Ramblin' with Roger

Best Documentary Short

Instruments of a Beating Heart; Incident; I Am Ready, Warden;The Only Girl In The Orchestra; Death By Numbers

The Oscar-nominated Best Documentary Short films I saw, naturally, at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany just before the Academy Awards.

Instruments of a Beating Heart (Japan, 23 minutes) – Children moving from first to second grade in a Tokyo public school audition to be in a rudimentary orchestra to perform “Ode to Joy” for the incoming first graders. They SO want to perform well, and are rooting for their friends in their audition process. The teachers work hard to motivate. Sweet. Watch at the New York Times website.

Incident, (United States, 30 minutes): A police shooting of a black man in Chicago in 2018 is told through footage from security cameras and police body cams. Director Bill Morrison makes the viewer uncomfortable. Was the man going for his gun, for which he had a permit, or did the probationary officer overreact? Are the cops protecting themselves by rationalizing and covering up what happened? The community around the event is rightly furious; this was the local barber, not a gangbanger. The viewer feels powerless, which might be the point. Watch on the New Yorker website.

I Am Ready, Warden (United States, 37 minutes): John Henry Ramirez committed a heinous murder in Texas and then escaped to Mexico. He is caught, convicted of murder, and sentenced to death. In prison, he becomes a changed man, with his adopted godmother, who he met pastoring him behind bars, believing in his transformation. The local district attorney has his doubts about capital punishment. The victim’s son, who was 14 when his dad died and now is the spitting image of his dad, is less forgiving. A balanced look at capital punishment. It’s available on Paramount +.

Instrumental

The Only Girl In The Orchestra (United States, 34 minutes). In 1966, Orin O’Brien was the only female in the New York Philharmonic, playing double bass, under the direction of Leonard Bernstein. Her parents were Hollywood actors George O’Brien and Marguerite Churchill, so she had a peripatetic upbringing.

She liked playing the her instrument because it wasn’t an instrument with a lot of solos, but rather an integral part of the whole. Conversely, she hated being the center of attention mainly because of her gender. A Time magazine article mentioned the fact that she was as curvy as her double bass back in the day; when that was noted, the audience audibly groaned.

She has retired after 55 years but is still busy teaching students and attending concerts. Her niece Molly O’Brien made the film about her aunt because Orin was the adult she most admired.

I SO adored this film, which illustrates the transformative power of music. It’s on Netflix.

Death By Numbers (United States, 33 minutes): A Parkland shooting survivor, Samantha Fuentes, contemplates life after the February 14, 2018 incident. The numbers in the title are the room number where she was shot, the number dead (17) and wounded (also 17), and so on. She is scheduled to testify at the sentencing phase of the trial. This allows her to confront her trauma while examining the nature of hate and restorative justice.

The story tends to meander, but Sam’s unflinching victim impact statement was compelling.

Lydster: go to the South African consulate

Happy birthday!!

Last we checked, my daughter and I were getting ready to go to the South African consulate in New York City in mid-January. She was there for about 45 minutes. Her father had to stay downstairs, as did a couple of other parents, and there were no chairs; they specifically did not want us to sit on the floor.

Everything seemed to be in place, but we still fretted a bit. That evening, we went to see Maybe Happy Ending with a niece and her Significant Other, the first Broadway show I had seen since Newsies in 2014, and also with my daughter.

Shockingly, her visa arrived in a week —yay!

Jersey

On February 5th, my wife, daughter, and I went to Newark. My wife rightly hated driving in New Jersey, and the closer we got to Newark, the worse. One particular car was in the right lane of three heading south while we were in the middle lane. The car from our right decided to be in the same space we were in, so my wife had to evade the vehicle, not even having time to see if a vehicle was in the left lane to avoid this fool.

We stopped at a hotel near the Newark airport and took a shuttle to the airport a couple of hours later. The shuttle driver’s driving made my wife nervous. “Jersey drivers” is an earned epitaph.

We arrived at the airport and went through all the processing more quickly than I anticipated. My daughter sat waiting for two hours before boarding, a bit annoyed that we got there so early.

Our daughter had a 14-hour direct flight from Newark to Cape Town, South Africa, and got a ride to her college. Before beginning classes, she experienced many cool and fun orientation stuff, including sightseeing. She seems to be enjoying herself.

