Holiday Shopping Is Here - But Who Are YOU Buying From?

www.madeinusaforever.com

Hey everyone

I know, right?  Two blog posts in two weeks?  I haven't blogged this much all year, it seems... but hey, I've got a couple of minutes before I have to be at my next appointment, and what am I going to do... eat lunch?  Ha!!

So, my dad occasionally forwards me emails.  Yeah... he's turned into that guy.  Now, don't get me wrong - I don't get 50 emails per day with cute photos of dogs and "funny" videos and such (well, not 50...) Honestly, he's pretty selective about what he forwards around.  He's been on the receiving end of those email barrages, and he doesn't want to clog anyone's inbox with things they don't care about. 

He sent one recently that I think all of us ought to care about, though.  I didn't write it, so don't ding me for the language or spelling errors... but the sentiment is right-on-target in my book.  Oh, I may have added a couple links of my own into the text...

As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods  - merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This year will be different. This year Americans will give the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes there is!

It's time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in
a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper?

Everyone -- yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates
from your local American hair salon or barber?

Gym membership? It's appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some health improvement.

Who wouldn't appreciate getting their car detailed? Small, American owned detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a book of gift certificates.

Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plonking down the Benjamines on a Chinese made flat-screen? Perhaps that grateful gift receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course.

There are a bazillion owner-run restaurants -- all offering gift
certificates. And, if your intended isn't the fancy eatery sort, what about
a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint. Remember, folks this
isn't about big National chains -- this is about supporting your home town
Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.

How many people couldn't use an oil change for their car, truck or
motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy?

Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a local cleaning lady for a day.




My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some guy who is struggling to get his repair business up and running.

OK, you were looking for something more personal. Local crafts people spin their own wool and knit them into scarves. They make jewelry, and pottery and beautiful wooden boxes.

Plan your holiday outings at local, owner operated restaurants and leave
your server a nice tip. And, how about going out to see a play or ballet atyour hometown theatre.

Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.

Honestly, people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand Chinese lights for the house? When you buy a five dollar string of lights, about fifty cents stays in the community. If you have those kinds of bucks to burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip.

You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that
China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about US, encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn't imagine.

THIS is the new American Christmas tradition.

Forward this to everyone on your mailing list -- post it to discussion
groups -- throw up a post on Craigslist in the Rants and Raves section in
your city -- send it to the editor of your local paper and radio stations,
and TV news departments. This is a revolution of caring about each other, and isn't that what Christmas is about?

Ok, so I don't know that this is a "NEW" American tradition... in point of fact, Trish and I have always tried to buy American (and buy LOCAL) when it comes time to give a gift.  It's not easy - go into any Target, Wal-Mart, or other "Big-Box" store and you'll spend an hour searching the shelves to find an American-Made product... and make no mistake, when you do find one it'll probably be a little more expensive.  That extra money you spend buying a Cuisinart instead of a Sunbeam, however, is going to factory workers in this country - not factory workers in places like China or Taiwan.

I was glad to see that the emailer suggested supporting your local arts groups when thinking about giving LOCAL gifts.  When he forwarded this message, Dad made sure to mention that giving the gift of locally-produced films is another good idea - and you know, I couldn't agree more.  There are over twenty Oregon-Produced films in my Oregon Film and TV Market Amazon store, and several more locally-produced films available through other retail outlets. Giving your friends and family members a DVD this Christmas puts money in the pockets of people working in Oregon's film and TV industry, and allows them to produce that next feature and hire even more of your friends and neighbors for it.

One last note - You can still buy American when you shop online.  www.MadeInUSAForever.com has over 29,000 American-made products (many produced by small businesses around the country) that are ready to ship out anywhere in the country. 

Look, guys, it's the "season of giving." We want to make the holiday season bright for our friends and family, but we also feel a little more prone to help those who haven't been as successful or fortunate this year.  In some cases that means bringing cans of food to the food bank or dropping a couple coins in the Bell Ringer's kettle... but this year, you have the chance to keep someone employed - and maybe even create a few more jobs once the receipts are tallied.  It's certainly worth taking a couple extra minutes to think about where the product you're purchasing was made, and checking to see if there's a domestically - or locally - produced alternative.

