by Gaetana Caldwell-Smith The musical "Hooray for What!" was presented in November by 42nd Street Moon Productions at San Francisco’s Eureka Theatre. The company is noted for presenting concert performances of overlooked, classic, and "lost’ musicals. "Hooray" is a delightful, rollicking 1930s musical satire about war profiteering. Its lyricist, Edgar Yepsil "Yip" Harburg, was born … Continue reading Review of the Musical “Hooray for What!” →

By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH Dario Fo, clown, prolific writer, and playwright, has been denounced by the Vatican. He has been to court in Italy for "contributing to criminal acts" with his satirical jabs at the Pope's stance on abortion. In the 1970s and 80s, he was barred from the United States under the McCarren Act. Invited … Continue reading Two Comic Artists Speak for the Oppressed →

By JOHN POTTINGER "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal," by Eric Schlosser. Perennial of HarperCollins Publishers, 2002. 383 pp., $13.95.   "As American as a small, rectangular, hand-held, frozen, and reheated apple pie."   Far from being a run-of-the-mill exposé on calories and fat grams in fast food, "Fast Food Nation" … Continue reading BOOK REVIEW: Fast Food Nation →

By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH   To celebrate the 75th anniversary of Fritz Lang's classic film "Metropolis," Kino International is presenting a digitally restored print worldwide. Look for its appearance in theaters across the United States. When the film was made in 1927 Germany, many idealists thought it preposterous that, in the future, men would be slaves … Continue reading Return of the Worker Robots →

By JOE AUCIELLO Kate Braverman, "The Incantation of Frida K," (New York: Seven Stories Press, 2002), 235 pp., $23.95, Meaghan Delahunt, "In the Casa Azul,"(New York: St. Martin's Press, 2002), 308 pp., $23.95 During the past two decades Mexican painter Frida Kahlo has captured the popular imagination as few artists do. Following the appearance of … Continue reading Two Fanciful Books on Frida Kahlo →

By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH The film "Minority Report" is based on a short-story by Philip K. Dick, who also wrote the novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" from which the movie "Blade Runner" was made. But "Report," which takes place in 2054, bears little of the gritty, dark look of "Blade Runner." Steven Spielberg made … Continue reading Science Fiction Film of Our Post-Ashcroft Future? →

By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH REBEL WITHOUT A PAUSE. Written and performed by Reno. June 18-23, BRAVA Center for the Arts, San Francisco. Comic monologist Reno opened her first showing on the West Coast of "Rebel Without a Pause" at BRAVA Theater Center on June 18 for a six-day run. Reno has the physicality of Harpo Marx, … Continue reading Reno: Rebel Social Critic. She’s Funny Too →

By JEFF MACKLER Steve Gould, among the nation's most prolific and likely its most popular science writer, died of cancer on May 21. He was 60 years old. With the publication of his magnum opus last year, the 1433-page "Structure of Evolutionary Theory," he left to his colleagues and to others who marvel at the … Continue reading Stephen Jay Gould, a Man for All Seasons →

By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH The title of Arthur Miller's play, "After the Fall," performed recently at Speakeasy Theatre in Berkeley, invites speculation. Some say it refers to the Biblical fall of innocence; others, the suicide of Marilyn Monroe, who once was married to Miller. Still others contend that the title has to do with the breakup … Continue reading Sex, Politics and the American Way →

"Ali," directed by Michael Mann, starring Will Smith, Mario Van Peebles, JonVoight. A Columbia Pictures release, 2001 (rated R, 158 min.) By JOE AUCIELLO No Black man in 20th century America was more famous than Muhammad Ali-not Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, or Jesse Jackson. Who else could be, … Continue reading MOVIE REVIEW:’Ali’ is Good… but not the Greatest! →

By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH Philosopher and essayist Susan Sontag was skewered for voicing in The New Yorker her analysis of the atrocities of 9/11, which countered those of Bush's government spokespersons and the media pundits who pontificate on television news, talk shows, and in mainstream newspapers like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. … Continue reading Artists Who Speak Out →

Based in Spain and France, Orishas is an Afro-Cuban hip-hop group that represents a new generation of Cuban music. The lyrics on their first CD, "A lo cubano," rapped in Spanish and French, are a celebration of life, with a good dose of reality. "We have destroyed a lot of preconceived ideas of what Latin … Continue reading MUSIC: Orishas: ‘A lo Cubano’ →

By LEONARDO HECHAVARRIA & MARCEL HATCH   "Before Night Falls" is not a crude "Reefer Madness" type of scare flick. Instead, it's finely crafted cinema, with strong performances by a top-flight international cast featuring Javier Bardem, Olivier Martinez, Andrea Di Stefano, Johnny Depp, and Sean Penn. This U.S. production, directed by Julian Schnabel and shot … Continue reading FILM REVIEW: Before Night Falls →

By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH Internationally known monologuist Josh Kornbluth-an admitted nerd, bald, with a fringe of long, frizzled hair-said he wrote "Red Diaper Baby" to show what it was like to grow up with Communist Party parents in the 1950s. Kornbluth's mother and father were among the hundreds of thousands of people who had passed through … Continue reading Theater Review: Red Diaper Baby →

By MICHAEL SCHREIBER I was intrigued by Gaetana Caldwell-Smith's review of Ellen Gavin's new play, Apertura Modotti, in last month's Socialist Action. The play follows the life of Tina Modotti, the photographer, actress, and political activist who died under unclear circumstances in 1942 in Mexico City. According to the playwright, Modotti in her last years was in … Continue reading The Not So Fabulous Life of Tina Modotti →

By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH The play "Master Harold" ... and the Boys ended its month-long run at ACT in San Francisco on June 3. Playwright Athol Fugard begins and ends his play with the characters Sam and Willie practicing ballroom dancing. Dancing could be seen throughout the production as a metaphor for the way life should … Continue reading SF Revival of Fugard’s Apartheid-Era Masterpiece →

"Let me write the songs of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws." - attributed to Daniel O'Connell, Irish Nationalist (1775-1847)   The recent Rap Summit in New York, organized by hip-hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons, and supported by leading industry, political, academic, and cultural figures, speaks volumes, not so much of the … Continue reading Commentary by Mumia Abu-Jamal: On Rapping Rap →