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Jordan Wright
March 31, 2013
Special to The Alexandria Times
 (L-R) Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris as Elizabeth Keckly and Naomi Jacobson as Mary Todd Lincoln – Photo by Scott Suchman. Four indisputably exceptional actors command the stage at Arena Stage’s world premiere of Mary T. and Lizzy K. Of that there should be no argument. They are a master class in acting – – powerful and fierce in their portrayals of their roles. But what’s troubling here is not the fine acting by Naomi Jacobson as Mary Todd Lincoln, Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris as Mary’s dressmaker, Elizabeth Keckly, Thomas Adrian Simpson as Abraham Lincoln, and Joy Jones as Lizzy’s assistant, Ivy, it is the disjointed script and tedious dialogue by Tazewell Thompson, who also serves as the play’s director. Adapted from the book Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckly by Jennifer Fleischner, Thompson’s attempt to portray the women as friends is a flimsy frame on which to hang the plot.
Tazewell’s own notes describe the two women’s relationship as a “partnership and sisterhood…a formidable alliance”. But is it really? Mary holds Lizzy in her thrall by not paying her for the last twenty-seven ensembles. A condition that would be more aptly referenced as indentured servitude. The play slogs on as Mary degrades and belittles Lizzy, begging then ordering her to make another frock to wear to her countless parties, to which Lizzy capitulates, “Tell me who I am and what I must do for you.” Though Lizzy has already bought her freedom, Mary clearly has taken ownership of Lizzy’s life. Far from an equal relationship, it seems more akin to the Stockholm syndrome.
 Naomi Jacobson as Mary Todd Lincoln and Thomas Adrian Simpson as Abraham Lincoln – Photo by Scott Suchman. Mary’s lavish spending and melancholia have been well documented in many historical writings, yet Tazewell’s interpretation puts the focus exclusively on these two points. These are Mary’s opening lines, “An Indian spirit is removing the bones from my cheeks. I am inundated by strangers that invade my thoughts.” Is this a woman who might be considered a reliable friend? The director defines their “friendship”, as “marked by its warmth, trust, intimacy and loyalty.” You may recall that slave owners also referred to their house servants as loyal and trustworthy.
Thompson imagines Mary as bipolar – by turns ferociously jealous, vengeful, bullying and delusional, then flipping like a light switch into girlish charm and political shrewdness. She would give Martha from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf a run for her money. Certainly there were moments I thought I had stepped into the wrong theatre.
Tazewell’s odd device to hold this disjointed piece together is Mary’s preoccupation with her clothes. Mind numbing nattering about the fashions of the day fill the script and stunt the play’s momentum.
Mary spends a great deal of time center stage on a trunk, while Lizzy and her indentured assistant Ivy, conduct fittings. Mary carps about the perils of her unwieldy dresses – – bones and stays, crinolines and hoops, and a device worn under the dress called a “pagoda” that she loathes yet cannot do without – – and yet she wants more clothes, more shoes, more hats and more shopping sprees. See what comes of being a clotheshorse, the play seems to say.
 (L-R) Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris as Elizabeth Keckly, Naomi Jacobson as Mary Todd Lincoln, Joy Jones as Ivy and Thomas Adrian Simpson as Abraham Lincoln – Photo by Scott Suchman. As for the costumes by designer Merrily Murray-Walsh, they accurately reflect the popular 19th C fashions of the day from Godey’s Lady’s Book, but designer Donald Eastman’s set, described in the playbill as “a room”, is little more than a smattering of piled up trunks, an unhung chandelier and an armoire, looking more like the contents of an attic than a proper Victorian parlor.
Through April 28th at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St., SW, Washington, DC 20024. For tickets and information call 202 484-0247 or visit www.ArenaStage.org.
Jordan Wright
March 29, 2013
Special to DC Metro Theater Arts, Broadway Stars, and localKicks
Greek Orthodox Easter Festival at Zaytinya
 Head Chef at Zaytinya – Michael Costa – photo credit Jordan Wright Jose Andres’ popular spot, Zaytinya, is planning a five-week festival beginning March 31st and ending on Greek Orthodox Easter, May 3rd. Head Chef, Michael Costa, who continues his mission to create dependably delicious flavor-forward food, has devised some truly savory bites for the Lenten season. Last week we had a chance to sample some of the upcoming dishes including mixologist, Juan Coronado’s dazzling cocktail, Apokreas. Named appropriately after a Greek carnival celebrating Dionysus, it’s a combination of Metaxa, verjus, and maple syrup garnished with a red pickled quail egg and baby carrots. Cue the bunnies!
