Since her junior high school days in 1955, Bobbie Farberow participated in one Chanukah tradition that has stayed exactly the same: a party with five of her closest girlfriends’Helen Katz, Gloria Crane, Anne Geffner, Maureen Bordan and Tova Weltman. On Tuesday, the six women met once again to celebrate the holiday. Farberow, owner of Mort’s Deli, explained why the party is late this year and has been since their children grew up. “Many of us don’t have children who live in Los Angeles, so we travel to see them over the holiday; the friends get together afterwards.” Their custom started when all were eighth and ninth graders at John Burrows Junior High School. The six girls lived in Fairfax-area apartment duplexes in close proximity to each other. “We walked places together and stayed at each other’s houses,” Farberow said. “On my first date with Mort, my friends were all at my house when he picked me up. He took one look at the five of them and said, ‘Maybe we should stay home.'” The six did everything together. “We even smoked our first cigarettes together,” Farberow reminisces. “All of us were together the summer we turned 16’and all met our husbands during that summer.” The friends and families were so close that when Helen decided to marry her boyfriend Sid, she brought him to meet Farberow’s father, Al Cordish, and get his approval. As each woman married, they were not only in the others’ weddings, but they shared bridesmaid dresses: Gloria even wore Bobbie’s wedding dress. After marriage all went to different colleges and down different career paths. Bobbie went to L.A. City College and then graduated with the first graduating class with a degree in education from San Fernando College, which became Cal State Northridge. The Education department even gave Bobbie and Mort their wedding shower. Until recently retiring, Gloria, who lives in Beverlywood, was the Regional Director of the Jewish Federation. Ann, who lives in Century City, was a preschool director and has written two children’s books. Maureen was a teacher and lived in the Highlands until she recently retired with her husband to Carmel. Katz lives in Los Feliz and Tova is a travel agent who lives in Bel Air. All still remain close friends. “When we were younger, none of us could afford to go out to dinner,” Farberow said. “We went to each others’ houses. “We all struggled and that’s the way it was,” she says. “I stayed home with my kids, so we didn’t have a lot of furniture the first seven or eight years. Mort and I decided that since he was away so much, one of us should stay with our children.” The friends were supportive of each other. When Mort opened his butcher shop all of their friends came to buy meat from him. The friends talked to each other often. There was one unwritten rule in their relationship. “We have never ever said a bad word about anyone else’s husband,” Farberow said. “It was off-limits.” Their 11 children grew up thinking of each other as cousins. “When they were little,” Farberow said, “They’d ask how they were related.” Through the years, the six women have given baby and wedding showers for the children and 16 grandchildren. “We recently had a baby shower for Gloria’s youngest child,” Farberow said. The six friends rotate who gives the showers. “We never compared who had the best houses or cars,” Farberow said. “Our friendship went deeper than that and still does.” The six women shared similar values, the commitment towards working through problems and hard work. It seems as if it’s a different age now. Recently one of the friends told Farberow, “The rest of the world is crazy, except for us.” When the friends started turning 60 they celebrated each of the six birthdays exactly the same way. They all went away together for the weekend to Santa Barbara without their spouses or children. On one of the getaways, they had brunch at the house of Gail Moss, another high school friend and the editor of Architectural Digest. They celebrated their 65th birthdays by going out to dinner, the other five planning the sixth’s party. When they first started the Chanukkah tradition it was only the six women. Once they had children they brought them to the party as well. It’s only been in the past few years that they’ve started including husbands. Except for Ann, who is divorced, and Bobbie, who is widowed, all are still married to the men they met when they were 16. “We all bring a $10 gift to the party and do an exchange,” Farberow said. “We also celebrate Passover together, but it’s usually after the holiday. I thought at this stage in my life, I’d have nothing but time for my friends.” It’s an amazing story of six friends who have stayed together longer than most people stay married. Even Farberow admits, “I don’t know what made the magic.” For an outsider, it becomes clear the magic clearly comes from women who share similar values and who served as an extended family for each other, helping to raise each other’s children and supporting each other during good times and bad.
