Mountain Views News          Saturday, September 5, 2015

13

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

 Mountain Views News Saturday, September 5, 2015 

Jeff’s Book Picks By Jeff Brown

SEAN’S SHAMELESS 

REVIEWS:

THE LIGHTHOUSE AND THE WHALER 
TOWER WITH FLARE ON ‘MONT ROYAL’

By Sean Kayden


Rising Strong by Brené Brown 
It is the rise from falling that Brown takes as her 
subject in Rising Strong. As a grounded theory 
researcher, Brown has listened as a range of 
people—from leaders in Fortune 500 companies 
and the military to artists, couples in long-term 
relationships, teachers, and parents—shared 
their stories of being brave, falling, and getting 
back up. She asked herself, What do these people 
with strong and loving relationships, leaders 
nurturing creativity, artists pushing innovation, 
and clergy walking with people through faith and 
mystery have in common? The answer was clear: 
They recognize the power 
of emotion and they’re 
not afraid to lean in to 
discomfort.Walking into 
our stories of hurt can feel 
dangerous. But the process 
of regaining our footing 
in the midst of struggle 
is where our courage is 
tested and our values are 
forged. Our stories of 
struggle can be big ones, 
like the loss of a job or the 
end of a relationship, or 
smaller ones, like a conflict 
with a friend or colleague. 
Regardless of magnitude 
or circumstance, the 
rising strong process is the 
same: We reckon with our 
emotions and get curious 
about what we’re feeling; 
we rumble with our stories 
until we get to a place of 
truth; and we live this 
process, every day, until it becomes a practice 
and creates nothing short of a revolution in our 
lives. Rising strong after a fall is how we cultivate 
wholeheartedness. It’s the process, Brown writes, 
that teaches us the most about who we are. 

The Roosevelts: An Intimate History by 
Geoffrey C. Ward (Author), Ken Burns 
A vivid and personal portrait of America’s greatest 
political family and its enormous impact on our 
nation—the companion volume to the seven-part 
PBS documentary series With 796 photographs, 
some never before seen.The authors of the 
acclaimed and best-selling The Civil War, Jazz, 
The War, and Baseball present an intimate history 
of three extraordinary individuals from the same 
extraordinary family—Theodore, Eleanor, and 
Franklin Delano Roosevelt.Geoffrey C. Ward, 
distilling more than thirty years of thinking and 
writing about the Roosevelts, and the acclaimed 
filmmaker Ken Burns help us understand for the 
first time that, despite the fierce partisanship of 
their eras, the Roosevelts were far more united 
than divided. All the history the Roosevelts made 
is here, but this is primarily an intimate account, 
the story of three people who overcame obstacles 
that would have undone less forceful personalities. 
Theodore Roosevelt would push past childhood 
frailty, outpace depression, survive terrible grief—
and transform the office of the presidency. Eleanor 
Roosevelt, orphaned and alone as a child, would 
endure her husband’s betrayal, battle her own 
self-doubts, and remake herself into the most 
consequential first lady in American history—and 
the most admired woman on earth. And Franklin 
Roosevelt, born to privilege and so pampered that 
most of his youthful contemporaries dismissed 
him as a charming lightweight, would summon the 
strength to lead the nation through the two greatest 
crises since the Civil War, though he could not 
take a single step unaided. 
The three were towering 
personalities, but The 
Roosevelts shows that they 
were also flawed human 
beings who confronted 
in their personal lives 
issues familiar to all of 
us: anger and the need for 
forgiveness, courage and 
cowardice, confidence 
and self-doubt, loyalty to 
family and the need to be 
true to oneself. This is the 
story of the Roosevelts—
no other American family 
ever touched so many lives.


