Arts & Entertainment

From left, Christopher Gobler with his research team Andrew Griffith, Theresa Hattenrath-Lehmann and Yoonja Kang. Photo from SBU

By Daniel Dunaief

Christopher Gobler searches the waters around Long Island for signs of trouble, which can appear starting in April. This year, he found it, in Shinnecock Bay. Monitoring for a toxin carried by algae called Alexandrium, Gobler recently discovered levels that were three times the allowable limit from the Food and Drug Administration. His finding, along with measurements from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation of toxins in shellfish in the bay, have caused the recent closure of shellfishing in the bay for the fourth time in seven years.

While Gobler, a marine science professor at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, watches carefully for the appearance of red tides from these algae locally, he recently completed a much broader study on the spread of these toxins.

Gobler led a team that explored the effect of ocean warming on two types of algae, Alexandrium and Dinophysis. Since 1982, as the oceans have heated up, these algae have become increasingly common, particularly in the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans, according to a study Gobler and his colleagues recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. When they become concentrated in shellfish, these algae can lead to diarrhea, paralysis and even death if people consume enough of them.

Over the course of the study, algae have begun to form “denser populations that are making shellfish toxic,” Gobler said. Temperature is one of many factors that can affect the survival, growth and range of organisms like the algae that can accumulate toxins and create human illness. “As temperatures get higher, they are becoming closer to the ideal for some species and out of the ideal for other species,” Gobler said.

The strongest effect of changing temperatures are at higher latitudes, which were, up until recently, prohibitively cold for these types of algae. The biggest changes over the course of the study came in the Bay of Fundy in Canada, in Scotland, Ireland, Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland and Alaska. The toxic algal blooms increased in frequency between 40 and 60 degrees north latitude, according to the study. These are places where toxic algae lived but weren’t as prevalent, but the warming trend has created a more hospitable environment, Gobler said.

Raphael Kudela, a professor of ocean sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz who wasn’t involved in this research, explained that other papers have suggested a similar link between temperature and the movement of these algae. “We’ve seen the expansion of ciguatera fish poisoning, as the temperature range has moved poleward for those algae,” Kudela wrote in an email. NOAA biological oceanographer Stephanie Moore has documented an expanded window of opportunity for paralytic shellfish poisoning linked to changes in temperature, Kudela said. “While we can point to specific events, and it makes intuitive sense, the Gobler paper actually documented these trends using a long time series, which hasn’t been done before,” Kudela continued.

R. Wayne Litaker, a supervisory ecologist at NOAA’s National Ocean Service, collaborated with Gobler on the project. He said small differences in temperature are significant for the growth rate of these toxic algae. Extending this to other organisms, Litaker explained that fish are also extending their ranges amid a rise in global temperatures. “There’s been a general movement of temperate species toward the poles,” Litaker said. He’s seen tropical fish, such as butterfly fish, off the docks of North Carolina that he hadn’t seen that far north before.

Gobler and his colleagues estimate that the need to close shellfish beds, the increase in fish kills, and the health care damage to people has exceeded a billion dollars since 1982. The largest problem for people in areas like Alaska is their lack of experience with red tides.

“Communities are being exposed to these blooms where they had not been in the past,” Gobler said. “[The blooms] can be most dangerous when they take a community by surprise.” Gobler said this happened in Alaska during the study. In the last decade, shellfish toxins that are 1,000 times more potent than cyanide caused illnesses and were suspected in two deaths in Haines, Alaska.

Litaker said he gave a talk several years ago at a conference. Gobler approached him and asked if they could work together. “One of the wonderful things about these meetings is that you see things that trigger possibilities and whole new projects are born,” Litaker said.

Litaker described Gobler as a “major player in the field” who has done “fantastic work over the years.” Litaker said he was “quite impressed with what he’s done.” Litaker explained that the climate is changing and urged fisheries and shellfish experts to prepare to respond throughout the country. “As we get warmer and more run off of nutrients, toxic cyanobacteria [algal blooms] are causing problems in all 50 states,” Litaker said.

Kudela suggested that the “new records every year for the last several years … will undoubtedly continue to impact the range, duration and toxicity of blooms.”

