When I did 'Venice Dawn,' there were times where people would cry after listening to it.
I live in one of the coastal cities in Southern California, and every so often I like to take a walk down the boardwalk in Venice during the weekends when it is abuzz with lively activity.
Venice has always fascinated me. Every country in Europe then was run by kings and the Vatican except Venice, which was basically run by councils. I've always wondered why.
I've been kind of submerged in my own little geographic location for a really long time in Venice Beach.
The building I most admire is the Doges Palace in Venice, both by day and by night. Looking at it from the lagoon, it resembles a floating kilim carpet. I love all the bridges which connect houses, people, gardens and palaces. I also love moats to isolate yourself. A ha-ha for secrecy, as in every English country garden.
A realist, in Venice, would become a romantic by mere faithfulness to what he saw before him.
I haven't read Ibsen, Shaw, Shakespeare - except 'The Merchant of Venice' in ninth grade. I'm not familiar with 'Death of a Salesman.' I haven't read Tennessee Williams.
I played Shylock in my school's staging of 'Merchant of Venice.'
My favorite thing is just walking around London in no direction. I love people watching. And you can turn down a street and feel suddenly as if you are in Venice, or you'll be in a Spanish area or somewhere very English or Middle Eastern.
After a few drinks, my mom would recite her lines as Portia in 'The Merchant of Venice' from her high school play. But I first discovered Shakespeare properly when I was about five. I used to look for the most complicated books I could find and pretend to be reading them. I wanted people to think I was smart.
