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Dezart Performs Nominated for 15 Desert Star Awards 

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 media contact: David Perry & Associates, Inc. (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com

Dezart Performs Nominated for 15 Desert Star Awards 

Winners Announced By The Desert Theatre League October 16
in Live Ceremony at Sun City Palm Desert

www.dezartperforms.org

3 August 2022 – Palm Springs, CA: Getting ready for its landmark 15th season, the celebrated Dezart Performs (www.dezartperforms.org) has secured 15 nominations for the 36th annual “Desert Star Awards” including the categories of Outstanding Production of a Drama (Professional) for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. themed THE MOUNTAINTOP and the company’s first ever musical, GIRLFRIEND, nominated for Outstanding Production of a Musical (Professional). Michael Shaw has been nominated for The Michael Cruickshank Award for Outstanding Director of a Drama (Professional) along with Deborah Harmon for Outstanding Director of a Comedy (Professional). Awards for outstanding lead actors include Shante Deloach, Cortez Johnson (THE MOUNTAINTOP) and Joel Bryant (EVERY BRILLIANT THING). Additional nominations include outstanding lighting design, set design, sound design, costume design, hair and makeup design and props and special effects.

The winners of the 36th annual Desert Theatre League “Desert Stars” Awards will be announced October 16, 2022 in a live-and-in person ceremony at Sun City Palm Desert, the first such in-person event since 2019.  

“Programming our first moving-on-from COVID season was an emotional experience,” said Dezart Performs Founding Artistic Director Michael Shaw. “Juggling the pandemic-related protocols for audience, cast and crew made it even more of a challenge. So, these nominations are even more humbling and appreciated than ever.”

The complete list of “Desert Star Awards” nominations for Dezart Performs are as follows:

Outstanding Production Musical – Professional
GIRLFRIEND 

Outstanding Production of a Drama – Professional
THE MOUNTAINTOP 

The Michael Cruickshank Award for Outstanding Director of a Drama – Professional
Michael Shaw – THE MOUNTAINTOP 

Outstanding Director of a Comedy – Professional
Deborah Harmon – EVERY BRILLIANT THING

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama – Professional
Cortez Johnson – THE MOUNTAINTOP

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama
Shante Deloach – THE MOUNTAINTOP 

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy – Professional
Joel Bryant – EVERY BRILLIANT THING 

Outstanding Set Design – Professional
Thomas L. Valach – THE MOUNTAINTOP 

Outstanding Sound Design – Professional
Clark Dugger – EVERY BRILLIANT THING 
Clark Dugger – THE MOUNTAINTOP

Outstanding Lighting Design – Professional
Joel Howden – GIRLFRIEND
Derrick McDaniel – THE MOUNTAINTOP 
Outstanding Costume Design – Professional
Frank Cazares – THE MOUNTAINTOP 

The Ron Hamm Award for Outstanding Hair and Makeup Design – Professional
Lynda Shaeps – THE MOUNTAINTOP

Outstanding Props and Special Effects
Greg Thorneycroft – THE MOUNTAINTOP 

Details about the upcoming 15th Season for Dezart Performs follow:

A drama with music, CHOIR BOY by Tarell Alvin McCraney (October 28 – November 6, 2022) is a moving story of sexuality, race, hope, gospel music, and a young gay man finding his voice. This coming-of-age story follows a group of young Black students at Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys, a highly respected institution dedicated to helping its students grow into “strong, ethical Black men.” But what happens when young student Pharus does not fit the mold for a typical “Drew man.” Pharus is different from his peers, and his effeminate nature constantly sets him apart. Though he may be the leader and most talented member of Drew’s renowned gospel choir, he struggles to gain their acceptance and respect.Content Advisory: This play contains nudity.

