“No blue skies and no green grass” is animator Genndy Tartakovsky’s rule for "Samurai Jack." He tells us about bringing back the wandering samurai (right) for Adult Swim. ... Meet jazz singer Donna Fuller, a sultry contralto who made two albums that are now eBay gold. ... It would be enough if we went to the shop where they make custom limousines and hearses, but they also make custom hunting trucks Middle East potentates use when they hunt with their falcons.
Veteran actors and producers in Palm Springs bring back the Golden Age of radio
In the glory days when Palm Springs was the Bel Air of the desert, the stars who lived there were as much radio celebrities as they were film people. Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Dinah Shore and even Frank Sinatra first broke through as radio comics or variety performers fronting the biggest of the big bands.
Maybe that’s why the tradition of Golden Age radio has found a recurring home in the desert, where we spent a day with the cast and crew of an annual revue called “On the Air.”
Because they tell stories in sound, they call “Golden Age” radio plays of the mid-20th century “theater of the imagination.” So imagine a long table in a large room. Veteran actors gathering around it for a rehearsal, scripts in hand. A white-haired musician limbers up on an electronic keyboard, while the show director and his sound effects artist work out the soundscape for a sci-fi spectacular.
For the fourth time in four years, the players of Dezart Performs are imagining a night in the life of KDZT, a fictional 1940s radio powerhouse. “On the Air” is a live revue built from classic American radio dramas and comedies. Clark Dugger, the show’s co-producer, says “We wanted to come up with an idea for a show we could do where we’d bring in some actors, some celebrities from Los Angeles. And when you do that of course there’s no time for rehearsal. So we thought, old-time radio, they had the scripts in their hands. There was no memorization, there’s no blocking, there’s not really a set. So why don’t we do old-time radio shows?"
Already, the crew is being challenged to exceed its skill set. Sound effects artist Andrea McGuire was just handed a new prop. It’s a Theremin, the proto-synthesizer operated by disrupting the magnetic field between two antennae, without ever touching the device. You've heard one in the score for “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” but Andrea has never even seen a Theremin before, let alone played one. “It’s kind of like rubbing your stomach and patting your head," she says, "because you have to do volume with one hand, up and down, and you have to do pitch with your other hand, in and out.”
“It is terrifying a little bit," laughs Michael Shaw, the company’s artistic director. “It’s really about mechanics right now. What microphone do you have to move to? On what line? You know, we’re working with professionals like Peter Marshall. Gavin MacCleod’s in this, with Joyce Bulifant, and Millicent Martin. We have to trust that they know how to do this.”
That's Peter Marshall of “The Hollywood Squares,” Gavin McLeod and Joyce Bulifant of “Mary Tyler Moore,” Millicent Martin from Broadway and “Frasier.” With the median age well above 70, nearly everyone in the production has a personal connection to Golden Age radio.
Take director Greg Oppenheimer. His Dad Jess created “I Love Lucy,” basing the series on “My Favorite Husband,” a radio comedy he oversaw for Lucille Ball. Oppenheimer says, “When I was eleven years old I discovered a transcription disc of a show my dad wrote in 1939. As soon as I discovered radio, I just loved it. And he loved it too. He really missed it when he was in television.”
Oppenheimer has forged an unlikely career as a director of radio re-enactments. He estimates he’s recreated between 60 and 70 radio shows for the stage: “The scale of my commitment is much greater than the scale of my compensation. I just think it’s the greatest medium that ever was for storytelling. It’s very clean too, because we’re going by the rules they had back then.”
At the table read, the company rehearses its show opener. It’s a satirical game show that was a big hit in the mid-1940s, "It Pays to be Ignorant." A knowing self-parody, “It Pays to Be Ignorant” feels both ancient and very contemporary. The segment announcer is performed by iconic TV game show host Peter Marshall—still spry and charming at age 90, and a living connection to radio’s glory days. “To me," Marshall says, "radio was the most powerful medium of all. I had been a page boy when I was 15 at NBC in New York. Well, NBC—that was the network. I used to page Stokowski on the weekend, and Toscanini. I was even around when Mayor LaGuardia used to do his comics on the weekend.”