Hope you're all doing well...

-Harold

Cross Delancey Street With Me Next Tuesday

Great Image, huh? Don't thank me,
thank Birmingham's Theater LJCC!

Hey everyone

Long time, huh?  I know, I know... I should really spend more time keeping up with the blogging, but most of my writing time has been consumed by OregonFilmandTVDollars.com... now that the year is winding to a close, however, I may get a few more chances to post some of my overly-long yadda-yadda about life, the world, etc... at least that's the goal.

That's not the topic of today's post, however... even though the year's winding to a close, I seem to be getting busier and busier.  Before I run off to the next appointment, I wanted to let you know that I'm going to be appearing in the Portland Civic Theater Guild's "First Tuesday" reading of Susan Sandler's Crossing Delancey.

You may remember the 1988 film version of Crossing Delancey with Amy Irving.  The film is based on the play we'll be reading at 10:00 AM next Tuesday December 6 at Portland's Old Church (1422 SW 11^th - click here for a map)  If you're not familiar with the story, it follows
Izzy, a single New Yorker who runs her own bookshop and day-dreams of a life with one of her customers, a celebrated author. Her Grandmother Bubbie, however, has other plans for Izzy's future - she conspires with  Hannah, a flamboyant matchmaker, to set Izzy up with the man they feel is the perfect match for her: Sam, the pickle maker.  It's a beautiful, sweet romantic comedy - a perfect way to kick off the holiday season.

I'm lucky enough to work with Karen Wennstrom, Mary Mcdonald-Lewis, Chrisse Roccaro, and Rick Sanders on the reading... oh, and the show's director is kind of fun to work with too!

I hope you get a chance to come down next Tuesday morning and share this light little comedy with us.  Take an early lunch - we'll provide the sweet!

Hope you're all doing well...

- Harold

It Can't Happen Here... Right?

Hey there everyone. Long time no talk, huh?  Yeah, I know, I know... apologies, Mea Culpa, etc (you can always tell how busy I am by how often I update this blog and OregonFilmandTVDollars.com... which hasn't been too often of late, so you can draw your own conclusions.)

Even with everything that's been going on, though, I wanted to take a minute today to let you know about a very cool project I'm going to be part of tonight, Monday, October 24 at 7:30 PM.  Portland's Fuse Theater Ensemble is joining theaters around the country to perform a staged reading of It Can't Happen Here - an adaptation of Sinclair Lewis' 1935 novel that was performed in 22 theaters (in 18 US Cities) as part of the Federal Theater Project in 1936.  The nationwide readings commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of those Federal Theater Project readings.

So, why should you care about a play written in 1936?  What possible relevance could it have to the world we're living in right now?  Well... the book (and the play) were written during a time when no one could find a job... when the median income in the united states had hit rock bottom and didn't look like it would ever rise... when people were taking to the streets to demand a change.  In a situation like this, it's easy to see how people could fall in line behind a charismatic leader who promised to make things better (no, I'm not going to put a current-events link on THAT one... I'll let you draw your own contemporary conclusions...) even though s/he could turn out to be a dictator.

That's what this play is about, after all... it envisions a fictional America where a powerful president becomes a dictator - abolishing labor unions, free speech, and the free press. His sinister allies, known only as "the Corpos," recruit unemployed and dissatisfied young people and intimidate anyone who opposes their agenda. "No one agreed on the play," Hallie Flanagan told an audience some months later, "but everyone had to see it. It was called good, bad, savage, mild, American, un-American, Fascist, communist, too far left, too far right, a work of genius, a work of the devil."

I hope you'll join me tonight at Theater! Theatre! (check HaroldPhillips.net for the address and a map link)  for this celebration - and cautionary tale.  Admission is free, though donations for Fuse Theater Ensemble and Occupy Portland will be accepted.

