WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER 3,374,995 VISITS IN ONE YEAR—65,000 VISITS A WEEK BY 985,281 VISITORS

Hits: 0

WPCNR MAIN STREET JOURNAL. March 23, 2004: TODAI, the wall-to-wall seafood buffet restaurant will open Friday afternoon at 4 P.M. with Mayor Joseph Delfino on hand to participate in the great Japanese  “Kagamibiraki” tradition of breaking open a Sake  Cask. The  event will feature a Taiko Drum Presentation by Taikoza to celebrate the first opening of a TODAI in the northeast.

                        Currently, there are 25 Todai restaurants operating in California, Hawaii, Illinois, Oregon, Washington, Texas, Arizona, Florida, Nevada, and Hong Kong. Fifteen of the restaurants are company-owned and the other ten (all located in southern California, Seattle and Hong Kong) are franchisee-owned and operated.

Hits: 0

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. March 23, 2004: The School Budget for 2004-05 was presented in its first Public Hearing Monday evening at Education House before 18 persons, most of home were School Administration personnel. No citizens asked any questions on the budget which calls for spending $143,809,184 in ’04-’05., a $9,176,552 increase over this year’s budget.

SUPERINTENDENT SHOWS MANDATED EXPENSES DRIVING INCREASE. Maria Valentin, School Board member looks on as Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors holds up the Proposed 2004-05 budget Monday night at Education House. Photo by WPCNR News.

Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors said that approximately half ($4,087,398) of the $9.2 Million increase was mandated increases in District contributions to the Retirement Funds for NYS Teachers and NYS employees to replace pension fund losses. The next impact on the budget increase was the net loss of $2.4 Million in assessibles, resulting in a 2.3 of the 7.53% Tax Rate increase, plus $4.1Million in Salary Increases, (included in that $4.1 Million in salary increases is $850,000 to finance All-Day Kindergarten in all the elementary schools.) The increase year to year in the budget is 6.82%, the School Tax Increase is 7.53%, or about $30 per thousand dollars of accessed value.

The next public hearing on the budget is Monday March 29, at 7:30 P.M. at Education House. The Budget Vote is Scheduled for May 18.

Hits: 0

WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL. By John F. Bailey. March 22, 2004 Updated 6:00 P.M. E.S.T. With Correction: Prompted by the bizarre twists and turns of the Larry Delgado-Glen Hockley election court battles,  Attorney General Elliot Spitzer has sent a bill to the Assembly of the New York Legislature to do away with the quo warranto procedure, the time-consuming process which currently remains the only way to remedy a disputed general election result in New York.

Assemblyman Adam Bradley of District 89, the attorney who handled Glen Hockley’s case, has also sponsored a completely different bill to amend the law, two weeks ago and is not sponsoring the Attorney General’s bill, Mr. Bradley said late this afternoon. Earlier the Attorney General’s bill had been misidentified by Mr. Bradley’s office as being “Adam’s Bill.” Bradley told WPCNR Monday evening that he would be very happy to work with the Attorney General on formulating an acceptable bill.

The Spitzer legislation (# 87-04) will amend Section 16-102 of the election law to extend Supreme Court jurisdiction to review challenges to results in general elections, and give that court the right to determine the winner or call a new election.

“This situation (Delgado-Hockley) is untenable. Over two years have passed since the White Plains voters cast their ballots, and the individual duly elected to office has not been able to serve, while the individual who actually lost the election has been able to take office, receive a salary, and continues to take actions as a government official, despite the will of the voters to the contrary.”

“This Bill (16043-01-4) creates a remedy. In particular the bill grants the Supreme Court the same jurisdiction to hear general and special election disputes as it currently has to hear primary election disputes. Moreover, the bill explicityly provides that the court can determine who was rightfully elected in a general or special election, or to order a new election if such a determination cannot be made.”

The AG’s memorandum notes that the legislature may not see as pressing a need to enact the legislation, “since similar proposals were made in the 1980s and the early 1990s and not enacted.”