Council Eyes Postal Woes, Adopts Guiding Principles
“There is no functioning management that I can identify,” said Community Council chairman Kurt Toppel last Thursday night as he described his ongoing frustrations dealing with the U.S. Postal Service here and in downtown Los Angeles. In his opening remarks at the council’s meeting in the library, which was covered by Fox News 11 and Channel 13, Toppel addressed postal delivery woes in Pacific Palisades’and beyond. “For over three months now, we have tried unsuccessfully to have post office management address our council, and thus our community, to respond to specific problems. These problems started last summer with the closure of the Marina del Rey processing facility, which served some 12 postal areas. Since that time we have had three different postmasters or managers in charge, the latest of whom started Monday (January 9).” After detailing delivery complaints that are by now familiar to most Palisades households’delivery well past 5 p.m., late arrival of time-sensitive mail such as credit card statements, letters delivered to the wrong address’Toppel argued that it is “grossly unfair to try to shift responsibility for problems to the ‘worker bees’ who do an amazing job considering the lack of management and significant delays caused by outdated and ill-maintained equipment.” Noting that he had communicated with Congressman Henry Waxman’s L.A. office, Toppel said: “I have been told that so many complaints about postal services have been received, that Waxman has started an official inquiry into the matter in Washington.” Barbara Cohen, an officer of the Pacific Palisades Residents Association, described the frustrating experience her organization had last November when 10,000 newsletters announcing the group’s annual meeting were inexplicably delayed in the postal service system’ “even though we paid to have them pre-addressed and sorted by carrier route. They finally arrived in the mail less than a week before the meeting, or not at all. “We contacted Waxman’s office on December 1 and they were going to investigate. We are awaiting the results of that investigation.” In other Community Council action, members approved version one of three proposed versions regarding establishment of Guiding Principles for Planning and Zoning Variances, Variations and Exceptions, as related to land-use, structures and vegetation. The vote was taken, following a broad discussion, in order to create a consistent basis for future council action. The approved version reads: “The PPCC maintains that planning and zoning regulations, building codes, rules, restrictions, and ordinances have been established for the good of the community. They should be applied, upheld and enforced by the Zoning Administrator, Building and Safety, and other governing bodies with jurisdiction over the approval, execution and enforcement processes. PPCC’s position shall be to oppose in principle any request for variances, variations, or exceptions from established building codes, rules, restrictions, and ordinances and any other legal measures which govern land use, structures and vegetation. On a case-by-case basis the PPCC may support such requests if the proposed project positively affects health and safety, or is in the best interest of the neighborhood or the community in general. PPCC may take a formal position on an individual issue pertaining to variances, variations, or exceptions when requested to do so. PPCC expects governing bodies to notify all affected parties of any proposed developments or requests for variances from codes and regulations as well as proposed, approved or pending changes to such regulations.” Said Toppel in a statement following the meeting, “The adoption of the Guiding Principles not only benefits this community, but interest has been voiced by other Community Councils in Council District 11 to use them in a uniform manner for the district in general.”
Gast Builds Collection at Palisades Library
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
If you can’t find a particular book at the Palisades Branch Library, you might want to tell the new senior librarian, Janet Gast. She’ll write it down on her list of books, audiocassettes, CDs, videos and DVDs that need to be ordered for the growing collection. She’s been adding science, history and literature books to the collection since she started on September 7. “Science” includes animals, technology and home improvement. “There are gaps in this collection and we’re trying to fill them,” says Gast, who ordered 150 books this month and has been spending “a few thousand dollars every month” on collection development. “We’re buying a lot more classics and college preparatory books.” She says some patrons might be interested to know that the library is beefing up its classics section with novels by Agatha Christie, Jane Austen and William Faulkner, among others. She also ordered “The Diary of Anne Frank,” which the library didn’t own. “We buy the ‘best of breed”the best there is to offer in [an individual] category,” says Gast, who describes the Palisades as “a very literary area, a high reading area.” “The community is very well-mannered, well-educated and docile”‘”not as aggressive” as the patrons who used the West Valley Regional branch in Reseda, where she formerly worked as adult librarian. Gast lives in Tarzana, and her long commute to get here is the one downside to her job. A native of West Los Angeles, she has worked as a librarian with the L.A. Public Library for more than 30 years at about 10 different branches, and substituted at more. “This is not the busiest library,” she says of the Palisades Branch, but adds that “we’re open extended hours’until 8 p.m.” The library is open until 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and until 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. According to Gast, children make up about half