Dear Reader

Hola, my friends, and happy summering to you all.
I have officially returned from my travels for a bit now, and have re-entered the theatrical world. My friend Teresa talked me into auditioning with her for a staged reading of Pirandello's "Six Characters in Search of an Author". And guess what? We were both cast! Teresa as the step-daughter and myself as the manager/director.
Today was the first read-through with the cast. This should be rather intersting - we only have five rehearsals; and will perform with only suggestive costumes, minimal blocking, on book, and on the set of their current full production. Aside from being a new experience for me as an actor, I get to do it with cher Teresa (always a delight!).
For those of you in town, the show is August 9 and 10, 7:30pm, at the Stage Right Theater Company (the dates listed on their website are incorrect - it is indeed the 9th and 10th).
Au revoir!

Can You Picture That?

Here are some photos from my recent trips....

Statues and Stories

Bonjour my friends!

I apologize for the delay in posting. I have been traveling, traveling, traveling!
For example:
Currently I am in Grand Junction.
Yesterday, I was in Baltimore, Maryland.
The day before, I was in Chincoteague, VA.
Three days before that, I was in Washington, DC.
A week before that, I was in Grand Junction.
A week before that, I was in Newport Beach, CA.

It has been delightful! A family reunion at the Pacific Ocean, and visiting with two dear friends near the Atlantic Ocean. I will tell you this: The Atlantic Ocean is indeed warmer.

Places of interest I have been recently:
Disneyland
Disney's California Adventure
Ikea (CA)
Universal Studios Hollywood
Arches National Park
Mount Vernon
The National Archives
The Mall in DC on the 4th of July (fireworks, baby!)
Lexington Market
The Kennedy Center
The National Gallery of Art
The Museum of American History
Ikea (MD)
The Folger Shakespeare Library
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The National Catherdral
Delaware
Chincoteague, VA
Assoteague Island
The Washington, DC LDS Temple
and various airports.

I have been having a grand time, actually. I am not ready for school yet, so thank goodness I still have a few weeks. I did, however, have my students in mind on these trips. I got some materials for my classes at some of the museums in DC, and I am saving up some good stories to share with them about what I did on my summer vacation (including 1) goin' shootin' and 2) goin' clammin').

I will post some photos from these adventures at some point in time.
Till then, mon amis, bon vacance!

Why We Like Spelling

Greetings to you from a relaxed being!
I am indeed on summer break - a wonderful feeling. And there is oh, so much to talk about! I shall try to cover all without too much rambling.
1) End of the school year.
I am actually a little sad about this year being over. I will certainly miss my Advanced Drama class. They were very sweet and rather sappy towards the end. I ordered various scripts to give to each of them as a "Thank you and good-bye" gift, which we did in a mock-graducation ceremony. I especially missed my classes last night as I watched the Tonys, as I remembered I would not be able to discuss the awards in school the next day. I think sleeping in until 10 for the past few days has tempered my sorrow, though. :)
2) Announcing the musical for next year.
We did indeed make the announcement. I think the kids are excited, too. Their reservations are coming mostly from having no knowledge of "Once on this Island", which is certainly understandable. They do have the summer, though, to do some research on it. I should be getting the materials for the show in the mail in the next few weeks, as well, so when school starts up again, I will make some of those scripts available to be checked out by the students. Since I began teaching, I have been trying the improve on what my professors called "transparency". I am certainly more open and forthcoming about this whole process than any of the directors I've worked with. For good or for ill, I am not sure.
3) Summer schedules
Since school has gotten out, I have relaxed into a delightful summer schedule. It won't last for too long, since I begin my travels in two days, but for now I am enjoying it. For example, here's what I've done today:
7:10 - Woke up, panicked that I was late.
7:11 - Realized I am not late, went back to sleep.
8:30 - Woke up with the cat sniffing my lips. Shoved her off, listened to the rainstorm pounding outside, smiled at that, and went back to sleep.
10:00 - Woke up, got up, and examined the cold sore that seems to be developing above my eye.
10:10 - Booted up computers to continue my current project: transferring my iTunes music files from my old computer to my new computer.
10:30 - Showered, made a bagel for breakfast (made with cream cheese, lox, and tomatoes - just what I've been craving since New York!).
11:00 - Left to drop off a copy of Tom's latest draft to him (I'll explain about that in a later post, if you don't know what I'm talking about).
11:30 - Drove to Gateway Mall in search of "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" and "Light in the Piazza" CDs.
12:30 - Checked Barnes and Noble and Virgin Megastore, with no luck. Both stores had sales people who expressed surprise that they were sold out of those CDs. I refrain from informing them in a haughty manner of the Tony results last night (of COURSE they'd be sold out! You probably only ordered 3 copies! Bah!)
12:45 - Called around town, found another Barnes and Noble with both CDs in stock, put them on hold.
1:30 - Went to see "Dear Frankie" at Trolley Square - a delightful movie!
3:30 - Drove to other BN to get the CDs.
4:30 - Home now, typing this post.
Plans for later: Make a carrot cake, listen to my new CDs, continue transfer project, and discuss the Tony awards with Jason.
Not a bad life, now, is it?
I have really indulged in media since school got out. Since last Thursday (which was the last day), I have watched 6 movies (Spiderman 1 and 2, Fear and Trembling, Kinsey, Frida, and Dear Frankie), bought 8 books, and read 2 novels ("Eragon" and "Inkheart", currently reading "The Golden Compass"). Don't worry, though. I don't plan on keeping this lifestyle up. I'd go broke rather quickly if I did.

