Little Women, The Movie with Perspective

Spoiler alert-stop now and read the book/s or see the other movie/s. Proceed at your own risk.

The 2019 version of Little Women is told in a nonlinear way, which makes it perfect for modern audiences.  Most may arrive already having read the book/s, or who have seen the movie/s.

It starts with Jo trying to sell her work.  There's a bit of crossover between the character and the actual author herself.  LMA would be proud of this version, of how it stays true to the characters, as well as the spirit of the current times.

An audience member whispered to her husband "Beth died in the book", when Beth recovered from her illness.  Moments later-the movie stayed true to the book. I've seen devotees on FB saying that they found the time-jumping difficult to follow. But I for one felt like it told a clear story, and was always running ahead-not waiting for the audience to catch up. A perfect tempo, in fact.  It leaves out any exposition or formality that had made previous versions clunkier.

Revisiting this old warhorse-I have a few questions. Was Laurie/the Professor inspired by Thoreau in any way? (An idealized male figure who would be difficult-imperfect marriage material)  Why did LMA create such a great version of Concord and yet leave out Walden? (Was this version/the book purposely left open to NOT be Concord?)  And the loss of Beth, reminds me that there was a low survival rate before a 21st birthday. Was it similar to other people losing siblings, like Thoreau and Twain? Another example of wanting to create something great-to capture the beloved and also speak to a larger audience.

Beth said, "Write something for me."  Well, in this translation, it works.

Escape to Provincetown!

Cape Cod is known not just for HDThoreau's essays about his trips, but also for Portuguese traditions.

Having spent Thanksgiving in Provincetown, with all its associated Portuguese heritage, I noticed that there is an Annual Blessing of the Fleet and weekend-long Festival at the end of June (6/25-28/2020) More information can be found here:
https://provincetownportuguesefestival.com/

It's never to early to plan your time in this seaside town, especially bc it fills up so quickly in the summertime. See you then!!

Toronto Counterculture of the 1960's Conference: Me and Angela Davis!

How is Henry David Thoreau connected to the Monkees?
Mike Nesmith's Song: Different Drum-famously recorded by Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys

They also use the quote about "the mass of men leading lives of quiet desperation".

And if that isn't enough for you, most of my focus lately has been on the Monkees, as well as HDT (and Twain). And I'm giving a talk about them and how they helped me create my own mental map of connections between great artists.

The conference is officially called The (re)making of a Movement: New Perspectives on the 1960's Counterculture and I'm presenting at it.  What's more, I'll be presenting a talk about my blog Six Degrees of Monkees and the relationship map I'm creating. <insert fangirl scream of well-earned pride here>

The description is below. I'm on after Angela Davis. She's a tough act to follow, but I hope to channel all my (nervous) energy into being inspired by her.

Very happy to help represent the Monkees and their importance in the counterculture movement of the 1960's!


==

Counterculture on the Radio & TV

Nov 2, 2019 | 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM | Main Loft

Tammy Rose, MBA, MS, User Experience Research Lead

Six Degrees of Monkees in a Relationship Map of CounterCulture

The Monkees phenomenon involved music & a TV show, and an unusual amount of connections that make it the center of American counterculture. Despite being dismissed as bubblegum, from 1965 to 1968, the brand encompassed a wide variety of non-commercial memes from Vietnam protest references to Frank Zappa to their most infamous masterpiece, the movie HEAD. An extensive relationship map visualizes any and all references to people, works and concepts to the Monkees. Almost anyone working in Hollywood prior to 1980 can be connected to the Monkees by a low number of degrees. Sex, drugs and rock and roll as well as cynicism were regularly snuck into America’s living rooms and fed into the minds of children.

NATURE! A Walking Play

For the past month, Emerson's great grand nephew has been evoking the spirits of the dead and the living in Concord. They are back on a return engagement and have been dealing well with the SUDDEN rescheduling of all of their performance times. Because of the EEE virus, all showtimes have been adjusted to avoid the mosquito crowds.

My ticket is for the 12pm performance, on Sunday, Sept 29. It's always amazing to see a repertory company of performers and a strong community pulling for the celebration of our beloved local heroes!!

