Here are some words our classmates chose and my own acrostics on those words:
FAMILY:
F is for the FUN things we do together.
A is for the ALLOWANCE my family gives me.
M is for the MANY memories we share as a happy family.
I is for the INTEREST we show in each other.
L is for the LOVE we give each other.
Y is for the YESTERDAYS that we enjoyed, which promise even better tomorrows.
LOVER
L is for the LOVE s/he shows me.
O is for the ONLY man/woman in my life.
V is for the VERY special memories we share.
E is for EVERY one of those memories, which I cherish.
R is for the RESOLUTION I've made to love him/her forever.
LEARN
L is for the LEAVES of books I turn in order to keep learning.
E is for the EFFORT I make everytime I learn.
A is for the positive ATTITUDE I keep in order to learn, however frustrated I feel sometimes.
R is for the REPETITION that is necessary for learning to take place.
N is for the NOCTURNAL hours that make learning a fulltime effort.
VANITY
V is for the VITAMINS I take to keep me looking beautiful.
A is for ALL the cosmetics I use to reach my goal.
N is for the way I do anything to look as NICE as possible.
(Or: "N is for the NEAT way I try to dress all the time.")
I is for the fashion ICONS I try to imitate.
T is for the way I TEASE my hair to make it look more fashionable.
Y is for the way I shout YEAH! when I see myself in the mirror.
DOCTOR
D is for the DEDICATION my doctor shows in helping me as a patient.
O is for the way s/he OBSERVES all my signs and symptoms to help me.
C is for the CARE s/he gives me.
T is for the TESTS s/he does to check for hidden signs or symptoms.
O is for the OPPORTUNITY s/he gives me to tell him my medical problems.
R is for the way s/he RESTORES my health or my peace of mind, knowing I'm in perfect care.
IRENE
I is for the INTELLIGENT way she listens to me and gives advice.
R is for the way she RUNS to my side when I need her help.
E is for her ENTHUSIASM for life, which she shares with me when we go places.
N is for our NEVER-ENDING friendship.
E is for the EXTRA things she does to make me happy.
FRIENDS
F is for the FAITH in each other that friends share.
R is for the RAY of sunshine a friend brings into our cloudy days.
I is for the INTERESTS friends share together.
E is for the way a friend ENABLES us to be better than we think we are.
N is for the NICE things friends do for each other.
D is for the DEVOTION friends show to each other.
WHITE (dog's name)
W is for the way he WAGS his tail.
H is for the HAPPINESS he gives us.
I is for the INTELLIGENT way he responds to me when I give him commands.
T is for his bushy TAIL.
E is for the EARTH that he likes to dig up looking for bones.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Choose any word of at least five letters and give a short presentation based on the letters of that word with a suitable introduction. For example, "Sister": "I have a sister and I'm glad I do. 'Sister' means many things to me. 'S' is for the silly games we played as children. 'I' is for the interest she shows in my daily life, my homework and my friendships." And so on.
2. Discuss the film, Imitation of Life from any point of view you choose. Include an evaluation in your discussion.
3. Discuss Mario Lanza either from the point of view of his life or his music.
4. Discuss your plans for the Chinese New Year.
5. Discuss stereotypes against certain ethnic groups.
6. America was founded on Judeo-Christian values. Discuss the values you think Taiwan was founded on.
7. What do you consider the turning point of your life?
8. Do you think you have any weaknesses and how do you compensate for them?
SAMPLE ACROSTICS
These are some sample acrostics I made up to inspire you to make your own by next week's oral exam:
A friend is to be cherished. Why is (s)he my friend?These are some sample acrostics I made up to inspire you to make your own by next week's oral exam:
F is for the fond memories I have of our friendship.
R is for the road of life we travel together.
I is for the interest we show in one another's joys and sorrows.
E is for the education we give each other, as we learn from one another.
N is for the need we have to be together; for what companion is better than my friend?
D is for the days we spend together, during which our friendship continues to grow.
My husband is my ideal. Why?
H is for the happiness he gives me.
U is for the uxorious affection he shows me.
S is for the sunshine he brings to my life, even on rainy days.
B is for the babies we made together, seven in all!
A is for all the kisses he's given me (more than seven).
N is for the nerve, which (thank God) he had in asking me for a date, though I didn't show the slightest interest in him.
D is for the many days we've spent together, and the many more I hope we can spend together in the future.
A wife is more than a spouse. How so?
W is for the way she dresses just to please me.
I is for the interest she shows in my health and happiness.
F is for her friendship, in addition to the wifely feelings towards me.
E is for the ever-present smile she has for me when I come home tired at night.
A holiday means more to me than just staying home from school or work.
H is for the hour-long hot baths I can enjoy at home, now that my days are my own.
O is for the orange-colored sky at sunset, as I lay on the beach in the cool of the evening.
L is for the lounging I can do around the house.
I is for the way I can involve myself in my hobbies, now that I have the time to do so.
D is for the daily pleasure of going to sleep knowing I don't have to be up at a certain hour.
A is for all the places I can visit.
Y is for the yawning I will do in my morning bed, while I lazily plan the day's activities.
SAMSON AND DELILAH
Dalila: Ah! reponds a ma tendresse! Verse-moi, verse-moi, l'ivresse! Reponds a ma tendresse! Reponds a ma tendresse! Verse-moi, verse-moi, l'ivresse!This ravishing 
love duet comes from the French opera based on the biblical story of Samson and Delilah in the Book of Judges. It was written by Camille Saint-Saens in 1877. It's the only one of his many operas still popular.
The love duet is especially famous and, in the 1960s, was turned into an American Top Ten hit, in an English version (sung by Soul singer, Jackie Wilson) called Night, which, apart from the melody, had no relation to the original.
Yet it's ironic, since the story of Samson was probably derived from a solar (sun) myth (Samson=sun) and Delilah's name comes from the Hebrew word for night (lilah).
Whether the writer of the American pop version knew of this or simply hit upon a lucky coincidence is another matter ("night" is a romantic notion and appears in thousands of pop songs).
This duet is sung in Act II, and is begun by Delilah, with her two choruses completed by Samson. They alternate at first, then sing their duet (Delilah sings the main melody, Samson sings in counterpoint), which concludes with Samson singing solo.
Due to time constraints (limits), we'll listen only to the most famous part of this duet, including the main melody. I've omitted an equally beautiful melody, sung by Delilah, leading up to the melody we hear here.
The French text is in blue, English translation is in red:
The love duet is especially famous and, in the 1960s, was turned into an American Top Ten hit, in an English version (sung by Soul singer, Jackie Wilson) called Night, which, apart from the melody, had no relation to the original.
Yet it's ironic, since the story of Samson was probably derived from a solar (sun) myth (Samson=sun) and Delilah's name comes from the Hebrew word for night (lilah).
Whether the writer of the American pop version knew of this or simply hit upon a lucky coincidence is another matter ("night" is a romantic notion and appears in thousands of pop songs).
This duet is sung in Act II, and is begun by Delilah, with her two choruses completed by Samson. They alternate at first, then sing their duet (Delilah sings the main melody, Samson sings in counterpoint), which concludes with Samson singing solo.
Due to time constraints (limits), we'll listen only to the most famous part of this duet, including the main melody. I've omitted an equally beautiful melody, sung by Delilah, leading up to the melody we hear here.
The French text is in blue, English translation is in red:
Delilah: Ah, respond to my tenderness! Pour out your passion!
Samson: Dalila! Dalila! Je t'aime!
Samson: Delilah! Delilah! I love you!
| Dalila: Ah! reponds, reponds a ma tendresse! Verse-moi, verse-moi l'ivresse! Reponds a ma tendresse! Responds a ma tendresse! Verse-moi, verse-moi, verse-moi livresse! Delilah: Ah! respond, respond to my tenderness! Pour out your passion! |
| Samson: Par mes baisers je veux secher tes larmes and de ton coeur eloigner les alarmes. Je veux seche tes larmes! Je veux secher tes larmes! Samson: With my kisses I will dry your tears and rid your heart of fear. I will dry your tears! I will dry your tears! |
Samson: Delilah! Delilah! I love you!
Mason's Christmas Kvetch
By Justin Rocket Silverman
December 15, 2005
The phrase "Happy Holidays" is an insult, comedian Jackie Mason kvetched yesterday.He wasn't joking.
Mason is a founding member of Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation, a new group arguing that the substitution of "Happy Holidays" for "Merry Christmas" in stores and in schools is symbolic of moral decay in this country.
"Every Jew I know thanks God they have their Christian brothers say 'Happy Hanukkah,'" Mason said yesterday outside St. Patrick's Cathedral. "But any Jews who don't want to wish others a Merry Christmas should drop dead right now."
The group, which counts Christians and Jews among its members, was founded "because we recognize that Christians are the last remaining obstacle to the moral deconstruction of America," said the group's president, Dan Feder. The group yesterday was joined by representatives from the Catholic League.
"Christmas is being driven underground," Feder said. "And the war against Christmas is a war against Judeo-Christian values, which this country was founded on and depends on to survive."
Another member of the group, Rabbi Aryeh Spero, called the American Civil Liberties Union the "most dangerous group in America" for its work to ban Christmas nativity scenes from schools and government buildings.
After yesterday's news conference, Mason and other members of the group drove around midtown in a white stretch limo emblazoned on the side with the words "It's OK to say Merry Christmas."
The small crowd that gathered to hear Mason speak seemed more confused than supportive.
"Stores think they can sell more with 'Happy Holiday' decorations than they can with 'Merry Christmas' decorations, so that's what they use," said Victoria Richter of Manhattan. "It has nothing to do with religion.'
Discussion Questions
1. What is the purpose of "Jews Agaisnt Anti-Christian Defamation"?2. What does it mean to defame someone?
3. Can you think of stereotypes against certain ethnic groups or religions that you agree or disagree with?
4. According to the article, the war against Christmas is a war against democracy. True False Explain.
5. What's a founding member of an organization?
6. If "Merry Christmas" is the seasonal greeting for a Christian, what is the seasonal greeting for a Jew?
7. According to Rabbi Aryeh Spero, what is the most dangerous group in America?
8. According to Jackie Mason, it's bad to say Merry Christmas. True False
9. According to the writer, which values was America founded on?
10. What does it mean to say that somthing is being driven underground?
11. Look up the word "kvetch" (a Jewish word that has become part of English, like chutzpah, etc.) and tell us what it means.
12. According to one person cited in the story, the reason stores use "Happy Holiday" is a) they hate Christmas, b) they don't know how to say Merry Christmas, c) they can sell more by saying Happy Holiday, d) it's illegal to say Merry Christmas.
13. "Limo" is a shortened form of what word?
14. The crowd that heard Mason speak were supprotive. True False
15. What's a "rabbi"?
16. What do you think the writer means by the "moral deconstruction" of America?
17. What are "Judeo-Christian values"? Where do they come from?
18. Why does Jackie Mason believe that saying Happy Holidays is an insult?
19. Do a search on the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and tell the class something about the organization and what it stands for.
20. What's a nativity scene? Describe it.
21. Jackie Mason spoke outside a) the subway, b) Rockerfeller Center, c) St. Patrick's Cathedral, d) the Empire State Building.
22. Membership of Jews Against Anti-Christan Defamation include a) Jews, b) Christians, c) Jews and Christians, d) atheists.
23. Discuss some words emblazoned on vehicles you've seen in Taiwan (it's okay to translate Chinese words into English, since there are probably few or no vehicles with English words emblazoned on them in Taiwan).
24. Dan Feder is the a) secretary, b) spokesman,
c) president, d) accountant of Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation.
25. What do you think of wishing someone a "Merry Christmas" or "Happy New Year"? Do you approve?
26. Church leaders sometimes plead to leave the "Christ" in Christmas (Christmas is increasingly spelled as "Xmas" or "X'mas"). Which form of spelling do you prefer, or does it matter?
THE MARIO LANZA STORY
Part One
SomeonPart One
e once said that there are three sexes: men, women, and tenors. And given the glory of the voice and the flamboyant lifestyle that so often seems to go with it, it was an astute observation.Tenors by and large tend to be noticed and the truly great ones are seldom out of the spotlight. Enrico Caruso, the greatest tenor of his day, was once asked what it took to become a great tenor. And his reply was insightful.
"A big chest, and a big mouth, lots of hard work, and something in the heart."
It's that something in the heart which separates the gods from the mere mortals and which is the key to understanding the eduring appeal of Mario Lanza. At the height of his career in the 1950s, Lanza was the most popular singer of grand opera in the world. Yet he was not an opera star in the fullest sense of the word.
In a pr
ofessional career that spanned little more than a decade, he never found time to record a complete operatic performance and his onstage appearances in that medium were limited to only two.Yet, in the short term, he did more to popularize good music, and grand opera in particular, than scores of his more readily acclaimed contemporaries.
He was born Alfred Arnold Cocozza on the last day of January, 1921, the year which marked the passing of the great Caruso. He was the only child of Antonio Cocozza and Maria Lanza, from whom he would later adopt his professional name.
Both of his parents had immigrated to America from Italy. One of Antonio Cocozza's first jobs in the New World was varnishing cabinets for RCA Victor, the company that recorded Enrico Caruso and would later reap vast fortunes from its exclusive contract with Tony's son.