Locally, Gobler continues to monitor dozens of sites on Long Island, where he suggested that Alexandrium could become less prevalent with warming, while Dinophysis could become more common. Temperature and other factors favorable for algae growth have led to red tides in the past.

In oceans across the world, Kudela said the next logical step would be to explore the interaction of temperature and nutrients. “We know both are changing, and they are likely to have additive or synergistic effects, but we haven’t done the same careful study as the Gobler paper looking at how the trends are interacting,” he explained.

Auditions for children’s roles in New York Dance Theatre’s 2017 production of “The Nutcracker” (four performances presented at Hofstra University) will be held on Sunday, June 4 at 1 p.m. at the Frank Ohman School of Ballet, 60 Calvert Ave., Commack. Children ages 6 through 15 may attend ($20 audition fee).

There will be a second audition for advanced dancers on pointe on Sunday, June 11 from 1 to 3:30 p.m. at the same location. The $20 audition fee for advanced dancers includes a full ballet technique class followed by an audition on pointe. Proper ballet attire is required for all ages. Call 631-462-6266 or visit www.ohmanballet.org for important information.

A recent study showed that patients who are very obese could lose almost two decades of healthy living
Quality of life impacts are considerable

By David Dunaief, M.D.,

Dr. David Dunaief

The media is increasingly focused on covering obesity-related issues. With this in mind, let’s start off with a short quiz to test your knowledge of obesity-related issues. The answers and research are provided below. Regardless of your quiz score, it is important to understand the research.

1. Obesity reduces life span by up to:

A) Not at all

B) 4 years

C) 8 years

D) 10 years

2. Obesity shortens healthy years of life by:

A) 8 years

B) 12 years

C) 15 years

D) 20 years

3. Food cravings can be reduced for the short term by:

A) Counting to 20

B) Tapping your finger against your head

C) Watching TV

D) Texting on your cellphone

4. Obesity can lead to the following complication(s):

A) High blood pressure

B) Diabetes

C) Cancer

D) All of the above

Are you eager to find out the answers? I hope so, because there are some very salient points I am trying to make by providing multiple choice questions. The answers are: 1. D; 2. D; 3. B; 4. D. So how did you do? One of the questions was actually similar to a question on a medical website for doctors, so don’t be too hard on yourself if you did not get them all right. Let’s look at the research.

Mortality and effect on life span

Many of you know that obesity could have an impact on development of other chronic diseases and a decrease in quality of life, but to what extent? A 2013 study indicated that almost as many as one in five deaths in the U.S. is associated with obesity (1).

In a computer modeling study, the results showed that those who are obese may lose up to eight years, almost a decade, of their life span (2). But that is only part of the results. The other, more compelling result is that patients who are very obese, defined as a BMI >35 kg/m², could lose almost two decades of healthy living. According to the researchers, this means you may have diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. However, even those patients who were obese and those who were overweight also could have reductions in life span, up to 6 years and 3 years, respectively.

There were 3,992 adults between the ages of 20 and 79 evaluated in this study. The data was taken from an NHANES database from 2003 to 2010, which looked at participants who went on to develop diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Though this is not a clinical trial, and there is a need for more study, the results are eye-opening, with the youngest and very obese negatively impacted the most.

Cancer impact

Since it is very difficult to “cure” cancer, although hopefully someday soon we will, it is important to reduce modifiable risk factors. Obesity may be one of these contributing factors, although it is hotly debatable how much of an impact obesity has on cancer development.  The American Society of Clinical Oncologists (ASCO), in a position paper, supported the idea that it is important to treat obesity in the fight against cancer (3). The authors indicate obesity may make the prognosis worse, may hinder the delivery of therapies to treat cancer, and may increase the risk of malignancy.

Also, possibly reinforcing ASCO’s stance, a study suggested that upward of a half-million cases of cancer worldwide were related to being overweight or obese, with the overwhelming concentration in North American and Europe (4).

Possible solutions

A potential counterweight to both the reductions in life quality and life expectancy may be the Mediterranean diet. In a published analysis of the Nurses’ Health Study, results show that the Mediterranean diet helped slow shortening of the telomeres (5). Repeat sequences of DNA found at the end of chromosomes, telomeres, shorten with age; the shorter the telomere, the shorter life expectancy.