Marshall is joined in “It Pays to Be Ignorant” by veteran voice artist Phil Proctor. “On the Air” is a showcase for Proctor, who’s featured in three of the show’s four sequences, from a brash boyfriend in the comedy “My Friend Irma,"to a traumatized Holocaust survivor in a chilling adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s sci-fi classic “Mars is Heaven.”
That kind of vocal range could have meant stardom during radio’s Golden Age, where actors were never limited by physical type. Nowadays, most of his work comes from voicing characters in video games. It’s a skill Proctor honed as a founding member of Firesign Theatre, the psychedelic audio comedy troupe launched on KPFK in the late 1960s. “With the Firesign Theatre," Proctor says, "when the four of us got together, we were all radio children, children of the audio media. We wanted to expand that experience into the modern age. When I was listening to the radio as a kid, like on Saturday morning, I had my radio receiver right by my bedside, and I’d turn it on and listen kind of in a half dream state if you will. It’s a very personal form of entertainment. And I use the word ‘psychedelic’ accordingly, in that it’s mind-manifesting."
Back at the table read, the cast is running into an unexpected problem. “Mars is Heaven” is supposed to be eerie, but the company is finding it hilarious. Partly this is nerves, and partly it’s the antique syntax of a 70 year old radio narrative. But mostly it’s the easy camaraderie of veteran actors who’ve worked together across decades.
“Oh it’s fun," says Joyce Bulifant. "We all love each other. And we look forward to getting together to do it.” Bulifant plays the title character in “My Friend Irma,” about two roommates. The only thing they have in common is their drive to get married. "I grew up in the 50s," she says, "and I’ve been married a lot, because I thought if you wanted to go to bed with someone you had to marry them. I did ‘My Favorite Husband’ before with Gavin, and it was very different. I don’t mean women were different, they wanted the same things. But they were suppressed.”
The Golden Age shows of “On the Air” offer glimpses of a vanished world. But one that may not be so lost after all. At least one company member has dreams of bigger things. He’s Gavin MacCleod—age 86, and – for his roles on "Mary Tyler Moore" and "The Love Boat" - perhaps the most familiar face in the show. This year’s revue has given him an epiphany: “I just had the dream this morning when I was looking at the script before I came in to rehearsal. I said, `Why don’t I tell Princess about this? Why don’t we do radio shows? We have all kinds of shows.’ So I made a call—cause I think it would be wonderful. A 7-day cruise, do 6 or 7 shows. I think people would eat it up.”
Off-Ramp Recommends: Bach in the Subways
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To celebrate the birthday of composer Johann Sebastian Bach, classical musicians take to the streets (well, under them) to share their love of classical music with pop-up performances. It's Bach in the Subways, and it's happening March 18-21.
Bach in the Subways started in 2010 when musician Dale Henderson realized the classical music audience was shrinking dramatically, maybe because people hadn't seen live performances. So, he took his cello to New York's transit stations, and began to play. From there, performances have grown, more musicians have joined the cause, and Bach in the Subways has spread to more cities.
Southern Californians can head to Union Station this Saturday for ten-hour Bach marathon, featuring the Los Angeles Organ Company. Or catch the Pasadena Conservatory of Music at the Glendale Amtrak Station. Or the Suzuki Music Program of Los Angeles at the Universal City Red Line stop.
Check out the full Union Station schedule or just take Metro instead of driving and see what you find throughout the system!
'No Justice, No Peace’ -- California African American Museum recalls Rodney King Riots
Off-Ramp cultural correspondent Marc Haefele reviews "No Justice, No Peace: LA 1992," at the California African American Museum through August 27. It's curated by Tyree Boyd-Pates.