The Cocozza's lived for a time over the grocery store of Maria's father, Salvatore Lanza. And it was here at 636 Christian street in an area of South Philadelphia known as Little Italy that the future Mario Lanza first saw the light of day.
He was baptized at the nearby church of St. Mary Magdalene di Pazzi where, by coincidence, the celebrant was a certain Father Caruso.
The families of both his father and his mother had impressive collections of old operatic records, and much to the delight of his parents the boy took an almost instant liking to this rich and predominantly Italian art form.
It is a well recorded fact that at the age of seven, Freddy Cocozza once listened to Caruso's famous rendition of Vesti La Giubba more than twenty-five times at a single sitting.
Popular legend has it that when the boy was sixteen he began to sing along with that same recording in a voice of amazing richness and power. In later years, when the Hollywood publicity machine had rolled into full gear, much would be made of the notion that Caruso's voice had somehow passed on to the young American tenor.
But in truth their voices and their singing styles were quite different. The early Caruso voice had been more baritone than tenor, whereas Lanza's high notes were in a class of their own: impressive enough, even at sixteen, to convince his parents that a career on the classical stage could at least be considered.
His first voice teacher was Irene Williams, a former opera singer, who helped him develop the rudiments of style and presentation.
More formal training followed when an audition at the Philadelphia Academy of Music for Dr. Serge Koussevitzky led to a scholarship at the conductor's famed school of music at Tanglewood. And it was here that Freddy Coccozza became Mario Lanza.
At Tanglewood, Lanza studied for a time with Koussevitzky's protege, Leonard Bernstein, but he was not, by many accounts, the most disciplined of students. The natural quality of Lanza's voice was so good, so golden, that the singer had litle patience for the laborious hours of study that Bernstein and the school demanded. That lack of discipline would have far-reaching consequences on his profesional career in the years that lay ahead.
His time at Tanglewood came to an end in 1942 with a graduation performance as Fenton in Otto Nicholai's comic opera, The Merry Wives of Windsor. Not surprisingly, the critics raved. And it was clear to all who heard him sing that a glorious career on the operatic stage was his for the taking.
But with the world at war, the singer instead found himself drafted into the army, where, billed as the Forces' Caruso he spent the remainder of the war years singing at army bases throughout America.
He concluded his tour of duty with a role in the chorus of Moss Hart's flag-waving extravangana, Winged Victory, a part which later took him to Hollywood when the play-cum-musical was being filmed. Moss Hart later claimed that he had no idea such a remarkable talent was hidden in the chorus.
It was during the tour of Winged Victory that Lanza was introduced to Betty Hicks, the sister of an army friend and the woman who would soon become his wife. Betty was part Irish and despite their different ethnic backgrounds, the Lanza marraige was a close one, blessed with four children over its fourteen-year span and surviving what at times must have seemed insurmountable odds in the tenor's volatile career.
They were married before Judge Griffin in a civil ceremoney at Beverly Hills Civic Hall on April 13, 1945. A more formal Catholic service followed in July at the tiny church of St. Columbo, in New York.
Lanza's career resumed in earnest that same year with the apointment of a manager, Sam Wyler, who promptly enrolled him with Enrico Rosatti, former voice coach to that other great tenor, Benjamino Gigli.
The maestro's reaction on hearing Lanza sing was simple and direct.
"I have waited thirty-four years for you, since Gigli. You have a voice blessed by God."
In all, Lanza spent fifteen months with Rossati, the most intensive period of study in his entire career. At the conclusion of those studies, Edward Johnson of the Metropolitan Opera, invited him to join the company but, surprisingly, the singer declined.
"I didn't want to be placed before the world's largest opera audience," he later claimed, "until I had reached a reasonable standard of artistic representation and maturity."
The fact that the Met could have offered him the perfect enviroment to obtain the goal doesn't seem to have been too closely considered by the tenor at that time, and, though in fairness to Lanza, he was anxious to start showing some return to his benefactor for what by now had become a costly investment.
"Mr. Wyler worried about paying for my instruction and my travel expenses. He also provided me with my clothes and all my other necessities. He must have handled sixty thousand dollars for me."
Lanza opted instead to sign with the prestigious Columbia Artists management in New York who promptly booked him for a series of concerts throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
He toured for a time with soprano, Frances Yeend and bass-baritone George London as part of the Bel Canto Trio, garnering the sort of reviews that most young singers only dream about. One appearance with Yeend took place at an open-air concert in Chicago's Grant Park, in 1947, before an estimated audience of over fifty thousand.
Commenting on the performance the following day, noted music critic, Claudia Cassidy wrote,
"Young Mr. Lanza was something approaching a sensation. You are a sensation in opera when customers whistle through their fingers and roar, 'Bravo!' Mr. Lanza sings for the indisputable reason that he was born to sing."
Ironically, while all the attention at that time was directed toward the tenor, it was George London who went on to the sort of career on the opera stage that everyone was predicitng for Mario Lanza. London always maintained that in terms of pure God-given vocal endowment, the Lanza voice had no peer and his reflection on his friend's career later on was particularly telling.
"If he could only have crawled out of his own skin and listened to his own voice, he might have lived his whole life differently."
In addition to his concert work with the Bel Canto Trio, Lanza spent some time substituting for tenor Jan Peerce on the popular radio Selanese Hour radio programs. The format of those shows, classical music one week, popular the next, curiously anticipated the wide ranging repertoire for which Mario Lanza was soon to become famous.
Lanza had also signed an exclusive contract with RCA Victor, who arranged for test recordings to be made of the great voice. One of those demonstration discs eventually found its way to the desk of Ida Coverman, a noted patron of the Arts who was also personal secretary to Louis B. Mayer, legendary chief of the giant Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studios.
MGM was the home of the Hollywood musical and Ida Coverman felt that Lanza might be a worthwhile addition to the studio's classical roster. Once again the voice worked its magic.
Mayer was enthralled by what he heard and arrangements were made for an extra date to be added to Lanza's growing list of Lanza's engagements. A one-off concert with Frances Yeend, which would bring the tenor to the famed Hollywood Bowl auditorium in Los Angeles.
It was to be a date with destiny. For in one very important sense, Mario Lanza's plan to storm the stages of the world's great opera houses was lost forever that night.
If Lanza had been anything less than magnificent that evening, if the vocal magic had not been quite on target, then Hollywood might have looked the other way and a great classical career might have been saved. But Hollywood liked what it saw and an audition was set up for the young tenor at the MGM studios the following day.
Although his spectacular voice was being widely praised by now (Frank Sinatra for one had offered the services of his manager to help advance the singer's career), no one had really seen him as anything other than an opera star. The audition at MGM would soon change all of that.
With his customary flair for the dramatic, Mayer had his new discovery stand behind a screen and sing for a select group of the company's top executives and producers. Then, when the spell had been cast, Lanza made his entrance.
It says a lot for Lous B. Mayer's judgment that he saw beyond the tenor's bushy hair and slightly overweight frame, sensing instead the easy charm and outgoing nature that could well work wonders on the silver screen.
For his part Lanza had no intention of being sidetracked into a movie career. But Betty was expecting their first child and the sort of package being waved at him by MGM was just too good to ignore.
He was offered an exclusive seven-year contract with a starting bonus of ten thousand dollars and a further fifteen thousand dollars on the successful completion of the first film. This, remember, was 1947. Then if the film proved successful, his fee and bonus for the next would increase accordingly
In between filming he was free to continue his career on the classical stage as he saw fit. All that was needed was enough discipline and resolution on the singer's part and just about everyone would be happy.
And at first it seeemed as if Lanza's dual career as both film star and operatic tenor was set to take off. While his first picture was being readied, Lanza undertook his professional operatic debut as Pinkerton in the New Orleans Opera House production of Madama Butterfly.
Sadly that production in April 1948 would be the only occasion on which the talent of Mario Lanza would grace a full-length operatic production.
Lanza was forever promising to return to the classical stage "next year" until there were finally no more next years left to come. The tenor himself always remained adamant on the subject.
"As an opera singer," he maintained, "I'm still a baby. Give me eight more years, then we'll see."
Such a tragic miscalculation, of course, was not even hinted at in those early days of 1948, as the projected film career of the celluloid Caruso moved into high gear.
The man given the task of transforming an opera singer into a movie star was producer, Joseph Pasternak. He was an appropriate choice having previously groomed the young Diana Durbin for stardom. And he shared Louis B. Mayer's conviction that in Lanza there was something very special indeed.
The main problem, as Pasternak saw it, was the singer's weight. Like most tenors of the day, Mario Lanza was not exactly svelte and he made no secret of the fact that he enjoyed his mother's Italian cooking and just about every other type of food almost as much as his singing.
But for now he was eager to please and he set about losing his weight with the help of studio trainer, Terry Robinson, a man who was to become his closest friend and confidante in Hollywood.
On May the fifth 1949, Lanza returned briefly to New York for his professional recording debut at the Manhattan Center. RCA had originally chosen Jean-Paul Morel from the New York City opera company to conduct the sessions, but Lanza objected to Morel's repeated attempts to improve and refine his performance.
Even at that early stage of his career Mario Lanza would brook no criticism, however well intentioned the source. At Lanza's request Morel was replaced by Constantine Callinicos, a young composer and accompanist he had met on tour.
And it says a lot for the company's faith in their new artist that the relatively inexperienced conductor was given the job. But Callincos performed his duties with style and that session marked the start of a committed and often intense musical relationship that would continue throughout Mario Lanza's remarkable career. In the recording studio and on the concert platform, no musician was ever closer to him than Callinicos.
For Lanza's debut before the movie cameras, MGM's screenwrite
rs had concocted a romantic musical, That Midnight Kiss. A typical example of the sort of lightweight fare that was popular at that time. Screen tests had shown the tenor to be a natural in front of the cameras. And while his acting might never have been more than merely acceptable, his easy outgoing manner, boyish good looks, and glorious tenor voice more than compensated. It was the voice, of course, that really set the seal on Lanza's future career in Hollywood.
For one thing, he proved that he could sing just about anything. From Verdi to Jerome Kern, Puccini to Cole Porter, it was all so easy for him. Whatever his shortcomings in the operatic field might be (and these were mainly from a lack of ongoing training), Lanza would forever be seen as the ultimate crossover artist.
In some respects it was that very lack of formal training that made his singing seem so natural and unforced. One of the highlights of That Midnight Kiss, in which the tenor is partnered by Kathryn Grayson, Ethel Barrymore, and pianist Jose Iturbi, was Lanza's singing of the aria, Celeste Aida.
Grand opera had always been considered box-office poison in Hollywood. But the way Mario Lanza presented it on screen caused even the most jaded studio executive to take a second look.
The film was a critical and commercial success, and by the time wo
rk had commenced on his next picture, The Toast of New Orleans, Lanza had managed to persuade the studio to include a far more liberal helping of Puccini and his contemporaries in the storyline. The Toast Of New Orleans closes with a lengthy excerpt from Madama Butterfly, which clearly shows why Mario Lanza was becoming the most talked-about young singer in Hollywood at that time.While the opera purists might have objected to Lanza's visceral no-holds-barred approach to some of the music, the charisma and sheer animal magnetism that flowed off the screen was star quality at its most potent.
He was paired again in the film with Kathryn Grayson. But it was another partnership, that of songwriters Nicholas Brodzsky and Sammy Cahn, that set the seal of success on the singer's career.
Brodzsky and Cahn had fashioned a number of popular s
ongs for the production, one of which, a soaring romantic ballad called Be My Love, was to do for Mario Lanza what Vesti La Giubba had done for Caruso several decades before. The record went on to sell over one million copies and gave Mario Lanza his theme song. The man Louis B. Mayer had called "Clark Gable with a voice" had arrived, although his greatest triumph was still to come: the triumph that would help turn a superstar into a legend.
Despite his success, some criticism was being leveled at Mario Lanza. It came from the more serious-minded music critics who felt, understandably, that the singer was shortchanging a God-given talent by squandering it on the movies.
In spite of repeated assurances, Lanza had still not returned to the classical stage, choosing instead to spend most of his time between films in the recording studio. He had now turned thirty, and it was time, the critics felt, to start taking his career obligations a little more seriously.
In his d
efense, Lanza maintained that he was bringing good music, and grand opera in particular, to a far greater audience on the screen than he could ever hope to do in the opera house. It was a claim triumphantly borne out by the phenomenal success of his next, and unquestionably finest, film, The Great Caruso. The idea of bringing Caruso's life to the screen had long been a dream of veteran producer, Jesse L. Lasky. The problem lay in finding a singer with sufficient box-office appeal who would also earn approval from the serious music lover. Now, with Lanza, Lasky knew he had found his man.
All that remained was to convince a still sceptical studio that a virtually all-opera production would be a financial and critical success. In the end, it was the ever insightful Louis B. Mayer who gave The Great Caurso the green light and provided Mario Lanza with the on-screen role of a lifetime.
In just about every sense of the word, The Great Caruso was a landmark motion picture. Never before had a studio attempted to film grand opera on such a scale. Over twenty-one arias and songs were chosen to tell the story of the world's greatest tenor. And, at Lanza's insistence, soloists and chorus members of the Metropolitan Opera Company were signed up for the production.