 Apokreas cocktail with pickled quail egg and baby carrot garnish – photo credit Jordan Wright A few of the traditional dishes we sampled were lachanosalata, shredded cabbage and carrot salad served in Brussels sprout leaves and dressed with olive oil, lemon and smoked walnut skordalia; sopa me lahanika aladoti, a smooth Lenten vegetable soup with cauliflower, rice, mushrooms, tahini and herbs topped with crispy cauliflower and black tahini; and clam stew from Lefkada, sea sweet clam soup with basmati rice.
 Greek Easter offerings Yogurt, olives and lava beans – Seasonal morsels from Zaytinya – photo credit Jordan Wright During the festival there will be an agorá outdoor market on Sunday, April 21st and Monday, April 22nd featuring artisanal foods, crafts and Greek music. Look for Andres’ Pepe Food Truck to be out front selling spit-roasted lamb sandwiches served with tzatziki and pickled red onions. Prizes of signed cookbooks, Zaytinya gift certificates, wines and other delights are being offered to benefit World Central Kitchen.
During the first week of the festival, the restaurant will host Greek cookbook author, photographer and journalist, Aglaia Kremezi for a collaborative wine dinner on April 3rd and a cooking class on April 4th. Check the website for more deets. www.Zaytinya.com.
Todd and Ellen Gray Host Seder Dinner With Recipes From Their Latest Cookbook
 The NEW JEWISH TABLE by Ellen and Todd Gray The New Jewish Table (St. Martin’s Press) by Todd Gray and Ellen Kassoff Gray arrived at my door in galley form a few months ago. Written with Washington Post food writer, David Hagedorn and sporting a foreword by Jewish cookery queen and DC local, Joan Nathan, the book is Gray’s modern spin on traditional Jewish cooking. What really charms me as a cookbook collector is the backstories told by the writer, and in this collection the duo fills the space between the easy-to-make recipes with cooking tips and personal tales of their very different childhoods. Ellen, a city-bred Jewish girl and husband, Todd, a country-bred Episcopalian, are the successful owners of Equinox Restaurant here in DC. Between them they have written a book that speaks to their food memories yet reinvents familiar Jewish recipes in Todd’s fresh and elegant style.
 The ceremonial Seder plate – Photo credit Jordan Wright This week the Grays hosted Passover Seder dinner for family and friends at Equinox and this scribe was lucky enough to snag an invitation. Though I had attended a one Seder dinner long ago at the Palm Beach Country Club when I was a girl, I enjoyed revisiting the time-honored traditions, including the reading of the prayers by the guests and the unique ceremonial plate of baytzah (roasted egg), maror (bitter herbs), z’roa (roasted bone), karpas (green vegetable) and haroset (chopped apples, nuts and wine) to represent their exodus from Egypt to the Holy Land.
 Guests read the Seder prayers The Gray’s, who are known for their warmth and conviviality served dishes from the cookbook starting with a salad of roasted heirloom beets with golden raisins and Sicilian pistachios; Todd’s Black Angus beef brisket in red wine sauce with potato mousseline and wilted spinach and sesame seeds; quinoa with poached figs and mint; and finishing wondrously with a decadent flourless chocolate cake with caramel ice cream and bourbon vanilla sauce. Now have I got your attention? Mazel tov Mr. and Mrs. Gray!
 Chocolate Hazelnut Rugelach 
Click Link to Download Receipt in PDF
Chocolate Hazelnut Rugelach
A Persian Excursion in the Heart of Georgetown
Word is out that one of Georgetown’s “in” spots for the past twenty-two years is serving Persian cuisine on Wednesday and Thursday nights. Now that’s hard news, readers, especially when you consider this place has flown under the radar for over two decades. So, yes, we had to see for ourselves what all the fuss and flutter was about.
When Iranian chef and Peacock Café’s co-owner Maziar Farivar, was tapped by the James Beard Foundation to cook a dinner for the Persian New Year’s celebration, Nowruz, he had to research his own country’s cuisine. Inspired by the dishes of his childhood that were still close to his heart, he set out on a mission to learn how to prepare the dishes that the women in his family had brought with them to America. From that jumping off point he and brother Shahab Farivar, decided to proudly offer his country’s cuisine in his own restaurant.
Regulars are familiar with Farivar’s everyday menu of American meatloaf, organic chicken, sustainable seafood and an array of pastas. It’s the jumbo lump crab cake, grass-fed rib eye steak and lobster salad that up the ante. But lately the clientele have been clamoring for his exotic Persian dishes and that is what we came for on a frigid winter’s night.
 Fresh herbs with feta and beets and Pistachio soup at Peacock Cafe – Photo credit Jordan Wright We pored long and hard over the menu and the specialty cocktail list from which we chose mango martinis made with homemade sour mix, fresh fruit and organic blue agave. It was a good place to start. Stymied by so many alluring menu choices, we vacillated wildly over our decisions before settling on the following – – borani-e laboo, red beet and yogurt dip with hummus, olives and seasoned flat bread; naaz, roasted eggplant with pomegranate; and panir va sabzi gthat with whole fresh herbs, feta radishes and dates.