the circulation and they check out books for school assignments, as well as CDs and DVDs for entertainment. Patrons can check out best-sellers for 25 cents a day through the library’s “Project Bestsellers” program. The active Friends of the Palisades Branch Library group donates $50,000 to $70,000 a year to help the library fund the purchase of books, audiobooks, music on CD, video recordings and DVDs, as well as children’s programs and refreshments, library furniture and maintenance. The group raises money through periodic used book sales in the parking lot. They also sponsor authors’ programs, says Gast, who has a lot of experience working with Friends groups. She also brings her friendly attitude and sweet spirit to the Palisades library. “Come on in!” she tells an employee waiting politely at the door of her office, which is located at the front of the library, overlooking the parking lot on Alma Real. “She is warm and approachable and loves input from patrons on what they would like to see on the shelves,” wrote Alice Inglis, president of the Pacific Palisades Library Association, in the fall Biblio-File newsletter. Part of the reason Gast chose to pursue a career as a librarian was because, as a child, “we had family friends who were librarians and they seemed happy.” She attended University High School and then went on to UCLA, where she majored in literature and minored in science before going to the library school in 1971. “I was one of the last ones to graduate in [UCLA’s] one-year program.” She started cataloging books at a library in Kern County and then joined the El Sereno library as a young adult librarian. That’s when the fun began. “I decided to do a fashion show program for the community,” says Gast, who went around to the local dress shops in search of outfits to model. While working at a branch library in the East Valley, she helped start the “Book Blitz,” a program in which librarians in the region would get together and go to one school a month to talk about books and services. About 10 years ago, she and a librarian at the Central Library in downtown L.A. put SAT and AP (Advanced Placement test) study guides into the system. “They didn’t have college directories either,” she says of libraries at the time. Certainly, times have changed. Being a librarian used to be about “classics and books,” she says. Now, “it’s technology”‘books on tape and DVDs. “I don’t think people read as much. I don’t think they can write as well either.” But she shrugs off the changes, saying “It’s okay.” A mother of three grown children, Gast says “I kind of know what young people like.” She’s noticed that children check out more books at once these days, whereas when she was growing up, she’d check out one or two at a time. Her mother started taking her to the West L.A. Regional Branch at Santa Monica and Federal when she was in first grade, around the time when she was learning to read. “I remember my mother putting in [postal] reserves. They were 2 cents, then 25 cents; now they’re free.” According to Gast, one of the underused sections at the Palisades Branch might be the general nonfiction section’history, social sciences and philosophy. She is a nonfiction reader herself. “I read the newspaper,” she says. “I read the L.A. Times every morning. I can’t leave the house without reading it. I like to be informed.” One of her favorite sections is business, because she believes it affects what goes in the other sections. Gast encourages people to check out the databases on the Los Angeles Public Library Web site, www.lapl.org. The categories range from health to history, geography and genealogy to U.S. government documents. “We’re like a little Yahoo!” But nothing beats making a personal trip to the library. “Come visit me,” Gast says.
YMCA Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Marks Their Grand Reopening
Palisades-Malibu YMCA Board Chair Duke Ostendoff was joined by honorary mayor Steve Guttenberg and Chamber of Commerce President Sandy Eddy for a ribbon cutting ceremony Friday morning to signify the grand re-opening of the facility and the recent installation of over 40 new exercise machines. The ceremony took place at the front entry-way of the facility at tk Via de la Paz. “I’ve been a YMCA member since the mid-90’s and I’m absolutely thrilled by the rebirth of this facility,” Eddy said in a short speech. “It’s a renaissance for the Y with all the changes they’re making. I enjoy coming here.” While the ceremony was going on outside, several people were inside utilizing the new equipment, including local tri-athlete Dr. Jody Margulies, who participates in about five sprint races a year. These races consist of a one-mile swim, 24.8-mile bike ride and a 6.2-mile run. Y-trainer Kendrick Hughes was overseeing her work-out. “We’re catering to a wider clientele with this new equipment,” Hughes said. “Sixty percent of our current membership consists of people 50 years of age or older. All of this new equipment helps to make this one of the best gyms in the Palisades. “We can now accommodate all sorts of people from those who simply want to get in shape to serious power lifters. The only thing missing is a spa area, like a steam room or sauna.” Lew Schneider, the executive producer of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” was in the middle of a workout. “I like it here because there is ‘no scene’–you can put total concentration into your workout,” he said. “The community aspect of the Y is important. I like supporting a community business.” Membership Director Lionell Zaragoza said he mailed out guest passes to the community prior to the ceremony offering a free workout. “The YMCA came to the Pacific Palisades over 40 years ago,” said Executive Director Carol Pfannkuche. “We’ve grown and changed to involve more and more residents in our healthy activities and programs. We welcome people in the community to stop by anytime.”
