Oakland’s First Friday and Art Murmur returned this past week after February’s street festival ended in tragedy when 18-year-old Kiante Campbell was shot and killed at 20th Street and Telegraph Avenue. That First Friday could have been the city’s last. The monthly night gathering attracts thousands for its food, music Read More…
Nestled within the curves of Broadway and the State Routes 24 and 13, Lake Temescal is a glittering blue gem amid miles of concrete. And less than one mile in circumference, it’s a tiny gem. But Lake Temescal offers us a precious treasure as we sink unquestioningly into the semester’s Read More…
If you know Patti Lupone, you know she’s not someone to be messed with. For more than 30 years, this diva has ruled Broadway with an iron-clad grasp and a voice that says, “Fuck you, I’m amazing,” with every soaring note. Even as a child, Ben Rimalower could sense this Read More…
“You ask four guys how it happened, you get four different versions.” This is how Tommy DeVito, the brusque patriarch, introduces the story of how a ramshackle group of guys from New Jersey became one of the top-selling pop groups of all time — The Four Seasons. It’s a sordid Read More…
Since its premiere in 1994, there has been one sound that retains the power to both excite and empower. It’s a piercing, raw and wholly bewitching chant that can stir even the most ornery of curmudgeons out of their embittered stupor. Out of silence, the words come thundering in: “Nants Read More…
I once knew an acting coach who adamantly stated that “you can’t teach someone how to act — either you have it, or you don’t.” Funny thing to say, I have to admit, for someone who made a living teaching people to act. But, as she used to say, if Read More…
