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Managed futures and options accounts may be subject to charges for management and incentive fees beyond typical brokerage fees. Commodity Trading Advisors (CTA's) are required by the CFTC to provide you with a disclosure document prior to opening an account. The disclosure document should be carefully reviewed in order to ensure a full understanding of the principle risk factors and fees charged. Paragon Investments makes no representation of the accuracy or completeness of the returns and performances provided within the CTA's disclosure document.
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Kate Osamor MP's statement on the threatened closure of the A&E department of North Middlesex Hospital on safety grounds:
"I was extremely saddened and concerned to hear the news that North Middlesex Hospital A&E unit has been threatened with closure on safety grounds, with both the GMC and Health Education England issuing unprecedented warnings about the department.
It is the first time in the history of the NHS that an A&E unit has been threatened with closure on safety grounds.
I have been raising my concerns about the future of the hospital on the floor of the Chamber in health questions and debates, as well as in private with Health ministers and the hospital leadership.
Just last week, I met Jane Ellison MP and raised my concerns directly with her. I have also written a joint letter with Joan Ryan MP to the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt MP, calling for him to urgently intervene to ensure that the hospital can fulfil its duty of caring for its patients. We are also calling for the early release of the findings of an inspection of the emergency department undertaken by personnel from the Care Quality Commission watchdog in April.
I put in an urgent question about the future of the A&E department today. I was deeply disappointed that this was not granted. I will continue to raise this issue, which is of serious concern in terms of the safety of my constituents, but is also of wider national concern.
The government are failing our NHS, and more must be done to protect our patients and our doctors."

subset: commoncrawl


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"Going to an exclusively online presence will give us the ability to further increase our specialization in customized rugs in ways that we are, frankly, unable to do now with a storefront," says Henderson.
Farmville, VA (PRWEB) August 27, 2015
Rugs Rats specializes in fine carpets and custom rugs, with clientele from all over the United States and the world, due in large part to the company's website, http://www.rugratsva.com, which launched in 1998.
According to founder and owner Sandy Henderson, the timing for such a switch is perfect. It gives her the flexibility to focus on the burgeoning custom logo rug segment of the market.
"Going to an exclusively online presence will give us the ability to further increase our specialization in custom rugs in ways that we are, frankly, unable to do now with a storefront," says Henderson.
After only a few years, it became apparent that Rug Rats was taking well to the new digitized age of marketing. In 2008, online demand for business was so high that Henderson closed the storefront for a few years. She reopened in order to help manage the carpet department at Green Front Furniture.
Now, as online business once again soars and Henderson permanently shutters the physical building, she looks forward to continuing to be actively involved with every part of the day-to-day operations of Rug Rats, just as she always has been.
Since starting the business in 1987, there is virtually no aspect of the rug-making process that Henderson hasn't done personally, including tracing, cutting, and even hand carving the beveled edges of custom designed rugs. And, today, when you call, just like when Rug Rats first opened, Henderson will be the voice on the other end of the line.
"I have loved the customers, going into their homes and seeing all kinds of decor," says Henderson. "I have seen some of the most beautiful homes in three states." As the business has grown, Rug Rats has shipped custom rugs not only to nearby states but also across the country, including to movie sets in Hollywood.
Rug Rats is happy to have been a part of the downtown Farmville community for nearly 30 years and looks forward to continuing to provide the finest quality custom rugs and fine carpets with the same down home friendliness and excellence for many years to come through their website http://www.rugratsva.com.


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The Scientific and Medical Network –
Exploring and expanding the frontiers of science, medicine and spirituality.
The Network is devoted to the emergence of a more enlightened world – a world in which the wisdom of spirituality and the thoughtfulness of philosophy balance the power of science and technology.
We recognise that our world is still plagued by deep problems and enduring conflicts. Many of these are caused by dogmatic, superstitious or ill-informed worldviews. However, we believe that individuals and societies can transform themselves. The key is learning to integrate evidence-based science, born of rational philosophy, with the love and inner peace cultivated by spiritual practice. The Network is a worldwide community of professionals dedicated to this transformative task.
We invite you to join us in co-creating a paradigm shift to bring truth, beauty, health and well-being into harmony, and so help heal our fractured culture. Membership is open to all who are sympathetic with our mission, aims and values.
Please click here to join us on our journey and see the benefits of being a member, or click here for information about our Local Groups and meetings . Alternatively please contact us here.
- Please see our introductory video here.
- We are still in the process of transferring information across to this new site. If you cannot find what you are looking for please use this link to our new Support forum.
- If you are a member of the SMN and have renewed your membership in 2018, then you should have received a username and password for this web site. If you have not renewed please use this link to renew or apply for Membership.
- You are also able to join one of our Local Groups who hold regular meetings in various parts of the UK and around the world. Please click here for more details of a local group in your area.
- You can also follow us on Facebook, by clicking here.


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text: Are you looking for medical scrubs, shoes and accessories in one store? Marcusuniforms.com is the place online where you can find all your medical uniform needs from scrub sets, lab coats to shoes and accessories. They have scrubs, shoes and pants with prices start from $5. If you are looking for branded medical scrub uniforms and shoes, they also have those. Their brands include Dickies Medical, Reebok, Skechers, Cherooke and a lot more. If you want to add colors to your everyday medical work, you can check out their scrub that comes in various solid colors or better yet the printed ones.


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About Our Community
Jhamtse Gatsal, Tibetan for "Garden of Love and Compassion", is a children's community located in the Indian foothills of the Himalayas. Opened in 2006, it is currently school and home for about 90 children from disadvantaged family situations in the nearby villages. Read more…
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Category Archives: Improvements
Library Update
Jhamtse Gatsal has been incredibly lucky to have many generous sponsors supporting the establishment and growth of our school library. This year, upon returning, I was able to bring back several suitcases of new books, selected particularly according to students' … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Improvements 1 Comment
Earthen Building Campaign
I'm so happy to read that Jhamtse Gatsal is broadening its experiential learning program. I love when perfect segues present themselves and I don't have to come up with conceptual contortions to bring the conversation around to what I … Continue reading
Posted in Improvements 2 Comments
Mountain to Mountain
Here's some wonderful news from very talented director, Andrew Hinton, after the screening of his movie on Jhamtse Gatsal, Tashi and the Monk, at the Mountainfilm festival in Telluride, Colorado, USA, last weekend. The movie is a product of insightful … Continue reading
Posted in Events, Improvements 8 Comments
The Most Exciting Book Report I've Ever Written:
A Huge, Huge Thank You to the Many Sponsors and Supporters of the JG English Library! When I arrived at Jhamtse this February, I was fortunate to lug along with me four suitcases full of picture and chapter books, donated … Continue reading
Sparkling Smiles & Inspiring New Friends
Do you know that now all the children and staff of Jhamtse are walking around showing their white teeth? One dentist named Aby and an assistant named Alex came from Tezpur to our community. All the students of Jhamtse and … Continue reading
Posted in Daily Life, Improvements 9 Comments
A New Cow Named Meep
Originally posted on Beezy 's Facebook page, and shared with her permission. December 2 was an exciting day at Jhamtse Gatsal! Our first cow arrived. The children of First Parish Church, Berlin, Massachusetts raised money to provide a Jersey cow … Continue reading
Posted in Daily Life, Improvements 1 Comment
Jhamtse Gatsal's New Cafe
Originally posted on Beezy 's Facebook page, and shared with her permission. Jhamtse Gatsal was recently invited to open a café in the closest town of Tawang, the seat of local government. The local administration wanted to have one place … Continue reading
Posted in Improvements, Visitor Thoughts 1 Comment
New Construction Nearly Finished
Originally posted on Beezy 's Facebook page, and shared with her permission. It's amazing what the children and staff of Jhamtse Gatsal accomplish. With the help of one mason and a carpenter, they have nearly finished construction of a 2-story … Continue reading
Posted in Improvements, Visitor Thoughts 1 Comment
Café Nirvana Grand Opening
Vision becomes reality for the members of Jhamtse Gatsal at the opening of Café Nirvana on the 18th of October by the Tourist Lodge in Tawang. We had a small affair with a few Community members and special guests. It's … Continue reading
Posted in Events, Improvements Comments Off on Café Nirvana Grand Opening
New Rooms for the Staff
Jhamtse Gatsal is a community where all the members have a sense of adjustment without discrimination in the name of religion, caste and age. When some sponsors and volunteers visit here, sometimes due to a shortage of rooms, we local … Continue reading
Posted in Daily Life, Improvements 2 Comments
Update of The Building Construction
[singlepic id=1752 w=600 h=400 float=left] The building that is under construction on campus will be for new staff housing, office space, and a computer lab classroom. The staff housing is coming along; the doors, windows, walls and ceiling are painted … Continue reading
Natural Oven Building with Kate Ma'am
Amma: What did you think when Madam Kate came and talked about the oven? Raju: I thought that we would have some clay and build a small house and that we would not do anything else. Building the oven First … Continue reading
Posted in Experiential Education, Improvements 7 Comments
Help Us Find More Sponsors
Join the Jhamtse Family! Do you know someone who would like to create a lasting connection with a child at Jhamtse Gatsal Children's Community? We are in search of 50 new sponsors as part of our new "It Takes a … Continue reading
Posted in Improvements Comments Off on Help Us Find More Sponsors
Construction Day
This article, about the team effort to build part of the roof of the new administration building, can also be found on the blog of Community Kit, the non-profit organization that Adam is affiliated with. See it here. Everyone in … Continue reading
Posted in Improvements 4 Comments
School Break Building Projects
The campus is humming like a hive of bees. Staff and students, Amalas and teachers, masons and carpenters are working hard on several projects, while Jhamtse Gatsal is mostly quiet during the winter school break. Here are a few things … Continue reading
New Building
Girls and boys, big or small, young and old, all are working for the construction of the future building. With smiles, passion, seriousness and fun, and many good skills. All conscious that all thier efforts are for Jhamtse Gatsal's well-being and the … Continue reading
Teacher's Reflections on Michelle's Training Workshop
Here's what the teachers have to say on the month-long training sessions with Michelle Madam… Didn't get any of that?…well, here's the translation :) Tashi Delek! For the last month, we have had a teaching workshop at Gatsal conducted by … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Improvements 5 Comments
Fall 2011 Experiential Ed Continued
In the fall of 2011 the children and staff at Jhamtse Gatsal Children's Community undertook two significant projects to improve the campus: stonework in front of the school and family buildings, and installing a solar electric fence to keep roaming … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Improvements 2 Comments
What is the 'Royal Gatsal Club', You Say?