In the dark comedy A BRIGHT NEW BOISE (January 13 – 22, 2023) by Samuel D. Hunter, we find ourselves in the bleak, corporate break room of a craft store in Idaho. Will, who has fled his rural hometown after a scandal at his Evangelical church, comes to the Hobby Lobby, not only for employment, but also to rekindle a relationship with Alex, his brooding teenage son, whom he gave up for adoption several years ago. Alex works there along with Leroy, his adopted brother and protector, and Anna, a hapless young woman who reads bland fiction but hopes for dramatic endings. As their manager, foul-mouthed Pauline, tries ceaselessly to find order (and profit) in the chaos of small business, these lost souls of the Hobby Lobby confront an unyielding world through the beige-tinted impossibility of modern faith.

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY UNIT AT THE MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER OF NEW YORK CITY (March 3 – 12, 2023)— despite the title — is a comedy by Halley Feiffer. A foul-mouthed twenty-something comedian and a middle-aged man embroiled in a nasty divorce are brought together unexpectedly when their cancer-stricken mothers become roommates in the hospital. Together, this unlikely duo must negotiate some of life’s biggest challenges…while making some of the world’s most inappropriate jokes. Can these two very lost people learn to laugh through their pain and lean on each other, when all they really want to do is run away? Content Advisory: This production contains profanity, sexual language, and simulated sex.

THE GARBOLOGISTS (April 14 – 23, 2023), the new comedy-drama by Lindsay Joelle, chronicles a white conservative New York City sanitation worker and a Black Ivy-educated single mother, thrown together in the cab of a NYC garbage truck, working for the Dept. of Sanitation. They spend their shifts bickering, one-upping each other, and practicing the secret art of mongo: hunting for treasure in the trash. But as their lives become increasingly entwined, they discover some things are easier to toss than others. Honoring our essential workers, THE GARBOLOGISTS is a hopeful story about finding common ground in uncommon times.

New season subscriptions will be available starting August 16; individual show tickets go on sale September 13. 

All performances take place at the Pearl McManus Theater (at the historic Palm Springs Woman’s Club) 314 S Cahuilla Road, Downtown Palm Springs. Ticket prices are $39 – $50. Beginning August 16, subscription sales will be available online at www.dezartperforms.org, or by calling (760) 322-0179. Showtimes are Fridays at 7:30pm; Saturdays at 2pm and 7:30pm; Sundays at 2pm.

15th Dezart Performs’ Season Listing

CHOIR BOY

October 28 – November 6, 2022

Written by Tarell Alvin McCraney

Drama with music

2019 Tony nominee for Best Play 

2019 Drama Desk winner for Outstanding Music in a Play

“… the choral music is rich and rousing.” – New York Stage Review

“[CHOIR BOY] registers with potency, examining its themes with a mixture of poignancy and humor…it soars.” – The New York Post

“CHOIR BOY is a drama so infused with emotion that it can’t help breaking into song.” 

– Hartford Courant

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A BRIGHT NEW BOISE

 January 13 – 22, 2023

Written by Samuel D. Hunter

Dark comedy

2011 Obie Award winner for Playwriting

2011 Drama Desk nominee for Outstanding Play

“[Samuel D. Hunter] is one of the finest playwrights at work today.” – The Wall Street Journal 

“… the playwright brings humanity and humility to his repressed characters as they struggle to connect and find a means of self-expression.” – Theatermania

“Hunter’s sense of place is richer and more peculiar than any other American playwright working today.” – The New York Times

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A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY UNIT AT THE MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER OF NEW YORK CITY

March 3 – 12, 2023

Written by Halley Feiffer

Comedy 

“[A FUNNY THING HAPPENED…is] a play that is as deeply felt as its name is long. – The New York Times 

“The play is as defiantly unconventional as its title, but it is also satisfying in traditional ways.” – The Los Angeles Times

“Feiffer again demonstrates a talent for crafting caustically sharp comic dialogue.” – The Hollywood Reporter

—————

THE GARBOLOGISTS

April 14 – 23, 2023

Written by Lindsay Joelle

New comedy/drama

“THE GARBOLOGISTS takes us on a ride of sadness, joy, anger, disbelief, and understanding.” –Grid Magazine