Next Steps for Thoreau/Twain

I have LOTS of plans for possible variations and more performances for Thoreau/Twain. I'd like to get the show produced more, in more different places.

I'd like for it to take the shape of a book-a wild ride-taking the reader through various places and times with the two writers. Regardless of time & space.

Also, I'd like to bring it into the classroom-get kids to interact with these writers.

LOTS to do, and more to come!!

Thoreau/Twain opens the Little Pharaoh Arts Center Theater

In the tiny jewel of a town called Mt. Carmel, Illinois, just outside of St.Louis, there is a gem at the heart of the town.

The Little Pharaoh Arts Center.

It is a combination Theater, Art Gallery, Kids' Creativity Space and soon-to-be coffee shop/bar/club.  John Clancy, my long time friend is the Master Builder/Creator of the Space.  He is a wonder to know. 

Oh, and by the way, he started the NYC Fringe Festival. Which is also where we met_I was a Venue Manager for the first few years. Like Twain-working at a first passion (for him it was printing), you learn a LOT by seeing a lot.

And I am HONORED to be the FIRST Playwright-In-Residence, for July of 2019, and my play Thoreau/Twain: Brothers on the River was the first show in the Theater space. Clancy played Twain, and our Thoreau was Cory Caswell-an amazing local performer.

John Clancy, and his lovely wife, Nancy Walsh bring with them YEARS of theater experience, including SIX Fringe First Awards from the Edinburgh Fringe and an OBIE. He's one of the few Independent Theater people I know who is legit enough to have a Wikipedia page.  He was able to be a dramaturg for me, as well as offer me comments from an actor's POV. If you ever get a chance to work with this guy, DO IT. His is an amazing world!!

Thoreau/Twain at the Thoreau Society Annual Gathering

I'm happy to report that the performance of Thoreau/Twain: Brothers in the River for the Thoreau Society was a tremendous success.

Brent Rinalli, Tammy Rose and Joel Hersh

The main performers were Brent Rinalli, who has been in and around Concord giving lectures and historical interpreting as Thoreau for the past few years and Joel Hersh, a local actor known for his varied musical ability-played Twain.

The main conceit of the show is that an Academic is trying to summon the spirits of the authors, to have them discuss a major, and underexplored parallel of their lives.  Both of them had a deep relationship with a brother on the river of their childhood, and both of them lost that brother to a sudden event. This happened before either of them began to write-but both found inspiration in their brothers and documented the influences strongly in their writings.

The authors -who had never met in real life- get deep into conversation, about their lives, commonalities they share-and especially their brothers. Most of the text of the play is taken directly from journals, letters and the formal published writings of the authors-and their contemporaries. They argue with each other using their own words and get a chance to recount a major emotional moment in their lives. (No pop-psychology or therapy here-the drama comes directly from their own words and existing texts).

Thanks to the Thoreau Society and to all the amazing and attentive attendees!  Especially those who took pictures and gave me feedback on new areas to explore between the two!

And extra special thanks to my fellow Tourguides who make all the research and the entire experience of Concord SO MUCH FUN!!!

Thoreau/Twain: Brothers on the River at the Thoreau Annual Gathering, Semi Annual Thoreau Play

Thoreau/Twain: Brothers on the River

Masonic Hall, 

58 Monument Sq, 

Concord, MA

Wednesday, July 10, 2019

7pm

(immediately after the performance of "HDT's Heroic Journey")

https://www.thoreausociety.org/annual-gathering#Wed

"Be thou my Muse, my Brother--,"

A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

Both Henry David Thoreau and Samuel Clemens were by the deathbeds of their beloved brothers.  What happens when one brother is left on the river, and the other has to complete the rest of the journey in life alone?

Come see Henry David Thoreau and Mark Twain meet under new and unusual circumstances; a meeting that never happened in history. Finally, both have a chance to recognize and reconcile their parallel journeys. 

Primary texts of the play are taken directly from primary sources including A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers & Life on the Mississippi, as well as from journals & letters from the authors themselves.

