-There is a large portrait of the character Lily, Colin
Craven’s dead mother. It’s obviously a portrait of the actress playing Lily.
This makes me think of Shiri’s creepy portrait. (Sorry, Shiri)
-Every time we play the bow music, I’m reminded of how Ms.
Blasdel used to pronounce it bowel music and Ben Pezzner would make a joke
about it. Good times.
-The worst part of playing in the pit is only being able to
see what is happening on the front half of the stage or up on the set. The
second worst part is getting distracted by what you can see and forgetting an
entrance. Not like that even happened…
- In the song “Come Spirit, Come Charm” they use the “basic”
move from Shiri’s and my bellydancing video. I resist the urge to shout “BASIC”
whenever they do it.
-Can we talk about keychanges for a second? THEY SUCK. You
go from one sharp to seventeen flats. Also, can we talk about C flat and F
flat. IT’S JUST B AND E FOR GOODNESS SAKES! COME ON.
-If you watch the show and then ask the characters to “raise
their hand if you have ever been victimized by Archibald Craven”, the sthow
becomes very different. And so much more amusing. Have YOU been victimized by
Archibald Craven? Because I think most of the characters have.
-I totally get why it’s important to learn the lyrics to the
show you’re performing in. It’s a lot easier to follow along when you know
what’s being sung and what parts come next and how your usic fits into the
lyrics. This is why I’ve been listening to The Secret Garden CD pretty much non-stop for the last few weeks. At
this point I feel like I could do a one-woman production on my own. These are
my [current] favorites.
I don’t remember exactly what year it was but sometime when
I was in college, the musical Wicked hit
Broadway and was an immediate smash. Well, I assume it was. Anwyay, I have
listened to that CD ten ways til Sunday but it wasn’t until April 2014 when I
finally got to actually see the performance in person.
I loved it. I obviously was familiar with the music and knew
the story line but the sets, the costumes, the emotion, the dialogue, it was
just fantastic. Glinda was hysterical. I like Elphaba’s songs (except for
Glinda’s part in “Thank Goodness”) but oh my heavens, Glinda has some funny
lines. I loved the way her voice changed from between when she was being real
and when she was trying to put on her perky persona. I laughed so much whenever
she was onstage. I also adore Fiyero’s songs and although I adore Norbert Leo
Butz, our Fiyero held his own.
The one thing I have to say about this production of Wicked was that it seemed so dark. Literally. I mean, I
know the story itself is dark but literally, the stage always seemed to dark.
It was hard to make out the detail of the gorgeous costumes and makeup with the
muted lighting or with the cross-crossing lights that made strange shadows. All
in all, though, a minor thing that was unfortunate but didn’t ruin the
experience.
It may not have been Broadway and it may not have been Idina
Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, but I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Wicked and I’m so glad that I’m able to finally check it
off my list.
Do you ever find yourself listening to a song over and over and over again? I do. It's crazy how the songs come and go. Right now my Song of the Moment is "Skin and Bones" by the lovely Jars of Clay. It's been about six months now since Inland, their most recent CD was released, and I am getting more and more into it each time I listen to it. And strangely enough, the song that was originally my favorite now has a co-favorite, which is "Skin and Bones."
I think this song speaks to a larger current issues that I've been thinking about lately. Last summer, Relient K released a new CD that I adored but drew a lot of criticism for "unChristian" themes. Similarly, Jars of Clay will post a picture of them drinking a beer after a show and they are slammed for not being "Christian." They've spoken a lot about their transition away from CCM (Christian Contemporary Music) and about their foray into indie recording. They've also been really open about their process, their struggles, the issues that they're wrestling with as individuals and as a band and how to navigate the very scary realm that is the Christian community. People can be so quick to label bands as "Christian" and then when expectations aren't lived up to, these bands are condemned. I think that Relient K's new album is wonderful- it's poppy and peppy and upbeat and exactly what I want to listen to when I'm driving around in the summer. Are there songs that may be unquestionable? Maybe? Is it shocking that PTL stands for Part-Time Lover instead of Praise the Lord? Perhaps. Are these songs autobiographical for the members of the band? Who knows and honestly, who cares? It can be so easy to take lyrics so literally and assume that this is what the band members are doing. So what if they so? So what if they're not? Why does it matter? If you want to listen to something, listen to it. If you don't, then don't. But don't condemn and judge and say the band is going to hell. That's ridiculous.
