Theater Review - 'A Gentleman's Guide To Love & Murder'

Theater Review – ‘A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder’

Produced by Engeman Theater – Northport

                          Reviewed by Jeb Ladouceur 

  ‘A Gentleman’s Guide…’ is unlike any other play you are likely to see this season or … for that matter … ever! Similarly, the musical version of a 1907 novel by Roy Horniman titled ‘Israel Rank - The Autobiography of a Criminal’ is quite possibly a reviewer’s worst nightmare, because no fewer than eight (count ‘em) eight of the dozen major roles are played over a 150-minute span by a single actor (Danny Gardner)!

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  If the madcap goings on … about conniving heir Monty Navarro (played by Sean Yves Lessard) who is ninth in succession to inherit the family fortune … were not so convincingly conceived by writer Robert L. Freedman (he adapted the farce for the stage), and cleverly choreographed by Vincent Ortega (a comic genius if ever there was one), it might be impossible closely to follow the proceedings that tumble across the John W. Engeman proscenium in a torrent of hilarity.

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  But the sly Navarro rivets our attention by figuring out novel ways to knock off those relatives who stand between him and the jackpot he covets. These dastardly devices include everything from death by bee sting, to decapitation while weightlifting. It’s all very farcical stuff, but this critic has seldom had as much fun in the theater.

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  Highlight of the evening is a vaudeville-style song and dance routine featuring two males that once might have been thought a bit naughty, but in our so-called ‘progressive’ age, has to be considered rather tame. It’s titled ‘Better With a Man’ and that said, one need not go into further detail to describe its content. Suffice it to say, hoofers Lessard and Gardner steal the play with their show-stopping routine. It’s very funny … superbly polished material.

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 Without question, in this musical the supremely talented Danny Gardner has been handed one of the most complex theatrical assignments imaginable. If you thought any actor taking on the dual roles of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde had his hands full, you ain’t seen nuthin’ until you’ve watched (and heard) Gardner act, sing, and dance his way through eight juicy parts (of both sexes, yet) as if he were absolutely born to each role.

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  But while everyone is good in this show … the workmanlike dressers who see to Gardner’s numerous costume changes, though they are never seen onstage, deserve a special nod of appreciation. Some of these unheralded staffers work their miracles in a matter of 15 or 20 seconds … and that often includes applying and removing the star’s makeup as well as his clothing. Geez! We should have a special category for acknowledging the expertise of such professionals.

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  Meanwhile, perhaps it will serve to give the plaudits to ‘A Gentleman’s Guide…’ Director, Trey Compton. He will know how the kudos should be distributed. This musical could not possibly work without the diligence of its dressers.

 

Award-winning writer, Jeb Ladouceur is the author of a dozen novels, and his theater and book reviews appear in several major L.I. publications. His recent hit, THE GHOSTWRITERS, explores the bizarre relationship between the late Harper Lee and Truman Capote. Ladouceur’s newly completed thriller, THE SOUTHWICK INCIDENT, was introduced at the Smithtown Library on May 21st. The book involves a radicalized Yale student and his CIA pursuers. Mr. Ladouceur’s revealing website is www.JebsBooks.com 

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SUFFOLK CLOSEUP - Environment, Public Health And Plastic Policy

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

The good news is that the distribution of plastic—that petrochemical product that has polluted the planet—is being challenged worldwide. The European Parliament last month banned single-use plastic products—plastic bags, straws, plates, cups and so forth. In the United States, the Maryland State Senate this month approved a measure to ban polystyrene foam food containers and cups—it would become the first state to take such action.

And Suffolk County, which has led the U.S. in many environmental initiatives, is preparing to take action on a set of bills that, among other things, would ban polystyrene (often called Styrofoam) food containers, plates and cups and also plastic straws and stirrers. Several towns and villages in Suffolk—including Southampton and East Hampton Towns and the Villages of Patchogue—have been taking on plastic products including limiting the distribution by stores of single-use plastic bags. This was followed by Suffolk County last year passing its own law on single-use plastic bags.