Revere Soccer Starts Strong
If the first game was any indication, Paul Revere Middle School can expect good things from its girls soccer program this season. The Roughriders shut out Santa Fe Springs St. Paul, 6-0, in their season opener last Wednesday at the Revere field. Third-year coach Jeanne Goldsmith believes this could be Revere’s best team yet–even better than last year’s undefeated squad. “This sport is growing and growing,” said Goldsmith, whose older daughter Laura is a freshman on the Palisades High team and whose younger daughter Zoe plays AYSO. “We had over 40 girls try out this season and we kept 23 on the team, which is more than we planned on having. About 15 of the girls play club, so we have a strong group.” With fellow coach Nancy Babcock, Goldsmith has worked with the school’s after-school program coordinators Paul and Stacey Foxson and AYSO region 69 Commissioner Debbie Held, who has generously supplied referees for Revere’s games. The Roughriders’ roster consists of eighth-graders Yazmin Tabatabai, Veronica Bouza, Molly Meek and Emma Carter, seventh-graders Kathryn Gaskin (who scored three goals against St. Paul), Samantha Elander (one goal against St. Paul), Kiki Bailey, Brittany Aliado, Hannah Longaker, Katy Takajian, Sheyla Garcia, Judy Borah, Ariel Wexler and Hannah Gross and sixth-graders Melisa Tallis (two goals against St. Paul), Eve Babcock, Zoe Aliado, Ava Avuchi, Deborah Abber, Clara Clymer, Katie Van Daalen Letters, Morgan Ekstrom and Brittany Butler. Revere hosts Archer Academy on Monday and St. Matthew’s on Tuesday. Both games kick off at 3:45 p.m. Revere and St. Matthew’s tied 1-1 in the rain last season.
Sin Nombres Advance to AYSO Sectionals
The Sin Nombres, the Palisades’ under-14 league winners, enjoyed a fantastic weekend at the American Youth Soccer Organization Area Championships in Santa Monica last weekend, finishing second in the tournament. Coached by Nancy Babcock and David Hindshaw, the Sin Nombres will advance to the Sectional Championships in Riverside in March. The Sin Nombres shut out Hollywood, 7-0, in their first round game thanks to the scoring prowess and assists of Augie Bernstein and Aaron Schwartz. Schwartz scored three goals, Bernstein added two and Lawrence Kondra and Kourosh Adlparvar each added one. In their second game, the Sin Nombres beat Beverly Hills thanks to a goal by Schwartz on an assist by Cooper Babcock. Defenders Ben Asoulin, Alex Hindshaw, Sam Karp and Oliver Nassiri proved impenetrable. Goalie Mack Fraser made a diving save to preserve the victory. In its final game, Sin Nombre battled Santa Monica to a 1-1 tie through regulation before losing n overtime. Midfielders Alec Kerbox, Sam Gleitman and Vince Van Norden also contributed to the Sin Nombres’ success. “Considering that much of the season we were in third or fourth place and we won our league and now advance to sectionals–it’s pretty awesome,” Babcock said. “Our defenders are the reason we made it this far. You have to score goals but first you nust defend against them. Our back line is pretty unstoppable. David and I are really proud of these guys,” Babcock said. U-12 Boys The Palisades Banditz all-stars won the Corona Flight of the Pony Express Invitational last weekend. Under the leadership of coach Gary Gray said, Pali beat Riverside 3-0, Palos Verdes 8-0 and Manhattan Beach 6-2. In the semifinals, Pali shut out Culver City 5-0. Then, in the finals, the Banditz met Manhattan Beach again on a larger field and this time won 2-0. The Banditz are comprised mainly of players that started together as 9-year olds. They have played over 150 games in the three years they’ve been together and won over two thirds of them. They have won both tournaments they have played so far this season, scoring 42 goals and allowing three. “Our goalie, Jake Tenzer, has had games where’s he’s barely touched the ball,” Gray said. “We have such a stong defense with Ryan Kahn, Chase Pion, Nick Ledesma, Charlie Porter, Quaid Walker, Jordon Lewis and Cole Kahrilas, that Tenzer often doesn’t have anything to do.” While the Banditz were winning their Flight, the Palisades Burners finished third in the Norco flight. Coached by Peter Gilhuly, Phil Fier and Ron Dorfman, the Burners won all three of their pool games, lost in the semifinals, then won the third-place game. Matthew Bailey scored 6 goals, Dylan Coleman had three and Danny Rapaport added two. Chad Kanoff and Chris Sebastian played goalie and in the field. Clinton Hooks, Calvin Ross and Jordan Fier applied tight defense and Joe Rosenbaum was consistent at stopper. Garrett Swanky, Justin Ruder, Ty Gilhuly and Kyle Warner controlled the midfield with numerous assists between them. Joe Dorfman played superbly all over the field. The Burners improved to 6-1-2. U-12 Girls The Pali Storm upped its record to 10-2-1 by winning four of its five games at the Pony Express Invitational to finish third among 10 teams last weekend. In the opening game, Pali bested Diamond Bar, 4-1. Nicole Hirschhorn scored in the first minute and Lily McGuire made it 2-0 in the fifth minute. Izzy DeSantis and Jordan Gruber scored in the fourth quarter. On Sunday, Pali shut out Perris, 5-0, with three goals in the first five minutes of the game. Natasha Wachtel scored in the second