It's funny.....

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Not funny "haha", but funny "weird", "odd", "hard to describe".

My mother-in-law gave me my DH's high school class ring after we were married. DH smashed up his hand senior year in a football game and never was able to wear it again. It spent years in my jewelry box. I put it on the day they announced they were closing "our" school- the one he went to and where I taught so happily for 10 years. I wore it constantly until shortly before I started at my new school last fall.

I took the picture above yesterday. 

Last week I discovered a wonderful group- The American Soldier Memorial Project. They make hand-stitched memorials for the families of service men and women who died in Iraq and Afghanistan. I immediately thought that this would make a wonderful project for me for the summer. Sure, I have more WIPs (works in progress) than I can count already, but this one would have meaning.

I joined the group, and Tuesday evening I was emailing back and forth with the Pennsylvania rep about picking a name from their long list- there are way more heroes than there are stitchers volunteering. In between emails I checked my messages- and got a kick-in-the-stomach piece of news: another CD grad had died, this time in Afghanistan. John was from the class of 2009, and still only 19 years old. 



It turned into a long evening of reading messages and posts from the stunned CD community. The question, whispered before, was again asked: "Did closing us down also curse us?" It really is beginning to feel like it might be true.


At some point Tuesday night I emailed to the ASMP rep and told her to ignore all the previous emails- I now had a soldier to stitch for who was very personal to me. 


Since Tuesday night there have been newspaper and TV reports to read and watch, messages to answer and chats to try to comfort the kids. 



Next week there will be a funeral. Until then there is the sadness and the waiting.

I went to bed Tuesday night but was unable to sleep. I don't know what made me think to do it, but about 1AM I got up, went to my jewelry box, and put on the ring. It is large and heavy- a man's ring- and I am always aware of it when I wear it. I fell asleep almost immediately.

It's "just a piece of jewelry" is what anyone would say. I cannot explain. All I know is that I am again wearing "our" CD ring and somehow it has comforted me in the last few days. 

Losing Vince, age 18, to cancer in January was terrible. Losing Mark, age 19, two weeks later, to the gas explosion at which he was a first responder, was terrible. Losing John now, age 19, as a hero who died in the service of our country, is terrible.

Losing our school was an awful experience and continues to cause pain to so many. Not having a "home" as we go through these tragedies makes the pain a little worse and the grieving even more difficult. 

But I know that this wonderful community will again come through, this time for John's family and friends, and for one another. The ring reminds me that although the building may be closed, the REAL CD is in its people and their amazing spirit. As long as any of us are alive to remember and share that spirit, CD lives. And, in our memories, so do Vince and Mark and John.

What's New

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It's been a long time since I've been here. August was hectic- most of it good, some of it not so. 

Our landlord at our beloved "little house" at the shore died. He was a good man and a good friend and I will miss him. We do not know yet the disposition of the house, so we don't know if we will be able to go back.

Much of August was spent in Florida- with Auntie for almost a week, then a week at Disney World. We had a wonderful time throughout. We did some preliminary house-hunting in the area north of Tampa and found a neighborhood we really like- so we are that much closer to my dream of a home in Florida!

We drove home being chased up the coast by Hurricane Irene- it was an interesting trip, lol! I attended the funeral of the father of 3 of my students, who had died suddenly, the morning the hurricane started here. Lived through the hurricane with minimal damage, thank goodness, then as soon as the weather cleared, drove to the shore to attend our landlord's funeral the day after the hurricane.

We were able to spend Labor Day weekend at the shore and it was quiet and relaxing, except for all the packing up. 

Then came THE STRIKE! We, the Catholic high school teachers in Philadelphia, are on strike. The issues are too many to go into here, but it comes down to changes in work rules that would be so punitive that we could not agree. Those changes were proposed in March and in May we had a general meeting where the teachers voted unanimously to strike if certain clauses remained among the demands of the Office of Catholic Education. Well, come the end of August and OCE continued to demand their way. The teachers' union has offered, repeatedly, to work under the old contract with a mediator during continued negotiations, but the Archdiocese refused and closed the schools.

