Merry Christmas!

The show Homeland has come and gone. It was a great success and we are happily looking forward. (more news to come...)




You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years of trying to get other people interested in you.
--Dale Carnegie

Letting Go

Always forgive your enemies --nothing annoys them so much.
--Oscar Wilde

According to a Japanese legend, two monks were walking down the road when they saw a finely dressed young woman standing before a large mud puddle. She explained that she had no way of crossing the water without ruining her clothes. Without saying a word, the first monk picked her up in his arms and lifted her safely across the obstacle.

A few hours later the second monk said in an accusatory tone, "How could you have picked up that lady? Don't you know that the rules strictly forbid us to touch a member of the opposite sex?" His friend smiled and then replied, "I put the woman down back at the puddle. Are you still carrying her?"

Like the second monk, many of us are still carrying old hurts, resentments, and lost opportunities that we picked up many mud puddles ago. As long as we remain stuck in the past, we cannot fully hear the inner voice, which speaks to us in the present. Thus, in order to tap our intuition, we need to release and heal our unfinished business.

By following the example of the first monk, we can put the past down and walk on. See your past experiences as teachings that have guided you to this present moment. An endless array of opportunities and possibilities lie before you. Immerse yourself in this good, and the old hurts will have no place left to make their home. - Douglas Bloch

Photo by Ron Henggeler

Barbra Streisand is a National Treasure

Barbra Streisand is the consummate performer. Barbra Streisand is the pinnacle of singers, singing even better than she's ever sung before. Singing songs she sang over 40 years ago that are fresh and vibrant and alive (imagine doing anything you did 40 years ago and doing it with more vitality and verve than you had when you were in your twenties!) Last night we attended the Streisand concert at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. What an evening.

Barbra Streisand, who never had a singing lesson, as she says, nevertheless gave a master class last night. During her show, Streisand answers a few questions audience that members have written down as they entered the arena. Barbra was asked about the late bay area singing teacher, Judy Davis, whom Barbra went to decades ago when she was performing here in San Francisco at the Hungry I. While performing there, Barbra lost her voice. Someone told Barbra of this great singing teacher in Oakland and off Barbra went. Ms. Davis asked her about what was happening. Barbra explained that someone had asked her “how do you hold those notes for so long?” and Barbra replied that she didn’t know - she just did it, because she wanted to do it. After that, she couldn’t do it, (because now she was thinking “how do I do that?’ and no longer doing it). Ms. Davis showed Barbra a chart of how the vocal apparatus works, (which Barbra most likely devoured) and explained the physiology of singing. Barbra says that she understood what the chart and what Judy had to tell her, then she forgot it. Not forgot it as in “I wish I could remember that." More like letting it go. Letting that information be in the background in your consciousness and doing what it is you do anyway. This is the best lesson we could possibly learn from this brilliant talented singer. Learn what you can, take it in, devour it and then let it go, “forget it.” I’m always telling my students this. Everything we do to warm up and stretch our voices, the things we do that allow us to sing effortless throughout our entire vocal range, we master them and then let them go and just sing.

There were so many highlights in the concert! The overture to Funny Girl, played by to my count a 50 to 60 piece orchestra. Barbra singing songs from Funny Girl, including her version of Fanny Brice’s My Man from the film of Funny Girl. She sang Funny Girl, the song! She did something I’ve always wanted to witness, she sang “Down With Love” with a only bass and a piano to start – just like we were in a cabaret and it was that intimate.

Here’s what astounded me about the entire event. Barbra Streisand came out and sang for thousands of people in a huge arena and turned it into the most intimate evening. She turned that barn of an arena into a cabaret. The selection of material was fantastic. Her use of Il Divo to entertain us while she took breaks was inspired. It allowed her to blend her voice with these fine young singers while keeping a pace for herself that gave us Barbra Streisand relaxed and in top form. The Il Divo boys are beautiful men with beautiful voices. International. A kind of United Nations they say (another reason why they are so apt for this concert – Barbra uses this concert to promote her philosophy of global unity and understanding, tolerance and compassion).

Okay, so yes, Barbra does the little skit with the “W” impersonator and to my mind, it was quite charming. Barbra gets to play at confronting the president and then play with making friends and mending fences as they sing the old song “Side By Side” together. She then speaks about how great it is to live in a country where we are free to have fun and make fun. She talks about what a great sense of humor the president has (while a fun photo of Steve, the impersonator clowning with the real president is on the screen) and how she gives Mr. Bush great credit for that.