minute followed almost instantly by goals from McGuire and DeSantis. Wachtel and Zoe Aliado added goals in the fourth quarter. Pali then shut out Riverside, 3-0, on goals by McGuire, Wachtel, and Jordan Gruber. In Monday morning’s semifinal, Pali lost to Mira Mesa 2-0. But the Storm rebounded to blank Camarillo, 2-0, on goals from Wachtel and Eve Babcock. Other players contributing to the Storm’s success were defenders Sarah Thorson, Deborah Abber, Jenna Davis and Kei Goldberg and midfielder Grady Gitlin. U-10 Boys The Palisades Ferrets, coached by Fredrik Gillette, won their age division at the Pony Express Invitational by scoring 23 goals and allowing two in five games. The Ferrets beat Jurupa’s all-stars, 5-0, in the championship game. The defense of Blake Gillette, John Stapke, and Drew Pion allowed midfielders Nick Knight and Jono Klein to create opportunities for strikers Cory Abdalla, Jake Mindel and Ethan Erickson. U-10 Girls The Pali-Cats, coached by Steve Morris, scratched and clawed their way into the finals of last weekend’s Corona/Norco Pony Express. With an offense powered by Mackenzie Gray, Mikaela Hong, Emma Sanderson, Mackenzie Howe and Dani Cohen, the Cats scored 21 goals in the tournament. The defense was anchored by Emma Schwartz, Dori Morris, Lizzy Thomas and Maya Schneiderman yielded only four goals in five games. But the Cats ran out of lives in the final against Corona/Norco, losing 4-3 in a penalty kick shootout.
Pali Teams Begin League Play
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
The Palisades High boys varsity basketball team began the season with the same goal it always has: make the City Championship playoffs. Of course, playing in the same league as Westchester and Fairfax makes that task all the more difficult, but coach James Paleno’s squad took its first two steps towards accomplishing that goal with victories in its first two Western League games. The Dolphins (9-7 overall, 2-0 in league) opened at home against Hamilton–a team they had easily defeated two weeks earlier in the Beverly Hills Tournament. Predictably, the rematch was much closer. Pali got off to a sluggish start but prevailed, 67-56. Pali then passed its first road test with a 77-57 win at University. Senior forward Marshall Johnson sparked a 24-7 third-quarter run with three consecutive baskets and finished with 17 points. Sophomore guard Taylor Shipley added 15 points and six assists. The Dolphins hosted Venice yesterday tied for first place (the result unavailable at press time). However, the upcoming schedule is much more difficult. Pali hosts national power Fairfax Friday night at 7 p.m. and hosts Westchester, another team ranked among the Top 10 in the state, next Wednesday at 4 p.m. Girls Basketball Ronda Crowley’s varsity squad split its first two league games, beating host Hamilton 45-33 last Wednesday and losing at home to University, 66-51, last Friday. Against the Yankees, Palisades built a 26-16 halftime lead and never relinquished it. Against the Wildcats, senior forward Megan Coulter led the way for the Dolphins (5-6, 1-1) with 18 points. Boys Soccer Despite outplaying its first three opposition for most of its first three league games, the PaliHi varsity team has but one win and two ties to show for its efforts. The Dolphins opened league with an impressive 3-1 win at Hamilton on January 10. Palisades tied Venice, 1-1, on Tuesday despite outshooting the host Gondos by a wide margin. Francesco Coco scored in the first half off of a throw-in by Henry Argueta. Venice got the equalizer when a loose ball went in off of a Pali defender. Playing its first night game of the season, Palisades tied University, 2-2, last Thursday at Stadium by the Sea. Osbaldo Garcia scored unassisted in the 22nd minute and the Dolphins led 1-0 at halftime. Uni tied the game in the 52nd minute. Henry Argueta gave Pali a 2-1 lead in the 77th minute off of an assist by Carlos Artega. Then, in injury time, moments before the final whistle, Uni scored to tie the game again. Palisades (2-5-2, 1-0-2) travels to Fairfax this afternoon. Girls Soccer The Dolphins (5-3-2, 2-0) have started off Western League play on the right foot, winning their first three games. Tonight at 7, Palisades’ varsity hosts Fairfax, also undefeated in league, with first place on the line. In its league opener last Tuesday night at Stadium by the Sea, Lucy Miller scored twice in a 3-1 victory over Hamilton–a game that was called with 15 minutes left when Pali’s Lauren Cutler suffered a deep gash just below her knee and had to be taken to St. John’s Hospital for stitches. Cutler was supposed to have the stitches removed yesterday and the Dolphins are hoping to have her back in the lineup in time for the playoffs. Miller’s first goal against the Yankees came on free kick from 23 yards out in the 16th minute. She scored again on a breakaway two minutes later. Kelly Mickel added a goal on a shot through the goalie’s legs just before halftime. Miller scored three more goals and Mickel and Sarah Palladino each added a goal in Palisades’ 5-0 shutout of host University last Thursday. Then, on Tuesday afternoon, Pali kept the ball on the Venice half of the field for 72 of the 80 minutes on its way to a 2-0 win. Miller and Samantha McCamey scored the goals.