Thus, the Mediterranean diet may decrease occurrence of chronic diseases, increase life span and decrease premature mortality — hence, the opposite effect of obesity. In fact, it may help treat obesity, though this was not mentioned in the study. Interestingly, the effects of the Mediterranean diet were on a dose-response curve. The greater the adherence to the diet, rated on a scale of 0 to 9, the better the effect. Those who had an increase in adherence by three points saw a corresponding decrease in telomere aging by 4.5 years. There were 4,676 middle-aged women involved in this analysis. The researchers believe that the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects could be responsible for the diet’s effects.

According to an accompanying editorial, no individual component of the diet was identified as having beneficial effects by itself, so it may be the diet as a whole that is important (6).

Short-term solutions

There are easy-to-use distraction tactics that involve physical and mental techniques to reduce food cravings. These include tapping your foot on the floor, staring at a blank wall and, yes, alternating tapping your index finger against your forehead and your ear (7). The forehead and ear tapping was most effective, although probably most embarrassing in public. Among mental techniques, seeing pictures of foods that were unhealthy and focusing on their long-term detriments to health had the most impact (8). All of these short-term distractors were done for 30 seconds at a time. The results showed that in obese patients they indeed decreased food cravings.

Exercise impact

I have written about exercise and that it does not lead to fat percentage loss in adults. Well, before you write off exercise for fat loss, it seems that adolescents may benefit from exercise. In a randomized controlled trial, the gold standard of studies, results show that those in the resistance training group alone and those in a combined resistance and aerobic training group had significantly greater percentages of fat loss compared to a control group (9).

However, the aerobic group alone did not show a significant change in fat percent versus the control. There were 304 study participants, ages 14 to 18, followed for a six-month duration, and results were measured with MRI. The reason that resistance training was effective in reducing fat percentage may have to do with an increase in muscle mass rather than a decrease in actual fat. Still, exercise is important. It doesn’t matter if it decreases the fat percentage; it is still getting you to the goal.

Obesity can have devastating effects, from potentially inducing cancer or worsening it, to shortening life expectancy and substantially decreasing quality of life. Fortunately, there may be ways to help treat obesity with specific lifestyle modifications. The Mediterranean diet as a whole may be an effective step toward decreasing the burden of obesity and reducing its complications. Kids, teenagers specifically, should be encouraged to “Play 60,” as the NFL has encouraged, but also to do some resistance training. As we mentioned, there are simple techniques that may help reduce short-term food cravings.

References: (1) Am J Public Health. 2013;103:1895-1901. (2) The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, online Dec. 5, 2014. (3) J Clin Oncol. 2014;32(31):3568-3574. (4) The Lancet Oncology. online Nov. 26, 2014. (5) BMJ. online Dec. 2, 2014. (6) BMJ 2014;349:g6843. (7) Obesity Week 2014 abstract T-2658-P. (8) Obesity Week 2014 abstract T-3023-OR. (9) JAMA Pediatr. 2014;168(11):1006-1014.

Dr. Dunaief is a speaker, author and local lifestyle medicine physician focusing on the integration of medicine, nutrition, fitness and stress management. For further information, visit www.medicalcompassmd.com or consult your personal physician.

Monarda

By Ellen Barcel

Lemon thyme is a very effective mosquito repellent.

Before the invention of the bug zapper and the mosquito lures, people relied on plants, such as citronella, to keep mosquitoes away. Personally, I hate bug zappers and mosquito lures not only use electricity but have to be emptied of dead bugs.

So, why not return to more natural ways of keeping mosquitoes away? Why not surround your porch, patio or deck with pots of beautiful plants that are known to repel the little buggers? Why not spread them around to keep the yard mosquito free? Many are actually plants you are growing already but need strategic placement to be the most effective. One of the interesting aspects of mosquito control is that many of the plants mosquitoes hate due to their scent are ones people just love. As a bonus, many are hardy in our area; so plant once and they return year after year.

