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- Written by: Ted Kooser
I’m especially fond of sparklers because they were among the very few fireworks we could obtain in Iowa when I was a boy.
And also because in 2004 we set off the fire alarm system at the Willard Hotel in Washington by lighting a few to celebrate my inauguration as poet laureate.
Here’s Barbara Crooker, of Pennsylvania, also looking back.
Sparklers
We’re writing our names with sizzles of light
to celebrate the fourth. I use the loops of cursive,
make a big B like the sloping hills on the west side
of the lake. The rest, little a, r, one small b,
spit and fizz as they scratch the night. On the side
of the shack where we bought them, a handmade sign:
Trailer Full of Sparkles Ahead, and I imagine crazy
chrysanthemums, wheels of fire, glitter bouncing
off metal walls. Here, we keep tracing in tiny
pyrotechnics the letters we were given at birth,
branding them on the air. And though my mother’s
name has been erased now, I write it, too:
a big swooping I, a hissing s, an a that sighs
like her last breath, and then I ring
belle, belle, belle in the sulphuric smoky dark.
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright 2013 by Barbara Crooker from her most recent book of poems, Gold, Cascade Books, 2013. Poem reprinted by permission of Barbara Crooker and the publisher. Introduction copyright 2014 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
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- Written by: Tim Riley
JERSEY BOYS (Rated R)
Did you happen to know that Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, at one time banded together as “The Lovers,” obtained the group’s name from that of a New Jersey bowling alley from which they were unceremoniously booted without the ability to fulfill an engagement?
“Jersey Boys” – more of a biopic about the fortunes of hardscrabble boys from a working class Italian-American neighborhood in Belleville, New Jersey than a musical – is full of nuggets of biographical information, more than had been provided by the Broadway musical upon which the movie is based.
It seems most doubtful that a major motion picture about streetwise crooners, whose heyday goes back about a half-century, would have been made in today’s world without the incredible success of a Broadway show now running for more than eight years.
The stage version of “Jersey Boys” put the music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons back into the public conscience long after the group retired and gained well-deserved acclaim by being inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, an event that bookends the film.
Nostalgia is the driving force behind the appeal of “Jersey Boys.” It worked on Broadway, with the revival of upbeat pop songs like “Sherry,” “Walk Like a Man,” “Dawn (Go Away),” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” and “Rag Doll,” just to name a few of the endless hits.
That legendary Clint Eastwood is the director of “Jersey Boys” on the surface seems like an unusual choice, but his love of jazz music arguably puts this venture into his wheelhouse. Besides, the real Frankie Valli and songwriter Bob Gaudio are executive producers.
The film’s Frankie Valli is John Lloyd Young, the obvious pick for the singer with the falsetto voice as he won the Tony Award in his Broadway debut for the stage production that also won the Tony for Best Musical.
Young’s Frankie Valli is the natural fit, and it would be hard to imagine someone else in the pivotal role of the often temperamental singer with the Jersey accent, the perfectly-coiffed pompadour and natural style of a neighborhood kid making the big time.
Frankie and his street pals, Tommy DeVito (Vincent Piazza) and Nick Massi (Michael Lomenda), would as often as not get into trouble with the law for petty crimes. There are occasions in the early days when one of them would end up for a short prison stint, though this did not happen to Valli.
Local mob boss Gyp DeCarlo (Christopher Walken), a fixture in the community, proves to be a big fan of Valli’s crooning talent.
DeCarlo figures into the story to help smooth out problems caused when the hotheaded, profligate Tommy gets the group deep in debt to the wrong people.
Bouncing around in lousy nightclub acts, the group finally coalesces when they discover Bob Gaudio (Erich Bergen), a natural talent for songwriting who does not come from the neighborhood. In fact, his background is more upscale but he fits in nicely with the group.
Gaudio’s talent is that he was either the writer or co-writer of “The Four Seasons” hit-parade of great songs.
With Gaudio on board, the group meets up with flamboyant record producer Bob Crewe (Mike Doyle), whose urbane flair is far removed the Jersey shore.
The members of “The Four Seasons” were not related by blood, but they were as close as family and sometimes just as dysfunctional.
As they rose to fame, infighting and squabbles became the norm, often because Tommy was the source of their dilemmas.