A new gathering room for Jhamtse Gatsal staff, teachers, volunteers and guests has been nicknamed the Royal Gatsal Club. This is one of five rooms in a building, which is now being constructed primarily by the staff and children of … Continue reading
Constructing the "Royal Gatsal Club"
We have begun construction on a temporary office building to free up classrooms and to make our academic block robust and ready for 21st century learning. The temporary office building will house offices for the Director, School Principal and Accounts … Continue reading


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You must be a current member to register for this event.
Thank-you for registering for the Professional Score On Court Clinic on Saturday, March 17th at the Wisconsin Center. Prior to the date, Nancy Paulson will be sending out additional information. If you have any questions feel free to contact Scott at 262-349-9785 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
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Part 8 out of 8
of spies, even to this extent, is in the highest degree unpopular
in England; but a political spy by profession is a creature from
which our island is as free as it is from wolves. In France the
race is well-known, and was never more numerous, more greedy,
more cunning, or more savage, than under the government of
Our idea of a gentleman in relations with the Consular and
Imperial police may perhaps be incorrect. Such as it is, we will
try to convey it to our readers. We image to ourselves a well-
dressed person, with a soft voice and affable manners. His
opinions are those of the society in which he finds himself, but
a little stronger. He often complains, in the language of honest
indignation, that what passes in private conversation finds its
way strangely to the government, and cautions his associates to
take care what they say when they are not sure of their company.
As for himself, he owns that he is indiscreet. He can never
refrain from speaking his mind; and that is the reason that he is
not prefect of a department.
In a gallery of the Palais Royal he overhears two friends talking
earnestly about the King and the Count of Artois. He follows
them into a coffee-house, sits at the table next to them, calls
for his half-dish and his small glass of cognac, takes up a
journal, and seems occupied with the news. His neighbours go on
talking without restraint, and in the style of persons warmly
attached to the exiled family. They depart; and he follows them
half round the boulevards till he fairly tracks them to their
apartments, and learns their names from the porters. From that
day every letter addressed to either of them is sent from the
post-office to the police, and opened. Their correspondents
become known to the government, and are carefully watched. Six
or eight honest families, in different parts of France, find
themselves at once under the frown of power without being able to
guess what offence they have given. One person is dismissed from
a public office; another learns with dismay that his promising
son has been turned out of the Polytechnic school.
Next, the indefatigable servant of the state falls in with an old
republican, who has not changed with the times, who regrets the
red cap and the tree of liberty, who has not unlearned the Thee
and Thou, and who still subscribes his letters with "Health and
Fraternity." Into the ears of this sturdy politician our friend
pours forth a long series of complaints. What evil times! What
a change since the days when the Mountain governed France! What
is the First Consul but a king under a new name? What is this
Legion of Honour but a new aristocracy? The old superstition is
reviving with the old tyranny. There is a treaty with the Pope,
and a provision for the clergy. Emigrant nobles are returning in
crowds, and are better received at the Tuileries than the men of
the 10th of August. This cannot last. What is life without
liberty? What terrors has death to the true patriot? The old
Jacobin catches fire, bestows and receives the fraternal hug, and
hints that there will soon be great news, and that the breed of
Harmodius and Brutus is not quite extinct. The next day he is
close prisoner, and all his papers are in the hands of the
To this vocation, a vocation compared with which the life of a
beggar, of a pickpocket, of a pimp, is honourable, did Barere now
descend. It was his constant practice, as often as he enrolled
himself in a new party, to pay his footing with the heads of old
friends. He was at first a Royalist; and he made atonement by
watering the tree of liberty with the blood of Louis. He was
then a Girondist; and he made atonement by murdering Vergniaud
and Gensonne. He fawned on Robespierre up to the eighth of
Thermidor; and he made atonement by moving, on the ninth, that
Robespierre should be beheaded without a trial. He was now
enlisted in the service of the new monarchy; and he proceeded to
atone for his republican heresies by sending republican throats
to the guillotine.
Among his most intimate associates was a Gascon named Demerville,
who had been employed in an office of high trust under the
Committee of Public Safety. This man was fanatically attached to
the Jacobin system of politics, and, in conjunction with other
enthusiasts of the same class, formed a design against the First
Consul. A hint of this design escaped him in conversation with
Barere. Barere carried the intelligence to Lannes, who commanded
the Consular Guards. Demerville was arrested, tried, and
beheaded; and among the witnesses who appeared against him was
his friend Barere.
The account which Barere has given of these transactions is
studiously confused and grossly dishonest. We think, however,
that we can discern, through much falsehood and much artful
obscurity, some truths which he labours to conceal. It is clear
to us that the government suspected him of what the Italians call
a double treason. It was natural that such a suspicion should
attach to him. He had, in times not very remote, zealously
preached the Jacobin doctrine, that he who smites a tyrant
deserves higher praise than he who saves a citizen. Was it
possible that the member of the Committee of Public Safety, the
king-killer, the queen-killer, could in earnest mean to deliver
his old confederates, his bosom friends, to the executioner,
solely because they had planned an act which, if there were any
truth in his own Carmagnoles, was in the highest degree virtuous
and glorious? Was it not more probable that he was really
concerned in the plot, and that the information which he gave was
merely intended to lull or to mislead the police? Accordingly,
spies were set on the spy. He was ordered to quit Paris, and not
to come within twenty leagues till he received further orders.
Nay, he ran no small risk of being sent, with some of his old
friends, to Madagascar.
He made his peace, however, with the government so far, that he
was not only permitted, during some years, to live unmolested,
but was employed in the lowest sort of political drudgery. In
the summer of 1803, while he was preparing to visit the south of
France, he received a letter which deserves to be inserted. It
was from Duroc, who is well known to have enjoyed a large share
of Napoleon's confidence and favour.
"The First Consul, having been informed that Citizen Barere is
about to set out for the country, desires that he will stay at
"Citizen Barere will every week draw up a report on the state of
public opinion on the proceedings of the government, and
generally on everything which, in his judgment, it will be
interesting to the First Consul to learn.
"He may write with perfect freedom.
"He will deliver his reports under seal into General Duroc's own
hand, and General Duroc will deliver them to the First Consul.
But it is absolutely necessary that nobody should suspect that
this species of communication takes place; and, should any such
suspicion get abroad, the First Consul will cease to receive the
reports of Citizen Barere.
"It will also be proper that Citizen Barere should frequently
insert in the journals articles tending to animate the public
mind, particularly against the English."
During some years Barere continued to discharge the functions
assigned to him by his master. Secret reports, filled with the
talk of coffee-houses, were carried by him every week to the
Tuileries. His friends assure us that he took especial pains to
do all the harm in his power to the returned emigrants. It was
not his fault if Napoleon was not apprised of every murmur and
every sarcasm which old marquesses who had lost their estates,
and old clergymen who had lost their benefices, uttered against
the imperial system. M. Hippolyte Carnot, we grieve to say, is
so much blinded by party spirit that he seems to reckon this
dirty wickedness among his hero's titles to public esteem.
Barere was, at the same time, an indefatigable journalist and
pamphleteer. He set up a paper directed against England, and
called the "Memorial Antibritannique". He planned a work
entitled, "France made great and illustrious by Napoleon." When
the Imperial government was established, the old regicide made
himself conspicuous even among the crowd of flatterers by the
peculiar fulsomeness of his adulation. He translated into French
a contemptible volume of Italian verses, entitled, "The Poetic
Crown, composed on the glorious accession of Napoleon the First,
by the Shepherds of Arcadia." He commenced a new series of
Carmagnoles very different from those which had charmed the
Mountain. The title of Emperor of the French, he said, was mean;
Napoleon ought to be Emperor of Europe. King of Italy was too
humble an appellation; Napoleon's style ought to be King of
But Barere laboured to small purpose in both his vocations.