The evening of the Rodney King verdict of April 29 seemed baleful, overcast with clouds of ambient anger. There was a powerful sense of something gone very wrong. I left work around 5:30 when angry people were already gathering in front of Parker Center.
Yet, the official LAPD word was that all was well, everything under control. Chief Daryl Gates himself showed his lack of concern when he headed off to a Westside fundraiser against a police reform measure — opening himself for the rest of his life to the accusation that he had deserted his post in his city’s worst hour of peril.
I got home safely to my peaceful, Eastside home for an early dinner and bedtime. I did not even bother to turn on the TV. And so I woke up unawares to a Los Angeles completely at war. It seemed like half the city was on fire and the rest was divided by combat zones. I got to work to find our downtown office desolated. Showing incredible leadership, my editor handed me a broom.
Now the California African American Museum has a powerful new exhibit, "No Justice, No Peace: LA 1992," that perfectly recalls that time for those who were there ... and introduces it those who were not.
Listen to Off-Ramp's 2012 special on the 20th anniversary of the riots
As Martin Luther King Jr. said of an earlier Los Angeles outburst: “Rioting is the outcry of the Unheard.” What went unheard was the uproar of the minority community for over a year regarding two tragic events and their aftermaths — the 1991 Latasha Harlins killing and the near-acquittal of the storekeeper who shot her, plus the video-taped group beating of Rodney King and the acquittal of all the police involved. It was the acquittal that took hours to trigger the 1992 rising.
With its long-serving African-American mayor and six minority members in the 15-member City Council, Los Angeles of 1992 thought it had a jump on the future. But now, just like in 1965, it was hearing from the unheard in the most violent terms. What had gone wrong? What had this proud city not learned in 27 years? The '65 Watts outbreaks saw 34 deaths and $40 million in damages. In 1992, the toll was 54 lives and a billion dollars worth of destruction.
“No Justice, No Peace” gives as deep-rooted an explanation of the event as you could hope to see. With expanded photographs and well-chosen historic texts, it notes that there is far more to the 1992 clash’s history than the 1965 Watts Rebellion. It depicts the intentional establishment of the LAPD as a force whose principal method against minorities was violence—as in the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943 and the Bloody Christmas of 1951.
In the mass immigrations of black people that began in the 1930s, the LAPD stood as a bastion of White Los Angeles against the inflow of people of color, along with racial zoning and restrictive housing covenants. Even the legislative Civil Rights victories of the 1960s were overshadowed for many by the ebb of good manufacturing jobs and the shortage of adequate housing that exists to this day in this city. In the face of increased drug use in the 1980s, LAPD’s South Central tactics, under Gates, grew increasingly confrontational and violent. In 1992 came that spark that set off the explosion that has scarred the city to this day.
The California African American Museum’s exhibit (along with an accompanying audio display of pertinent black pop music of that time and since) offers a mirror to the present in which we can see modern LA and wonder—what has changed since 1992. The LAPD, certainly, has visibly altered its culture; the last time I looked, it was no longer a majority white-male institution. What else? Poverty is still endemic in parts of LA where the violence originated. Many of the thousands of ravaged ghetto stores and businesses—particularly those of Korean-Americans—have never reopened. Downtown’s latest skyscrapers have produced a limited economic trickledown to the rest of us. The homeless still crowd our streets. Manufacturing has continued to ebb. Decent-paying jobs remain scarce for many.
So maybe it is too hasty to celebrate the anniversary of April 1992 in 2017. Maybe we should wait until 2019 — the 27th anniversary of the event that happened to commemorate the 27th anniversary of the Watts rebellion—fairly to crow how far we have come.
