WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR MAMARONECK AVENUE AMBLER. March 18, 2007: White Plains celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with a parade in balmier temperatures last weekend with several thousand persons viewing the festivities. Here, thanks to photographer Stephen Morton and Parade Chair, John Martin are some views of this classic parade:

The White Plains Police Color Guard followed by Bob Hyland (in green sash), Parade Grand Marshall and Parade Chair, John Martin. All Photos by Steve Morton

Mayor Joseph Delfino and Common Council (walking).

Girls Basketball Team from OLS, WPHS

 

 

The Bump Robinson Slater Center Drum Corps

 

The Plainsmen Hockey Team

One of the Many Bands

The Reviewing Stand at City Hall

Parade Grand Marshall Bob Hyland and Parade Chair John Martin — Thank you for sending these shots to WPCNR.

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WPCNR’S AT THE HOP Review of GREASE by Johnny Angel. March 15, 2007: GREASE is America’s My Fair Lady! Just as My Fair Lady is so-so British  GREASE is as American as a cheeseburger with lettuce and tomato, Heinz 57 and French Fried Potato. Whether you’re 25 or 65 grab your old leather jackets, you ex- Flaming Dukes, Pink Ladies and Burger Palace Boys, the greaser gang is back hanging out at the WBT Drive-IN and the Burger Palace.

Sandy (Melissa Larsen) and Danny (Kasey Marino) are All Choked Up in the fabulous finale of GREASE — rocking again on the Mighty WBT in uptown Elmsford, “The Big E.” All Photos, Courtesy, Westchester Broadway Theatre by John Vecchiolla

Westchester Broadway Theatre’s new production of Grease  is the  most entertaining, energetic and fun production the mighty WBT  (Number 1 in theatre with a bullet coming to you from the heart of the BIG E – uptown Elmsford) has staged in the last year.

WBT’s cover of the  original 1971 stage monster hit guarantees Allan Freed, the malt shop, the record hop, leather jackets, pompadours ducktails and pony tails  and deejays in plaid jackets will be forever cool– and the new WBT production of 2-1/2 hours of  hits just keep on coming.  The book is so spare and fast-moving with the New Yawk accents and wise guys and gals you’ll recognize. The songs get your feet moving, the  hand-jive choreography, and signature slouch of 1958 teenage boys – are masterfully brought back by choreographer  Kathy Meyer  on the WBT Boards. The hard-working gang on stage has their doo-wops and rama-lama-ding-dongs so right, it’s the coolest.

From  the inspired set of an old 50s year book pictures to turning the WBT into a high school gymnasium to the Greased Lightning hotrod on stage, GREASE takes you back in time.

Even Cole Porter’s musicals have a few clinker songs in them , but in GREASE there are no flipsides, every number is a hit from the opening scene at the Reunion of Rydell High’s Class of 1959, when Miss Lynch (Karen Murphy), Patty  (Allison Couture) and Eugene (Aaron Young) sing the Alma Mater – you are going to dig this show, man.

 Faster than a Little Deuce Coup, Danny Zuko  played with hunch-shouldered wise guy cool by Kasey Marino and the Ms. Goody Two Shoes, Melissa Larsen as Sandy launch into their great duet of the show, the signature song of GREASE – Summer Nights –  the pair nail this duet and you don’t want this instant replay to ever end. Here, Danny, (Kasey Marino), is trying to give Sandy (Melissa Larsen) his ring at the drive-in. Marino’s hilarious attempts to put his “night moves” on Sandy stir many memories with knowing laughter.

Ms. Larsen is crinoline crisp as the innocent  Sandy Dumbrowski  — managing to look and act 16and Mr. Marino works the New Yawk wise guy hood persona – like, ya know, really cool.  (The Fonz – of Happy Days – was modeled on the Zuco character). Though actors an actresses who play the Sandy and Danny parts have to go up against the charisma and electricity of Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta from the GREASE movie – Marino and Larsen just have the timing, the hesitation, and the awkwardness of teen attraction just right.

On and on through the very short evening every number surprises and delights and brings out laughs naturally – never a clunker line.

If you have not seen GREASE – I’ll lay it on you. New innocent girl Sandy meets wise guy hood Zuco during the summer and they have a romance.  They meet that fall in school and hood doesn’t want to admit to his pals he’s stuck on her. The girls in school, The Pink Ladies, lead by  wise-cracking Rizzo, played by Jacqueline Colmer, alternately make fun of Sandy, and Rizzo is jealous of Danny’s digging her. It’s high school!

The anxieties of this teen romance serve as a vehicle to recreate the high school experience of the  baby boomer 1950s, when your biggest worry as a teenage girl was being popular and deciding between college, beauty school or Katherine Gibbs (a secretarial school), and going all the way,  as a boy whether you were a athlete, a hood, or a nerd, and whether you could get a girl to go all the way,  and, oh, yeah the disk jockeys on the radio were your friend and took dedications and actually talked to you. So simple then.  GREASE brings it all back.

Picks to Click

Director Richard Roland has assembled a set of wonderful meshed players who bring Rydell High back to life with their over-the-top energy and Bronx accents.