Now we are walking picket lines and kids are at home. OCE officials go on TV and talk to the newspapers and run us down. One of the Archdiocesan negotiators, an assistant superintendent, said on TV the other day that the union members "are not educators"! Parents are calling us lazy, greedy union thugs. How can I go in front of a class of students who have been hearing and reading all this? Needless to say, I am severely depressed.

Those who have read here for any length of time know how I feel about my students and my job. However, after the pain of the closing of Cardinal Dougherty, the stress of adjusting to a new school, and now this, I am so discouraged I don't know what to do. 


For now, I think I'll just go back to bed, pull the covers over my head, and wish it would all be a bad dream.

2012 in Review: Theatre Joys and Disappointments

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I've been thinking about this column all year long.  Literally.  From the first show I saw in 2012 - The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess - to the last - Annie - and all 35 other productions in between, I've been thinking about this column.  One of the things I've thought about is calling this a "Best of" and "Worst of" blog.  Why not?  Everyone else does one, right? Sure.  But, if you read my stuff regularly, you know that I am a firm believer that no complete theatre experience is completely bad.  Even the "worst" shows are of value; you can't fully appreciate excellence without the occasional sub-par experience at the very least.

And so... I've decided to share my 12 most joyful experiences  in the theatre (I couldn't cut it down to 10... I just couldn't!) and the 10 most disappointing that occurred between poor old Porgy and perky little Annie.




Joy #12: Bring It On: The Musical (Broadway) - xIt wasn't the movie.  And that makes me happy.  Interesting characters (including Broadway's first teen transgender person) and funny twists on silly stereotypes.  Oh.  And the amazing stunts.  Wow!  The first new musical of the season is still probably the best so far.  Too bad people stayed away in droves.  I had a great time.

Joy #11: Xanadu (Regional: Signature Theatre, Virginia) - Better than Broadway by a mile, and that's a lot, considering how much I loved the original production.  No wonder this place won a Tony.  They made this bit of fluff epic.

Joy #10: next to normal (Regional: Speak Easy, Boston, MA) - The Boston premiere was worth travelling to see.  The first production I saw that bore no resemblance to the Broadway production.  And it as awesome.  Plus, it was my first Michael Tacconi show!  (See Joy #6!)

Joy # 9: Chaplin: The Musical (Broadway) - Not perfect, but still amazing, I have to say I enjoyed this new musical just a tad more than Bring It On because it was dark, metaphorical and interesting to watch the whole time.  They had me at the show curtain, and kept me with the captivating performances of Jenn Colella and Christiane Noll.  Oh! And a guy named Rob McClure. Amazing in black and white AND color!


Disappointment #10: Leap of Faith (Broadway) - Interesting characters and a decent score don't erase the memory of the ugly set that took up too much space at the St. James.  Or the fact that at the last minute, they copped out.  A less pat ending would have been soooo much better.

Disappointment # 9: Annie (Broadway) - Not the worst production of this show, I was still disappointed in Katie Finneran and the malaise of mediocrity that pervades the entire production.  The stellar Anthony Warlow was worth seeing, but even Daddy Warbucks couldn't brighten this dull mess.


Joy # 8: Disney's Newsies (Broadway) - A surprisingly tight script, a really nice score and spectacular dancing by the best male dancers on Broadway make this an above-average musical.  But the equally tight staging, Jeremy Jordan, Ryan Steele, and Kara Lindsay and the cool reality instead of the usual Disney "magic" make this a pretty excellent musical.

Joy # 7: Venus in Fur (Broadway) - My nerves were on end for the entire 90 minutes.  When critics refer to a show as "electrifying," this is exactly what they mean.  And the chance to see to superb actors work through a complex script is what live theatre is all about for me.  Bravo! Hugh Dancy! Brava! Nina Arianda!