“Lindsay Joelle’s finely crafted play is laced with wit and wisdom.” – Broadway World

“[THE GARBOLOGISTS] is delightfully intimate, surprising, and profound, filled with sometimes unexpected laughter and even tears..” – onStage Pittsburgh

Dezart Performs, one of the Coachella Valley’s preeminent theatre companies, recognizes that the performing arts enrich the life and culture of a community, promote greater understanding and provoke insightful discussion. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit theatre company, its mission is to provide an artistic home for bold and cutting–edge plays, creating an atmosphere of artistic growth for actors, writers, and directors who uniquely contribute to the diverse theatrical environment in the Coachella Valley.

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“Upon This Rock” upon Blue Bar Orvieto! Behind that door across from Anthony’s always bustling café is where it all started

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“Upon This Rock” upon Blue Bar Orvieto! Behind that door across from Anthony’s always bustling café is where it all started.

In winter 2014, Alfredo and I came to Orvieto, Italy sight unseen following two challenging years full of sorrow after the loss of our “logical family” as Armistead Maupin coined the phrase: Tom Dross, Otis & Felipe, and Anthony not to mention the notorious and debilitating case of Lynne Spaulding’s senseless and criminally careless death at SF General Hospital.

We were exhausted.

Enter a serendipitous email from our friends Tony & Kip:

“Do you know anyone who would like to do a house swap for three months? We have a little place in a small town in Italy.”

“Us.”

“Don’t you want to know where?”

“Three months. Small town. Italy. We’re in.”

When we searched the address on Google Street View the first thing we saw was the azul neon of “Blue Bar” across from our friends’ front door. 68 steps up behind that portal began my fictional tale of Orvieto, itself inspired by true events: Etruscans, Romans, Medici, Mussolini, Popes, partisans, World War II and immigrants fleeing war torn toos. And, of ourse, the tragic suicide of the beloved local deacon, Luca Siedita, to whom “Rock” is dedicated, figures most prominently.

Thank you Orvieto and the Orvietani: muses all.
— David Eugene Perry

“Ode to January 6th” Painting Unveiled by Elaine Badgley Arnoux

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Media contact:  DP&A, Inc. / David Perry (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com 

“Ode to January 6th” Painting Unveiled by Elaine Badgley Arnoux

Famed 96 Year Old San Francisco Artist Known for Mayoral Portraits and Last Year’s “Kneeling Man” Tribute to Colin Kaepernick and Black Lives Matter

“The January 6th Guernica”

(Ode to January 6thby Elaine Badgley Arnoux)

21 July 2022 – San Francisco. As the last of the planned prime time January 6th Congressional hearings gets underway,  famed San Francisco artist Elaine Badgley Arnoux (www.badgleyarts.com), 96, has finished a wall-sized indictment of the 45th President, the GOP and the anti-democratic forces that laid siege to the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 in a failed coup attempt.  

“This is the January 6th Guernica,” said Arnoux, referring to Picasso’s iconic and monumental work following the Fascist bombing of the Spanish Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. Arnoux has long been known for her official portraits of San Francisco Mayors including a soon-to-be unveiled portrait of London N. Breed and a lifetime of activist art such as last year’s “Kneeling Man” inspired by Colin Kaepernick and Black Lives Matter. “I don’t pull any punches in my art. This is a full throated, full throttled indictment of those people who tried to overturn our democracy.”

A vividly colored and dramatically intense tableaux, “Ode to January 6th” is seven feet by nine feet.  Badgley-Arnoux hopes the painting will become a rallying cry for the mid-term elections and beyond. Currently, the artist is looking for an appropriate public space to display the work. With imagery both realistic and metaphorical, “Ode to January 6th” is a stinging artistic indictment of former President Donald Trump

“I won’t even say his name,” said Arnoux, who nonetheless features an eerie silhouette of the former chief executive as part of the canvas. “I only refer to him as the 45th and pray God never again President.”