Neither as a writer nor as a spy was he of much use. He
complains bitterly that his paper did not sell. While the
"Journal des Debats", then flourishing under the able management
of Geoffroy, had a circulation of at least twenty thousand
copies, the "Memorial Antibritannique" never, in its most
prosperous times, had more than fifteen hundred subscribers; and
these subscribers were, with scarcely an exception, persons
residing far from Paris, probably Gascons, among whom the name of
Barere had not yet lost its influence.
A writer who cannot find readers generally attributes the public
neglect to any cause rather than to the true one; and Barere was
no exception to the general rule. His old hatred to Paris
revived in all its fury. That city, he says, has no sympathy
with France. No Parisian cares to subscribe to a journal which
dwells on the real wants and interests of the country. To a
Parisian nothing is so ridiculous as patriotism. The higher
classes of the capital have always been devoted to England. A
corporal from London is better received among them than a French
general. A journal, therefore, which attacks England has no
chance of their support.
A much better explanation of the failure of the "Memorial" was
given by Bonaparte at St Helena. "Barere," said he to Barry
O'Meara, "had the reputation of being a man of talent: but I did
not find him so. I employed him to write; but he did not display
ability. He used many flowers of rhetoric, but no solid
argument; nothing but coglionerie wrapped up in high-sounding
The truth is that, though Barere was a man of quick parts, and
could do with ease what he could do at all, he had never been a
good writer. In the day of his power he had been in the habit of
haranguing an excitable audience on exciting topics. The faults
of his style passed uncensured; for it was a time of literary as
well as of civil lawlessness, and a patriot was licensed to
violate the ordinary rules of composition as well as the ordinary
rules of jurisprudence and of social morality. But there had now
been a literary as well as a civil reaction. As there was again
a throne and a court, a magistracy, a chivalry, and a hierarchy,
so was there a revival of classical taste. Honour was again paid
to the prose of Pascal and Massillon, and to the verse of Racine
and La Fontaine. The oratory which had delighted the galleries
of the Convention was not only as much out of date as the
language of Villehardouin and Joinville, but was associated in
the public mind with images of horror. All the peculiarities of
the Anacreon of the guillotine, his words unknown to the
Dictionary of the Academy, his conceits and his jokes, his Gascon
idioms and his Gascon hyperboles, had become as odious as the
cant of the Puritans was in England after the Restoration.
Bonaparte, who had never loved the men of the Reign of Terror,
had now ceased to fear them. He was all-powerful and at the
height of glory; they were weak and universally abhorred. He was
a sovereign; and it is probable that he already meditated a
matrimonial alliance with sovereigns. He was naturally
unwilling, in his new position, to hold any intercourse with the
worst class of Jacobins. Had Barere's literary assistance been
important to the government, personal aversion might have yielded
to considerations of policy; but there was no motive for keeping
terms with a worthless man who had also proved a worthless
writer. Bonaparte, therefore, gave loose to his feelings.
Barere was not gently dropped, not sent into an honourable
retirement, but spurned and scourged away like a troublesome dog.
He had been in the habit of sending six copies of his journal on
fine paper daily to the Tuileries. Instead of receiving the
thanks and praises which he expected, he was drily told that the
great man had ordered five copies to be sent back. Still he
toiled on; still he cherished a hope that at last Napoleon would
relent, and that at last some share in the honours of the state
would reward so much assiduity and so much obsequiousness. He
was bitterly undeceived. Under the Imperial constitution the
electoral colleges of the departments did not possess the right
of choosing senators or deputies, but merely that of presenting
candidates. From among these candidates the emperor named
members of the senate, and the senate named members of the
legislative body. The inhabitants of the Upper Pyrenees were
still strangely partial to Barere. In the year 1805, they were
disposed to present him as a candidate for the senate. On this
Napoleon expressed the highest displeasure; and the president of
the electoral college was directed to tell the voters, in plain
terms, that such a choice would be disgraceful to the department.
All thought of naming Barere a candidate for the senate was
consequently dropped. But the people of Argeles ventured to name
him a candidate for the legislative body. That body was
altogether destitute of weight and dignity; it was not permitted
to debate; its only function was to vote in silence for whatever
the government proposed. It is not easy to understand how any
man who had sat in free and powerful deliberative assemblies
could condescend to bear a part in such a mummery. Barere,
however, was desirous of a place even in this mock legislature;
and a place even in this mock legislature was refused to him. In
the whole senate he had not a single vote.
Such treatment was sufficient, it might have been thought, to
move the most abject of mankind to resentment. Still, however,
Barere cringed and fawned on. His letters came weekly to the
Tuileries till the year 1807. At length, while he was actually
writing the two hundred and twenty-third of the series, a note
was put into his hands. It was from Duroc, and was much more
perspicuous than polite. Barere was requested to send no more of
his Reports to the palace, as the Emperor was too busy to read
Contempt, says the Indian proverb, pierces even the shell of the
tortoise; and the contempt of the Court was felt to the quick
even by the callous heart of Barere. He had humbled himself to
the dust; and he had humbled himself in vain. Having been
eminent among the rulers of a great and victorious state, he had
stooped to serve a master in the vilest capacities; and he had
been told that, even in those capacities, he was not worthy of
the pittance which had been disdainfully flung to him. He was
now degraded below the level even of the hirelings whom the
government employed in the most infamous offices. He stood idle
in the market-place, not because he thought any office too
infamous, but because none would hire him.
Yet he had reason to think himself fortunate; for, had all that
is avowed in these Memoirs been known, he would have received
very different tokens of the Imperial displeasure. We learn from
himself that, while publishing daily columns of flattery on
Bonaparte, and while carrying weekly budgets of calumny to the
Tuileries, he was in close connection with the agents whom the
Emperor Alexander, then by no means favourably disposed towards
France, employed to watch all that passed at Paris; was permitted
to read their secret despatches; was consulted by them as to the
temper of the public mind and the character of Napoleon; and did
his best to persuade them that the government was in a tottering
condition, and that the new sovereign was not, as the world
supposed, a great statesman and soldier. Next, Barere, still the
flatterer and talebearer of the Imperial Court, connected himself
in the same manner with the Spanish envoy. He owns that with
that envoy he had relations which he took the greatest pains to
conceal from his own government; that they met twice a day; and
that their conversation chiefly turned on the vices of Napoleon;
on his designs against Spain, and on the best mode of rendering
those designs abortive. In truth, Barere's baseness was
unfathomable. In the lowest deeps of shame he found out lower
deeps. It is bad to be a sycophant; it is bad to be a spy. But
even among sycophants and spies there are degrees of meanness.
The vilest sycophant is he who privily slanders the master on
whom he fawns; and the vilest spy is he who serves foreigners
against the government of his native land.
From 1807 to 1814 Barere lived in obscurity, railing as bitterly
as his craven cowardice would permit against the Imperial
administration, and coming sometimes unpleasantly across the
police. When the Bourbons returned, he, as might have been
expected, became a royalist, and wrote a pamphlet setting forth
the horrors of the system from which the Restoration had
delivered France, and magnifying the wisdom and goodness which
had dictated the charter. He who had voted for the death of
Louis, he who had moved the decree for the trial of Marie
Antoinette, he whose hatred of monarchy had led him to make war
even upon the sepulchres of ancient monarchs, assures us, with
great complacency, that "in this work monarchical principles and
attachment to the House of Bourbon are nobly expressed." By this
apostasy he got nothing, not even any additional infamy; for his
character was already too black to be blackened.
During the hundred days he again emerged for a very short time
into public life; he was chosen by his native district a member
of the Chamber of Representatives. But, though that assembly was
composed in a great measure of men who regarded the excesses of
the Jacobins with indulgence, he found himself an object of
general aversion. When the President first informed the Chamber
that M. Barere requested a hearing, a deep and indignant murmur
ran round the benches. After the battle of Waterloo, Barere
proposed that the Chamber should save France from the victorious
enemy, by putting forth a proclamation about the pass of
Thermopylae and the Lacedaemonian custom of wearing flowers in
times of extreme danger. Whether this composition, if it had
then appeared, would have stopped the English and Prussian
armies, is a question respecting which we are left to conjecture.
The Chamber refused to adopt this last of the Carmagnoles.
The Emperor had abdicated. The Bourbons returned. The Chamber
of Representatives, after burlesquing during a few weeks the
proceedings of the National Convention, retired with the well-
earned character of having been the silliest political assembly
that had met in France. Those dreaming pedants and praters never
for a moment comprehended their position. They could never
understand that Europe must be either conciliated or vanquished;
that Europe could be conciliated only by the restoration of
Louis, and vanquished only by means of a dictatorial power
entrusted to Napoleon. They would not hear of Louis; yet they
would not hear of the only measures which could keep him out.
They incurred the enmity of all foreign powers by putting
Napoleon at their head; yet they shackled him, thwarted him,
quarrelled with him about every trifle, abandoned him on the
first reverse. They then opposed declamations and disquisitions
to eight hundred thousand bayonets; played at making a
constitution for their country, when it depended on the
indulgence of the victor whether they should have a country; and
were at last interrupted, in the midst of their babble about the
rights of man and the sovereignty of the people, by the soldiers
of Wellington and Blucher.