She does a version of “Cockeyed Optimist” that is truly inspired. I’ve always admired this performer’s knack for turning a song on its ear and making us hear it like we’ve never heard it before. Her version of “Cockeyed Optimist” sounds as though it might have been written by Brecht and Weill and arranged by Kander and Ebb. She starts it ominously slow and dark and finishes it so triumphantly as she sings “I’m stuck like a dope with a thing called hope and I can’t get it out of my heart.” Brilliant. She’s singing about all of the doom and gloom and fear we’ve been mired in and how we can triumph over it. This Rodgers and Hammerstein tune from “South Pacific” has been given new life. There’s another important quote from R&H in this show – she sings Sondheim’s “Children Will Listen” with the verse from “You Have To Be Carefully Taught” as the start. “You have to be carefully taught to hate all the people your relatives hate.” Babs – teaching tolerance again.

There was some “christian” guy with a megaphone harping at us as we walked in to the arena. I’m not sure why he was there. I guess those extreme “religious” wingnuts think she’s in there promoting evil. If they would put down the bullhorn and come to the concert they would see a graceful 64 year old powerhouse of an icon who sings and speaks of the nurturing power of motherhood, the hope for the future, the need for unity, togetherness and tolerance – and who asks us to listen to “Somewhere” from West Side Story as a prayer. Yes, certainly we should protest this as evil and dangerous. Enough already! (By the way, these so called “christians” have been giving “Christians” a bad name for far to long… it is way past time to call these imposters out in public – enough!).

Thank you to Barbra Streisand and the enormous talent that went in to making this concert happen. The lighting is superb. The sound design is flawless. The orchestra is stellar. Il Divo was delightful. And Ms. Streisand? She was all that and more. This San Francisco voice coach has learned a great deal and I’m truly grateful for the whole experience.


"...every action generates a force of energy that returns to us in like kind… what we sow is what we reap. And when we choose actions that bring happiness and success to others, the fruit of our karma is happiness and success."

Ousting The Green Demon

Jealousy can be an overwhelming and stiltifying emotion for those of us in the performing arts. We see another person get the role we were perfect for, the job we wanted, the success we think we deserve and pretty soon we're paralyzed artists creating nothing.

Victory over Jealousy. We hear of successful people who drop their old friends after moving up the ladder. Maybe, however, it wasn't their choice -- maybe they were driven to do so because their friends' jealousy made the friendship unworkable. We have little trouble accepting a stranger's good fortune; it's a different feeling, however, when friends and co-workers move ahead of us.

If the green demon of jealousy strikes during the day, we can come to terms with it in several ways. First, accept no guilt that it happens, because jealousy is part of the human condition. Next, depersonalize it by remembering that good fortune comes to all people in various ways. Then check your own gratitude level to make sure that it hasn't been sinking. This serves as a reminder that there's no shortage of the things that really make for happiness and personal well being in life.

We can easily tell when we've been able to oust the green demon. We'll be able to be relaxed and gracious while extending congratulations for another person's good fortune. And months down the road, we'll be genuinely sympathetic -- not vindictive -- if the other person's luck turns sour.

Yesterday is Over

This seems fitting. Fitting if you think the election signals and ending of one era and a beginning of another era. Fitting, too, if you are a performer who wants to be living in the “now” at each given moment.

Yesterday is over.

It is a fact of life that what is old dies to make way for what is new. Endings are often painful -- we mourn the death of a relationship, we regret leaving a familiar neighborhood, we don't like to say good-bye.


Endings, though, give us the chance to begin again. A new friend comes in to fill the empty space left when an old friend moves away. A new school, a new job, a new season of the year -- these are fresh starts that evolve from what has gone before.

We need not fear the inevitable endings in our lives. Daily, we are renewed. Our bodies produce new cells continually. When we are going through an ending, we may not be able to see the new beginning that lies beyond, but we can trust it will be there for us when we are ready. We can welcome the new opportunities that each day brings and consider them gifts that might guide us through each end and each beginning.

“I will let yesterday end so that today can begin.”