He also insisted on having Peter Herman Adler, musical director of NBC Opera, to take charge of all the vocal numbers in the picture. It was Adler who put his finger on the problem that faced Lanza in his operatic career when he observed that,
"Ten years with the right opera company and no one could compare with him."
But after being a star, how could he go back to learning?
For a star in every sense of the word, Mario Lanza had become. No one, not even Jessie Lasky, foresaw the staggering acclaim that greeted The Great Caruso on its release in May 1951.
The film premiered at the vast Radio City Music Hall, the world's largest cinema auditorium, setting box-office attendance records over a ten-week run. A new song, The Loveliest Night of the Year, sung in the film by Lanza's co-star, Ann Blyth, and recorded later by Lanza, gave the tenor his second gold disc and even Caruso's own recordings started selling well again. An album of popular arias under the film's title eventually bcame the first operatic collection in recording history to sell over one million copies.
The association between Mario Lanza and Enrico Caruso was now complete. But it says a lot for the American tenor's success that his was not a slavish imitation of his idol's vocal style.
Lanza's approach to his singing was very much his own. And it was that intensity of performance, that vocal panache and heartfelt feeling for whatever type of music happened to be at hand, that was, and still is, the very essence of his enduring appeal as a performer.
The Great Caruso became one of the highest-grossing films of 1951 at America's box office and firmly established its young star as the most popular operatic tenor in the world. Just as importantly, the film had a profound effect on the future careers of dozens of young singers who saw in Mario Lanza the very essence of the dramatic tenor supremo.
To this day, Jose Carreras cites the film as the single most influential factor in his decision to pursue a career on the opera stage. While his equally illustrious peers, Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo, have both spoken of the impact the picture made on their lives.
Pavarotti claims to have seen The Great Caruso over fifty times and refers to its star as "my idol." For this performance alone, Mario Lanza's place in the musical history books is forever assured.
In that same year, 1951, Lanza almost returned to the opera stage. He had agreed to open a new season at the San Francisco opera house in a production of Giordano's tragic opera, Andrea Chenier, with noted soprano, Lucia Albanese. But somewhat unexpectedly, he decided to pull out of the performance virtually at the eleventh hour. And his part was taken instead by the Italian tenor, Mario del Monaco, who was making his American stage debut at that time.
Many would later view that cancellation as the final turning point in Lanza's classical career. A conscious move to pursue his goals down a different and admittedly more lucrative road.
How much that decision would play a part in all the troubles that were about to follow continues to be a subject of discussion amongst fans and critics alike to this day.
Lanza did undertake a coast-to-coast tour on the concert stage in 1951, however. And the fact that he actually sounded better live than on records only added to the frenzy that greeted him wherever he appeared.
No classically trained singer before him, not even the great Caruso, had ever encountered the sort of fever pitch adulation that greeted him wherever he performed. And it seemed at the time that the man with the golden voice could simply do no wrong.
He was also appearing on the hugely popular Mario Lanza Show, a series of weekly radio programs sponsored by Coca-Cola, which featured popular American standards and show tunes, as well as arias from the great operas.
The musical director was Ray Sinatra, cousin to that other great singer, who had been so supportive of Lanza in the early days of his career. The Mario Lanza Show would eventually provide a priceless source of record material, not all of it yet released.
With The Great Caruso breaking box-office records the world over, Lanza was now eager to follow up on the film's success by starring in the title role of Sigmund Romberg's romantic musical, The Student Prince. This he felt would be well in keeping with his plans to bring great music to the screen.
But the production was still in development. And he was forced instead to film Because You're Mine, the story of an opera singer who gets drafted into the army. A vehicle, in other words, solely designed to capitalize on Mario Lanza's phenomenal box-office appeal.
It was destined to be an unhappy affair, a production beset by difficulties from day one. Lanza hated the script, describing it to all and sundry as junk. And his relationship with his co-star, Broadway singer Doretta Morrow, was cool to say the very least.
Louis B. Mayer meanwhile had stepped down as head of the studio, to be replaced by Dore Schary, a tough no-nonsense executive who had little time for what he saw as the rather petulant demands of a difficult star.
And despite the best attempts of trainer Terry Robinson to keep his friend in shape, the singer's waistline had ballooned out of control prior to filming. During the course of the film, Lanza's weight fluctuated between a remarkable two hundred and fifty pounds at the beginning of production to a slender one hundred and fifty-nine pounds by the time shooting had been completed.
It was t
he start of a pattern of severe crash dieting that would have serious consequences on his health in the years to come. Despite the difficulties, the set of Because You're Mine was not a complete battlefield. And, weight problems notwithstanding, Lanza was in superb voice throughout.He also saw to it that his parents had brief walk-on parts in the picture. The film's title track, another collaboration between Brodzksy and Cahn, gave the tenor his third gold record and the film was chosen for the royal film premiere of 1952.
The stage was now ready for work to commence on The Sudent Prince and Lanza set about recording the songs for the picture in single takes. It was a practice in keeping with much of his previous work in the recording studio, but the quality of performance set down for the Romberg score in 1952 was nothing short of astonishing.
Soft and tender on Golden Days, robust and heroic on The Drinking Song, the Lanza voice captured all the pathos and charm of the Romberg score with a freshness and vitality that was simply breathtaking.
Constantine Callinicos, his conductor at the sessions, had never seen anything like it. And if The Great Caruso represents Mario Lanza's ultimate achievement on film, The Student Prince was his finest in the recording studio.
Callinicos in particular felt the recording augered well for a successful and trouble-free film production. But in the end a series of mishaps and misunderstandings undid everyone's hopes and stamped the word "temperamental" in front of every future reference to Mario Lanza.
Like many a great disaster, it all began quietly enough. Proof that the singer was eager to commence work on the project was evident on the first day of rehearsal when a slimmed-down Lanza appeared for work on the set.
The scene, chosen by the film's director, Curtis Bernhardt, was the one in which the prince pours his heart out in song to the servant girl, Kathy, played by Ann Blyth. The song in question was Beloved, one of three new numbers specially written for the production by Nicholas Brodzsky and lyricist, Paul Francis Webster. And it was Bernhardt's reaction to Lanza's performance of that song which set the scene for all the troubles that were to follow.
The prince, Bernhardt felt, was a cold, unfeeling sort of fellow, incapable of expressing the very real passion that Lanza was putting into the song. Perhaps a more subdued performance from the singer might be more in keeping with the character he was portraying up there on the screen,
Lanza was enraged. Criticize his acting, perhaps, but his singing?
After the disappointments and compromises made on the set of Because You're Mine, Lanza was determined that this time his artistic integrity would not be tampered with and he responded, not too surprisingly, by walking off the set.
What followed resulted in one of the greatest standoffs in Hollywood's turbulent history, as star and studio became embroiled in a costly and embittered war of nerves.
Lanza's demands, as he saw it, were simple. Bernhardt should be removed from the production and another director, one who met the tenor's own approval, appointed in his place. Then, and only then, would he return to the set.
But Mayer's sucessor, Dore Schary, flatly refused his demands and the production ground to a complete halt. Attempts were made by Terry Robinson and the singer's family to get the two sides talking again. But after another disruptive meeting wtih Schary, Lanza left the studios, never to return.
His weight soaring yet again, the singer retreated into seclusion, inaccessible to all but a few close friends. His troubles were compounded when MGM served him with a lawsuit demanding over five million dollars in lost revenue and damages.
Eventually a compromise of sorts was reached with the studio using Lanza's prerecorded singing voice on the soundtrack, while another actor, Edmund Purdom, lipsynched to the great recordings on screen.
Lanza and Purdom never met, but the actor spoke many times of the experience of miming to the great voice during filming.
"It was a simply fabulous voice to act to. I used to have the playback going flat out on the set. It was enough to make you sweat."
Lanza is reported to have never seen the finished product and the subject of The Student Prince was something never to be broached with him to the day he died.
With all the delays incurred in production, Curtis Bernhardt had moved on to another project, leaving The Student Prince to be completed by, ironically Richard Thorpe, the man who had previously worked so well with Mario Lanza on The Great Caruso.
In the space of just twelve event-filled months, Mario Lanza had gone from being the most popular star in Hollywood to the most unemployable. Mindful of his reputation for being difficult to work with, few studios showed interests in recruiting his services. He was urged now more than ever to turn his considerable talents back to the classical stage but again it was not to be.
Still intensively bitter over his feud with MGM and the studio decision to press ahead with filming without him, Lanza all but lost his interest in his career. Between August 1952 and December 1955, he ventured only once into the RCA Studios, ostensibly to record a new song You Are My Love, written by Callinicos.
It was another song from that session, however, Song of India, which showed the Lanza voice at the peak of its powers. Callinicos later referred to that time as the lost years in the life of Mario Lanza.
In effect, the singe
r was a prisoner in his own home and, it seemed to some, his own troubled mind. His sense of betrayal only deepened when it was discovered that his manager, Sam Wyler, had whittled away the bulk of Lanza's considerable fortune through a series of bad investments, a situation not helped by Wyler's statement to a Dallas newspaper that he could buy and sell Mario Lanza ten times over.Lanza responded by firing his manager and suing him for $225,000. The action was eventually settled out of court, with Wyler walking away with a deal that gave him five percent of the tenor's earnings for the remainder of his career.
Lanza's return to the public eye came in 1954, when he agreed to appear on the television premier of the variety show, The Shower of Stars, sponsored by Chrysler Motors. For the sum of forty thousand dollars and a couple of Chrysler cars thrown in for good measure, Lanza was expected to sing three songs and appear in a short comedy sketch with actor, Fred Clark.
It was hardly the auspicious return to prominence his friends had hoped for, but at least it was work; and, if nothing else, would prove to a now skeptical public that the big voice was richer than ever. But in fact, although the man appeared, a voice did not.
Weak from dieting and afraid his singing might not be up to par, Lanza, in a bizzare parallel to The Student Prince debacle, lip-synched to old recordings. The resulting furor in the media was so intense that he was forced to call a press conference and an impromptu recital to prove he could still sing.
Lanza eventually returned to The Shower of Stars program a month later when, to great critical acclaim, both man and voice appeared together.
Lanza now had a new manager Al Titelbaum, who persuaded the singer to accept a week-long engagement at the opening of the New Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas. Lanza made it known that he was unhappy at the idea of Caruso singing in a gambling casino. But his finances were at a new low and the hotel's offer of half a million dollars was not to be ignored.
To prepare for the engagem
ent, he rented a house in Palm Springs where, under the strict guidance of Terry Robinson, he got back into training and once again and lost weight. He emerged looking slim and relaxed, ready, everyone felt, for a triumphant return to the public spotlight.Perversely though, the Las Vegas gambling fraternity saw it differently. Ever mindful of the singer's reputation for last-minute cancellations and unpredictable behavior, bets were already being taken that he wouldn't appear on opening night; and in the end, due to a combination of factors, he didn't.
As was often the case with Mario Lanza, the timing of the cancellation left everything to be desired. He arrived with his family in Las Vegas in April, 1955, several days before the performance. The city was experiencing an unseasonably cold spell; and coming from the hundred degree temperatures of Palm Springs, the inevitable happened.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Usually people think there are only two sexes. What are the three sexes discussed in the essay?2. In his day, Enrico Caruso was the greatest a) baritone, b) soprano, c) alto, d) tenor.
3. What, in the writer's opinion, separates gods from "mere mortals" in the world of opera singing?
4. In the 1950s, the most popular singer of grand opera in the world was ______________.
5. Mario Lanza's career spanned a) five years, b) ten years, c) twenty years, d) thirty years.
6. Mario Lanza adopted his professional name from his a) mother, b) father, c) friend, d) wife.
7. Lanza's parents immigrated from a) Austria, b) Italy, c) Germany, d) Spain.
8. In the essay, "New World" refers to a) Europe, b) America, c) Italy, d) New York.
9. Lanza's early years in America were spent in a section of Philadelphia known as ____________.
10. According to the writer, opera is mainly an art form of the a) Germans, b) Italians, c) Spanish, d) Americans.
11. Lanza listened to one record by Caruso more than a) 10 times, b) 25 times, c) 40 times, d) 50 times.
12. The word that soon became attached to Mario Lanza was a) temperamental, b) sincere, c) dedicated, d) romantic.
13. What enraged Lanza during the first day's shooting of The Student Prince?
14. In the essay, Lanza is called the ultimate a) movie star, b) artist, c) crossover artist, d) rich.
15. What was considered "box-office poison" in Hollywood?______________.
16. The idiom, "no holds barred," comes from wrestling and suggests a) anything goes, b) no wrestling allowed, c) prison, d) none of the above.
17. A roster is most likely a a) list, b) meal, c) singer, d) orchestra.
18. Name a prestigious university in Taiwan, England, and America.
19. Do you think having a benefactor is a good thing?
20. The word "maestro" (meaning "master") is commonly used for a) movie directors, b) musical conductors, c) train conductors, d) pop singers.
21. What gifts do you think you are endowed with?
22. What obstacles do you think are insurmountable?
23. In which movie was Lanza's singing lip-synched?
24. An impromptu performance is a) well-rehearsed, b) spontaneous, c) elaborate, d) none of the above.
25. Lanza accepted an invitation by New York's Metropolitan Opera House to sing? True____ False____.
26. The studio famous for making musicals was a) MGM, b) Paramount, c) Warner Brothers, d) Fox.
27. "Bravo!" is usually a cry of a) approval, b) disapproval, c) puzzlement, d) dislike.