Two weeks or so ago, Jars of Clay was in Australia and while on the way home, Dan watched "Twelve Years a Slave." For the record, let me say I haven't seen it yet. But I know what it's about. Then, in a series of tweets, he became to ruminate on the history of slavery, comparing it to gay marriage, and questioning the conservative argument of gay marriage. This extended into a dialogue about what Scripture says about it and he made a somewhat unclear statement about what Scripture does and does not say. He never said he does not believe in Scripture but that, along with his questions about supporting gay marriage caused a, excuse my language, s***storm. Sadly, most of it was condemning without a real discussion of the issues or an opportunity to clarify. Now, I will say that Twitter is not the best place to hold a debate. On the other hand, having to express your thoughts succinctly in 140 characters forces you to get straight to the matter at hand, so I can see why Dan might have chosen to do so.
He did, several days later, clarify things on his blog, which you can read here: http://danhaseltine.com/
I bring this up not because I want to have a debate on gay marriage but because I am frustrated with the responses of Christians. That quote attributed to Gandhi, but maybe not said by him, is so true: I like your Christ but I dislike your Christians because they are so unlike your Christ. So true! It's unbelievable how Christians are so often the first to condemn, even though Romans 8:1 says there is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ. Christians are the first to attack, to bring down, the restrict, instead of to love, to accept, to support. Do you really think that with all the lepers, cripples, blind people, outcasts, etc. that Jesus healed, he would look at a gay couple and send them to hell? Especially if they followed him and loved him? Will we ever know for certain? No, of course not. But we can look at his track record and make a pretty strong case for his acceptance. Christianity should be boiled down to four words: Love God, Love Others. We're not loving others if we're stopping them from being with the person they love. We're not loving others if we equate gays with pedophiles. We're not loving others if we condemn to hell those that don't agree without. And we're certainly not loving God when we do these things.
This world would be a far better place if more of us loved God and loved others. It would be a far better place if we respectfully listened to those we disagreed with. It would be a far better place if we allowed our love to be stronger than our hate.
So Bailie loves all things German and all this creepy and so when I was picking out some movies at C of I last week and noticed their copy of the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, I had to pick it up and let her watch it. Now, maybe 10:30 at night when I was pretty sleepy wasn't the greatest time for me but she loved it. What a fantastic movie it is- although you have to be prepared for something very unlike the big blockbuster hits you see today.
The music is creepy, the colors that they use (it's been digitally remastered and watching it on the large screen in the media room was awesome) were vibrant yet subtle, the facial expressions the actors had to use to express their thoughts and emotions were enviable. I absolutely loved the makeup as well, almost to the point where I kind of want to dress up like Cesare for Halloween. Sadly, most people wouldn't get it, unfortunately. I loved the sets and the props and of course, the story is amazing. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari basically invented the idea of the twist ending and the twist certainly doesn't disappoint.
If you've never seen it, take 75 minutes of your day, turn off some lights, and enjoy the spectacle that is Germany's best horror film of the silent era. You won't regret it.
For awhile now I've wanted to participate in a Color Run and it just never seemed to work out.
Until today. A few weeks ago there was a LivingSocial voucher for Color Me Rad, giving us a $13 discount and so Caitlin, Juliette, and I went for it. There was a bit of a snafu with the registration (i.e. Juliette and Caitlin bought the voucher but didn't actually sign up for the race) but it all worked out and we got to the Fairgrounds bright early, decked out in white.
As with all races, there was a bunch of hoopla beforehand and people were already throwing colors around. This one girl must have been influenced by Wicked because she was COVERED in green powder. The race itself was not a real 5k- it must have been shorter because even with walking on the grass-- it just was kind of pot-holey and uneven-- we finished in less than 30 minutes. And we were NOT running at a 10-min pace. There were five different color stations where volunteers threw handfuls of color at you. The course wove through the fairgrounds between grass and asphalt and then finished with they passing out color packets for you to throw at each other.
