Bobrick’s “Water” Soars!

Sam Bobrick is a miracle of a man, and most certainly as a writer.

The legendary literati, bard, and musical and comedic genius, is responsible for everything from songs for Elvis, to classic TV hits like Bewitched and The Andy Griffith Show, to over forty stage plays, including “Norman, Is That You” (co-authored with Ron Clark), which was adapted for the big-screen in 1976.

With his newest stage presentation, “New York Water” (now playing at the Pico Playhouse in Los Angeles through December 17^th), Bobrick’s flair for the written word and ear for the funny bone, shines on.

Starring Bridget Flanery as the strong-willed Linda Shoup and Ross Benjamin as the subdued Albert Hives, New York Water resounds and rebounds the ups and downs of a modern day relationship with expert handling across the board, and coast-to-coast.   As played by Flanery and Benjamin, Linda and Ross are hapless romantic souls who find one another, and much more along the way as they peruse the geography from the Big Apple to L.A.

Directed with likable and realistic skill by Howard Teichman (who produced along with Bill Froggatt, who also designed sound and video projection), Flanery and Benjamin deliver the goods and the bads of their association with the perfect balance of energy, humor, and poignancy that never gets lost in the hustle and bustle of what they try to hold together against all odds.

“New York Water” hits all the right chords, as it takes the lucky theatre-goer on a journey of the heart and mind with a spirited production that lives up to Bobrick’s unique stand-alone style.  Bobrick is funny and he’s got heart.  It’s that simple, and it’s that evident in “New York Water.”

The laughs, tears, struggles, victories, and stamina that each of us require for a full life are wonderfully embodied in the twin souls definitively interpreted by Flannery and Benjamin who are spot-on with Bobrick’s always-witty and insightful lines.

Along with Froggatt, additional tech skills are top-notch, too, including stage manager Henry Lide, set and video designer Kurtis Bedford, and lighting designer Ellen Monocroussos.  

After watching “New York Water,” the live-theatre watcher is left breathless for more of what Sam Bobrick brings to his table of delight for all of us to heartily ingest with what it means to be alive.

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“New York Water,” a world premiere of the West Coast Jewish Theatre, is now playing at the Pico Playhouse located at 10508 W. Pico Blvd in Los Angeles.  For tickets or more information, call: (323) 821-2449.  [Publicity by Phil Sokoloff; photography by Michael Lamont.]            

The School of Thought and the Cycle of Life, Love and Moving On

We all have experienced loss in our lives, whether in the way of losing a loved one, a job, or even something as benign as our hair.

In each case, the struggle is real, and should not be taken lightly.

However, also in each case, at some point, we must reach the destination of acceptance.

We have to, in order to appropriately and productively move on.

Life is about living, and not just in the moment, but for the future.

There is nothing that any of us can do about the past.

The past is over, done; gone.

We can recall it, relish it, learn from it, and even maybe embrace it a little bit.

But not too much; not to the measure at which point we live in it.

We can’t.

Living is about now, and tomorrow, not yesterday.

Living is about loving who we are; where we are, now, today.

Every moment should be a time of reflection, new beginnings, and fresh starts, and new education; we have the chance to embrace countless opportunities to learn; to reboot, review, and rewrite our fate; our destinies, combined or singular; alone or with others; with family, friends, colleagues.

Take the chance of today, on today.  Move on from the past.  Appreciate it.  Cherish it.  But move on from it, and take what you can and learn from it and apply it to today…in the most wonderful, exciting and beautiful ways.

Never forget those we have lost; always remember what has brought us to this point; what has shaped us; how we have responded; what has worked; what has not worked; and apply all of it with renewal.

Renew constantly.  Rewrite your scripts of life.  Study in the school of thought and life; the academics of who you are unending.  Your graduation is forever pending.  There is no final exam.  There are only teachers, in every form, surrounding you every second.

But know that your most important professor is yourself.

You teach yourself.  Ultimately, you are self-taught.

You are the teacher and the student.

You have the ability to instruct yourself.

So, study hard, and live your A-life; a passing grade that not decide your graduation, but permit you not to let your life pass you by.

  

"The Power of Words"

The Bible says, "By your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned" (Matt. 12: 37); "Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Prov. 12: 21); And "Thou shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee" (Job 22: 28).

Charles Fillmore, cofounder of Unity, wrote: "The spoken word carries vibrations through the Universe ether, and also moves the intelligence inherent in every form, animate or inanimate."

Ernest Holmes, founder of the Church of Religious Science, has written: "The word gives form to the unformed. The greater the consciousness behind the word, the more power it will have. Just words, without conviction, have no power, and just conviction, without words, will never stir up latent energy. There must be a combination of the two to make a complete thing."

The Tibetan master D.K., through Alice A. Bailey, has said: "Every Word differentiated or synthesized, affects the deva kingdom, and hence the form-building aspects of manifestation. No sound is ever made without producing a corresponding response in deva substance."

As author John Randolph Price writes in his wonderful book, THE ANGELS WITHIN US, "From these resources it should be obvious why the masters of the early academies taught the aspirants to be aware of the consequences of words on the mental, emotional, etheric, and physical planes. They were schooled in the Power of sound and how words spoken with a controlled mind could literally change the force field around any form, including the belief system of the personality, and free the imprisoned spiritual consciousness."

As Price continues to write in ANGELS, he began to use the old Oriental standard to gauge the value of speech: Is it true? It is kind? It is needful? The result of this brief survey, Price discovered, was that only a few of his remarks passed the three tests. And that he admitted that when monitoring his own words, he missed the mark several times, even though he was consciously trying to measure the quality of what he was saying. "We are all walking around with a loaded gun between our teeth," he revealed, "and our tongues seem to love to pull the trigger."

"Remember," he concluded, "we are either healing or harming" with our words, spoken or written. "There is no in-between, so even in our humor we should practice harmlessness. Let's be builders of the new world through constructive words and creators of harmony with loving words."