuously broke barriers for women in the entertainment business. She starred in and produced the sitcom “I Love Lucy”, which became one of the most beloved programs in television history. We look at Lucy’s life on and off the big screen, before and after Desi, and share some of Lucy’s funniest TV sitcom moments. Come to laugh and reminisce together.
CAROL BURNETT: Women Comedians Who Led the WAY
WE CAN DO IT!! WOMEN IN WAR
During World War II, some 350,000 women served in the U.S. Armed Forces, both at home and abroad. They included the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS), who ferried planes from factories to bases, transporting cargo and participating in simulation strafing and target missions, accumulating more than 60 million miles in flight distances, Women enlisted in the WACS, WAVES and SPARS. We will look at women’s roles in WWII.