28. The word not used of Lanza is a) magnetism, b) charisma, c) temperamental, d) disciplined.
29. The first collection of opera to sell a million copies was _____________.
30. Lanza's first gold record was ____________.
31. What does it mean to squander one's talent?
32. The first movie Lanza made was ____________.
33. Lanza's greatest movie was _____________.
34. Lanza's greatest long-play recording was ______________.
35. Did your mother or father groom you for a career?
36. Lanza's closest friend was _______________.
37. To be sidetracked means to a) lose direction, b) lose hope, c) lose money, d) lose your spouse.
38. Do you have any weaknesses and how doyou compensate for it or them?
39. During the filming of Because You're Mine (and throughout his career) Lanza's main problem was his ___________, which went up and down.
40. At what times of the year does the temperature tend to fluctuate the most?
41. A flamboyant dresser tends to dress a) conservatively, b) in a flashy manner, c) cheaply, d) in expensive clothes.
42. To have panache means to have a) style, b) money, c) talent, d) friends.
43. To have a flair for something means to have a) ability, b) dislike, c) passion, d) respect.
44. What does it mean if we say that a student is ostensibly studying?
45. A person who is skeptical of religion means that he a) respects it, b) doubts it, c) goes to church, d) never goes to church.
46. What are the rudiments of music? Painting? Writing? Dancing?
47. Lanza's wife was part a) Irish, b) Scottish, c) German, d) Jewish.
48. What is an excusive contract? An exclusive restaurant? An exclusive?
49. What is the opposite of immigrate?
50. What's your favorite rendition of Silent Night?
51. You are likely to varnish a) iron, b) steel, c) plastic, d) wood.
52. If a neighborhood is predominantly Spanish, that means the Spanish a) dominate others, c) have more jobs, c) more commonly live there, d) recently arrived.
53. How would a singer get his main revenue?
54. If a show is called an extravaganza, it's probably a) big, b) small, c) inexpensive, d) popular.
55. The "eleventh hour" means a) early, b) late, c) at the last minute, d) never.
56. Three tenors influenced by Mario Lanza were _____, ________, and _________.
57. Lanza thought the film, Because You're Mine was a) excellent, b) musical, c) too melodramatic, d) junk.
58. The Mario Lanza Show on radio was sponsored by a) Coca-Cola, b) Pepsi-Cola, c) Microsoft, d) Mario Lanza.
59. Lanza's health was weakened by a) drinking, b) too little exercise, c) crash dieting, d) drugs.
60. "All and sundry" is an idiom meaning a) only singers, b) everyone, c) no-one, d) always.
61. What do you consider the turning point in your life?
62. Someone who is "svelte" is most likely a) fat,
b) slim, c) short, d) tall.
THE MARIO LANZA STORY
Part 2
On the morning of the show, Lanza complained to his wife of a sore throat. Betty Lanza, herself brought to the point of a breakdown by what she saw as his husband's increasingly neurotic behavior, flew into a rage.Part 2
Once again he was letting her and the family down. Once again he was walking away from his commitments to his public and his career.
Lanza had sought sympathy and instead, had been met with contempt.
Storming out of the hotel, he spent the remainder of the day drinking with writer Ben Hecht, pouring out his woes and claiming that no one really understood him. By the time that he returned to his room to prepare for the performance, he was in no fit state to appear.
In his defense, a doctor was summoned and confirmed the red throat, as Lanza called it. But with the audience already filing into the hotel for the show, the timing was disastrous.
In the end, it was left to veteran entertainer, Jimmy Durante to walk out on stage and announce that Mario Lanza was seriously ill and could not possibly appear that night. No one believed him. And the boos and jeers that greeted the statement echoed far into the night.
As expected, the gossip columnists were merciless, Louella Parsons perhaps coming closest to the truth when she observed of Lanza that,
"He suffers from the overwhelming clutching terror that he might get up to sing and nothing will come out."
By now even Lanza realized the need for a significant comeback, and his chance came when studio chief Jack War
The film is best remembered today for a lengthy and impressive duet from Verdi's Otello, in which Lanza sings with soprano, Lucia Albanese. Madame Albanese had partnered such operatic luminaries as Benjamino Gigli and Jussi Bjorling in her career, but maintains to this day, that Lanza had the greatest natural voice of any tenor she has ever sung with.
Ser
The chance for a new beginning came the following year, when he was offered another film, Seven Hills of Rome, which would be distributed worldwide by his old company, MGM.
Though it meant uprooting his family and moving to Italy, Lanza felt it was a good omen. He and Betty were now the proud parents of four children: two girls, Aline and Alisa, and two boys Damon and Mark. And Lanza felt it was a golden opportunity to introduce the family firsthand to their Italian heritage. He even began to talk of resuming his career on the operatic stage and he foresaw a fitting return to prominence in the land of his forefathers.
The Lanzas arrived in Italy in May, 1957 and filming commenced almost immediately on Seven Hills of Rome. The story was lightweight, but the film at least allowed him the opportunity to show off his very real skills as a mimic in an amusing imitation sequence which featured his musical impressions of Perry Como and Louis Armstrong, among others.
And
By now, the Lanzas had set up residence on the outskirts of the city in the magnificent Villa Badoglio, once owned by Mussolini. For the monthly rent of one thousand dollars, the family had the entire run of the ground floor, which consisted of fifteen rooms, most of them in-laid in marble, surrounded by an enormous terrace.
It provided ample space for the Lanza contingent, which included half a dozen servants, two dogs, a cat, and several canaries. The magnificent music room echoed daily to the sound of the mighty voice and it wasn't long before the tenor sought out his favorite accompanist.
Callinicos had been working with the New York City Opera Company. But with Lanza now talking about a European concert tour, he obtained a leave of absence and joined his friend of Rome. Columbia artists in New York had tried for years to interest the tenor in a new tour, always to no avail. But Italy was working wonders on his morale. By October 1957, a full itinerary to visit the major capitals of Europe was well under way.
In preparation for his return to the concert platform, Lanza agreed to a top of the bill appearance before Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip at the royal variety performance in November 1957. Betty's pregnancy had prevented him from attending the royal film performance of Because You're Mine in 1952, the first time that the star of the film had failed to appear and he was eager now to make a amends. With Judy Garland also on the bill, he was determined to make it a night to remember.
The musical director for the evening was Cyril Ornadel, who later recalled the absolute roars of applause that greeted Lanza's performance on the show.
"Most unusual for such an occasion, it was total triumph, proving yet again that the tenor's problem had more to do with his own deep-rooted insecurities, than with any lessening of his powers as a singer."
This truth was borne out by the recorded souvenir of his royal concert hall of January the 16th, 1958. But the years of rigorous crash dieting to comply with the demands of the movie studios were at last starting to catch up with him as he continued with his European tour.
There were cancellations, this time from genuine ill health, as he struggled with a particularly bad case of phlebitis. His publicity was awful, and he had started overeating and drinking heavily again, a fact which did not sit well with his doctors, who threatened dire consequences if the lavish life style did not change drastically.
The gravity of the situation was not lost on his London agent, John Coaste, who felt compelled to write to Lanza at the Villa Bagdolio during a break in the tour. Commenting on a recent doctor's report in Munich, Coaste urged his friend to look after his health or, as he put it,
"You might easily kill yourself in a year if you don't get your personal and your physical problems sorted out."
Coa
he was in awe of Lanza's talent and constantly urged him to turn full time to the classical stage. After one outstanding recital in Stuttgart, Coates observed that Lanza was the greatest living Italian tenor.
"I tell you, DiStefano, Del Monaco, even Jussi, are not in the same league with you at all."
The acclaim for Lanza's natural gifts came as no surprise to Callinicos, but he knew the difficulty in trying to persuade his friend to change his ways.
Mario Lanza was very much his own man. And however far the road he was traveling might take him from his true calling in the opera house, it was one he had chosen himself. All that Callincos or anyone could do was hope that things would somehow take a decisive turn for the better.
Lanza's final appearance on the concert stage came in Kiel, West Germany on April the 13th, 1958. Despite combatting a cold, he was in magnificent voice on that night, surprising even Callinicos, who felt he had heard it all by now.
"He seemed that night to have been at the peak of his power as a singer," he later recalled. "His voice, darker and richer than I had heard it in years, thrilled me. Its volume and substance rivaled any male voice I had heard in my lifetime."
Eight scheduled appearances remained to complete the tour, but all were cancelled following the tenor's failure to appear at a concert in Hamburg three nights later. Lanza's cold had worsened after the concert in Kiel. And by the time Callinicos had arrived at his hotel for the Hamburg performance, he was told bluntly by a local physician that the singer was in no position to perform that night.
In a sense it was the Las Vagas fiasco all over again with the hall already crowded audience with concert-goers keenly anticipating a great musical evening. It was left to the hapless Callinicos to walk out on stage to try and explain his friend's genuine indisposition.
But Lanza's reputation for failing to appear for bookings had preceded him, and the crowd went wild with anger. In the end, the shaken accompanist had to be rescued from the stage and escorted back to his hotel.
Recalling the incident later he wrote, "During the Caruso tour, I thought that I had seen everything in the way of unruly, obnoxious behavior. But I had to go to Hamburg to see my first concert-hall lynch mob."
Lanza's response as ever was a passive one. He regretted the cancellation, of course, but he would return and give them all a performance they would never forget. All he needed was a little more time. One more year of rest and study and he would be ready for anything.
But Mario Lanza was now thirty-seven years old. And there was only one year left.
He di
With Callinicos at the podium, Lanza was in superb voice for the session, recording most of the arias in single takes. None of the musicians had heard him sing live, and many suspected that the big voice had been manufactured by studio engineers.
Now, away from the confines of the recording of the studio, hearing him perform on stage was overwhelming. Ricardo Vitali, general director of the Rome Opera House, promptly invited Lanza to open the company's next season in a role of his own choosing, an offer that was repeated by other European houses in the months that followed, as word of the tenor's triumphant performance that day spread throughout the industry.
Lanza did enter into discussions with Vitali to appear in a planned 1960 production of Tosca, though whether he would actually have followed through with it is a moot point.
Mario Lanza had no competition on the movie screen, but performing on the operatic stage would undoubtedly had left him exposed to more discerning criticism. And although no-one really doubted that the magnificence of his voice would carry the day, Lanza never seemed to have as much faith in his talent as others did.
The film, For the First Time, in which he co-starred with Zsa-Zsa Gabor, proved a critical and commercial success, with virtually every reviewer commenting on how well Lanza was singing. One outstanding sequence was his striking interpretation of the death scene, from Verdi's Otello.
It was the role Lanza wanted most to portray on stage. And there can be little doubt that the dark, baritone quality of his voice would have been ideally suited to the part.
For the present though, he concentrated his talents on somewhat lighter fare. He renewed his contract with RCA Records for a further seven years, and with the company eager to capitalize on the growing demand for stereophonic recordings, it was decided to re-record some of his popular songs in a new format.
He began his new work with the company in late November, 1958 on an album of Neapolitan songs, with the conductor Franco Ferrara. When tapes from the sessions reached RCA in New York, producer Richard More immediately dispatched a telegram to the Villa Bagdolio.
"Just a note to tell you how excited all of us are about your forthcoming album of Neapolitan songs," it read. "You and Ferrara certainly collaborated beautifully and I have seldom heard you sing better than this."
In a happier frame of mine, the Lanza family celebrated the holiday season with a vacation in St. Moritz. The final year of Mario Lanza's tragically short life was spent mainly in the recording studio.
After the superb quality of the sessions with Ferara, hopes were high for a new stereophonic recording of The Student Prince, with conductor Paul Baron. But Lanza's singing was surprisingly bad, the usually reliable top notes sounding forced and thin; and the recording was a pale shadow of its illustrious predecessor.
His phlebitis was still causing him problems. And despite endless warnings from his doctors, the lavish life style continued unabated.
Callinicos, had been conducting with the Athens symphony, and returned to Rome at Lanza's request to find his friend looking older than his thirty-eight years. His health continued to be of cause for concern and he was twice hospitalized at the Valiard Julia Clinic
In late summer, he began dieting again, this time in preparation for a new film, Laugh, Clown, Laugh, which Lanza felt would be the critical and box office successor to The Great Caruso.
Pontiac Motors in the US had signed him to appear in a television special to be filmed inthe Eternal City. And RCA were at last making plans to record him in full-length operas. It was ironic that his busiest period of working years came with the time when his health was at its worst.
His final recording took place at Rome's Cine Citta studios on Sep. 10th, 1959. After all their years together, it was entirely appropriate that his accompanist at this last session was Constantine Colinicos.
It was Callinicos who had been there for all the triumphs. The first great recording session in New York ten years earlier, The Great Caruso tour that saw fans crash through plate-glass windows in an attempt to touch their idol, the legendary Student Prince sessions in 1952, and the constant triumphs on the concert stages in North America and Europe.
Callinicos had witnessed them all. And he had stood by when the lost years came. Other tenors may have been more refined, more committed to their craft and its obligations, but Callinicos knew that the natural God-given quality of the Lanza voice had no peer. To be part of that career was to be a part of musical history.
The
"The tenor sang it very, very beautifully, I believe the best he had ever sung it in his life."
