THE PLEASURES OF THE NST’S SPECTRUM TV SERVICE
BY LORRAINE BERTAN,
CULTURE COMMITTEE
The weather outside may be
frightful, and staying home watch-ing
TV is delightful, especially
when the North Shore Towers
Spectrum account allows us many
interesting program choices from
HBO, Showtime and Spectrum on
Demand.
Spectrum’s “Manhunt: Deadly
Games” series focuses on Richard
Jewell, the security guard who was
the central character of the 1996
Olympic Centennial Bombing in
Atlanta, Georgia. The Spectrum
10-part series appeared two months
after the release of the movie,
“Richard Jewell,” which tells the
story of his discovery of the bomb,
the resulting public admiration
and his eventual accusation as the
bomber.
In both the movie and the TV
series, the character of Richard
Jewell is portrayed emphasizing
his respect and admiration for law
enforcement and his desire to help
people. He is an unsophisticated
man living with his mother, and
allows himself to be manipulated by
his accusers. When the bomb goes
off, the FBI, ATF and local police
agencies become involved, and the
media becomes the chronicler of
the investigation. The bomb killed
two people and injured over 100,
and the law enforcement and media
attacks nearly destroyed the life of
Richard Jewell and his mother for
three months as he became the
suspected bomber who was look-ing
to become a hero. The actual
bomber, Eric Rudolph, carried out
three explosions after the Olympic
bombing in Georgia and Alabama
which are considered examples of
domestic terrorism.
The Spectrum series provides a
compelling description of the coop-eration
of the various government
agencies to track Rudolph down in
May, 2003, several years after the
Olympic Centennial bombing. He
is now in prison for life, the same
prison occupied by the UNA bomb-er,
Ted Kaczynski.
On a lighter note, HBO intro-duces
Season 10 of Larry David’s
“Curb Your Enthusiasm” series.
Episode 1 opens in early February
2020, and David replies to New
Year’s greetings with an acerbic
“Too late.” Continuing in this
somewhat unpleasant atmosphere,
Larry spends time at a cocktail par-ty
trying to catch hors d’oeuvres
but inappropriately touches the
female caterer,
provoking a law
suit. The jokes
are simple, but
delivered with style and wit. Larry
David has played this role for many
years, and while he proudly pro-claims
his misanthropic nature, his
colleagues are happy to insult him
and continue the dialogue.
Larry David was a writer for
“Saturday Night Live” in 1982 and
in 1989 Jerry Seinfeld asked him to
help develop the sitcom “Seinfeld”
which debuted in 1989. You may
recognize Larry David from his
“Saturday Night Live” appearances
as Bernie Sanders since 2016.
For the fans of the late Kirk
Douglas, HBO has a large library of
Kirk Douglas movies and they are
available for a rental fee of $2.99.
“Lust for Life’, “Spartacus”, and
others are available.
To access Spectrum Originals on
Demand, go to Guide and click on
2010. To access HBO on Demand,
go to Guide and click on 510.
Cameron Britton as Richard
Jewell in “Manhunt: Deadly
Games”
Curb Your Enthusiasm
The snowbirds have landed.
And those that are nesting
on the west coast of Flori-da
have immersed themselves in
a cultural scene that knows no
boundaries. With Broadway-cal-iber
theater, ballet, opera and con-certs
galore, there is no shortage
of entertainment.
The Florida Studio Theatre has
several venues. On the main stage
we saw a production of “Bright Star,”
a beautiful story with music and
book by Steve Martin that features
bluegrass and American music. It is
a story of love and forgiveness set
against a backdrop of the American
South in the 1940s. It was a touching
piece both funny and heartbreaking,
and due to the intimate theatre, it
drew us all into a world that once
was and can still be looked for.
We were also fortunate to snare
the last two seats at the Cabaret of
the Florida Studio Theatre where
“Outlaws & Angels” were delight-ing
audiences with a rousing revue.
The songs, performed by an out-standing
cast, had us all stomping
our feet and tapping our toes. After
all, these simple but meaningful
songs are the essence the American
musical genre known as Country.
Sarasota is the home of the
Westcoast Black Theatre. It is now
in the most beautiful cutting-edge
building which is a major arts cen-ter
as well. “Caroline, or Change”
is the first production on these
grounds and we were lucky enough
to snare tickets to this sold-out
venue. More like an opera than a
play, this breathtaking production
is a celebration of the diversity
of the African American musical
legacy. It challenges the audience
by presenting circumstances not
often seen or addressed in your
everyday musical. The voices were
outstanding, as was the staging.
This piece, with book and lyrics
by Tony Kushner, will have viewers
talking for a long time.
Not only is Sarasota Florida’s
cultural coast, but it speaks circus!
We spent a full day at the Ringling.
This pink Renaissance-style palace
has 21 galleries filled with paint-ings,
sculpture, medieval objects
and court yards. It is dazzling! Most
notable are the Rubens, works by
Veronese, Franz Hals and the
piece by Edward Burne-Jones. Ca’
D’Zan, the historic home of John
and Mable Ringling, allows you to
step back into time and visit one of
the grandest homes in the country.
My favorite, The Circus Museum,
allows kids of all ages to experi-ence
the sights and sounds of the
American circus. The gardens, with
spectacular views of Sarasota Bay,
are breathtaking and the restaurant
and cafe are both delightful. There
is also a new art museum which is
fascinating. It opened two months
ago and the reception to this world
of modern and contemporary art
has been overwhelming. There is
presently a retrospective of the
work of Brazilian born artist Vik
Muniz which is fascinating.
In addition, Sarasota offers a
ballet company, opera and reper-tory
theater. Sarasota may be the
perfect beach vacation but as far
as I’m concerned, it’s more like
Broadway with Palm Trees...
Sarasota: The Cultural Coast
Beautiful Sarasota, Florida
March 2020 ¢ NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER 41