A Friday Link-o-Rama, And Some Reviews!

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Lots of good things the last couple of weeks –

Here’s a nice article about the 10th Season at Williamston Theatre!

Speaking of Williamston Theatre, we opened Rounding Third, reviews have been great!

Along with praising the wonderful actors in the show, Lansing State Journal says I have “expert storytelling abilities”, which I’m totally reminding my wife and kids next time they tell me I’m talking too much!

In addition, Encore Michigan had great things to say about the show.

Prince has a new album out.  It’s a self-described “experiment”, because it doesn’t sound like a lot of folks expect a Prince album to sound like, I guess.  That’s an interesting thing, though, because there are a lot of his 38 albums that don’t sound like any of his other albums – his “sound” changes quite a bit.  It’s a fun album though and, interestingly, he only released it (for now anyway) on the streaming service Tidal.  Here’s an interesting EW article about it.  And if you like that, here’s one about how he just played a small gig for Madonna!

Other fun things: My pal Joe and I are still doing the ridiculous and fun podcast Central City Underground for Golden Spiral Media.  We just started season 2 of that great CW superhero show, The Flash.  If you need a refresher on Season One, here it is!  If you want to check out the latest episode of the podcast, that’s right here!

And lastly – I am getting more and more excited for the next installment of Sherlock!  This trailer is beautiful!

Have a good weekend everybody.  Celebrate Everything!

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A Little Time In The Woods

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6:15pm. 

Sitting on a bench in the woods, overlooking Lake Genevieve.

I’m in Park Lyndon South, just minutes from my house. A couple of hours walking the dirt trails and breathing. 

It’s beautiful. Peaceful. Crickets chirping and insects buzzing. A few Canadian Geese fly overhead, honking their way past. 

  Old wooden steps to my right lead 10 yards down through the brush to the lake edge – old railroad ties that look like they’ve been here as many decades as this wooden bench has. 

I smell the air. A deep breath. It’s perfect. I take the 10 or 15 paces down to the lake, pushing through some overgrown ferns and branches.  As I step off the bottom step and onto the shore right at water’s edge, a tiny -adorable- squeak of alarm sounds, and a couple dozen tiny frogs (toads?) jump off lily pads into the water. Despite the warning of their Guard Frog, many of them pop back up into nearby logs or lily pads, and watch me… I feel judged. 

 I stand at the shore for a minute, listening. Birds and crickets and the wind through the trees. Susurrus. A beautiful word, susurrus. It means a whispering, a murmuring, a rustling. A great word for the sound of standing by a quiet lake in the middle of the forest. 

  A mosquito buzzes my ear. I take it as a reminder: “My friends and I are going to make you wish you’d brought bug spray and left 15 minutes earlier, pal.”  

I stay anyway, returning to my bench for a few more minutes. Breathing. Listening. I take a couple pictures. Reluctantly, I leave my bench and head down the path.

 But, a few minutes later along the trail…. What’s this?  A path leading to another part of the lake?  With a little wooden dock?  

I’ll go home, sure.  But, before that… a couple more minutes of this. 
 

 

Pic Post Wednesday

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Pictures!  JFF! (Just For Fun. Wait, is JFF a thing? Probably not… That’s okay, it is today. Today, everyone, is Make Up Your Own Acronym Day! MUYOAD!  Go on, try it! JFF.)

Back to posting random pictures from life! 

  
Here’s our in-progress set for ROUNDING THIRD (design by Amber Marisa Cook).  We’re in rehearsals now. Note the newly smooth back wall – we finally got rid of the old “chimney” bump out in our upstage wall!  Hooray for renovations that make the theatre better!

  
Maggie and I took the dogs for a walk in the wooded trails near our house. How lucky are we, to have such beautiful places so near our house?  One more thing to be grateful for. That, and the chance to just hang out with my daughter in the woods for an hour, enjoying nature!

  
Speaking of enjoying things, the “Almost English” breakfast at the Plaid Melon is an awesome meal. 