In the center is an effigy of “Little Red Riding Hood” hanging from a noose: a graphic and disturbing image with specific meaning.

“That’s the GOP,” states the artist. “Red like red states, dressed up to look harmless, but in reality a wolf at the throat of our Republic.”

Elaine Badgley Arnoux was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1926 and moved to Southern California when she was 11. She received an award to study at Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles, and later moved to San Luis Obispo where she worked as a painter. In 1952 Badgley Arnoux co-founded the San Luis Obispo Art Association. In 1965, she and her family relocated to San Francisco where she continues to live and work.  Badgley Arnoux’s long and productive career as a painter and portraitist, teacher and activist reflects her extensive travel and residence abroad in Europe, Mexico and North Africa, which strengthened her dedication to people and social welfare. Her works are featured in the collections of numerous museums including the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and Achenbach Collection; Stanford University Library Special Collections, Stanford, CA; the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley; and the de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara, CA.  She has done numerous commissions for public places, including a recent portrait for Openhouse, Community for LGBT Seniors, San Francisco.

July 13, 2022 SCRIBBLINGS

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July 13, 2022
SCRIBBLINGS

                                                    From Bill Miller 

June 2022

Sat Jun 11th:  Catch-up & review!   Over the past week, the Queen Victoria returned to service after a 2-year hiatus caused by Covid. … Seabourn as well MSC now have full fleets back in business. … Rules!  With news that the US Govt has now lifted pre-Covid testing before re-entering the country, the three cruise giants – Carnival, Royal Caribbean & Norwegian – are pressuring the Govt, namely the CDC, to drop the pre-cruise requirement currently placed at 48 hrs prior to sailing.  … Virgin Cruises have had their problems – including long delays caused by Covid.  Now comes word that their third $1 billion ship, the 100,000-ton Resilient Lady, will have a delay of at least six months before entering service.  Staffing problems is one of the reasons.  Virgin has reported it is successfully operating its first two Lady Ships, the Scarlet Lady and Valiant Lady, and looks forward to welcoming the Resilient Lady to its fleet early next year, with its fourth ship in the fleet, the Brilliant Lady, soon thereafter. For now, the 2,500-bed Resilient Lady will remain in Genoa at Fincantieri getting onboard work completed. 

Forty years ago!   Terry Foskett was chief purser on the legendary QE2, but also traveled in the Cunard flagship to the Falklands in the spring of 1982.   Today, he wrote of the ship’s return to Southampton on June 11th:  “QE2 returned to Southampton [seen below] to a rapturous welcome and greetings from HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother from the Royal Yacht Britannia. Karina and Jennie meet me at Queen Elizabeth II Terminal. A day I shall never forget. God bless all of you who sailed with us!”

Fine dining!  P&O-Orient Lines added two of the most important liners of the post-World War II generation in 1960-61.  The Oriana was the fastest passenger ship yet on the UK-Australia run while the Canberra was the largest.   Devotees were divided between their preferences between these two large and distinctive ships.   But from over in Shropshire in England, our dear & longtime friend Howard Franklin – who made dozens of voyages on P&O and the affiliate Orient Line ships – preferred the 2,100-passenger Oriana.   Recently, he reminded us that the Oriana had a nice addition:   the Silver Grill in her First Class quarters.   Howard noted, “Although the First Class Restaurant was on E Deck, there was also the Silver Grill on A Deck for those who preferred more exclusive dining. It had its own very modern china and silverware”.

Reductions!  Also from over in the UK, passenger ship, cruising & also ferry expert Matt Scudders shared some insightful news:  “Most cruise ships have been sailing at a fraction of their full loads. And I do not believe that it is just down to the lines themselves restricting loads – the special offers and pricing tell the real story.  Some lines are clearly suffering more than others from low bookings and the problem everyone is having getting staff. Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady is due to be delivered in 3 weeks, and make her maiden sailing in about 8. She has just had that maiden season put off for almost a year, even though she is basically finished.” 