The key language in Mr. Spitzer’s bill reads:

“In the case of a proceeding with respect to a special or general election, the court shall finally determine who was rightfully elected; provided, however, that when such a determination cannot be made, the court may direct the holding of a new election.”

Delgado-Hockley a TurnKey to History

Mr. Spitzer notes the delays in the course of the historic Larry Delgado- Glen Hockley saga which began the night of November 5, 2001, when a voting machine in District 18 jammed, denying Mr. Delgado 103 votes. Judge Francis Nicolai at the time ordered a special election in District 18. 

 Adam Bradley, Mr. Hockley’s attorney appealed Judge Nicolai’s decision on technical grounds and violation of election law to the Appellate Court in Brooklyn. The Appellate Court in Brooklyn expanded Judge Nicolai’s special election to include all districts in the city.

Then Mr. Bradley appealed the case to the New York State Court of Appeals which reversed the decision on March 14, 2004, saying according to the Attorney General, “state courts lack jurisdiction to hear challenges brought by losing candidates in these circumstances. The Court held that the only avenue of relief is a quo warranto action brought by the Attorney General.”

Two years three months of delay. More to Come.

Spitzer’s memorandum notes the two years of delay that have passed since the Supreme Court decision. After the Attorney General filed the quo warranto proceeding in November, 2002, it was challenged as being filed too late. The Supreme Court denied that motion, and the defendant appealed. On November 17, 2003, the Appellate Division held the case had been brought in a timely manner.

Now, WPCNR notes, the Appellate Division is reviewing Hockley Attorney Thomas Abinanti’s latest challenge, demanding that Judge Nicolai not decide on the case. However, Judge Nicolai is free to rule on the case and make a summary judgment declaring Delgado the winner, and Mr. Delgado is waiting patiently for that Nicolai decision. 

The case may be  on the threshold of yet more appeals to keep Mr. Hockley in his seat.

Delgado Waits.

Mr. Delgado, in a restaurant interview last week, told WPCNR that he felt Judge Nicolai would be making a decision soon. He thought with 21 months to go in the term Hockley has withheld from him, that he would be back on the council, saying there just is too much time to stretch out the process the full length of his (Delgado’s) term.

Spitzer Memorandum Witheringly Cites Flaws of quo warranto:

“First, the Attorney General cannot bring a quo warranto proceeding until after the “usurper” has actually taken office. This allows an individual who was not duly elected to be sworn in and to exercise governmental powers, and also subjects that person to possible arrest and the imposition of monetary damages. The Supreme Court instead should be empowered to determine the validity of elections before an individual takes office.”

“Second, the quo warranto process is a lengthy one. It requires a losing candidate to bring his or her complaint to the Attorney General, who must review the allegations and conduct an investigation into the validity of the election. This generally involves gathering evidence and/or testimony from both the winning and losing candidates, as well as other individuals who were involved in overseeing the election. If the Attorney General determines that the election results were incorrect, then the Attorney General may commence a quo warranto action  and present this exact same evidence in court, so that the court can make its own determination of the facts. There is no need for this duplication of effort, which creates unnecessary delays. Instead, the aggrieved candidate should be able to commence an action and present proof of the allegations directly to the court.”

“Finally, the quo warranto procedure unnecessarily involves the Attorney General in partisan political disputes. Allegations and counter-allegations relating to the validity of elections frequently are the result of partisan efforts to control local offices. These are matters that the Supreme Court is fully capable of adjudicating, and there is no reason that the Attorney General should be involved in these disputes.”

“The Delgado case mentioned above amply demonstrates the significant problems caused by the current system. That case involved the November 2001 election for three at-large seats to the White Plains Common Council. The declared “winner” of the third seat (Hockley) had 47 more votes recorded than the fourth-place finisher, but one of the voting machines had malfunctioned, and failed to record at least 64 votes for the fourth-place finisher (Delgado). As a result, the “winning” candidate actually got fewer votes than the fourth place finisher (Delgado), who actually won the third seat and should have taken office on January 1, 2002.”