Disappointment # 8: On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (Broadway) - I couldn't wait to see this gem of a musical.  The score was great, and David Turner and Jessie Mueller were great.  But wow was Harry Connick, Jr. dull, the set was ugly, and the lighting a snooze.  But worst of all, the revised script was an insulting exercise in 'fraidy-cat compromise.  Who'd have thought Michael Mayer would be such a chicken?

Disappointment # 7: Jesus Christ Superstar (Broadway) - One of my favorite musicals ever, and the worst production of it I've ever seen.  Rock concert, my ass.  And I can't erase that Belle-goes-to-the-desert yellow get up they had Mary Magdalene in - plus, she was in it way too much.


Joy # 6: Carrie/Bare: The Musical (Off-Broadway) - I lumped these two together because they were, in my opinion, terrific examples of revisions and re-examinations of established works that actually improve upon the original.  That, and they share teenage characters that actually act like teenagers - severe angst, no-shades-of-gray thinking and hyper-sexuality.  When will the rest of the world realize that this is a positive portrayal, not a negative one?  Who wants to see average kids who talk like an encyclopedia and be worldly beyond their years?  Every teen show can't be Spring Awakening.

Joy # 5: Other Desert Cities (Broadway) - Ensemble acting, and engrossing, smart script and Stockard Channing and Judith Light going toe-to-toe... who could ask for anything more?  Well there was the jaw-dropping ending.  Icing on the cake!


Disappointment # 6: Into the Woods (Regional: Center Stage, Baltimore, MD) - Mediocrity never sets well with me.  A promising concept that lost steam and was dropped before the end of the first act ruined this boring production.  I never realized how much a lousy witch could effect the whole show...

Disappointment # 5: Nice Work If You Can Get It (Broadway) - Who could ask for anything more?  Audiences should, in this case.  Kelli O'Hara is the lone reason to see this otherwise thoroughly boring and half-assed production.  From the overrated Judy Kaye to the in-way-over-his-head Matthew Broderick, the cast seems on remote control, and everything about it has the whiff of a bus-and-truck (no offense to bus-and-truck shows), down to the recycled choreography and bland direction by the Queen of Mediocrity, Kathleen Marshall.


Joy # 4: Dogfight (Off-Broadway) - A small show by newcomers, directed by a champion, and starring an amazing cast of New York's finest of the next generation, this gem was perfectly rendered and a sweet emotional roller coaster.  Derek Klena and Lindsay Mendez are luminescent individually and generate beautiful heat together.  RECORD THIS SHOW, PLEASE!

Joy # 3: Peter and the Starcatcher (Broadway) - Brilliant.  Story.  Staging.  Acting.  Scenery.  Costumes.  The complete, brilliant theatrical picture.  I was moved, captivated and transported.  My inner Peter Pan met my outer grown-up and guess what?  They both loved it.


Disappointment # 4: The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess (Broadway) - Ugly, too stereotypical - why no one was offended, I'll never know - and not nearly as edgy as it thought it was, even the decent work turned in by Audra and Norm couldn't rescue this overwrought snooze-fest.  The poster is stunning.  The show, not  so much.

Disappointment # 3: Now. Here. This. (Off-Broadway) -This season's very definition of disappointment.   As much as I adored [title of show], I was disappointed by this self-indulgent, self-consciously clever show was everything the first show wasn't.  Hunter, Jeff, Heidi and Susan believed that their own press was true.  Sad, but true.

Disappointment # 2: Clybourne Park (Broadway) - Really?  Why everyone is all over this one like it is the Second Coming, I'll never know.  Only mildly humorous, this overtly "racist-for-a-cause" button-pusher is about as subtle and ground-breaking as a construction site.  Lorraine Hansberry must be turning in her grave.


Joy # 2: Once (Broadway) - A sublime, beautiful and stunningly human experience.  My soul was touched, and it aches even at the memory.  It deserved every award it got and more.