An exquisite pistachio citrus soup, soup-e pesteh, arrived followed by khoresht qaymeh, which turned out to be a stew consisting of lamb and yellow split peas with sundried lime over basmati rice. We also tried a dish called albaloo polo ba morgh, a pomegranate-glazed chicken dish with sour cherries in the rice. We found the dishes to be quite small so there was ample room for dessert when we capped off the evening with the restaurant’s signature chocolate volcano.
P. S. We tried to take some photos but, alas, the sexy, red-lit resto, bracketed by neighbors Neyla and Café Milano, is so charmingly intime that the photos aren’t quite up to snuff. www.PeacockCafe.com.
A New Brunch Spot Shines in Shirlington
On the far end of what I’ll call the Shirlington Strip, that two-block boulevard lined with boutiques, bakeries, heaps of restaurants, one artsy movie theatre and, of course Signature Theatre, is The Curious Grape. You may recall I swooned over young chef, Erik McKamey’s food last June, shortly after they expanded from a wine and cheese shop into a full size restaurant. Now happily they have also expanded their hours to include a sit-down lunch on Saturdays and, more importantly, a scrumptious Sunday Brunch.
 Flight of wine-based Bloody Marys – photo credit Jordan Wright You would expect nothing less from a place that features wine at every turn, than their creative use of wine as a base for the ubiquitous Sunday morning drink, the Bloody Mary, which they just call “Mary” cocktails here. There are three versions, but order the flight in order to try them all, thus finding a favorite, if you can, which is well-nigh impossible. These cute cocktails served in half-size martini glasses snub their noses at vodka while providing an assuredly more preferable and less earth-shattering way to start your day of rest.
For the flight you’ll have the Ciao Bella, flavored with balsamic vinegar, roasted red pepper and basil and decorated with a morsel of cheese and sundried tomato on a bamboo spear. The Bloody Maria, spices it up with smoked paprika, piquillo peppers and cumin seed and comes garnished with chorizo. And lastly the Beijing Mary incorporates soy sauce, wasabi and sesame oil with a sprig of Thai basil. Each one delivers a sort of sprightly perfection. There are other brunchy drinks made with sparkling rose, sake, tawny port and sparkling hard cider as a base, but those will be for another day.
The menu is cleverly laid out in food and wine columns to aid the diner in pairings, and since the list quite extensive, you might want to stick to the script. Most selections can be ordered by the half glass, so as you work your way through their well-culled offerings, you can convince yourself you are getting an education in wines from around the world. Blissfully all wines are $13.00 and under for a full glass, so drink up, it’s study hour.
Baked goods are made in house, so try a coconut lavender muffin or cinnamon bun to break the fast. We dove in hard selecting a few starters to share. Doughnuts with wild boar, hoisin sauce and pickled onion were a tasty balance of flavors we couldn’t get enough of was an earthy foil for a dish of airy ricotta blintzes sweetened with cranberry compote, caramelized honey and thyme. And a gooey wine-kissed Abondance cheese fondue, served only as a small plate, proved a tease I’d like to see offered as an entree.
 Wild boar doughnuts at the Curious Grape – photo credit Jordan Wright Driving me mad with craving as I write this, was the house made flat iron corned beef accompanied by sweet potato hash, poached egg and salsa verde. Why, you may ponder, is this corned beef so different from all others? Why is it so irresistible, so craveable? It is because to achieve this wonder you must first appreciate the marvel of well-brined, slow-cooked meat, a process that renders the beef mouth-meltingly tender. But here’s why this one supersedes the others. In a twist of brilliance, the chef puts a thick slice of the boiled meat onto the flat top grill, searing the flesh and giving it a crusty ‘bark’. Gourmands, it does not get any better than this, except when the yolk of a perfectly poached egg oozes over the meat and onto the crispy potato hash below.
 Flat iron corned beef on sweet potato hash – photo credit Jordan Wright Next I was eager to try what is referred to as the Spanish breakfast, a potato and leek “tortilla” with Serrano ham and Zamorano cheese. I am a sucker for any dish that lists leeks as an ingredient. But this one was a disappointment, as the eggs were dry, the whole concoction flat as a board, the leeks, well, I’m not sure where they went to, and the delicate imported ham was seared to smithereens. Even the sweet note of quince on the side could not redeem it. I hope they get a better handle on this, since apart from an apple pancake soufflé, it was the only other egg dish.
 Ricotta blintzes – photo credit Jordan Wright As a footnote we decided to wait until we had finished with our bloodies before ordering coffee and tea. The restaurant has an extensive coffee bar menu and additions like house made vanilla bean, hazelnut and toasted almond syrups to flavor the java. My cappuccino with hazelnut syrup was lovely but my cohort chose a Chai latte that sent us into orbit. It seems the barista makes pouches of well-chosen spices for this drink and it’s terrific. All in all we concluded that the Curious Grape is a most welcome addition to the brunch scene and we’ll be back very soon. www.CuriousGrape.com.
