ALL GOOD THINGS   by Barbara Biddison

Well, these good things are not, to my knowledge, coming to an end, in
any  permanent sort of way,  but both have reached a point when we
appreciate the "intermission" where we gather our thoughts and reflect
on what we've accomplished.  Always a good thing to do.

Sunday afternoon, May 21, featured the HG Spring Choir at the
Presbyterian Church.  It was packed.  I sat in the back row, could see
perfectly and hear pleasurably.    We heard CHILDREN'S CHOIR TOO, and
these littlest ones are not only fun to listen to but lovely to watch
as well.  It is a joy to see children that young actually paying
attention to their director.  And we heard CHILDREN'S CHOIR (which is
next up in age and the first group when HG kids began singing).  And
then the YOUTH CHOIR  which is basically high school gals and guys.
Such concerts always take me back to my own long-ago high school days
in Mc Allen High School where we had an extraordinary director who
rehearsed our ACapella Choir before school because so many football
players wanted to sing and football practice was after school.  Then
he added the Methodist Church to his choir directing, and we all
became Methodists for the time.  These music experiences live for a
long time with a person.

Now for the other regular programming that has gone on break for the
summer.  Acting Up began in2002 and Larry and I began co-coordinating
this idea in 2005.  It is still going  now with very few changes in
concept.  We get together and we read aloud.  No memorizing.  Just
speaking with expression and listening.  The basic format each 2nd and
4th Tuesday of the month is simple.  All who gather are invited to
find and practice a short bit to offer to the group.  Everyone listens
to these offerings with interest and appreciation.  Then whichever of
the two of us is "in charge"  provides copies of a short play or
several poems or anything that "reads aloud well."  We never know
who's going to show up.  Numbers range from 8 to 20, but about 12-18
is usual.  Some  stay with us for decades and others just show up and
continue when they can.  So now we are on break for the summer.  We're
meeting on the 2nd floor of the Deane Center now, in one of the
smaller group rooms.  It's handicapped accessible in every way.
including elevator as well as stairs.  This kind of reading and
listening stays with a person for a long time as well.  Good things.

​

Frost and Thompson and Brandt and Wordle by Thomas Putnam

The NYT Wordle word the other day was “staid.” I mentioned on FB that I liked the word; it seems hopeful to me, even comforting. A person commented that it's in one of the songs that the Festival Chorus at MU is singing in a few weeks; lyrics a poem by Robert Frost with music by Randall Thompson. It's the last word in the last song of the song cycle called “Frostiana.”

The song is “Choose Something Like a Star” and it ends like this:
      It asks of us a certain height,
      So when at times the mob is swayed
      To carry praise or blame too far,
      We may choose something like a star
      To stay our minds on and be staid.

It could very well be my imagination, but it seems like there is increasing incidence these days wherein the “mob is swayed to carry praise or blame too far.” Public opinion seems to change direction as quickly as the climate-changed wind veers one way and then another way and then back again.

We're producing a play this September called Elephant's Graveyard by George Brandt. It is a disturbing play. It is a play wherein the “mob is swayed to carry praise or blame too far.”

I saw a play at the Geva in Rochester last week about Russian manipulation of American social media in a recent election. Oh, my. It seems evident that our American mob was indeed, swayed.

Frost suggests we choose something like a star. Something steadfast. Something that can use language we can comprehend. This “something” does, indeed, ask a little of us here; we have some responsibility. But, oh to have something we can go to, depend upon; something “to stay our minds on and be staid.”

I hope we can dialogue about this in the coming months. I urge you to join me at the Festival Chorus Concert in late April at MU. I urge you to get tickets to see Elephant's Graveyard in September. I urge you to stop and chat about it when you see me on the street. Heck, I even urge you to play Wordle every morning. And I invite you to “choose something like a star.”

 I'LL BET YOU'LL EXIT LAUGHING  by Barbara Biddison​

On Wednesday night I saw a "next-to-final dress rehearsal" for this Hamilton-Gibson comedy called EXIT LAUGHING There were 4 of us in the chairs that we hope to have filled  on Friday night.  My favorite
comments from two of them when the show was over were variations on "Now, that was funny!"

The three bridge-playing women have been gathering together for years and they have come together to mourn the loss of the fourth  She's gone , but her ashes have arrived and somehow found their way to the house where the foursome played together.  We don't know what the fourth member was like, but we soon see how different the other three are.  It makes for lively and crazy interactions .As well as for wondering how the deceased woman's ashes got there, and  what to do about it.

There is also the daughter who lives in that house, and she makes it clear that her lovelife is in shambles and there is no hope for her to ever have any kind of guy and everything is ruined!  Then in walks a
fellow who has taken on a pretty unusual job in order to earn money for his very ambitious future plans.  These five carry the show  with the help of a cat that we never see and one dead person's ashes.