Citronella grass

Citronella grass

Let’s start with citronella. Citronella grass (Cymbopogon nardus and C. winteriannus) is used as an herb in Asian cooking but is best known in our area as a mosquito repellent. Citronella grass forms clumps and can get quite tall, up to 6 feet tall. The plant is a perennial in U.S.D.A. zones 10 to 12 (Long Island is zone 7). So, yes, you would need to replant it each year. Make sure you give this plant sufficient water, possibly daily depending on how much rain we get. Do not confuse this with citronella-scented geraniums or other plants with a citronella scent as they have not been proven to repel mosquitoes. To be effective break off a blade of grass and rub it on your clothing.

Monarda

Monarda

Monarda (bee balm) is in the mint family and native to North America. It is sometimes grown for its flowers, which come in shades of pink, red and purple, but is also an insect repellent. The plant was used medicinally by Native Americans for a number of problems including as an antiseptic and as a seasoning for wild game. But, its scent is what repels mosquitoes. Crush the leaves to release the oil. Like so many flowering plants, it prefers a sunny location and well-drained soil. It does well in acidic soil, generally in the range of 6.0 to 7. If yours is substantially below that, you may need to add lime. It’s hardy in our area and reaches a height of 2 to 3 feet tall.

Marigolds

Marigolds

Marigold is another beautiful plant that repels mosquitoes. Marigolds traditionally come in shades of yellow and orange. When I was a kid, I remember the Burpee seed company having a contest for the first grower who could produce a true white marigold. And yes, the prize was awarded in 1975. ‘Snowdrift,’ ‘Snowman’ and ‘Snowball’ are three of the white cultivars. ‘French Vanilla Hybrid’ has flowers up to 3 inches across.

Marigolds (Tagetes) are in the sunflower family. While native to the Americas, they have become naturalized in many other areas of the world. African and French marigolds are cultivars of the American ones. They don’t have the best scent to humans, but, since mosquitoes hate them and they bloom late spring, summer and into fall, they are well worth planting. They come in a variety of blossom shapes and sizes. Since they bloom about six weeks after germinating, it’s best to start them indoors or buy plants from the nursery. Some gardeners who use companion planting will put marigolds among their veggies to keep insects away.

Lavender

Lavendar

Another beautiful mosquito repellent is lavender. There are approximately four dozen species of flowering plants known as lavender, which are in the mint family — check out the square stems. While used extensively as an ornamental for its beautiful purple flowers, it is also grown for its oils, which are used in a wide variety of scented products, such as soaps, hand creams, perfumes and other cosmetics. One of the nice things about lavender is that it prefers dry, sandy soil. So, for many Long Island gardeners that’s a big plus. Like most herbs, it prefers a sunny location. Besides being a natural mosquito repellent, it can also be used in salad dressings and even baked goods. This one is a definite plus in the garden for many reasons.

Lemon-scented plants

Lemon balm

Lemon-scented plants such as lemon geraniums (Pelargonium crispum), lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus), lemon thyme (Thymus vulgaris × citriodus) and lemon verbena (Aloysia triphylla) are very effective as mosquito repellents as well. Other plants that seem to repel mosquitoes include artemesia, ageratum, cedars, rosemary, catnip (but it does attract cats), garlic, most mints in general, woodruff and basil.

Ellen Barcel is a freelance writer and master gardener. To reach Cornell Cooperative Extension and its Master Gardener program, call 631-727-7850.

Pasta Primavera

By Barbara Beltrami

The daffodils, tulips, dogwoods and azaleas may be the first flowers of spring, but some vegetables are the first tastes of spring. Early peas, spinach, green onions, Swiss chard, asparagus and artichokes are but a few of the sprouts that become the first greens of the season. Although we have become spoiled and accustomed to out-of-season veggies from warmer climates, nothing from the produce department, unless it’s locally grown, compares to the pencil-thin asparagus, fresh peas and other young spring greens available at farmers markets and stands. And what better way to showcase and savor them than with pasta?

Celebrate spring with the following recipes: pasta primavera and spinach pasta with fresh cream, peas, and Gorgonzola.