Who knew? Limos, hearses, and falcon hunting go hand in hand
Dominick Vitelli, owner of Quality Coachworks, doesn't think what he does is particularly interesting. "I've been doing this for 35 years," he shrugs off his work customizing high-end luxury vehicles. For him, it all comes with the territory: a little chrome here, a wine fridge there, maybe a DJ booth once in a while. Dominick's most common customization requests are for limos and hearses. At first blush the two can seem at the opposite ends of the cultural enthusiasm spectrum. But it turns out, they've got more in common than one would imagine.
"With hearses now, they want more glass to show off the 10, 15, $20,000 casket inside," says Dominick. "Before, everybody wore black, you showed up on time, a priest said some words. Now there's music, you eat, there's alcohol, you're celebrating life."
Conversely, it's the private cars that now have more curtains. "For celebrities, you can't tell who's in there, you'd have no idea who was in this driving down the street," he points to an Escalade that has a fold out bed in the back (click on the video below to see it).
Limos and hearses are curious, for sure, but Dominick's customizations don't stop there. Example: cars customized for hunting with falcons. "We've even custom painted an Escalade to match the sands of Riyadh" says Dominick. Other requests have included a bulletproof truck for a dignitary in Saudi Arabia, and the entire Presidential fleet for the country of Senegal, complete with a replica of the Senegalese flag worked into the carpet of the interior.
No request is too big or outlandish. "I once had a guy bring in a box of sugar and ask if we could paint his car the same color, same thing with a guy who wanted his car the same color as his wife's dress."
Dominick is following in the footsteps of his uncle Vini Bergeman, a customization pioneer. "He started with vans in the 70's and 80's, and then moved on to limos where they got the jacuzzi in the back, and stuff like that. " Vini, who happened to play a pivotal role in the life of Offramp producer Taylor Orci, and who's personal connection to this story was purely coincidental, recently passed away in late January. "We had him burried in a replica of a vintage Merc, candy apple red," recalled Vini. It's one of Dominick's custom hearses that took Vini on his last ride.
So what's the most satisfying customization Dominick has ever done? "For me," he says humbly, "it's making sure I get it right and to the customer's exact specifications. I like to do good work, and that's the most important thing for me. I'm not flashy. I should be, but I don't think I'm gonna change any time soon."
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on Vimeo.
RIP Donna Fuller, thrilling jazz-pop contralto, 85: What a voice, and what a life!
UPDATE 4/20/2017: We knew it was coming, but it’s still hard. Donna Fuller, the cool contralto we profiled in March, died Tuesday at the age of 85 at her home in the Valley. But Donna did it her way, literally. She was quite ill, but hospice allowed her to stay in her home. And she passed as she was listening to a playlist her grandson made for her. What song was playing at 5:01pm, when she finally let go? Of course, it was “My Way.” Donna is survived by her grandson Cody Hickox, her daughter Heather Hickox, and her son-in-law Dave Bernstein, who were all there at the end. Also there were the cards and letters Off-Ramp listeners sent her. Those kind words meant more to her than she (and we) could say.
Editor's note: Time and illness are catching up with singer Donna Fuller, and she's now in hospice. If you remember her performances or are a new fan, and want to send a card or a letter, we'll make sure she gets it. Mail it to Off-Ramp, KPCC, 474 South Raymond Ave, Pasadena CA 91105-2629, and write "For Donna Fuller" on the envelope.
"How do I describe myself? 85 and still glad to be kicking. And, until just recently, still singing." -- Donna Fuller to Off-Ramp host John Rabe
Imagine you're a young singer from the Midwest, recording your first record in LA. The driver pulls you up to a building in Hollywood and that's when you realize ... your first studio album is being cut at Capitol Records!
Stuff like this was always happening to Donna Fuller, and while the payoff was never stardom, the story of this remarkable woman - now 85 and in failing health - tells the story of a certain era in Los Angeles.
After touring the country with her sultry contralto and landing a recording contract with Liberty Records, the former former U.S.O. girl and Playboy jazz club singer was recording next door to Nancy Sinatra, glamming up for parties at the Playboy Mansion, and brushing shoulders with celebrities from the golden era of pop and jazz.