Toward the end of September, Lanza took his entire family to a spectacular open-air performance of Aida, at the magnificent bars of Kala-kala, venue for an equally remarkable concert by three celebrated tenors several decades later.
The evening came to an abrupt end for the Lanzas, however, when the tenor was spotted in the audience during the first act. By the time the intermission came round, the crowds surrounding him were so great that he was forced to leave. American journalist, Harry Golden, was seated a few rows away and noticed that the singer looked "terribly tired."
On September the 29th, Lanza was again admitted to the Valli Julia clinic and it was there, one week later, on October the 7th, that he died. The cause of death given at the time was a heart attack brought on by a blood clot in his leg.
Shortly before he was admitted to the clinic, Lanza had agreed to sing at a charity concert in Naples, an event organized in part by Mafia godfather Lucky Lucciano. It has been suggested that the singer's failure to appear at the concert caused the incensed Sicilian to order him killed by having air injected into his bloodstream. But the notion of a shadowy, syringe-wielding hit man lurking in the corridors of the Valli Julia Clinic seems highly fanciful at best.
After all the years of overindulgence and rich living, coupled with endless rounds of crash dieting, there was little damage in the end that anyone could do to Mario Lanza that had not already been done by himself. But despite all the warning signs that had become so increasingly evident in the last two years of his life, few were prepared for the suddenness with which it all ended. Betty Lanza was informed of her husband's death over the telephone by his physician. She collapsed and had to be heavily sedated in the days of grief that followed.
Terry Robinson, his closest Hollywood friend, had been staying with Lanza's parents there when he and the singer's mother heard the shocking news over the radio. Maria Coccoza immediately flew to Rome to be near her son, but her husband was too ill and distraught to travel.
In Italy
, Lanza's body had been hurriedly and inadequately embalmed. And the first of three services got under way. Thousands lined the streets, disrupting traffic for hours, as the casket, drawn by six black-plumed horses, wound its way from the villa to the church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in the nearby Palioli district.The family had requested that the tenor's recording of Ave Maria be played at the memorial, but church authorities would not permit it and it was left to a local baritone, Signor Fortoni, to pay a tribute.
The choice of a baritone at least was an appropriate one. No tenor alive could have competed with the memory of the man whose remains rested that day in the Italian church.
There were some talk at the time of having Lanza interred in a Naples cemetery, next to the great Caruso. But Betty Lanza would have none of it. And arrangements were quickly made for her husband's remains to be returned to the United States.
The second of Mario Lanza's three services took place in his home town of Philadelphia. While Betty Lanza traveled on to Los Angeles to make arrangements for his final resting place, the singer's remains lay in state at Leonetti's funeral parlor for twenty-four hours.
By now, the body had become grossly distended and discolored, distressing the more than eight thousand mourners who stood in line to pay their respects and who somehow expected the movie star's looks to remain intact even in death.
To add to the increasingly macabre scenario, the Italian casket had begun to fall apart and a new and more sturdy one was quickly arranged before the body was shipped to Los Angeles for final burial at Holy Cross Cemetery.
That final sad farewell to Mario Lanza took place on October 21st, two weeks after his death, at the Calgary Freewall Church in Whittier, Los Angeles. The sense of grief and loss was overwhelming.
Tony Cocosa collapsed at the service and had to be helped from the church. Kathryn Grayson and Zsa-Zsa Gabor were on hand and did what they could for the inconsolable Betty Lanza. In a way though, Betty Lanza had died with her husband on that early October day in Rome.
As a couple, they had had more than their share of woes as well as triumphs. And Mario Lanza's problems over the years had taken their toll on her as well.
While Mario sought release from cares in food and drink, Betty developed a destructive dependence on tranquilizers. Nevertheless, there was no denying the very real bond of love and affection that existed between them. Without Mario Lanza, life for the thirty-six-year-old mother of four was just not worth living.
Somehow, with the help of family and friends, she managed to get through the nightmare of those tragic days that followed her husband's death. But when it was all over, when there were nothing left but the memories, Betty Lanza gave up the fight. On March the 11, 1960, she was found dead in bed in her rented mansion in Beverly Hills, from what her brother simply referred to as a broken heart.
In 1982, nearly a quarter of a century after Mario Lanza's untimely passing, Constantine Callinicos was asked once again to describe her friend's voice. In his time, he had worked with some of the finest vocal talents of the day, but his loyalty to the American tenor remained undiminished.
"It was the richest, the most expressive, and the warmest, most satisfying voice of this century that I have heard."
That a talent of such magnitude should have been lost to the classical stage has long been a source of regret to opera lovers the world over, who feel that Mario Lanza squandered a truly unique talent.
To his admirers though, it was a gift shared in a broader and wider affection through his chosen career, a career which helped bring great music to a far wider audience than he could ever have done on the classical stage.
Both sides, of course, have a point. Lanza's loss to the opera stage is well-nigh inestimable, especially when one considers the time wasted on material clearly unsuited to his special talents. His eventual sellout to Hollywood―for that is what it was―insured that he would never receive the acclaim that he at least subconsciously had sought from his peers.
But it could also be said in his defense that he was the only operatically-trained tenor who ever successfully crossed that vast divide which separates mainstream classical music from pop.
The sexiest tenor voice ever? Perhaps.
Certainly, it was one of the most intense and deeply felt. And if a tendency to over-emote was present at times―a rush to the finish of the song that was virtually his trademark―then that too was part of the story.
No one before or since ever sang quite like Mario Lanza. And to call him an American Caruso is to sell both singers short.
Lanza was very much his own man, with his own distinctive style of singing; and to his countless admirers the world over, that was good enough.
Callinicos agreed.
"I would not call him another anybody," he remarked, "whether it's Caruso or other artists. I would call him the artist, Mario Lanza. Mario never compared himself to Caruso or any other singer. He just wanted to be taken for what he was."
What
Not surprisingly, his hometown of Philadelphia is in the forefront of the honors. In 1961, Mayor Richardson Doogan proclaimed October the 7th as Mario Lanza Day. And the following year, Maria Coccoza officiated at the ceremony dedicating Mario Lanza Park at the city's Third and Queen Street to the memory of her son.
Philadelphia's Settlement Music School, also on Queen Street, is home to the Mario Lanza Museum, while hundreds of photos, records, memorabilia of the tenor's career are on permanent display.
Fan clubs continue to thrive the world over. The flagship year probably being the British Mario Lanza Society.
The society is also responsible for inaugurating the Mario Lanza Educational Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1976 for the purpose of furthering the musical education of singers by awards and scholarships in Lanza's name.
But the most enduring tribute is likely to be the work carried on in Philadelphia by The Mario Lanza Institute, charted in 1962 by the singer's friends and family. Under the guidance of President Maynard Bettlewhite, the institute, like the British foundation that followed it, is dedicated to perpetuating Lanza's memory through the annual award of musical scholarships in his name. And if there is one father figure overseeing all the worldwide tributes to Mario Lanza it is undoubtedly his friend and confidante, Terry Robinson.
Following Betty Lanza's death in 1960, Robinson took over the care of the four children, raising them, with the help of Mario Lanza's parents, as his own. Today, Terry Robinson plays host at the yearly Mario Lanza Ball in Philadelphia, as fans and friends from across the globe gather to pay tribute and to remember.
Like Caruso before him, Lanza was a truly a legendary tenor. And if it can be argued that he was his own worst enemy, it is also true that he was responsible for creating the legend: a legend, moreover, that can be recalled again and again by the simple act of putting on a recording and listening once more to that thrilling fabulous sound.
At the cl
"And I'll never walk alone, while I walk with God."
Discussion Questions
1. You can have a sore throat. What does it mean to be sore at someone?2. Do you know anyone who has had a nervous breakdown? What might lead to one? Where are meltdowns likely to occur? What do you do when your car breaks down?
3. Describe neurotic behavior in yourself or a friend. (We'll believe it's a friend you're talking about and not yourself.)
4. What commitments do you feel you have to keep now or in the near future?
5. A storm is a lot of wind and rain. What does it mean to storm out of a restaurant?
6. You can summon a policeman when you're in trouble. Have you ever had to summon the nerve or courage to do something, such as to ask someone out on a date or to apply for a job you might be underqualified for?
7. Describe an incident or encounter you might consider bad timing. (You have to use a little imagination.)
8. Discuss your favorite veteran entertainer.
9.When are you likely to boo or jeer?
10. Sanity is mental well-being. What does it mean to sanitize a biography or story?
11. Which room or rooms in your house are likely to be steamy? What's a steamy love story?
12. Discuss some prominent names in Taiwan culture. In opera. In modeling.
13. Are you able to mimic anyone, such as a famous person or acquaintance?
14. Describe the outskirts of Tainan, or your hometown.
15. How does it avail you to get an advanced college degree?
16. Describe an itinerary you would like to take in Taiwan or abroad, such as in Europe or America.
17. How would you make amends to someone for hurting them? Have you ever had to make amends to someone?
18. Discuss a rigorous routine you had to endure at some point in your life.
19. What's the noun form of the verb, "to comply"?
20. In which part of the body is phlebitis likely to occur? Travel sometimes is a risk factor. Why?
21. What were some drastic changes you've made (or would like to make) in your life?
22. What behavior might lead to dire consequences?
23. How would you bluntly tell a girlfriend or boyfriend that the relationship was over?
24. Discuss a hapless event in your life.
25. What does it mean to be indisposed? What's a bad disposition?
26. Name some unruly beavhior you've witnessed and your response to it.
27. Do a search on "lynch" and discuss the history of the word and the practice.
28. When are you likely to use a podium?
29. Do you consider yourself a discerning critic of food, movies, or music? What does that mean?
30. If a woman is said to have striking features, does that mean she's attractive or unattractive? If someone says, "He strikes me as being rather dumb," what does that mean?
31. What were recordings called before they were stereophonic? Describe stereophonic recordings.
32. What does it mean to capitalize on an opportunity?
33. From which city do Neapolitan songs come? Can you figure out the meaning of the word by looking at it?
34. Do you consider the current president of Taiwan to be better than his predecessor?
35. What's your idea of a romantic scenario?
36. What are the best venues for singers in Tainan or elsewhere in Taiwan?
37. How would you abruptly end a phone conversation. (Each student will be expected to speak the line or two with conviction in class.)
38. Do a search on the mafia and discuss this group in class.
38. What kind of behavior incenses you?
39. What does it mean to sell out?
40. Do you believe in a subconscious mind?
41. Have you ever been involved in a fiasco of some kind (party, performance, date, dance, etc.)?
42. Describe a tranquil scene.
43. What followed after A-Mei sang at the current president's first inauguration?
44. Have you ever felt inconsolable? Why?
45. Discuss the most unique person you've ever known (such as a teacher at NCKU).
46. On the morning of a scheduled show in Las Vegas, Lanza complained to his wife of a a) car accident, b) a hangover, c) sore throat, d) indigestion.
47. His wife, Betty, felt a) contempt, b) sympathy,
c) grief, d) indifference.
48. She flew into a) New York, b) Boston, c) Seattle, d) a rage.
49. Lanza spent the remainder of the day a) eating,
b) smoking, c) drinking, d) playing tennis.
50. Gossip columnists were a) merciful, b) merciless, c) understanding, d) unhappy.
51. According to one gossip columnist, Lanza's fear was that when he started to sing a) he would sound like Bugs Bunny, b) he would sing too loudly, c) he would sing too softly, d) nothing would come out.
52. Lanza's next movie role after that disaster was
a) That Midnight Kiss, b) Toast of New Orleans, c) Seven Hills of Rome, d) Serenade.
53. The film is best remembered today for a) a duet from Otello, b) a duet with Celine Dion, c) Lanza's performance of Les Cathedrales, d) Lanza's acting.
54. Mario and Betty Lanza were the proud parents of a) four girls, b) four boys, c) two girls and two boys,
d) one child.
55. Seven Hills of Rome was filmed in a) Germany,
b) USA, c) Taiwan, d) Italy.
56. In England, Lanza performed before a) Queen Elizabeth, b) King John, c) Princess Diana, d) President Lincoln.
57. Scheduled with him on the same program was
a) Eminem, b) Judy Garland, c) Frank Sinatra,
d) Lea Salonga.
58. Lanza's health around this time was ruined by too many years of a) drinking, b) eating, c) crash dieting,
d) phlebitis.
59. Lanza's final appearnce on the concert stage was in a) Germany, b) West Germany, c) West Africa,
d) New York.
60. The final film in which Lanza starred was a) For the First Time, b) Seven Hills of Rome, c) The Great Caruso, d) Serenade.
61. Lanza discussed a planned return to opera in 1960 to star on stage in a) Carmen, b) Otello, c) Madame Butterfly, d) Tosca e) Miss Saigon.
62. Lanza's film, For the First Time, was a financial
a) disaster, b) success, c) problem, d) worry.
63. The final year of Lanza's life was spent mainly
a) drinking, b) eating, c) dieting, d) recording.
64. In that year, Lanza was still having problems with his a) cold, b) phlebitis, c) pneumonia, d) allergies.
65. Lanza planned a new movie, which was never made, called a) Laugh, Fool, Laugh, b) Cry, Clown, Cry, c) Drink, Clown, Drink, d) Laugh, Clown, Laugh.