Tony's Schmony's

Forget Broadway... tonight was the 31st annual Drammy Awards!

Ok, ok... so maybe those of you who don't live in Portland are more interested in the year's best on the "Great White Way..." If you live in Portland and attend live theater in our fair city (and weren't following me on Twitter as I "live tweeted" - until the service went down, that is...) you might want to know who won the awards tonight! Here's a run-down of the event:

The Crystal Ballroom was packed, as it is every year on Drammy night. Steve Smith kicked things off by welcoming everyone to the ceremony, and then handed things over to the Master of Ceremonies for the evening, Michael O'Connell. O'Connell's opening was reminiscent of Stephen Colbert's "The Word" segment on his nightly show; as Michael went through some of the high points of the past season (such as Portland Playhouse's explosion onto the theater scene) and the low points (like the closing of IFCC; Adrienne Flagg got a special round of applause from the room for her running of the facility) the screen behind him displayed commentary on what he was saying - to hilarious effect. Finally, closing with "Tonight we celebrate our hard work, and we celebrate each other," Michael handed things over to the awards presenters, and we were off!

(In case you're unaware of the way the Drammies work, the committee presents up to four awards per category. The number of awards varies from year to year, as do the number and types of categories. The Drammy Committee doesn't present “best of” awards, but rather awards for “outstanding” achievement; they believe identifying “outstanding” theatre – rather than simply the best of what was offered – better promotes excellence while preserving the integrity, value and meaningfulness of the award. You can find out more about the principles behind the awards by clicking here)

Margaret Chapman started things off by presenting the Portland Civic Theatre Guild's Youth Scholarships - awards of $750 to two young actors to help them continue their theatre education. The awards were given to Rafe Larson & Madeline Rogers.

Outstanding Performance by a Young Performer: Lea Zawada for Pinnocchio (NW Childrens Theater)

Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Design: Diane Ferry Williams for Snow Falling on Cedars (Portland Center Stage)

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design: Richard E. Moore for 4.48 Psychosis (defunkt theater)

Outstanding Supporting Actor (4 winners):

David Margulies for The Chosen (Portland Center Stage)
Kevin Jones for Radio Golf (Portland Playhouse / BaseRoots)

Spencer Conway for Fool For Love (CoHo)
Victor Mack for Radio Golf (Portland Playhouse / BaseRoots)

Kimberly Howard couldn't make the prsentation by the Oregon Cultural Trust, so Tim DuRoche stepped up instead to remind us that anyone - with any means - can make a donation to a cultural organization and a matching gift to the Cultural Trust - which results in a tax CREDIT for the amount of the matching gift. A great way to support Oregon arts and culture, and help yourself at tax-time!

Outstanding Original Music: Ashia Grzesik for The Gray Sisters (Third Rail Rep)

Outstanding Original Score: McKinley For Gracie and the Atom (Artists Rep)

Outstanding Original Script (2 winners):

Joseph Sousa for Teeth of the Sons (Re-Theater Instument)

Hunt Holman for Willow Jade (Portland Playhouse)

Outstanding Supporting Actress (2 winners):

Laura Faye Smith for The Trip To Bountiful (Profile Theater)
Amy Newman for God's Ear (Theatre Vertigo)

Andrew Edwards then presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Lakewood Theater's very own Kay Vega. I can't begin to ecapsulate all that was said here... but she deserved all the praise she received!

Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Musical (3 winners):

Danny Rothman for Ragtime
(Portland Center Stage)

Debbie Hunter for A Little Night Music (Mock's Crest) *

Amy Beth Frankel for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Broadway Rose)

*A little side-note here: in her acceptance speech, Debbie mentioned that Roger Doyle, the man behind Mock's Crest Productions, has been diagnosed with ALS, and A Little Night Music will likely be his final show as conductor for the production company.