He added, “Carnival have clear issues filling some ships too. They recently offered a 9 night cruise from Dover on a ship rerouted away from St Petersburg, for a starting price of £199. Similarly, Costa is definitely suffering with the Asian fleet unable to operate at all, and numerous other ships not back in service.  Fred Olsen’s Bolette was sailing under 50% full just a few weeks ago, with the line taking the chance to take a whole deck of cabins out of service. Oddly given that the ship has been with Fred and in service for coming up to a year, and she was theirs for a year before that, she is still far from finished, with work going on and derelict spaces around the ship. This particularly includes the kids club aft of the funnel, the side wings in the main restaurant and the suites lounge.” 

The Costa Diadema at Civitavecchia in a photo from Andy Hernandez

Matt concluded, “Anyone booking a new ship is definitely taking a risk. Newbuilds are being delayed and/or having cancelled inaugural voyages or seasons almost universally. For instance SH Vega, Disney Wish and Norwegian Prima (below) have all cancelled numerous inaugural voyages or the inaugural season. Seabourn Venture is also very very late (due next month).” 

Tue Jun 14th:  Moving forward!   Viking Ocean announced today that it is dropping pre-cruise Covid testing and onboard masks are now optional.   Viking also reports “exceptional” bookings for their near dozen 930-passenger ships.  

Wed Jun 15th:  Safety Recommendation!   In a feature story, a travel writer suggests the “safest” way to travel these days.  “Although the worst parts of the COVID-19 pandemic seem to be behind us, it’s understandable if you’re still hesitant to cruise right now. Apart from the usual logistics involved with cruising, you now must deal with new vaccination requirements, pre-cruise testing requirements and a slew of other mandates imposed by lines and the countries that cruise ships visit. You also may still be worried about the risk of getting COVID-19 on a cruise. If that describes you, I have a recommendation for a type of voyage that might just be the best there is for keeping you in a COVID-19-free bubble: A transatlantic voyage on Cunard Line‘s iconic Queen Mary 2.”

The writer concluded, “I’m currently sailing on the ship, a classic ocean liner that does week-long crossings between New York’s Red Hook terminal in Brooklyn and Southampton in the United Kingdom. Due to the nature of the voyage and the requirements for boarding, this could be not only one of the safest voyages right now but also one of the safest ways to travel, period!”

The Golden Age of Hollywood!  A grand collection of both Hollywood & theater memorabilia is going to the auction block.  The preview catalog is fascinating, but catching our eye was a signed photo from Bert Lahr as the cowardly lion from 1939’s classic The Wizard of Oz.   Minimum bid:   $12,000.

Thu Jun 16th Looking Ahead!   MSC’s huge and exciting MSC World Europa is due out in Dec and look how big cruise ship décor is evolving (below).   The nearly 206,000 gross ship will carry up to 6,762 passengers in 2,626 cabins, have a crew of 2,138 and measure 1092 ft from stem to stern.

Looking for something different – say Milwaukee to Antarctica?  For those looking to make up for travel time lost during the pandemic, Viking Cruises might have the answer. The cruise line recently announced two all-new “longitudinal” trips—moving north to south or south to north—where guests will travel between the Great Lakes and Antarctica over the course of 65 days. 

Passengers on the first sailing, called a “Longitudinal World Cruise I,” will meet in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Mar 2nd 2023, before flying to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in Argentina, to board the Viking Octantis and head directly to Antarctica for a week. From there, it’s back across the Drake Passage and up the coast of Chile, where blue-tinged glaciers, dizzying fjords, and national parks are on the itinerary through the end of the first month. Then it’s onwards to Peru, Ecuador, through the Panama Canal and the Gulf of Mexico, before enjoying East Coast cities like Fort Lauderdale, Charleston, and New York City. The final two weeks explore various Canadian coastal cities on the St. Lawrence River and communities in the Great Lakes region before wrapping in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on May 5th. 