Adam Bradley the Advocate  will Sponsor Own Bill.

The Office of Adam Bradley, Assemblyman of the 89^th District,  said that Assemblyman Bradley is sponsoring new election law legislation in the Assembly. “That’s Adam’s bill,” his office spokesperson told WPCNR, and promised the Assemblyman would be issuing a statement shortly, when WPCNR asked if the Assemblyman was sponsoring Mr. Spitzer’s bill.

Mr. Bradley contacted WPCNR at 6 this evening to clear up confusion: there are presently two bills, the Attorney General’s bill and his bill. However since the Attorney General’s bill was the only one asked about, when WPCNR called Mr. Bradley’s office, and WPCNR was unaware of Mr. Bradley’s bill, confusion resulted.

Suzi Oppenheimer, White Plains State Senator, has also not indicated her position on the Attorney General’s bill or Mr. Bradley’s bill,  yet.

Mr. Delgado has not indicated whether he will sue Mr. Hockley for salary paid Mr. Hockley the first two years and 3 months of the term, a possibility, Mr. Spitzer refers to in his Memorandum accompanying the bill.

Hits: 0

WPCNR QUARROPAS EAGLE. From The Mayor’s Press Office. March 22, 2004:  White Plains Mayor Joseph Delfino and members of the White Plains Common Council will be meeting with Larry Silverstein, developer of the World Trade Center site, on Thursday, March 25th at 11 am to discuss new environmental initiatives that have been adopted at the World Trade Center construction site and how White Plains might take advantage of some of these ideas for its new downtown construction projects.

Hits: 0

WPCNR ROW K103 CENTRE. Review by John F. Bailey. March 21, 2004 Updated 3 P.M. E.S.T.: Fashion 2004 returned to the White Plains Performing Arts Center stage after a 31-year hiatus from the footlights Saturday evening and impressed a sold-out audience with the very essence of the Broadway leading man, William Michals, foiling to eight talented tasty ladies, Anne Bobby, Michelle Dawson, Carol Halstead, Katie Kozlowski, Monica Meadows, CC Seymour, Lannyl Stephens and Beverly Ward.

FASHION’S STAGE: Awaiting its debut Saturday night. Photo by WPCNR StageCam

The ladies work in ensemble as if touring for months, and not just rehearsing for two weeks. They stood up to Michals’ beguiling baritone, delivered charming star turns of their own and belted out in harmony the intricate, nuanced lyrics of this musical of manners and satire at the WPPAC, with Michals and the ladies earning a 40 second ovation with bravos at the houselights’ dim.

Clever Songs That Tell a Tale

The essence of Fashion is the music by Don Pippin, with lyrics by the late Steve Brown. As befits a score written by Pippin, the man associated with A Chorus Line, Applause, Oliver!  Woman of the Year, Mame, Cabaret, and La Cage Aux Folles, All 15 original songs are entertaining, catchy, toe-tapping, clever and expressive delivering the emotions of the moment, alternating humor and slapstick, with longing and philosophy. 

The beautiful performers and the dark handsome one are equal to the wild flights of phrases in the Pippin/Brown songs demanding great control and precise delivery. Most numbers are rollicking and lilting and involve the audience all the way which spontaneously broke into applause after each musical interlude. Steve Brown’s cleverness in the lyrics approaches Cole Porter finesse.

Forget about what you have read about this show.

It is not William Michals seducing eight ladies, as he rehearses each individually for a show, which preshow publicity would have you believe, instead the audience is witnessing an amateur theatre group.

The Long Island Masque and Wig Society is doing a “run through” of an early American theatre musical that the William Michals character is directing them in. As the Long Island ladies start each scene, Mr. Michals announces each scene .The Society is “devoted to the preservation of early American drama” according to the Setting notes in the slick program.