The trio of would-be rock and roll singers, of Doody (Geoffrey Goldberg),  and the Burger Place Boys falsetto with the best of the Cleftones  on Those Magic Changes. They return in Act Two for the ode to the Rock N Roll Party Queen.  Liz O’Donnell as Marty, the boy-crazy vamp, who flips out a wallet of pictures of her boyfriends at a recreation of a 50s slumber part in Act One, brings out the laughs with her Freddie My Love ballad.

A real hot rod comes on stage for the uptempo, Greased Lightning  recalling those days of auto shop.  Will Ray as Kenicke – Zuco’s rival —  brings off this driving number.

The first act comes to a close with a hilarious duet between Roger  (Nathan Scherich) and Jan (Tory Ross)  about the joys of mooning (over each other). Colmer as Rizzo then has her big mocking  number, I’m Sandra Dee, making fun of Sandy  And if you do not know who Sandra Dee is – you don’t need to know– to enjoy this show. The music and good nature of GREASE just wins you over like a scratchy old record.

Rocking at the High School Hop.

 

Act Two recaptures the high school dance as it used to be when the versatile set  of George Puello and Steven Loftus, transforms into  Moonlight In the Tropics with paper palm trees and WAXX dee jay Vince Fontaine as master of ceremonies with formals and teen boys in suits and sneakers (so typical of the time). Shakin at the High School Hop by all the dancers  makes you – as a person who lived in this era – really nostalgic. Those dances were such fun!

The hop is highlighted by the lecherous Murray the K/Allan Freed disk jockey character, from WAXX, (The Big 15),  Vince Fontaine played by Rob Sheridan whose kicking the standup microphone bit is reminiscent of Allan and Murray at the Brooklyn Fox rock and roll shows. He introduces one of the main men of this show 

 

Todd DuBail  in gold lame suit as Teen Angel, plays the Dwayne Eddy/Elvis/Conway Twitty type rock star, Johnny Casino who comes back later as Teen Angel to sing Beauty School Dropout. Mr. Dubail’s grunts, gyrations and guitar slinging are the end. He even sounds like Elvis, and all you 50s chicks out there will love the curl on his forehead, too.

 

The stage production of GREASE is not like the movie. Though the characters are the same, the supporting characters have larger roles and the Rizzo-Danny romance is not as prominent.  There is some reference to teen pregnancy  and gang rumbles. But little violence.

One of the strengths of the stage production, and this one in particular is that though the characters are stereotypes – (you will recognize them all) – they all have stories to tell.

Home Room at Rydell High begins nightly at 6:30 with dinner in the mighty WBT in Big E-Uptown Elmsford through May 26. For tickets information go to www.broadwaytheatre.com. Or call 592-2222. Did I mention that you can have a genuine cheeseburger and fries for dinner or the usual excellent prime ribs, fish, eggplant parmigiana before the show?

The show rolls on with never a lull and is never dull. Is Rizzo really knocked up? Will Sandy and Danny get together again? Will Danny choose Patty the Cheerleader over Sandy? Will Eugene win Patty? Will the Flaming Dukes show up for a rumble. Like your high school, GREASE has terrific storylines that all get tied up and Rydell High – your high school lives once more .

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WPCNR CNA NEWS. By John F. Bailey March 14, 2007 UPDATED 3:45  PM: Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors spent an hour and a half defending the proposed 2007-2008 $173.8 Million school budget to about 12 Council of Neighborhood Association representatives last night who leveled withering criticism on the school district labor negotiation skills, suggesting the present negotiating team was not tough enough with the teachers union. Several residents suggested bringing in a more aggressive labor negotiator.  The group agreed by consensus to perhaps run educational advertisements in local media to make residents aware of school budget issues. They stopped short of saying they would recommend against approval of the school budget.

Patti Cantu, President of Battle Hill Association has received a response from Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors on a written request the school district do more about removing illegal students from the school system. She forwards the Superintendent’s response:

Suggestions were also made that the school district negotiate hard for givebacks on health care benefits such as lowering starting salaries, adjusting salary step increases, and much was made of teachers “working only 10 months of the year.” (To be fair, White Plains teachers are required to attend workshops on curriculum during summers, and prepare extensively for the fall classes. They do not say goodbye on June 24 and return in early September.)

Connors said, teachers pay only 5% of their health care benefits. Connors defended the Board negotiating team which he said consisted of a lawyer, James Roche,  another member of the School Board and the Assistant Superintendent for Personnel. Connors said “The board is well aware of your concern,” and though he would not delve into specifics, acknowledged the negotiating team was working on some of the very issues the CNA representatives addressed. During the portion of the meeting WPCNR attended, there was not a lot of complaints about Administration salaries and staffing, though one mention was made about the high salaries of the district administration.

At the close of the meeting, the group agreed by consensus to place advertisements in local media to acquaint the populace with school budget issues and to get out the vote on the May School Budget. It was unclear whether the advertisement would actually call for the voters to reject the 2007-2008 budget which calls for a 4.82% increase in spending, compared to last year’s 7.16% increase. The budget increases the schoolk tax 8.34%

Complaints were raised that the school district does not do enough to eliminate children attending White Plains schools illegally. Connors said the school employs two investigators to followup on suspect non-resident students when they are brought to district attention. Connors admited that no tax papers are requested when parents register their children for school. He said that the district would be willing to cooperate with the city Safe Housing Task Force to provide addresses where clusters of children appear to be living as grounds for investigation.

