Issue April 10, 2014 - April 16, 2014

briefs Metro ruling

slams BHUSD Page 3

briefs Acura and O’Gara Coach as

potential 8767 Wilshire tenants Page 4

Former students and

friends share how

the legendary choral

teacher has influenced

them

Pages 6 - 7

Triple Threat

briefs Planning Commission moves forward

plans for Condos on Burton Way Page 4

From Beverly High to Broadway, the Weiss triplets

discuss their upcoming Temple Emanuel show

April 10-April 16, 2014 Page 9

creators of the company. Then I left there

to run development for Craig Zadan and

Neil Meron, [who produced “Chicago” the

movie, “Smash” on NBC, and others].

While I was there [I thought,] “Am I

really meant to be doing [this]?” I quit and

left the entertainment industry and went on

an inward journey for about a year that led

me to creating my [life] coaching practice

that I’ve been doing for three years.

Two of my sisters who are in the Jewish

clergy as very clearly established spiri-

tual leaders, and our older brother [Scott

Hausman Weiss] is a Rabbi. I feel like I do

the same work, just without the [religious]

title.

Your mother Marilyn Weiss was a

former Design Review Commissioner

and your father Mark is a retired

podiatrist. Tell us what they’re up to

now.

Sara

Our parents moved about two and a half

years ago. My dad retired and they moved

up to Walnut Creek, California where they

have several friends and family [who] live

there.

My dad recently just got involved in a

kid’s shoe company called, “Plae,” and he

[does] consultant work to make sure that

the shoes are great quality. He’s the guy

they go to with any issues with feet.

Lizzie

And the issue is creating shoes for chil-

dren’s feet.

Sara

That are durable and comfortable.

Lizzie

And appropriate for a kid’s soft bone.

Sara

Our mom is the Vice Chair of the Walnut

Creek Design Review Commission, so

they’re both still continuing what they did

before in a much less capacity. They’re

traveling a lot and visiting all of us, because

we’re all over the country, but I think

they’re enjoying themselves.

Tell us about “A Triple Threat,” your

concert at Temple Emanuel on April 20.

Lizzie

Sara has a student pulpit in Temple Rodef

Shalom in Falls Church, Virginia. It’s a

huge congregation and they do a concert

series every year. They knew that I was also

studying to be a Cantor and approached

Sara [in November] and said, “What do

you think about doing a cabaret here with

your sister?” Sara said, “Of course!” and all

of sudden Sara got a call that said, “Wait a

second, do you think your brother would

want to do it too?”

Ryan

The three of us, when we sing together

the result is so much more than the sum

of its parts. I have my talent, Lizzie has

hers, Sara has hers, but when the three of

us come together it’s like there’s a whole

other energy there that’s unjustifiable that

moves through us. I think our intention is

to remind people that all of us have access

to the same talent, that we’re not special in

our talent. A lot of the music that we share,

whether it’s a musical theatre song or a pop

song or something that’s from an ancient

wisdom tradition, is the concert. But the

content is fizzing in the entire presence of

what happens when we allow the creative

genius to move through us.

Lizzie

We have not performed together since

high school. The three of us performed

[“A New World,’ written by Jason Robert

Brown] with Joel Pressman at the last win-

ter concert of high school and also at my

sister’s senior recital for Miami, and we’re

also doing it at this concert.

This concert is more than [a] cliché

Broadway cabaret. Our goal is to take these

people on a musical and spiritual journey.

It’s really a culmination of the last 29

years of our lives. We’re not saying that

we’re successfully developed human beings

yet, but everything we’ve learned really is

poured into this concert and I think all of

us have developed our own ideas about

religion. For me [what I love is] the com-

munity Judaism has to offer and to see a

united voice that people can come together,

pray for good, [and] to be able to change the

way we look at things.

Beverly Hills is really a community. It

really shaped us as who we are, and the

people that we were exposed to who are

the most philanthropic but also just normal

people.

The Weiss triplets will be performing at

Temple Emanuel on April 20 at 5:00 p.m.

Go to www.tebh.org to purchase tickets

for $15.

school. I was very split on this issue at

first, and before molding any final opinion

I made sure to have all the facts, including

those presented by Dr. [Brian] Goldberg in

his “Goldberg Perspective” newsletters. At

first, Dr. Goldberg’s arguments are very

compelling. Our school will become more

competitive, more kids will go to four year

universities, and Beverly High will rise in

status. However, Dr. Goldberg also sug-

gests in the same post that students who

fail to meet these requirements, or students

who don’t have the same enthusiasm as

top students, can simply be transferred to

Moreno, a continuation school for students

who don’t succeed at Beverly High.