Pasta Primavera

Pasta Primavera

YIELD: Makes four to six servings

INGREDIENTS:

2 large artichokes (see preparation instructions)*

1 large lemon, halved

½ lb Swiss chard, large stems removed and leaves cut into one-inch strips

1 lb very thin asparagus, tough bottoms removed, tops cut into one-inch pieces

1 lb peas in pods, shelled

1 bunch scallions, very green top parts removed, and remaining parts cut into half-inch slices

1 lb pasta of your choice

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

4 ounces prosciutto or pancetta diced

1 cup chicken or vegetable broth

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ cup chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley

DIRECTIONS: Wash and prepare vegetables. In a large pot, put pasta water on to boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. Place prosciutto or pancetta with oil in medium saucepan over medium heat and sauté for 5 minutes; add the scallions and sauté for 5 minutes more. Drain the artichokes and add them, along with the Swiss chard, asparagus and peas to the pan. Cook, covered, for 30 minutes stirring occasionally, until artichokes are tender. Add broth as more liquid is needed; add salt and pepper. Combine with cooked pasta and sprinkle with parsley. Serve with crusty Italian bread and extra virgin olive oil.

*Trim all the tough outer leaves from the artichokes until the lighter colored inner leaves with large green tips are exposed. Snap off green parts. When leaves have only small green tips, lay artichoke on its side and slice them off. Cut artichoke into quarters and with a small knife, cut out fuzzy, rough choke. Once choke is removed, cut each quarter into thirds. Place the pieces, as you prepare them, in a bowl of cold water with the lemon halves and let sit for half an hour while you slice up other vegetables.

Spinach Pasta with Peas, Gorgonzola Cheese and Cream

Spinach Pasta with Peas, Gorgonzola Cheese
and Cream

YIELD: Makes four servings

INGREDIENTS:

1¼ cup freshly shelled peas

3 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, diced

1 1/3 cup cream

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 lb spinach linguine or fettuccine

½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley

DIRECTIONS: In a small saucepan cook peas in boiling salted water until tender but still bright green. Drain, place in bowl of ice water and set aside. In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat, melt the Gorgonzola, stirring constantly. Stir in cream. Thoroughly drain the peas and add them along with the salt and pepper. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente or barely resistant to the bite. Drain and in a large bowl, combine with sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and parsley. Toss and serve immediately with an arugula and cherry tomato salad with a light oil and vinegar dressing.

By Elof Axel Carlson

There are projects underway to test the feasibility of sequencing every species on Earth (including extinct species where their DNA is still available). The largest of these programs is in China, which is hoping to sequence the 1.5 million known named species of animals, plants and microbes.

Elof Axel Carlson

Phase one will sequence one species from each of 9,000 families (the taxonomic unit above the genus level). The second phase will sample one each of the 200,000 forms of life described as belonging to a genus. Phase three will look at all the species remaining.

It is a daunting amount of work. Think of it this way. There are 6.8 billion telephones on Earth. If you entered every telephone book into one computer site, you would have access to more than 90 percent of all living people.

Looking up a phone number would also give you information on the person’s name, country that person lives in and the home or business address. For perhaps one billion of them who are listed in Yellow Books, it would tell you what they do for a living.

But DNA sequences will do more than identify a species. The sequence of genes and their functions will classify the organism and tell us if it is a plant, animal or microbe, and what it does as a particular species. We would know its anatomy, physiology, metabolism, life cycle, mean life expectancy, where to find it on Earth, what it eats and how it lives.

For humans it would show how we are related to the 7 billion other humans on Earth. It would provide abundant information on how all of us are related in an evolutionary pathway of immense size. The Chinese company, BGI, located in Shenzhen, estimates it will take 10 years and cost about $5 billion to complete the project.

There are six other projects underway around the world. One is seeking to sequence all vertebrates, a second wants to do that for arthropods (mostly insects, spiders and crustaceans), a third is looking at marine invertebrates, a fourth is interested in the world’s ants, a fifth prefers to sequence the world’s birds, and the sixth is seeking to identify all African food crops.

As far as I know, no one is trying to do a genome sequencing of all human beings. The closest to doing that is the country of Iceland, which has asked its citizens to volunteer and give a sample of saliva for DNA sequencing. Half of Iceland’s people have done so. They are mostly descendants of Viking settlers and their DNA studies are immensely helpful for looking at genes involved in human disease risks (such as birth defects, Alzheimer syndrome, cancer, hypertension, risk of late-onset diabetes, heart disease and strokes).

