Monday Night Quotes: Simplicity

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After a great weekend of previews for The Understudy, and a nice night playing games with my family, I’m reminded of the importance of simplicity. (It seems to be a recurring theme in the giant pile of things I keep learning and re-learning over and over!)

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.
-Hans Hofmann

Seek simplicity but distrust it.
-Alfred North Whitehead

Simplicity does not precede complexity, but follows it.
-Alan Perlis

Simplicity is natures first step, and the last of art.
-Philip James Bailey

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Wednesday Pic Post: Fun in May

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So, life is busy. Starting performances of The Understudy this week, my son had his 12th birthday, my daughter and wife just got back from a trip to Washington DC where they did all sorts of cool things. Busy, but good!

Here’s a fun video from Tech Day of The Understudy, at Williamston Theatre:

And from tech day, here’s a shot of a fun little corner of the set that I like!

And a picture that I like a lot from the show:
(Michelle Held, me, Drew Parker)

Also, my friend Michelle (who is in The Understudy, and pictured above), did a photoshoot for a talented photographer, Chris Arace, and I think this is a really cool picture!

Click on the picture to go to his website!

Maggie, hugging a panda bear statue. I love this picture! 🙂

A couple more shots from Max’s birthday party:
Everyone who came got moustaches to wear. Just because. And, as you can see, they took them very seriously.

and…
Here’s a handful of the party-goers relaxing outside!

I hope everyone out there is having as wonderful a week as I am! 🙂

The simple reminders

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I like this a lot, and it’s worth re-posting once in a while, because it’s worth remembering once in a while!

Things to remember:
1) The worth of character;
2) The improvement of talent;
3) The influence of example;
4) The joy of origination;
5) The dignity of simplicity;
6) The success of perseverance.

Marshall Field (1834-1906)

Sunday Night Quotes: Growing/Playing… and some rambling

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People tend to forget that play is serious. -David Hockney

My son had his birthday party this weekend, the “kids” party, where he got to invite a bunch of friends over to spend the night. He’s turning 12 in a couple of days. (Wow, those years went by quickly.) He asked for a Hunger Games party, since he’s read the books and seen the movie… so we set up a Hunger Games party!

Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold. -Joseph Chilton

Our yard and our neighbors yard were the battle arena. There were about 14 kids, all using foam swords, lots of Nerf dart-guns, and foam balls to throw at each other. They each wore 3 “life ribbons” (Flag Football style), and you lost a life by getting a ribbon pulled off or by getting hit with a weapon. Of course, hidden around the yard were lots of fun things, like…
and
Also hidden, among the helpful treasures, were traps, like “poison berries” that made you lose a life ribbon if you opened the box.

Almost all creativity involves purposeful play. -Abraham Maslow

They had a blast, and played 2 games well into the night! Walking around as the “GamesMaster” was fun, because I got to watch all the action, maybe be helpful or mischievous now and then, and take some fun pictures:
The remnants of an epic battle…note the weapons, supply bag, and discarded Life Ribbons. Really hits home, no?

And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. -Khalil Gibran

A fallen warrior…

As the night wore on, I watched different kids respond differently. Some were teaming up, some stayed loners. Some played with honor and fairness, some bent the rules whenever they could.

We grow neither better nor worse as we get old, but more like ourselves. -May Lamberton Becker

The thing that was the most striking was how much fun they had, while also taking it so seriously – strategizing, plotting, but also pulling details from the books and movie into the game and weaving storylines, calling each other by character names. They created drama, but disputes were largely solved by the group.

And all the while, I watched my son – who I’m pretty sure was just born yesterday – as he enjoyed his day. He was loving being the center of attention, but also gracious to his friends. He moved through the “cliques” and made sure everyone was having fun, and no one was being left out… I was really proud of him, and amazed at how grown he’s become. Sometimes I think I’m too hard on him, or I’m too strict, or I’m not patient if he’s doing things in a way that I wouldn’t do… seeing him at his party reminded me that he’s a young man now. How *I* would do something doesn’t have to be the way he would do it. The Dad part of me has to keep hoping that by example, suggestion, and hopefully more discussion than discipline, I can do my job and help him grow into an adult of good character… and seeing him be a kid of good character was pretty great.

Too many people grow up. That’s the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They forget. They don’t remember what it’s like to be 12 years old. They patronize, they treat children as inferiors. Well I won’t do that. -Walt Disney

So tonight, when I got home from work, I found him sleeping in my bed. Sometimes he’ll crawl into bed with Jeanne if I’m not home. As I looked at him sleeping there, I realized that soon I wouldn’t be picking him up anymore, soon he’ll be too big or won’t want to be lifted… and that’s a loss that I know will come soon, but one that I’m just not ready for. As I gently picked him up to carry to his room, his arms wrapped around my neck and he nestled his head on my shoulder.

And, sure, I could’ve just set him on his bed right away – but tonight, I just couldn’t bear to do it. Tonight, I just listened to him breathe, and I held him until my arms ached. This moment, this could be the last time I get the chance to do that. This event horizon that we’re on right now, we stand on a thin line and I can look to one side and see his childhood, and just a step away in the other direction is his adult life, and I know that step has to be taken, but…

I thrill at what the future holds for my kids… but I will miss moments like carrying them to bed more than I’m capable of expressing.

How pleasant it is for a father to sit at his child’s board. It is like an aged man reclining under the shadow of an oak which he has planted. -Voltaire

Pic Post Thursday!

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Random pictures from the random events that life throws at a guy… (not a random guy, though. Specifically, me.)