Chronicles 
by Bob Dylan 
The celebrated first 
memoir from arguably the 
most influential singer-
songwriter in the country, 
Bob Dylan.”I’d come from 
a long ways off and had started a long ways down. 
But now destiny was about to manifest itself. I felt 
like it was looking right at me and nobody else.”So 
writes Bob Dylan in Chronicles: Volume One, his 
remarkable book exploring critical junctures in 
his life and career. Through Dylan’s eyes and open 
mind, we see Greenwich Village, circa 1961, when 
he first arrives in Manhattan. Dylan’s New York is 
a magical city of possibilities -- smoky, nightlong 
parties; literary awakenings; transient loves and 
unbreakable friendships. Elegiac observations 
are punctuated by jabs of memories, penetrating 
and tough. With the book’s side trips to New 
Orleans, Woodstock, Minnesota and points 
west, Chronicles: Volume One is an intimate and 
intensely personal recollection of extraordinary 
times.By turns revealing, poetical, passionate and 
witty, Chronicles: Volume One is a mesmerizing 
window on Bob Dylan’s thoughts and influences. 
Dylan’s voice is distinctively American: generous 
of spirit, engaged, fanciful and rhythmic. Utilizing 
his unparalleled gifts of storytelling and the 
exquisite expressiveness that are the hallmarks of 
his music, Bob Dylan turns Chronicles: Volume 
One into a poignant reflection on life, and the 
people and places that helped shape the man and 
the art.

Mont Royal is the grandiose return of Cleveland 
indie rockers The Lighthouse and The Whaler. It’s 
been three years since the quartet’s last full-length 
effort, This is an Adventure. With the inclusion 
of incredible build of strings, guitar crashes, 
and pulsating kick drums, the recondite record 
is both sprawling and substantially complex. 
Vocalist/guitarist Michael LoPresti, multi-
instrumentalist Mark Porostosky, percussionist 
Matthew LoPresti and drummer Ryan Walker 
make up The Lighthouse and The Whaler, a name 
that was inspired by Herman Melville’s Moby 
Dick. LoPresti’s emboldening vocals exceedingly 
drive this album into a higher level. However, his 
band displays much vigilance alongside subtlety 
with their illustrious instruments. The result is a 
creation constructed with a lot of build up with 
layers upon layers of transfixing sounds and 
arrangements. Mont Royal will attract fans of 
Local Natives and Young The Giant, but needless 
to say, there’s so much originality here as it is. 
The band’s third LP is an idyllic exploration of 
self-discovery embracing a fresh sound to convey 
their stories. Mont Royal will surely appease 
those not only on their road to self-discovery, 
but anticipating for a great record to carry them 
through the swiftly forthcoming autumn season.

 “In Motion” opens up Mont Royal in a very 
imposing way. Rich guitar chords, passionate 
vocals, and superb dynamism are just a few ways 
to express this vibrant tune. The idea of pushing 
on despite darkness or hard times comes to mind 
with the ebb and flow of the song. “I Want To Feel 
Alive” is considerable powerful with its orchestral 
arrangements and elevating tempo. LoPresti 
persuasively belts out the line, “I want to feel alive” 
numerous times to get the point across. There’s an 
incredible amount of conviction and fortitude in 
his voice making the listener feel the exact same 
way he does. “Glory” is that obligatory track on 
these type of albums that has the vocalist chanting 
“oh, oh, oooooohs,” but we like these songs for a 
reason. There’s heart and soul here with how it’s 
spotlessly structured, with light drums beats and 
opulent guitars to accompany the desirable vocals 
on hand. The fourth track, “Senses,” adds some 
snyth as it feels more upbeat than the ones before 
it. It’s more of a dance-rock track, but still comes 
off precisely effective. Fast guitars and infectious 
beats change the feel of the record momentarily, 
however, it still provides to be a strong asset. 
The halfway point of the ten-track record is with 
“We Aren’t Who We Thought We Are.” This 
harrowing gem is calm as still water as it slips 
into the listener’s mind. It’s strikingly constructed 
from beginning to end, as the last minute of the 
track is a crescendo of instrumental beauty. 
At this point in the record, it comes to no 
surprise we are bestowed another killer track 
known as “Closer.” It’s the kind of song to get 
you excited about something again. You’ll feel 
revitalized with the crisp sounds and continuous 
momentum that the song carries throughout its 
course. “Old World” offers plenty to connect with 
soothing melodies and a delightfully capacious 
sound. As the listener comes down to the wire on 
Mont Royal, experience has been a memorable 
one to say the least. The final bow is in the form 
of “We Are Infinite.” This slow-tempo, reflective 
tune enlightens on various levels. The marvelous 
build up with the haunting vocals is painstakingly 
salient. The emotional gravity of “We Are Infinite” 
is unparalleled as this tranquil jam makes you 
ponder everything you’re up against. Mont Royal 
is an album that let’s you take a step back to take 
a look at everything and anything that matters in 
one’s own trajectory. The ten glorious songs will 
provide as a guide for those seeking direction in 
any and all avenues of life. 