This is getting to be a long post, but I cannot neglect the Tony Awards. So -
4) The Tonys
I crave theater. I really do. It's so barren here. I want to be in New York, seeing all of these shows, and more! I am thrilled that we did go in April, so "Spamalot" was a lot more meaningful, but oh! I want to see more!
My thoughts
- I was surprised at how distributed the awards were among the nominees. I had expected "Spamalot" or "Putnam County" to sweep all of thier catagories.
- I did not like the choice of song for "Spamalot". It was fine, but there are better numbers in the show.
- I loved "Putnam County"! That show is now second on my list for "Must See ASAP".
- The "Sweet Charity" number was disappointing. Christina Applegate cannot sing, although that's not really a surprise. She can, however, take a joke. :)
- I liked the "Light in the Piazza" number more than I expected, which is why I bought the CD today. I am curious to learn more about it.
- I wonder if Sarah Ramirez will change the lyrics of her Diva song at tomorrow's performance of "Spamalot" - specifically the line "I've no Tony awards".
- I also like my dad's version of "Find Your Grail" for her - "Find Your Bra".
- It's wonderful to see people who are really grateful to be doing what they do - that seemed to be a theme in the speeches.
- I also loved how both Norbert Leo Butz and Dan Fogler proved that being different can get you places ("...with this hair!"). I think I'll use their clips as discussion points in Drama next year.

I will give you more thoughts later, but for now I better post. If you want a list of the winners, go here or to the New York Times here
Happy Summering!

Natasha modeling her new collar (reflective AND noisy!), as well as her new mouse toy.

Nash playing with her new mouse toy.

Happiness!

I found my kitty!
It involved sweeping the parking lot with a flashlight, spending 5 minutes trying to coax her to my reach, hoping a fence, then (even more interesting) hoping back over a fence while holding a cat with one arm as she clung to me, claws in my chest.
But she's back!
And, believe me, all of my windows are shut.

Yea!

With Cat-Like Tread

An update:
No Natasha yet, although late last night there was a development. Just as I was about to go to bed, a neighbor knocked on my door. She told me she had just seen my cat, and her husband was watching her as we speak. I threw on some clothes, and dashed outside. By then, Nash (if it was her) had slipped away, though, for she had disappeared. It surprised the husband, who was dilligently watching the car she ran under, but I was not surprised. Remember, this cat is an expert at avoiding people.
As I walked back to my apartment to get a flashlight, I did see a furry shape dash across the parking lot into the bushes near to the construction site next door. I searched the bushes, but to no avail. I retired a half-hour later, with thorny hands but higher hopes. My wonderful neighbors said that other people in the complex had seen her earlier in the week as well.
I am feeling much more optimistic, so I am sticking with the idea that it was her. This means a) she is alive and b) she is very close. Much better than my worried imagination scenarios.

It made me happy enough to forgoe canvassing the nearby animal shelters this afternoon in favor of high tea with Janelle and her friends. It was a last hurrah before her wedding this weekend, and it was delightful. Yes, I was dressed in a black pageboy wig, black clothes, and heavy black eyeliner (today was my annual poetry reading session in my English classes), while the others were in British lady's clothes. I donned my beret, and joined them with a set of gloves and was pronounced the French friend that rounded out their British trio.
Tea was served at the Grand America hotel downtown. It was delicious, elegant, and rather European.

I shall go out again at sunset tonight to search again. Here's hoping!