This is the running joke of Fashion. Fashion is about a group of Long Island divas acting out a musical farce. Costumed in figure hugging, cleavage friendly evening gowns and suits, and smartly negotiating the stage in stilt heels they catch your eye with more than just their singing. The show they are doing requires several of the women to act the parts of men that they carry off well, which is part of the joke.

Humor You Buy Into.

There are not a great number of drop-dead funny lines in Fashion. The music and the situation is the thing.  The humor is reminiscent of those comedies of manners written by Moliere, Oscar Wilde, and Arthur Wing Piniero, combined with a screwball comedy like The Philadelphia Story. The growing absurdity of the situation involves the audience, amuses and fascinates, weaving in elements of Dickens, while taking place in the present time. There is a lot of running across stage, pratfalls, and light slapstick.

To the plot, Watson.

We are introduced to the Long Island ladies in the opening scene, then Mr. Michals whips his feminine cast into action, and we first enjoy Lannyl Stephens who plays Mrs. Tiffany belting out The Rococo Rag, celebrating her marriage to Mr. Tiffany  a super opening number that sends up the Fortunoff mind set of consumer.

It is the first of many show-stoppers that Ms. Stephens delivers with Mermanesque gusto. A natural comic, Ms. Stephens brings a little Imogene Coca and Carol Burnett to the role. She is the funniest talent in the musical and earned an cachaphonous clamor of applause as she took her cast bows. Her My Daughter The Countess number is the running joke reprise number of the musical.

Mr. Michals in the musical within a musical, plays the role of a French Count whom Mrs. Tiffany wants her daughter Seraphina to marry. Seraphina (played by Monica Meadows), handles the comic interplay with Mr. Michals on the very funny putdown song of American culture, Out of Fashion. She interacts with Michals well, delivers a very believable smoulder and is every bit the equal of Mr. Broadway.

Ms. Meadows and Ms. Stephens, Mr. Michals, and C.C. Seymour interplay and choreograph smoothly in one of the more farcical interludes, Take Me.

The Perfect Cad

Mr. Broadway, William Michals, is the perfect French cad, inflecting and running up and down the musical scale impeccably with his mellow and commanding voice. He has good material to work with, delivers comic lyrics clearly (a talent many Broadway leading men do not have in my experience), and is completely in character. Pippin and Brown give him great songs to sing too.

Michals’ rolling French accent, recalling Charles Boyer, commands attention and he plays well off his eight leading ladies. His attempted seduction of Gertrude in the conservatory, his romancing of the maid, and his instant attraction to Seraphina is amusing seduction. I’ve met Frenchmen like Michals’ character, and they do exist. Michals’ does not dominate the stage in this show, but when he is offstage, as he is through the first half of Act II, his presence is missed,  simply because the interplay between him and his actresses, is so naturally intercut.

He shows a deft flare, much like the emcee in Cabaret, for bringing the best in his co-performers and making them shine with a brilliance equal to his own.

Beautiful with Cane.

The statuesque Anne Bobby plays Trueman (in the “run-through”) an old friend of Mr. Tiffany (played in the “runthrough” by the very serious Beverly Ward) who arrives to visit Tiffany in his mansion.  Bobby does a crowd-pleasing number to perk up Tiffany’s spirits, which are down because Mrs. Tiffany has been spending so much money on clothes and jewelry. 

Bobby’s The Good Old American Way is a terrific song as good as Yankee Doodle Dandy, and had the audience moving  their shoulders in the seats. It’s the kind of patriotic song you’ll love.

Beverly Ward as Mr. Tiffany does a feisty duet with Ms. Stephens (Mrs. Tiffany) arguing about money, called It was for Fashion’s Sake. Ward has perhaps the most trouble with carrying off the Mr. Tiffany role, but of course that is part of the humor, women playing men.

For a small stage, the choreography in this show uses it all, incorporates great pratfalls on the leather furniture, and creates mirthful, screwball mayhem. When Ms. Ward spins Ms. Stephens in one of those easy chairs (not an easy thing to do), Stephens mugs it up beautifully.