This is a good way to be each day, even if what has ended and what is beginning it is not obvious or easy to find. Each moment is new isn’t it? This is something I teach my voice and acting students, to the extent that I can. I think this has a lot to do with the right kind of attitude we need as performers. Each performance is unique. When the performance is over it is gone and the next performance is a new unique performance. When we’re in a show and the show is over, we sometimes don’t like to say good-bye. To live in the moment we need to let go of the past and let go of our expectations of the future so as to truly be in the moment.

Friday November 3 - San Francisco, Performance Capital!

Tonight there are two performances no one should miss, but you can’t be in two places at once, so we are going to go see Patti Lupone in To Hell and Back, the new one act opera from Jake Heggie at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. (This is one of those once in a lifetime kind of things – Patti LuPone in a world premiere of a new Jake Heggie opera in San Francisco?!) Also appearing in this unique new opera from the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra is the rising soprano, Isabel Bayrakdarian. The opera’s libretto is by Gene Scheer, who wrote the libretto for Tobias Picker’s opera An American Tragedy and collaborated with Heggie on two song cycles.


The other performance that no one should miss is the wonderful jazz singing that Judy Wexler will be doing tonight at Cafe Trieste in Berkeley. Judy will be singing with Murray Low, piano; John Wiitala, bass; and, Anton Schwartz, tenor sax. Judy is a dear friend and a great singer. (I hope she’ll forgive me for missing this gig). If you haven’t yet bought Judy’s cd, visit her website and buy the cd, you’ll be glad you did.


Having just read some more periodicals, I find that there’s yet another singer appearing tonight who is not to be missed. (Try being in three places at once!) Janis Ian is playing a one night only concert at Brava Theatre Center! "Celebrating her first all-original album in 25 years, veteran American folk-pop singer-songwriter Janis Ian's Folk Is The New Black is a bona fide jaw-dropper, a stunning achievement that embraces the zeitgeist of the age, rocks at an assured pace, oozes with satiric wit, edgy humor and barely concealed rage. [It] is all rendered in a sweet, quiet voice that urges the listener ever nearer. Both intensely personal and robustly inclusive, Ian's new songs are among the very best she has written - indeed, among the finest in the entire American folk songbook." - Greg Quill, Toronto Star -- should be a wonderful concert.

And there are even more limited engagement events this weekend. Charles Busch’s Red Scare On Sunset completes its run Friday and Saturday at Zeum. John Fisher of Theatre Rhino directs A.C.T.’s MFA acting program students in this production of Busch’s zany parody of 1950s Hollywood and the red scare.

To top that off, Gregg Coffin’s musical Convenience starts previews at The New Conservatory Theatre Center tonight.While there’s still another week to catch Brad Erickson’s The War At Home also at NCTC. Playwright Brad Erickson is also the executive director at Theatre Bay Area and in his recent column in the November issue of Theatre Bay Area, Erickson asks “Is it too much to foresee the Bay Area as renowned for its theatre as Napa is for its wine?” and I must say no, I do not think it is too much to ask. [By the way, The New Conservatory Theatre Center is celebrating its Silver Anniversary Gala Celebration (that’s 25 years) & Silent Auction at the San Francisco Presidio Officer's Club next weekend, November 12, while Theatre Bay Area is being feted by none other than Steve Silver’s Beach Blanket Babylon this weekend (Sunday) for its 30th birthday!] Happy Birthday NCTC and TBA!

So go to a concert, go to the theatre. Life’s a banquet… (thank you, Auntie Mame). I’ll keep you posted on I’m seeing out there and you let me know what you think of what you see. We’ll all work to make San Francisco a renowned performance capital in the way Brad Erickson has envisioned it. I agree with Brad -- this vision is not too big or hairy or audacious for us to embrace. The San Francisco Bay Area’s thriving cultural scene - not only theatre and music but dance, art spoken word, and everything else you can think of, doesn’t come as a surprise. As Janice Ian said in a recent interview in the Bay Area Reporter, “When the government lies, when your family lies, when the world lies, artists are the ones still clinging to the truth no matter what it costs… An artist’s job is to question, first and foremost, everything.” Couldn’t have said it better myself, Janice.

All of this, combined with directing a new musical keeps me quite happy and excited about teaching voice and acting here in San Francisco. My work with my students combined with our experiences as performers and audience make the expression of our art that much richer.