66. It has been suggested, following Lanza's death, that he was killed by a) Italian police, b) Italian Mafia, c) American gangsters, d) Yakuzi.
67. Lanza's casket was drawn by a) six black-plumed horses, b) one black-plumed horse, c) six white-plumed horses, d) one white-plumed horse.
68. Church officials would not allow Lanza's recording of a) Be My Love, b) The Lord's Prayer, c) the Ave Maria, d) Psalm 23 to be played at his funeral.
69. There was talk of burying Lanza next to a) Enrico Caruso, b) Michelangelo, c) Bing Crosby, d) his parents.
70. Betty Lanza grew to depend on a) her husband,
b) music, c) God, d) tranquilizers.
71. Lanza helped bridge the gap between a) jazz and country, b) pop and opera, c) pop and jazz, d) hip hop and New Age music.
72. The Mario Lanza Museum is in a) Boston,
b) Philadelphia, c) Seattle, d) New York.
73. Discuss in what ways the third movement of Mahler's First Symphony is macabre.
Anesthesiologists Take Pride in Music
By LINDSEY TANNER
CHICAGO - Gen
eral anesthesia or local? Hip-hop or Sinatra? These are among the decisions facing Dr. Frank Gentile in his double-duty job as anesthesiologist and self-styled DJ of the OR.He doesn't use a microphone or speak in a fake baritone. But the eclectic range of CDs he loads onto the anesthesia cart headed for the operating room would impress any bona fide disc jockey. Gentile's collection is between 50 and 100 CDs, and his iPod holds about 5,000 songs.
"I choose my music strategically. I know my surgeons' tastes," says Gentile, the anesthesiology chairman at Edward Hospital in Naperville.
There's Eminem and 50 Cent for one surgeon who likes rap—the songs are "cleaned-up" to avoid offending anyone. For another doctor it's Metallica. Others prefer oldies or opera.
Genti
le picks different types of music for different stages of surgery. Many surgeons prefer up-tempo beats for the final stage and one doctor Gentile works with "always closes to J-Lo."Many U.S. operating rooms have sound systems, so playing music during surgery has become commonplace. Some doctors say it relieves the tension; studies have shown it can also benefit patients, even reducing the need for anesthesia somewhat during surgery.
In many hospitals, the task of selecting OR music often falls to the anesthesiologist—and it's one many take seriously. Some say amassing impressive music collections is even an effective marketing tool—a way an anesthesiologist can ensure being picked when a surgical team is being chosen.
"Sometimes surgeons will say, 'I won't work with that anesthesiologist because he's a fuddy-duddy and I don't like the kind of music he plays,'" said Dr. Doug Reinhart, an anesthesiologist in Ogden, Utah.
Reinhart surveyed 301
American Society of Anesthesiology members and found that providing operating music was among non-medical tasks many performed. Anesthesiologists in private practice and those under 50 were most likely to serve as the operating-room DJs.Gentile says the DJ task falls sort of naturally to anesthesiologists, given their role. While their medical duties continue after a patient is asleep—including monitoring vital signs and administering intravenous fluids—anesthesiologists are less tethered to the operating table than surgeons and other OR staff. They're often more free to walk around during surgery, or to change a CD.
Gentile thinks music makes surgeons work more efficiently. "If they're working faster and they're happy, the flow of the operating room is happier."
If things aren't going well during an operation, or if the music starts becoming a distraction, Gentile says he turns it off.
Reinhart, 51, said nurses and surgeons provide the music in the surgery center where he works, but he was the OR DJ at his former job at a private Dallas hospital.
"I had a little boom box on top of my anesthesia cart and I had a selection of CDs—a lot of country and classical and kind of quieter soft rock," Reinhart said.
Patients' tastes must be considered when surgery involves only a local anesthetic, he said. "We're not going to play rap when there's a 90-year-old lady in there—it would scare them to death."
Dr. Greg Irvine, an orthopedic surgeon in Portland, Ore., says he's worked with anesthesiologists who load their iPods and laptops with special music mixes catering to specific surgeons' tastes, then plug them into the operating-room sound system.
Irvine says he's usually so focused on operating that he barely hears the music and generally lets others decide what to play—unless "they put on something I really can't stand," like when an anesthesiologist started playing military music from Eastern Europe. "It was a little intense," Irvine said.
On the f
lip side, Irvine said several years ago an anesthesiologist turned him on to bluegrass singer Alison Krauss—he'd never heard her "phenomenal" voice until it filled the operating room one day."I went out and bought one of her early CDs," Irvine recalls.
Gentile's own taste in music leans more toward heavy metal, though he chose something much more mellow when he had sinus surgery a couple of years ago.
"I went to sleep listening to Coldplay," he said.
Gentile dreamily says that now, whenever he hears that same CD, "I get taken to a pretty cool place."
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. If you had to be operated on, which would you prefer, local or general anaesthesia? Why?2. Do you consider your tastes in music eclectic? Explain.
3. What do you know of Frank Sinatra? If you don't know anything, do a search on him and tell us what you fnd.
4. What's the flip side of having a lot of money? What's the flip side of being physically attractive?
5. How did your mother monitor your progress in school? Does she monitor your progress now? How would you monitor your child's progress in school?
6. What are some oldies you enjoy?
7. What do you know about opera? (Don't mention Phantom of the Opera, because that's not opera.) Have you ever heard an opera? Explain.
8. Who has the higher voice, a baritone or a tenor?
9. What do you think was the most impressive thing you ever did? What was the most impressive thing someone you know did?
10. What is some fake behavior you dislike among your classmates or friends?
11. What is your idea of a bona fide friend?
12. Do you know anyone you would consider a fuddy-duddy? How would you describe a fuddy-duddy?
13. What are some strategic decisions you have made or plan to make about your future?
14. Do you feel tethered to your family? Explain.
15. What possessions have you amassed in the last few years?
16. When you go out with a friend, do you tend to cater to his or her needs?
17. Do searches on John Philip Sousa and bluegrass music and report to the class.
18. Give a short presentation on one kind of music, with description of the music and some famous performers.
19. Look at John Philip Sousa's name. What name of a country is included in his name?
READING QUESTIONS
1. According to the essay, what are some decisions facing Dr. Frank Gentile?
2. Besides being an anaesthesiologist, what is his other job?
3. "OR" stands for a) old reptile, b) operating room, c) only routine, d) orange-red.
4. Dr. Gentile speaks in a baritone voice. T F
5. His CD collection is not very eclectic. T F
6. His CD collection is impressive. T F
7. The two main duties of an anaesthesiologist are ___________ and ________________.
8. Alsion Kraus sings a) hip hop, b) pop, c) jazz, d) bluegrass.
9. When he had surgery, Dr. Gentile went to sleep listening to a) Coldplay, b) Celine Dion, c) A-mei,
d) Le Temps des Cathedrales.
10. A singer Dr. Irvine considers "phenomenal" is
a) Celine Dion, b) Frank Sinatra, c) Eminem, d) Alison Kraus.
11. Dr. Gentile's prefers a) hip hop, b) classical, c) heavy metal, d) musicals.
12. DJ's in the OR are most likely a) over 60, b) under 60, c) under 50, d) under 40.
13. Dr. Gentile believes that music makes doctors work less efficiently. T F
14. One kind of music Dr. Irvine really can't stand is a) military music, b) military music from America, c) military music from Eastern Europe, d) Elvis Presley.
15. Patients' tastes must be considered during a) local anaesthesia, b) general anaesthesia, c) consultation, d) evaluation.
Crowe is five hours late for our interview in New York and I'm wondering whether he'll turn up at all. Even before the infamous outburst in June, in which he allegedly hurled a telephone at a hotel concierge, the actor was known as much for his temper as for his talent.
I needn't have worried. He arrives, contrite and apologetic. He stubs out his cigarette and politely opens the window, blowing away the smoke. Immediately all is forgiven. He's so endearingly charming and matey that the tedious afternoon of waiting is forgotten.
He expla
ins he walked several miles from the Mercer, the hotel where he has been staying (and the scene of the alleged crime) to the hotel where we're doing the interview, because he's in the middle of a gruelling press tour for his new film, Cinderella Man, and wanted to unwind.
"Thing is, we're eating fast food, eating late," he says, pulling up a chair. "So I walked this morning and realised not only that I should walk, I should hammer myself and do a bit of sweating because I was feeling really aggressive, and that's the wrong place to be when I'm going to sit down with you.
"To get rid of the aggression I have to find some form of clearing my head every day, to get my head into the right space, whether it's yoga, going for a walk or just having a conversation about a completely different subject than acting," he says.
He claim
s his reputation for being volatile and temperamental is unfair because it is based on isolated incidents highlighted by mean-spirited tabloids.
"I don't think anyone can possibly go through their life without getting things wrong now and again, without saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing. It's never my intention to do anything negative to anyone or to hurt anyone.
"I have a simple ability to know when I've done something wrong and if I can't apologise to that person directly, I can apologise to myself. If you think you can get away with crap, you're wrong. You can't live a thoroughly selfish, negative life and expect to be a successful person."
Unshaven, in a hooded sweatshirt, jeans and boots, Crowe moves around a lot. Even after the hike across town, he doesn't appear relaxed sitting in one place.
The logo on his T-shirt reads "Zen Master", but there's a restless energy. He laughs, crosses his legs and stretches his arms. He says he's having a difficult few days in Manhattan because he is missing his wife, Danielle Spencer, and their almost 2-year-old son Charlie, who are at home in Sydney.
"You s
tart scratching your head and try to work out how you ever lived without 40 or 50 cuddles a day," says the actor, looking watery eyed. "The change in my life that has taken place after becoming a husband and father is massive."
The contrast between the image of a tough, difficult, self-centered star and the thoughtful, vulnerable man in front of me couldn't be greater. Perhaps I've caught him in an emotional mood, but he is as happy talking about family life as he is discussing his performance in Cinderella Man.
"My priority list has changed. Everything has shifted simply and easily because I got married and had a baby, because I wanted to do that with an open heart. I was ready."
"Fatherhood hasn't changed who I am, essentially, as a person," the actor says. "So I'm not going to be mellow or less passionate in my work, and if somebody asks me a smart-ass question they're usually going to get a reply in the same tone.
"It's going to be harder for people to take such cheap shots at me now, though. I'm not going to be wandering the streets trying to experience life any more. I'm settled."
Given his past, it is easy to view the star as a pampered celebrity. Yet he doesn't come across as arrogant, rather, as a man who is in conflict with aspects of the life he has chosen.
Fame and recognition aren't interesting, and he's almost puritanical about "the work," refusing to do commercials and criticising actors such as George Clooney and Harrison Ford who make money from their celebrity.
Crowe closes his eyes for a moment. "I love my job. But it doesn't come with any pretension or any prerequisite. It comes with a single focus. Are you prepared to work as hard as it takes to get this job done?" There's another long pause. "I do the gig the way I see it. I've learned over a lot of time."
Crowe is humble about his talent. He says much of his accomplishment is simply down to experience and sheer hard work. But the emotional authenticity with which he inhabits his roles, and the physical transformations he undergoes, single him out.
Whet
her he is playing the tobacco-industry whistleblower in The Insider, the tortured mathematician in A Beautiful Mind, the ship's captain in Master and Commander, or Maximus in Gladiator, the performances are intense and convincing. His complex portrayal of the 1930s boxer Jim Braddock is another example of that ability to lose himself and disappear into a character.
This time, he is playing a downtrodden underdog who became an unlikely American hero. When Braddock's boxing career was over, he lost his fortune in the Depression but staged a thrilling and unexpected comeback, winning the world heavyweight boxing title.
The appeal for Crowe had nothing to do with victories in the ring, though. "I never saw Jim as a man who really lived for boxing at all. To me, the story was interesting because of his change of fortune. I thought, 'This is a great story, because it's true. You couldn't make it up.'
Directed by Ron Howard, the film focuses on the struggles facing Braddock, his wife (Renee Zellweger) and their children during the Depression. They survived rock-bottom poverty, with no money for food or heat.
"Jim had to go on the dole, but he didn't wear the pain on his sleeve," Crowe says. "He kept trying to do the best he could for his family. The Great Depression is a character, and I think the villain in this piece is poverty.
"If there's a single moment in Braddock's life that makes him important in history, it's the fact that he went to the Social Security Commission and repaid the money he had taken when he was on the dole. That shows you more about his character than anything in his boxing career."
Crowe is famously choosy about the roles he takes, and Cinderella Man is his first film since 2003. It has to be an enticing role for him to leave his family and their homes in Sydney and the cattle ranch in northern New South Wales.
"Physically, this was the hardest thing I've ever done, much more difficult than . I was in massive pain a lot of the time. But I'm happy I did it. I just like Braddock," he says.
"Most of the time, it's not a prerequisite for me to like a character. Mostly it's the opposite; I go, 'Ooh, that guy's dark and weird'. I don't believe in the theatrical tradition that you have to love the character.
"Tru
e objectivity will give you the detail. The job of acting is about discovery and about examination and about the human condition."
Crowe maintains that even now, as one of the most successful film actors in the world, he can identify with Braddock's financial hardship. He remembers being broke, first as a young musician touring with his band in New Zealand and Australia, and later as an actor. The big difference was that he was single, unlike the boxer.
