You know what I'm talking about. That gravelly, creaky-speak that so many young women employ (yeah, and some young men - although it seems less noticeable with men because of their vocal pitch). It's everywhere now, on the radio, television, on the street. Even ON NPR! I'm not easily annoyed, normally, by very much. I'm fairly patient with other drivers, with waiting in line, with being put on hold, even with sluggish Internet. I understand. Stuff happens. But vocal fry is sl

We all know that a motion picture takes years to produce, and that its release date is determined months, if not years, in advance. Still, it feels strangely percipient that "Florence Foster Jenkins," the new Meryl Streep movie about this most hilarious and weirdly lovable of characters, is opening just now. Just now--as America is in the throes of its most painful racial divisiveness in decades, in this most disturbing political climate, this horrifying era of terrorism. Jus

Recently I looked around the LA theatre scene and realized there was just too much I wanted to see. (It’s a little like television these days: the choices and variety are staggering.) Anybody familiar with “small” (ha!) theatre here in Los Angeles knows what I mean. Right now, Rogue Machine has one more weekend of their three—count ‘em—runaway hit shows onstage, all adored by both critics and audiences, and there’s also one more weekend of the fabulously reviewed and realized