School days

Classes began on February 17th, and she’s enjoying dance, history, and art. One of the things she mentioned about her art class was that most of her classmates have been attending classes together for the past two years. She’s the only American there, and they’re asking her questions—”Why does your country do THAT?”—but they’re otherwise pretty chill about it.

She has had a couple of allergy scares, one while eating pizza and the other a pasta dish. Food labeling is not as robust as it is in the United States. And she’s had some difficulty with her credit and debit cards, even though we called her banks before she left the country.

Last year, my wife and I went to her college in Massachusetts and spent time with her both before and after her birthday, although not on her birthday. This year, she’s 7,845 miles or 12,625 kilometers. We knew this was going to be the case. It’s a good thing she’s doing what she wants to: exploring the world.

Yet I feel a soupçon of melancholy that she’s so far away. Happy birthday, my dear daughter. Enjoy your special day.

Theatre!: Lehman Trilogy; Bring It On

cheerleading

My wife and I saw the Lehman Trilogy at Capital Rep on March 8, a 3 p.m. performance. It is the story of three immigrant Jewish brothers from Bavaria who started a small clothing store in 1840s Alabama. Henry arrives first, followed by his two younger brothers, Emanuel and Meyer. Over a century and a half, the business went from being a cotton dealer to railroads to banking and other activities before the 2008 economic collapse.

Lehman Trilogy is a three-act play by Italian novelist and playwright Stefano Massini. It initially ran for five hours as it was performed across Europe. It was translated by Mirella Cheeseman and adapted by British playwright Ben Power, trimmed to three hours.

The show was initially scheduled for Broadway on 7 March 2020 in previews, to open officially on 26 March. But everything shut down on 12 March. Eventually, the Broadway production won five Tony Awards in 2022.

“What’s remarkable is that all of the characters. From Steve Barnes’ TU review: “It’s hard to overstate just how good the cast is or the epic nature of the acting tasks set before them. Two are long familiar to audiences at The Rep: Kevin McGuire for 14 years (‘Man of La Mancha,’ ‘Red,’ ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’), Oliver Wadsworth for 24 (‘Fully Committed,’ ‘A Sherlock Carol’). The chameleonic triumvirate, who combined play 47 roles, is ably completed by William Oliver Watkins, returning to The Rep after an impressive performance in ‘Sweat’ a year ago this month.”

You always knew which characters they played: sons, wives, competitors. It was remarkable. See if you can.

Bring It On: The Musical

I’m sure I never saw the 2000 movie Bring It On, though my wife and daughter had.

Albany High School staged a production of Bring It On: The Musical, and though it was a busy week, my wife and I attended the March 14 show. While both stories centered on cheerleading, my wife stated that the musical’s narrative, created a decade after the film’s release, was far more compelling. “On her last day of junior year, Campbell Davis prays to be named the captain of the Truman High School cheerleading squad.” She gets the gig, but “two weeks before the end of summer, Campbell receives a letter with terrible news: she’s been redistricted to inner-city Jackson High School.”

The musical was fabulous, from the videos telling us to turn off our phones to the metal detectors at Jackson High. (The audience went through detectors before the show.) Campbell’s telephone conversations with her Truman buddies were likewise on the screen in the back, to significant effect.

In the past decade, we have seen several musicals at Albany High. There have often been star performers, but the ensembles have become stronger musically. The sound is better, and so is the orchestra.

“Each year, the Collaborative School of the Arts High School Musical Theatre Awards (HSMTA) celebrate the incredible talent, dedication, and creativity of high school students from across the Capital Region.” I’m rooting for Albany High.

Gala

On March 10, I went with my friend Mary to the 2025-2026 Season Announcement Bash for the shows that will be playing at Proctors in Schenectady and Cap Rep in Albany. Broadway World shared the list. Performers from A Beautiful Noise, the Neil Diamond musical (Sweet Caroline), Spamalot, The Sound of Music (Do-Re-Mi), & Juliet, and The Outsiders sang.

My wife and I got season tickets for both venues this current season, which was probably overly ambitious; we’re figuring out what to do in the future.

Animated Short Films

Beurk !

Of course, I saw the Animated Short Films nominees for the Oscars at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany. I watched them before either of the other shorts, but I was less thrilled by the choices collectively than by the other shorts categories.