This approach to education poses many

challenges. First, our district will need to

invest more money in Moreno to accom-

modate these new students. Dr. Goldberg

acknowledged this in his post, without

elaborating on where the money will come

from. Second, this approach gives the

impression that Beverly High wants only

to help its top students while leaving

everyone else in the dust. Third, students

who feel pressured by these requirements

to take challenging courses they are not

prepared for serve only to slow down these

classes and force teachers to teach down

to their level, hurting those top students

that this policy was intended to promote.

Ironically, this lowers our standards rather

than raising them. I have seen this firsthand

in my more challenging courses and it’s

obvious that nobody wants to feel alien-

ated in a class they don’t belong in or that

they aren’t prepared for. The students who

would take A-G regardless of the require-

ment will continue to do so, while the rest

shouldn’t be forced to, nor should they be

punished for not wanting to. Every student

has different needs, and a district with

resources like ours should be able to cater

to all of its students. Therefore, while

making A-G mandatory would seem to

promote Beverly High and make it a more

competitive school, in actuality this policy

serves only to divide our students while

dragging down the top and keeping the

bottom where it is.

Another one of my concerns is the pay

of our teachers. I, like most residents in

Beverly Hills, assumed that our teachers

get paid the best, the same way that our

police and firemen do. However, the last

board meeting revealed to me that our

district is not very competitive in its pay

at all. After minimal research, I learned

that our district pays its employees salaries

that are comparable to districts with far

fewer resources, but with more disciplined

fiscal management. In fact, the scope of

the fiscal mismanagement within our dis-

trict is terrifying. Beverly High is blessed

with some of the best teachers in the

whole country, and the fact that they are

not properly compensated for their public

service serves to show that this board is

either unaware, or that it simply doesn’t

care. As a student, I could easily tell you

which teachers shouldn’t be teaching at our

school. However, our boards’ approach to

dealing with these teachers is wrong in that

all teachers are punished for problems had

with a few. This practice kills morale and

this is an embarrassment for us. At the start

of last year we had to negotiate with the

city for a multimillion dollar donation just

to maintain the status quo and now we’ve

just blown millions on new security, when

our old security was more than adequate.

At the same time, our district’s executives

receive bloated salaries that are grossly

out of proportion with the salaries of other

employees and with what is reasonable for

their work. Now with a ten million dollar

endowment, I hope that our district will

make the right choice. Some of our oldest

and finest teachers are retiring. The next

generation of exceptional teachers won’t

be coming here. They’ll be going where

they get paid for their work, and the qual-

ity of instruction in our school will slowly

decline. Our school will be less competi-

tive as a result, and our district, the gem of

Beverly Hills that makes our community

what it is, will not be the same. This, in

turn, devalues our whole community. The

reason Beverly Hills is so prestigious and

that property values are so high is that par-

ents want their kids to go to school here.

Please don’t let our schools go to waste.

I feel that our board has taken the quality

of instruction at Beverly High, which has

been consistently strong for decades, for

granted.

When reading that same blog by Dr.

Goldberg I referred to earlier, I noticed

that there seems to be conflict between our

Board and staff, including administration,

counselors, and teachers. Dr. Goldberg

says that any deviation from board poli-

cies is insubordination and then goes on to

imply that this insubordination could put

someone’s employment at risk. I agree that

it is the board’s responsibility to set policy,

but to micromanage and to blatantly dis-

regard the opinions of our educational

professionals is a perversion of the system

that will ultimately fail. Nobody should

be fired for having the audacity to think

differently than the board. This type of

arrogance serves only to disrupt the flow of

healthy debate, and without healthy debate

the exchange of ideas stops out of fear of

retribution and retaliation. Everyone loses

steam, especially our educators, when they

feel their opinions have no value and that

they are expendable. This ultimately hurts

students like me, who then feel it is their

responsibility to personally reach out and

voice their concerns.

I hope that in the future, the board dis-

continues its pursuit of aggressive politics

and weighs all perspectives when making

decisions. It is easy for me to understand

why the board oftentimes acts with over-

confidence and too much determination.

After all, it was chosen by the people and

their election serves only to show that the

community supports them. However, very

few people actually vote or know about the

happenings in our district. While a fraction

of our community actually comes out and

votes, the silent and dormant majority is

unaware of our board’s mismanagement

and feels no need to stay educated nor to

vote anybody out of office or into office.