There was the usual post-race hoopla as well and we sat through one color throw, getting drenched in colored powder with everyone else. I had brought some make-up remover wipes for afterwards, which were incredibly helpful, especially since Caitlin and I had so much red color on our necks it looked like we had been shot or something.
I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with my shirt and I'm pretty sure that even after a shower, I still have some powder in places I don't even know about but overall, it was a great experience! I got a suuuuuuuper comfy v-neck race t-shirt and some great bright yellow sunglasses so those are some nice extras! I'd definitely recommend doing a color run if you have the chance- just keep your mouth closed as they throw color at you!
I spent these last few days house-sitting the Godwins and with some free time on my hands. I was a bit tired of hiking in the foothills and so I first though I'd drive out to the Snake River Birds of Prey area and wander through Swan Falls and possibly the park out near Melba (Centenntial? Celebration? I'm having a blonde moment...) I then decided that it was a bit far, especially if I was going to be heading back to Eagle to have dinner with Abbey later that night anyway. While driving home from Caldwell with Katie and Joanna on Thursday, one of them mentioned Shafer Butte, so I did a bit of research and decided to make that my new destination. I found a few trails and wrote some notes and then packed a bag and the dog and we were off.
Guys, Bogus Basin road is terrifying. I cannot imagine driving that in the winter-time. No thank you, sir. So many hairpin turns and windy sections. Ugh. But we made it all the way to the top of Bogus Basin in one piece. Shafer Butte was still pretty snow-covered but the snow was quite firm and so we decided to at least start and see where the path took us. I think I was walking through some ski trails but the names matched up with the trails I had written down so I figured that I was at least somewhat in the right place. There was a thick layer of snow on the ground but I was in a tank top and running capris and actually hot. So hot that at times, I'd pick up a snow ball, let my hands get cold and then run my hands up and down my arms to cool off. It was bizarre. After about 40 minutes (maybe?), I went to check my phone and could not find it. I headed back to the car in a bit of a panic- especially because I was worried it might have fallen out of my bag while i was taking my camera out. But in my defense, the snow had started to get a bit more slushy and it had become a lot hard to hike so I most likely would have headed back not much longer after. The phone was found on the passenger seat and I decided to head down the mountain and see if there were any other trails to pursue.
If only it had been clearer- I wish you could have seen Boise down below better but at least there weren't any inversion clouds. I stopped at a couple of the turn-offs to look at the views and maybe about halfway down the road, there was a turn-off and a path. It wasn't too steep so we climbed to the top, wandered around the rock formations and took in the views. The hills were SO green and I was reminded of Ireland in March. Again, I wish it could have been less muggy but it definitely wasn't hot and the views were spectacular. Totally worth the terrifying drive!
With the Idaho City hotsprings and the trip to Bogus Basin, I'm now three Idaho locations away from crossing another item off my list. Where to next???
It's been ten years (actually more than ten years!) since I last played in the pit. As a sophomore in high school, I played the cello in WHS's production of "The Wiz" and then my senior year, I joined five other people in an "upstairs" apartment and played the keyboard and did the sound effects for "Little Shop of Horrors." It's fascinating how I can still listen to the "Little Shop of Horrors" soundtrack, sing every single word, and still pick out my parts in all of the singing and the other musical parts.
A few weeks ago, I got an email asking for volunteers to play for Boise Music Week's production of "The Secret Garden." I was kind of familiar with the music and definitely familiar with the story and I figured, why not? I missed the first two rehearsals so the first rehearsal I attended with the cast was a little rough. It didn't help that I couldn't find where we were and the two seconds it took to get from my car to the rehearsal room, it was POURING and nearly hailing. Awesome.
Earlier today was our last orchestra-only rehearsal and guys, it was still a bit rough. I really like the people who are playing in the orchestra and there are some parts of the music that are tough, but it's still pretty shaky. What I'm hoping is that once we're in the pit, we're with the performers, we have the lights and scenery, everything will lock into place. I'm really excited to be doing pit work again- it's very different than orchestra works and you have to be on top of things at all time. My pencil has gotten dull with all I've written in- although it doesn't help that I was missing a few pages of music. Next week will determine all! If you're local, the shows are free- come out to see us Thursday-Sunday!