The implications of this effort to gain knowledge of the world’s genomes are numerous. For evolutionary studies they are a remarkable resource. For medical diagnosis they are equally valuable. They will be a gold mine of rich ores for the pharmaceutical industry. Think of all the antibiotics that will be mined from the microbial genome data. Just as there are tens of thousands of projects engineers do for buildings, electronics, infrastructure and transportation so, in the coming decades, will thousands of projects emerge and new fields of science from applications of this immense resource of the all Earth genome project.

Will this also involve bad outcomes of new knowledge? Certainly. We did not abolish engineering because engineers have designed most of the weapons used in war. We did not abolish chemical industries because some of them gave us environmentally toxic or harmful agents like DDT, Agent Orange, gas in World War I or thalidomide. We do not condemn X-ray diagnosis because radiation can induce gene mutations. What we do is regulate our technological innovations.

Think of regulation in industry as something like criminal law in society. We punish those who break laws (embezzlement, theft, assault, rape, slander, robbery, kidnapping, extortion, bribery). Regulation addresses many issues only one of which is misconduct. Similarly, law addresses wrongs, not all of which are criminal (we call that noncriminal law civil law). Some politicians want to do away with regulation of industries.

Is not dumping wastes into rivers a criminal act? Is not choking a city with industrial gases a criminal act? Laws can be changed or even abolished, but loss of human life, damaged health, destruction of ecosystems and putting the brunt of waste disposal on those most vulnerable (the poor) should be regulated.

I am an optimist, not a Pollyanna, about the future of the all Earth genome projects. We need both new knowledge and new regulation.

Elof Axel Carlson is a distinguished teaching professor emeritus in the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Stony Brook University.

Pictured from left, Councilwoman Valerie M. Cartright (D-Port Jefferson Station); Councilwoman Jane Bonner (C-Rocky Point); Councilman Kevin LaValle (R-Selden); Supervisor Ed Romaine (R); Macy’s employees Christine Trent, Kelly Christou and Michelle Young; Town Clerk Donna Lent (R); Councilman Dan Panico (R-Manorville); Councilman Neil Foley (R-Blue Point); Town INTERFACE Coordinator Josephine Lunde; Councilman Michael Loguercio (R-Ridge); and Youth Bureau Executive Assistant Frank Petrignani. Photo from Town of Brookhaven

At the May 11 Town of Brookhaven Board meeting, Councilman Kevin LaValle honored Macy’s at Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove as the Business of the Month for May in Council District 3. The award is given each month to a business deserving special recognition for the positive impact it has on the community.

Recently, Macy’s donated $1,000 in gift cards to the Town of Brookhaven’s Youth Bureau to purchase cosmetics for its Prom Program. In addition to its donation to the town, Macy’s frequently participates in community outreach programs including the Smithtown Food Pantry, Adopt a Family, the American Heart Association, Make-A-Wish Foundation and more. Macy’s also decorates nursing homes for the holidays and provides shopping sprees and makeovers for sick children. Macy’s employs more than 250 local residents at the Lake Grove store.

“We often think of Macy’s as a big national company, but the people who work there are local residents who really care about our community,” said LaValle. “I thank Christine, Kelly and Michelle for their support of our Prom Program and for all they do to make life better for so many people in need.”

Rachel Greenblatt and Bobby Peterson in a scene from 'Saturday Night Fever.' Photo by Peter Lanscombe, Theatre Three Productions Inc.

By Susan Risoli

Theatre Three’s upcoming musical production of “Saturday Night Fever” has all the irresistible energy of the 1977 film, while it turns up the story and character development. Actor Bobby Peterson of Hampton Bays will tackle the role of Tony Manero, a Brooklyn kid who knows we should be dancin’ — and reaching for a dream. Sitting in the theater’s intimate Griswold’s Café during off-hours, 29-year-old Peterson talked about the show and its lasting appeal.

Why should people come to this show?

This production has so much to offer. It has dance. It’s going to be fun and uplifting. It has enticing and entertaining characters. And people will witness a very beautiful story. In the movie, I think, the story gets lost.

Bobby Peterson will star in Theatre Three’s upcoming musical, ‘Saturday Night Fever.’ Photo by Peter Lanscombe, Theatre Three Productions Inc.

How does this version handle the differences between ‘Saturday Night Fever’ as a movie versus the musical?

