DL Opinion columns, Music, theater, TV, dance

‘Gimme a Break’ and get along with Music –  by Deborah Levine

originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Can we bring diverse folks together in these crazy times? It seems like an impossible dream, one that requires an incredible amount of research, work, time and energy. Yes, I did create a neuroscience-based process years ago called the Matrix Model Management System. And it’s a been a great success for team building. But something simpler and faster is needed these days. What might that be?

I discovered an amazing answer to that question when grocery shopping. I was standing by the candy section, not far from two salesmen whom I’d seen there often. They were discussing sales issues when I realized that I was in front of the KitKat section. I turned to them and asked if they knew the song to the Kit Kat commercial. They grinned like twins although one was African American, the other was country-style White. Together they started to sing and dance to the “Gimme a Break” music from the 1986 KitKat ad. And I joined in. 

How could I not! The music was composed by my cousin Michael A. Levine 40 years ago and its embedded deep inside me. And Michael’s career has always fascinated me. He’s used his exceptional talent in the decades since KitKat in ways that are greatly creative and incredibly diverse. He collaborated with Roberta Flack on the song “Running,” an Oscar-shortlisted track from the documentary 3100: Run and Become. He worked with Jerry Bruckheimer/CBS dramas Cold Case and Close to Home. Michael scored the Lego DC  Supergirls film, Brain Drain, the theme song (Go Tell Aunt Rhody/Everybody’s Dead) for Resident Evil VII, and the theme for Scrat, the sabertooth squirrel featured in the Ice Age shorts. 

We shouldn’t be surprised that Michael served twice as Governor of the Television Academy (Emmys) Music peer group. After all, he’s written screenplays, produced a science-fiction film, and provided music and played violin for The Simpsons Movie and Batman: The Dark Knight. And these are just a small part of his professional expertise. 

Fortunately, ego is not Michael’s thing. He’s dedicated to giving others recognition: arranging for the admission of Music Supervisors to the Academy, helping secure an Emmy award for them, and increasing the diversity of the membership. What makes him so passionate about collaborating with diverse folks, creating diverse genres and performing for diverse audiences?

“Since the beginning of time there has been nothing that bridges cultures and brings people together quite like music. It can be used to relax us or to inspire us to move and dance. In the past few decades neuroscientists have delved deeper into understanding the brain and its association with music…” 

Yes, deep understanding of our brains and the brains of others different from ourselves can definitely bring us together. Michael has demonstrated that so often. He scored Extraordinary Character, a documentary about an autistic theater group. And he welcomed home paralympians from Tokyo, performing a piece that he wrote called Switch.

And then there’s his collaboration with Marcelle Abela to produce RITA’S SONG, a true story of our cousin who, in his seventies, courageously transitioned from male to female after decades of concealing her authentic self. The music and imagery carry the emotional weight of a lifetime of hidden truth giving way to freedom. The music video is a film festival winner, making the transgender issue become even more understandable, and diminishing the common hateful response.

Music and the related arts can truly help broaden our brains’ neurons so that we can connect in new ways. We’ll get along despite today’s divisiveness. It’s time to make a diverse playlist and get beautifully transformed.      

Editor-in-Chief
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