Homelessness, Death and Trickle Down Economics ... - OpEdNews

In the sixties, UC Berkeley (Cal) was the home to student activism. ? Students, concerned about social justice, took to the streets to demand rights against oppression. ??? In 2009, at an Orange County orientation for Cal acceptees, one of the speakers stated that the university had changed and that a conservative counter-culture had taken root. ? Last weekend, Jashen Edwards blew away the conservative counter-culture with his production of C.H.A.N.G.E a musical/operetta that showed the failures and cruelties of Reaganomics. ? The musical is largely based on Jonathan Kozol's, Rachel and Her Children, an account of New York's city-paid shelter hotels of the 1980's.

The final show started with photos of the route to Potter's Field, New York, where innocent children who died in poverty were buried in the 80s. As Potter's Field was part of a prison complex, parents weren't even allowed to attend their own children's funerals.

Cast members first enter, carrying child sized coffins up onto the stage. ? Three children, ghosts of children who died at New York's Hotel Martinique, sing the prologue to the show. ? They are joined by a talented choir of Berkeley's top music and theater students. ? Next the audience sees a homeless family trying to take refuge in the Hotel Martinique, a shelter-hotel, which had deplorable conditions. ?? Fires were common in at the Hotel Martinique as it had bad electrical wiring and no proper food facilities, resulting in people sneaking in items for cooking food, which caught fire. ? The Hotel was extremely unhealthy, with rodents and other health hazards being common. ? Children died in the fires and from the horrific conditions and were buried in Potter's Field, while (as noted above) the parents were unable to attend the funerals.

The musical also followed themes of corporate greed, physical abuse towards the poor, domestic violence, commercialism, the general treatment of impoverished Americans as discarded garbage by the Reagan Administration, religious hypocrisy, a press with an agenda, and Reagan's flowery language that made it appear America had turned rosy under his administration, when in fact the country was a nightmare for a large segment of society.

Alex Ghenis very convincingly played a paraplegic veteran with PTSD who was traumatized, not just by what happened to him in the war, but by shooting people he did not know, thus killing his American dream. ? Jose Hernandez played prisoner 7227, on death row for a crime that had resulted from his impoverished circumstances and too much responsibility too soon. ?

Emma Tome played a victim of domestic violence, apparently homeless in the rain with her children. ? Her situation was the result of her leaving her marriage after her husband beat her. ? This portrayal spells out some of the fears that keep domestic violence victims in chains in our society. ? ? The mother needed to provide for her children and had to leave them alone to do so, not knowing what would happen to the children she loved. ?? Would it have been better to stay in the marriage and take more violence? ? This is another theme that has a great deal of meaning in 2012. ? ? One of the actresses in Jashen's musical was the victim of a brutal father who came close to killing the actress and her mother. ? One of the audience members this writer met the first evening was also a domestic violence victim.? This is not unusual as one in every two women has been or will be a victim of domestic violence, making this a very relevant subject.

The marriage between TV, religion, the press and politics is portrayed quite insightfully in the production. ? The connection between these was a major part of the Reagan Administration. ? ?? It is hard to think about the eighties and not recall Tammy Faye and the hypocrisy of televangelists promoting the Republican Party agenda while pumping Christians for dollars. ? During part of the play, Reagan's voice could be heard in the background. ? However, much of the hopelessness, poverty and homelessness on which the show was based have returned to make the show also reflective of 2012. ?

Keith Menconi played a crack dealer who preyed on the homeless. ? The hypocrisy of the U.S. Government importing drugs and hooking the vulnerable and innocent, only to arrest the survivors is well known.

The best line in the show was sung by Elsa Bishop. ? "Trickle down will come next year." Trickle down was Herbert Hoover's, later Reagan's and even later the Bushs' economic plans.? Since 1929, Americans have been waiting to see some of that trickle down wealth.

The musical was a production of Cal's music and theater departments. ? Jashen Edwards put the musical together after his idea won the Max Weinbach UC Berkeley Musical Theater Prize. ??? Jason wrote all the music, much of which was on a par with current Broadway musicals. Jessica Clarkson directed the show and Vanessa Ramos was the stage manager.

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Jashen cares deeply about social issues and feels writing musicals is the best arena for his activism.? He is from South Central Los Angeles and recalls the fears resulting from drive-by shootings.

??? Berkeley's top liberal political activist Daniel Alley conducted the orchestra and backed them up on piano. ? Daniel also works with the Berkeley Opera and is in the University Chorus. ? After the production, the cast members expressed their gratitude to Daniel and spoke at length about his skill and talent.

Among the actresses/ singers that Jashen Edwards snagged is Natasha Hull-Richter, the founder of the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party and the girl who convinced California leaders to give the state's voters a voter-verifiable paper trail. ? The death row scene undoubtedly resonated with her as her resolution calling for a legislated moratorium (effectively abolition) has been the California Democratic Party's official position on the subject since she was 12. ? Natasha has an extensive background in singing, dancing and acting, having founded a performance company while in grammar school and having acted in over three dozen TV shows, movies and commercials. ? She is a talented member of the Screen Actors Guild, where she is known by her professional name.?

The show contained some hot new talent, such as Dave Abrams, a theater and performance studies student, whose performance was at or above a professional level. ? Abrams has a background in community and regional theater, having previously acted in a production of Smokey Joe's Cafe .? ? In C.H.A.N.G.E., he had several roles, and excelled in his singing and acting in each of them. This writer's suggestion is to watch this actor. ? He has star quality written all over him. ?

The presentation was very professional. ? The direction, orchestration, and production were impressive enough to rival any Broadway production. ? Jashen plans to expand the opera, adding more scenes of relevant social issues. ??

The other talented members of the production ? (not previously mentioned) include Jenny Jung (set/prop designer), Aries Limon (costume design), Anthony Ferraro (Light Designer), Michael Schiff (Sound Designer), Michael Ross (Art Designer), ? and Stevie Lee Crouch (Audio/Video). ? The Orchestra included Katya, Frazier Anna Yap, Anna Clifford, George Sun, Jenny Larsen, Masis Parunyan, Denise Doan and Elaine Laguerta. ? The other talented actresses/ actors not mentioned above include Natalie Rivera, Julia Marostica, Xioaqian Lin, Victor Gonzalez, Ian McGregor, Kenny Wang, Won Jin Lee, Vanessa Aldrich, Erin Alford, Jessica Clarkson ( also the director), and Christina Geraci, ??

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The author is the chairman of a liberal Democratic club that is working to move the Democratic Party towards it's true base, the people. She has organized major political events and helped elect some of the most liberal politicians in America. Her (more...)
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