Last Chance for The Garden Café’s British Menu at the National Gallery
 The Garden Cafe at the National Gallery of Art – photo credit Jordan Wright By last count I have already made three trips to the Garden Café Britannia to dine on Cathal Armstrong’s British-inspired menu at the museum and I am still smitten. With the opening of the large and gorgeously curated Pre-Raphaelite exhibition, I have returned with both local and out-of-town friends luring them in with the fabulous buffet, the elegant fountain setting and the best lunch deal in town (at $20.75 for all you can eat, it’s a steal). They have all been giddy with delight over the food, which is consistently wonderful and overseen by the National Gallery of Art’s Executive Chef, David Rogers.
 Carrots and turnips – Cornish pasties at the Garden Cafe The menu will stay in place until the end of April, but hurry! In early May, to complement the Gallery’s upcoming Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes exhibit, famed chef Michel Richard will transform the café into the Garden Café Ballets Russes. Expect dishes with both a French and Russian influence as the master creates a menu featuring Russian black bread, lentil salad, chilled borscht, blini with caviar, grilled eggplant, beef stroganoff, salmon coulbiac, and strawberries Romanoff for dessert. Na zdorov’ye!
 Digging in at the Garden Cafe Britannia – photo credit Jordan Wright
Jordan Wright
February 20, 2013
Special to DC Metro Theater Arts, Broadway Stars, and localKicks
 The Barefoot Spirit How to Succeed in the Wine Business Without Really Knowing a Damn Thing About It
Last month I spoke with Barefoot Wines founder Michael Houlihan about his upcoming book The Barefoot Spirit (Evolve Publishing – May 2013). Michael, who has been in the wine industry for nearly 30 years along with his life and business partner Bonnie Harvey, created the affordable and ubiquitous wines we know from the cute footprint icon. As soon as I spoke with him, I knew I liked him. He’s engaging, modest, enthusiastic and plain speaking, and considered a wine industry visionary. Though there are better known trailblazers throughout the history of California wines – perhaps none have started out more hapless, or dare I say clueless. He’d be the first to admit it.
When Michael and Bonnie hatched their idea to produce wine out of their farmhouse laundry room in 1985, they were so unaware of the vagaries and complexities of the business that they didn’t even know that wine came in different sized bottles. And though Bonnie had a nose for business and Michael had a knack for sales, they couldn’t possibly foresee what it took to make and sell wine on a grand scale. But both kept an open mind and both were quick studies.
 Bonnie Harvey and Michael Houlihan Co-Founders of Barefoot Spirit As he describes it in his light-hearted and informative book, Michael started his sales adventures by lugging samples of Barefoot wines through a blinding thunder storm to the Piggly Wiggly in South Carolina – hardly an auspicious beginning. Neither one of them was knowledgeable about such crucial details as marketing, distribution and shelf placement, and they were sticker-shocked when they discovered the high cost of glass to bottle their wines. The term ‘spiffs’, which are legal bonuses given to distributor reps to push a wine, was not in their vocabulary yet. They just had a product they believed in and a commitment to see it through. Michael remembered what one wine purveyor told him, “You’ve got to be better and cheaper than Bob.” Mondavi, that is. So they put their heart and soul into the venture and learned along the way. Turns out they learned a lot.
A cornerstone of their success in marketing their brand is something all winemakers use today in one way or another – getting their wines to the public through tasting events in order to establish solid relationships and engender goodwill along the way. To that end Michael and Bonnie created Barefoot’s “Worthy Cause Marketing”, donating their wine to charitable events and following up with their new friends. It proved to be an ideal model, both personally and professionally. Many budding entrepreneurs now turn for advice to the pair who in 2005 sold Barefoot Wines to the family-owned E. J. Gallo, which according to Wine Folly is, “the largest wine brand on the face of the earth.”
“The Barefoot Spirit” is the polar opposite of a dry business-oriented tale of success. It’s about a pair of entrepreneurs who dropped everything, except their commitment to fun, to make and sell an affordable wine. I mean who wouldn’t love a pair of nature-loving, beach-combing winemakers who think there’s nothing better in life than hiking the Sierras with their cats and treating their business like an adventure. Now that’s a tale you wouldn’t want to miss.
 The action at Toki Underground – photo credit Jordan Wright Tales From The Underground – Toki’s Simple Pleasures
“We have to arrive at an unfashionable time,” I insisted. “The minute they open the doors!” Like everyone else I’ve been put off by Toki Underground’s rumored lines-around-the-block and their no-reservations policy but my accomplice and I were determined to check out all the noise. Certainly the restaurant’s 2012 DC “Restaurant of the Year” award has the trendoids beating a path to their door, but we weren’t going to let that stand in our way. So around five on a weeknight, I picked up my epicurean compatriot and we headed off to H Street where we discover to our delight that we are seated right away.
