The play is “Harry’s Friendly Service,” by Rob Zellers.

Zellers also wrote “The Chief,” a hit play about Art Rooney Sr., founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers. This new play has other things to recommend it: an appealing cast, excellent production, great space (the O’Reilly Theatre) in which to enjoy it.

Plus the plot has resonance for me: set in the Rust Belt (Youngstown, Ohio), in 1977, when industrial layoffs were looming and small towns were in jeopardy. I grew up in that environment, when the major industries in my home town — steel and rail car manufacturing — were falling apart. In the current economic climate, it seems ever more important to look back on those years.

If you need a bit more temptation, here’s a little video promo the Public created:

The Project: SheHeroes

SheHeroes will showcase heroic women’s achievements through first-person video interviews. We will provide this free, inspiring and educational programming through videos on the SheHeroes website (http://sheheroes.org) and on zero profit DVDs.

SheHeroes is the brainchild of my friend Sue Nagle, whom I met in grad school at MIT. Also involved are another grad school chum, Elizabeth Kao and her sister Penelope — they are handling development. Yet another grad school friend, Melanie Dever has been extremely helpful in focus group testing the pilot. And fellow MIT alumna Sophia Yen is a co-founder. I’m providing technical guidance.

Already we have the support of key organizations like the Girl Scouts of Colorado. We’ve lined up terrific SheHeroes to interview. And we have an ace advisory team.

Please visit the website for all the details: http://sheheroes.org

We’re really excited about our progress … But there is much, much more to be done.

HOW TO HELP US CHANGE THE WORLD:

METHOD 1 — TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: We need feedback. Does SheHeroes sound valuable? Are there ways we could improve upon it? Tell us what you think of the pilot, which you can see on  the home page of the website. If you have a tween (child age 8 to 14), please ask them to watch and share feedback. http://sheheroes.org

METHOD 2 — WE NEED CONNECTIONS: Do you know a potential SheHero? (We’d be especially pleased to talk with Oprah….) Are you closely connected with an organization that might partner with us? Or a foundation or corporation that could support our cause?

METHOD 3 — IF YOU’D LIKE TO DONATE: We would be ever grateful. The website has info on donating. http://sheheroes.org

Our first $100k donors will be permanently recognized as the “founder’s circle” on the website. We have set a goal of raising $60k in 60 days, and reached $32k in the bank after our first 3 weeks. Donations are tax-deductible.

QUESTIONS, IDEAS, FEEDBACK: Please contact me or use the contact form or comments on the SheHeroes website.

Thank you!

PS: We’d love if you could share the SheHeroes story with others.

PPS: Even small donations help!

SheHeroes is a project of Kids Leadership Coalition, incorporated as a non-profit organization with a 501(c)3 filing in process.

Today feels like the most summery day of 2009 thus far.

My niece has become a fashionista at the tender age of three. The photo above is of her flower sandals. Given how much, much too big they are on her, she gets around pretty well. And she looks marvelous as she stumbles along.

(Photo credit: Flower princess, originally uploaded by cynthiacloskey.)

(Photo credit: Happy Earth Day, originally uploaded by cynthiacloskey.)

You get all the flashy singing and dancing, the lights and the costumes, and the live performance – outrageously talented people right before you.

And you don’t have to bend your mind around a musical’s plot, which in many cases makes little sense and exists only to glue together the musical numbers, and seems to take place in a world of mistaken identities, mysterious villains, and sudden ill-explained bursts of song and dance.

At home you can fast-forward a DVD to skip tortured dialogue; at the theater you can’t do anything but sit still and wait for the conductor to pick up his baton.

But a musical revue … that’s a different story. It’s a collection of songs  from multiple shows, and generally the best songs. A live greatest hits collection, , and not just the sounds but the visuals to boot.

The song writing team of John Kander and Fred Ebb created the music for some amazing shows: Cabaret, Chicago, Funny Lady, and New York, New York to name a few. The show that compiles their very best work is The World Goes Round. It’s sassy, sexy, and sometimes bitter, but with a sweet undercurrent and a lasting sense of optimism.

Here’s a little promo for the Pittsburgh Public Theater’s production of The World Goes Round.

My favorite numbers in the show were three I had never heard or seen before: “Sara Lee” (about the dessert brand), “Coffee in a Cardboard Cup,” and “Arthur in the Afternoon” (about a certain man on the side). The big hits are here too (with the notable exception of “Razzle Dazzle”); “Mr. Cellophane” from Chicago was sweet and sad as you might hope.

The performers are Broadway professionals, and it shows. Amazing voices, excellent dancing, including some nice tap-dancing.

And where the Public’s previous show had actual swimming on stage (on in it, if you will), this one has roller skating. It’s the most athletic theater in town.

