SO LONG, FAREWELL, AUF WIEDERSEHEN, GOOD NIGHT

I have come to the realization that I have spread myself too thin with my multiple blogs, tax and otherwise. I have decided to pull the plug on ASK THE TAX PRO and ANYTHING BUT TAXES.

I will occasionally post comments, ramblings and resources on topics from blogging to cats, personal finance, politics, religion, television, theatre, and travel here also – most prominently narratives of my travels and theatre reviews at THE WANDERING TAX PRO.

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I will continue to maintain my THE FLACH REPORT blog for Schedule C filers and the NJ TAX PRACTICE BLOG for tax professionals preparing NJ returns, and will attempt to post to them more often in the future.

TAF!

THE TELEPHONE HOUR

Telephone Scam Alert - Jury Duty Scam!

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I recently received this email scam alert:

”This has been verified by the FBI (their link is also included below). Please pass this on to everyone in your email address book. It is spreading fast so be prepared should you get this call.

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Most of us take those summonses for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty, that a new and ominous kind of fraud has surfaced.

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The caller claims to be a jury coordinator. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Give out any of this information and bingo; your identity was just stolen.

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The fraud has been reported so far in 11 states, including Oklahoma , Illinois , and Colorado . This (swindle) is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the phone to try to bully people into giving information by pretending they are with the court system. The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.”

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Check it out here: http://www.fbi.gov/page2/june06/jury_scams060206.htm and here: http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp

TTYL

SORRY...GRATEFUL

I just heard of the passing of George Furth (see also here).

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Although probably best known as a collaborator of Stephen Sondheim – he wrote the book for Sondheim musicals COMPANY (an all-time favorite of mine – I produced it in Hudson County in 1973), for which he won a Tony and Drama Desk Award (I do seem to recall the COMPANY started out as a series of one-act plays by Furth), and MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG and co-wrote with SS the murder mystery GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER (which I saw during its brief Broadway run) – I remember him best as a character actor from television of the 1960s and early 1970s. He appeared in 85 tv episodes and movies from 1962 through 1998.

I was in the audience of a Broadway show, I do not remember which one, sitting behind two Hollywood legends (one was Jane Powell, but I do not recall the name of the other). During intermission George Furth came over to talk to the ladies.

Furth also wrote the book for Kander and Ebb’s 1977 Liza Minelli vehicle THE ACT and the play TWIGS.

George will live on forever in sitcom reruns.

TTYL

AIN’T BROADWAY GRAND!

This year’s free "Broadway on Broadway" concert, held each year in Times Square to launch the beginning of each Broadway season, has been scheduled for Sunday, September 14th.

This concert gives potential audiences a sneak preview of new musicals, performances from long-running favorites, and special appearances from current Broadway stars.

Co-sponsored by the Broadway League and the Times Square Alliance, "Broadway on Broadway" begins at 11:30am, but you should arrive a couple hours early if you want to get up close to the stage.

The concert is generally broadcast on television – on Channel 4 (NBC) locally I believe.

TTYL

THE TWO GREATEST WORDS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE – MUSICAL COMEDY!

Here is a listing of some of the shows that will be offered by this year’s New York Musical Theatre Festival.

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FYI, the venues selected for the 2008 NYMF musicals include: American Theater of Actors -Chernuchin Theatre (314 W. 54th Street), The Barrow Group Theater (312 W. 36th Street), The 45th Street Theatre (354 W. 45th Street), 37 Arts (450 W. 37th Street), and The Zipper Factory (337 W. 37th Street).

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Bonnie & Clyde

Book by Hunter Foster; Music and Lyrics by Rick Crom

Bonnie & Clyde is a toe-tappin', gun-slingin', cross-dressin' romp through the Depression-era Southwest, where America's most famous criminal duo find themselves runnin’ from J. Edgar Hoover and straight into each other’s arms…as long as they don’t kill each other first.

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The Bubble: A Musical Dot-Comedy

Book by Karen J. Paull, Music by David Pack; Lyrics by Karen J. Paull and David Pack

Welcome to Silicon Valley, circa 1999, a magical place packed with scooter parks, massage parlors…and “options”…in something called…THE DOT COM. Nobody knows what it is but everybody wants a piece, including Matt. Will his greed get the better of him? Or will he flush his future down the toilet to join hottie hippie Harmony’s quest to save the oh-so-rare yellow-bellied hoo-doo?

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College: The Musical

Book, Music and Lyrics by Drew Fornarola & Scott Elmegreen

Endless parties. Skipping classes. Drunken hook-ups. And…um…finding yourself? Welcome to College: The Musical, a slice of contemporary dorm life and one hook-up you WILL remember the next morning.

