When he’s not on assignment for the Palisadian-Post, staff photographer Rich Schmitt is busy freelancing for clients like UCLA and Pepperdine or wire services like AFP. The diversity and scope of Schmitt’s work, captured here through his photographs, spreads from national news, to sports, politics and entertainment. ‘What I love about my job is that one day I can be photographing horses up at Will Rogers and the next day I’m covering George Bush,’ Schmitt says. ‘The Post editors have been nothing but supportive and I appreciate them giving me the freedom to tackle other assignments. But my loyalty lies with the Palisadian-Post. I love my job there.’

DANIEL BAKER, son of Stefanie and C.J. Baker, recently graduated summa cum laude from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, with a bachelor of science degree. Daniel completed the four-year curriculum in just three years. He majored in aeronautical science and minored in air traffic control. He also became a fully licensed and certified commercial pilot with multi-engine, instrument, and instructor ratings. He ranked on the national dean’s list throughout his college career. A member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, Daniel graduated with Order of Omega honors. Additionally, he was active in student government. He will be continuing his post-graduate education at ERAU, pursuing an MBA degree while serving as a flight instructor for undergraduate students at the university. Daniel is a graduate of Loyola High School and Corpus Christi elementary school. While growing up in the Palisades, he earned the rank of Eagle Scout from Boy Scout Troop 223. o o o DANIELLE GRUEN, daughter of Roger Gruen of Pacific Palisades and Ruth Gruen of Surprise, Arizona, earned her master’s of science degree in counseling, with honors, from San Francisco State University on May 28. Danielle, who focused her studies by specializing in career counseling, also graduated with a nomination by the faculty for the Graduate Student Award for Distinguished Achievement (based on both academic achievement and service to the community). While attending school full-time, Danielle spent her last year interning part-time at Mills College, providing career, college and personal counseling and advising to students and alumni at various stages of career exploration and life planning. A graduate of Palisades High School (1995), Danielle attended the UC Santa Cruz, where she majored in psychology, minored in education and spent her junior year studying abroad in Jerusalem. During her final year, she interned as a social worker at a local foster care agency in Santa Cruz. After graduating, Danielle began working as a residential counselor at two group homes for at-risk youth, both in San Francisco. A natural leader, Danielle organized an art exhibit fundraiser of the group home children’s art work, allowing for the children to take the trip of their dreams to an amusement park and simultaneously be acknowledged for their exemplary artistic abilities. In addition, throughout her graduate school experience, she worked full-time at a local nonprofit community agency where she provided case management, guidance, support and direction to young homeless mothers. Her work consisted primarily of providing life-skills training and development, assisting in career and educational goal setting, and teaching how to make better life choices, for the purpose of fostering independence and stability for each young mother and her child(ren). Danielle also arranged her first professional photography exhibit in February, when she showed and sold some of her most recent work, unveiling her hidden artistic talent. Danielle plans to travel to China in November for a Professional Ambassador trip of Career Development and Career Counseling professionals. o o o ARIEL NONBERG, daughter of Deborah and Randy Nonberg, received her bachelor of arts degree in psychology from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. During her four years at Kenyon, Ariel was a member of the Kenyon Ladies Swim Team and served as its captain during her senior year. The Ladies are the 2005 North Coast Atlantic Conference champions and have been NCAA national champions for 19 out of the last 21 years. In September, Ariel will join Wells Fargo Services in their Leadership Development Program and will be based in Minneapolis. She is a graduate of Marlborough School. o o o KATHERINE HEROD and DAVID FOLEY recently graduated from Boston College on May 23. Herod graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in marketing from the Wallace E. Carroll School of Managment. Foley graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in history. o o o RACHEL STEGEMOELLER, daughter of Mark and Sarah Stegemoeller of Santa Monica Canyon, earned a bachelor of arts degree from Colgate University on May 15. Rachel attended high school at South Bank International School in London. Stegemoeller received magna cum laude in Chinese distinction in the liberal arts core curriculum at the university’s annual awards convocation, where more than 290 students recieved departmental prizes and awards. Rachel is currently exploring job options in public radio. o o o CHARLOTTE HILL, daughter of Mark and Ann Hill, graduated in May from the University of Miami Frost School of Music, cum laude. Charlotte is a violinist who played in the UM Orchestra and various chamber orchestras, and served as treasurer for the local Habitat for Humanity. She attended Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut. With a bachelor’s degree in music education, Charlotte plans to teach orchestra.