Meanwhile, a number of stores have moved on plastics. Trader Joe’s has declared that it has “stopped offering single-use plastic carryout bags in all stores” and “replaced any remaining Styrofoam trays in our produce section with bio-based compostable trays.”

The bad news is that the petrochemical industry is still pushing plastic—and pushing hard. “A major push is underway and attracting hundreds of billions in investment, both foreign and domestic, to move in the opposite direction and produce more plastics and other petrochemicals,” declared an extensive article this month on the www.desmog.com website. “The goal? To create new demand from industry from raw materials produced by fracked shale wells.” Fracking, the breaking apart of underground shale deposits for gas and oil, a highly polluting process using 600 chemicals, many cancer-causing, and contaminating water supplies, is causing the U.S. to this year become the world’s top producer of petroleum, exceeding Saudi Arabia. The petrochemical industry is promoting more use of plastic which is made with oil.

“Today,” declared Suffolk Legislator Kara Hahn last month, “we announce policies that will come to define our county’s environmental legacy for generations to come. The vast and growing scale of the worldwide plastics problem has become a growing threat to human health. We as a county have worked, in some cases decades, to address the challenges posed by these dangerous pollutants.  Now, with the backing of science and evolving public awareness, support for policies limiting and banning substances that threaten human health and our environment has reached a turning point. It’s time to take a stand against this growing threat.” 

“How do you conquer a world-wide crisis?” asked Legislator Hahn of Setauket. “One local county at a time if necessary. An island, like Long Island, surrounded by the ocean and the Sound with water so intricately tied to our life and our identity, should be at the forefront of this issue, not wait to be last in line.” 

With Ms. Hahn were members of the county’s Single-Use Plastic Reduction Task Force which she chairs and developed the proposed restrictions on plastic products. Also with her was Legislator William Spencer of Centerport, a medical doctor, who commented: “The negative impacts to our environment and public health, due to plastic pollution, is a problem that will continue to worsen with time. Taking action now is imperative if we are going to effectively reverse the growing crisis.”

As the proposed law on plastic straws and stirrers begins, the Suffolk Legislature “hereby finds and determines that the County of Suffolk is a national leader in environmental protection, as it strives to protect the natural resources and beauty of Long Island.” It notes the enactment of restrictions on single-use plastic bags. “The Legislature further finds that plastic straws are ubiquitous, often served automatically when a drink is ordered at a restaurant. Americans collectively use 500 million plastic straws per day…This is enough straws to wrap around the earth’s circumference 2.5 times every day.” Under the measure, plastic straws would only be available “by request” in Suffolk.

As for polystyrene food containers, the bill banning them explains that “polystyrene foam is a petroleum-based plastic made from the styrene monomer” and “styrene has been classified as a potential human carcinogen by the United States Department of Health and Human Services.” Further, the EPA “has determined that the polystyrene manufacturing process is the fifth largest creator of hazardous waste in the United States.” And, “There exists no practical method to recycle polystyrene and incineration of polystyrene releases toxic fumes.”

“This Legislature further determines that alternative biodegradable food service items are readily available to meet the vast majority of food service needs” and “the use of biodegradable and/or compostable food service products will reduce the waste stream in Suffolk County…”

All these plastic products—unnecessary other than to profit the petrochemical industry.

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books. 

Who Is Going To Pay? Comptroller Kennedy Says Homeowners

Who is going to be taxed for the nitrogen-reducing septic systems installed under Suffolk County’s grant program? County Comptroller John Kennedy believes homeowners are liable. The comptroller issued tax forms to homeowners who participated in the county’s grant program and installed nitrogen-reducing septic systems. If the comptroller’s position is correct the homeowners could face a tax liability in the thousands of dollars.  The Bellone administration is asking the comptroller to rescind the tax notices immediately. Kennedy, in a Newsday article said he is seeking an opinion from the IRS.

The County Septic Improvement Program is the first of its kind in New York State.  Suffolk County grants are provided to homeowners who choose to replace their cesspool or septic system with new nitrogen reducing septic systems. The program, established in 2017, was approved by voters in a 2014 referendum.

The county’s program, supported by Governor Cuomo, was awarded nearly 70 percent of the $15 million awarded statewide under the first year of the State’s Septic System Replacement Fund. Bellone’s statement claims that the “Comptroller’s Action Would Jeopardize Cuomo Administration’s $10 Million Award to Fund County Drinking Water Program”.

Yesterday, Water Quality Czar Peter A. Scully requested the tax forms sent to homeowners be rescinded saying, “Suffolk County taxpayers are already facing a difficult income tax season as a result of Washington’s federal tax code changes that limit deductions of local property taxes. The last thing they need is for the County Comptroller’s actions to expose them to additional tax liability.”

The statement issued by Mr. Scully states, “In early 2018, the County Comptroller’s office sent the 1099 forms for individual system installations to both homeowners, designers and installers, for the same installations. In early 2019, the Comptroller’s office sent 1099s for installations completed in 2018 to homeowners only, and sent “corrected” forms for 2017 to companies which had received disbursements of funds from the County, stating that they hadn’t received any. In an article in today’s Newsday, the Comptroller indicated for the first time that he plans to seek a letter ruling from the IRS on the issue.”

A full copy of the letter can be found below:

Dear Comptroller Kennedy,

As Suffolk’s Water Quality Czar, I write now with a sense of urgency in an effort to limit any further impacts to Suffolk County taxpayers resulting from the unilateral decision of your office to issue 1099 forms which could make grants under the Septic Improvement Program taxable for homeowners.

As you are aware, the program was carefully designed to make the grant process easy and affordable for homeowners. One important aspect of that effort was structuring the program to ensure that homeowners never receive disbursements of funds. Instead, grant funds are disbursed to companies which install nitrogen reducing septic systems, so that IRS reporting requirements should be met through the issuance of 1099-MISC forms to those companies, and not to homeowners. That aspect of the program was made clear at its inception, and all involved companies submitted required W-9 forms expecting to receive the 1099-MISC forms as planned.

In January 2018, however, without prior discussion, and without explanation, your office demanded that the Department of Health Services obtain a W-9 form from a homeowner who had participated in the program. Staff in the Department of Health Services subsequently learned that your office had issued 1099s for the 2017 tax year to both installers and homeowners for the same system installs. The reason why this double reporting occurred has not been explained.

In the wake of that action by your office, the County sought and obtained a legal opinion on the tax reporting issue from its tax counsel, which concluded and advised that 1099 G forms should not be issued to homeowners, and that 1099-MISC forms should be issued to companies receiving funds under the program, consistent with established program guidelines.

Over the past several weeks, the Department of Health Services has been made aware that your office had directed staff to issue 1099 G forms to individual homeowners who completed installations during the 2018 tax year, exposing those homeowners to potential tax liabilities. More recently, you have been quoted in the media as having indicated that you plan to request a letter ruling from the IRS on the matter.

Assuming that this report is accurate, it makes no sense to threaten homeowners with tax liability unless and until the IRS has indicated that issuing 1099s to homeowners is appropriate. For that reason, the purpose of this letter is to formally request that your office rescind the 1099s issued to homeowners pending receipt of the letter ruling you have indicated that you will seek from the IRS.

Given that the April 15, 2019 deadline for filing of 2018 income taxes is looming for Suffolk County taxpayers, who are already reeling from the impacts that changes to the federal tax code limiting deductions of property taxes are having on their personal finances, I would ask that your office take immediate steps to rescind the 1099s issued to homeowners, and to advise homeowners that such action is being taken.

Please confirm that such action will be taken on a priority basis. A careful and deliberate approach to the issue is important given the potential implications for the statewide $75 million New York State Septic System Replacement Program established by the State under the leadership of Governor Cuomo.

I look forward to working with you to ensure that Suffolk County taxpayers are protected against additional tax liability.

Respectfully,

PETER A. SCULLY

Deputy County Executive

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP - Spring Is Coming And So Are The Leaf Blowers

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

 Spring begins next week and with it the sweet songs of birds and the rush of warm weather…and the racket of gas-powered leaf blowers—unless their use is restricted.

All over the nation, moves to curtail the use of gas-powered leaf blowers are being made.  On Long Island, a law restricting the use of these noise-makers from mid-May to mid-September is on the table in Southampton Village and a vote could come very soon. The Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, a major Long Island town (population 233,000), just passed a similar law. Its town board unanimously voted for it. Other municipalities on the island are also considering legislation.

In the United States, the list of cities, counties. towns and villages that have restricted the use of gas-powered leaf blowers has become enormous.

It includes Carmel, California, the first city in the nation to ban gas-powered leaf blowers back in 1975, now joined by places including: Aspen, Colorado; Beverly Hills, California; Boulder. Colorado; Brookline, Massachusetts; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Claremont, California; Del Mar, California; Dobbs Ferry, New York; Evanston, Illinois; Framingham, Massachusetts; Hastings, New York; Honolulu, Hawaii; Houston, Texas; Indian Wells, California; Key West, Florida; Los Altos, California; Los Angeles, California; Malibu, California; Mamaroneck, New York; Maplewood, New Jersey; Menlo Park, California; Mill Valley, California; Montclair, New Jersey; Palo Alto, California; Pelham Manor, New York; Portland, Oregon; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Rye, New York; Santa Barbara, California; Santa Monica, California; Scarsdale, New York; Scottsdale, Arizona; Sunnyvale, California; Tampa, Florida; most recently Washington, D.C.; White Plains, New York; Yonkers, New York. 

There should be action by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency but considering how that agency has been decimated by the Trump administration, that can’t be expected now. So, it’s up to cities, counties, towns and villages to do what needs to be done—one by one.

In Southampton Village, its mayor, Michael Irving, and trustee, Kimberly Allan, are sponsoring the legislation. It cites activities causing “noise and other impacts negatively effecting the atmosphere and peace, comfort, repose and tranquility of the Village particularly during weekends, and throughout the summer season when most residents and tourists are enjoying their homes and properties.” It limits the months (no warmer weather months) and times (no earlier than 8 a.m. or later than 6 p.m.) and days (no use on Sundays and federal and state holidays) when gas-powered leaf blowers can be used.

The machines are extreme noisemakers—and they are also serious health hazards.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, they typically produce 90 decibels of noise and exposure to two hours of such noise can cause permanent hearing loss.

Their engines produce as many hydrocarbons in 30 minutes as a Ford Raptor F-150 pick-up truck does driving 3,887 miles, according to research by Edmunds Automotive. Visit—

https://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/features/emissions-test-car-vs-truck-vs-leaf-blower.html

“It’s the new second-hand smoke,” comments Trustee Allan.

“Exhaust emissions from gas-powered leaf blowers can contain significant amounts of highly toxic compounds linked to certain cancers, asthma and other respiratory problems, as well as damage to the heart, lungs, and central nervous system,” notes the Long Island-based organization Grassroots Environmental Education on its fact sheet on them. Toxins in their engine exhaust include cancer-causing benzene, toluene and formaldehyde, among other poisons.

“Gas leaf blowers are a threat to our health and our environment,” says Bonnie Sager, co-founder of Huntington CALM, which began the struggle against gas-powered leaf blowers on Long Island. Its efforts have been endorsed by the Long Island Asthma Coalition, American Lung Association, Mt. Sinai Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit and the American Academy of Pediatrics LI.

