SEEING THUNDER, HEARING LIGHTOctober 27, 2017

Many men see women as objects of sexual predation. Following recent reports about movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, many women have come forward to relate their experiences. My wife Carolyn will tell hers in a performance she began working on two years ago.

Carolyn will present a cabaret piece, “Seeing Thunder Hearing Light,” on Saturday night, November 4, at the Hotel Rex in San Francisco. Showtime is 8 pm. Doors open at 7. Dinner and drinks are available.

I’ve long witnessed the damage done to Carolyn in her childhood. We’ve been married 48 years. But she’s worked hard to deal with that ordeal. Yet “Seeing Thunder” isn’t about the details of what happened. It’s about how taking up acting in her fifties—she’d been a children’s theater performer after college and a storyteller for three decades—enabled her to confront her demons.

More women than we can imagine struggle to survive, let alone thrive, in a world in which men publicly place women on a pedestal and privately pull them down into the mud. Carolyn has been fortunate to have escaped terrible encounters as an adult. Still, she’s fended off a few unwanted approaches. As an actor who auditions for television and movies in Los Angeles and San Francisco—and has earned several roles—she’s fortunate to have been spared the attentions of Hollywood’s Harvey Weinsteins.

But Carolyn never underestimates the danger lurking for women—not only among strangers but co-workers, acquaintance and even friends. “Many men aren’t aware of what they’re doing,” she says. “The full-body hug, the forceful kiss on the lips, the supposed compliment. These make women cringe.”

Why the medium of cabaret? Carolyn loves to perform. Cabaret also offers a form of therapy, although for several years Carolyn has been seeing a therapist who specializes in trauma. A while back, she scratched an itch by studying singing with the late San Francisco teacher Richard Nickol. She continued with his successor—an outstanding musical theater performer—Mindy Lim. Carolyn learned about cabaret, which mixes songs with patter, and found it fascinating. Moreover, combining her storytelling skills with singing felt natural. Eventually, she began to write her own show.

Carolyn’s performance includes a variety of music tracing the pathway of her life. Some of it includes our relationship. Maybe a lot. I only have an idea since I’m usually upstairs writing while Carolyn’s downstairs working on one song or another.

As important, Carolyn—accompanied by pianist and noted cabaret performer Barry Lloyd—will not only provide lots to think about but also plenty of entertainment.

Sure, this is a plug for my wife. But it’s also another wake-up call. Human trafficking and sex slavery span the globe. In primitive societies—and I use primitive deliberately—old men buy and marry children. In advanced societies like ours, sexual abuse abounds but gets swept under the rug. A Harvey Weinstein, as Carolyn notes, draws our attention for ten minutes. Yet the damage from which women suffer lasts a lifetime.

So, if you’re free November 4, discover why Carolyn came up with the title, “Seeing Thunder, Hearing Light.” And find out how she fights back one day—and one acting or singing class—at a time.

“Seeing Thunder, Hearing Light” takes place through Society Cabaret. Dynamic ticket prices keep rising, so order now: online, or at 415.857.1896.

Carolyn will donate her share of the proceeds to the North Bay fire-relief efforts of:

— Redwood Credit Union

— Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, The Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties

— Jewish Family and Children’s Services of San Francisco, The Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties

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