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The Next Big Thing / January 23, 2004

The Next Big Thing

Friday, January 23, 2004
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  • Back in the Days, Jamel Shabazz
    Back in the Days, photo by Jamel Shabazz

    Crossover
    Show #421

    Crossing to the other side, and crossing back. Donald Semenza tells stories of the mob “family” he left behind. Photographer Jamel Shabazz goes back to the New York City streets of his youth. The creators of a company selling interracial wedding cake figures consider some of the obstacles for couples who cross the race line. And host Dean Olsher crosses into new territory when he sits in on “Gay Bingo.”

Back in the Days

Photo by Jamel Shabazz
Photo by Jamel Shabazz
In the 1980s, young people on the streets of New York posed for photographer Jamel Shabazz with style, flair and a kind of innocence. With host Dean Olsher, Shabazz revisits those streets and his memories of the people he knew back then. The photographs are collected in his book titled Back in the Days. Produced by Amanda Aronczyk.

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To Top It Off

Mike and Monique Allen are the founders of Blind Heart, a company that makes interracial wedding cake figurines. The idea came to them after they faced some unusual challenges in planning their own wedding. Reporter Deepa Ranganathan looks to the Allens for an assessment of attitudes toward interracial marriage in the U.S. Produced by Michael Kavanagh.

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Dreaming of Dubya

There are few things as boring as hearing about other people’s dreams. But a dramatic reenactment – now that’s a little more interesting. Especially when Next Big Thing contributor Alice Furlaud and U.S. President George Bush are involved. Comic relief provided by Charlie Schroeder, Mary Purdy and Bruce Meakam. Produced by Curtis Fox.

Native Pitch

When composer Robert Kapilow accepted a commission to write a piece honoring the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition, he knew he’d have to do a lot of research. Little did he know the project would require a complete reexamination of his understanding of American music, history and culture. Produced by Anya Grundmann.

Universal Phenomenon

Warren Lehrer and Judith Sloan
Warren Lehrer and Judith Sloan
Queens Boulevard, the main thoroughfare in Queens, NY, is known as the Boulevard of Death because of all the traffic accidents that happen there. To Judith Sloan and Warren Lehrer, the boulevard represents something more vibrant and complex - a character in the many stories they've collected from the neighborhood's new immigrants. From those stories they've made theater, text, music – and sometimes all of the above – for their CD and book, Crossing the Boulevard. "Universal Phenomenon" features the words of one of their subjects, Janet Xiong; Sloan and Lehrer commissioned the music from composer Scott Johnson. Learn more about the project at crossingtheblvd.org.

Wise Guy

Donald Semenza grew up watching mob movies, and living the life those movies sought to portray, in the social clubs and on the streets of the West Village. At some point, he had to make a decision – "get made" in the mob, or get out. He told his story to Next Big Thing contributor Steve Zeitlin, who is director of City Lore, a New York City cultural center. Produced by Emily Botein.

Bingo Gone Bi-

Dean Olsher sits in on a high stakes, high camp game of bingo, hosted by "Sybil Bruncheon" at the West Village Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center. Produced by Jill Krauss.