How do people deal with it when they read the Lord of The Rings books, versus when they see the movies? A book can do things differently than what a movie can do or what a stage play can do. I just try to look at a story that I’m trying to convey. The first thing I look for is, is this version complete, and continuous, and succinct? Does it have well-written dialogue? Does it have good compositions? A lot of that comes from Jeff [Sanzel, Theatre Three executive artistic director], as the director of the show. As an actor and performer, my job is to convey a director’s vision and an author’s vision, to the best of my ability. I think all actors should be humble in that concept. You’re here to act as an instrument to convey the thoughts and concepts of another person, as best you can. I try to put my own work in technique, in the type of voice and the different inflections I’m going to use, in the dancing and singing.

Is it intimidating to play a role that people are so familiar with?

It is an iconic role. I want to put my own spin on it, but I think a lot of people are going to come to the musical having their own ideas about what John Travolta brought to this role. When I talk to people about it, they talk about the impact of Travolta on the dance floor.

What’s the most fun thing for you, about being in the show?

This is one of those classic triple-threat roles and it’s a challenge to me because every step of the way, there is every facet of what musical theatre is. There’s a lot of dancing. And the script is 130 pages long. It’s a huge memory challenge because there are so many little moments that weave in and out of the dancing. The cast is amazing too. I must say, everyone who Jeff has cast is really great for their roles.

What’s the least fun thing?

Probably the drive here from [home in] Hampton Bays!

Tony Manero has so much swagger. How do you convey the vulnerable part of his personality?

An actor can only be as good as the writer. I feel very supported by the writers, and by the piece itself. It has set up and designed scenes for the actors to convey deeper parts, and different sides, of the characters. This rendition has a scene where after Tony wins a dance contest, he has a whole two pages speaking to Stephanie about how it’s not right that he won, because there’s a couple who danced better than him. That’s his epiphany.

Will the audience have fun?

Yes, there’s plenty of that. When numbers like “Stayin’ Alive” and “Disco Inferno” come on, it is full-cast dancing. The choreographer Whitney Stone has done an amazing job making use of the space that we have. She’s designed her choreography very well. And she’s included some of those dance moves that people are going to want to see.

How did you prepare for this role?

For a role this size, I’ll really micromanage myself. I get home as early as I can, and spend the whole next day focusing on making sure that I’ll be good for the next show. Sometimes after rehearsals, I’ll go to the gym because it is a physically taxing role. There’s a lot of lifts with partners. There’s a strong incentive to really muscle-build, to make sure one is strong enough and fit enough to perform. Mentally, I’m always thinking about the script. I’m always reading through lines in my head. And I grew up as a pianist, so I play the accompaniments myself and sing along with them.

Promotional materials for this production say that it features Tony as ‘humble paint store clerk by day, dance king by night.’ Do you think everyone has that duality inside of them?

No, I don’t. Sometimes what people yearn for is a simple life. I don’t think it’s necessarily everybody’s struggle. I don’t think it can be, for the same reason that there can’t be too many cooks in the kitchen. Sometimes we need people to be comfortable in what they do and what they are, to bring balance to everything.

In the sequel to the film, Tony finds success as a professional dancer. But not everyone can succeed so completely, or on that level. Should we still try?

People can find contentment that they did try. But never trying can eat away at your soul forever. If people feel a calling within them, they’re going to be much better off doing something about that.

What else would you like our readers to know about this show?

I’m very excited for people to come and see it, and then to see what their reaction will be. I don’t think people are going to get completely what they’re expecting and I’m very excited to see how people are going to handle that and how they’re going to react.

“Saturday Night Fever” will run from May 20 through June 24 on the Main Stage at Theatre Three, 412 E. Main St., Port Jefferson. Tickets for adults $35; seniors and students $28; children ages 5 to 12 $20. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.theatrethree.com or call 631-928-9100.

Back row, from left, Councilwoman Tracey Edwards (D) and Councilman Mark Cuthbertson (D) pose for a photo with student art contest winners at the Heckscher Museum on May 5. Photo from Town of Huntington

The Town of Huntington, Astoria Bank, the Huntington Arts Council and the Heckscher Museum of Art recognized the winners of the 17th annual Tulip Festival Student Art Contest on Friday, May 5. For the contest, art students were asked to express their views on spring in Huntington and the Annual Tulip Festival using artistic interpretation.

