Gus and Dolls!!!

My First Show at Ashland Ever!!!

A Marriage Made in Heaven!!!

The Daily News

1   Take a breather! It's Wednesday! Climb to shore and rest!

2   So it's Wednesdeeeeeee!!!!!!! Quick thoughts from a former teacher: I never liked Wednesdays because of meetings! Not a meeting guy, nope, nope, nope.

3   Understand the need, but bleh.

4   The best part of any meeting is ending the meeting.

5   Now, the second the meetings end...

6    Get your jets back.

7    Look at the sky. Smile. Yup.

8    I'm not going to say it's a skate, but this is the time your biorhyths get going and you realize you got this, and not just this week; you got this entire return to duty.

9   And students, you are now beginning to realize that it is study time again, but it isn't as painful 'cuz you've seen friends and you've enjoyed laughter and all. 

10  Time for everybody to realize it's okay to relax and enjoy the good things about education,  to move forward and make remarkable advancements in daily routines, and to know what is important as you advance forward. All this coming from an old geezer with too much time on his hands.

11  Just cheerleading here.

12  Hope you are all settling in and getting into the rhythm and spirit of the fall season. 

13  Moving On, Part One: We got up to Ashland and saw it was a bit hazy, took a theater tour of all the grand theaters there, had lunch, and then saw the inimitable Guys and Dolls. This is unique because it was my first show ever at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. 

14   Fantastic production, which began with a member of the staff of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival coming out, giving us an introduction, and THEN a notification that this show would perform this afternoon, but that at six o' clock, they would make an announcement regarding possible cancellation of shows because of the fires in the surrounding areas.

15  All day the fires caused a haze that was palpable. It's easy to put out of the mind, but it also was clearly there. Or perhaps hazily there might be a more accurate description. 

16   Reality struck everyone in that theatre, and so Guys and Dolls began. What the hell IS playing at the Roxie?

17   From the opening notes it was evident that the adrenaline I felt was being felt through the entire building. Guys and Dolls was on. 

18  It worked. They mounted an epic show! Wonderful cast, crew and production, culminating in a highly creative and energetic end. When Sky and Sarah took off to Havana, for example,  a small airplane flew across the rafters with Havana rhythms pounding under. The music came up, costumes threw Latin colors and rhythms everywhere; the stage filled with energetic dancers followed by  twenty or so multi-sized beach balls bouncing all over and around the stage. The dances looked lively and spirited, rocking the Havana scene. The lighting danced so refreshingly that you could almost taste the fruity cocktails. 

16   Sarah did If I Were a Bell delightfully lightheaded and loose, not over-doing, but doing just enough to cause Sky to really fall for her. That's tough to do, but they completely made I've Never Been in Love Before wonderfully real.

17   The all-nighter drifted beautifully into My Time of Day, with the set changing to the two of them recovering from the madness on another street, with one lamppost. And it all sort of worked. The ride home in the plane felt safe. 

18   That is traditionally a REALLY tough series of songs to make believable in G & D, but they played it all perfectly. 

19   I could go on, but I won't. It's one of those had-to-be-there shows. 

20   The entire second half flew by fast with a steamy version of Take Back Your Mink, followed by such wonderful tunes as Luck be a Lady, Sue Me, and the show-stopping Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat bringing down the house. As they would say in modernese, they killed it. 

21   By Adelaide's final sneeze, the packed-house rose majestically to its feet.

22   Classic and classy.

23   I knew the Company worked hard on this production, but I think the worry that the fires in the surrounding areas could cause trouble really brought everyone together.

24   Loved it.

25   We got back safely to Mt. Shasta, had a wonderful dinner, at the Dunsmuir Brewery Works, where we sat under the stars talking and laughing by evening's end. The DBW is an absolute mountain jewel, adding to an already amazing night. Great location, great staff, wonderful food, and good vibes. Go there. But don't spread it around. 

26   Despite the fires and warnings, we ended up sleeping through the first part of the morning. Great eats will do that. Just fantastic. 

27   Moving On, Part the Thoid: And we now slip into Wednesday. 

28   The smoke didn't seem so bad last night. What looked like a Midsummer moon turned pink and smiled down from the August sky. 

29   This was Ashland. Ashland owned the evening. Even the moon itself looked staged, but in a wonderful way. And it is now my time of day. 

30   We're taking off for Burney Falls this morning. Not sure what the afternoon and evening will be, but we're not letting the fires stop us, at least not so far.

31   It was so fun listening to all those classic songs being done by such a young and energetic cast. Good to know that the art of Theater continues on, with no end in sight. 

32   I'll keep it short today. 

33   No point over-talking; that cast and crew did the talking, the singing, the dancing, the tech, and everything else that is fun about a nice performance. The Dunsmuir Brewery Works nailed it. 

35   Livin' the dream, for one more day.

36   Missing everybody but having a wonderful time!

37   There are worse things. 

38   After meetings and Wednesdays, you might think about going to a movie tonight, or perhaps a play tomorrow night. 

39  Enjoy your Wednesday, even if you have to attend meetings. Think of someone you love and put the meeting outside with the cat box.

40   And smile. 

41   It's too easy to be sad or crabby. Even if you're going through a time, smile. 

42   Do something fun today.

43   And then do something fun tonight.

44   Gottago.

45   See you again.

46   Peace.

~H~

fin.