Theater Review

Having a baby can rattle one’s emotions. Whether the child is an unexpected joy or a planned addition to the family, the trials of impending parenthood test the strength of couples at all stages of life. ‘ Just ask Lizzie, a junior in college who tries to weave her baby into her school schedule; or Nick and Pam, 30-somethings desperate to conceive; or Arlene, mother of three grown children, struggling to preserve the flame in her marriage. Three couples share this life-changing experience in the Theatre Palisades production of ‘Baby,’ a musical written by Sybille Pearson and developed with Susan Yankowitz, with music by David Shire and lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr. The show runs through July 31 at Pierson Playhouse. Directed by Lewis Hauser and produced by Sherman Wayne and Martha Hunter, the energetic opening night performance transports its audience to the dawn of the 1980s, when punk rock was still in and the 1970’s spirit of women’s liberation lingered in the air. Set in and around a college community, ‘Baby’ begins when three women of different generations learn they are pregnant and, subsequently, have to face changes that they and their companions never expected. ‘Baby’ captures the humorous and painful aspects of impending parenthood through some lively, well-choreographed musical numbers (choreography by Victoria Miller). The true stars of the show are Amy Coles and Joshua Brandenburg, whose insightful portrayals of the youthfully naive and optimistic Lizzie and Danny match their musical talents. For these college students, their baby is their ‘first collaboration,’ though the spunky and opinionated Lizzie isn’t about to give up her individualism to marry her adoring musician boyfriend Danny. ‘Marrying turns talented men into husbands and brilliant women into wives,’ Lizzie says. But when Danny goes on tour for a few months and she feels the baby kick for the first time, Lizzie’s attitude towards companionship changes. In an emotional solo, Coles sings ‘The Story Goes On,’ about what it means to have a child and the importance of continuing the chain, or story, of life. Another memorable scene takes place in the waiting room of a doctor’s office when mothers-to-be Lizzie, Pam and Arlene discuss what having a baby means to each of them and what they want out of their lives. Their nervous excitement is contagious in ‘I Want It All,’ as the three very different women take comfort in this shared, universal female experience. Pam (Wendy Douglas) and her husband Nick (Austen Rey) are gym coaches in their 30s who have been trying to have a child for two years. The bubbly and hopeful Pam is eager to give Nick a child and prove her feminine, motherly side. But when she and Nick have to resort to ‘sex by the book’ in attempt to conceive, their marriage is threatened. Douglas is radiant as Pam, whose confidence and compassion help her in attempts to turn an awkward situation into a playful game in the three-part ‘Romance’ musical saga. She also has to reveal a fair amount of skin as she prances around in skimpy lingerie and lies on the bed with her legs raised vertically. (Young children might be confused by some of these more adult scenes.) Rey skillfully portrays a macho but vulnerable Nick, who reads ‘Moby Dick’ out loud to keep Pam entertained during the hour-long sessions after intercourse when she must keep her legs raised. However, he talks through most of his musical numbers in a deep voice with a melodic undertone. Luckily, the ‘Fatherhood Blues’ number captures all of the main male characters at their best. The only scenes that seem to drag on too long are those with Larry Gesling and Cynthia Rothschild, who play Alan and Arlene, the oldest of the three couples (in their 40s). They are a bit too unemotional about the shock of Arlene’s unplanned pregnancy and each other and, as a consequence, it’s difficult to understand why they choose to raise another child together. A wonderful orchestra led by music director Brian Murphy brings to life memorable tunes such as ‘Baby, Baby, Baby’ and ‘We Start Today,’ the latter sung by a dramatic ensemble decked out in the ultimate tacky 1980s attire (costume design by Maria Cohen). ‘Baby’ premiered on Broadway in 1983. The Theatre Palisades production runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. at Pierson Playhouse, 941 Temescal Canyon Road. Tickets: 454-1970.