A new Chamber of Deputies was elected, so bitterly hostile to the
Revolution that there was no small risk of a new Reign of Terror.
It is just, however, to say that the king, his ministers, and his
allies exerted themselves to restrain the violence of the
fanatical royalists, and that the punishments inflicted, though
in our opinion unjustifiable, were few and lenient when compared
with those which were demanded by M. de Labourdonnaye and M. Hyde
de Neuville. We have always heard, and are inclined to believe,
that the government was not disposed to treat even the regicides
with severity. But on this point the feeling of the Chamber of
Deputies was so strong that it was thought necessary to make some
concession. It was enacted, therefore, that whoever, having
voted in January 1793 for the death of Louis the Sixteenth, had
in any manner given in an adhesion to the government of Bonaparte
during the hundred days should be banished for life from France.
Barere fell within this description. He had voted for the death
of Louis; and he had sat in the Chamber of Representatives during
the hundred days.
He accordingly retired to Belgium, and resided there, forgotten
by all mankind, till the year 1830. After the revolution of July
he was at liberty to return to France; and he fixed his residence
in his native province. But he was soon involved in a succession
of lawsuits with his nearest relations--"three fatal sisters and
an ungrateful brother," to use his own words. Who was in the
right is a question about which we have no means of judging, and
certainly shall not take Barere's word. The Courts appear to
have decided some points in his favour and some against him. The
natural inference is, that there were faults on all sides. The
result of this litigation was that the old man was reduced to
extreme poverty, and was forced to sell his paternal house.
As far as we can judge from the few facts which remain to be
mentioned, Barere continued Barere to the last. After his exile
he turned Jacobin again, and, when he came back to France, joined
the party of the extreme left in railing at Louis Philippe, and
at all Louis Philippe's ministers. M. Casimir Perier, M. De
Broglie, M. Guizot, and M. Thiers, in particular, are honoured
with his abuse; and the King himself is held up to execration as
a hypocritical tyrant. Nevertheless, Barere had no scruple about
accepting a charitable donation of a thousand francs a year from
the privy purse of the sovereign whom he hated and reviled. This
pension, together with some small sums occasionally doled out to
him by the department of the Interior, on the ground that he was
a distressed man of letters, and by the department of Justice, on
the ground that he had formerly held a high judicial office,
saved him from the necessity of begging his bread. Having
survived all his colleagues of the renowned Committee of Public
Safety, and almost all his colleagues of the Convention, he died
in January 1841. He had attained his eighty-sixth year.
We have now laid before our readers what we believe to be a just
account of this man's life. Can it be necessary for us to add
anything for the purpose of assisting their judgment of his
character? If we were writing about any of his colleagues in the
Committee of Public Safety, about Carnot, about Robespierre, or
Saint Just, nay, even about Couthon, Collot, or Billaud, we might
feel it necessary to go into a full examination of the arguments
which have been employed to vindicate or to excuse the system of
Terror. We could, we think, show that France was saved from her
foreign enemies, not by the system of Terror, but in spite of it;
and that the perils which were made the plea of the violent
policy of the Mountain were to a great extent created by that
very policy. We could, we think, also show that the evils
produced by the Jacobin administration did not terminate when it
fell; that it bequeathed a long series of calamities to France
and to Europe; that public opinion, which had during two
generations been constantly becoming more and more favourable to
civil and religious freedom, underwent, during the days of
Terror, a change of which the traces are still to be distinctly
perceived. It was natural that there should be such a change,
when men saw that those who called themselves the champions of
popular rights had compressed into the space of twelve months
more crimes than the Kings of France, Merovingian, Carlovingian,
and Capetian, had perpetrated in twelve centuries. Freedom was
regarded as a great delusion. Men were willing to submit to the
government of hereditary princes, of fortunate soldiers, of
nobles, of priests; to any government but that of philosophers
and philanthropists. Hence the imperial despotism, with its
enslaved press and its silent tribune, its dungeons stronger than
the old Bastile, and its tribunals more obsequious than the old
parliaments. Hence the restoration of the Bourbons and of the
Jesuits, the Chamber of 1815 with its categories of proscription,
the revival of the feudal spirit, the encroachments of the
clergy, the persecution of the Protestants, the appearance of a
new breed of De Montforts and Dominics in the full light of the
nineteenth century. Hence the admission of France into the Holy
Alliance, and the war waged by the old soldiers of the tricolor
against the liberties of Spain. Hence, too, the apprehensions
with which, even at the present day, the most temperate plans for
widening the narrow basis of the French representation are
regarded by those who are especially interested in the security
of property and maintenance of order. Half a century has not
sufficed to obliterate the stain which one year of depravity and
madness has left on the noblest of causes.
Nothing is more ridiculous than the manner in which writers like
M. Hippolyte Carnot defend or excuse the Jacobin administration,
while they declaim against the reaction which followed. That the
reaction has produced and is still producing much evil, is
perfectly true. But what produced the reaction? The spring
flies up with a force proportioned to that with which it has been
pressed down. The pendulum which is drawn far in one direction
swings as far in the other. The joyous madness of intoxication
in the evening is followed by languor and nausea on the morrow.
And so, in politics, it is the sure law that every excess shall
generate its opposite; nor does he deserve the name of a
statesman who strikes a great blow without fully calculating the
effect of the rebound. But such calculation was infinitely
beyond the reach of the authors of the Reign of Terror.
Violence, and more violence, blood, and more blood, made up their
whole policy. In a few months these poor creatures succeeded in
bringing about a reaction, of which none of them saw, and of
which none of us may see the close; and, having brought it about,
they marvelled at it; they bewailed it; they execrated it; they
ascribed it to everything but the real cause--their own
immortality and their own profound incapacity for the conduct of
great affairs.
These, however, are considerations to which, on the present
occasion, it is hardly necessary for us to advert; for, be the
defence which has been set up for the Jacobin policy good or bad,
it is a defence which cannot avail Barere. From his own life,
from his own pen, from his own mouth, we can prove that the part
which he took in the work of blood is to be attributed, not even
to sincere fanaticism, not even to misdirected and ill-regulated
patriotism, but either to cowardice, or to delight in human
misery. Will it be pretended that it was from public spirit that
he murdered the Girondists? In these very Memoirs he tells us
that he always regarded their death as the greatest calamity that
could befall France. Will it be pretended that it was from
public spirit that he raved for the head of the Austrian woman?
In these very Memoirs he tells us that the time spent in
attacking her was ill spent, and ought to have been employed in
concerting measures of national defence. Will it be pretended
that he was induced by sincere and earnest abhorrence of kingly
government to butcher the living and to outrage the dead; he who
invited Napoleon to take the title of King of Kings, he who
assures us that after the Restoration he expressed in noble
language his attachment to monarchy, and to the house of Bourbon?
Had he been less mean, something might have been said in
extenuation of his cruelty. Had he been less cruel, something
might have been said in extenuation of his meanness. But for
him, regicide and court-spy, for him who patronised Lebon and
betrayed Demerville, for him who wantoned alternately in
gasconades of Jacobinism and gasconades of servility, what excuse
has the largest charity to offer?
We cannot conclude without saying something about two parts of
his character, which his biographer appears to consider as
deserving of high admiration. Barere, it is admitted, was
somewhat fickle; but in two things he was consistent, in his love
of Christianity, and in his hatred to England. If this were so,
we must say that England is much more beholden to him than
It is possible that our inclinations may bias our judgment; but
we think that we do not flatter ourselves when we say that
Barere's aversion to our country was a sentiment as deep and
constant as his mind was capable of entertaining. The value of
this compliment is indeed somewhat diminished by the circumstance
that he knew very little about us. His ignorance of our
institutions, manners, and history is the less excusable,
because, according to his own account, he consorted much, during
the peace of Amiens, with Englishmen of note, such as that
eminent nobleman Lord Greaten, and that not less eminent
philosopher Mr Mackensie Coefhis. In spite, however, of his
connection with these well-known ornaments of our country, he was
so ill-informed about us as to fancy that our government was
always laying plans to torment him. If he was hooted at Saintes,
probably by people whose relations he had murdered, it was
because the cabinet of St James's had hired the mob. If nobody
would read his bad books it was because the cabinet of St James's
had secured the Reviewers. His accounts of Mr Fox, of Mr Pitt,
of the Duke of Wellington, of Mr Canning, swarm with blunders
surpassing even the ordinary blunders committed by Frenchmen who
write about England. Mr Fox and Mr Pitt, he tells us, were
ministers in two different reigns. Mr Pitt's sinking fund was
instituted in order to enable England to pay subsidies to the
powers allied against the French republic. The Duke of
Wellington's house in Hyde Park was built by the nation, which
twice voted the sum of 200,000 pounds for the purpose. This,
however, is exclusive of the cost of the frescoes, which were
also paid for out of the public purse. Mr Canning was the first
Englishman whose death Europe had reason to lament; for the death
of Lord Ward, a relation, we presume, of Lord Greaten and Mr
Coefhis, had been an immense benefit to mankind.
Ignorant, however, as Barere was, he knew enough of us to hate
us; and we persuade ourselves that, had he known us better, he
would have hated us more. The nation which has combined, beyond
all example and all hope, the blessings of liberty with those of
order, might well be an object of aversion to one who had been
false alike to the cause of order and to the cause of liberty.