The contest was open to students in grades 3 through 8 in schools within Huntington township. Three winners from each grade level were honored at the event, with the first-prize winner receiving a $50 gift card courtesy of Astoria Bank.

Art teachers also received $50 for each student whose art was chosen as the best of the grade for use in purchasing art supplies, also courtesy of Astoria Bank.

Jennifer Zhu won the Carolyn Fostel Best in Show award, given in honor of the late Carolyn Fostel of Astoria Bank who was instrumental in joining Astoria Bank and the Town of Huntington together as co-sponsors of the Huntington Tulip Festival since its inception in 2001.

The Kennedys will return for their ninth Dylan birthday celebration on May 21. Photo by Jeremy Lebled

By Kevin Redding

The times may be a changin’ but the songs of Bob Dylan continue to be sung. On Sunday, May 21, in celebration of the Nobel Laureate’s 76th birthday, The Long Island Museum, in partnership with WUSB-FM’s Sunday Street Concert Series and the Greater Port Jefferson-Northern Brookhaven Arts Council, will host the 12th annual Dylan tribute concert in the Carriage Museum’s Gillespie Room at 7 p.m.

Several local and outside musicians — including concert staples Pete and Maura Kennedy, whose covers include guitars, sitars and ukuleles, Rod MacDonald of the revered tribute band Big Brass Bed, and Russ Seeger of Levon Helm’s Last Hombres, who will perform Dylan deep tracks like “Foot of Pride” — will strum and sing through decades of material, from 1965’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” to 1997’s “Love Sick.”

Much of the setlist will feature songs from two touchstone albums celebrating anniversaries this year — 1967’s “John Wesley Harding,” Dylan’s return to his acoustic roots after three albums of going electric, turns 50, and 1997’s “Time Out of Mind,” his Grammy-Award-winning comeback album, turns 20.

“Every year the show takes on a different dimension … it’s always different and never stale,” said Charlie Backfish, host of the long-running, weekly Stony Brook University radio program “Sunday Street” from which the series stemmed. “We have unique interpretations of Dylan’s songs and we don’t just do the greatest hits; we really go through the catalog and try to play songs you don’t hear often, making it very different than the usual Dylan tribute show.”

Speaking of deep tracks, Seeger is expected to perform “Foot of Pride,” a song Dylan wrote and recorded in 1983 but never released on an album.

Backfish said he chose Dylan as the focus of the tribute concert because of the singer-songwriter’s incredibly prolific career. “He has been at home in a variety of different musical settings over the years, starting out in a folk direction and moving toward rock and then into a country sound and then in a gospel direction later in his career — he’s moved in fascinating ways, his songs are incredible and it [really] opens up the possibilities of using the lyrics and melodies and taking them in different directions and there’s a lot of room to move with Dylan songs. It’s terribly interesting and it’s quite a rich catalog we have to go with,” he said.

The Sunday Street Series started in 2004 at the University Cafe at Stony Brook University when Backfish put on concerts featuring the singer-songwriters he’d interviewed and played on his radio program. In 2014, he was in need of a different venue to host the concerts and turned to The Long Island Museum, which took it over a year later.

“We were wanting to do a singer-songwriter concert series at the museum when Charlie approached us,” Neil Watson, the museum’s executive director, said. Since Backfish came aboard, the museum has hosted more than 20 concerts featuring an ever-changing roster of artists. “It’s activated our performance space on a regular basis like nothing can. People who would never have come to the museum are now being introduced to it in a different way.”

Watson, who noted “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” as his favorite Dylan song, said he was thrilled to be hosting this particular event.

“This concert series sells out very fast and I think it’s because Dylan’s music has touched so many people for different reasons,” Watson said. “What these musicians do with the material is critical and when you hear their interpretations of his songs, they take on a new life. The [concert] captures the spirit of Bob Dylan. It will be a rollicking good time.”

The Long Island Museum is located at 1200 Route 25A, Stony Brook. Tickets may be purchased in advance at www.sundaystreet.org through Friday, May 19 for $30. If available, tickets may be purchased at the door for $35 (cash only). Please call the museum at 631-751-0066 the day of the show to confirm ticket availability.