Check back here after the weekend to discuss the various performances we’ve experienced and see if we can’t keep the buzz going about San Francisco -- the great performance capital!

A New American Musical - An Invitation

I am currently directing a new musical that is so exciting and promising that I feel compelled to tell everyone about its debut. I invite you to purchase tickets for the premiere performances of
HOMELAND, a new musical by L. Jay Kuo, at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco’s Fort Mason. There are discount tickets available for the Preview Performance on Saturday, December 16 at 2:00 PM. The opening gala performance is Saturday, December 16 at 8:00 pm at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco. There are four more performances on December 17, 18 and 19.
Visit the HOMELAND website to find out more about the musical and to purchase tickets. This is a very limited engagement, so buy early and buy often!

HOMELAND is a musical in the traditional, grand style, with romantic ballads, stirring anthems, and a full orchestral score. It is the newest musical by San Francisco composer and lyricist Jay Kuo. Two star-crossed lovers--a native son from rural West Texas and the daughter of Korean immigrants--struggle to survive the battle for the hearts and minds of America, where race, religion and values collide. It’s a story of love and loss, set in modern day red state/blue state America. Our goal with this debut, very limited engagement is to confirm the appeal of the show before audiences and continue development of the piece. For more details about HOMELAND including some song samples, please visit
www.homelandmusical.com.

To purchase tickets,
visit the HOMELAND website. You don’t want to miss it. Also, tell your friends about it.

Sincerely,

George Quick
Founding Artistic Director
San Francisco New Theatre Workshop

The show dates/times are:
Sat December 16, 2006 2:00 & 8:00 PM
Sun December 17, 2006 2:00 & 7:30 PM
Mon December 18, 2006 7:30 PM
Tue December 19, 2006 7:30 PM

George Quick is a
voice coach, an acting teacher, a director and an actor in San Francisco. George teaches
private voice lessons , and audition and acting techniques. Visit his website at
www.performancecoachsf.com.

i am still - the new CD from D.C. Anderson is a Lesson in Performing

“Spin it a couple of times before forming an opinion. It’ll grow on ya.” – D.C. Anderson

D.C. Anderson is a New York actor/singer/songwriter. As an actor he has appeared on Broadway in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom Of The Opera, on National Tour in Pippin (as Pippin), The Life And Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, and Martin Guerre, regionally at the Guthrie and Steppenwolf Theaters and in episodic TV and movies made for TV. As a cabaret performer he has made 6 appearances in the Mabel Mercer Foundation's Cabaret Convention at Town Hall in NYC as well as gigged at Don't Tell Mama, Triad, 88's, Toulouse, Davenport's, Downstairs Cabaret Theater, the Plush Room, the Cinegrill and Gardenia cabaret rooms. Cabaret Noel: A Broadway Cares Christmas, the 2 CD holiday benefit recording, was initiated and co-produced by D.C. in 1993. In 1995, along with Karen Benjamin and Margaret Irwin, he produced the first annual nationwide benefit event – A Holiday Cabaret. His solo recordings include the CD's Time Was (1993), The Box Under The Bed (1997), Blue Summer Day (2000), All Is Calm, All Is Bright (2001), Collected (2002) and Ballad (2004). D.C. is also a Bistro award-winning songwriter. A revue of his songs Not For The Squeamish has been performed in NYC and Minneapolis. His songbook Songs By D.C. And...Volume 1 is available through LMLMusic.com. PBS stations nationwide have broadcast his 1997 concert as a part of the Brownville Concert Series, and…

D.C. Anderson is a friend of mine. We’ve worked in the theatre together a few times. In the nineties, we performed together in a production of Man Of La Mancha. Around that same time, I directed him in a production of You’re Gonna Love Tomorrow. During that same season, I directed him in a production of Dames At Sea. D.C.’s sister, Claudia and I worked together on a tiny little holiday production of Amahl And The Night Visitors. Back then, D.C. gave me his first CD, Time Was, and it played over and over at my house (still does). As a voice coach, I must say that D.C. Anderson has a perfect voice (in the same way that I think Barbara Cook has a perfect voice). He has an ideal vocal production that I’ve always strived for in my work. His sound is musical, effortless and alive. There’s nothing forced about it. His singing voice is his speaking voice made melodic. D.C. is a strong actor, there’s a real presence in his songs – he’s there in-the-moment in each song. Each song is like a small independent film. In my coaching, I frequently use recordings by many famous singers, to demonstrate this ability to fully become the song. D.C. Anderson’s recordings are a master class in this ability.