Donna was artistically courted by record producer and arranger Don Costa, known for his work with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Barbra Streisand. Remembering the scene at Capitol Records, she still pictures him pulling the musicians together.
I think the first album had 32 musicians. Everyone starts tuning up ... it's exciting when you start hearing it. Don's in the booth, everybody else is in the booth. You've got friends rolling around out there that you can see through the glass. Then they tap, and Don says 'Go for one!'
Donna's first album was recorded in 12 hours. That's 12 songs in 12 hours. "You don't do that anymore, "she says. "I mean they spend a year getting one song. Privileged, privileged."
A small town girl from Cambridge, Kansas, her mother first spotted her talent as she danced and sang around the house. But her first professional recognition came when she was 13, after she performed at a block party: "I got a call after that. It was from a Mrs. Edith West Elba and she wanted to teach me how to sing. So I went and took opera lessons for years. Then started working in clubs, and nightclubs. And they just didn't quite go together."
Donna says she knew exactly when she began wanting to sing jazz, "When I started getting paid for it!"And her critique for modern singers? Turn up the drama. She says, "I can't sing a song like a stick. It's not in me. I think nowadays, they don't know what they are saying. They are saying words but they don't know what they mean. Like Sinatra, Sinatra can sing a song and you know what the hell he's singing about."
She also traveled the country with a true pioneer, and it started with a phone call: "It was to be the singer, comedian, MC for Christine Jorgensen." Jorgensen was one of the first American transsexuals, and she crafted a career as a performer, even doing a Marlene Dietrich impression. "I met Christine in San Francisco and we traveled up to Oregon and went through her act." After the shows, Donna says Jorgensen would sometimes be jealous. The men would want to be romantic with Donna, but with Christine, "they were interested in her story."
In 1957 Donna recorded her first album, "My Foolish Heart." "People around town had heard me sing," she says, "and Joe Green, who was a writer, pianist, nice guy, took me to Liberty Records and Liberty Records took me to Pete [Rugolo]... he was with Stan Kenton for a long time. He was dating Anne Bancroft at that time... well before Mel [Brooks]. She was at my recording!"
Billboard magazine's April 27th, 1957 edition reviewed "My Foolish Heart:"
Thrush's disk debut is a good one. Her delivery - in the bluesy-torchy vein - comes across as well-suited to the small chic-type club. Choice of material was excellent and obviously tailored to the voice. "Mister Blue" and "Dusky January" are good cases in point. Demonstrate the better known "My Foolish Heart." A striking album cover effectively catches the spirit of the album.
In response to that review, Donna says, "Yeah, you should have seen some of those 'chic-type' clubs..." But the album didn't sell. Looking back, she says, "You always hope. You can't expect anything in this business really."
Her second album "Who is Donna Fuller?" was recorded with DCP Records in 1964. If you flip the album over and read the spiel on the back, you'll find:
Who is Donna Fuller? She is svelte and sexy. She sort of slinks around the floor like a lean, hungry lynx. She can caress a ballad in a throaty-sultry style and belt out a tune with dynamic vibrancy. She is Donna Fuller, a sophisticated package of sheer talent. What are Donna Fuller's hobbies? In her spare time she likes to paint and sketch. She is a poodle-fancier and shoots a mean game of billiards.
Is any of this true? She says she did play a little pool. And as for art, Donna laughs. "You know I always thought I was so lousy at it. But I enjoyed it. I never looked at anything and thought 'Wait until a museum sees this!'"
Throughout her career, lots of writers and producers brought music to her but she wouldn't sing just any tune. "It has to say something to you. It has to touch you in some way. Someone can sing one song, and it means one thing. Someone else can sing it, and it's an entirely different song. You pick up a song and look at it and say I either 'love it' or 'I can't stand it.'"