Magic Candies (Japan, Daisuke Nishio and Takashi Washio, 21 minutes). Dong-Dong is a kid in his own world. He seems fine just playing marbles by himself. One day, he thinks he bought another bag of new marbles, but they are colorful candies instead. Each time, he pops one of them into his mouth, he has unexpected conversations before the candies melt away. “The people, animals, and objects in Dong-Dong’s life have a lot to say. With each candy, he discovers new voices and perspectives, including his own. Heartfelt and totally strange, Magic Candies will have you rethinking how you treat the objects, and others, in your life.” I liked it a lot.

In The Shadow of the Cypress (Iran, Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi, 20 minutes) (WINNER) “Living in a house by the sea with his daughter, a former captain who has post-traumatic stress disorder leads a tough and secluded life.” The source of the PTSD is unclear. His treatment of his daughter can be harsh. But her focus turned to a beached whale. She can’t do much to rectify the situation, but maybe he can. Melancholy.

Kids’ show

Wander to Wonder (Netherlands, Belgium, France, UK, Nina Gantz, 13 minutes) “In the 1980s, Mary, Billybud, and Fumbleton starred in the children’s television program Wander to Wonder. They are left alone in the studio after the show’s originator passed away.” It’s oddly familiar before the characters have to wing it. A comment on IMDb: “The apparent lightness of the children’s program is quickly eaten away by a strange feeling of discomfort… Every scene, with its quirky characters and desolate settings, feels meticulously calculated to create a sense of claustrophobia and decay.” It’s well done, but not intended to be enjoyable. Oh, there’s a warning about full-frontal nudity, a totally not-sexy scene.

Yuck! (France, Loïc Espuche and Juliette Marquet, 13 minutes) “Yuck! Adults kiss each other on the mouth, and children find it disgusting! What’s more, you can see it from afar: when people are about to kiss, their lips become all pink and shiny. Little Léo makes jokes about it, as do the other kids at the summer camp. But he has a secret he won’t tell his friends: his own mouth has actually begun glistening. And, in reality, Léo desperately wants to give kissing a try.” (On IMDb, this is listed as Beurk !) If I were a betting man, I would have picked this one to win the Oscar.

Beautiful Men (Belgium, France, Netherlands, Nicolas Keppens and Brecht Van Elslande, 18 minutes). “Three balding brothers travel to Istanbul to get a hair transplant. Stuck with each other in a hotel far from home, their insecurities grow faster than their hair.” I just didn’t care about these guys very much; unannounced showing of genitalia (in a steam room).

Prompts and more prompts

jazz

The Sunday Stealing for this week are Prompts and more prompts.

1) How do you show others love? What makes you feel loved?

I thought about this for a long time. I think it’s trying to suss out or observe what makes somebody feel loved. It’s not the same thing from person to person. Some people appreciate you cleaning, making food, remembering birthdays, listening to them, sharing music: I don’t think there’s a universal thing.

I feel loved when I feel heard, when I tell somebody something, and they acknowledge it, or when I write something and they understand what I’m trying to say. The closest appropriate song here is “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” by The Animals.

2) Who is someone you admire? Why?

My mother’s mother’s mother’s father, James Archer, is one of three great-great-grandfathers of mine who fought in the US Civil War and survived. He then worked to buy a home that was where four generations lived. I even renamed the Gulf of Mexico after him!

3) Do you have the qualities you value in a friend?

For the most part. I listen well. Yes, I know how to keep secrets; I keep a LOT of secrets. I know a few things to offer advice, but I don’t assume my advice is always accurate or even requested. Sometimes, it’s just showing up. Being a friend is like jazz.

Missing Rball

4) What is something you enjoyed doing when you were younger but don’t do anymore? Why did you stop doing it?

At the beginning of 1983, I played racquetball regularly, first with one or two people and then with a coterie of about a half dozen people. We played at the Albany YMCA in Washington Ave. until it closed in 2010, much to our great disappointment. I tried playing a few times at Siena College, but it never clicked. So racquetball, which I got to be surprisingly good at, has gone off the table for the last decade

5) What is something other people think is fun but you don’t?

Arguing online, watching reality television, and shopping, for instance.