Grade: 8 out of 10


On the Marquee: Notes from the Sierra MadrePlayhouse

THE BOTTOM LINE … PART TWO


By Artistic Director, Christian Lebano

 Last week I talked about some of the financial 
challenges we are facing as we continue to raise our 
production values in our quest to provide you with 
the best theatrical experiences we can. Because of the 
success of Always…Patsy Cline (we are sold-out again 
this weekend and close to sold-out for the weekend of 
the 11th-13th) we have a little breathing room. 

 We had a Board meeting last night, and I was 
able to share with everyone the number of new 
patrons who are finding us because of this show – 
and also that our individual donations are up since 
the opening of this show. I believe that the quality 
of the work we’ve been doing over the last year is 
starting to pay off and that the San Gabriel Valley 
is noticing! We were finally able to talk about the 
long view – our hopes for things we all hope we’ll 
be able to accomplish over the next few years if we 
find the support and underwriting we need. It was 
lovely to talk in a hopeful way about what we hope 
can achieve.

 In two weeks we’ll be launching our Advisory 
Council with a dinner at a Board member’s home. 
Estelle Campbell, SMP’s Managing Director, and 
I have worked very diligently over the last year 
identifying people we thought would make a real 
contribution to moving our plans forward. The 
Council will be charged with helping us build our 
development and marketing strategies and with 
connecting us to others who might help. My hope 
is that we’ll find a Law Firm who’ll work with us 
pro bono on issues that come up; an accountancy 
that will do an audit for us – essential for the many 
grants we hope to apply for; a marketing team to 
help us strategize a plan and roll out materials; and 
a development team who will work with us to get 
our message out to donors who will support one 
or more of our many initiatives: the music series, 
the Field Trip Series, our new reading Series, our 
movie series, and, of course, our shows; and a 
team that will take on planning the Fundraising 
Gala I’ve long wanted to throw. Clearly, I’ve got a 
lot of hopes pinned on this group. I’ll be sure to 
share more after we’ve met for our first time.

 But still the work of producing shows goes on – 
we just cast A Christmas Memory (opening the day 
after Thanksgiving). This is a terrific new musical 
(we are doing the LA County premiere) of the 
Truman Capote story and it’s just a gem. Tickets 
will go on sale soon. I cannot wait to introduce you 
to the actors we have for this show – we have many 
Broadway veterans with incredible voices AND 
an 11-year old local boy who I predict will charm 
everyone with his talents and grin. AND we have 
a special event planned with one of the actors 
who was a part of an Academy Award-winning 
documentary! Hope that whets your appetite. I’ll 
let you know more very soon. 

 Just a reminder that now that it’s September it is 
time to renew your Ralphs Community donation 
to the Playhouse. This adds no cost to you but 
can net us several thousand dollars (depending 
on how many people sign up) a year. EVERYONE 
must sign up each September for the Ralphs 
contribution – your current choice expired on the 
last day of August. Easy to follow instructions can 
be found on our website or at ralphs.com – our 
code for Ralphs is #83942.

 Always…Patsy Cline closes September 27 – see 
it again with new friends you want to introduce to 
the Playhouse. If you think a show may be sold-
out it is still worth calling Mary Baville in our box 
office and getting on the waiting list for the show 
you want – we sometimes get cancellations and 
Mary will call you and let you know. But book 
ahead – shows are selling out rapidly. Remember 
we give 20% discounts for groups of 10 or more who 
purchase their tickets ahead of their attendance 
date. Please call Mary at 626.355.4318 to arrange 
your purchase.