We have had amongst us intemperate zeal for popular rights; we
have had amongst us also the intemperance of loyalty. But we
have never been shocked by such a spectacle as the Barere of
1794, or as the Barere of 1804. Compared with him, our fiercest
demagogues have been gentle; compared with him, our meanest
courtiers have been manly. Mix together Thistlewood and Bubb
Doddington; and you are still far from having Barere. The
antipathy between him and us is such, that neither for the crimes
of his earlier nor for those of his later life does our language,
rich as it is, furnish us with adequate names. We have found it
difficult to relate his history without having perpetual recourse
to the French vocabulary of horror, and to the French vocabulary
of baseness. It is not easy to give a notion of his conduct in
the Convention, without using those emphatic terms, guillotinade,
noyade, fusillade, mitraillade. It is not easy to give a notion
of his conduct under the Consulate and the Empire without
borrowing such words as mouchard and mouton.
We therefore like his invectives against us much better than
anything else that he has written; and dwell on them, not merely
with complacency, but with a feeling akin to gratitude. It was
but little that he could do to promote the honour of our country;
but that little he did strenuously and constantly. Renegade,
traitor, slave, coward, liar, slanderer, murderer, hack writer,
police-spy--the one small service which he could render to
England was to hate her: and such as he was may all who hate her
We cannot say that we contemplate with equal satisfaction that
fervent and constant zeal for religion which, according to M.
Hippolyte Carnot, distinguished Barere; for, as we think that
whatever brings dishonour on religion is a serious evil, we had,
we own, indulged a hope that Barere was an atheist. We now
learn, however, that he was at no time even a sceptic, that he
adhered to his faith through the whole Revolution, and that he
has left several manuscript works on divinity. One of these is a
pious treatise, entitled "Of Christianity, and of its Influence."
Another consists of meditations on the Psalms, which will
doubtless greatly console and edify the Church.
This makes the character complete. Whatsoever things are false,
whatsoever things are dishonest, whatsoever things are unjust,
whatsoever things are impure, whatsoever things are hateful,
whatsoever things are of evil report, if there be any vice, and
if there be any infamy, all these things, we knew, were blended
in Barere. But one thing was still wanting; and that M.
Hippolyte Carnot has supplied. When to such an assemblage of
qualities a high profession of piety is added, the effect becomes
overpowering. We sink under the contemplation of such exquisite
and manifold perfection; and feel, with deep humility, how
presumptuous it was in us to think of composing the legend of
this beatified athlete of the faith, St Bertrand of the
Something more we had to say about him. But let him go. We did
not seek him out, and will not keep him longer. If those who
call themselves his friends had not forced him on our notice we
should never have vouchsafed to him more than a passing word of
scorn and abhorrence, such as we might fling at his brethren,
Hebert and Fouquier Tinville, and Carrier and Lebon. We have no
pleasure in seeing human nature thus degraded. We turn with
disgust from the filthy and spiteful Yahoos of the fiction; and
the filthiest and most spiteful Yahoo of the fiction was a noble
creature when compared with the Barere of history. But what is
no pleasure M. Hippolyte Carnot has made a duty. It is no light
thing that a man in high and honourable public trust, a man who,
from his connections and position, may not unnaturally be
supposed to speak the sentiments of a large class of his
countrymen, should come forward to demand approbation for a life
black with every sort of wickedness, and unredeemed by a single
virtue. This M. Hippolyte Carnot has done. By attempting to
enshrine this Jacobin carrion, he has forced us to gibbet it; and
we venture to say that, from the eminence of infamy on which we
have placed it, he will not easily take it down.


text:
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Clearwater Organic Farms will be developing a large commercial hydroponic facility in Rochester, Monroe County NY and will be based at Eastman Business Park.
The 650'000 square foot hydroponic greenhouse is set to open by the end of 2017 and will provide 137 full-time jobs for the local community. 55 of these are reserved for veterans or those who are underemployed to support the regions anti-poverty initiative. The state is supporting the development by offerring funding and tax credits for the $50 million project.
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Secret of Mana's 3D remake has voice acting for... some reason
With a few months to launch, this 3D revival of the Squaresoft classic is still looking a little lost.
Suppose, unlike me, you grew up with Nintendo consoles in your household. Suppose, also unlike me, you were exposed to a game like Secret of Mana at a critical age and remember it fondly as a formative moment of your childhood, alongside the likes of Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI (or III, as was the style at the time).
In that case, you might get a certain amount of mileage out of Square Enix's upcoming 3D remake, which is so committed to faithfully recreating the original overhead, sprite-based game that it retains all the awkwardness from that era of game design as well. NPCs move as though fixed to a grid and instantly face you when you speak to them. Dialogue is -- as far as I can tell, not having played much of the original -- ported over without revision, so it has that brisk, no-frills, utterly utilitarian style of writing from a time when all you really needed to set up an adventure story was to just tell someone they have a magical sword and off they go.
It's all right to not mind these features. If you play many JRPGs on handheld or mobile, this combination of limited animation and older system design should not only seem familiar but kind of cozy. It's like being wrapped up in a nice warm blanket of memories. Exploration in the Secret of Mana remake is in fact so invested in recreating the original's feel that it literally includes the original game as a minimap in the corner. There were even a few occasions during my hands-on that I got confused about why a certain object was impassible and glanced to the minimap to see what the original sprite looked like. Ah. Now it made sense. It's like shifting the gears in your brain back down to a speed you haven't used in a while.
Were the 3D Secret of Mana interested in being this and only this -- a faithful recreation of the original, down to the grid lines -- then I could tell you without reservation that it is everything that it needs to be. It's a nostalgia product, pure and simple. It is a thing you remember for childhood and now exists with big, colorful 3D models. There's even an option to switch off the remastered soundtrack and use the original SNES music.
But for some godawful reason, the game decided it needed voice acting.
It isn't that the performances are bad. The actors are clearly all trying their best, but there just isn't anything to work with here. That direct, functional writing I mentioned earlier only sounds "as seen on Mystery Science Theater" levels of corny when passed through real human vocal cords. There aren't many ways to dress up lines like "This is the way to the castle" without going flat as a board or, alternatively, veering way off course with the tone and going too big. Is the guard saying this supposed to sound sarcastic? Irritated that hero characters are always coming by and asking him something so obvious? Furious at his own impotency, being stationed here by a gate like a living signpost even as the town becomes a zombie wasteland around him?
Even the most deftly translated SNES game's dialogue is going to sound cringeworthy if you try reading it aloud. (Although to be fair, most dialogue in today's games is also awful, just for different reasons.) Square Enix could have gone back and retranslated Secret of Mana for a new localization, adding in the additional richness and flavor the technological constraints of a 16 bit game could not afford, but that would be a much larger investment of time and resources for an otherwise barebones 3D remake.
So... why? Who thought this was a good idea? What purpose does this serve? Fans of the original most likely won't be interested in hearing lines they've subvocalized a certain way since childhood suddenly delivered by an uncertain voice actor taking a wild stab at tone and intent. If it's an appeal to newcomers who are more accustomed to modern games' bells and whistles, I can't imagine they'll enjoy the results here either, listening to professional talent struggling to squeeze blood from a stone.
The best thing that can be said about this game's voice acting is that you can turn it off, from the same menu where you can switch to the original 16 bit soundtrack. It feels a little ironic that the one way in which the Secret of Mana remake tries to meaningfully differentiate itself from the original is unequivocally terrible -- and also makes the whole endeavor feel very, very cynical.
All remakes are on some level a cash grab, don't get me wrong. Square Enix knows it's a business that traffics heavily in player nostalgia and this is far from the most questionable rerelease it will have put out. But the voice acting turns what is otherwise a fairly straight-forward, even excessively faithful remake into a confused mess. Unless the point is for the voice acting to lampoon the corny "oldschool" writing? In that case it's succeeding brilliantly.
The Secret of Mana remake will be out February 15th in 2018, bound for PlayStation 4, Vita, and Steam.


text:
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text:
Insert body text here ...
DEREK AHONEN and the theater company he founded, The Amoralists, have brought a brash, independent spirit to the New York theater scene over the past decade.
Borrowing a page from filmmaker John Cassavetes' book, Ahonen has gathered around him a loyal crew of actors who connect with the profane, slice-of-life comedy of "The Pied Pipers of the Lower East Side," "The Bad and the Better," and "The Cheater's Club," to name a few of the shows that have played to a fiercely loyal downtown audience.
If Ahonen sat around and waited for other people to produce his plays, he might not have been able to take such big risks in style and subject matter with each new script.
With the support of The Amoralists behind him, Ahonen has created plays with the knowledge — rare for an American playwright — that they will be produced by people on his own wavelength.
For audiences, this open theatrical channel between a writer and a production company has meant shows that feel up-to-the-minute and unbound by the critic- and audience-pleasing reality of play production in other companies in New York. - J.M.
Few theatre artists have endured the highs and lows of playwright JONATHAN TOLINS' experience with his first major play "The Twilight of the Golds."
The family comedy-drama about homophobia and genetics was a smash hit in its Los Angeles debut in 1993 — a major studio snapped up the movie rights almost immediately — but when the play reached Broadway a few months later, the New York critics turned their thumbs down and "Twilight" became a 29-performance flop.