The show continues only through April 5 — this weekend. Find ticket and showtime info, and buy online on the Pittsburgh Cultural District website.

Disclaimer: The Public graciously provided me a complimentary ticket for this show.

The glory of the food was nearly overshadowed, though, by discussions of the toppings available to put on them.

First, catsup vs. ketchup. As it happens, Both terms are acceptable in general, but for unknown reasons some people find the “catsup” spelling not just wrong but offensive.

Let’s take a look at where the words come from. According to World Wide Words:

Ketchup was one of the earliest names given to this condiment, so spelled in Charles Lockyer’s book of 1711, An Account of the Trade in India: “Soy comes in Tubbs from Jappan, and the best Ketchup from Tonquin; yet good of both sorts are made and sold very cheap in China”. … The confusion about names started even before Charles Lockyer wrote about it, since there is an entry dated 1690 in the Dictionary of the Canting Crew which gives it as catchup, which is another Anglicisation of the original Eastern term. … There were lots of other spellings, too, of which catsup is the best known, a modification of catchup. You can blame Jonathan Swift for it if you like, since he used it first in 1730…”

Still not sure why people would be horrified that anyone would use the “catsup” spelling. Both are misspellings of an older Chinese word. Maybe we should return to that root?

Then, maple syrup vs. ketchup/catsup as a topping for scrapple: This division was a major one in my mother’s house when she was growing up. She preferred maple syrup — not an unusual choice, considering that many people enjoy syrup on sausage, and sausage is basically chunky scrapple. Her sister Bonnie thought this a bizarre choice, preferring catsup. (No word on which spelling she preferred.)

Live and let live, I say. Let us not fight over which condiments are the “right” ones. Rather, let’s sit down to table and enjoy both the food and each other’s company.

(Photo credit: More details of the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle, originally uploaded by anneh632.)

Oh, to be in Philadelphia this weekend! Specifically, to be in Reading Terminal on Saturday, for what will be a wondrous day of pork consumption: ScrappleFest!

From the Philadelphia City Paper:

Check out ScrappleFest this Sat., March 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free to the public, the event is a celebration of Philly’s favorite “what exactly is in it?”-inspiring breakfast treat. (Read this to get the idea, novices.)

In addition to live tunes, scrapple-themed souvenirs and samples from the likes of Dietz & Watson, Hatfield, the Pennsylvania General Store (chocolate scrapple!) and the Fair Food Farmstand (the illustrious Vrapple), there’ll also be a recipe contest pitting RTM merchants against each other to see who’s got the strongest scrapple game. Judging the competition will be chef/author Aliza Green, Rx chef Greg Salisbury, Where magazine’s Laura Burkhardt and yours truly.

I adore scrapple. Dusted with flour, cooked on a hot pan, served with fried eggs and rye toast: my dream breakfast. And dream lunch or dinner.

Actually, the only scrapple my family eats is Habbersett brand; it has a particular combination of spices and a certain texture that is perfect. It’s not easy to get Habbersett’s on this side of the state, but we bring it back when we visit family and friends out east.

The lack of good scrapple in western PA has led me to consider trying to make it myself. I won’t be able to duplicate the Habbersett flavor exactly — or maybe with enough experimentation I will. I have a recipe from Julia Child’s The Way to Cook, and it doesn’t look too complicated. And of course I can choose the meats and ingredients I want to include, so the result will at least be of good quality.

I will report back on my results.

(Thanks to Uncle Crappy for pointing out the ScrappleFest to me. Or maybe no thanks, as now I’ll be consumed with jealousy of Philadelphians for a few days.)

UPDATE: Scrapple for dinner! Hooray for mom and her stash of Habbersett’s in the freezer.

Top photo credit: “30 days of pork – day 23” by mandydale

To participate, wear a sweater on March 20. Doesn’t have to be a zippered cardigan — just has to be “special to you.”

You can also send a photo of yourself and your friends to Family Communications, Inc., the nonprofit Mr. Rogers founded, and they’ll post it on their website: www.fci.org/neighbor

You’ll find full details and photos from last year’s event there too.

And there’s more. This is from the press release:

As part of WYBMND, a number of Pittsburgh organizations have signed up to participate in the event by hosting activities to celebrate what it means to be a neighbor. On March 20, the Pittsburgh Zoo and the PPG Aquarium, The National Aviary, the Mattress Factory, the Westmoreland Museum of American Art and Photo Antiquities will offer free admission. Neighbors are also invited to visit Mr. McFeely and members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum and join community sweater drives sponsored by The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (at its Liberty Avenue and Hill District locations) and the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership (in the first floor lobby at 925 Liberty Ave.).