 It was suggested by a representative to WPCN R in conversation afterwards that as many as 200 or more ineligible children attended the district schools (about 10 classes and 20 teachers worth…if that guestimate is anywhere near accurate). Residents called on the district to make more effort to identify alleged illegal attendees and where they live in order that the city Safe Housing Task Force could shut down the illegal rooming houses. Residents were annoyed the district has not routinely done this in the past. Patti Cantu of the Battle Hill Association demanded the school district do address checks, note multiple attendees from the same address and share that information with the city. Connors agreed that he would.

Knots of animated, indigant representatives continued to talk past 10 P.M. about the growth of the school budget and its effect on resident-ability to afford the tax burden. One representative said the tax increases were really eating into his retirement savings, and he was seriously concerned about his future ability to continue to live in White Plains on a fixed income in his present house.

In a related development expected this week, Gina Cuneo-Harwood the City Financial Officer is expected to reveal the 2007-2008 city budget and tax increase. As of last week, the city Budget and Management Committee budget review meeting had not been set yet.

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WPCNR’S ADAM IN ALBANY. By New York Assemblyman Adam T. Bradley, 89th District. March 13, 2007: I am pleased that the Assembly restored the Aid to Municipalities (AIM) funding to six of the towns I represent that were slated to lose this source of revenue in the governor’s budget proposal.  I fought to have this funding restored and as we move forward and enter public joint conference committee meetings, I will work toward ensuring that this local aid is maintained in the final budget.

Under the Assembly’s one-house budget plan passed yesterday, the towns of Bedford, Pound Ridge, New Castle, North Castle, Harrison and Lewisboro will receive the same level of aid they received in last year’s budget.  State funding makes a difference and affects the ability of local governments to hold the line on property taxes and continue providing important public services.

 

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WPCNR PRESS BOX. March 13, 2007: The Journal News has announced its selections for All-Section, naming White Plains basketball players Kim Adams, Liz Flooks and Angelei Aguirre to the League IA All-Section Team and naming Flooks an Adams Most Valuable Player. Sue Adams, their Coach has been named Coach of the Year for mentoring the Tigers to their third consecutive Section 1 Championship. To commemorate this unprecedented achievement, we turn to the bard of the pressbox, the Grantland Rice of White Plains, Hoops Hardwood:

Tigers of the Golden Ball

By Hoops Hardwood

 

Three times the Tigresses climbed to the Top

Thrashing all competition from Section to Section.

Three years they thrilled with last minute stop

Now we will no more to the gym again to see the cream of the crop.

 

 

 

For Adams and Flooks and Mcquire,

The Tigers of hoop savoire

Have made their last run

Their valiant effort has at last been done.

 

From the flamboyant crashing of boards

Convergence on cage

Of Flooks and Adams grabbing bound after bound

Popping in putbacks with grace and aplomb.

 

 

Three times they held Golden Ball

Of Excellence high holding us enthrall

With comeback and heart

In contests tempestuous, they now must part.

 

Gone separate ways to their futures they must,

Leaving behind pictures on WPHS walls.                                                          

Future Tigers will gaze upon and remember

When playing in the Tigers den caused Koala and Knight to Tremble.

 

 

Snapshots of glory unfold in minds eye

Of spectacular shot and clawing defense

Of unselfish play and pressure intense

As quintette of Tiger Cubs made us sigh and cry.

 

Denied supremacy at state

Three times by fickle twists of fortune late

Hearts hardened by the indifference of

The hardwood road they showed how to handle fate.

 

 

From swooping Kim with the long Texas reach and dagger jumper

Delivering the clutch run when the Tigers were in trouble

To Liz’s leaps to snare a tricky bound and burst the opposition’s bubble

To the Angel of the Glass – Aguirre the igniter – the backboard bumper

 

Teaming with the passionate Paige stepping up the tempo on a Spree.

With Bree and company stepping in, the Angel and the Paige

Inherit the Adams and Flooks legacy

To build anew the Tiger dynasty.

 

So here’s to the Tigers of the Golden Ball

Of memories in the hot gyms on cold nights,

Of musty practices and the bounce of the

Fickle orange rock, all who saw them remember the highlights.

 

To Liz and Kim, and Angelei and Paige and Lauren

Thanks for the memories for though you have fallen,

We remember the furious desire, the comebacks and the putbacks

The defense that would not quit, you have set the standard for Tigers All.

 

In our mind’s eye we will always see you in your glory:

The steal and the no-look pass. The second and third follows.]

The toughness, the heart. The come-out-and-get you dee.

Though we must part making way for future Tigers of the Golden Ball.

 

On some future day on a stroll down the WPHS Wall of Fame,

We shall look at your picture, seeing the bright promise, the supreme achievers.

Reminding us forever of the time when your Tiger five played the game,

Giving it all you had and setting a standard to which all would aspire.