‘Will to Win’ at Pali Film Fest
By KAREN LEIGH Palisadian-Post Contributor Here’s an unusual recipe for success: four folding chairs, Palisades High School drama students with imagination, and a good old king named Lear. Add in one big goal’conquering the Drama Teachers’ Association of Southern California’s (DTASC) annual Shakespeare Festival’and cameras to film the journey, and you’ve got “Will to Win,” a documentary making its world premiere later this month as part of our local Friends of Film series. Prior to becoming head of PaliHi’s film/video department, “Win” director Kerry Feltham had also directed “Waltzing Policeman,” an official entry to the 1970 Cannes Film Festival. He produced television documentaries on subjects as varied as women in the Israeli Army, singer Louis Armstrong, and train spotters. And like other auteurs who capture real life, he is always on the lookout for new projects. “When you make a film, make sure you do it on people who are passionate about something,” Feltham says. “When I got to Pali, right at the beginning, I realized that the drama kids were emotionally involved in what they were doing.” He and writing partner and wife Diane Grant decided the young thespians’ quest to win DTASC’s annual Shakespeare Festival would make for interesting viewing. Every year, DTASC rules keep wannabe Shakespeareans on their toes, mandating that schools must divide students into groups no larger than 10. Those clusters must then appoint directors, create short scenes from the Bard’s full-length works, and visually transport audiences’and judges’with four folding chairs as their only stage props. Feltham’s cameras captured PaliHi students as they streamlined “King Lear” and “Merry Wives of Windsor” for the spring 2004 festival and, with costumes banned from competition, invented unique ways of color-coordinating outfits. “They were really concentrating,” he says of the students, who often practiced Shakespearean accents just feet away from a camera lens. “They barely realized I was around.” PaliHi differed from other schools in that drama department head Victoria Francis allowed students not only to act in the scenes, but direct. Palisadian Amy Gumenick, now a sophomore at UC Santa Barbara, directed “The Winter’s Tale.” “At first it was a bit awkward trying to get my cast’as well as myself!’to focus, and lead rehearsal as if no one was watching,” she says, “but we quickly got used to it and embraced the camera as simply another cast member.” Amy is one of several students whose individual story is featured in “Will to Win.” Viewers see Erica Horn board a school bus early to trek from South Central L.A. in time for morning drama class. Later we drive near the ocean and stop at Coffee Bean with Palisades resident Kallie Kerns. “They were just so stoked to be in drama, rehearsing ’til whatever hour they had to,” Feltham said. So was Feltham himself, judging from his 25 hours of dailies ‘ and the year it took to edit the film, which now clocks in at 82 minutes. Gumenick enjoys the fact that her experience has now been documented “in a way that can be kept for generations to come ‘ being part of this project was truly an honor.” Feltham’s favorite moment of the festival was “seeing people do things really, really well. Like seeing Kallie direct! These kids are better than a lot of professional actors working today.” They have stamina, too, which pleased the filmmaker. “I’m surprised by the way they all self-started. The dedication was tremendous.” That will to win was on display in the raw moments caught on tape, such as one student’s day-of-festival confession to a friend that “I didn’t sleep at all last night.” Then there was Kallie’s interview outtake’after a lengthy ramble on rehearsal particulars, she bubbled, “I’m being really spastic, I’m sorry. I’m just so happy when I talk about this.” That passion is still there’as Amy says now, the movie “gave us all a little taste of stardom.” The world premiere of “Will to Win” is presented by the Friends of Film on Saturday, January 29, at 7 p.m., 941 Temescal Canyon Road in Pacific Palisades. Tickets are $30 per head as part of a benefit to raise money for a new theater to house the award-winning PaliHi thespians. (DVD copies of the movie are available at www.kerryfeltham.com.) Call: 454-1970.