Written by

Tammy Rose

and Henry David Thoreau

and Samuel Clemens

Walt Whitman at 200!

Richard Smith aka "Henry", to his close friends far and wide gave a grand presentation on Whitman at First Parish on May 31st.

He had several readers, all females, reading Whitman's poems and the narrative stuck to the chronology.  It started with Leaves of Grass arriving in Concord, and Emerson's response-which the excited Whitman included in future editions.

Emerson encouraged Whitman to leave out the sexy part of the Adam and Eve poems, Thoreau and Bronson Alcott visited Whitman in Brooklyn, Civil War poems-Lincoln died, great poetry was made and reread throughout America.

And Whitman visited Emerson 7 months before Waldo died, a look of serenity and sweetness on his face (in the midst of his dementia).

The room was packed and at the end we all shouted "Happy Birthday, Walt!", and then had a birthday cake (candles and the birthday song made it all complete).

Concord is a great place to celebrate any birthday, especially your 200th!

Why Dogs are NOT Allowed at Walden and Uncivil Disobedience

Walden is a shared resource and dogs disrupt the wildlife on the property, and they contribute noise, scent, pee and poop to an area where animals, humans and children expect not to encounter them. Plus it is the law-and the Ranger must enforce the law (and frankly, their jobs are hard enough as it is).

HDT publicly opposed an unjust law (taxation which supported the Mexican War and slavery) and sat in jail for his opposition. Should ALL laws be flaunted in his name?

Because of THAT act-people often cite it as a reason for bad behavior while visiting Walden, or use him as an excuse to break rules generally and do whatever they want to do.  They cross the line of basic civility by presuming their rights and beliefs supersede those of others.

As an example:

A teacher took his students on a visit to Walden. he took his dog and when confronted by a ranger-he was proudly defiant and used HDT as his model. He also took photos of this offense and bragged about it on social media.

The original post (excluding identifying photos of the students):

Todd Doehner  Some of my students visiting the home site for extra credit. I got the dog past the park ranger by explaining my duty to disobey unjust laws. No clue how the kid at night with the light saber got in. I did not ask and he did not tell

Rangers devote their jobs to making sure that people and their animals do not destroy or hurt the public land.  As one put it:
Thoreau broke laws for just reasons. Comments like this are incredibly disrespectful to rangers who spend their life’s work protecting a resource as Emerson’s family requested. We teach students about protecting the resource, and your actions detract from that. If you can’t follow the rules, please go somewhere else. After working at Walden for years, I have heard this argument before, “Well, Thoreau would agree with me on this...” It’s a TIRED excuse for doing whatever they want. Thoreau was one man on his friend’s land...we now get over 600,000 people a year at Walden. If you come to the park, you are on Massachusetts State land. Dogs are are only as wise as their owners. Regardless of what you think, other people come to the park expecting a dog-free park and this is about respecting other peoples’ experience in nature....not to mention
wildlife. People visit Walden from all over the world. For some people, this is on their bucket list. I guarantee that they are not coming to see your dog. It’s not really about what Thoreau did in 1845. There was no germ theory of disease then, no running water, and people didn’t bathe much. Darwin’s Origin of Species hadn’t come out yet (1859). Of course, there are MANY other things people do at the park that are stupid, but why add to it?

Another comment was in reaction to a photo of a student standing on one of the stone pillars that outlines the site of the cabin:
If everyone snuck in dogs and climbed on the markers, Walden Pond wouldn't be around for very long. Preserving the pond is everyone's responsibility so future generations will be able to enjoy it. Do you encourage them to climb on tombstones in cemeteries too?