Performing at the Ohio State Fair, they are arrested by authorities for having skipped out on a hotel bill from their appearance the year before. None of their legal troubles proves daunting, and their career continues to soar with national TV appearances.
Frankie Valli is the lead singer and the star attraction, even to a female journalist who succumbs to his charms though he’s still married, while his wife Mary (Renee Marino) has become predictably angered by his aloofness and absence from the family.
But Valli is frequently eclipsed in presence by the volatile Tommy, the putative band organizer who prides himself on booking events and dealing with producers.
Tommy is the catalyst for much of the action, particularly the kind that gets the group on the wrong side of talent agents, producers and even the law.
“Jersey Boys” is about the music, but also very much tuned into the chemistry of “The Four Seasons” and how these strong-willed individuals cope with fame and fortune, and those bumps in the road that threaten to derail the storybook journey.
One device taken from the Broadway show is that the actors break the proverbial “fourth wall” – talking directly to the camera and, thus, right to the audience. It’s an effective means for each member of the “Jersey Boys” to tell the story from his own point of view.
Having seen the Broadway musical, an experience recommended to anyone, I would say “Jersey Boys” still works better as a stage production.
Nevertheless, many elements from the show translate well to the screen, and “Jersey Boys” the film is definitely worth seeing and the soundtrack worth buying.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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- Written by: Editor
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The June Spring Concert of the Lake County Symphony Association Youth Orchestra proved very popular, with the young musicians attracting a large crowd to the Soper Reese Theatre.
The concert – which took place on Sunday, June 8 – opened with a special presentation of the LCSA String Classes made possible by a grant from the Lake County Wine Alliance.
Because of this generous grant, new teachers, Clovice Lewis, cellist, and Jeff Ives, violist/violinist, came onboard to help teach the classes.
The beginning violin, viola and cello classes each played a selection, then all classes joined together for the final selection of the first part of the concert.
A viola solo was played by Rafael Contreras, whose primary instrument is violin. Ives worked with him on more advanced viola music, and suggested he play a solo as part of the viola string class presentation.
The string classes were well attended this year with students second grade to adult, and hopefully the students will become members of the Youth Orchestra in the future.
The string class presentation was followed by the full LCSA Youth Orchestra, delivering an impressive demonstration of their musical abilities.
The youthful musicians were led by conductor Sue Condit, who has challenged the students with higher levels of music. They have all met the challenge and presented an outstanding concert.
Presented were classical selections by Mozart – themes from two different symphonies and “Classical Symphony” by Prokofiev.
Also on the program was an energetic Morris dance, the exciting theme from a video game, and movie themes from the “Titanic,” “The Avengers” and ending with a grand finale of “Back to the Future.”
Members of the symphony joined them in the finale, and a slide presentation from “Back to the Future” was presented by Wally Fuller of the Soper Reese.
High school graduating members were recognized for their years of service in the orchestra and a few of them played a special presentation of two very difficult fiddle tunes.
First violinists, Clayton Rudiger, Lars Tisell and Edison Serena, received much applause after their energetic rendition of the challenging selections.
Thank you to Dr. Charles Marion Hovden who was so impressed with the concert that he donated $1,500 to the Endowment Fund for the “Youth Orchestra Conductor Chair” in memory of Thomas Bruner.
The Lake County Symphony Association also thanks the Soper Reese staff and volunteers for partnering with us to make this performance of the youth music groups possible in their wonderful community venue.
The Youth Orchestra and the string classes will resume in September in Kelseyville.
Anyone interested in our LCSA youth programs is asked to please contact
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- Written by: Ted Kooser
The poems of Leo Dangel, who lives in South Dakota, are known for their clarity and artful understatement. Here he humbly honors the memory of one moment of deep intimacy between a mother and her son.
In Memoriam
In the early afternoon my mother
was doing the dishes. I climbed
onto the kitchen table, I suppose
to play, and fell asleep there.
I was drowsy and awake, though,
as she lifted me up, carried me
on her arms into the living room,
and placed me on the davenport,
but I pretended to be asleep
the whole time, enjoying the luxury—
I was too big for such a privilege
and just old enough to form
my only memory of her carrying me.
She’s still moving me to a softer place.
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright 2013 by Leo Dangel from his most recent book of poems, Saving Singletrees, WSC Press, 2013. Poem reprinted by permission of Leo Dangel and the publisher. Introduction copyright 2014 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.