Outstanding Costume Design (4 winners):
Darrin Puffar for A Little Night Music (Mock's Crest)
Mary Rochon for Pinnocchio (NW Children's Theater)
Rachelle Waldie for East of the Sun , West of the Moon (Shaking The Tree)
Sarah Gahagan for both El Quijote (Miracle Theater)

and Trojan Woman (Classic Greek Theater)

At this point, Matt Haynes and Bruce Hostetler presented the PATA Spotlight Awards for outstanding achievement by the people who work behind the scenes.

Stage Manager: Carol Ann Wohlmut

Crew: Kenichi Hillis

Production Management: Annalise Albright

Matt also took a moment to acknowlege the hard work of Jen Raynak, PATA's former President, in bringing professional standards to the organization.

Outstanding Choreography: Jessica Wallenfels for Gracie and the Atom (Artists Rep)

Outstanding Musical Actor: Gavin Gregory for Ragtime (Portland Center Stage)

Outstanding Musical Director (2 winners):

Rick Lewis for Ragtime (Portland Center Stage)

Kurt Crowley for Forbidden Broadway (Broadway Rose)

Outstanding Scenic Design (2 winners):

Mark Haacke for El Quijote (Miracle Theater)

Tim Stapleton for This Lime Tree Bower (CoHo / Our Shoes Are Red)

Outstanding Ensemble: the cast of 4.48 Pyschosis (defunkt theater)

Outstanding Producer (the first time this award has been handed out): Greg Tamblyn for Disney's Beauty and the Beast (Pixie-dust Productions)

Outstanding Director (2 winners):

Grace Carter for 4.48 Psychosis (defunkt theater)

Chris Coleman for Ragtime (Portland Center Stage)

At this point Sue-Ellen Christianson presented the Portland Civic Theater Guild's awards to theaters for infrastructure - two grants of $1500 went to Live On Stage for the purchase of new sound equipment, and to Miracle Theater for the purchase of sound and communications equipment. Sue-Ellen also presented the Guild's Leslie O. Fulton award - two grants of $5000 went to Sarah Lean Foster to pay for her to study and teach for six months, and to Tim Krause for a trip to a theater conference in Chile.

Outstanding Actress (4 winners):

Malanya Helene for Hopeless (Brooklyn Bay)

Maureen Porter for The Gray Sisters (Third Rail Rep)

Valerie Stevens for The Gray Sisters (Third Rail Rep)

Heidi Hunter for Kindertransport (Jewish Theater Collaborative)

Outstanding Actor (3 winners):

Joseph Sousa for Teeth of the Son (Re-Theater Instrument)

Dennis Kelly for This Lime Tree Bower (CoHo / Our Shoes Are Red)

Michael O'Connell for The Lying Kind (Third Rail Rep)

Outstanding Production (2 winners):

4.48 Psychosis (defunkt theater)

Ragtime (Portland Center Stage)

So... there ya go! A good time was had by all - especially the winners :) No, really, we all had a good time.

Now that Followspot is gone, I'll expect you all to be snarky amongst yourselves...

-Harold

Back In Greece (And Back On Stage!)

Howdy everybody...

One of the reasons my day got out-of-hand yesterday was the news that an actor dropped out of a staged reading Trish is appearing in for Classic Greek Theater of Oregon... and that the Artistic Director asked if I'd step in to fill the role.

So, of course, I had to read the script, look over my schedule, talk details with the director... yadda yadda yadda. That's all over and done with, though - and I'm happy to let you know that I'll be appearing as Theseus in a brand new translation of Jean Racine's classic play Phaedra.

Now, don't worry - this isn't some old moldy costume drama with people standing around in togas sawing the air and (as my old theater teacher Michael Hood used to say) laughing at jokes no one gets. For one thing, we'll be sitting, not standing... and this fresh translation by Louis Fantasia brings the issues and drama of Racine's play to modern audiences (Really! No sleeping-pill replacement here!)

I really hope you'll make the time to join us at the Shoebox Theater (2110 SE 10th Ave, Portland, OR 97214 - Map It) at 7:00 on Tuesday April 13 to check it out. I have to say, I'm really excited to be getting back on stage. I hope you'll join me!

Oh, yeah... and Giggity Giggity Giggity - awright!

-Harold