Family stuff!
Family birthday for my son: boy oh boy, he turned 12 quickly…
Here he can be seen modeling his birthday present from his big sister: Sunglasses with an attached moustache.

Since we had the whole family over, we took some family photos! I posted about family HERE, but this picture is fun: My kids, and my nieces and nephews. (Note: Many of them are wearing shirts my sister-in-law bought advertising “Crabby Frank’s Restaurant”. My dad’s name is Frank!)

My birthday is coming up… (in January). I’m also posting a pic of this shirt that can be purchased at zazzle.com. No connection between these two facts, just coincidence…

This weekend we tech The Understudy. Rehearsals have been a blast. Here’s a fun shot of the set a couple of days ago. Soon that big wooden structure will be covered with something very cool – I’ll post more later!

Lastly, my parents stayed with us for a few days… the other night we had a great time with 3 generations of the family sitting around the table playing a lot of Zombie Dice! A very fun game, it was a lot of fun to play with my wife, parents, and kids at the same time. What? You’ve never played Zombie Dice?! Check it out here. (And there’s an iPhone app for it, too!)

Now – more rehearsals. More family stuff. I hope your week has been as good as mine!

Monday Night Quotes… Family

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In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don’t try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present. ~Lao Tzu

This weekend was full of Quality Family Time, and I’m very grateful for it! It’s been a wonderful, busy few weeks, especially the last two, as I’ve been overlapping rehearsals for The Understudy at Williamston Theatre and Ernie at the City Theatre. As I was driving between the two shows, and back to my house to be with my wife and kids, I was thinking about the different families we create in our lives. It’s always been one of the things I loved most about working in the theatre, the way each production becomes its own family. Designers regularly get the chance to work on multiple shows at a time, but as a director I haven’t often had the opportunity, and going back and forth between several versions of a family with different goals, values, traditions, expectations, all on the same day, has been a lot of fun. Not just fun, though, but also a reminder that in order to succeed, you have to be fully present, listening, open to the moment. It’s a real gift to have one or more “families” to call home.

Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. ~Jane Howard

It was nice to take all of Saturday and most of Sunday, though, and be with my wife and kids, as well as my parents, siblings and their families! We celebrated birthdays and an early Mother’s Day, played games, ate good food, laughed and generally had a great time. We stood there, 3 generations of a family, and as we were posing for a picture I thought “Where did all of this come from!?”. We stood there for the picture, my parents in front and Dominic and Gina and I behind them, Dom and I on the sides with Gina in the middle, just like when we were kids in the backseat, and my parents were in the front seat driving us on one of the thousands of car trips we went on; singing songs as we headed to A&W for root beer floats, or a visit with cousins, or camping. And now, here we are, in that same formation… with a few additions!

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It’s amazing how quickly that seems to have happened. And how MUCH seems to have happened. And yet, there are the constants: family stories that never fail to make us laugh, the same jokes about the same topics, the one-liner that will only make sense to my brother and sister and I, but send us into hysterics about a moment from 30 years ago.

I know all of this will pass. It will, it’ll pass into family lore as we all fade away… and the thing I hope most of all is that we, Jeanne and I, can give to our kids enough laughter, love, memories and stories to last a few generations past us – the way our parents have – so that even if our stories don’t last forever, the impact of them will.


Our most basic instinct is not for survival but for family. Most of us would give our own life for the survival of a family member, yet we lead our daily life too often as if we take our family for granted. ~Paul Pearshall

A Milestone, and Monday night quotes: The Universe Is Change…

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The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.
-Marcus Aurelius

This is a neat thing for me – I’m celebrating a milestone…

This week, I am celebrating 20 straight years of making a living in the theatre.

That’s a little amazing since, unless I stop to think about it, I’m pretty sure I’m still in my mid-20’s. 🙂 (Wait… Where did these gray hairs come from?!)

Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.
-St. Francis of Assisi

I remember discussing college with my Dad, when I was in high school, and I told him that I wanted to go to school for theatre. I don’t think he was surprised (I’d been doing theatre all through high school), but I saw that look of Dadly worry in his eyes. All he said, though, was “Do you think you can make a living at it?”. I said I thought I could, and that was all he needed – he nodded, and said “Then your Mom and I will help any way we can.”

I’m incredibly grateful for that support, and I’m really proud to be able to show them a career where, for two decades, every job I’ve had has been theatre related. I truly, truly hope that Jeanne and I are able to respond to our kids like that when the time comes.

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
-Maya Angelou

For fun, I made a quick list:
California Theater Center, The Purple Rose Theatre Company, The Gem, Urban Stages in Manhattan, Studio Arena in Buffalo, Otterbein University, Eastern Michigan University, Michigan State University, Performance Network Theatre, Tipping Point Theatre, MeadowBrook Theatre, The City Theater, Williamston Theatre, apprentice, stage manager, sound designer, actor, director, literary manager, associate artistic director, house manager, writer, producer, set designer, teacher/instructor/adjunct professor, understudy.

So, although I’m amazed that 20 years have come and gone, I’m also incredibly thankful, and grateful for the opportunities I’ve gotten, the people I’ve worked with, the lessons I’ve learned, and the stories I’ve helped to tell. Man oh man, I hope the next 20 are as fun the first 20 were!

Depend upon yourself. Make your judgement trustworthy by trusting it. You can develop good judgement as you do the muscles of your body – by judicious, daily exercise. To be known as a man of sound judgement will be much in your favor.
-Grantland Rice

The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn.
-David Russell

Make the decision, make it with confidence, and the world will be yours.
-Jaren l Davis

Nothing happens unless first a dream.
-Carl Sandburg