Toki Underground has been on the radar screen of foodies and chefs from Alice Waters to Joan Nathan whose famous Sips & Suppers event featured the noodle shop’s Executive Chef Eric Bruner-Yang in one of their private dinners this year. The tiny noodle house, all 650 square feet of it, has a mere twenty-five stools and most face the wall. Don’t expect a romantic hideaway or group ramen night. This hot spot could be more fondly described as a hole in the wall.
 Counter dining at Toki – photo credit Jordan Wright The tiny outpost sits above The Pug, a small dive bar on the first level. A steep stairway leads to the second level and the unmistakable aroma of miso, soy and freshly made ramen. (Why “Underground” if it’s on the second floor?) A tattooed host leads us past clouds of billowing steam from the open kitchen where we hop onto two empty stools, propping our feet up on the footrests, actually repurposed skateboards, and dive into the menu like starving cheetahs.
The décor is Asian animé hipster – the limited menu Japanese/Taiwanese fusion ramen and dumplings complimented by Asian-themed cocktails, sake and Korean beers. But it’s the ramen, lovely silken noodles made off premises in Springfield, VA to Bruner-Yang’s specifications and floating in a 24-hour simmered pork shoulder bone stock, that steals the show. Though there are a purported twenty-six different styles of ramen, the young chef draws on his life in Taiwan watching his mother and grandmother form the flour and water into pliable strands to interpret his own style.
The proper way to eat ramen is to slurp. (Miss Manners, cover your ears!) The reasoning behind this custom, uncouth to Western proprieties, is to aerate the noodles in order to eat them quickly before they break down in the hot broth. Lots of communal slurping was heard. Dainty diners need not apply.
 Sesame Crusted Salmon with horseradish sauce and eggplant jam – photo credit Jordan Wright Our dumplings come first, steamed instead of pan-fried and the soft pillows, stuffed with ginger, scallions, Napa cabbage and a house-made spice mix, and served alongside tare, a sweet soy dipping sauce. A classic hakata follows – the bowl filled to the brim with ramen, pork loin, pickled ginger and nori seaweed. My partner likes the nitamago with the sous vide cooked egg that when broken spills into the broth turning it into a creamy slurry. If you’re of a mind, Chashu pork cheek or other additions can be added to most dishes with a nominal $4 surcharge. All the ramen bowls are layered with complex seasoning and spice and cradled by the deep undertones of the slow cooked pork bone stock.
Dessert is an afterthought here with house made chocolate chip cookies and a carafe of milk. Take it or leave it. If you want something more substantial you may want to drift over to Dangerously Delicious Pies for a slice of heaven on a plate.
Currently in the works is Bruner-Yang’s experiment to channel the Asian night market experience. Look for Maketto to bring the same energy and intriguing cuisine to his revered H Street neighborhood.
1,001 Serbian Dreams
 Cherry pomace and Honey Drop rakija – photo credit Jordan Wright It was last November and a small group of us were brunching at Masa 14, when I first heard about Ambar. Ivan Iricanin and his partner, chef and restauranteur Richard Sandoval (Masa 14 and El Centro D. F.) had already begun building out the Eighth Street restaurant that would soon transport the soul-satisfying regional dishes of Serbia’s Balkan republic to DC. In particular they were excited to debut dozens of varieties of the country’s national treasure, rakija, which are fruit brandies of a wide-ranging potency. My antennae were vibrating like a summertime cicada.
In January the two-story brownstone opened with three authentic Serbian chefs and bar shelves filled with glistening bottles of rakija sharing space with wines from Slovenia, Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia. It’s a cozy country rustic space yet with a modern polish. Mason jars of pickled eggs and vegetables take up shelf space with books and candles flicker against the pickled wood walls.
 Forest Gnocchi at Ambar – photo credit Jordan Wright The cuisine here is a heavenly mixture of Mediterranean, Balkan, Turkish and hearty Slavic fare – a bit spicy, earthy and deeply flavored, especially the meats. Scanning the menu I saw a multitude of intriguing dishes – Wild Mushroom Salad salata sa pecurkama, White Veal Soup teleca krem corba, Venison Carpaccio karpaco od smetine. But it was the way they were described that made us lean in further. A dish called simply ‘Grilled Asparagus’ is done up in a velouté sauce with crispy prosciutto, pumpkin, purple potato and quail egg. Beet and Goat Cheese Salad, slojevi cvekle arrives garnished with pork cracklings, walnuts and chives. Sesame Crusted Salmon, losos, is flavorfully enhanced by horseradish sauce and spicy eggplant jam. It seemed impossible to decide but after giving our preferences to our capable and quite adorable server, she made a few suggestions and additions to complement our initial choices.