Another discussed Thoreau walking through the forests and how he knew the difference that a domesticated dog can bring to the experience.
Would Thoreau deliberately lead a domesticated animal into a designated wildlife area? I doubt it. His friend Ellery Channing owned a behemoth of a dog named Bose who sometimes accompanied them on walks. But Bose's presence drastically changed the experience for the human walkers, because he wasn't leashed and he went after whatever natural prompts he was attracted to. Which may have been comical and interesting at the time, but these incidents were not part of the kind of exploration that Thoreau preferred. “Each town should have a park, or rather a primitive forest of five hundred or a thousand acres, where a stick should never be cut for fuel, a common possession forever, for instruction and recreation," Thoreau wrote in his journal on October 15, 1859. Should domesticated animals be part of that instruction and recreation? Probably not. Every Bose needs to stay at home on occasion. And even dog lovers need dog-free experiences.
You could write letters of apology to all of the other visitors to Walden Pond that day. They didn't get to see the chipmunks and squirrels that they usually would have seen, otherwise, on their walks. Even the friendly raccoon that often approaches folks was probably deterred from doing so by the presence of your dog. You deliberately altered the park experience for everyone else. And then you boasted about it on social media. Hmmmm.

One of the (in)eloquent responses which ALSO brags of breaking the law about public water supply:
Miles McCloy Humans pick up dog poop. And only morons would be unsettled by a barefoot touching pee. Go dip your feet in the lake. Flints pons In Lincoln, where Thoreau originally wanted to build his cabin, has the best bass fishing in the metro west, but carries heavy fines as it is Lincoln’s water supply and all lincolnites have their heads up their butts. I fished there every day til I moved away from home. Relax.

It's one thing to disobey as a protest. Another to brag about it publicly on social media. Yet another to teach disrespect to students, especially when it comes to how to treat already vulnerable lands.

There are plenty of places for dogs and for kids to climb on things.  Please stop using HDT as an excuse for bad behavior.

Concord Drunk History

I'm taking a Tourguide Class in Concord, and am constantly amazed at all the stories of the residents.  There is the huge area of Revolutionary War events (April 19, 1775-specifically)-then onto the Transcendentalists-my favorites.

And even into the modern age, how those two periods get represented and honored.  The Colonial Inn has a great trivia night and lots of fun restaurants for townies and visitors alike.

I've always wanted to encourage the gathering of Emerson's table, or the Margaret Fuller Conversations for Women (I always thought that might be more fun), but I've yet to figure out how to gather people in a room.

And then, it came to me-Drunk History.  In Concord! Announce it at one of the pubs, maybe even pick a period of history-or better yet a date, from a journal-or one from Henry's, one from Nathaniel's, one from Waldo and Bronson-maybe they all have different stories of the same night.  And we should tell stories-open to the audience-with a little help from alcohol.

That way everyone can help be the tourguide-and you can get better stories that aren't in the books.  Let me know if you want to be part of the journey. (Picture by HDThoreau, Journal from 1854)

Thoreau/Twain: Brothers Of the River

For the first evening of this 2019 Edition of the Annual Gathering of Thoreauvian Appreciators my play, THOREAU/TWAIN: Brothers of The River will be performed.

I am immensely proud to be presenting my work to such an excellent group of scholars, enthusiasts, teachers, environmentalists, historians, professors-AND this year's focus will be encouraging the ENGINEERS to come out in full force.

Therefore, not ONLY am I excited to be able to do research on both Thoreau and Twain, but also to focus on the parts of their lives which reflect their interest in innovation, technology and how things get put together. 

Hint: This will involve HDT's work on developing a new formula for a graphite pencil, AND Twain's enthusiasm for a printing machine known as the Paige Compositor. Which will survive the ultimate test of engineering?

Conversational Circles Revived

I heard about the revival of the most traditional of Transcendental conversations on Twitter.  Susan Bailey has an account and a website that mentions all things Louisa on a regular basis.
https://louisamayalcottismypassion.com/

I got in touch with her and she put me in touch with the organizer.  He sent an email which contains the following description:

"In an attempt to generate interest, I have chosen a timely initial topic in terms of the renewed interest  in Little Women, and the revolution of change resulting from the surgence of women into the Congress. But it is not lost on me that the idea of conversation circles modeled after those of the 19th century  might seem quaint in the 21st. The spiritual kinship I feel with Alcott and Fuller and their Concord philosophical community motivates me to attempt a revival."

If you are interested in joining, let me know in the comments and I will send you the contact info.  I wasn't able to be in town for this month, but I hope to be able to report on the events in future.