Now I'm just assuming and hoping that we'll have a fine night for opening on Friday and that this wonderful cast can play to a full house.  I plan to be there.  I should also mention that HG has gone
back to two Sunday matinee shows instead of just one.  I think I'll see it again on the second Sunday just to see what it's like, and because I like to see shows twice.  This is a fine cast.  It's been a while since we have seen Natalie Kennedy,, and it is a pleasure to see Deb Sawyer back on the HG stage again. And a couple first-timers too. I encourage all to step out for an evening of good humor.

WHERE WERE YOU WHEN YOU HEARD PAUL MCCARTNEY DIED? By Thomas Putnam

I can remember when the news broke about Paul McCartney's death. I had this huge wave of despair and emptiness and heavy sadness. I can remember where I was, lying on the couch in our living room. Somehow, however, I seem to remember it in the living room of my childhood and not the one of my high school years; somehow the dates don't match up. I know I couldn't have imagined such news, but how do the dates not match up? The rumor began, I think in '66 and really gained speed in '69.

Radio and records were not really a big thing for me when I was growing up. The Beatles were certainly part of the landscape, and I clearly remember watching the Ed Sullivan Show in '64 and wondering why everyone was screaming, but thinking “Oh, that would be kinda cool to have everyone screaming for me.” Yeah...well...at that point I couldn't play guitar or drums or write songs; though I wasn't particularly thrilled with “Yeah, yeah, yeah” as anything of much worth.

A whole host of forgotten memories have been flooding back the past few months as the HG Choirs prepare for an “All Beatles” concert on March 18 and 19. I'm not sure how the idea came about, but one morning as I was slowly waking up (slowly seems to be the operative word these days for my mornings) the thought kept wafting through my brain that there are so many incredibly good songs written by the Beatles that our HG kids ought to sing some of them.

A REALITY CHECK hit me when I realized that some of these songs are nearly 60 years old. These kids weren't born yet. Heck, some of their parents and grandparents hadn't been born yet. I'm seeing this as an educational experience for these kids who love to sing. As I began to introduce the songs to them, a few kids admitted they had never even heard of the Beatles, let alone such haunting tunes and lyrics found in “Eleanor Rigby” or “Yesterday.” I asked them a few weeks ago what was the appeal of the song “Blackbird” and one of them said “It's comforting.” One said they could identify with Eleanor Rigby, “...wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door.” And “Ob La Di Ob La Da” sure is a lot of fun to sing. And what is the back story to these characters: Jude and Eleanor and Lucy and Desmond?

Yeah, I remember when I heard that McCartney had died, but I'm so glad he didn't and I'm so glad that I can explore these songs with cool harmonies and haunting melodies and challenging lyrics with the HG singers. (Well, maybe not “yeah, yeah, yeah.”) Hope you can join us and Penny Eckman and Houston Baker and his band on March 18 and 19 at the Coolidge.

WHERE WE ARE, TWO WEEKS OUT by Thomas Putnam


So, two weeks from tonight we're opening a show. One of my sons (now mid-30s) has always said that the few weeks prior to a show opening I was a total nut case, a mess, a distracted lack-of-a-father. He's still talking to me, so I guess he survived a multitude of “the few weeks prior.” At first I rejected his assessment, but I've come to realize that it's a true one.


So where are we, two weeks out? Well... The set is getting close to being finished: walls are painted, most of the furniture has been located and now inhabits the stage, lights and sound still need some very focused attention. Costumes are contemporary, so not a big concern...except a few novelty items, but they've been ordered from eBay and are on the way. And the cast?


We're at the place where I sit back and admire my casting ability. Actually, it's more like overflowing with gratitude that these folks auditioned and are perfect for their roles. The process of the whole production is probably the most fulfilling for me. To begin with five people—actually we began with three of the five cast members and just recently secured the other two—who had not worked together before and who have a wide variety of acting experience and who have lives that sometimes don't allow them to be present for rehearsals and who slowly begin to memorize lines and find a character, and who now, two weeks before opening are cracking me up with their easy repartee with each other and their delivery of lines and engagement with the scene...well...it's glorious.


Last night we had a very cool rehearsal. We're digging into a portion of the play that has been less visited than others and slowly worked through it. To take those words on a page and turn them into something alive and fun and meaningful and honest is something wonderful.


Two weeks out? We're at the place now where I can hope everyone will see this production. There's plenty to chew on and admire and appreciate, and there's plenty of laughs to help you through these gray days of late winter. EXIT LAUGHING...wouldn't we all like to. See you in two weeks.