Bobby has another quite different number, A Life Without Her that shows a completely different side and she touches the audience with the heartbreak she delivers, as she discovers something about another character that shatters her illusion.

Bobby carries the narrative drive of the show, delivering its message as she plays a elderly Midwesterner who walks with a cane and is contemptuous of the airs he finds his old friend Tiffany taking on.

Fresh Comediennes

Part of the joke of Fashion is seeing these women in evening clothes acting out the roles of men and manic slapstick within a mansion.

As Michals juggles his former liaison with the comic French Maid (the perky and leggy Katie Kozlowski), against his plans to marry Seraphina, the First Act ends with two great production numbers.

Michals and Kozlowski duet on the torchy What Do They Know About Paris? evoking the nostalgia of a passionate affair and sizzle with sensual innuendo ending up with the pair executing an amusing sendup of the tango with an hilarious slapping match. I do not know if the adaptor of the musical, Tony Stimac, thought of this, when he incorporated this seen but it satirizes the Boyer-Bergman cafe scene in  Algiers.

C.C.Seymour has to get a good mention here for her hilarious Mr. Snobson. She overplays brilliantly like a female Stubby Kaye in L’il Abner.

Two Show Stoppers

The best production in the show is the ensemble executing a singing sequence using lights in the dark on various corners of the stage where each party is hatching a scheme to marry, entrap, win, or expose the other (I Must Devise a Plan). It is perfectly timed, entertaining, and clever. The audience loved this, and it was a great way to end Act One. It builds great anticipation for the “denewmount” as Mrs. Tiffany would say.

Act II delivers a very satisfying wrapup of the whole evening with surprise, masqueraders being found out, and a narrative that builds on the first act. The Act ends all too soon, because the audience is really enjoying the versatility of the troupe.

The genuine romance in the show between Gertrude and Colonel Howard is well-played by  Michelle Dawson and Carol Halstead,  actually getting you to “buy” the romance between the two ladies playing the mixed couple. Their duet on What Kind of Man Is He?  featuresMs. Dawson with the best voice in the show among the ladies, delivering the best song, and  in crystal clear, mesmerizing Brightman tones.

Now, what does that tell you that your reviewer would write that? Ms. Dawson and Ms. Halstead did their romance so well, I believed it. All these gals are good.

Multi-Levels.  

The troupe delivers an entertaining show that can be seen on several levels: the joke of suburban women attempting to act (but acting well), the musical itself, the great songs unearthed, after being entombed in a vault for 31 years, an interesting exercise in suspension of belief. It is a show that finds every one of its attractive ladies driving the show at some point or another. Though Mr. Michals is the big name in this show, he is not the main focus.  He brings out their best and rivets their attention with his smouldering sexual energy and charm .The women have the best songs, though.

 Ambitious Expensive Production

Fashion is by far the most ambitious staging yet undertaken by the White Plains Performing Arts Center.

The light design of Burke Wilmore creates a series of worlds and effects with reds, blues, baby spots and the light cues are very demanding. It uses every bit of the technical resources of the WPPAC.

The Musical Director, Sande Campbell, on piano, playing by candlelabra at one point in the show, rips through Pippin’s intricacies with aplomb never intruding on her singers.

The high flatted set, believably recreating a Long Island Gold Coast mansion, by Dana Kenn, who associate-designed the sets for The Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon and Sunset Boulevard is elaborate, even to the point of creating shrubs outside the high windows.

 Put a pit orchestra behind this show on a bigger Broadway stage, and you’ve got Broadway all the way.

As one patron remarked, leaving the show, “Thoroughly enjoyable. A breath of fresh air has come to White Plains.”

Fashion plays the WPPAC again Tuesday at 7, and Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday the 24,25,26,27 and 31 at 8; Matinees are March 28, and April 4 at 2; Evening performances April 1,2,3 at 8. The Box office number is 1-888-977-2250.

As Ms. Stephens as Mrs. Tiffany would sing it, Fashion  “puts the ginger in the meat loaf.”