I genuinely hope that the disconnect from

most of our community does not put any

board member under the mistaken impres-

sion that he or she has a free hand to do as

he or she pleases, and I urge our commu-

nity to stay informed and vote.

I do not want the board to think its

accomplishments have gone unnoticed.

I commend Dr. Goldberg on making the

PSAT a mandatory exam for juniors and

I congratulate the board on a successful

transfer to basic aid. Your students are

grateful for the courage you have shown

in resisting the subway under our school.

Furthermore, I appreciate everything that

the board does to maintain transparency

and to keep its community informed. Keep

writing, keep posting, and keep filming.

I hope that more people feel the need to

learn about our community. Only then can

the public stay involved, share its opinions,

and hold its leaders accountable. After all,

that’s the beauty in democracy.

Amir Kashfi

Beverly Hills

letters cont. from page 3

Page 8 Beverly Hills Weekly

coverstory

TRIPLE THREATHow did all of you get started with

singing?

Lizzie

I don’t think there was ever a moment

where singing [or performing] wasn’t a part

of our lives in some way. A big factor was

that we were sung to sleep every night.

Ryan

We [have] two older siblings as well,

there are five of us. Our parents were worn

thin a little so it was like whoever could

grab the kid, get it done, and put them to

sleep. Our sister [Allison Bluestein] had

a beautiful voice, [and] our [Gramma]

Micki [Klein] would sing, “A Bushel and

a Peck,” [from “Guys and Dolls”] for us to

go to sleep, and she [had] a beautiful, sweet

voice. Our parents would [sing] as well.

[Our] careers as singers is quite the

conundrum. People ask us, “Where did that

come from? It must be genetic.” We always

joke that our parents think that we got our

talent from them, but if you really hear

them sing I beg to differ. They can maybe

carry a tune.

Lizze

[Our] mom’s an interior designer and our

dad’s a podiatrist. They’ve definitely had

very different lives than the three of us.

Sara

It’s interesting because we’re coming full

circle from where we got our real introduc-

tion to performing and singing by being

a part of our synagogue. All of us were

involved in an intergenerational produc-

tion with our parents, our grandparents,

[and] Lizzie, [Ryan,] and I sang in [Temple

Emanuel’s] choir. I think that was really

where it started.

Lizzie

We were very lucky that our parents

brought us up with no boundaries. We

[were] all encouraged to push ourselves to

not be average [and] to use the God given

skills. Whether it was singing or producing,

these skills were encouraged from a very

young age.

Cantor Yonah Kliger at Temple Emanuel

truly empowered us. Whatever opportunity

it was in our life, he gave us responsibility

and it made us have to grow in our ability to

sing at Temple [Emanuel] and our ability to

be spiritual leaders at a younger age.

Sara

[Rabbi Laura Geller, Rabbi Jonathan

Aaron, and Cantor Yonah Kliger] were

really instrumental parts, especially for

Lizzie and I, [to decide] what we’re doing

to become clergy.

As 2003 graduates, you all were active

in Beverly High’s performing arts

program. What influences did the late

Joel Pressman have on each of you?

Ryan

Mr. Pressman was remarkable. I think

everyone has a different relationship with

him and, to honor his

spirit, he wasn’t an

easy man to get along

with. When you’re in

high school, that’s a

difficult thing to come

up against. The dif-

ficult people are the

people who create

within us the desire,

the strive, or the will

to be brilliant. Mr.

Pressman always had

high expectations of

us. We all had prob-

lems with that at the time, but that certainly

gave me an insight on what it takes to go

out into the world and create a profession

within an industry of entertainment which

is miraculously impossible in a way.

The training that I got from him, the way

he expected us to be perfect, whether it

was to have perfect pitch, to be perfect at

sight reading, to be a thriving member of

the community at Beverly within the choir

and [the] Madrigals, his expectations really

taught me a lot about what I was going to

experience when I went out into the world.

I did not like him for it at the time, but

looking back, I have really great apprecia-

tion for it.

Sara

He was really good at lighting a fire

under you and pushing you. At the time it

felt [like], “Uh, God, why is he being so

mean to me?” Looking back, he’s the one

person that established those expectations

from us. It strove us to be the best that we

could be and to do the best that we could.

We’ve all had very different paths in terms

of performing and where it’s taken us, but

I think that [it was this motivation that you

just had to keep going.]

When he passed away, I think we all felt

it. It was this light, and it didn’t matter if

you hadn’t talked to him in years. You knew

that he [wanted] to know what was going on

and the fact that Lizzie and I are becoming

Cantors, I think was really special to him

as well.