“Theatre people” will enjoy this CD, while this CD is not really “theatrical” (it is not a bunch of show tunes). This CD is a collection of gentle, humorous, sad, witty, grieving, tender and touching songs. It’s a sort of song cycle of modern art songs - songs that are literally in an American folk style. I write that with trepidation, as it implies an “old fashioned” sensibility, and this CD is not “old fashioned” it is however, in the best possible way, “old school.” D.C. is not catering to the mass-market, “i am still” is true to itself, true to D.C. Anderson as an artist.

I was lucky enough to receive this CD in the mail a month ago and have been living with it ever since. As a voice coach, I recommend that my students add this CD to their libraries. D.C. has a cottage industry with his recordings (not unlike my own little cottage industry of voice coaching in San Francisco). D.C. plans to conquer the world of recorded sound, friend by friend - I plan to help him make that a reality.

Now for my favorite songs on the collection (they’re all wonderful, these are just my favorites today as I write this). First, there’s I Am Still, a beautiful poem, a short film of a piece. I should mention here that the music is by Steven Landau and it is quite good. Steven, another old friend, was musical director of the first national tour of Titanic, and musical director and arranger for the critically acclaimed Deaf West Theater production of Big River, which played at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, on Broadway at the American Airlines theater, and on international tour. Years ago, I was part of a singing duo, Corber and Quick, with Judy Corber, who is now the brilliantly talented up-and-coming jazz-singer-to-know, Judy Wexler. Steven Landau was our orchestra at the keyboard. He was a great arranger for us, and a great man. I’m so happy that he’s writing these great songs with D.C. They’re a great pairing, along with the other composers on this collection.

Here is how intimate the CD is - one of the funniest bits is the false start to Have Fun, it takes us right into the recording session with D.C. The song is pretty damned funny as well, and Elizabeth Doyle’s music gives it a very enjoyable Maltby/Shire feel. D.C. is so great at putting hilarity, joy and fun right into his voice. Sad Man – an achingly tender song with music by Ron Zimmerman and lyrics so simple and moving. The music has an almost retro sixties feel, while it sometimes reminds me of Sondheim, sometimes of Bacharach and David, it always perfectly suits the lyrics. The man in this song is so fragile, so vulnerable. This is simply an elegant song, sung by a master musician. The intensely intimate guitar work at the top of Hard This Goodbye sets up the lonely lyricism that follows. The piano joins D.C. and the guitar for an effective trio. There’s a driving force to this ballad… driven to the hard goodbye of the title. There are few rare gems like The Visit in this world, and I am grateful to D.C. and Steven for putting this one in such a perfect setting. Oh, I could write something about each song. Let me just add that Dear Mother is exquisite. The final song, Fixed Up Heart, with music by Steven Landau, is another fluid blending of lyrics, guitar, piano, singer and song. Listen to this CD to discover which songs are your favorites.

Okay, I have to comment on Hello Nancy, Goodbye Ron. Nancy Reagan and Ronald Reagan… D.C. has captured honest feelings that many of us experienced in dealing with this iconic couple - the man who turned his back on the AIDS crisis, and the woman who fights for stem cell research and a cure for Alzheimer’s. When the people in this country are so divided (so the media tells us), it is comforting to experience art of this sort, that deals with the grey areas (or, since we are divided red from blue, should that be the violet area?)

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope you’ll take the time to visit D.C.’s website, and buy an album or two (the holidays are coming, and D.C.’s music makes for great gift giving). Buy the CD, tell your friends about the CD. Go see D.C. live on December 4th in Manhattan at the Metropolitan Room and, believe it or not, in Fargo North Dakota playing Buddy in Follies: The Concert at North Dakota State in February of next year.

Meanwhile, I continue my work as a voice coach in San Francisco while I write about theatre and song, among other things, at my website. Another project I’m now directing is an experimental first production of the new musical Homeland, by Jay Kuo, performing at the Magic Theatre in mid-December. (We had great success with Jay’s first musical Insignificant Others at The New Conservatory Theatre Center in San Francisco this summer). If you’re interested in voice coaching, acting lessons and such, drop by my website - www.performancecoachsf.com and see what I have to offer.