Stories from a small town...
Monday, April 15, 2024
Friday, April 12, 2024
Dolly Levi and Horace Vandergelder!
It’s Monday morning, and I am sitting in the empty
auditorium at the T. Furth Center for the Performing Arts. Or, should I say, my
home away from home. So many thoughts occupy my mind right now and by the time
you read this on Tuesday morning lots of events will have happened. Was the
eclipse perfect? (I think it will be with this gorgeous weather!) Will Purdue
win the championship tonight? Will another rehearsal for tech week be as
scattered as last night? I hope not!
This eclipse has definitely taken over our lives. I love
that we are so excited about this event, and for me, probably the last one I
shall see. I have memories of watching the eclipse in school. Of course, school
was not canceled nor was there all this hype! (Hello, social media!) We made
our little boxes with the pinholes so we could watch during the school hours.
The teachers were constantly saying, don’t look at the sun, don’t look at the
sun. I still don’t know how those boxes worked, but indeed they did! A few years
ago, I watched the eclipse at Pokagon with a group of folks. This year I am
heading out to the new property of Aaron and Rachel. Yes, they bought a little
farmette or something like that. They have been looking for land with a pond,
and they found it. Last night was their first night in their new house. I sent
a note wishing them a lovely, romantic evening! Rachel wrote back, laughingly,
that it won’t be that romantic since both boys were there too. Jonah came home
to spend the first night with the family. I love that they have found a dream,
even though Cindy (Rachel’s mom) and I will miss them living just a few blocks
away. They are now eleven minutes away.
Basketball has taken over this state as well. I think it
all started with the Trine championship and we just keep moving forward. Now I
am not a Purdue graduate, but I am a Hoosier through and through, so go Purdue.
By the time you read this, we will have the answer to that also!
Now, back to the show. I always write a column in the quiet
of the theatre. The lights are on, but no one is here by the stage except me.
As I look around, I am a bit overwhelmed at the work still to do…more props
brought in, more sets to work on, more costumes to complete. Yet, as I sit
here, it is perfect, absolutely perfect.
Directing theatre at Trine has been a dream come true for
me. I love the students. I love my job. This semester I have a new assistant
director, Lydia Roop. Lydia is a senior at Trine and is definitely not new to
the theatre, just to directing. She has not been able to participate in any of
my shows, but before the semester started, she said she might audition. As I
was looking for a new assistant, I approached her and within 24 hours, I had a
new assistant by my side. She was a bit timid at first, but after a couple of
weeks, she found her own voice and has been a tremendous help to me. I have a
new stage manager this semester too so there has been a lot of changing of the
guards!
What is the magic that is on this stage? As I sit here, I
am thinking about the other three shows I have directed. All have been
different, and all have showcased these marvelous Trine students. The stage
echoes with their footsteps, their voices, their laughter. Sometimes in
rehearsal, we all laugh so hard and long that I think we won’t get back to
work, but we do. Theatre, like band or orchestra or any of the arts, brings
young people together. I love watching the friendships take place within the
theatre. The star of “The Matchmaker” is a young lady who transferred from
Marquette University to Trine. When she arrived here, she didn’t know anyone
and was not involved in anything. She decided it might be fun to audition for
the show and to see what would happen! I will tell you what happened, she got
the lead role. Wait til you see her!
Today the eclipse will be a memory, Purdue will have won or
lost, and our show will go on this weekend. See you there!
Tuesday, April 02, 2024
Trine University presents community workshop!
In 1938, while Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize winning
show, “Our Town,” was playing on Broadway, another one of his shows opened.
That show was the “Merchant of Yonkers” which only ran for 39 performances and
then was canceled. This was a bit of a blow for Wilder as “Our Town” was
quickly becoming America’s favorite show on Broadway. (To this day, it is the
most performed play in high schools around the country.)
Both shows were written when Wilder was 41 and they were
very different plays. “Our Town” focuses on the fragility of life while the “Merchant
of Yonkers” was more of a romantic comedy. After the show closed, he set it aside
and went on to other plays, other essays and his teaching abilities. Wilder was
a 1920 graduate of Yale University with a skill of the written word.
It was almost twenty years later he re-wrote the “Merchant
of Venice” giving a larger voice to the matchmaker, Dolly Levi. He added her
monologue and worked on the other dialogues for the other cast members. It
opened back up on December 5, 1955. Later it was turned into the musical we all
grew up with, “Hello Dolly,” starring Carol Channing. “The Matchmaker” is a
completely delightful romantic comedy taking place in the 1880’s. It is still
being performed in schools today.
The Trine University Theatre will be sharing this
performance with the public April 11, 12, and 13. We can’t wait! In the
meantime, the wonderful cast including our Drama Department is hosting a
workshop for middle-school and high school students on Wednesday of this week.
Several weeks ago, one of my very favorite senior actors, Sean
Carpenter, came to me with an idea. He had been mulling it around a bit and
briefly mentioned it to me, but now he was serious and very interested about
hosting this workshop. I love listening to my students, and I love listening to
my cast members. Their ideas on the show and other events are something I do
take seriously. I gave him the green light to put together this workshop, and
he has done an outstanding job. We met with our dean, Darrin Wilcox, who loved
the idea and gave us the go ahead to make this happen. Ryan Long put together a
great flyer and we sent out packets to the local schools and other folks.
Unfortunately, spring break hit in the middle of our recruiting campaign, so I
thought another plug would help our local theatre kids.
Trine is not a university based on the arts, and yet, we
have the most outstanding students in our photography, music and theatre
programs. These kids work in all those departments because they absolutely love
it! The workshop we have put together showcases many facets of theatre that
would be of great interest to our local kids. On Wednesday, April 3rd,
from 4:00 to 8:00, we are welcoming these students to the Furth Center. They
will have the chance to tour the facility, spend time on the stage with our
actors in workshops on character development, blocking, costume design, tech
(sound and lighting) and Q and A with the actors. Supper is on us! Then they
will get a bare bones rehearsal following the supper. When I say bare bones, I
mean we are still not using many props and no staging or furniture has been
added. That all comes during our tech week starting on Sunday.
There is absolutely no charge for this event. We want your
kids, grandkids, and students to come and share their own love or curiosity of
theatre, especially at the University level. Students do need to register to
attend, however! If you send me an email, I will send you the form, and they can
bring it on Wednesday. Maybe there are young people who might be interested in theatre
but have never had much exposure to this art form. If that is the case, this is
also for them!
I really applaud my theatre group for putting this all
together. It is a lot of work, especially the week before we open, but they are
absolutely delighted to offer this workshop! I know I would have loved doing
this when I was in high school. Send me your questions, your interest and I
will send the information so that your young person can explore this
opportunity. Maybe someday, we will do this for all the curious grown-ups.
Until Wednesday, the stage awaits you!
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Mom's Last Full Moon...
I came out of rehearsal last night, and the full Worm Moon
of March actually took my breath away. It was so gorgeous rising above us in a
sphere of peach colored light. I stood in the Furth parking lot for the longest
time just watching and thinking. Of course, you know how much I love the full
moon and spend hours gazing and writing about the moon. This one was different
though. As I stood watching, my thoughts went to my parents. First to my dad
who loved the moon even more than I do. When he visited us on the farm, he
would sit out on our porch swing and watch the sun go down over Doc’s fields
and the moon rise in our own woods. He always sang, “I see the moon, and the
moon sees me.” That song I sing over and over to my grandchildren. Secondly, my thoughts went to my mom. My mom
lies dying in hospice, and this will be her last full moon with us.
I guess we all know the time will come to say good-bye to
our parents. My dad left us fourteen years ago and now my mom is ready to make
her own journey. I sit with my sister, Jessie, and watch the changes. Since I
didn’t grow up here, most of you never met my parents. My dad, as you do know
from this column, was a theatre guy. We played the piano together, shared our
love of theatre, watched the moon, and memorized poetry. My mom was the
complete opposite. She was a glamorous mother. She had more beauty in her than
in her four daughters combined. We marveled at the way she dressed, and in her
beauty. I was a bit different from my mom. I am more of a jeans and t-shirt kind
of girl. She was always hoping I would cut my hair or get married or get a
normal job.