O, Men of Dark and Dismal Fate

Alas! My dear cat is missing!
I discovered late Sunday night that Natasha had escaped the apartment through a loose screen window in my library. Andy and I have searched the surrounding areas, but to no avail. She is, we have learned before, an expert at hiding.
I am quite sad. I miss my kitty and I worry about her. I believe I will have to leave it up to the kindness of strangers, as it were, in the hopes that she gets sent to Animal Control.
I don't know what else to do, which I hate. Living in an apartment makes it seem more unlikely that she'd find her way home. After all, what she knows of the building is what she's seen through a transport cage and what she saw as she leaped from my second story window.

<>


I am trying to perk up with the anticipation of the end of the school year, the excitement of announcing our choice for next year's play (we'll tell everyone at the farewell assembly on Friday), and general summertime mirth. Unfortunately, I just miss my cat.

Mambo!

Two and a half weeks of school left!

The year is winding down, and boy do we all feel it. It's strange, actually, to think of how few classes I have left, particularly with the block schedule. I believe I only have about 4 more class periods with my Advanced Drama class, which I am rather sad about. They're my favorite class, after all. And, boy, are they marvelous right now. I wish I had another year for them so I can enjoy all they've learned. As one of our final activities, we went to see "West Side Story" at the PTC. Great set design, horrible directorial decisions. The worst? An addition of a little blond kid, dressed in white. He sang a solo during the ballet sequence, which was fine, but then the ending! Maria trails off stage after Tony's body and the various gang members, leaving the gun in a spotlight down center. I can deal with them ignoring the stage direction that the adults remain on stage "helpless". However, this production ended not with the gun, but with the little boy appearing again, walking to the gun, looking mournfully down at it, then out appealingly at the audience.
ugh! Awful! I now refer to this as the "crying Indian" ending - it smacked of the sentimentality of the 1970's anti-litter commercial.
The happiness was that my students were just as critical as me! We had a great discussion on the bus ride home. I have taught my students well.
That discussion redeems my students from an earlier one in the week. In reviewing for this show, I was quizzing them on the creators. I asked them who wrote the lyrics for it. They didn't know. I said it was the same man who later wrote "Assassins", "Sunday in the Park with George", "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", and "Into the Woods". One of them ventured a guess - "Andrew Lloyd Webber?"
I gave him a withering look and informed him that he could burn in theater hell for making that mistake. (They laughed.)

Other happy theater news - the Tony nominations were announced Tuesday. And we picked out musical for next year!
But I can't tell you what it is here. I know a few of my students read my blog, and we're keeping it a secret until our school's farewell assembly in two weeks. I am excited about it, though!

Au revoir mes amis!

Hey There

Well, I'm back from NYC, and my theatre addiction is somewhat mollified.

Our trip was fantastic! Dad scored us a fabulous hotel room that was literally on Times Square. It was great to be able to stop by during the day to drop stuff off as needed.
In addition to seeing the plays I listed before, we also did the Museum of Natural History (the Hayden Sphere exhibit was quite fun), the new MOMA, and some general wandering around. On Sunday, before our flight, we went downtown to the Greenwich area and wandered. To my utter contentment, we also went to the Strand bookstore, a great new/used/hard-to-find bookstore (I bought 7 books there) and to a drama bookstore closer to the Theatre District (4 books). Mmm... two bookstores in two hours - delicious!

As for the shows:
"The Musical of Musicals: The Musical" was hysterical, but you definitely had to be a musical-buff to enjoy it, I think. There were some references even I didn't get (mostly the Jerry Herman section. All I really know by him is "Hello, Dolly!".) The theater is was in was dang awesome, too. It was in a below-ground converted movie theater complex - five theaters ranging in size from about 200 seats - 500 seats. The whole thing was done in concrete and steel with ornate lime green and gold accents. A live-theater complex - oh the possibilities!

"Shockheaded Peter" was my favorite show of the weekend. Unfortunately, it was only about 2/3 full (I think it freaks people out). The theatrics, the use of puppets, the timing and playing with the audience was all excellent. I think I learned more watching this show than I would have at any teacher's conference (thereby justifying my taking a day of "professional development") to go on this trip. I recommend this show to anyone going to NY in the near future, although it doesn't look like it will be around for long.
It also made me wish that the Tony's would open up to nominees from off-Broadway as well. Some of those shows deserve the publicity, and the costuming of "Peter" was definitely comparable to any of the shows running on Broadway, let alone the other elements of the show. "Best Musical"? Probably not. The most innovative and stylish piece of theater I've seen in a long while? Definitely.

"Monty Python's Spamalot" was our original purpose for this trip. We actually bought the tickets back in January and even so were up in the nosebleeds. A stroke of luck - my friend (I should add quotes to that to pacify my students) Jason decided to join us in NY at the last moment, so we bought a ticket for this show from a scalper. It turned out to be in the row behind us, two seats over. Cool, huh?
The show was hysterical - very silly and flashy and fun. It's nice to see the musical comedy lording over the Lloyd Weber mega-shows. The most interesting part of the experience for me was seeing a show with an entire audience who had most of it memorized. I am used to seeing shows that I already know (probably 95% of the shows I see I have all of the music memorized beforehand), but here the actors only had to say the opening sentence of a bit ("Old woman!"), or in some cases, simply walk out on stage, and the audience would erupt in applause and cheers. The worst of it was when they sang "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" - there were many whistlers in the house. They anticipated this, though, and the bows included a sing-along to the song.

After the show, I did the cheesy thing and got some autographs. Sure, I had to explain to my students exactly who was David Hyde Pierce, Tim Curry, and Hank Azaria and why their signatures are cool ("Who, Tim Curry? Jim Carey would have been cooler" I was told several times.) It was also pouring rain, at the time, which is why my poster is slightly waterlogged and why Tim Curry wound up signing my chest. (Hee!)

(Okay, not really. I just held the poster against my chest to give him a surface to write on. Still, my statement is not entirely inaccurate.... :) )

I look forward to seeing the Tony's (June 5th on CBS). I also look forward to going back. I still want to see "Wicked", and I don't want to see the reduced touring version. Perhaps this summer....

For now, adieu!

A Hell of a Town

Hello from the Apple store on Prince Street in NYC!
Tonight: "Musicals of Musicals"
Tomorrow Matinee: "Shockheaded Peter"
Tomorrow Night: "Monty Python's Spamalot"
Our Hotel: LITERALLLY on Times Square, baby! (Boo-Yah!)
TTFN!

Pretty Little Picture

Here are a few pictures from Seussical's run. I'm working from my mom's computer, so kudos to her for taking them.
Enjoy!

Dad, behind my desk (yes, there's a desk under all of that!)

What my classroom looks like after shows.

Me and my cast (well, some of them) during closing night thank yous. (I'm on the left, with the flowers.)

Make 'Em Laugh

Yesterday I returned to teaching while nursing bottles of juice. After finishing my orange juice, I moved on to a bottle of Odwalla Superfood.
"Ew! What is that?" The kids cry out in chorus.
"It's juice," I reply, taking a swig of it.
"But it's green."
"Yeah. So?"
"It looks gross. Can I smell it?"
I shrug. "Sure." As I make the rounds so everyone can smell it, they comment on it:
"It's not green, it's black - No, purple."
"Nah, it's green. It looks like shredded grass."
"No, it looks like what happens after you drink stuff like this!"
"Hey, it's good for you!" I say in protest. They look at me skeptically (yeah, I'm being judged on what I drink from people who dissolve sugar cubes in Mountain Dew for breakfast). So I read the label to them: "Odwalla's Superfood with micronutrients. Put some green in your genes-"
I am cut off by a horse's guffaw from the corner.
"Not 'jeans', James," I explain to the kid who's now pounding the desk with laughter, "Genes as in genetics."

Ah, junior high school. At least I keep them entertained.

Something's Gotta Give

I woke up this morning at 5:30, coughing. I spent a half-hour deliberating, then called in sick again.
Two days off in a row. Not typical for me when I only have a cold. As I debated this morning, I wondered what it was that makes me so reluctant to miss school when I'm sick. I convinced myself in the end that it would be best for me to take a second day off. After all, if I went to school, I'd either be crabby or exhausted all day. Then again, I didn't have any lesson plans set up for a sub for today. I ended up recording some short instructions on my Subfinder account, and wishing the sub good luck. Drama days are tough on substitutes.
I am compensating for missing two days of school by spending my afternoon grading English papers. I am about halfway through them now.

In the end, I think taking today off was a good idea. Knowing my colds as I do, today should be the worst of it. When the coughing sets in, talking (i.e. teaching) only aggravates it. I hope spending a day in silence will help expedite the healing process.

I think I have fine-tuned my cold schedule. Here's how it goes:
Pre-cold: General weariness
Day 1: Sore throat
Day 2: Runny nose and tired, but feel fine otherwise (always a deceptive day!)
Day 3: Completely congested, with headache.
Day 4: Congestion improves a little, coughing begins
Days 5-?: Cough, cough cough.

