Summer is over - bring it.

I didn’t want to admit that summer is over…but I see that David Letterman is doing a bit about summer being over…so it must be true. Classes start for me tomorrow. Ugh…back to work. Summer really is over. It’s a sad fact. I know, some of you are thinking “Jerk, at least you get a summer break.” Well, to you sir or madam I say, “we all make choices. You could have chosen to be an educator. You could also have summers off. You made your own bed, now lay in it. Don’t blame me.”

I do have some sympathy and empathy for you. But I won’t accept blame. Sorry.

So, the students are back on campus. My syllabi are printed (mostly – I have a couple “corrections” to make). Parking lots around campus are full again. It is an exciting time of year. I remember when I was a kid I was always excited to see my old friends – maybe meet new friends. I also used to love getting my new locker. August and September were full of new beginnings.

Now I am looking forward to my new students – and of course seeing my old students. I am excited to see how the dynamic of my classes will be different. I am excited to start our new season. I am excited for all the other projects I am getting into this year.

Of course I am sad about summer being over. It always seems to go so quickly. One day you are excited for Wimbledon to start – then all of a sudden you are crying because the US Open has started. Summer is full of projects. Some get finished…some get started…some never leave the “honey-do” list. Summer is the time of year when you are so busy doing nothing that you feel too busy to do anything. You can stress about relaxing while relaxing without stress. It is an amazingly paradoxical time.

As I mentioned though, the beginning of fall is fun. I look forward to cooler days. I almost miss sweaters. Not yet…but in a few weeks I will be longing for that wool that I haven’t seen since early March. Then will come the wonderful season that is fall. The pumpkins, the leaves, October baseball – the excitement of college basketball – then the wonderful time that is Christmas! So many things to look forward to.

So, as I venture off to my “first” day of work for the year – I am excited. I feel like I spent a lot of my summer dreading this day – and now that it is hours away – I cannot wait! There are so many great things to come. Bring it on first day of classes. This year I am ready for you. My syllabus may have holes, my lectures may still need tightening – but my attitude is just right this year…I think…

I reserve the right to cuss and scorn this blog after things completely fall apart tomorrow.

Another show...another set of reviews

Cardinal Stage opened its holiday family musical A Year with Frog and Toad last Friday night. The Herald-Times' declared that the Buskirk-Chumley Theater was "thoroughly invaded by giddy, laughing adults and their children" and WFIU called Cardinals' Frog and Toad "a magically realized production."

In his Herald-Times review, Glenn Kaufmann has more to say:

Hard on the heels of its acclaimed production of Unveiling, Cardinal Stage has once again shown its ability to mindfully produce thought-provoking, visually inventive, yet universally appealing theater. From the minute you enter the lobby, where children are presented with frog beanbags, you can't help but get caught up in the kid-friendly ambiance. And once you enter the already enchanting Buskirk-Chumley Theater, Gordon Strain's nuanced and deliciously textured sets spirit you away. Alexandra Morphet's clever costumes manage to keep children giggling and parents laughing.

WFIU's George Walker agrees, calling the set "eye catching" and the costumes "colorful and imaginative." Mr. Walker goes on to add that Esther Widlandski's "lively choreography" was "just the right mix of simplicity and cleverness."

Both reviewers also weigh in on the acting. Mr. Kaufmann notes that, "Mike Price (Frog) and Chris Aruffo (Toad) do a fantastic job of portraying their parts, but more important, have chemistry that makes their friendship seem a living, breathing entity all its own — almost a third character on stage." Mr. Walker adds that, "Mike Price was a totally engaging as Frog and was equally matched by his slightly shyer but still outgoing friend Toad played by Chris Aruffo." Walker adds that, "Anjanette Armstrong, Phoebe Spier and Alex Shotts made up the trio of birds who dramatically and tunefully set the seasons of the year," and "Shotts had the repeat comic turns of the night as the slow moving, but dedicated 'snail with the mail.'"

Mr. Kauffmann adds that A Year with Frog and Toad has "a very tight ensemble that is capable of simultaneously entertaining the children and imparting just the right measure of seriousness when the moment calls for it." Kaufmann concludes by saying that, "in the end, White and his team have done a remarkable job creating a "children's" play that is a visual treat, teaches children (and adults) a number of life lessons, and is just plain fun to watch. ?

