{"id":12545,"date":"2026-08-03T19:09:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T02:09:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/?p=12545"},"modified":"2026-08-03T19:09:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T02:09:53","slug":"how-do-you-get-to-carnegie-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/how-do-you-get-to-carnegie-hall\/","title":{"rendered":"HOW DO YOU GET TO CARNEGIE HALL?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes, there\u2019s that\u00a0\u201cpractice, practice, practice\u201d<\/em>\u00a0thing.\u00a0\u00a0But it takes a village to get there.\u00a0\u00a0It takes a village to get anywhere.\u00a0\u00a0A village of one or two, hundreds, thousands\u2026<\/p>\n

Our Zoomers and local CC Strummers all know Tom Kuwata.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019s been strumming his uke and picking the U-bass with us since 2010.\u00a0\u00a0I remember the last song we sang and played together at The Culver City Senior Center before California went on Covid 19 lockdown. These 2020\u2019s have been one communal trauma after another, but we were hopeful and really \u201cfeeling it\u201d as we sang Don\u2019t Worry Be Happy<\/em><\/a>. Then, after the final strum, the last toot on a kazoo, we closed the door on that chapter in our history.<\/p>\n

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But two weeks later The CC Strummers re-grouped and reinvented ourselves on Zoom.\u00a0\u00a0We opened our new virtual doors to everyone, anywhere, who wanted to login and make music with us. Tom brought his grandson Ethan and we fell in love with this kid.\u00a0\u00a0I mean, just look at that smile, and he was strumming and playing fancy stuff on the uke at lightning speed.<\/p>\n

By then Ethan was a veteran performer in his elementary school productions. A triple threat in-the-making:\u00a0\u00a0Singing, dancing, acting. His parents, Tom\u2019s son Todd and Emiko, picked up on this too and wisely enrolled him in The Morgan-Wixon Theater\u2019s Youth\/Education Series<\/a> in Santa Monica.\u00a0\u00a0And just like that, Ethan\u2019s village grew exponentially.\u00a0\u00a0In 2017, he appeared in his first production:\u00a0\u00a0A Winter\u2019s Tale. Grandpa Tom saved all the playbills.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

This interview is gold!<\/strong> \u00a0Ethan talks up the ukulele. We get to meet mom and dad! We get to see this talented teenager on stage. We get to applaud the remarkable village\u2014family, friends, professionals, amateurs at The Morgan-Wixon who are supporting and inspiring each other through interesting<\/em> times. Click Here<\/a> <\/strong>to watch.<\/p>\n

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Ethan attended\u00a0The Academy of Music and Performing Arts (AMPA) at\u00a0Hamilton High Magnet School and performed in their productions. Through it all, several CC Strummers showed up to support his work and his remarkable family.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ethan starred as Willy Wonka in The Morgan-Wixon production of Willy Wonka, Jr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Left to right: Carole (one of our CC Strummers), Craig (my husband), Tom, Ethan and me, after the show.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Later this summer, Ethan begins his sophomore year at the prestigious Bob Cole Conservatory of Music<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0at California State University, Long Beach.\u00a0\u00a0His freshmen year culminated with a performance at\u00a0Carnegie Hall<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0With his musical village. Do you need a few seconds to take that in?<\/p>\n

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We don\u2019t know what the future holds for Ethan.\u00a0\u00a0Or you.\u00a0\u00a0Or me.\u00a0\u00a0But somehow, if we are lucky enough to fall into the arms of a village (of some kind), we can learn the language, we learn to endure, we learn to thrive.<\/p>\n

Ethan is part of my village and I\u2019m rooting for him. I often think about the numberless people whom I have met in my life, who embraced me, in their own unique ways, who brought me joy or cast ominous shadows, who brushed by in seconds or lingered for decades.\u00a0\u00a0They bring me to this moment.\u00a0\u00a0All of them.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s give Ethan and his village a standing ovation\u2026and include ourselves in that celebration!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yes, there\u2019s that\u00a0\u201cpractice, practice, practice\u201d\u00a0thing.\u00a0\u00a0But it takes a village to get there.\u00a0\u00a0It takes a village to get anywhere.\u00a0\u00a0A village of one or two, hundreds, thousands\u2026 Our Zoomers and local CC Strummers all know Tom Kuwata.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019s been strumming his uke and picking the U-bass with us since 2010.\u00a0\u00a0I remember the last song we sang and played together at The Culver City Senior Center before California went on Covid 19 lockdown. These 2020\u2019s have been one communal trauma after another, but we … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[292,293,294],"class_list":["post-12545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogentry","tag-it-takes-a-village","tag-nurturing-young-musical-talent","tag-ukulele-inspiration"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":2,"label":"blog entry"}],"post_tag":[{"value":292,"label":"it takes a village"},{"value":293,"label":"nurturing young musical talent"},{"value":294,"label":"ukulele inspiration"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ethan-Tom-on-Zoom-1024x612.jpeg",1024,612,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Cali Rose","author_link":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/author\/crbauthor\/"},"comment_info":5,"category_info":[{"term_id":2,"name":"blog entry","slug":"blogentry","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":142,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":2,"category_count":142,"category_description":"","cat_name":"blog entry","category_nicename":"blogentry","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":292,"name":"it takes a village","slug":"it-takes-a-village","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":292,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":293,"name":"nurturing young musical talent","slug":"nurturing-young-musical-talent","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":293,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":294,"name":"ukulele inspiration","slug":"ukulele-inspiration","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":294,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12545"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12568,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12545\/revisions\/12568"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}