In addition, the movie My Tale of Two Cities, which encourages everyone to be a caring neighbor, will have several benefit screenings the week of March 15. The film is a comeback story about the real-life “Mister Rogers Neighborhood”.  Featuring Franco Harris and other famous Pittsburghers, screenwriter Carl Kurlander’s story documents the “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” spirit that can be found across the country. The film will screen in Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., and then, on March 20 in Pittsburgh at The Waterworks Cinema.

“What’s been so encouraging,” [Margy Whitmer of Family Communications, Inc.] says, “is the continued enthusiastic response from people all over the country. We’ve marked this date to give  organizations and institutions the opportunity to create an event that encourages the people in their communities to be caring neighbors.  We’re also hoping that individuals will connect one-on-one with their neighbors in caring ways and that it will become an annual national day of community service.”

For more information about “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” Day (WYBMND) visit www.fci.org/neighbor.

I said that we grew up on Bugs Bunny, and there were no morals there. Very little sanity as well.

We agreed that TV was much better when we were small, and this led to a bit of reminiscing about The Electric Company. I haven’t watched it in decades, but Barry has the box set — for his daughter, he says.

It’s surreal, he told me. Morgan Freeman, Bill Cosby, big stars today, all regulars then.

Sure enough, he is absolutely right. It is a weird and wild and wonderful program, with a lovely balance or knowledge and whimsy. No wonder I loved it so.

I thought I would post the opening credits here, but then I found this clip of the recurring “Letterman” cartoon. Gene Wilder is the voice of Letterman, Joan Rivers is the nearly hysterical narrator, and the whole thing is wild.

Beautiful.

Also, this wonderful animation, “Cloud, Proud, Loud.”

And here’s “For You.”

Makes me think of Bill Plympton’s animations.

My new plan is to give boxed sets of The Electric Company as gifts to all children from now on. I’ll mix in a few Rocky & Bullwinkle sets too, and The Jungle Book. This will be my investment in the future of the world. Who’s with me?

B.U. S. 4 Bricolage Urban Scrawl
Bricolage presents our third annual Play-in-a-Day Series
MARCH 21ST 937 LIBERTY AVENUE FIRST FLOOR

Join Bricolage for a unique benefit to unveil a brand new season for 2009.

6 Playwrights, 6 Directors, 24 Actors, 24 Hours, 120 Seats.

We are back again with another incredible line-up of local artists risking their creative necks to write, direct, perform, and present 6 new plays in one day. Each writer will have 12 hours to write a 10-minute play inspired by a 90-minute journey on a city bus. The directors and actors will have the next 12 hours to rehearse, memorize and stage each play to debut that same evening exactly 24 hours after the first meeting.

Come see an exciting new line up of artists including:

WRITERS
Gab Cody, Robert Isenberg, Wali Jamal, Michael McGovern, Rick Schweikert, Robin Walsh.

DIRECTORS
Martin Giles, Lisa Ann Goldsmith, Sheila McKenna, Anya Martin, John Shepard, David Whalen.

ACTORS
Eric Anderson, Nancy Bach, Karen Baum, Tyler Berube, Laura Lee Brautigam, Bridget Carey, Brian Czarneicki, George Dalzell, Don Digiulio, James Fitzgerald, Dave Flick, Tressa Glover, Lonzo Green, Daina Michelle Griffith, Mary Harvey, Chris Josephs, Kelly Marie McKenna, Robyne Parish, Joshua Elijah Reese, Rita Reis, Mark Clayton Southers, Genna Styles, and James Wong.

Enjoy cocktails and food provided by Penn Avenue Fish Market, Sonoma Grill, and Seviche. Bid on fabulous silent auction items such as sports, theatre, and film tickets, spa packages, and much, much more. Be witness to this exciting experiment in theatre and learn more about what Bricolage has in store for the coming year.

For a 7-minute video of past BUS events visit:
webbricolage.org/video_test.html

B.U.S. FARE: $40 cocktails and yummies
V.I.P. FARE: $75 private reception and Friday night actor selection party
Doors open at 7PM performance begins at 8PM.
Seating is limited. For tickets call 412-381-6999 or buy your tickets on-line at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/58505
To RSVP contact Tami at tami@webbricolage.org. For more information visit www.webbricolage.org

V.I.P. Fare – This ticket entitles the fare holder to cocktails, lite yummies and a front row seat to the intimate Friday Night Actor Selection Parade. This is rare treat for the VIP to get a behind the scenes look at the making of a 24 hour play event. This portion of the process is probably our favorite exchange. Choosing this fare will also give the VIP reserved seating for Saturday evenings BUS 4  event. Limited number of tickets available. Make your reservation today. Call 412-381-6999.

Supported in part by The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust