Corrections or additions?
This article was prepared for the August 8, 2001 edition of U.S. 1
Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Between The Lines
U.S. 1 doesn’t often get into the party business, but
once a year we make an exception to toast the contributors to our
annual Summer Fiction issue. The writers — who contributed poems
and short stories — have all been invited. Now we turn to you
— the readers.
Please join us after work on Tuesday, August 14, at Micawber Books
at 114 Nassau Street in downtown Princeton. We will be there from
5 to 7:30 and you are welcome to join us for all or part of the
evening.
We will have refreshments, introductions of the writers, and some
selected readings.
Some readers may be especially interested in Micawber Books itself.
As the New York Times reported on July 23, in a feature story about
the novelist Larry McMurtry and his burgeoning second hand bookstore
in a tiny Texas town, second hand books are a dwindling portion of
the book market. People come from far and wide to check out McMurtry’s
huge store, called Booked Up, in Archer City, population 1,748, which
happens to be his hometown.
Our readers need travel no further than Nassau Street to check out
one of the few remaining troves of used books. Micawber has an entire
side of its store devoted to them. Browse through the books and enjoy
the party. After all, what’s a party for writers without readers?
We hope to see you there.
To the Editor: 2 Views of Gershwin
It is not my practice to respond to reviewers of my
work. However, when a reviewer plays fast and loose with the facts
(U.S. 1 review of “George Gershwin Alone” at the Helen Hayes
Theater in New York, July 11), I am left with no choice but to correct
them.
Lawrence Stewart, chief archivist for the Gershwin Estate, former
professor of English at Cal State Northridge, but more importantly,
Ira Gershwin’s private assistant and archivist for 16 years, talked
about a great sense of proprietorship among New Yorkers of George
Gershwin. He also said that every student should see this production
and that I “portray exactly the way Ira saw George through his
own eyes…”
The brash singing — the very forward, and sometimes too-staccato
piano playing — the conceited, but heart warming self-indulgence
are all part of that. You do not know how I sing or play, just how
I imagine George to have sung or played.
But most importantly, the facts of George Gershwin’s life are reported
in so many books — from Lawrence Stewart to Robert Kimball, from
Gregory Suriano to Ed Jablonski, from Joan Peyser to E. Gilbert —
Abram Chasens, Charles Schwartz, not to mention the old timers that
were interviewed as well as all the documents available at the
Gershwin
archive at the library of congress.
Although there are a number of discrepancies in the material —
the story of how “Swanee” came to be a hit, is not one of
them. “Swanee” was performed at the Capitol theater —
with some 70 girls with electric lights in their shoes in a big
production
number. It didn’t go over too well. When George went up to Harlem
to a party that Jolson was hosting, and was at — it was actually
to a brothel — he played the tune. More to the point, the script
never refers to George playing the tune at a “swank penthouse
party,” which is how you report that I tell the story. The actual
text is “it was in Harlem in a dingy joint with booze and women,
let’s just say it wasn’t in a school for girls.” Those same words
have been used at over 500 performances, so how did you come up with
a “penthouse party?”
Ultimately, thank you for at least reporting that the audience gave
the performance a standing ovation. They always do. A critic’s view
of the quality of a performance remains his or her own, however it
is unacceptable to attribute error to a playwright when such error
simply does not exist.
Hershey Felder
U.S. 1 drama critic Simon Saltzman responds:Mr. Felder has implied that I played fast and loosewith the facts in my review of his solo performance as “GeorgeGershwin Alone.” While I might argue that he, indeed, was theone playing fast and loose with some of the greatest popular musicever written, I would respectfully like to respond to the portionof the play that appears to be most in contention.The question is where Gershwin’s tune “Swanee” was first heardby Al Jolson. In his letter, Felder quotes from his text: “itwas in Harlem in a dingy joint with booze and women (Bessie Bloodgood,proprietress), let’s just say it wasn’t in a school for girls.”This line, which I admittedly missed, evidently comes from “TheMemory of All That” by Joan Peyser, a writer whose decidedlyprovocativeslant and biographical data has been questioned by the Gershwinestate.My apology to Mr. Felder for questioning his source right or wrong.(Sic.)Two sources I have at my elbow — “George Gershwin” (AlanKendall), and “The Gershwins” (Robert Kimball, Alfred Simon),only make reference to “a party” (no location); a third source”The Gershwin Years” (Edward Jablonsky, Lawrence D. Stewart)says the party was at Sylvia Joslyn’s. Neither anyone I know nor anyof the researchers at the Library of Congress could find out anythingabout the elusive Ms. Joslyn. And a fourth source —”Jolson,”a biography by Michael Freedland — says about the night Jolsonheard “Swanee:” “Like all of Al’s parties, it was to bean evening of his singing. Guests brought other guests and thosepeoplebrought more strangers.””There were so many unknown faces that it was impossible to tellwho had been invited and who was gate-crashing.” Perhaps I wasin error in recalling it as “a penthouse,” but does this soundlike a brothel?A fifth source, and one that only I can personally verify, is frommy Dad (who died at the age of 100 two years ago), who played theaterorgans in New York movie palaces during the heyday of stage and screenshows in New York. His recollection went like this: Jolson wasperformingin his own musical, “Sinbad,” at the Wintergarden Theater,directly across the street from the Capitol Theater where”Swanee”was featured in the show. Jolson (who was spotted at the theater)heard the song there and requested it be played again at his partyand that the relatively unknown composer be brought along too. Thiswas the story among musicians at the time. As one investigatesfurther,it is easy to find even more conflicting stories. All in all, thesong is here to stay while Mr. Felder’s show has closed.Top Of PageNews from NetillaWe wanted to clarify a couple of references made toour company in the article (“Venture $s for Telecoms,” July18). First, the company’s name is Netilla Networks, not NetillaSystems.And, second, we were identified as a provider of “virtual privatenetworking,” which we are not. We are a networking servicescompanythat enables secure remote access to office networks from any Webbrowser. With our Netilla Virtual Office service, the Web becomesa secure “extension cord” to an office network, allowing abusiness user at an off-site location to use any Web browser forsecure,remote access to shared software.The distinction is an important one for businesses seeking acost-effectivesolution for remote access. Unlike a VPN, our service requires nospecial software or hardware on the remote PCs used to access thenetwork. Adding to its affordability, particularly for small andmedium-sizedbusinesses, is the fact that it is a subscription service.Available nationwide through a network of Netilla-certified systemsintegrators, Netilla Virtual Office service has already proven itselfbeneficial for businesses in such areas as health care, insurance,publishing, design and architecture. For more information, find usat www.netilla.comReginald BestNetilla Networks Inc.Previous StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