While the kids in the audience were the focus of the evening, Mr. Walker concludes his glowing review by noting that, "it was the greyer heads that started the standing ovation at the curtain call." Cardinal Stage's production of A Year with Frog and Toad is definitely for all ages!

A Year with Frog and Toad plays the Buskirk-Chumley this Friday at 7:30pm and Saturday at 2pm and 7:30pm. Tickets are available at the Sunrise Box Office (812 323 3020), bloomingtonarts.info, and at Bloomingfoods East.

Unveiling - NYC style

Dear friends,

As you know from my never ending posts - I have recently designed a set for Unveiling and it is running as part of the Havel festival in NYC right now.

I have just recieved the review - and it is glowing. So, if you are in the area - try to see it. If not...well, here is the review anyway.

nytheatre.com review

Ivanna Cullinan · November 2, 2006

It is a truth universally acknowledged that when people redecorate, they need to show off. What happens when a person visits friends for the grand reveal of their new décor and discovers that their next project is him? That's the lot of the hapless Vanek in Vaclav Havel's Unveiling. The Cardinal Stage Company's production of this work at the Ohio Theater is rich with detailed delights and well directed throughout, the laughs abound.

Unveiling can be performed as a humorous commentary on a man marginalized, stuck in his job at a brewery and taunted with the life he could be living; making indirect reference to Havel's own forced work at a brewery under the Czech communist regime. But the text succeeds as a worthy comedy in its own right without contextual overlay and this production revels in its rich, absurd possibilities. Here, repetitions of text are as much comic incantations as they may be code for government sponsored this-is-the-good-life-we offer-you propaganda. The production is a full-on commitment to hilarity and a friendly evening that questions all motivations.

When the slightly baffled and somewhat depressed Vanek arrives at the apartment of Vera and Michael, they present their new look with the fervor of HGTV-addicts. It starts as an enthusiastic display of the finds acquired from various methods, including "when they liquidated a church!" Passionately extolling the artful tension between where they have hung the scimitar above the fireplace in juxtaposition to the gothic Madonna, Vera and Michael have a wondering seriousness that is deliciously absurd. Their behavior rapidly escalates into a praise-fest for each other and a paean to their lifestyle. As the evening rapidly approaches the night-out-from-hell level, they run through rants of parental pride and an excessively candid, hysterically audacious discussion of their sex life. There appears to be no limit to their efforts to engage Vanek to dance, to drink, to come on over to their way of life. All the while these efforts are controlled by the chiming of a (gorgeously hideous) baroque clock. Its chimes and implied commentary seem to goad and divert the efforts of Michael and Vera, somehow organizing the insanity.

All of this mania could devolve into a pleasant but forgettable trifle without the considerable talents of this cast. As played by Diana Kondrat, Vera is a woman who would make Phyllis Schlafly proud. She is buoyant and charming and utterly unrelenting in her persuasive efforts. Her continual pleasant but pointed digs at Vanek's absent wife Ava would be the envy of any sorority girl, as their humorous bitchiness comes from a place of being in Vanek's best interests, of course. Her husband, Michael (deftly performed by Bill Simmons) is the perfect partner for Vera, this smooth operator is her biggest advocate—and in a truly stinging indictment of the perils of Communist repression, a hearty promoter of Swiss pop. The object of all this energetic proselytizing, Vanek, is played with wonderful economy by Mike Price. His politely restrained yet evocative facial reaction when treated to one of Vera's special hors d'œuvres was one of the most beautiful takes I have seen in some time.

Randy White has directed clearly and with a pace that is brisk, excited, detailed, and, even better, never lingers without cause. Production designer Gordon Strain has done fine work in creating a look which requires very few pieces but fits together so well that objects to which the characters only refer to verbally seem visible. Although all of Amanda Bailey's costumes are perfectly character-specific and communicative, a special mention must be made of the black and green short/skirt piece which adorns Vera. It is a stunning combination, evoking '70s chic with an Eastern European flair that is almost worth the price of admission by itself.

Although after seeing this Unveiling, you might pause when considering the next social invitation, do not pause when considering whether or not to see this show. Catch it while you can!

Copyright ©2006 The New York Theatre Experience, Inc. All rights reserved.