Update 10-28-14
Hi,
First, two public service announcements:
From Helen David: If you drive a Toyota, please have your air bags checked.
From National Public Radio: If you need to call 911 and have a choice between using a cell phone and a land line, use the land line. Since it’s tied to an address, the police can find you immediately, no matter how high you are in a building. A cell phone can only be located within 300 yards – often several city blocks – and mainly functions horizontally.
From Helen David: If you drive a Toyota, please have your air bags checked.
From National Public Radio: If you need to call 911 and have a choice between using a cell phone and a land line, use the land line. Since it’s tied to an address, the police can find you immediately, no matter how high you are in a building. A cell phone can only be located within 300 yards – often several city blocks – and mainly functions horizontally.
Second, a correction, from Arlene Ainbinder Lynn: The Valley Stream South High Alumni Association meeting is tonight, Tuesday, October 21st. Not Thursday, as I saw in the 10-21-14 newsletter.
[Rich – Ah, yup: Just because the Alumni Association meeting is often on a Thursday doesn’t mean it’s always on a Thursday. Sorry.
Also, I had some trouble sending to several Verizon addresses last week, so some of you might not have gotten the newsletter. Let’s see what this week brings.]
Also, I had some trouble sending to several Verizon addresses last week, so some of you might not have gotten the newsletter. Let’s see what this week brings.]
Third, from Zelda White Nichols, in response to Peter Shapiro, regarding Escondido, California: I have been studying California wines for at least 25 years and belong to 5 wine clubs. My husband and I made numerous trips to the Napa and Sonoma valleys and visited literally hundreds of wineries. We love everything about the wineries: from taking the tours, to being in the vineyards, to the smell of the cask rooms, and, of course, the tastings. After moving to San Diego County, we discovered Central Coast wineries, which we love, but our very favorite winery is in Escondido. It’s called Orfila, and it’s a small, boutique winery. But its wine is good enough that it has been served at Presidential functions.
It’s a beautiful location with a great tasting room and gift shop. If you like wine, whether white or red, and happen to be in the area, do go. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed. To join a wine club, I have to visit the winery and not only taste but like every wine that I taste, both red and white. Orfila has a wide variety, and every one is great. I think they have one of the best Merlots in California, and I’m not much of a Merlot fan.
It’s a beautiful location with a great tasting room and gift shop. If you like wine, whether white or red, and happen to be in the area, do go. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed. To join a wine club, I have to visit the winery and not only taste but like every wine that I taste, both red and white. Orfila has a wide variety, and every one is great. I think they have one of the best Merlots in California, and I’m not much of a Merlot fan.
Fourth, from Barbara Blitfield Pech, part 1: I posted a "Home Ec" class photo on the Valley Stream South Facebook page, and one of the comments included a very old news flash that I missed. Did we know this?
From Karin Sofarelli: Great photo. I remember so much from those classes – and I am class of '62. Of course, now they call it "Survival Classes." My son even had Miss Brennan in Baldwin, though by then she was Mrs. Hordlow. What a hoot.
From Karin Sofarelli: Great photo. I remember so much from those classes – and I am class of '62. Of course, now they call it "Survival Classes." My son even had Miss Brennan in Baldwin, though by then she was Mrs. Hordlow. What a hoot.
Fifth, from Barbara Blitfield Pech, part 2: Copied from a Green Acres page post on Facebook:
Hello, Valley Stream South High Class of '68 classmates. We haven't heard from some of you. Our next reunion is not that far away, and we'd love for you to join us. In planning for a fun celebration – good food, music and memories, great conversation and friendships renewed – we need to hear from you. Will you be coming to the dinner party? Bringing a guest? Staying overnight and need a hotel room?
Hello, Valley Stream South High Class of '68 classmates. We haven't heard from some of you. Our next reunion is not that far away, and we'd love for you to join us. In planning for a fun celebration – good food, music and memories, great conversation and friendships renewed – we need to hear from you. Will you be coming to the dinner party? Bringing a guest? Staying overnight and need a hotel room?
The Class of ‘68 “Medicare” Reunion
Date: Saturday, July 25, 2015
Restaurant: Mio Posto - Oceanside (dinner with drinks, approximately $75/per person)
Hotel: Holiday Inn Express - Rockville Centre/Lynbrook - reduced rate
Brunch: To be announced
Interested? Please private message Fran Chertoff Miness or Andrea Karshan Stein on Facebook. And please help us make this "Medicare" Reunion a big success by sharing this post with your South High Class of '68 friends. Also, for those classmates who are interested in reserving rooms at the Holiday Inn Express, insert the Group Code: VHS Then copy/paste the desired date: Jul-24-2015 to Jul-26-2015. Rooms may be canceled without penalty until July 24, 2015.
Date: Saturday, July 25, 2015
Restaurant: Mio Posto - Oceanside (dinner with drinks, approximately $75/per person)
Hotel: Holiday Inn Express - Rockville Centre/Lynbrook - reduced rate
Brunch: To be announced
Interested? Please private message Fran Chertoff Miness or Andrea Karshan Stein on Facebook. And please help us make this "Medicare" Reunion a big success by sharing this post with your South High Class of '68 friends. Also, for those classmates who are interested in reserving rooms at the Holiday Inn Express, insert the Group Code: VHS Then copy/paste the desired date: Jul-24-2015 to Jul-26-2015. Rooms may be canceled without penalty until July 24, 2015.
Sixth, from Barbara Blitfield Pech, part 3: Cut and pasted from Facebook – I Grew Up In Valley Stream, NY Between 1970-2000
Sheryl Kaller Finds Her Calling on Broadway: Director Credits Valley Stream Roots by Iris Wiener
Long Island Herald 3-27-14
From playing Rosie in Valley Stream South High School’s production of “Bye Bye Birdie” to being a sought-after Tony-nominated director of Broadway plays, Sheryl Kaller remains grounded in her roots, praising her hometown for helping to get her where she is today. With the March 24 opening of her latest vehicle, Terrence McNally’s “Mothers and Sons,” Kaller excitedly reflects on the journey that brought her from the Green Acres community to the Great White Way.
“I loved living very close to the city because I got the best of both worlds,” she recalls. “My mom died when I was 29 and my dad died when I was 34, so I don’t have memories of them moving to Florida or wherever. Memories of them and Valley Stream is all I have. What I got from Valley Stream was absolutely wonderful. I remember going to Grant Park and North Woodmere Park when it was built and it opened,” she says nostalgically. “It was a childhood with a lot of breadth and imagination.”
One thing Kaller never imagined was that she would one day be directing Tyne Daly in the premiere of a new play by Terrence McNally. In fact, lead producer Tom Kirdahy (also a Long Island native) and McNally sought out Kaller as director. She immediately jumped on it because of the play’s relatable content.
“It’s about family and mothers and fathers and how they raise their children, and specifically in this play, how they raise their sons,” she explains. “I think that the exploration of the generations and the exploration of forgiveness and hope is what really speaks to me.”
“Mothers and Sons” centers around Katharine, a woman who unexpectedly visits her late son’s partner, who is now married to another man and has a young son of his own. Katharine’s struggles with motherhood, homophobia and raising a son during the AIDS crisis also hit a note with Kaller.
“Although my parents raised me more liberally in the ‘70s in Valley Stream, Katharine went through the same challenges as my parents did raising children in an ever changing world,” she says. “I feel like starting with Katharine’s generation is when this world really changed a lot. A mother like Katharine having had to confront having a gay son, and having this child living through the AIDS crisis – that’s big. I remember my parents didn’t know too much about this horrible disease, and they were fearful about my own well-being.”
Kaller jokes that her own kids have deserted her, as they are now both grown (her daughter is in her junior year at Tulane, while her son is working in New York and living on the Upper West Side – much like the family in her play). Though her kids went to elementary school in Valley Stream, she primarily raised them in Bergen County, N.J. However, she kept them close to Manhattan because of the opportunities it gave her, which included seeing theater regularly. In fact, Kaller points out that Valley Stream has had a strong impact on how she approached "Mothers and Sons."
“I was raised in a very liberal family, but the town wasn’t necessarily on the cusp of liberalism yet,” she says. “It helped me understand Katharine a lot better because these very loving people always thought they were doing the right thing.”
One person who definitely was far from close-minded was Kaller’s English teacher at Valley Stream South, who also directed her in the play that paved the way for Kaller’s career at the helm of theatrical pieces.
“I was acting in "Bye Bye Birdie," and in my humble opinion the teacher had screwed up ‘Telephone Hour,’” she says, laughing at her chutzpah. “I told her what I thought, and asked her if I could take a hit at the number.”
Kaller wound up choreographing the entire show because of how well she did with “Telephone Hour.”
New York has also taken notice of her talents, which included a Tony Award nominated Broadway debut with “Next Fall” in 2010, and Roundabout Theatre Company’s off-Broadway production of “Too Much, Too Much, Too Many” in 2013. Next she’ll be directing “Kinky Boots” star Billy Porter’s new play, “While I Yet Live,” for off-Broadway’s Primary Stages. But with "Mothers and Sons"' recent opening, Kaller is elated at the potential ways in which the play could help people to change their modes of thought.
“'Mothers and Sons' is important to Long Islanders, as well as to everybody who thinks there is anything different about the gay community and family,” she says of why people should get on the LIRR (a fond memory of city trips past), and check out her powerful piece of theater. “It’s also important for people who don’t feel that way, because we’re absolutely celebrating how far we’ve come.”