As I have learned through the decades of writing about polluting processes and products, there are alternatives. For leaf blowers, machines utilizing the high-energy batteries are available today. They make less noise and it’s at a difference frequency that doesn’t carry anywhere as far—and there’s no exhaust. Where gas-powered leaf blower use has been restricted, this is what landscapers are commonly using. 

In Southampton, Jackson Dodds & Company has been “using battery-powered leaf blowers for years—we’re going into our fourth season,” Doreen Johnston, sales manager with the landscaping firm, told me last week. She said: “We’re very happy with them.”

Hopefully, Southampton Village will pass its law on gas-powered leaf blowers and this will spread to communities throughout Suffolk. And wouldn’t it be good if action follows, too, on the county and state levels. 

As the North Hempstead law puts it: the “use of gasoline-powered leaf blowers presents an environmental hazard that reduces the quality of life in the Town. Gasoline-powered leaf blowers endanger residents, passers-by and operators through the production of excessive noise and increase the risks of hearing loss” and otherwise constitute a “health hazard.”

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books. 

Forest Brook Elementary Students Honor WWII Veteran's Voices

On Wednesday, March 6th Hauppauge School District’s Forest Brook Elementary hosted Veteran’s Voices, an intergenerational program that brings students and veterans together. Florida HS student Benjamin Mack-Jackson founder of the WWII Veterans History Project did a presentation for the students.

Now in its second year, the Forest Brook Veterans Voices program was developed by school nurse Deborah Wissmann, RN., “The idea for Veteran’s Voices stemmed from a project my son had done in 6th grade. His class had to videotape an interview with someone who was a hero to them.  My son chose his grandfather, my father. A few years later when my father passed away, this became a cherished keepsake.  In college my son formed a club called “Heard at Geneseo.” They  recorded the history of residents living in the town for decades.   These ideas, along with Principal Kristen Reingold’s dedication to honor Veterans became “Veterans’ Voices.”

Programs like this need a lot of support. School board member Gary Fortmeyer attended the assembly which was funded by a grant from the Hauppauge Educational Foundation (HEF). 

The March 6th event was the culmination of fifteen weeks of work. 4th and 5th grade students interviewed, recorded and photographed their interviews with veterans. The students then created keepsake books for each of the people they interviewed.

Principal Reingold and Medha RaoThe students and veterans speak with pride about how much they enjoyed interacting with each other. Medha Rao a 4th grader shared her experience with Smithtown Matters. “I talked to two veterans Dennis and Michael who were very funny to talk to. Michael is a WWII who liked school a lot and said he was born under a desk he was a principal for a high school, middle school and elementary school.  Dennis was funny, he told stories that were easy to understand.”


Benjamin Mack-Jackson

Medha who thinks she might become a journalist and an author said she doesn’t want to join the military because there is a lot of violence. “But I like learning about it. I think students should join Veterans Voices next year because it is a good way to learn about the veterans.” 

Ms. Wissman and Principal Reingold acknowledged the many benefits of the program including the significance of carrying on the tradition of oral history, communication with a different age group, developing and asking appropriate questions. But, it is not only students who benefit from the interactions the veterans who traveled from the Arbors Assisted Living facility were beaming as they posed for pictures with the students and looked through their keepsake books.  

Benjamin Mack-Jackson’s presentation was all about respecting, honoring and giving back to veterans. He is a 16-year-old Florida resident who developed a fasination with WWII. At the age of 13 he began researching WWII and realized he wanted to learn more and began interviewing veterans. He now travels throughout the U.S. with his museum in a box which contains WWII artifacts. His stated goal is to help educate his generation as well as future generations the importance of WWII and the people who served during the war. 

Ben explained, in age appropriate language, how many countries fought in the war, the significance of newspapers for communication,  the difference between the beginning of WWII and the date the U. S. entered the war. He discussed D-Day when 5,000 plus Americans lost their lives and the meaning of V-E day and V-J day. 

The students then donned gloves and began to examine the artifacts. Kudos to Forest Brook.