‘Bad Seed’: A Haunting Production
Theater Review
When William March wrote his novel “The Bad Seed” in 1954, the question he asked in his novel was “Can sociopathic tendencies be inherited?” It’s a thoughtful, provocative question that analyzes the effects of environment versus genetics and is still relevant today. His book was adapted for the stage by Maxwell Anderson and ran successfully on Broadway. In 1957 it was adapted to the screen and won several Academy Award nominations. The story revolves around a mother’s suspicions that her daughter Rhoda may actually know more about an “accidental drowning” than she’s telling. The mother, Christine Penmark, is also struck by her daughter’s completely unemotional reaction to her classmate’s death at a school picnic that Rhoda had just attended. Rhoda’s father is a colonel and is frequently away on business for long periods, leaving Christine to essentially raise her daughter by herself’with some help from a busybody landlord, Monica Breedlove. Like any good mother, Christine senses that something isn’t quite right with her daughter and feels awful for even thinking ill of her. What could be wrong? Rhoda is a neat, polite, clever, little girl who constantly tells her mother that she loves her. Unfortunately, there is something very wrong. William March was born in 1893 and died in 1954. He attended the University of Indiana and studied law at the University of Alabama. During his life, the famous trial of Leopold and Loeb ensued involving two college-aged boys who killed a third. In a 300-page report compiled by psychiatrists, the report detailed Loeb’s criminal tendencies that began to exhibit themselves at the age of 8 or 9. Both boys had above average intelligence and came from exceptionally wealthy families. Some of the questions that March poses in the “Bad Seed” that could easily have come from that famous case are: Can children as young as eight be born with a criminal mind? Is it only children from poor homes who have criminal tendencies? Can those tendencies be inherited? As criminologist Reginald Tasker, Manfred Hofer performs a credible job probing these same questions, many of which are still pondered in 2006. The play is not an easy one to cast because the major character is nine-year-old Rhoda who appears in every scene. When Director Michael Macready originally held auditions for the role, only one child responded. Macready noted then that “I decided to double-cast the role.” He made phone calls to school teachers and casting agents resulting in 25 girls who auditioned. Madison McCann and Missy Jamieson (M&M) were chosen. They alternate weekends playing the role. McCann was in the role of Rhoda opening weekend. She displayed the appropriate combination of sweetness combined with a detachment that fit the character perfectly. She was exceptional in the role, exhibiting a strong stage presence. Even when she didn’t have lines, there was something about her that drew you to her character’your eyes focused on her, even when other older, more experienced actors were speaking. It’s an old show-business adage, “Never act with animals or children,” and in the case of this performance, it was obvious. McCann held the audience’s total focus. As Christine, Stacie Mistysyn has to be one of the most beautiful women to grace the Theatre Palisades stage in recent history. She and McCann have exactly the same shade of hair (blonde), and their skin tones are strikingly similar, which led to a chilling credibility of their relationship as mother and daughter. Leroy (Amos Cowson), the janitor of the building, sees through Rhoda’s feigned sweetness and taunts her with his observations. The stage was electrified at their interchanges. The energy’as he pushes her with accusations’and her resistance made for truly fine theater. The costume designer, Sherry Coon, chose a quote from Isaac Bashevis Singer “What a strange power there is in clothing,” as part of her bio. I won’t guess how she interprets Singer’s quote to dressing the actors, but the “strange power” Singer refers to carries over into “Bad Seed” because of Coon’s costumes. From the light little-girl innocent dresses that Rhoda wears, to the perfectly fitted clothes from the 1950s that Christine sports, they set the mood and subtly remind us that this isn’t a modern play. “Bad Seed” is truly a play of the ’50s in its story-telling and pacing. It was a time when the audience was content to sit as a story slowly unfolded, a time when the “fast food” generation didn’t need to have all the pieces at once. This is a play that’s designed to provoke conversation in addition to being entertaining. “Bad Seed” did that and more. I’d recommend it to anyone who truly wants to attend an evening of intelligent theater. “Bad Seed” runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. at Pierson Playhouse, 941 Temescal Canyon Rd. Box office hours 3:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Contact: 454-1970 or visit www.theatrepalisades.org.