Most of you are familiar with her love stories. After my
dad died, the six of us took turns taking her places, sharing our lives with
her. I took her to Ocracoke with me. She had a great time visiting with Philip,
helping out with his brother’s wedding. Kathy was along for the journey, and we
all loved introducing her to the Ocracoke way of life. She loved it there She
even participated in Hands Across the Sand with us. The rest of the brothers
and sisters took her to different locations. My sister, Jessie, took her on a
cruise for her Halloween birthday from Boston to Nova Scotia. It was there she
met Dick, the new love of her life. Dick lost his wife several years earlier,
and decided he needed to do something for himself, so he booked the same
cruise. Of course, he fell in love with her at once. Who didn’t? After the
cruise, he went to Houston to visit her and then she went to England to visit
him. A year later they were married outside of London. I flew to her wedding to
stand up with her. They were happy. They spent half of the year in England and
then the winter months in North Palm Beach.
Two years ago, Dick became sick and one beautiful spring
day, he died. My mom was just lost without him. Jessie drove down and picked
her up even though she protested thinking she should be going back to England.
It has been hard watching my mom mourn the loss of two lovely men who both
loved her dearly. Now it is time to join them.
In hospice, my mom reaches for them…or so we think. The
nurses think it is interesting that she reaches high even while sleeping. Does
she see them? Or her parents? Or her lovely brother, my Uncle Dean? I guess we
do not have answers for that. I do know this. My mom is strong and is a
fighter. She has defied the laws of hospice until now. Jessie said to me, “She
will not go quietly into the night.” My dad’s love of poetry still creeps into
our lives as she quoted Dylan Thomas.
I watched the moon slide across the town last night. Over
the courthouse, over the countryside, over sleeping babies, over those cozily
watching basketball in their homes.
My mom’s last full moon.
“Do not go gentle into that
good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
Dylan Thomas
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Congratulations Trine!!
My first glimpse of our monument decked in Trine blue took
my breath away. I was coming home from the Thursday night game with Aaron and
Rachel and the boys and there it was all in blue. Of all the colors we put on
the monument, I do think this is my very favorite!
I don’t usually write much about sports unless it is about
our boys, Jonah and Graham, but this is different. Basketball fever took hold
of this town last weekend in a way no one thought possible. Not Trine. Not the
community. Not the coliseum in Fort Wayne. Not even the sports commentators.
What happened this weekend, and the weeks preceding, gave rise to the
Cinderella story.
The success of Trine’s NCAA Division III win this weekend,
if it were written on a playbill, would have a list of thank you’s so long you
would need to add pages to complete the list! Of course, the players and the
coaches were beyond terrific. These players and coaches forfeited spring break
and every other activity that came along to prepare for the games. In all of
that, the players still had to complete their course work while spending every
other free moment practicing, perfecting, performing so the trophy could come
home.
The list of thank you notes goes to bus drivers, and ticket
takers, and the school administration who had to work out every detail as it
was always changing as the status of the wins continued. A very big thank you
goes out to the community who came together to support Trine’s team and the
school in general. Folks who never attend sporting events were in the stands clapping
and cheering their hearts out. A record attendance was set as 4,546 folks
attended the championship game. We supported the team with their send off
around the circle on Wednesday and again when they returned on Saturday night
with all the bells and whistles from our local police department. Thank you,
Mayor Martin, for making sure this happened! As I stood on the curb filming the
return, I couldn’t help but notice how many folks dotted the circle waiting in
the cold wind for our team to return. We sure made a lot of noise as they made
their way around the circle three times before heading back to campus so the team
could celebrate with their classmates. I stayed and chatted with the Witmer’s.
We chatted about Trine and this place we call home. We said farewell as folks
sauntered back to warm cars to meander home. I stood a few moments longer to
just let the moment of the win and the night and the blue monument make a
lasting impression.
I have been thinking a lot about what binds a community,
especially one like ours. I am talking about our county as well with all the
surrounding small towns. How did we get here to this little corner of the
world. Some of my Airbnb guests actually call us Mayberry. I love it when they
do that. Other comments include, “How did we miss this town? We never knew it
existed.” Once when Mayor Hickman was in office, I asked him what we could do to
promote our town. He didn’t miss a beat when he told me to just be friendly to
the newcomers and, of course, participate in the town.
He was right. There are so many ways to participate in a
community, but in a small community it is even more important. We all need to
step up to volunteer for boards or obligations or run for office. We all need
to make sure we shop local, attend movies, watch sporting events, and support our
local theatre. We do this already. The world is a big place, but keeping our
small towns afloat in love and generosity will keep up going day by day.
To the boys and the coaches of Trine University, we take
off our hats and raise our glasses to congratulate you. Thank you for working
so hard to bring the trophy home. Thank you for sharing that with our community
and thank you for acknowledging the community in your win. We played right
along beside you every step of the way.
T. C. Steele, plein air painter of the early 1900’s, took
his hat off to the beauty of the world every morning. Let’s do the same.
I take my hat off to the Trine basketball team.
Congratulations.
Monday, March 11, 2024
Spring break in St. Pete...
Adam and his pups! |
The late-night flight is full. Everyone is heading out for
spring break. Students and teachers, moms and dads, kids and pets fill the
plane with lots of chatter and laughter even though it is the midnight hour.
Flying through the dark is always a mystery to me. There is no full moon to
follow, and the stars and planets are but dusty specs above us. Finally, we
begin our descent and once through the parting clouds, we follow the beautiful
pathway of the Tampa Bay Bridge still streaming with traffic on a late night.
The city of St. Pete, Florida comes into view as a fairy land as the plane shifts
to the left. I close my book to prepare for the landing. It was a quick trip of
just two hours. Two hours and I leave the not-yet-spring of Indiana for the
warmth of the sun. I always forget the jet bridge is not attached to the airport,
and we step out on the bridge into the warm Florida air. I grab my purple bag
and go on out to the curb to wait for Adam for the midnight pick up! Cell phone
lots have become the new thing for airports, and are so nice as folks wait for
arrivals.
Adam arrives in his Playin’ Hooky truck complete with all
three pups all snuggled onto the front seat. He grabs my bag and comments on
how heavy the bag is. “What did you bring, Mom?” I laugh and tell him it is
full of books! It is after all my spring break, and nothing I love more than having
time to read and just enjoy the books. Off we go to his sweet bungalow on the
outskirts of St. Pete. We put the windows in the truck part way down to enjoy
the warm, balmy St. Pete air. It feels so delightful after winter, even though
our winter was so mild this year. We arrive home and go in the back gate
through the backyard which is definitely a fairy land in itself with twinkle
lights strung and lit through palm trees and the gazebo and pool lit up. The
pups are happy to be home too but are not so sure about me! Sleep comes easily. I sleep through my alarm and by the
time I get up, Adam is already off to work. Adam spends his working hours
between the law office and his charter business, Playin’ Hooky. It was always
his dream as a young boy to be a charter captain, and a few years ago that
dream came true. He is a well-known captain in the area with his stellar
reputation as a great captain for fishing or cruising. Spring breakers fill his
dance card! I knew he would have lots of work and obligations when I booked my
flight for March, but alas, my books and I have the whole place to ourselves…along
with the pups. After a quick coffee or two, I find myself outside in the
backyard with my stack of books. I am not really a beach girl, I just love the
warm weather and with no obligations of my own, I can just sit back and read
the day away. My days are spent reading except for the one day I take the
SunRunner bus downtown. It is so convenient as it goes right by Adam’s house. For
five dollars a day, you can ride all over St. Pete to all the museums, the
beaches and to the flourishing downtown. Construction is everywhere as St. Pete
is a city on the move attracting young folks with the coffee shops, art
galleries, and, of course, the beautiful beaches. My day downtown is a day at
the Dali Museum featuring the Dali collection paired with the impressionists:
Renoir, Degas, Matisse, Cezanne, and Monet. The exhibit is outstanding, and I
spend the entire day exploring the collection and the downtown. The SunRunner comes
right on time, and I just enjoy a tour of the town and the beaches from my seat
on the bus. It is not often that I get time with my children one on
one, but this time I did. We went to the movies and visited local dives for
dinner in St. Pete. My favorite night was when we cooked in and sat outside
watching the stars and planets fill the night sky. We talked well into the
night. Visits end. Planes take us back home. Until next time… |
Monday, March 04, 2024
Hello March!
March arrives with a flurry of weather activity. Rain,
snow, wind, and the occasional sun shining down upon us. Yes, March is as
fickle as they come. March does not know if she should continue with the
arrival of spring and a sprinkling of faeries in the garden or cover us with inches
of snow. Yes, we are waiting for that one! Winter was just a bit too easy for
us this year!
March is named for the god of war and yet it brings the
promise of spring, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter (this year), and the rumblings
underground of what is next to come. Searching through the leaves of Autumn
yesterday, I cam across the arrival and blooming of my crocuses pushing their
blooms through the leaves and garden debris to add color to my winter landscape.
The forsythia bushes are next along with the daffodils. Daffodils are not just
for beauty; they have great properties that are used in bioresearch these days.
Daffodils are the flower of March and the national flower of Wales. According
to Greek mythology Narcissus fell into a pool and drowned and the first
daffodil appeared. Of course, this is mythology and fun for research although I
think of my own daffodils as a cheery end of winter and a hello to spring.
William Wordsworth wrote about daffodils in his beautiful poem, “Spring.” This
lyric poem was written in 1804 after he and his sister, Dorothy, came across a
field of daffodils in Grasmere, England. The poem was first published in 1807
and is a staple in my cache of spring poems. Once in England, during the
spring, I went to Grasmere to see the daffodils, and oh, they fill the
hillsides with outstanding beauty…just as Wordsworth said!
March does have its own wicked side as we think of Julius
Caesar. Of course, the murder of Julius Caesar on the 15th of March
gave us all the saying, “Beware the Ides of March.” We thank you William
Shakespeare for that bit of knowledge! Do you remember acting that out in
history class? At least for fun anyway as Caesar was stabbed 23 times. All I
can say is that he was warned!
March brings the Oscars to those of us who really care
about movies! Carolyn and I have been watching these award-winning movies for
years and spend the winter knee deep in movies. We don’t even wait for the
nominations! We start in the summer with the films we think will make the list.
This year we scored high on those films. Once the nominations are in, we begin
the frenzy of getting all of those films watched. It is not easy as we have to
move around quite a bit to movie theatres and some on-line. We watch as many as
we can at our local theatre, of course. The Brokaw is always our go-to, but we
must be creative to get to all the films. On Sunday, a group of us went to The
Tibbits to watch the animated shorts and documentaries. It is always fun to do
this in a group. We carry our hankies in our pockets and pull them out for this
film or that film. Some are so hard to watch, but all are important pieces of
our own culture. The attendance is sparse for this four-hour event, but I thank
The Tibbits for continually showing them. On Sunday night Carolyn and I, after
marking our own cards, will host our own Oscar party. It is always a fun winter
activity as we cross off movie after movie!
March brings St. Patrick’s Day and Easter which we will
chat about in the future. It also brings the dreaded turn our clocks back
(again!) on Sunday morning. I personally love the time right now, but alas,
alas.
When I was younger, I did not have good thoughts of March.
It was always a fickle time for snow or rain. How many times did we travel
through snowstorms for the basketball sectionals? But over the years of paying
attention to the land, to my gardens, I have learned to appreciate the beauty
of March just the way it is. My dad used to say that in March the faeries begin
their house cleaning, and if we are patient, with our ears to the ground, we can
hear them working. You probably don’t want to go that far but do enjoy March
for the hidden beauty which now springs forth.
Thank you.
The Trine University Theatre Company on closing night of The Matchmaker.
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