Disappointment # 1: Scandalous (Broadway) - I've already written too much about this.  So I'll spare you more.  Happy holidays.


Joy # 1: The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Broadway) - Probably my favorite musical of all time, this revival takes me back to the terrific original, and makes me almost forget it.  Let's face it.  When they revive your favorite show, it is very risky.  And this was worth the risk.  The best cast on Broadway knocks this clever, rousing, and even occasionally moving show right out of the park! It does everything a piece of theater can do that a movie can't.  Drood is the reason I love live theatre over film.  It is nice to get to remember that once in awhile.


And REMEMBER: As always, I welcome your comments and your own "winners."  Write in (jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com), Tweet me (@jkstheatrescene), or leave a comment below!  I look forward to hearing from all of you!

RELATED ARTICLES:

• The Best and Worst of 2012: Non-performance Categories HERE
• 2012 in Review: Top Broadway News Story #2: Les Miserables (The Movie) HERE
• 2012 in Review: Top Broadway News Story #3: Rebecca HERE

Jeff4.119

2012 in Review: The Best of the Best: The Performance Categories

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The other day, I posted my annual Year in Review Best/Worst Non-Performance Categories.  You can see that HERE.  Today, I present to you my favorite performances in a variety of categories, most of which you'd never see on the Tonys.  Here are 42 winners in 40 categories (there were 2 ties)!

As always, I welcome your comments and your own "winners."  Write in (jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com), Tweet me (@jkstheatrescene), or leave a comment below!  I look forward to hearing from all of you!

THE BEST (AND WORST) OF THE 2012 THEATRESCENE: 
PERFORMANCE




BestDebut (Play): Rachel Griffiths, Other Dessert Cities – The TV star proved she has live theatrechops to spare.  ABOVEBestDebut (Musical): Anthony Warlow, Annie – The international musical star finally made it to Broadway! ABOVEBestChild Actor: Zachary Unger, Chaplin – Adorable and legitimately excellent, there’s not a dryeye in the place when he turns on the waterworks!  ABOVEBestUnderstudy: Taylor Richardson, Annie – She’s the third-string Annie, but she knows what she’sdoing.  See her name on a slip in your Playbill, and know you are in goodhands!



MostUnder-Appreciated Actor: Adam Chanler-Berat, Peter and the Starcatcher – Tough tohold your own against Christian Borle, his sweat and his ‘stache.  But Adam did just that.  Did anyone notice?  I did! ABOVE TOPMostUnder-Appreciated Actress: Caissie Levy, Ghost: The Musical – Of the four major leads in the show, she hasthe least exciting role.  But I can stillfeel her grief all these months later.  ABOVE CENTERMostUnder-Appreciated Cast: Bring It On: The Musical – They are great from the top of thepyramid to the bottom.  They are in thebest musical no one saw.  ABOVE BOTTOM



BestChemistry: Guy and Girl, aka Steve Kazee and Cristin Milioti, Once ABOVE TOPBestCast Chemistry: BringIt On: The Musical – Talk about having each others’ backs!  The death-defying acts, the cool choreography…they are a solid unit.TheGrin-and-Bear-It Award (Cast): Scandalous – I’m embarrassed for them.  But they still showed up for 8 a week andgave it 100%.  ABOVE CENTERTheGrin-and-Bear-It Award (Individual): Elena Roger, Evita – She’s not quite the sensationhere that she was on the other side of the pond… ABOVE BOTTOM




BestDancing by a Non-Dancer in a Musical: Judy Kaye, Nice Work If You Can Get It -  OK. Maybe she’s doesn’t so much dance asdangle from that chandelier, but it did win her a Tony Award. ABOVE TOPBestNew Song Written for a Broadway Musical: TIE “With You” fromGhost: The Musical and “All FallsDown” from Chaplin ABOVE TOP CENTERBestNew Song Written for an Off-Broadway Musical: TIE: “Dogfight”and “First Date/Last Night” both from Dogfight  ABOVE BOTTOM CENTERBestUnderscoring: Peterand the Starcatcher BOTTOM