Tolins kept writing plays — underwritten by regular TV and film jobs — with one of them, "The Last Sunday in June," about a gathering of friends during Pride Week in New York, finding limited success on the gay theatre circuit.
Bolstered by hearing established playwright Robert Anderson (of "Tea and Sympathy" fame) talking about some of his problems getting a play produced, Tolins persisted because theatre writing has always been his first love.
Two decades of struggle had a happy ending in 2013 when Tolins turned a rejected New Yorker story, about a man working in the basement of Barbra Streisand's home, into a hit off Broadway comedy.
The same New York Times critic who roasted Tolins' 1993 Broadway debut wrote a love letter to "Buyer and Cellar" and a limited run turned into one of the most popular plays of the season.
Finally, Tolins was off and running. - J.M.
"I was always doing anything I could to be a part of the theatre."
"I just know that I didn't have any other decisions."
Los Angeles Times: Michael Urie and Jonathan Tolins rummage around in Streisand's cellar
New York Times: People Who Need Famous People -
Creating Barbra Streisand in 'Buyer & Cellar'
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Read more about Jonathan Tolins
Joe's View: 'Douglas Evans,' the playwright game in New York
New York Times: Hands-On Theater (at Times With Fists)
Read more about Derek Ahonen
"I wanted very badly to be Lucille Ball."
CHARLOTTE BOOKER is part of a theatrical line of succession that goes back to her teachers Uta Hagen, Geraldine Page and Shelley Winters.
Very much a part of today's scene — on Broadway and off, and at regional theaters around the country — Charlotte also has a strong sense of the history of her art form.
Just listen to Charlotte talk about what she learned from her legendary acting teachers and what she tries to pass along from them to her students today.
On stage and screen, the actress has the ability to disappear completely into a role, whether she is giving a "winning" (New York Times) performance as Ann Landers in David Rambo's "The Lady with all the Answers," tackling "Steel Magnolias" at the Alley Theatre in Houston, doing "Born Yesterday" on Broadway, or playing the helpless Oklahoma mother in Emily Shwend's powerful off Broadway drama "Take Me Back" (a performance the New York Times called "terrific").
Charlotte attributes some of her striking morphing ability — and her fascination with what makes people tick — to a childhood as a military brat, moving around the United States. Movies entertained and inspired her.
Little did Charlotte know, when she fell under the spell of Geraldine Page in the 1961 film version of "Summer and Smoke," that she would become a student, and friend, of the great actress.
In recent years, Charlotte has taken a more pro-active approach to working in show business, by writing plays as well as acting in them.
She has too much energy and talent to sit around waiting for someone else to give her a job. - J.M.
Hartford Courant: Spilling The Beans With Actress Charlotte Booker (as Ann Landers)
New York Times: Portrayal of Ann Landers Captures Society's Changes
Read more about Charlotte Booker
"Sammy Davis Jr. was in 'Alice in Wonderland' playing the caterpillar and he was tap dancing, and Savion Glover was on Sesame Street. That was when the want and the need kicked in. The idea that I had to do this was 9/11."
Considering how much time he's spent in theatre since launching his impressive career on Broadway, it seems only fitting that this interview with DANIEL J. WATTS is underscored by the buzzing ambiance of the rehearsal studio we recorded it in.
When Watts was a sophomore at Elon College his decision to pursue a career as a performer was reaffirmed when he saw a traveling Shakespeare troupe perform "As You Like It" on the night of September 11, 2001.
In the years since that landmark moment in the young actor/dancer's career, Watts has amassed an impressive theatre resume covering bases that most performers would only dream to accomplish in a lifetime: a range of regional theatre credits, seven Broadway shows under his belt, including an acclaimed turn in the Tony Award winning "After Midnight," numerous developmental readings, workshops and pre-Broadway try-outs.
While the abundance of work afforded Watts the chance to collaborate with leading creatives in the business, he had always had his sights set beyond "the ensemble." So while on breaks from developing a role that was eventually cut in Disney's "Aladdin," Watts began putting pen to paper, eventually bringing the spoken word poetry that had been brewing in his head to life in his one-man slam experience "The Jam."
Since launching his production company WattsWords Productions, and discovering his distinct and inspired voice as a spoken word artist, Watts has emerged as one of the nations leading storytellers, using the healing, unifying power of storytelling to build communities. His powerful work has been profiled in Newsweek, gone viral on YouTube, and was the subject of a 2015 TEDxBroadway talk. - S.H.
Newsweek: Fighting With Guerrilla Theater After the Death of Eric Garner Click here for more
Dance Magazine: Daniel J. Watts Why I Dance
Read more about Daniel J. Watts
We have to rethink our theatrical star system when we talk about actors like ANNALEE JEFFERIES.
Jefferies has been a part of notable stage hits in New York City — most recently the epic 9-hour production of Horton Foote's "The Orphans Home Cycle" at Signature Theatre — but she has spent most of her career working in regional theater.
In Houston, Hartford, Dallas, Washington, D.C. and other cities around the country, the performer has amazed audiences and dazzled critics in everything from "Angels in America" to "A Streetcar Named Desire."
The performer has collaborated with some of the greatest directors in contemporary theater — including David Cromer and Robert Wilson — but because those productions never played Broadway, they didn't always make it on to the Manhattan media radar.
The Wall Street Journal's Terry Teachout did travel to the Kansas City Repertory Theatre to see Cromer and Jefferies' "The Glass Menagerie" which the critic cited as one of the 10 finest U.S. stage productions of 2009. Of Jefferies' Amanda he wrote, "(She) is not a broad-brush caricature of Southern gentility but a wholly believable older woman who finds herself whipsawed between fantasy and fear."
Jefferies was also a member of the ensemble of Peter Hall's epic production of "Tantalus" that toured internationally and was the subject of a widely discussed behind-the-scenes documentary.
The Texas native doesn't believe in arbitrary boundaries on the American theater that start and end in New York City. She knows that if she had decided to stay in Manhattan in the early 1980s she wouldn't have enjoyed all of the opportunities that have come her way at great regional venues like Arena Stage, the Alley Theater, and Hartford Stage.
Working with director Michael Wilson in Houston and Hartford, Jefferies established a reputation as one of the finest interpreters of Tennessee Williams in this country.
Connecticut became a second home to Jefferies in the 1990s and the '00s because of her many collaborations with Wilson after he was named artistic director at Hartford Stage. From Blanche in "Streetcar" to Hannah in "Night of the Iguana" to the whole menagerie of characters she played in "Eight by Tenn," Jefferies earned extravagant critical praise.
Jefferies has a beautiful farm in Brenham, Texas, where she is part of a vibrant artistic community halfway between Houston and Austin. After she completed a prize-winning run as the paranoid Violet Venable in a Connecticut production of "Suddenly Last Summer," the actor re-staged the play on one of her porches.
The performer doesn't divide the characters she plays into heroines and villains.
She says the magic of Tennessee Williams' art, in particular, is that all of his people are painfully human, whether we "like" them or not. "Just to be at the helm of those words is such a privilege."
"It was a natural progression coming out of a ballooned imagination being brought up on a cattle ranch."
Dalls Morning News: Annalee Jefferies Takes June Squib's Place in 'Driving Miss Daisy'
Frank Rizzo's Best Connectiut Stage Performances of 2009
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"I think the why is a combination of masochism and insanity."
Like a virtuoso actor who defies type-casting, playwright DAVID GRIMM has been creating a fantastic, far-ranging body of work over the past three decades.
Being a fan of the writer means being constantly surprised by the different directions he takes in plays like "Kit Marlowe," "The Learned Ladies of Park Avenue," "Measure for Pleasure" and "Steve & Idi."
That cliche, expect the unexpected, turns out to be true in the case of this playwright.
Grimm respects audiences by trusting them to keep up with his rapid fire wit and to follow dramatic situations that race past conventional notions of morality.
History is sexy rather than musty in the writer's plays set in the past. Grimm's characters tend to be brilliant, but always up for romantic adventures, too.
As one critic put it, "For most of his career. Grimm has used his typically bawdy comedies to unzip the patriarchal and heterosexist veneer of our cultural past, permitting his characters to fight for the right to be themselves, and letting deeper moral and erotic impulses, common to all time periods, out to play."
In other words, Grimm's people always make time to get it on.
In an era in which economic restrictions often result in small plays with small casts (and small ideas), Grimm refuses to cut his imagination down to a size that is convenient for the book-keepers at the non-profit New York companies and adventurous regional theaters that have been seduced by his vision.
Actors love the opportunities the playwright gives them to play truly theatrical characters who are constantly testing their boundaries. After they've been fed a fairly steady diet of neo-kitchen sink realism, it is quite something to watch a company of actors tear into Grimm's rich material.
The playwright loves opera as much as he loves theater which explains Grimm's large canvasses and outsized emotions.
Grimm's Off Book chat provides ample evidence of his intelligence and his wit as he talks about what inspires him; the challenges of working in a medium where a single published opinion carries frightening weight; and the unique experience of playing a version of himself in the hallucinatory comedy, "Steve & Idi." - J.M.