Lizzie

I think it was in the video celebrating

him, they talked about one of the highlights

of his career was [about] 17 years ago at

Lincoln Center when the judges said to him,

“high school students aren’t supposed to be

so musical, they’re not supposed to be so

vulnerable in their singing.” We were a part

of that group that was singing. That trip was

very unique because all three of us got into

Madrigals when we were in tenth grade;

the majority of [the Madrigal Singers] were

in eleventh and twelfth grade. So in tenth

grade the three of us went to New York

City and saw our first Broadway show.

None of us had ever been and Mr. Pressman

[pushed] for this trip that gave us all that

itch to want to be on Broadway. I think that

he also trusted his students and gave us a

different type of freedom [that] most teach-

ers wouldn’t allow 15 and 16 year olds at

that time. He really encouraged his students

to grow not just as singers, but as good

people. He knew the value that those expe-

riences would have on

us maturing.

Ryan

I was a dancer,

[and] Janet Roston

used to run Dance

Company [where] we

got to put on dance

programs that brought

in world-renowned

choreographers to

work with us and we

got to choreograph on

our own. From that

experience, she taught me so much.

If we were facing a challenge while we

were creating a piece she would always say,

“Remember Ryan, dance is malleable, you

can change anything.” My life now is com-

mitted to helping people remember that.

She is someone who gave us full range to be

as creative as possible. There weren’t a lot

of, “no’s.” There were a lot of, “Yah, that’s

your idea?” and then help you to create that.

People who talked about their high school

experiences go, “Ugh, I hated school, I

don’t understand how we went through high

school.” I think back to high school, and

about how much I loved my experience at

Beverly [High] and that was truly because

of the performing arts department. It let us

seasonally work, explore what we want to

do to get creative, get our hands dirty, mess

up, and thrive. Jane was a big part of that

for me.

Lizzie

[Drama teacher Herb] Hall, who is retir-

ing this year, used to say to me, “Lizzie!

Are you going to perform or are you just

going to sing?” [He kept] challenging me

that you can’t just rely on God’s given voice

in this world. In addition, [Former drama

teacher] Katie Grant Shalin who means

so much to us, directed the three of us in,

“Once on This Island,” in eleventh grade

where we played three out of the four Gods.

She challenged us in our acting abilities to

a great degree.

Tell us more about what you do now.

Lizzie

I went to [the University of California]

Irvine, graduated in two years and a quarter

[and then] moved to New York. Within a

few months I was cast [as Martha Cox] in

the world premiere of [Disney’s ] “High

School Musical.” I was on the Broadway’s

national tour of “High School Musical” for

about three years [and] then I did “High

School Musical II.” Then I moved back to

L.A. to have a breather and I had been doing

High Holiday services at Temple Emanuel

for many years. One thing led to another

and I decided that I would start Cantorial

School. Sara and I are both being ordained

as Cantors in May 2015 although we’re

both at two different schools; I’m at [the]

Academy for Jewish Religion of California.

Sara

While I was in college I started with musi-

cal theatre and then I transferred into the

music business and entertainment industries

major, and got a Bachelor’s in music. It was

all about the inner workings of the music

industry in every different place [such as]

form, vocal[s], instrumental[s], down to

accounting, and I loved it. I also thankfully

established myself as a performer at Miami

and was able to continue to perform in all

the main stage productions.

I moved to New York. I was audition-

ing [and] started working at Ellen Stardust

Diner, which is a big diner that has singing

wait staff. I always say that I did end up on

Broadway, but the street, not in a show. The

restaurant was on Broadway.

After that my then boyfriend now hus-

band, [and I] moved back to Los Angeles

and [I] decided that I wanted to become a

Cantor and took a couple years to prepare

for school. Now [I] will be going into my

fifth and last year at Hebrew Union College

– Jewish Institute of Religion in New York

City.

Ryan

I went to [the College-Conservatory of

Music] at the University of Cincinnati [with

a musical theatre major]. I left my sopho-

more year to do the musical, “Wicked,” and

I performed in that for [four] years, one year

in Chicago and three years in New York.

I loved choreographing [and] I loved

being behind the stage so I moved to L.A.

because I thought I [was] going to produce.

I worked at a company that was at the time

called Endeavor, which is a talent and

literary agency that now is WME [which]

merged with William Morris while I was

there.

After a couple months of working there,

I worked for [Adam Venit], one of the

“The difficult people

are the people who

create within us the

desire, the strive,

or the will to be

brilliant.”

- Ryan Weiss