 The Balkan bread basket with three spreads at Ambar – photo credit Jordan Wright The homey Bread Basket ustipci ili proja is a good place to start. Filled with the Balkan version of cornbread, fried sourdough, (be still my heart) and three savory spreads, the one most of us are familiar with is ajvar – a spicy red pepper puree. We also swooned over the Cheese Pie gibanica – a delicately layered phyllo napoleon with spinach and goat cheese, far better than most I’ve tried. Though they have the traditional beef and pork kebabs cevapi, which adds cheese to the skewer and the National Dish pljeskavica, a Balkan hamburger – it was the Stuffed Sour Cabbage known as sarma that transported us on that cold, rainy evening.
Ambar does not treat dessert as an afterthought. They have a pastry chef who trained in kitchens throughout Europe. The most unusual dessert is the Forest Gnocchi. Dazzlingly presented in an earthenware bowl that weighs as much as a bocce ball, its separate components consist of chocolate mousse, bitter orange cake, ground chocolate, orange gelee, tarragon gnocchi and passion fruit espuma. The unusual dessert, pretty as a medieval garden, is then stirred up with black tea sauce.
Be sure to finish with one of the rakijas. We opted for the subtle Honey Drop and the high octane Cherry Pomace. Just the beginning of our love affair with Ambar.
Jordan Wright
February 20, 2012
Special to Indian Country Today Magazine
 Women’s Moccasins – Michael and Pam Knapp from KQ Designs photos – All photo credit to Pam Knapp Originally crafted from the tanned skins of elk, deer, moose or buffalo, stitched with sinew, and in colder climates often lined with rabbit fur or sheepskin, moccasins have evolved into the preferred footwear for pow wows. Since the late 15th Century when Italians arrived on our shores and traded Venetian glass beads with American Indians, the art of beading on moccasins has become a tradition that has evolved into high art. Once simply adorned with shell, quill, wood and bone, the moccasins of today are intricately beaded canvasses that tell the story of the wearer. Fanciful designs with botanical, geometric and animal themes stitch complex motifs to reflect tribal, clan or familial influences. Styles can be short with a tongue and hole-threaded ties, or fashioned more like a ‘desert’ boot with high sides or turndown cuffs. Others might be unadorned mid-calf boots with thong ties or heavily beaded moccasins with add-on leggings, although there are countless variations of these basic shapes.
For Michael Knapp, a bead artisan for the past 40 years, beadwork is like snowflakes, “No two designs are the same,” he explains. Knapp, who comes from a Winnebago background, recalls his first pow wow experience as an impressionable seven year-old who joined a dance circle. “I loved it and wanted to stay, but my father who was ready to leave had to pull me out of the arena kicking and screaming.”
Yet out of adversity can come raw determination, and for Knapp it turned into a passion for the art of Native beadwork. His enthusiasm and knowledge is palpable as he travels to pow wows around the country selling his designs, meeting up with friends and, yes, still dancing. “The pow wow community is like one big family. Everyone is your aunt and uncle and everyone looks out for everyone else,” says Knapp. It’s where he met his wife Pam and taught her the intricate skill. Together they create exquisite custom pieces from their two-person studio, KQ Designs, in Lexington, Kentucky.
Knapp describes moccasin regalia this way, “There are two types of footwear, the Southern Plains boots or high top moccasins. They’re not usually fully beaded though they might have a beaded medallion on the ‘vamp’, the top part of the shoe. Southern tribes like Kiowa, Comanche, and Oklahoma Indians typically wear those. Historically the Seminoles did very little beadwork, mostly patchwork applique with different colored materials and some accent edge beading. In California they rarely used beadwork. But in the Plains area, the Dakotas, Montana, Nebraska, Iowa, they did a lot of beading and the women’s dresses have fully beaded yokes, moccasins and leggings. The Plateau region of Oregon, Montana and Northern Utah use a different style called ‘flat stitch’ to refer to the way beads are tacked down onto deer hide or cloth. And the Central Plains people, like the Southern people or Cheyenne, used lazy stitch, eight to ten beads wide, creating the look of texture.”
Knapp uses only Czechoslovakian glass beads and keeps an extensive collection of antique beads for restoration. “Every dancer wears moccasins. There are several different styles for women depending on what is typical for their tribe or the part of the country they are from and what dance style they dance. For men it’s a basic pair of fully beaded moccasins using the lazy stitch style of beadwork. Men who dance ‘traditional’ or ‘straight dance’ wear men’s leggings, though for traditional dance it’s optional. In the old days all men wore leggings. With women there are more choices.”
The Knapps bead their moccasins on brain tanned deer hide, a method of soaking the skins with emulsified deer brain oils to condition and soften the stretched hide.
 Men Moccasins – Michael and Pam Knapp from KQ Designs photos – All photo credit to Pam Knapp “The amber tone moccasins come from smoking the hides over a fire. If it’s smoked a lot, it turns brownish or a light tan. For pow wows the primary choice is white, the hide’s original color.” As for the thread, Knapp swears by waxed dental floss that he feels is twenty times stronger than nylon thread.
Although much of the regalia today can be very contemporary, many beaders feel that some of the changes are good. “Though rhinestones and mirrors on beadwork are only from the last fifteen years and don’t reflect traditional styles, it comes down to artistry and we are very open to it,” says Knapp. “It has more to do with the dancer as a beautiful piece of art.”
Juanita Growing Thunder Fogarty (Sioux and Assiniboine) is another bespoke beader whose work has won numerous awards and been featured at the National Museum for the American Indian in Washington, DC and the Denver Art Museum. While living on Montana’s Fort Peck Reservation, she learned the art from her mother, Joyce Growing Thunder, one of the most prominent beaders in North America.
Mother and daughter now reside in California in the same place where Juanita’s father’s people came for the Gold Rush in the 19th Century. They still refer to moccasins by the Sioux word ‘hampas’. Through the year the women prepare their crafts for the annual Indian Market in Santa Fe where Juanita has participated for the past 27 years. Joyce and Juanita incorporate a wealth of stitches in their extraordinary designs. “Some of the stitches we use are applique, lazy stitch, edging, whipstitch, Southern, peyote, brick or loom beadwork. We try to be traditional and stay within our own tribal style but we know how to do others too,” says Fogarty who teaches summer classes in beading and doll making at the Idyllwild Arts center.
Fogarty has a strong sense of responsibility to pass along the craft. “I was raised to appreciate the ability and gift of creating such works of art and to further my knowledge. I carry great respect for my heritage. It is my hope that in being able to hold true to the traditions within my work, I can be reassured these creations carry on the traditions of the people in a good way.”
 James Franco as Oz in ‘Oz the Great and Powerful.’ Courtesy Walt Disney Pictures
James Franco’s appearance at Sundance this year was a stunner. But then again the risk-taking renaissance man is accustomed to surprising his critics. At Sundance’s New Frontiers the actor/director/producer/visiting professor/writer presented his collaborative effort with gay filmmaker Travis Mathews. The graphic sixty-minute documentary Interior. Leather Bar, a hard core riff on the gay leather bar scene, and two other films, Kink and Lovelace, in which he plays Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner in the latter, had audiences and critics alike scratching their heads . Edgy? Sure. Coming from Franco? Hardly shocking. Once named “Sexiest Man Alive” by People Magazine, Franco has enjoyed an unusually prolific and varied career. For a man just reaching the middle of his third decade, his broad interests and accomplishments have made him too elusive to pigeonhole. TV credits include such disparate roles as a recurring role on General Hospital; the cult classic Freaks and Geeks; and occasional appearances on 30 Rock. Film roles range from playing Harry Osborn in the first reboot of the Spider-Man series to his much beloved turn in stoner film Pineapple Express to the sexy love interest in Eat, Pray, Love and the lead in Danny Boyle’s kinetic, jaw-dropping 127 Hours, in which he played real life canyoneer, Aron Ralston, a demanding role for which he was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar in 2011. Other break out roles have established him as a versatile actor, starring opposite Sean Penn in Gus Van Sant’s Milk, the story of San Francisco’s gay mayor, Dean in James Dean and as the young Beat Generation poet, Alan Ginsburg, in Howl.
His latest star turn is as Oscar Diggs, the cunning charlatan in Disney’s Oz the Great and Powerful, which opened on March 8. At the same time he was promoting Oz, he is also directing an indie, Bukowski, referencing poet and writer Heinrich Karl “Charles” Bukowski, Jr., one of LA’s darkest literary luminaries, a man once referred to by Sartre as “America’s greatest poet” and the basis for the 1987 film Barfly.
As a published poet and prolific author himself, he was recently asked by Yahoo! to write a poem to Obama on the occasion of his final inauguration. Franco is the author of the Strongest of the Litter (The Hollyridge Press Chapbook Series) and the short story collection Palo Alto. His poetry collection, Directing Herbert White (Graywolf Press) is scheduled to be published soon along with a memoir entitled A California Childhood (Insight Editions).
Franco also currently teaches at UCLA, CalArts, USC and NYU sharing his considerable knowledge as an actor and filmmaker and tapping his circle of acting pals and personal resources to support student film projects.
We chatted with him, albeit briefly, about Bukowski. Brevity is the soul of wit, after all…
The Credits: Why did you choose Bukowski’s life for your next project?
Franco: I’ve always been a fan.
Does it resonate with you in a personal way?
I think artist coming of age stories always resonate with me.
Will it follow his semi-autographical book “Ham on Rye”?
No, it focuses on his childhood.
How will it differ from earlier films on Bukowski?
It’s about his youth.
Who’s writing the script?
Adam Rager.
Where will it be shot?
In LA.
Who’s in it?
Tim Blake Nelson, Alex Kingston, newcomer Jacob Loeb and kids.
In addition to directing it, will you appear in the film?
Nothing’s been decided yet.
Does it parallel your life in any way?
Just in the sense that I discovered writing and reading in the same way.
What cinematic style will you use to create the film?
Steadicam and old lenses used to make it look old.
Have you begun shooting and if so what challenges have you faced so far?
Yes. It’s been great, but it’s hard getting enough cars from the 1920s.
Featured Image: James Franco as Oz in ‘Oz the Great and Powerful.’ Courtesy Walt Disney Pictures.
Jordan Wright
February 27, 2013
Special to The Alexandria Times
 The cast of Metamorphoses Ashleigh Lathrop, Lisa Tejero, Raymond Fox, Doug Hara, Chris Kipiniak, Tempe Thomas, Lauren Orkus, Geoff Packard and Louise Lamson – Photo by Teresa Wood. At Arena Stage’s Mead Center, Tony Award-winning director Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses is presented on a stage transformed by a giant central pool. Ornamented by a single crystal chandelier, the shallow pool is surrounded by wooden decking, which the actors walk, run, skip, and crawl on when not actually in the water, faux swimming, having sex or merely drowning. By my count there are eleven separate stories from David Slavitt’s translation of Ovid’s masterpiece written in 8 A.D., by the Latin poet describing the history of the world. A weighty proposition with the only constant being change.
Most of the vignettes here are the familiar cautionary tales of greed, lust, incest…oh let’s just say the seven deadly sins and call it a day. The actors play multiple parts in a whirlwind of clever costume changes that serve to clarify segues to the next story. This proves helpful since the program makes no attempt to list the multiple roles each actor portrays, nor the individual vignettes.
There’s a lot to be said for brevity when it comes to complex themes of love and loss and in these stories, the objective is clear. In each piece we meet the hapless cast of characters and learn of the hot mess they’ve gotten themselves into, usually expressed by the muse or the god positioned slightly off stage. The frailties and passions of mere mortals are highlighted, while the gods, busy spewing their edicts and curses, are fodder for ridicule. Drum roll, please. Et voila! The moral of the story is revealed for all time, sometimes after a vision quest.
The play begins with Zeus explaining the creation of the world – birds, fish, game, paradise – brief pause – and man was born. The choice of Midas as the opening myth, is a good one, since pretty much everyone knows the tale of the greedy king who wished everything he touched turn to gold.
 Chris Kipiniak and Ashleigh Lathrop – Photo credit Teresa Wood Ashleigh Lathrop plays his devoted daughter. The sylphlike Lathrop, all angles one moment all undulating curves as Myrrha in another tale, is captivating. When Midas explains his desire for gold, “It’s all for the family,” he insists, Bacchus sends his emissary in a leopard loincloth, a bottle of wine secured in a paper bag. “What is the secret to eternal life?” Midas inquires. When the drunken Selinus, pointing to his head, replies, “It’s here!” – it’s a no brainer.
But Midas, not one for subtleties, demands his wish be granted and Bacchus complies. In a magnificent scene his daughter, clad in a white lace dress runs through the water to her father, wrapping her legs around his waist. As she becomes the solid gold he wished for, she is bathed in a golden beam of light.
Lighting Designer T. J. Gerckens and Set Designer Daniel Ostling have crucial tasks since there are no set changes and no curtains to draw in this theater-in-the-round, or in this case, rectangular. Along with Sound Designer Andre Pluess, there is a great deal of ambiance and suggestion necessary to support the dialogue and it is exquisitely manifested here.
 Doug Hara in Metamorphoses – Photo by Teresa Wood In another of Zimmerman’s interpretations, Phaeton, son of the Sun God Apollo, floats on a raft in bright yellow swim trunks and wraparound Oakleys – a portrait of the ne’er-do-well scion asking for the keys to dad’s car. To which Apollo responds tongue-in-cheek, “Don’t fly too high!”
In this piece an analyst sits off to the side of the pool and opines, “Myths are the earliest form of science and dreams are private myths.” It is the most revealing moment in the play as to the dramaturg’s motivation and unfortunately we don’t hear it until the ninth story. One wonders if the next line is not autobiographical as the analyst declares, “It is impossible to speak of enigmatic things – both privately and publicly.” Metamorphoses shows that it is possible to speak of enigmatic things when they are brilliantly interpreted and directed by Zimmerman, passionately performed by the entire ensemble, and magnificently staged.
At Arena Stage through March 17th. For tickets and information call 202 488-3300 or visit www.arenastage.org.
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