Secrets of the Loop Ya-Yas
By KAREN LEIGH Palisadian-Post Contributor Let it be known that Shelley Greenwald is the unofficial mayor of the Loop. But unlike other heads-of-city, she presides’voluntarily’over Las Casas, Marquette, Grenola, and Baylor, the streets that comprise the community-within-a-community located just off Sunset in the El Medio bluffs area. It is here that Greenwald and her friends Rebekah Fleishman, Patti Fair, and Cyndy Ufkes have created the Loop Ya-Yas, a network of 39 neighborhood mothers who socialize, oversee kids’ playgroups, and keep an eye on each other. According to Ufkes’s husband, the Ya-Yas’ district has become “Mayberry U.S.A.” After first moving to the Loop in 2003, Greenwald, Fair, and Ufkes bonded with Fleishman. When the quartet decided that female neighbors needed to have a little fun, an evening of gaming was organized. But just six guests attended, and they seemed more interested in… socializing. The friends put their heads together and redesigned the event, which soon became neighborhood tradition’an eat-and-socialize, girls-only cocktail night. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Since then, the four’mothers all’have spearheaded such Loop events as a kids’ playtime and holiday potluck dinner, in addition to their monthly Ladies’ Nights. Fleishman, for one, knew that the Las Casas area had once been a hotbed of activity’from back-to-school ice cream socials to moms’ networks’and she wanted to restart the tradition. Says Greenwald, “there are lots of young kids on this street’at least 20 under the age of five.” Inspired by the novel “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood,” she and Rebekah coined the name “Loop Yas-Yas,” a fitting title for a group of women’today numbering 39’who, Fair jokes, “know each other as baby-sitters and friends.” Adds Ufkes, “A neighbor once came and asked me if I had a daycare center in my front yard.” But while the Ya-Ya network is a tremendous benefit for children and their busy moms, Fair is quick to point out that “lots of women come to Ladies’ Nights who don’t have young kids.” Attending other Las Casas gatherings was the local fire department, which sent a truck to last month’s First Annual Loop Holiday Party. “We had families bring unwrapped gifts” to the soiree, says Greenwald, “and we filled three huge barrels. The fire truck came to take them back to the station for a toy drive.” The event’s younger guests were thrilled by the big engine’a major benefit, it was deemed, of being a Loop kid. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ One of the Ya-Yas’ biggest weapons in recruiting new members is an e-mail distribution list by which they keep Loopers posted with neighborhood goings-on and upcoming events. Greenwald, her friends say, is the group’s biggest promoter, and the unofficial welcome wagon for new residents. Says Shelley herself, “we get people on the distribution list while they’re in escrow,” and another newbie receives Loop e-mails even though her just-purchased Las Casas home is still under construction. “We also use it to share resources,” Greenwald says of her creation. “One mom had twins, and she sent out an e-mail asking for supplies. People will even write with suggestions for good house painters.” In September, when Fleishman held a Labor Day barbecue, she mailed an invitation to those on the list. Proving its power, says Ufkes dryly, “Rebekah ended up needing valet parking.” ‘ ‘ ‘ The four founding Ya-Yas have two main themes for the group’friendship, and children’s safety. As regards the latter, they hosted a Neighborhood Watch meeting at Ufkes’s house, and a goal for the new year is to wrangle guest speakers like LAPD Senior Lead Officer Chris Ragsdale and others who can help keep Loop kids free from harm. “Safety is key,” says Fair, “especially watching each others’ children. Our kids know whose house to run to if there’s trouble.” The distribution list is a big help, Greenwald explains, in that “we can send out an e-mail and reach 70 percent of the street.” Implementing a concrete Neighborhood Watch program, Fair adds, is the Ya-Yas’ chief goal for 2006. When they’re not organizing Loop events, the four founders are hard at work. Greenwald is a management consultant for Accenture, Fair is an account executive for Apple computer, Ufkes caters and tests recipes for cooking magazines, and Fleishman is a mortgage broker. All are parents to children under age 5 (Fleishman also has a 16-year-old, Rachael, a baby-sitter whom the other three fight over on Ladies’ Nights), and the young kids socialize when their mothers are at the office. Says Ufkes, “Our nannies all knew each other before we did, because my rule is that my kids don’t hang out at another house unless I know the parents. So there’s a nanny network here, too.” The charter members have also created a Mommy-and-Me class, and a group for newborn babies and their mothers and nannies is next on the agenda. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Greenwald and the founders have discovered that when it comes to these support networks’moms, baby-sitters, children, even fathers'”people are really grateful, because most of us on the street had just moved here and weren’t originally from the Palisades.” Shelley herself hails from South Africa, Cyndy from Nebraska, Patti from Manhattan Beach, and Rebekah from Orange County. When asked the biggest benefit of being a Ya-Ya, the answer is unanimous'”friendship!” Adds Greenwald, “My husband tells me it takes two hours to walk around the neighborhood because I stop and talk to everyone.” This friendly nature has earned her a reputation as the unofficial mayor of the Las Casas Loop, a claim she denies but the other women swear is true. She will, however, say that “I never thought I’d live in a community in Los Angeles where neighbors would come over to borrow detergent.” Of Shelley, Rebekah, and Cyndy, Fair says, “Our husbands have become very good friends, too. We’re a close-knit social group.” It’s not just talk’on the day of this interview, Fleishman is on vacation, and the other three refuse to take part in a photo shoot without their missing link. Next month, Ladies’ Night will fall near Valentine’s Day, and for the occasion, the founders have organized a “progressive” meal, in which each course will be served at a different Loop house. “They did this type of dinner for nine years on Las Casas, but it’s been stopped for the past three,” Greenwald explains. Progressive food isn’t the only tradition the Loop Ya-Yas are reviving. “I think what we’re describing here,” Fair says, “is community.”