The second sailing (appropriately called “Longitudinal World Cruise II”) is essentially the same, but in reverse and on the Octantis’s sister ship, the Viking Polaris. The few alterations include embarkation in Duluth, Minnesota (on Sep 12th) and some changes in the Great Lakes and Canada ports (for example, it spends time in Georgian Bay, Canada, while its predecessor visits Detroit, Michigan). The second sailing wraps up on Nov 12th (for those counting, that’s 71 days later). 

Broadcast!  Chris Frame is a top-class maritime author, cruise journalist & shipboard speaker.  From down in his native Australia, he writes:  “I’ve now been back to sea aboard Pacific Explorer. So wonderful!”  But two years ago, in the height of the pandemic, we looked at the largely paralyzed cruise industry.  Here’s a look back;   https://youtu.be/UUNqwH7VBPE

The Saga Rose in Sydney harbor (Mar 2005)

News desk!  The luxurious Crystal Endeavour has gone to the auction block and been grabbed by Silversea Cruises.  Meanwhile, the Crystal Symphony has reportedly been sold for some $25 million to an unknown British company called CSY.   But the Crystal Serenity, priced at $100 million, had yet to be sold off as of today.  And within the vast Genting Hong Kong dispersal, the 2nd of the huge, 9,000-passenger pair has been incomplete at the bankrupted MV Werften shipyard in Germany.   The hull of the proposed but unnamed 208,000-ton ship will now be scrapped.  Some components and the engines will be sold off.    … Within the huge Carnival fleet and like checkers on a board, the Costa Luminosa is now moving over to Carnival Cruise Lines.  

PS:   By late day, the 19-yr-old Serenity was sold off as well – for $103 million.  Again, actual owners uncertain – masked as something called CSY.

Global event heads unite

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Global event heads unite

London, July 12, 2022: A focused group of senior event leaders has today announced a new collaboration for the global events industry in the form of the Event Leaders Exchange (ELX).  

ELX is a community of practice including sharing of best practices, industry research, networking and industry initiatives and to-date, ELX members have held sessions on critical topics such as DEI and sustainability to find immediate and realistic paths forward that can be shared across corporations. Meetings are held throughout the year both in-person and via cross industry virtual sessions with all content, discussions and approach shaped by its impressive steering committee. The steering group features senior event leaders from the likes of McDonald’s, Microsoft, Siemens, Cisco Systems and Wolters Kulwer.  

This initiative is the brainchild of some large corporate leaders and is organized and facilitated by veterans Kimberly Meyer, David Kliman, Chloe Richardson and Mark Brewster.  First meetings were held in September 2021 with a series of invitation-only think tanks to support c-suite event professionals navigating the evolution of events taking place post-pandemic. 

Angie Ahrens, director of global events for MRI Software comments: 

“I really love being part of the ELX, it’s an opportunity for all of us to get together and strategize for the future and create content for the now and tomorrow.”

In addition to the existing hot topics of DEI and sustainability, upcoming ELX sessions will center around other pressing challenges such as people and culture and benchmarking. The group will also begin commissioning proprietary research and conducting benchmarking shortly. All conversations take place under the Chatham House Rule to promote open and honest discussions which members maintain is the key value unique to the network. 

Kimberly Meyer, ELX co-founder says: 

“ELX is clearly a place where the leaders of corporate programs can get candid insights, ideas and support from other leaders navigating major meeting and event portfolios.  And together, we’ll be able to drive some important initiatives forward across the industry in weeks, not years.  To do this effectively, ELX will remain invitation-only to corporate senior meeting & event leaders.”

Georg P. Huber, director of central event management, Allianz AG Germany adds:

“The ELX are leaders from across industries sharing experiences and showcasing solutions for challenges we all see in our everyday business. The group culture and cross border network is the perfect host I am glad to be part of.”

For more information about ELX www.eventleaders.com 

If you’d like to contact the team:  contact@eventleaders.com 

For all media enquiries please contact k.whatley@explori.com