TO CONTINUE

I would like to take this opportunity to respond to Ms. Holton’s response to my letter in the May 4, 2001 issue of your fine paper (http://www.portlandphoenix.com/ archive/features/01/05/25/LETTERS.html) regarding the remodeling of a house on Veranda Street.

Re: point 2: The fact that the owner of the property is remodeling a house as opposed to tearing it down is because of the failure of the city’s zoning laws and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Re: point 5: Ms Holton said in her response: “The city desperately needs new housing, but should this be at the expense of established family neighborhoods? Perhaps this person would prefer to see all Portland homes converted into multi-unit apartment buildings, ultimately forcing families to the suburbs and subsequent school closings.”

My response to this is YES! Every neighborhood must contribute its share, including your Ocean View Park and the Mayor’s District 4, Deering neighborhood. (I am glad she has gone on record as supporting a TIF district in her district to allow us to build more affordable housing.) Please explain to this nitwit (me), how converting homes into multi-unit apartments forces families into to the suburbs. More units to me means more people can live in Portland and thus more kids can attend our schools.

Every neighborhood is a “family” neighborhood. BTW, does your definition of family include my partner and myself or is it only a husband and wife with two kids and a dog?

Steven Scharf
Portland

SIDE NOTE

Side Show, directed by Brian P. Allen, is the best musical I have seen in my 20 years of going to community theatre in Southern Maine. I have not been a season-ticket holder, but I always hear about the shows that “you just can’t miss.” Side Show is one of them. Packed to overflowing with Broadway-caliber talent, the cast drew me in from the opening scene. I couldn’t help but despise the “Boss” of the freak show, and as the chills and emotions rose up in me during the first few numbers I repeatedly thought to myself, “This is community theatre? How did we get so lucky?” As I got to know the Siamese twins and their plight, time became suspended, and I cheered and applauded after every number.

At intermission, an acquaintance who sat in front of me with his wife stood up, turned to me with his jaw hanging and said, “This is the best show I’ve ever seen at Portland Players.” He has been in community theatre and is a musician. Getting refreshments during the break, the audience seemed to share the stunned appreciation of what they were witnessing. Over and over, people were exclaiming about the wonderfully powerful voices and the talented acting.

Act 2 provided me with more memorable numbers, too many to count. There was enormous passion, quiet anger, soaring hope, and beautiful sorrow. I really couldn’t believe my good fortune, that I was only 10 minutes from my home in Portland, and that this was local talent, here , performing for me. I will forever be on the lookout for more productions that are directed by Brian Allen. He pulled together an amazing show with the help of the musical director, Larry Allen, and the choreographer, Raymond Marc Dumont, not to mention the wonderful costumers and set designers.

It’s too bad that Mr. LeBlanc was chosen by the Phoenixúto review it (see http://www.portlandphoenix.com/archive/theater/01/05/25/freaks.html) since his opening line of the review was, “I hate musicals.” LeBlanc couldn’t even keep the musical numbers straight, as evidenced by his combining of the “humorous twins-as-Cleopatra” (“We Share Everything” in Act 1), and “Rare Songbirds on Display” (feather-filled fun at the opening of Act 2). Mr. LeBlanc’s inattention and his I-love-to-hear-myself-talk review does a great disservice to this splendid show. There were too many over the top performances by the whole cast to go into detail. But I don’t need to, that’s a critic’s job, and I hate critics.

Robert Moldaver
Portland

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