BestProps in a Play: Venusin Fur – Was I the only one terrified by what else might be in Nina Arianda’s bag?  ABOVE TOPBestProps in a Musical: Silence!– As endlessly inventive as the entire production.  They did an entire film parody on about a$50.00 prop budget and it was awesome!  ABOVE CENTERBestBody Part: Legs – As in LEG LAMPS! From A Christmas Story: The Musical ABOVE BOTTOM



BestKiss (Straight): Sam and Molly in Ghost: The Musical = sexy and romantic! ABOVE TOPBestKiss (Gay): Jason and Peter in Bare: The Musical Does Jason Hite kiss like that in real life?  If so, sign me up!  ABOVE CENTERBestKiss That Never Happens: Guy and Girl in Once. Has not kissing ever been sexier or romantic?  ABOVE BOTTOM


BestUnderwear (Play): Nina Arianda in Venus in Fur ABOVE TOP LEFTBestUnderwear (Musical): Jason Hite and Taylor Trensch’s boxerbriefs in Bare: The Musical ABOVE BOTTOMBestShirtless Moment: Richard Fleeshman in Ghost: The Musical – Duh.  So hot, it even made a talk show!  ABOVE TOP RIGHT





Teacher of the Year: Sister Joan (Missi Pyle) in Bare: The Musical – Compassionate AND sassy – the perfect combination. TOPBestVillain (Male): Carl Bruner (Bryce Pinkham) in Ghost: The Musical – He was nasty inpretty much any way you can be nasty.  TOP SECONDBestVillain (Female): Rita Lyons (Linda Lavin) in The Lyons – Cold.  Ruthless.  Funny as Hell.  TOP THIRDBestBathroom Scene: “Delishious” Eileen Evergreen (JenniferLaura Thompson) and the Bubble Boys and Girls in Nice Work If You Can Get It BOTTOM







BestVictor/Victoria (Musical):Edwin Drood/Alice Nutting (Stephanie J. Block in The Mystery of Edwin Drood) ABOVE FIRSTBestVictor/Victoria (Play):Rachel Crabbe (Jemima Rooper in One Man,Two Guvnors) ABOVE SECONDInthe HeightsAward for Best Use of a Cell Phone: Bare: The Musical ABOVE THIRDBestPeter Parker Rise Above Award: Candy Buckley in Scandalous – Talk about your silk purse…TheBloody Bloody Award for Best Use of StageBlood: Carrie: The Musical– E I E I O  ABOVE FOURTHTheCats Award for Best Use of Junk:From proscenium to set, Peter and theStarcatcher – Talk about going green!  ABOVE FIFTH



The70,Girls,70 Award for Senior Power (Actor):James Earl Jones in The Best Man ABOVE TOPThe70,Girls,70 Award for Senior Power (Actress):Angela Lansbury in The Best Man  ABOVE CENTERThe70,Girls,70 Award for Senior Power (bya non-Senior): Tom Edden in One Man, Two Guvnors  - Noneof these three act their age, that’s for sure!  ABOVE BOTTOM



The“Say a Little Prayer” Award for Too Much of a Good Thing:  PLEASE…a reprieve from anything Gershwin…TheAlice Ripley Award for Acting Intensity: Christian Borle as BlackStache in Peter and the Starcatcher.  The sweat proved it!TheScottsboro Boys Award for Too Short aRun: Chaplin: TheMusicalTheBaby It’s You/Shirelles Award forBack Up Singer Excellence: The Angels of Mercy in Leap of Faith
RELATED ARTICLES:

• The Joys and Disappointments of 2012 HERE
• The Best and Worst of 2012: Non-performance Categories HERE
• 2012 in Review: Top Broadway News Story #2: Les Miserables (The Movie) HERE
• 2012 in Review: Top Broadway News Story #3: Rebecca HERE

Jeff4.120