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My "little" brother got married this weekend. What a joyous occasion it turned out to be! He's been with his now-wife for about 7 years, and my family loves her to pieces, so this weekend was a fun formality for all of us.
As I type this, they are en-route to their honeymoon destination, Hawaii. They will spend a couple of days on the Big Island and Oahu, and then a week on Kaua'i. It's a very similar itinerary to my honeymoon, a mere 4 years ago. My husband and I spent 4 days on Oahu and another week on Kaua'i. This was probably the best time of my life. I hope that my brother and his wife have as much fun as we did. Maybe they'll decide to live out there and not come back to the mainland. If this turns out to be the case, you bet my hubby and I will be joining them! ;)
After all the wedding weekend festivities, my hubby and I were completely exhausted and opted to stay home yesterday and just watch cheesy movies. In the midst of our cheesy movie marathon, we happened across a trailer for a new (potentially cheesy) movie coming out in a couple of weeks - "A Perfect Getaway, " starring Milla Jovovich and Steve Zahn. As the trailer began, we noticed the familiar sight of the Na Pali coast on Kaua'i. Further into the trailer, we began to recognize more and more of the scenery, finally coming to the realization that the movie is set on the Kalalau Trail - a trail that hubby and I hiked on our honeymoon.
While I'm not certain that this movie will be terribly good, it should provide for some beautiful scenery. We'll definitely be seeing it, at least to reminisce and remember how much fun we had hiking the trail. Besides, we have something in common with the main characters. We also fought for our lives on the trail. Not at the hands of killers, mind you, but at the hands of dehydration. OK, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but we did make a very stupid mistake. See, we did not account for how strenuous the trail was going to be, and didn't pack enough water for the full trip. Oops. Luckily, some experienced hikers saw our mistake and gave us some of their's. Bless them, whoever they are and wherever they may be.
To watch the trailer for "A Perfect Getaway," go here.
Oh, not much. I saw two shows, applied for one job, and toured about a dozen homes...what about you?
Ha!
Talk about a busy weekend! I shouldn't complain, though...it was a fun weekend.
Friday night my hubby and I went to see That 70's Cindy, a reimagined version of the Cinderella story performed at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. It was great fun. All of the performers were under the age of 18 and were working their BUTTS off! You could tell this group of talented kids had thrown their heart and soul into this production. The set was simple but effective, costumes were fun and true to the flashy 70s style (which really didn't look all that dated, given that much of the style is back "in"), and the musical numbers were energetic and entertaining. The story moved quickly and held the attention of the kids in the audience, and the adults were entertained by references to 70s pop culture (think Shake and Bake - and I helped!). Standout Performances included "The Fairy Godfather" and "Geralda Rivera." Props to all the performers - you should be proud. And double props to the directors, for a job well-done harnessing the energy of all those kids!
I applied for one job on Saturday. Seeing as my current job won't exist after Nov. 1, I've slowly begun the tedious process of searching and applying for jobs. So far, I've applied for 2. I figure that's not a bad start. I'm being a little picky...definitely want to find something I'll enjoy that also pays me a decent amount. I've got a little time, so I figure I can afford to be picky right now.
Saturday night, my hubby and I ventured Into the Woods at Weathervane Playhouse in Newark. I do have to preface this by saying Into the Woods is one of my all-time favorite shows. I had the pleasure of performing the show in High School, so it has always held a special place in my heart. So, by default I am usually a bit harder to please with this show than others.
Weathervane's production was a bit hit-or-miss for me. Some elements of the show were fantastic - the set and the costumes, for one. Second, the overall singing of the cast was outstanding. I could understand every single word...and that's a feat for a Sondheim show! The amount of talent on the stage was immense.
I think for me, the problem lied more with some of the choices the director made, not with the performers themselves. For example, a young girl was cast in the role of "Little Red." In case you didn't know, the original tale of Little Red Ridinghood was written to warn young women about sex. And the way this role is written, it is ALL about sex (the Wolf costume for the original Broadway production was anatomically, for goodness sakes!). So, the fact that a pre-teen was on the stage performing the role bothered me just a bit. Also, Little Red has one of the most difficult songs to sing in the show. This particular actor's vocal chops weren't up to the challenge just yet. Maybe in a few years, but not yet.