‘Mr. Grossman was pretty good at being a teacher,’ says a Paul Revere shop student. ‘He always explained everything and he had a lot of patience.’ After 37 years, Robert Grossman is retiring as the middle school’s industrial arts and stage craft teacher. ‘I don’t know where the years have gone,’ Grossman says. ‘One day you wake up and it’s done. I’ve really loved this job as a teacher.’ With energy and ideas that still come with mercurial speed, it’s hard to believe that this is Grossman’s last year in the classroom. Growing up in Los Angeles, Grossman attended Audubon Middle School and Dorsey High School. During high school, he participated in the ‘4 by 4’ program, which meant he was in the classroom for four hours in the morning, and in the afternoon, he worked four hours with a business as an apprentice. He thinks the program was valuable because some of his friends went on to own their own plumbing and construction companies, skills ‘that can’t be outsourced to India.’ Although the apprentice program gave Grossman enough money to buy a car, it’s also what steered him to college. While he was working on sign installation on the 10th floor of a building, he looked down and thought, ‘What am I doing here?’ Grossman received his bachelor’s degree from Cal State L.A. and his master’s from Cal State Northridge. He credits his longevity in teaching to the four ‘F’s’: firm, fair, and friendly. ‘If a teacher can’t do the first three, then he gets the fourth: F***ed.’ Relaxed and philosophical, Grossman reflects on his career and the changing times in education. He can’t stand the way they’ve increased testing in schools. ‘It’s past annoying. We used to do it in one or two days.’ He also doesn’t believe that every teacher in the district teaching the same subject should be required to be on the same page at the same time. ‘When you march in step, you ruin the creativity.’ Nor does he like the way the kids are labeled with learning issues; he doesn’t feel it does them any favors. ‘If I had gone to school today, I would have been identified as one of those kids.’ When asked about the drugs, like Ritalin, given to ‘hyperactive’ kids, he replies: ‘In my classes, I’d rather have a real body than a zombie.’ During his career at Paul Revere, Grossman worked under seven different principals, teaching everything from drafting, print shop, photography, wood and metal shop and stage craft to art and math. He was responsible for bringing the yearbook back to Revere during the 1990s. ‘In my years of being here, people always fight to save music and art programs, but no one was there to save Industrial Arts. Kids are not completing school now. One of the reasons is I.A. is gone, it gave them a direction, a way to earn a living. Not every kid is wired for college.’ He thinks the programs should be brought back in the schools because ‘everyone deserves a chance to succeed somewhere. When you make it all writing and math, you leave out the kids who have mechanical ability.’ Shop and stage craft help all students, Grossman feels, because it gives them a sense of accomplishment. They design the project. When they start to build, the first thing they get are lessons in safety. As one student so astutely put it, ‘The most important thing is how to be safe because if you aren’t safe while making your box or sawing some wood, then you might lose your finger.’ After safety, students learn valuable life lessons such as how to share tools and machines, get along, and clean up after themselves. The students also learn how to measure and the importance of accuracy, not always the easiest skill to conquer. ‘The most important thing I learned is the difficulty of perfecting a project,’ one student observed. Grossman and his wife Jane have two daughters. Elyse Grossman-Oxman has a master’s degree and is teaching English in San Francisco, and Jennifer Grossman started an apparel line called ANKH a year and half ago. The ANKH line became so successful that June has been pressed into service in her daughter’s business. When Robert can extricate his wife, they plan to start traveling. He loves to dance, both square and ballroom, and plans to spend more time doing that next year. Robert also plays the banjo and plans to dust that off. One student sums it all up: ‘I liked Mr. Grossman because he taught me everything I know. He is funny and nice. He is the best teacher.’

Theater Review

The soothing ceremony of food, as pageant and metaphor, imbues Robin Soans’ deeply moving lamentation on the intractable schism between Israelis and Arabs. ‘The Arab-Israeli Cookbook,’ now playing at the Met Theatre in Hollywood not only reveals the essence of the Middle Eastern kitchen, but the stories of the men and women who live in the dangerous segregation of misunderstanding and fear. Throughout the course of the two-hour drama, nine actors play 40 roles drawn from documentary-style interviews conducted by the playwright with ordinary people in the Israel and Palestine of today. And while the characters are telling their story, they are preparing recipes passed from generation to generation as they speak of their hardships, buffered by their deep connections to family and friends. Preparing a meal brings order to your kitchen while reconfirming the traditions that often remain the only thread keeping a culture in tact. The hummus maker Hossin (Ismail Abou-El-Kanater) wakes early, washes, and at 5:15 commences morning prayers. With his chickpeas, bowls and technique at the ready, he mesmerizes the audience with his careful explanation of his method. ‘There are two kinds of chick peas,’ he tells us: ‘Bulgarian and non-Bulgarian. ‘You cook them, then stick them in the refrigerator. You use yesterday’s chickpeas to make today’s hummus. Two-thirds hummus, 1/3 tajina, salt and water, that’s the secret, that’s all there it to it,’ he says. More than a simple recipe, this is a communion that brings people together. Nowadays, Hossin says that he doesn’t see many of his old acquaintances as all the villages to the east have been cut off by the barrier between Israel and the West Bank. The extraordinary stories we read daily in our press grow in dimension and emotion as these characters unburden their sorrows and frustrations. The Jewish bus driver Yaakov (Ric Borelli) tells of his profound guilt and sadness at having to refuse to help his friend on the road in his efforts to protect his passengers from a possible ambush on one of the most dangerous routes in Jerusalem. Or the humiliation Palestinians feel when delayed for up to 90 minutes at the various checkpoints between Israeli and Palestine. ‘I am an Arab and live in Israel,’ says one character. So many of us live in uncertainty.’ Rena (Jill Holden), originally from New York, has lived in Israel for many years. And while even now that Fred has passed away, she continues to live in Jerusalem because of the quality of friendships and relationships. ‘The Arab-Israeli Cookbook’ has a Rashomon-like mutability as evidenced in post-performance discussions, when audiences have imagined both an Arab or an Israeli bias. This speaks to the skill of the playwright and the director. While miscommunication, prejudice and ignorance have inflamed the Hold Land for decades, these high octane engines of tragedy are only too familiar. What parent, no matter religion or race, doesn’t ache for their children in the real world, where these forces are in play? When the Palestinian mother Fattiyah (Sarah Bell) dressed in the black of mourning, recounts the terrifying circumstances of her son’s disappearance in the maelstrom following the siege on the Church of the Nativity, you think about the real world vulnerability of our children, whether in the streets of Los Angeles or Baghdad. ‘The Arab-Israeli Cookbook’ continues Thursdays through Sundays at the Met Theatre, 1089 N. Oxford, through June 26. Contact: (323) 957-1152 for tickets. More information and the recipes are available on the website: www.thearab-israelicookbook-la.com.