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The Fancy Boys Follies

Book and Lyrics by David Pevsner, Music by Michael Skloff, Jamie Forsyth, Michael Orland, Mark Hummel, Chris Lavely & David Pevsner

Down and dirty meets brains and heart as five sexy men sing, dance, and strip in this hilarious low-rent gay "Ziegfeld Follies" from one of the creators of "Naked Boys Singing". Filthy...but FABULOUS!!!

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The Hatpin

Book and Lyrics by James Millar, Music by Peter Rutherford

When impoverished single Australian mother Amber Murray finds herself with no choice but to board her ailing son with a kindly rich couple, she unknowingly embarks on a journey that will change the lives of women everywhere. Uncover the grim secret behind The Hatpin in this gut-wrenching musical drama inspired by a true story from the late 19th century.

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Heaven in Your Pocket

Book by Mark Houston, Francis J. Cullinan & Dianne Sposito, Music and Lyrics by Mark Houston

What’s a broad to do when her no-good ex-husband dies and leaves their daughter his run-down Kansas City juke joint in his will? Tap your toes and clap along as you watch the incorrigible Arlene Davis pack the other two members of the “Heavenly Belles” singing trio – her daughter Kay Lee and her best friend Celeste – into the pickup and high-tail it to Kansas City for a fresh start!

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I Come For Love

Book, Music and Lyrics by Terrence Atkins and Jeffery Lyle Segal

A jaded reporter in search of a story. An adorable alien looking for love. A small town diner in need of a waitress. Intergalactic sparks and saucers fly in this screwball comedy that might just turn out to be the story of the century.

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Idaho!

Book and Lyrics by Buddy Sheffield, Music by Buddy Sheffield and Keith Thompson

Whip Masters, Jed Strunk, Slim Johnson, Aunt Pearlie and the rest of the good folks from IDAHO! are rarin’ to introduce you to potato country’s simplest pleasures -- spud-peelin', dancin' and devirginizin’ – in this bawdy new musical that satirizes and pays homage to Broadway’s most beloved classics.

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Max and the Truffle Pig

Book by Suzanne Bradbeer, Music by Bert Draesel and Lyrics by Nancy Leeds, Based on the story by Judith Gwyn Brown

A 9-year-old aspiring chef and his beloved pig Suzette head deep into the French woods in search of the legendary…the elusive…the absolutely positively most delicious of all delicious foods…the truffle. Will they find it in time for the Countess’s royal dinner? The answer lies in this oinkingly delightful new musical based on the book by the author of “The Mask of the Dancing Princess.”

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Play It Cool

Book by Larry Dean Harris and Martin Casella, Lyrics by Mark Winkler, Music by Phillip Swann, with additional musical contributions by David Benoit, Michael Cruz, Marilyn Harris, Robert Kraft, Emilio Palame, Joe Pasquale and Dan Siegel. Directed by Sharon Rosen

It’s 1953 and there’s only one jazz club in town for boys seeking boys and girls seeking girls: Mary’s Hideaway. Welcome to Hollywood, a steamy almost-fairyland where everyone you meet wants to be a star and a few of ‘em might damn well make it…just as long as they PLAY IT COOL.

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She Can’t Believe She Said That!

Book, Music and Lyrics by Matt Prager

The original Kathie Lee-sical. Watch as our plucky heroine converts, cajoles and connives her way through churches, recording studios and one very special long-running talk show to national fame...and international infamy. Take two cups of EVITA, add a gooey pound of cheese and take a big bite of VELVEVITA goodness with this loony satire from one of the writers of SOUTH PARK!

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That Other Woman’s Child

Book, Music and Lyrics by Sherry Landrum & George S. Clinton

When the Hanovers hear their long-lost big city half-sister – “that other woman’s child” – is coming to claim her share of the farm, all heck breaks loose! Little do they know that she’s actually coming to connect with the family she never knew…That Other Woman’s Child is a joyful, bluegrass-laced look at the trials and tribulations of the ties that bind.

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The Road to Ruin

Book, Music and Lyrics by William Zeffiro

Welcome to The Road To Ruin (The 1928 Exploitation Musical)…where sex, bad mommies, worse daddies, bottled water and Christians conspire to bring down Little Sally Canfield, ‘The Nicest Girl at Central High.’

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Villa Diodati

Book by Collette Inez & Mira J. Spektor, Music & Additional Lyrics by Mira J. Spektor, Lyrics by Colette Inez, Additional Lyrics by Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley and William Wordsworth

Switzerland, 1816. Two of literature’s most romantic and haunted couples -- Mary and Percy Bysshe Shelley and their friends Lord Byron and his mistress Claire – spend a summer writing, sailing, telling ghost stories and discovering the joys and tragedies of love in this new chamber musical.

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So far I am thinking of seeing BEDBUGS, COLLEGE: THE MUSICAL, HEAVEN IN YOUR POCKET, I COME FOR LOVE, and THE ROAD TO RUIN.

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TTYL