"Look, I work at a job, right?" he says. "Just as Jimmy Braddock had a job. It just happened to be that, in the Depression, boxing was the best working-class job you could have. Acting is a similar gig for me."
I suggest that boxing's a bit different, because it can be brutal and dangerous. "So is my job," he says with a grin. "Pen's mightier than the sword, mate."
Does that mean it hurts to read those tabloid headlines? Crowe screws up his face, then gets up, grabs my hands and laughs. "Do you want to listen to what you just said? Would it be hurtful for you? Of course it is," he says, rolling his eyes. He sits down.
"You have a thick skin, which develops over time, it gets thicker, but ... your readers will get it. I don't think there's any need to expand, they've been reading the papers for the past few years.
"You know, my job is entertainment," he says emphatically. "It's a simple gig.
"I've done lots of films now, and I don't live and die on critical response. I'm not hungry, like Jimmy Braddock, in the literal sense any more. But my hunger is my passion for storytelling.
"I believe that's an important part of the culture of our life, you know, going into a theatre and having that collective experience, being moved, possibly. My privilege is to get to work in this medium. It's the most expensive artistic medium that exists commercially, and I never lose sight of that. That's what's important to me."
2. He's accused of throwing a ___________ at a _______.
3. He does not smoke. T F
4. The interview took place in the evening. T F
5. Crowe stayed at the Empire Hotel. T F
6. He's promoting his new film, ____________.
7. He was feeling very calm. T F
8. He enjoys doing yoga. T F
9. He believes you cannot live a ________ life and be successful.
10. He appears relaxed. T F
11. He is unshaven for the interview. T F
12. What does the logo on his T-shirt say?
13. He misses his wife, Celine Dion. T F
14. His son, Charlie, is two years old. T F
15. Fatherhood has not changed him. T F
16. He seems arrogant. T F
17. He praises fellow actor, Harrison Ford. T F
18. Crowe is humble about his talent. T F
19. In his new film, Crowe portrays which man?
20. Who is his movie wife in the film?
21. He is not choosy about film roles. T F
22. Crowe has a cattle ranch in a) New York,
b) Ireland, c) Scotland, d) New South Wales.
23. Crowe must like a character to play him. T F
24. He compares acting to a) writing, b) singing,
c) boxing, d) teaching.
25. Crowe seems to misunderstand the proverb, "The pen is mightier than the sword." What do you think it means?
2. You can turn up your nose at someone. What does that mean?
3. What does it mean to turn up the volume?
4. A synonym for "infamous" is a) famous, b) dull,
c) notorious, d) immature.
5. If one has an outburst, one is likely to a) die,
b) scream, c) dance, d) whisper.
6. Newspapers are required to use the word "allegedly" in many news items. What is the purpose?
7. To hurl something is to a) paint it, b) curl it, c) throw it, d) catch it.
8. A concierge usually works in a a) hotel, b) church,
c) school, d) department store.
9. Does anyone you know have a temper? Explain.
10. Have you ever done anything you felt contrite about? Explain.
11. What makes you feel apologetic?
12. To stub one's cigarettte means to a) smoke it, b) light it, c) put it out, d) buy it.
13. When are you most likely to stub your toe?
14. What's your idea of a tedious weekend?
15. How would you try to be charming?
16. Describe your most gruelling experience.
17. How do you unwind at nights?
18. What does Crowe mean by the "wrong place to be"? Which place on the map is he talking about?
19. What does Crowe mean by "mean-spirited tabloids"? Do you know any in Taiwan?
20. Have you ever felt the need to apologize to anyone?
21. What's your favorite logo on a T-shirt?
22. When a person scratches his head while answering a question, does that mean he has fleas or lice in his hair? What does it usually mean?
23. If a person angrily says, "Take a hike," what does that mean?
24. When do you feel vulnerable?
25. What has the highest priority in your life?
26. What puts you in a mellow mood?
27. A "smart-ass" refers to a person who a) knows too little, b) knows too much, c) asks too many questions,
d) acts like he's superior to, or more knowledgable than, others.
28. A "cheap shot" refers to a) attacking a person's weak points, b) not spending enough money, c) asking too many questions, d) asking irrelevant questions.
29. What does Crowe mean by "recognition"?
30. A gig is a musical term meaning a) paid job,
b) paycheck, c) hotel, d) a dance, also called the "gigue."
31. Did your mother or father pamper you as a child?
32. If someone tried to sell you a rare coin, dated 10 B.C., how would you prove it was authentic or not?
33. What kinds of transformations have you been through since you went to college or since you can remember?
34. A whistleblower is a) someone who calls attention to a wrong, b) a policeman, c) a fireman, d) a party goer.
35. What does Crowe mean by being "on the dole" (a British idiom)? What's the American equivalent?
36. If someone is broke, he a) has a lot of money, b) has no money, c) has little money, d) has broken bones.
37. A depression is an unhappy state. That's with a small "d." What's Depression with a big "D"?
38. An underdog is a a) dog under the table, b) dog under the bed, c) a person who is unfavored in a contest, d) an unhappy dog.
39. To hit/reach rock bottom means to a) go down to the ocean floor, b) fall down a cliff, c) be in the worst possible personal condition, d) slip on the rocks.
40. Show what it means to screw up one's face.
41. Do you think you're thick-skinned or thin-skinned?
42. When Crowe says he's not "hungry," does he mean he doesn't feel like eating? What does he mean?
43. A "collective experience" means an experience a) shared by many people, b) winning a lot of money, c) a calm experience, d) an unhappy experience.
44. What kind of hardship have you known?
45. What kinds of movies or music moves you?
46. What does it mean to wear one's heart or pain on one's sleeve?
47. Russell Crowe's home is in a) Edinborough,
b) Sydney, c) Los Angeles, d) Tainan.
48. What are some prerequisites a person must have before you consider them as a possible romantic interest?
49. What do we mean when we say that something is a lot of "crap"?
50. What do you think "puritanical" means?
Meanness in girls can start when they still are toddlers, a Brigham Young University study found. It found that girls as young as 3 or 4 will use manipulation and peer pressure to get what they want.
"It could range from leaving someone out to telling their friends not to play with someone to saying, 'I'm not going to invite you to my birthday party,'" said Craig Hart, study co-author and professor of marriage, family and human development at BYU. "Some kids are really adept at being mean and nasty."
They regularly exclude others and threaten to withdraw friendship when they don't get their way.
The "mean girls" are highly liked by some and strongly disliked by others. They are socially skilled and popular but can be manipulative and subversive if necessary. They are feared as well as respected.
The study is the first to link relational aggression and social status in preschoolers. It appears in the current issue of the journal Early Education and Development. David Nelson and Clyde Robinson of BYU are the other authors.
Researchers have long known that adolescents, particularly girls, engage in this sort of behavior, called relational aggression, to maintain their social status.
In fact, a number of books and movies have come out recently exploring this phenomenon, including the best-selling "Queen Bees and Wannabes" and the movie "Mean Girls."
"But it is striking that these aggressive strategies are already apparent ... in preschool," Nelson said. "Preschoolers appear to be more sophisticated in their knowledge of social behaviors than credit is typically given them."
Hart said other research has found that about 17 percent to 20 percent of preschool and school-age girls display such behavior. It also shows up in boys, but much less frequently.
"The typical mantra is that boys are more aggressive than girls, but in the last decade we've learned that girls can be just as aggressive as boys, just in different ways," he said.
The researchers asked 328 preschool children to rate their peers.
They asked which children were most likely to start fights, which were most popular and which were most physically aggressive.
The surveys found that even in preschool, a social hierarchy exists.
"You have popular kids, you have average kids, and you have kids (whom) others don't like to play with. Then there are some kids who just fly below the radar," Hart said.
Other research at BYU has shown that physically and relationally aggressive children are more likely to have parents who discipline with psychological control and manipulation, withdrawing love, avoiding eye contact and laying guilt trips on the kids.
"With relational aggression, we are early on in trying to tease apart these relationships," Hart said.
One thing researchers do know is that childhood slights can have lasting impacts.
Hart said the study may help teachers and parents key into relational aggression and the psychological and emotional trauma it can cause. Just as they do with physical aggression, adults need to monitor such behavior and help children recognize the harm it can cause.
"We've done studies showing that reasoning with children, not just one time but taking lots of opportunities to reason with them about how their behavior is affecting others, can help diminish it," Hart said.
2. Where is Brigham Young University located? Do you prefer Young universities or old universities? :-D
3. Discuss a university you are interested in attending. Why are you planning to go there?
4. What kind of peer pressure did you suffer as a schoolchild? How did you handle it?
5. Children commonly manipulate one parent, sometimes the cross-gendered parent. For example, daughters manipulate fathers, sons manipulate mothers. Did you ever do that? How?
6. "If a person's musical tastes range from jazz to classical, what does that mean?
7. What does it mean to leave someone "out"? Did someone ever leave you out, or did you ever feel "left out" of something?
8. Describe a nasty waitress/waiter or other service person you've met.
9. Did you ever feel excluded from something?
10. Describe the meaning of "relational aggression" in the essay.
11. What occupations do you think have high social status in Taiwan?
12. We used to speak of "Madonna wannabes." What's a "wannabe"? Were you ever a "wannabe"? Were you an "A-mei wannabe"?
13. Do a little research on the word "mantra" and discuss what you come up with. The word is used in a "metaphorical" sense (that is, transferred from its original meaning, but with a similar or related meaning. "My mother keeps repeating her mantra that she doesn't want me to go out with my friends, whom she doesn't trust."
14. When you were younger, did you ever monitor a younger sibling or did your older sibling monitor you?
15. What does the essay mean by some children being "under the radar"? (That's another "metaphorical" use of a word.)
16. What's your idea of a sophisticated man or woman? Do you think any of your classmates are sophisticated? Do you know of any ESL teachers who are sophisticated?
17. Discuss some aggressive strategies you might use to get rid of an unwanted boyfriend or girlfriend.
18. You can be engaged to a girl or boy. What does that mean? What does it mean to be engaged at the moment, or engaged doing something?
19. What makes you feel slighted? What's a slight headache?
20. Which pop icon in your opinion has had the greatest impact worldwide? Which in Taiwan?
21. What might the phrase "key in" mean, in context? The phrase is an idiom. Where might it come from?
2. Besides being an anaesthesiologist, what is his other job?
3. "OR" stands for a) old reptile, b) operating room, c) only routine, d) orange-red.
4. Dr. Gentile speaks in a baritone voice. T F
5. His CD collection is not very eclectic. T F
6. His CD collection is impressive. T F
7. The two main duties of an anaesthesiologist are ___________ and ________________.
8. Alsion Kraus sings a) hip hop, b) pop, c) jazz, d) bluegrass.
9. When he had surgery, Dr. Gentile went to sleep listening to a) Coldplay, b) Celine Dion, c) A-mei,
d) Le Temps des Cathedrales.
10. A singer Dr. Irvine considers "phenomenal" is
a) Celine Dion, b) Frank Sinatra, c) Eminem, d) Alison Kraus.
11. Dr. Gentile's prefers a) hip hop, b) classical, c) heavy metal, d) musicals.
12. DJ's in the OR are most likely a) over 60, b) under 60, c) under 50, d) under 40.
13. Dr. Gentile believes that music makes doctors work less efficiently. T F
14. One kind of music Dr. Irvine really can't stand is a) military music, b) military music from America, c) military music from Eastern Europe, d) Elvis Presley.
15. Patients' tastes must be considered during a) local anaesthesia, b) general anaesthesia, c) consultation, d) evaluation.
Test of Character for Russell Crowe
By Elaine Lipworth
Russell I needn't have worried. He arrives, contrite and apologetic. He stubs out his cigarette and politely opens the window, blowing away the smoke. Immediately all is forgiven. He's so endearingly charming and matey that the tedious afternoon of waiting is forgotten.
He expla
"Thing is, we're eating fast food, eating late," he says, pulling up a chair. "So I walked this morning and realised not only that I should walk, I should hammer myself and do a bit of sweating because I was feeling really aggressive, and that's the wrong place to be when I'm going to sit down with you.
"To get rid of the aggression I have to find some form of clearing my head every day, to get my head into the right space, whether it's yoga, going for a walk or just having a conversation about a completely different subject than acting," he says.
He claim
"I don't think anyone can possibly go through their life without getting things wrong now and again, without saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing. It's never my intention to do anything negative to anyone or to hurt anyone.
"I have a simple ability to know when I've done something wrong and if I can't apologise to that person directly, I can apologise to myself. If you think you can get away with crap, you're wrong. You can't live a thoroughly selfish, negative life and expect to be a successful person."
Unshaven, in a hooded sweatshirt, jeans and boots, Crowe moves around a lot. Even after the hike across town, he doesn't appear relaxed sitting in one place.
The logo on his T-shirt reads "Zen Master", but there's a restless energy. He laughs, crosses his legs and stretches his arms. He says he's having a difficult few days in Manhattan because he is missing his wife, Danielle Spencer, and their almost 2-year-old son Charlie, who are at home in Sydney.
"You s
The contrast between the image of a tough, difficult, self-centered star and the thoughtful, vulnerable man in front of me couldn't be greater. Perhaps I've caught him in an emotional mood, but he is as happy talking about family life as he is discussing his performance in Cinderella Man.
"My priority list has changed. Everything has shifted simply and easily because I got married and had a baby, because I wanted to do that with an open heart. I was ready."