After her recording career, Donna was a longtime member of the Hollywood Presbyterian Choir. Her studio albums are rare finds nowadays, sometimes bringing hundreds of dollars. Off-Ramp intern Rosalie Atkinson got lucky with this one.
eBay came through for me in a major way today pic.twitter.com/JquMzGPK2q
— Rosalie Atkinson (@RoAtkinson) June 17, 2016
At 85 and quite ill, Donna Fuller is spending what time remains to her with her family in the Valley.
Samurai Jack is back, so we go in-depth with animator Genndy Tartakovsky
Off-Ramp and Filmweek animation expert Charles Solomon interviews director Genndy Tartakovsky about the return of Samurai Jack. The 10-episode epilogue to the original series debuts Saturday on Adult Swim.
A noble, handsome warrior (left) trying to save the world and get back home. An ugly evil demon (right) who thwarts him every time. This was the simple premise of "Samurai Jack," which ran four seasons on Cartoon Network starting in 2001.
"Samurai Jack" was directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, also known for "Dexter’s Laboratory," "Powerpuff Girls," and "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." After it debuted, "Samurai Jack" rapidly became one of the most respected and influential animated TV programs in recent history. The rapid-fire action sequences, stylized graphics, and original stories earned both affection from fans and respect from other animators, winning imitators along with its 4 prime time Emmies and 6 Annie Awards.
Although many series have attempted to emulate the ground-breaking work of the UPA studio during the 50's, Tartakovsky understood that stylized characters should move in stylized ways. The animation is "Samurai Jack" was limited, but its staccato rhythms echoed live action and animated martial arts films, from "Enter the Dragon" to "Rurouni Kenshin." And unlike the talk-your-ear-off illustrated radio format of many animated TV shows, much of Samurai Jack was done in mime. Minutes might pass without a character saying a word: Tartakovsky understood how to tell a story visually.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSrv_n4tw7w
When it concluded in 2004, Jack walked off into the sunset; he hadn't yet vanquished the shape-shifting demon Aku, which meant there could be more adventures…someday.
Someday is finally here! On March 11, Samurai Jack returns to Adult Swim in a series of new adventures.
Charles Solomon spoke with Tartakovsky about returning to "Samurai Jack" in his office at Sony in Culver City:
On Samurai Jack's influence in the industry:
Tartakovsky: Not to be super egotistical about it, but yeah, I see it. A lot of artists really respond to the graphic nature of it. The storytelling is really more our own thing, that people haven't caught on. Because to do stories without dialogue is difficult.
Solomon: Particularly these days, when a lot of television animation has gone back to the kind of illustrated radio format of the 1970s. Whereas you still use silence so effectively, and will go a minute or more without a word of dialogue.
Tartakovsky: For me, I'm not a great wordsmith, and so maybe from lack of great dialogue writing, I thought it's easier and better to express a story through visuals. And what I realized was that people are really more interested in it. It captivated the audience because you have to think a little bit more.
Why bring back Jack?
Tartakovsky: Since that time, I've done a lot of traveling, a lot of press for movies, and no matter where I went, the first question was always "Samurai Jack." "Are you going to do a movie? Are you going to bring it back? Are you going to finish the story?" And so for a while, it was fine. But then it felt like every year, it got more and more popular. And I felt like it was time. The main thing was, we wanted to finish the story. It's got a great story that needed a finish.
You don't know (the new) Jack.
Solomon: The new Jack has this great mane of hair and beard. What's he been doing since he walked off into the sunset leaving that baby at the end of the last season?
Tartakovsky: Jack's been stuck. It's 50 years later, and we reveal that he hasn't aged. Aku's destroyed all the time portals, and what do you do if you're just walking aimlessly amongst this hell? And so he's let himself go, and that's the theme: he's this lost soul. And what's great is we've got these ten episodes, that's one story, and he's got to earn his way back ... if he does.
Hear much more of Charles Solomon's interview with Genndy Tartakovsky! Listen to the audio player.