Playbill.com: Strong Damsels in Grimm Times - Nina Arianda and Kathleen Chalfant on David Grimm's "Tales From Red Vienna"
American Theatre Wing: From New Dramatists (Video)
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More about David Grimm
"It became very exciting to me, the idea of the collaboration."
ANNETTE MEYERS was present at the creation of some of the greatest musicals of the modern era.
As personal assistant to Harold Prince, during his peak years, Annette saw "Fiddler on the Roof," "Cabaret," "Company," "Follies," "A Little Night Music," "Pacific Overtures" and other classics take shape in out of town try-outs — many of them turbulent — before the shows came into New York and changed prevailing notions of what a musical could be.
The former teacher got into show business on a fluke when she was asked to assist with some of the research for a Prince-produced musical.
Next thing Annette knew she was by Prince's side as he turned musical theater upside down with one innovation after another. She was also hanging out with great stage figures like Lotte Lenya and Elaine Stritch.
In this podcast, we get to hear all sorts of juicy inside stuff, from the unexpected problem Zero Mostel posed after "Fiddler on the Roof" opened (his shtick was wrecking the show and driving the other actors crazy) to the cost overruns that plagued "Pacific Overtures."
Annette was there at the start of one of the greatest collaborations in musical theater history — Prince's partnership with Stephen Sondheim. Within a year's time in the early 1970s, the two men came up with two legendary shows, "Company" and "Follies," both of which flew in the face of Broadway musical conventions.
Our chat barely skims the surface of what Annette saw and heard during her two decades with Prince, but it's a terrific overview of a great, fervant period in the lives of many theater artists.
She didn't know it at the time, but Annette was gaining knowledge about the workings of Broadway that she would eventually use in a series of New York mysteries, starting with "The Big Killing" and going on to include the must-read "Murder: The Musical," which can be read as a very juicy fictonalized memoir. - J.M.
Forbes.com: The Mystery Novelist
CBS Sunday Morning: The Meyers: At Work, At Play
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More about Annette Meyers
"It's in my blood."
Lots of people talk about building new, young audiences for theater in New York City, but the Flea Theater has been doing just that for the past two decades.
Under the leadership of artistic director Jim Simpson and producing director CAROL OSTROW, the Flea found a formula that seems simple but that hasn't yet been copied by other non-profits in the city — i.e. putting on plays that deal with the lives of young people, performed by fresh new actors who make up a resident company known as The Bats.
The Flea has attracted stars to some of its productions and it became a second home for the veteran playwright A.R. Gurney, but the foundation of the institution rests on young actors who can't wait to tell new stories that they know will mean something to a like-minded audience.
The Bats have performed in everything from Biblical epics ("The Mysteries") to examinations of the changing morality of the city ("Smoke") and the country ("American Sexy"), but what the productions all have in common is the excitement of actors and audiences who are on the same page.
We spoke with Carol Ostrow about many things, including the great challenges the Flea faced in the wake of 9/11 — when the Tribeca neighborhood was first shut down and then suffered for months from the after-shocks of the worst disaster in the city's history. Carol decided to help fellow Yalie Jim Simpson turn things around by producing a new play, "The Guys," that put into words what nearly everyone in the city was feeling during the recovery effort.
Since then, it has been onward and upward, as Carol has produced dozens of plays with Jim and carefully managed a $1.3 million budget that has kept two stages in the White Street venue buzzing with activity.
The Flea is entering a period of change — with new artistic director Niegel Jason Smith taking over for Jim Simpson this year — and a move into a permanent home at 20 Thomas Street set for next year.
In this interview, Carol talks about the importance of a theater company having its own real estate. She believes a sense of place is both comforting and inspiring in a city famous for its instability. The shift to Thomas Street will turn renters into owners for the first time, assuring artists and audiences that the Flea will be able to build on its vibrant history. J.M.
New York Times: Flea Theater Names Niegel Smith as Next Artistic Director
Woman Around Town: Carol Ostrow - Many Lives
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More about Carol Ostrow & The Flea
"When I was at The Wing there was a situation in Connecticut."
After a long career working for such regional theaters as Hartford Stage and the Goodspeed Opera House — and another important stint in New York City leading the American Theater Wing — HOWARD SHERMAN took on a new role as one of the foremost opponents of theater censorship in this country.
Working behind the scenes, and through his widely read blog and social networking, Sherman became an important advocate of high school theater programs.
It was Sherman who mobilized stage professionals when a Connecticut high school production of "Rent" was cancelled in 2013. He helped to secure the Goodspeed Opera House's agreement to present the show when it was still in limbo, a move that was key to the school administration reconsidering its ban and allowing the Jonathan Larson musical to proceed.
The national attention Sherman received for his efforts has led him to partner with Manhattan's New School on an Arts Integrity Initiative that formalizes his growing role as an anti-censorship watchdog.
We cover many bases in this podcast, from Sherman's work in regional theater and with the Manhattan organization that administers the annual Tony Awards, to his early adoption of social media which has made him one of the most widely read theater people in the country.
Sherman talks about his early personal connection to the anti-censorship cause — the distress he felt when a play by August Wilson was threatened with cancellation at a Connecticut school. Wilson's plays were developed in Sherman's native Connecticut — at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center and Yale Repertory Theatre — so he felt personally affronted by the attempt to stop a production of "Joe Turner's Come and Gone."
The importance of high school play productions can be undervalued in sophisticated New York theater circles, but Sherman points out that 50 million people across the country see those shows every year — a number twice as high as the annual audience for Broadway and national road tours.
It is a pleasure to add this culture hero to the Off Book family. J.M.
American Theatre Magazine: Who Cares About Censorship on School Stages
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Washington Post: The Battle of 'Rent' in Trumbull, CT
New York Times: The New School Announces Efford to Defend 'Arts Integrity'
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More about Howard Sherman:
"I opened my first night at the LA Improv, Joan Rivers said 'just go for it.'"
You can't pin down Jamie deRoy to just one aspect of show business.
She has worked as an actress, singer, comic, and talk show host.
deRoy will be celebrating 25 years of her New York nightlife fixture -- the award-winning cabaret variety show, "Jamie deRoy & Friends" -- with a November 10 shindig at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater that will include celebrated theater pals Tommy Tune and Michele Lee, among others.
But this benefit for the Actors Fund – which will also mark deRoy's "40th annual 30th birthday" -- deals with only one aspect of her long and varied career.
Behind the scenes, the "hyphenate" has added Broadway producer to her packed resume. deRoy's wide-ranging taste is illustrated by the shows her name has been on – from mainstream musicals such as "Nice Work If You Can Get It" to edgier plays like "The Motherfucker with the Hat" that have expanded the notion of what constitutes Broadway fare.
In this podcast, deRoy talks about New York City in the good old/bad old 1970s; the seemingly mundane job choices that can change the course of a career; and the challenge of being one of the first funny ladies to open for the late great Joan Rivers.
deRoy takes us back to an especially colorful time in the world of Manhattan cabaret – the 1970s and 1980s – when such beloved but long-vanished small clubs as Reno Sweeney on West 13th Street thrived, and unknown performers like Ellen Greene and Bette Midler could make a name for themselves in out of the way nightspots.
OFF BOOK is thrilled to add deRoy to its growing roster of smart and funny talkers. J.M.
Broadway World: Jamie deRoy Honored with 2014 "Dedication & Devotion to the Art of Cabaret" Award
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Backstage: Tyne Daly, Jamie deRoy and Ted Snowdon to be honored by Primary Stages
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Theatremania: The Lion's Benjamin Scheuer Receives the ASCAP Foundtion's Jamie deRoy & Friends Songwriting Award
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More about Jamie deRoy
The theater community has been buzzing about JAMES GRISSOM's book "Follies of God" (Knopf) since it was published last March because of its fresh insights into the life of Tennessee Williams and the actresses who inspired him.
The project began more than 30 years ago when Grissom wrote a fan letter to the playwright. He was invited to join Williams in New Orleans and then given an assignment — to convey the dramatist's gratitude to the great performers such as Maureen Stapleton, Kim Stanley, Jessica Tandy and Katharine Hepburn who helped Tennessee create many of his most indelible characters.
Judging by the intimacy and depth of the interview material in the book, Grissom established immediate trust in the actresses Williams sent him to. And as word got out about the project, other major figures, such as Marlon Brando, reached out to Grissom and spoke frankly about acting, Williams, the Actors Studio and many other theater topics with remarkable candor.
Williams spent a lot of time at the Studio and spoke at length with Grissom about the way he thought it damaged Marilyn Monroe: "Lee Strasberg...specialized in adopting sexually confused, physically abused women and becoming the seemingly gentle father figure they desired. Strasberg lied to her and told her she was the new Duse; he told her she should play Nina; he told her to investigate O'Neill and Shakespeare. This was all folly, because Marilyn had no talent and no understanding, and it was folly because Strasberg only wanted access to and withdrawal privileges from fame...It was an evil extended con game, and there were many witnesses."
The first production of "A Streetcar Named Desire" is presented in a whole light in "Follies of God" thanks to Grissom's connections with Jessica Tandy, Kim Hunter and Brando. Tandy was not Williams' first choice for the role of Blanche DuBois and she told Grissom how much she struggled with the titanic part before she met with the approval of its creator (and satisfied herself).