"Fatherhood hasn't changed who I am, essentially, as a person," the actor says. "So I'm not going to be mellow or less passionate in my work, and if somebody asks me a smart-ass question they're usually going to get a reply in the same tone.
"It's going to be harder for people to take such cheap shots at me now, though. I'm not going to be wandering the streets trying to experience life any more. I'm settled."
Given his past, it is easy to view the star as a pampered celebrity. Yet he doesn't come across as arrogant, rather, as a man who is in conflict with aspects of the life he has chosen.
Fame and recognition aren't interesting, and he's almost puritanical about "the work," refusing to do commercials and criticising actors such as George Clooney and Harrison Ford who make money from their celebrity.
Crowe closes his eyes for a moment. "I love my job. But it doesn't come with any pretension or any prerequisite. It comes with a single focus. Are you prepared to work as hard as it takes to get this job done?" There's another long pause. "I do the gig the way I see it. I've learned over a lot of time."
Crowe is humble about his talent. He says much of his accomplishment is simply down to experience and sheer hard work. But the emotional authenticity with which he inhabits his roles, and the physical transformations he undergoes, single him out.
Whet
This time, he is playing a downtrodden underdog who became an unlikely American hero. When Braddock's boxing career was over, he lost his fortune in the Depression but staged a thrilling and unexpected comeback, winning the world heavyweight boxing title.
The appeal for Crowe had nothing to do with victories in the ring, though. "I never saw Jim as a man who really lived for boxing at all. To me, the story was interesting because of his change of fortune. I thought, 'This is a great story, because it's true. You couldn't make it up.'
Directed by Ron Howard, the film focuses on the struggles facing Braddock, his wife (Renee Zellweger) and their children during the Depression. They survived rock-bottom poverty, with no money for food or heat.
"Jim had to go on the dole, but he didn't wear the pain on his sleeve," Crowe says. "He kept trying to do the best he could for his family. The Great Depression is a character, and I think the villain in this piece is poverty.
"If there's a single moment in Braddock's life that makes him important in history, it's the fact that he went to the Social Security Commission and repaid the money he had taken when he was on the dole. That shows you more about his character than anything in his boxing career."
Crowe is famously choosy about the roles he takes, and Cinderella Man is his first film since 2003. It has to be an enticing role for him to leave his family and their homes in Sydney and the cattle ranch in northern New South Wales.
"Physically, this was the hardest thing I've ever done, much more difficult than . I was in massive pain a lot of the time. But I'm happy I did it. I just like Braddock," he says.
"Most of the time, it's not a prerequisite for me to like a character. Mostly it's the opposite; I go, 'Ooh, that guy's dark and weird'. I don't believe in the theatrical tradition that you have to love the character.
"Tru
Crowe maintains that even now, as one of the most successful film actors in the world, he can identify with Braddock's financial hardship. He remembers being broke, first as a young musician touring with his band in New Zealand and Australia, and later as an actor. The big difference was that he was single, unlike the boxer.
"Look, I work at a job, right?" he says. "Just as Jimmy Braddock had a job. It just happened to be that, in the Depression, boxing was the best working-class job you could have. Acting is a similar gig for me."
I suggest that boxing's a bit different, because it can be brutal and dangerous. "So is my job," he says with a grin. "Pen's mightier than the sword, mate."
Does that mean it hurts to read those tabloid headlines? Crowe screws up his face, then gets up, grabs my hands and laughs. "Do you want to listen to what you just said? Would it be hurtful for you? Of course it is," he says, rolling his eyes. He sits down.
"You have a thick skin, which develops over time, it gets thicker, but ... your readers will get it. I don't think there's any need to expand, they've been reading the papers for the past few years.
"You know, my job is entertainment," he says emphatically. "It's a simple gig.
"I've done lots of films now, and I don't live and die on critical response. I'm not hungry, like Jimmy Braddock, in the literal sense any more. But my hunger is my passion for storytelling.
"I believe that's an important part of the culture of our life, you know, going into a theatre and having that collective experience, being moved, possibly. My privilege is to get to work in this medium. It's the most expensive artistic medium that exists commercially, and I never lose sight of that. That's what's important to me."
Reading Questions
1. Russell Crowe was late for his interview by a) four hours, b) five hours, c) six hours, d) nine hours.2. He's accused of throwing a ___________ at a _______.
3. He does not smoke. T F
4. The interview took place in the evening. T F
5. Crowe stayed at the Empire Hotel. T F
6. He's promoting his new film, ____________.
7. He was feeling very calm. T F
8. He enjoys doing yoga. T F
9. He believes you cannot live a ________ life and be successful.
10. He appears relaxed. T F
11. He is unshaven for the interview. T F
12. What does the logo on his T-shirt say?
13. He misses his wife, Celine Dion. T F
14. His son, Charlie, is two years old. T F
15. Fatherhood has not changed him. T F
16. He seems arrogant. T F
17. He praises fellow actor, Harrison Ford. T F
18. Crowe is humble about his talent. T F
19. In his new film, Crowe portrays which man?
20. Who is his movie wife in the film?
21. He is not choosy about film roles. T F
22. Crowe has a cattle ranch in a) New York,
b) Ireland, c) Scotland, d) New South Wales.
23. Crowe must like a character to play him. T F
24. He compares acting to a) writing, b) singing,
c) boxing, d) teaching.
25. Crowe seems to misunderstand the proverb, "The pen is mightier than the sword." What do you think it means?
VOCABULARY QUESTIONS
1. What does a person mean when she says that something will turn up?2. You can turn up your nose at someone. What does that mean?
3. What does it mean to turn up the volume?
4. A synonym for "infamous" is a) famous, b) dull,
c) notorious, d) immature.
5. If one has an outburst, one is likely to a) die,
b) scream, c) dance, d) whisper.
6. Newspapers are required to use the word "allegedly" in many news items. What is the purpose?
7. To hurl something is to a) paint it, b) curl it, c) throw it, d) catch it.
8. A concierge usually works in a a) hotel, b) church,
c) school, d) department store.
9. Does anyone you know have a temper? Explain.
10. Have you ever done anything you felt contrite about? Explain.
11. What makes you feel apologetic?
12. To stub one's cigarettte means to a) smoke it, b) light it, c) put it out, d) buy it.
13. When are you most likely to stub your toe?
14. What's your idea of a tedious weekend?
15. How would you try to be charming?
16. Describe your most gruelling experience.
17. How do you unwind at nights?
18. What does Crowe mean by the "wrong place to be"? Which place on the map is he talking about?
19. What does Crowe mean by "mean-spirited tabloids"? Do you know any in Taiwan?
20. Have you ever felt the need to apologize to anyone?
21. What's your favorite logo on a T-shirt?
22. When a person scratches his head while answering a question, does that mean he has fleas or lice in his hair? What does it usually mean?
23. If a person angrily says, "Take a hike," what does that mean?
24. When do you feel vulnerable?
25. What has the highest priority in your life?
26. What puts you in a mellow mood?
27. A "smart-ass" refers to a person who a) knows too little, b) knows too much, c) asks too many questions,
d) acts like he's superior to, or more knowledgable than, others.
28. A "cheap shot" refers to a) attacking a person's weak points, b) not spending enough money, c) asking too many questions, d) asking irrelevant questions.
29. What does Crowe mean by "recognition"?
30. A gig is a musical term meaning a) paid job,
b) paycheck, c) hotel, d) a dance, also called the "gigue."
31. Did your mother or father pamper you as a child?
32. If someone tried to sell you a rare coin, dated 10 B.C., how would you prove it was authentic or not?
33. What kinds of transformations have you been through since you went to college or since you can remember?
34. A whistleblower is a) someone who calls attention to a wrong, b) a policeman, c) a fireman, d) a party goer.
35. What does Crowe mean by being "on the dole" (a British idiom)? What's the American equivalent?
36. If someone is broke, he a) has a lot of money, b) has no money, c) has little money, d) has broken bones.
37. A depression is an unhappy state. That's with a small "d." What's Depression with a big "D"?
38. An underdog is a a) dog under the table, b) dog under the bed, c) a person who is unfavored in a contest, d) an unhappy dog.
39. To hit/reach rock bottom means to a) go down to the ocean floor, b) fall down a cliff, c) be in the worst possible personal condition, d) slip on the rocks.
40. Show what it means to screw up one's face.
41. Do you think you're thick-skinned or thin-skinned?
42. When Crowe says he's not "hungry," does he mean he doesn't feel like eating? What does he mean?
43. A "collective experience" means an experience a) shared by many people, b) winning a lot of money, c) a calm experience, d) an unhappy experience.
44. What kind of hardship have you known?
45. What kinds of movies or music moves you?
46. What does it mean to wear one's heart or pain on one's sleeve?
47. Russell Crowe's home is in a) Edinborough,
b) Sydney, c) Los Angeles, d) Tainan.
48. What are some prerequisites a person must have before you consider them as a possible romantic interest?
49. What do we mean when we say that something is a lot of "crap"?
50. What do you think "puritanical" means?
"It could range from leaving someone out to telling their friends not to play with someone to saying, 'I'm not going to invite you to my birthday party,'" said Craig Hart, study co-author and professor of marriage, family and human development at BYU. "Some kids are really adept at being mean and nasty."
They regularly exclude others and threaten to withdraw friendship when they don't get their way.
The "mean girls" are highly liked by some and strongly disliked by others. They are socially skilled and popular but can be manipulative and subversive if necessary. They are feared as well as respected.
The study is the first to link relational aggression and social status in preschoolers. It appears in the current issue of the journal Early Education and Development. David Nelson and Clyde Robinson of BYU are the other authors.
Researchers have long known that adolescents, particularly girls, engage in this sort of behavior, called relational aggression, to maintain their social status.
In fact, a number of books and movies have come out recently exploring this phenomenon, including the best-selling "Queen Bees and Wannabes" and the movie "Mean Girls."
"But it is striking that these aggressive strategies are already apparent ... in preschool," Nelson said. "Preschoolers appear to be more sophisticated in their knowledge of social behaviors than credit is typically given them."
Hart said other research has found that about 17 percent to 20 percent of preschool and school-age girls display such behavior. It also shows up in boys, but much less frequently.
"The typical mantra is that boys are more aggressive than girls, but in the last decade we've learned that girls can be just as aggressive as boys, just in different ways," he said.
The researchers asked 328 preschool children to rate their peers.
They asked which children were most likely to start fights, which were most popular and which were most physically aggressive.
The surveys found that even in preschool, a social hierarchy exists.
"You have popular kids, you have average kids, and you have kids (whom) others don't like to play with. Then there are some kids who just fly below the radar," Hart said.
Other research at BYU has shown that physically and relationally aggressive children are more likely to have parents who discipline with psychological control and manipulation, withdrawing love, avoiding eye contact and laying guilt trips on the kids.
"With relational aggression, we are early on in trying to tease apart these relationships," Hart said.
One thing researchers do know is that childhood slights can have lasting impacts.
Hart said the study may help teachers and parents key into relational aggression and the psychological and emotional trauma it can cause. Just as they do with physical aggression, adults need to monitor such behavior and help children recognize the harm it can cause.
"We've done studies showing that reasoning with children, not just one time but taking lots of opportunities to reason with them about how their behavior is affecting others, can help diminish it," Hart said.
Discussion Questions
1. Have you ever taken care of a toddler? Describe your experience.2. Where is Brigham Young University located? Do you prefer Young universities or old universities? :-D
3. Discuss a university you are interested in attending. Why are you planning to go there?
4. What kind of peer pressure did you suffer as a schoolchild? How did you handle it?
5. Children commonly manipulate one parent, sometimes the cross-gendered parent. For example, daughters manipulate fathers, sons manipulate mothers. Did you ever do that? How?
6. "If a person's musical tastes range from jazz to classical, what does that mean?
7. What does it mean to leave someone "out"? Did someone ever leave you out, or did you ever feel "left out" of something?
8. Describe a nasty waitress/waiter or other service person you've met.
9. Did you ever feel excluded from something?
10. Describe the meaning of "relational aggression" in the essay.
11. What occupations do you think have high social status in Taiwan?
12. We used to speak of "Madonna wannabes." What's a "wannabe"? Were you ever a "wannabe"? Were you an "A-mei wannabe"?
13. Do a little research on the word "mantra" and discuss what you come up with. The word is used in a "metaphorical" sense (that is, transferred from its original meaning, but with a similar or related meaning. "My mother keeps repeating her mantra that she doesn't want me to go out with my friends, whom she doesn't trust."
14. When you were younger, did you ever monitor a younger sibling or did your older sibling monitor you?
15. What does the essay mean by some children being "under the radar"? (That's another "metaphorical" use of a word.)
16. What's your idea of a sophisticated man or woman? Do you think any of your classmates are sophisticated? Do you know of any ESL teachers who are sophisticated?
17. Discuss some aggressive strategies you might use to get rid of an unwanted boyfriend or girlfriend.
18. You can be engaged to a girl or boy. What does that mean? What does it mean to be engaged at the moment, or engaged doing something?
19. What makes you feel slighted? What's a slight headache?
20. Which pop icon in your opinion has had the greatest impact worldwide? Which in Taiwan?
21. What might the phrase "key in" mean, in context? The phrase is an idiom. Where might it come from?
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