  
This is Dale. Dale is a member of the Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein.  Apparently I’m a member too, as I and all the members of the audience were given name tags when we bought our tickets to see the play 5 Lesbians Eating A Quiche, in which Dale and 4 of her friends are the main attraction. This show is hilarious and wonderful, and you have only this weekend left to catch it at The Ringwald Theatre in Ferndale, MI. GO! (Thanks to Meredith “Dale” Deighton for letting me take her picture as she was greeting guests and taking our pictures as part of some pre-show fun.)

  
Sometimes a good play is accompanied by a good martini. Dirty, with extra olives. 

 
 Also, I almost forgot to post about The Wilde Awards! John Lepard and I won for our work onstage as brothers in The Best Brothers! It’s a treat to have someone recognize your work, and I’m honored to be a part of that show. John carried the show, I had a blast bouncing around the set  as his little brother Kyle, harassing him. 🙂  Williamston Theatre took home another award, also, when Emily Sutton-Smith won for Best Actress In A Comedy! Yay Emily! Win or lose, the awards night is always a great time: Getting to see so many folks, all of whom are deeply invested in so many theatre projects all over the state – that’s an incredibly inspiring thing, and I’m always grateful for the passion and energy that fills the event. 
  
Have A Great Week, Everyone!  (HAGWE!)

4 a.m.

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It’s a few minutes after 4 in the morning.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been awake at this time of the night.  I was sleeping well – we turned the air conditioning off and opened the windows tonight, so there was a gentle breeze coming in.  Still, I occasionally have a “hospital dream”, where I’m back in the hospital, and tonight I had one of those.  Not a scary one, just one where I knew I was dreaming, and knew I didn’t want to be back in the hospital, so I woke up… and suddenly I’m wide awake.  The breeze through the window felt good, and it carried some of my favorites sounds of all, the sound of frogs and crickets, coyotes howling in the fields and woods across the street.  The nighttime sounds of summer blended with the gentle sounds of my wife sleeping next to me.

Got a drink of water, walked around the house just to check, make sure things were all right.  FlipFlop, our little 4-year old dog, heard me moving and followed me into the kitchen.  Once he’d determined that I was just getting water, and not a snack for him, he sighed loudly and padded back into the bedroom.

I checked the kids.  Both are sound asleep, although I know Max was up late reading tonight.  Max.  He started driver’s education last week.  I look back at the timeline of our life and still wonder at how it’s possible for him to be old enough for driver’s ed… He’ll do well, but the Dad in me worries anyway.

Maggie is sleeping.  More change is on the way there, too.  We’ve spent lots of time this summer visiting college campuses with her, trying to help as she decides where to go to college.  Less than a year and she’ll be graduating High School.  Again, I scroll back through the past 17 years… yep, they happened.  She’s officially old enough to graduate.  I close her bedroom door quietly, and stand in the hallway for a moment, just shaking my head.

I get another drink of water.  It’s cold, and feels good.  Standing here at the sink, looking out the window, the nighttime sounds are louder.  Are those katydids?  I forget which is which – katydids, crickets, frogs, I’m sure there’s something else out there too.  I’ll ask Jeanne, she’s the science teacher, she’ll know.  All I know is I love the sound.

I think about change.  Another few weeks, the sounds of summer will fade.  In a couple of weeks we start rehearsals for our tenth season at the theatre.  At the same time school will start for the kids and Jeanne.  An exciting time, so much possibility.  The excitement, the nervousness – how will it all turn out?  Where will we all be a year from now, when we’re closing out a decade of Williamston Theatre? When our home has only one kid in high school, and the other is planning to move out and start her adult life?  Will we be happy with the year we’ve had?  Will we feel we’ve accomplished enough over the year?  I wonder.

It occurs to me to ask those questions of myself, about the year I’ve just had.  With kids in school, a teacher for a wife, and a theatre season that runs September through August, this time of year has always felt like it’s as much a line in the sand as New Year’s Eve does.  A boundary, from old to new.

But tonight won’t be about answering those questions.  Now it’s time to get some more sleep.  I’m sure I’ll have to scoot FlipFlop off my side of the bed when I get back – he’ll sigh again, and drop himself into his own little bed next to the dresser, disappointed that I’ve reclaimed my spot…

And with a little luck, the frogs and crickets will lull me to sleep.

Crickets? Katydids?  Maybe I’ll remember to ask Jeanne.