In this OffBook podcast, Grissom talks about his long journey putting the book together, what it was like to convince theater greats to talk with him candidly, and the crucial help he received along the way from Marian Seldes, Lois Smith, and Frances Sternhagen, who became powerful advocates of the project. - J.M.
"One night, around two in the morning, my phone rings and it's Marlon Brando and he wants to talk."
Blog: Follies Of God by James Grissom Alfred A. Knopf/March 2015
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Kirkus: Interview with "Follies of God" Author James Grissom
More about James Grissom
"Whether or not I think I can do it, I've gotta go in there and do it. I will always want to give it 1000% percent."
When LIV ROOTH is scared by a role something wonderful usually happens.
"It's kind of interesting to interact with your fears and doubts. I think that's important and that it makes you better," she says of the series of challenging New York and regional theater roles that have made her a favorite of critics, audiences and her fellow stage artists.
She is one of playwright David Ives' go-to actors for his wild mixtures of comedy and drama, the real and the surreal.
Liv has stood up to the challenge of Ives' evenings of short plays, like "All in the Timing" and "Lives of the Saints," where she has had to enact several wildly different characters in the course of a few hours. She also starred in his enormously popular two-character erotic drama "Venus in Fur" (a role she says she would like to take another crack at).
"It is so important as an actor to bring yourself to the work, but not limit the work to you," the actor says of her efforts to elude the notion of a "Liv Rooth role."
Liv has been especially daring in her regular work, away from New York City, at the Westport Country Playhouse, where in the space of a few seasons, she went from playing the traumatized witness to cannibalism in Tennessee Williams' horror drama "Suddenly Last Summer" to the possibly homicidal nurse in the Joe Orton black comedy "Loot" to the feminist revolutionary in Ingmar Bergman's take on "A Doll's House."
It was only the actor's trust in director David Kennedy that convinced Liv to play Ibsen's rebel housewife in "Nora" -- "When David asked me to do it I made a terrible face. Most actresses want to do it, but I think I was afraid of it."
In her Off Book podcast, Liv talks about the unexpected joy to be found in working outside of your comfort zone, the challenge of understudying rising star Nina Arianda in "Born Yesterday" and David Ives' "Venus in Fur" and why she refuses to distinguish between "comedy" and "drama" when she is searching for a new role.
Broadway.com: Liv Rooth talks about the hilarious search for love in Beyond Therapy
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Labyrinth Theatre Company: 5 Questions for Liv Rooth
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"My show might be the same play night after night, but the world around it changes, how can you plug into the world around it?"
AARON MEIER arrived in New York – and began working as a theatrical publicist – just a few weeks before 9/11 plunged the stage community and the city into some of its darkest days.
Would anyone want to see a show in such a moment of terrible personal anxiety?
When would tourists return to a city that was bracing itself for another possible attack?
Luckily for all of us, Broadway bounced back quicker than anyone anticipated and Aaron found himself working in the theater during a period of tremendous change. The traditional media that his company Boneau/Bryan-Brown served was being radically downsized, and a new world of Broadway blogs and social media was quickly rising online.
Since 2001, the "fabulous invalid" has seen the opening of some of the biggest hits in New York theater history but publicists like Aaron have had to find new means to tout shows in an ever-changing media world.
Aaron has worked on more than 140 Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, with his current clients including Manhattan Theatre Club, Cirque du Soleil's first Broadway show "Paramour," and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
In addition to his role as vice president of account services, Aaron also serves as the director of digital communications for BBB, spearheading the agency's expansion into new digital platforms and creating and implementing the agency's social media strategy.
In his Off Book interview, Aaron talks about the chance encounter in the Hill Country of Texas that would open doors in New York, and what it was like to be part of the enormous publicity effort that kept the New York theater going in the months after 9/11.
He also discusses the unique challenge of simultaneously handling a new limited run off off Broadway show featuring cult legend Charles Busch and a multi-million dollar Broadway musical that will have to run for years to turn a profit. - J.M.
BroadwayWorld: Aaron Meier and Heath Schwartz Named VPs of Boneau/Bryan-Brown
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More about Aaron Meier
"The spell that's created in a space with minds and bodies and voices is incredibly powerful when it's done right."
Playwright and director ADAM RAPP works in a form of heightened realism that is electrifying and also a tad unsettling.
"Whether you love or hate this play, I'm glad you were here to witness it," Rapp wrote in a Playbill note for one of his shows. Part of the unique excitement in his work is the guarantee of a highly charged audience.
A Pulitzer Prize nominee for "Red Light Winter" Rapp likes to remove as many barriers as possible between his stories and the audience. There are no innocent bystanders at plays such as "Ghosts in the Cottonwoods," "Animals and Plants" or the current Flea Theater hit "Wolf in the River."
Rapp writes about extreme emotional states that demand brave actors and adventurous audiences who are willing to go down some very dark roads.
Working with such off off Broadway troupes as The Amoralists and The Bats, Rapp has preferred the intimacy of small spaces where actors are just a few feet away from theatergoers. At "Animals and Plants" only 20 people were admitted to each performance – in a hotel room -- and the seating was scattered in such a way as to maximize a feeling of being in the middle of the same mystical and horrifying experiences as the characters.
In "Wolf in the River," the playwright discards the notion of a fixed, beginning, middle and end for what the Flea Theater rightly calls an "impressionistic" experience that we are left to sort out afterwards. For some theatergoers such an unmoored night in the theater is beyond the pale. Others find it refreshing, in this age of canned entertainment, to be in the presence of a theater artist who respects his audience enough to allow them their own individual reactions to his work. - J.M.
Theatre Communications Group: Cutting Loose with Adam Rapp
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BOMB Magazine: Adam Rapp by Marsha Norman
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Time Out New York: Billy Crudup Finds a Kindred Spirit, teaming with Adam Rapp for "The Metal Children"
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More about Adam Rapp
"The best way for theatre companies to support new works is to invest in the artists who are making them."
After a decade of working at Hartford Stage, where his outstanding shows included the world premiere of Matthew Lopez's "Reverberation," and work as that theater's Associate Artistic Director, Maxwell Williams has taken the big leap to running his own theater.
Since the fall of 2015, Williams has been artistic director of La Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre, located in the heart of New Orleans' historic French Quarter. During his inaugural season, he invited his longtime Hartford Stage collaborator, actress Annalee Jefferies, to star as Amanda in a very well-received production of "The Glass Menagerie."
The director has many ideas he wants to bring to life in NOLA, but he is particularly excited about putting on Tennessee Williams plays in the heart of the city where the playwright spent so much time and found so much inspiration.
In Hartford, Williams found a perfect mentor in director Michael Wilson, who had him work as associate director on the mammoth nine-play Horton Foote project, "The Orphans Home Cycle," which moved on to New York City's Signature Theatre where it received sensational reviews.
Williams proved himself to be a remarkably versatile director at Hartford Stage, shifting from high energy comedies such as "Boeing Boeing" and "Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike" to powerful dramas like "Dying City" and "Reverberation."
In his OffBook interview, Williams talks about the challenge all artistic directors face in finding plays that excite them while pleasing subscribers and other supporters of regional theater. He talks about the changing demographics of theatergoers and the nagging question of who will be supporting regional theaters a decade from now. The pull between artist and manager is a strong one for every artistic director, but Williams believes he can make La Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre an essential part of NOLA's cultural life for years to come.. - J.M.
Playbill: Hartford Stage's Maxwell Williams Tapped to Run New Orleans' Le Petit Théâtre Click here for more
New Orleans Magazine: People to Watch Class of 2015 - Maxwell Williams Click here for more
More about Maxwell Williams
"It's figuring out how to captivate a generation"
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be
Convinced that today's New York theater scene is every bit as glamorous and as exciting as the so-called Golden Age of the 1950s and 1960s, actor and producer TONY MARION created a website that proves his point.
Broadway Style Guide has demonstrated that today's batch of stars – from Idina and Kristin to Sutton and Audra – are fast becoming the equals of such fabled personalities of yesteryear as Ethel Merman and Mary Martin. And, their huge talents on stage are matched by their highly creative personal styles off stage.
Through its gorgeous photography and in-depth interviews, BSG pulls back the curtain on Broadway, but not in a gossipy way. Thanks to social media we might feel closer than ever to our favorite stars, but Tony Marion shows us that they are still dazzling personalities.
Whether it's accompanying Kyle Dean Massey on a European vacation, or exploring the charms of the "American Psycho" cast, BSG proves that the movies and television have nothing on Broadway when it comes to sex appeal based on talent as well as looks.
As you will hear in this OffBook chat with Tony Marion, it isn't easy to produce a high style Broadway website without advertising support, or a ticket-sales component, but BSG is building a large and loyal audience based on solid content rather than hype (or, God forbid, click bait).
With the monster hit "Hamilton" putting New York theater at the center of pop culture for the first time in decades, Tony Marion and BSG seem perfectly positioned to prove that Broadway is in a Golden Age once again.
NY1: Theater Meets High Fashion with Broadway Style Guide Click here for more
CMD RADIO: Tony Marion Interview talks how to get a play on broadway and more Click here for more
More about Tony Marion


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