Comments on: From Skid Row to Disney Hall

From Skid Row to Disney Hall

PenguinBukkake — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 09:13:55 -0800

Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, 54, had been excited about an invitation to see the Los Angeles Philharmonic in action at Disney Hall. "The anticipation is horrible". He'd started showering daily at a shelter, to gussy himself up as much as possible. Nathaniel was a music student more than 30 years ago at the Juilliard School when he suffered a breakdown. Today, as he continues to battle the schizophrenia that landed him on skid row, he plays violin and cello for hours each day in downtown Los Angeles, lifting his instruments out of an orange shopping cart on which he has written: "Little Walt Disney Concert Hall — Beethoven." After the Philharmonic's rehearsal, Ayers has played Disney Hall -- the real one, this time. Without the bow at first, picking the strings with his right hand, Bach's Cello Suite No. 1: Prelude. Several Philharmonic staffers heard the music and wandered over, peering in to see a man of the streets, tattered and elegant, close his eyes and drift into ecstasy.

By: PenguinBukkake

PenguinBukkake — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 09:36:22 -0800

The same story is here

By: seawallrunner

seawallrunner — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 09:44:24 -0800

poignant and beautiful story

By: cybercoitus interruptus

cybercoitus interruptus — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 12:34:55 -0800

Loved this. Thanks.

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 13:39:01 -0800

Thank you!

By: thanotopsis

thanotopsis — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 14:50:13 -0800

I was happy to read this -- and I need about 50 more of these stories to clear my head after the last 3-4 months of news.

By: weretable and the undead chairs

weretable and the undead chairs — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 15:55:47 -0800

Wonderful.

By: gaspode

gaspode — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 16:02:23 -0800

This is very cool. Thanks!

By: amberglow

amberglow — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 19:54:11 -0800

thanks, penguin--can't they give him a job there or something? bring him in somehow?

By: zarah

zarah — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 21:34:16 -0800

Will we ever find a cure or treatment for schizophrenia, how long will it take? It occurs so frequently and steals so much from us.

By: coolgeek

coolgeek — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 22:49:51 -0800

Philly misses Steve Lopez.

By: judlew

judlew — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 02:16:41 -0800

Philly misses Steve Lopez. Yeah, sorry. But in L.A. somedays we just don't know what we'd do without Steve Lopez. You can always go online and read his columns from Lousiana and Mississippi (including the response to the people who chided him for not rescuing the dogs), or his review of Crash, or his interviews last spring with L.A.'s mayoral candidates. He kept me sane through that whole thing. I know he was good in Philly and all. But we NEED him in Los Angeles.

By: matteo

matteo — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 03:53:13 -0800

A sense of place: it took Steve Lopez, a reporter from Philadelphia, to give the `L.A. times' a strong local column

By: I Love Tacos

I Love Tacos — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 10:44:29 -0800

Absolutely fantastic.

By: abcde

abcde — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 17:06:03 -0800

zarah: Modern antipsychotics are actually very good; this guy may be untreated.