And so it goes. I am glad, though, that I got the cold now. This should set me up well for the Shakespeare Festival next week and our upcoming trip to New York (!).

Well, back to papers and, hopefully, school tomorrow.

What is this feeling?

Hello my dear, dear readers!

I promise I did not forget about you. There are, in fact, three reasons why I haven't posted in a while.
1) Immediately following the show, I went to Denver for my spring break, and then to Grand Junction the following weekend for my mom's birthday, thereby removing me from computer proximity.
2) I have been rather daunted at the thought of writing about the show - wrapping up that story, as it were.
3) I actually did write a lovely post for you; a lengthy one in fact, but when I clicked the "Publish" button, I got a "operation timed-out" message, and a refreshed screen - all that was left was the title of the post. Oy! Frustrated, I decided to wait for a better time to write.

And today is it! My post-show cold finally struck and I am home right now, wrapped in an afghan on my couch, surrounded by orange juice (care of my brother) and tissues, watching the Hallmark channel and sniffing. In short, I have called in sick and have decided to write.


So. The show. Here are some summaries:
- 3 performances
- No major glitches (!)
- Audience attendance was about 520 all three nights (a good crowd for us)
- Several teachers came with their families - a wonderful showing of support.
- Opening night, a kid in the audience threw a golf ball onstage. No one was hurt, though, and the detective caught the kid.
- Worst problem? The sound system reset itself during the second-to-last-song on our last night. Unfortunate, but our actors did exactly what they should do - they waited for the music to fix itself, then continued as if nothing had happened. I was proud of them!
- Total profits? $6000!

Overall, I am quite happy with the show. The kids were very sweet - they got us directors some lovely bouquets of flowers and presented them to us during bows the last night of the show. They also managed to thoroughly embarrass me (something that is not too easy to do since I started teaching at a junior high school). I'll tell you that story another time.

I was also delighted to have my friend Heidi come see the show, and my parents, my sister, and my grandmother all came to town to see it. It was wonderful to visit with them and to show off my students a little. Amusing moment: My family snuck backstage before the show to say hi and found me in the choir room, surrounded by little people dressed in yellow, all raising their hands towards me and chanting. As Rachel put it, "We were wondering what kind of cult you were running at your school." No, no. It was just our pre-show cheer. :)

So "Seussical" is done. Strange. I am doing my best to fill the void, though. Janelle, Kelley, and I have already started the selection process for next year's musical. We have narrowed it down to a few choices - "Once Upon a Mattress", "The Pirates of Penzance", and "Crazy for You" are the top runners. It's surprisingly difficult to find good musicals with sizable choruses that are not too "objectionable". I am excited about our choices, though, and glad that I've got such fun people to work with. We're hoping to have our show selected by the end of this year, so we can get a jump start on the preparations. That's the problem with doing a good job - I keep raising the bar on myself.

My advanced drama class, troupers that they are, is also plunging ahead with our preparations for our school's Shakespeare Festival. We've got a one-act to perform for the ninth graders and then again in the evening for families/friends. After that, I think we might call our season done. They've put in a lot of work this year on shows, and I think we need the last month of school to relax and have fun.

Oh, get this. I am actually seriously considering taking a group of students to the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City this fall - my first overnight field trip (as a chaperone, that is). It's definitely in the hazy planning phase, but my principal has okayed it, so I think it might happen. Talk about fodder for my blog!

Well, readers, I think this is getting to be a long post. Besides, I want to go in search of some more medication in my cabinets to see if I can clear up this sinus pressure.

Have a happy Tuesday! I'll write again soon, I promise. :)

Another Openin', Another Show

My dear faithful readers -

This will be a shorter post, I'm afraid. We have officially gone on spring break. I have just arrived in Grand Junction, stopping by on my way to Denver for the extended weekend. Thus my blogging will be rather intermittent for a while.
I realize I have not yet commented on the events of last week, i.e. my show. I will give you a much fuller account when I have a computer that works and time to do it in. For the time being, let me just say that it went remarkably well. No one was arrested, no set pieces collapsed (although one student did run smack into Whoville while making an exit Thursday night), in short, there were no exciting disasters. We made just over $6000 on this show, and had about 530 people attend each night (a large audience by KJHS' standards).

I hope this will suffice for now. I will tell you many, many more details soon, beloved readers, as well as an account of my adventures in Denver with Emily and Rachel.

Until then - adieu!