The other thing that really bothered me was the amount of upstaging and stealing focus going on. (If you're not familiar with these terms, "upstaging" and "stealing focs" refers to actors who are NOT featured in the scene doing things that cause the audience to watch them instead of the main action on stage.) But, the thing was, this stuff was not accidental. The actors were obviously directed to do this. For instance, during the song "It Takes Two," the Baker and his Wife are singing about how they need to work together. All the while they're singing, an actor playing a cow is pretending to eat hair in the background, therefore causing the audience to laugh and watch the cow rather than the actors who are singing. I really don't understand why the director chose to have this happen. Yeah, it's funny, but it had nothing to do with anything. Cheap laughs aren't funny to me. OK - Rant over.
Overall, I did have a good time at this production. There were many Standout Performances: Cinderella and her stepsisters, the Witch, the Baker's Wife, the Baker and Jack were all fantastic. I think they were just hindered by the choices made by the director.
Finally, on Sunday we went to the Parade of Homes. The homes are absolutely beautiful. It's going on through July 26 in Dublin. The website is here...but if you go, I suggest going on a weekday/weeknight. The weekends can get really busy, especially if the weather is nice.
I found something to write about! :)
From the moment I stepped on the stage as a munchkin in a production of The Wiz in the 6th grade, I have loved live theatre. I love everything about it...from the moment you give your ticket to the usher to the moment the lights in the theatre begin to dim, I just love it all. There's nothing like it.
I especially love seeing "locally grown" theatre productions. There's just something special about seeing people from YOUR TOWN - whether you know them personally or not - up on the stage, emoting, giving it their all. And whether it's a good production or bad, it's just nice to know you're there supporting the performers who most of the time are just doing the show for the love of the art. These local folks are hardly ever paid. They're artists in a corporate world, just like me.
This past weekend I went to see Cabaret, put on by the Club Theatre Co. at Club Diversity. First of all, if you haven't seen a show in the Club Diversity space, you must. Club Diversity itself is a refurbished old home turned local piano bar. The entire building is just friendly. The performance space is located in one of the larger rooms upstairs, and seats maybe 20-25 people. Very intimate. But cool, just the same.
I was excited to see this piece of theatre in this space. After appearing in the show at the tender age of 18, Cabaret is one of my faves. And, if any group/space could do something cool with this show, then the Club Theatre Co. would be the ones to do it. Unfortunately, they didn't. The production itself was pretty generic, I guess you would say. With this show in this space, I wanted something ORIGINAL...maybe a new spin on the way the story is presented, or new staging ideas. But, no such luck. It was an adequate production, but felt as if I'd seen it before. Maybe I needed to go into it with a little less in the expectation department.
Most of the performances were ok. The performers playing "Sally Bowles" and "Herr Schultz" were the standouts for me. Both of these actors gave EXTREMELY strong, convincing performances. (The actor playing "Herr Schultz" had played the part of the Emcee in the production that I had been in, so it was fun to see him do this role.) Mostly, I was disappointed in the choreography. I love it when a Fosse-type-minimalistic-dance-style is used with this show. The particular production felt more like a zombie-style. Maybe that was what the choreographer was going for and I just didn't get it...?
Overall, I was a bit disappointed. But, that's the beauty of local theatre! You know going into it that there's no guarantee you'll love it. But, you've supported your fellow arts-lovers. And, at least you only spent $15 for your ticket (though, I was surprised the ticket was that much!).
I'm seeing quite a few shows this week - Mamma Mia at the Ohio Theatre tonight, That 70's Cindy at Dublin Rec on Friday, and Into the Woods at Weathervane Playhouse on Saturday. So, I should have some new blogging material for a few days. Woo hoo!
Well, here I am. Just one more person among the millions on the net pouring out their thoughts and feelings on a blog. Why am I doing this? I'm not really sure. I find all things social media-web 2.0 fascinating, so I guess this is just my way of immersing myself into another part of that world. I'm not really sure where this will lead, or even what I'll be blogging about, but I'm sure I'll find something to comment on every once in a while!
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