Mountain Views News          Saturday, November 21, 2015

13

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Mountain Views-News Saturday, November 21, 2015 

Jeff’s Book Pics By Jeff Brown

On the Marquee: Notes from the Sierra Madre Playhouse

THOMAS JEFFERSON AND THE TRIPOLI 
PIRATES: THE FORGOTTEN WAR THAT 
CHANGED AMERICAN HISTORY 

by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger

 
This is the little-known story of how a newly 
indepen dent nation was challenged by four 
Muslim powers and what 
happened when America’s 
third president decided to 
stand up to intimidation.
When Thomas Jefferson 
became president in 1801, 
America faced a crisis. The new 
nation was deeply in debt and 
needed its economy to grow 
quickly, but its merchant ships 
were under attack. Pirates 
from North Africa’s Barbary 
coast routinely captured 
American sailors and held 
them as slaves, demanding 
ransom and tribute payments 
far beyond what the new 
coun try could afford.Over 
the previous fifteen years, as a 
diplomat and then as secretary 
of state, Jefferson had tried to 
work with the Barbary states 
(Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, and 
Morocco). 

 Unfortunately, he found 
it impossible to negotiate with people who 
believed their religion jus tified the plunder and 
enslavement of non-Muslims. These rogue states 
would show no mercy—at least not while easy 
money could be made by extorting the Western 
powers. So President Jefferson decided to move 
beyond diplomacy. He sent the U.S. Navy’s 
new warships and a detachment of Marines 
to blockade Tripoli—launching the Barbary 
Wars and beginning America’s journey toward 
future superpower status.Among the many sus 
penseful episodes: Lieutenant Andrew Sterett’s 
ferocious cannon battle on the high seas against 
the treacherous pirate ship Tripoli.Lieutenant 
Stephen Decatur’s daring night raid of an enemy 
harbor, with the aim of destroying an American 
ship that had fallen into the pirates’ hands.General 
William Eaton’s unprecedented five-hundred-
mile land march from Egypt to the port of Derne, 
where the Marines launched a surprise attack and 
an American flag was raised in victory on foreign 
soil for the first time.Few today remember these 
men and other heroes who inspired the Marine 
Corps hymn: “From the Halls of Montezuma 
to the Shores of Tripoli, we fight our country’s 
battles in the air, on land and sea.” Thomas 
Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates recaptures this 
forgot ten war that changed 
American history with a real-
life drama of intrigue, bravery, 
and battle on the high seas.
BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL 
FOREVERS: LIFE, DEATH, 
AND HOPE IN A MUMBAI 
UNDERCITY 

by Katherine Boo

In this book by Pulitzer Prize 
winner Boo, a bewildering 
age of global change and 
inequality is made human 
through the dramatic story 
of families striving toward 
a better life in Annawadi, 
a makeshift settlement in 
the shadow of luxury hotels 
near the Mumbai airport. As 
India starts to prosper, the 
residents of Annawadi are 
electric with hope. Abdul, an 
enterprising teenager, sees “a 
fortune beyond counting” in 
the recyclable garbage that richer people throw 
away. Meanwhile Asha, a woman of formidable 
ambition, has identified a shadier route to the 
middle class. With a little luck, her beautiful 
daughter might become its first female college 
graduate. And even the poorest children , like 
the young thief Kalu, feel themselves inching 
closer to their dreams. But then Abdul is falsely 
accused in a shocking tragedy; terror and global 
recession rock the city.. With intelligence, humor, 
and deep insight into what connects people to 
one another in an era of tumultuous change, 
Behind the Beautiful Forevers, based on years of 
uncompromising reporting, carries the reader 
headlong into one of the twenty-first century’s 
hidden worlds—and into the hearts of families 
impossible to forget. Winner of the National 
Book Award. Above from Amazon.com


THE FINISH LINE

By Artistic Director, Christian Lebano

“A poem is never finished, it is simply abandoned.” 
Paul Valery

 I came across this quote the other day and thought 
how timely to have found it while in the midst of 
the build of A Christmas Memory. I thought if you 
replaced the word “play” for “poem” it would be as 
fitting for theater as writing (and I suspect it’s equally 
true of any art form). 

 Since Always…Patsy Cline was such a big hit 
and stayed in our theater through the space of two 
shows, it has been a while since we have moved a 
new production into the theater. I’ve been reminded 
this week what an enormous undertaking that is 
and how many compromises are made in the name 
of expediency and the budget. I have written about 
that before, but what got me thinking about this quote 
was considering where we are now with A Christmas 
Memory and where we were with Always….Patsy 
Cline when we closed that show.

 Obviously, a show deepens and solidifies over 
time. The actors learn from the audience how to play 
moments, the stage manager gets to know the actors 
in performance and can begin to anticipate their 
reactions and timing, and the director and producers 
learn more clearly what is needed after seeing a show 
grow in front of an audience. Sometimes we can make 
changes or adjustments to timing or to movements 
during a run. But all too often, the realization of what 
is needed comes too late to change and you are left 
with the disappointment of not having anticipated the 
need or seen more clearly what should have been.

 This is only partly to blame on the limited number 
of hours we have to work on a show – I suspect that 
even those companies that have the luxury of very 
long rehearsal periods are frustrated by the lack of 
time! – but also on the grandness of the undertaking. 
By that I am not speaking of the size of any particular 
show, but the sheer hubris of trying to recreate life on 
stage in all its messy complexity. Life is complicated 
and trying to bring it to the stage while also worrying 
about whether the audience will follow the story, hear 
the words, appreciate the music choices, and juggling 
an army of artists is nearly impossible. What I have 
learned is that we have to be content with the play that 
opens on the first night – if not satisfied (only those 
involved will ever know the compromises that were 
made and the challenges that were faced) AND most 
importantly, that preparation is key to getting the play 
as “finished” as possible.

 From all of us at the Playhouse, have the loveliest 
of Thanksgivings filled with family, friends, and good 
food. I can tell you truthfully that when I am counting 
blessings around my table, your support and loyalty of 
what we are doing at SMP will be among the many I 
am grateful for.

 

 A Christmas Memory - perfect for all ages - opens 
this Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and runs 
through the holidays to December 27. There is no 
chance of extending this one as Deathtrap is hot on 
its heels for its January 15 opening. Please visit our 
website at SierraMadrePlayhouse.org or call Mary at 
626.355.4318 to arrange your purchase. 


Jean Kauffman (Jennie) and Ian Branch (Buddy) 

Photo by Gina Long


A CHRISTMAS MEMORY 

Opens Nov. 27th


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