Kaller ponders this sentiment for a moment. “This is a play about four generations of people, and a celebration of family. I want people to talk about it at dinner, and take away with them that people can change. Sometimes change is hard thought, but if we stay in there and really believe in each other, people can change.”
Sheryl Kaller Finds Her Calling on Broadway: Director Credits Valley Stream Roots by Iris Wiener
Long Island Herald 3-27-14
From playing Rosie in Valley Stream South High School’s production of “Bye Bye Birdie” to being a sought-after Tony-nominated director of Broadway plays, Sheryl Kaller remains grounded in her roots, praising her hometown for helping to get her where she is today. With the March 24 opening of her latest vehicle, Terrence McNally’s “Mothers and Sons,” Kaller excitedly reflects on the journey that brought her from the Green Acres community to the Great White Way.
“I loved living very close to the city because I got the best of both worlds,” she recalls. “My mom died when I was 29 and my dad died when I was 34, so I don’t have memories of them moving to Florida or wherever. Memories of them and Valley Stream is all I have. What I got from Valley Stream was absolutely wonderful. I remember going to Grant Park and North Woodmere Park when it was built and it opened,” she says nostalgically. “It was a childhood with a lot of breadth and imagination.”
One thing Kaller never imagined was that she would one day be directing Tyne Daly in the premiere of a new play by Terrence McNally. In fact, lead producer Tom Kirdahy (also a Long Island native) and McNally sought out Kaller as director. She immediately jumped on it because of the play’s relatable content.
“It’s about family and mothers and fathers and how they raise their children, and specifically in this play, how they raise their sons,” she explains. “I think that the exploration of the generations and the exploration of forgiveness and hope is what really speaks to me.”
“Mothers and Sons” centers around Katharine, a woman who unexpectedly visits her late son’s partner, who is now married to another man and has a young son of his own. Katharine’s struggles with motherhood, homophobia and raising a son during the AIDS crisis also hit a note with Kaller.
“Although my parents raised me more liberally in the ‘70s in Valley Stream, Katharine went through the same challenges as my parents did raising children in an ever changing world,” she says. “I feel like starting with Katharine’s generation is when this world really changed a lot. A mother like Katharine having had to confront having a gay son, and having this child living through the AIDS crisis – that’s big. I remember my parents didn’t know too much about this horrible disease, and they were fearful about my own well-being.”
Kaller jokes that her own kids have deserted her, as they are now both grown (her daughter is in her junior year at Tulane, while her son is working in New York and living on the Upper West Side – much like the family in her play). Though her kids went to elementary school in Valley Stream, she primarily raised them in Bergen County, N.J. However, she kept them close to Manhattan because of the opportunities it gave her, which included seeing theater regularly. In fact, Kaller points out that Valley Stream has had a strong impact on how she approached "Mothers and Sons."
“I was raised in a very liberal family, but the town wasn’t necessarily on the cusp of liberalism yet,” she says. “It helped me understand Katharine a lot better because these very loving people always thought they were doing the right thing.”
One person who definitely was far from close-minded was Kaller’s English teacher at Valley Stream South, who also directed her in the play that paved the way for Kaller’s career at the helm of theatrical pieces.
“I was acting in "Bye Bye Birdie," and in my humble opinion the teacher had screwed up ‘Telephone Hour,’” she says, laughing at her chutzpah. “I told her what I thought, and asked her if I could take a hit at the number.”
Kaller wound up choreographing the entire show because of how well she did with “Telephone Hour.”
New York has also taken notice of her talents, which included a Tony Award nominated Broadway debut with “Next Fall” in 2010, and Roundabout Theatre Company’s off-Broadway production of “Too Much, Too Much, Too Many” in 2013. Next she’ll be directing “Kinky Boots” star Billy Porter’s new play, “While I Yet Live,” for off-Broadway’s Primary Stages. But with "Mothers and Sons"' recent opening, Kaller is elated at the potential ways in which the play could help people to change their modes of thought.
“'Mothers and Sons' is important to Long Islanders, as well as to everybody who thinks there is anything different about the gay community and family,” she says of why people should get on the LIRR (a fond memory of city trips past), and check out her powerful piece of theater. “It’s also important for people who don’t feel that way, because we’re absolutely celebrating how far we’ve come.”
Kaller ponders this sentiment for a moment. “This is a play about four generations of people, and a celebration of family. I want people to talk about it at dinner, and take away with them that people can change. Sometimes change is hard thought, but if we stay in there and really believe in each other, people can change.”
The repeated upcoming reunion information:
The class of '65 50th Reunion: April 24 through April 26, 2015, Hyatt Regency, Hauppauge.
The South '65 e-mail addresses: reunionclass65 . blogspot . com (please remove the spaces)
The South '65 photo site: picasaweb . google . com/SouthHS65 (ditto)
Rich
No comments:
Post a Comment