WOW!  This has to rank amongst the quickest audition results I have ever gotten.  Monday morning at 10AM (mere hours after I auditioned), I got a phone call from the assistant director of You Have the Right to Remain Dead and was asked if I would like to accept the coveted, intrigal part of Harnell Chesterton.  I’m not sure how much he’s involved but from what I read, he has a LOT to say and a hilarious bit.  Looks like yet another great role!

Unlike another show I know that has been cast for a month and a half and has less than 8 weeks to curtain, rehearsals for this begin next Monday with a read-through.  The costume matron (the same as for Meet Me in St. Louis) wants to get started immediately with her excellent ideas.  If anyone saw MMiSL, you surely remember the wonderful costumes created/hunted down for that show… including the menagerie of hats worn by Grandpa Prophater.   I can’t wait to be back onstage in general but to be back on the Huber stage will be a treat!

AHHHH… show dates are October 9-11 with a matinee and evening show on Saturday.  So those of you cast in Little Shop have no excuse for not seeing it.

Does this mean I got a part? If not, I will turn in my license to act tomorrow. Truthfully, I was the only male at tryouts. That is not to say that there were not other audition dates. In fact, this was the last one and the best time for me to go.

The play is entitled You Have the Right to Remain Dead. It is billed as an audience-participatory murder mystery comedy. The director describes the play in the play as Tennessee Williams on steroids. At least two character names made me think that (Fat Daddy and Blanche or Big Daddy from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Blanche from Streetcar…has anyone seen the Simpsons’ episode in which Marge plays Blanche and Ned Flanders plays a bare-chested Stanley in a musical version).

The audition was almost too relaxed…. but NOT complaining. We sat around a table in the community room adjacent to the stage. Being 90+ degrees outside did not help to cool off the room a whole lot. However, it sure beat the alternative of walking upstairs. I was up there last winter and noticed the warmth then. So, we just sat around the table chatting a bit, going over the plot and characters for those of us who were in the dark, and read some scenes from the script. I said too relaxed because there were times that I forgot that I was actually auditioning and almost cracked myself up just reading the lines.

In attendance were the directors, another female auditioner who I knew as the costume designer from Meet Me in St. Louis, Mare (who was there to give moral support and serve as an additional line reader since she is in WCCT’s Little Shop of Horrors whenever that is going to get started), and myself. We waited for two hours for others to come, but… We were having so much fun that we just kept reading lines, changing characters, and allowing me to become acquainted with the show in general. After, we sat around the table becoming acquainted with each other.

And I should be finding out tomorrow which if any part I get and the read-through is August 24th. Perfect, I hate long waits.

There have been various interpretations on the old theme of superhuman powers being transferred to another person. Last night, I revisited one of those in a season 1 episode of Smallville. During a freak accident during a lightning storm, Clark Kent’s powers are passed to one of his high school classmates. Clark gets to discover what it is like to be a “normal” teenager while “Eric” comes to discover that being the world’s most powerful adolescent is not all it is cracked up to be. Looking at the show, I realized that it is a spin on the old classic adage of Nature vs. Nurture.

Clark’s initial reaction to his loss is one of confusion and fear. Being able to lift the family truck out of the mud, driving a stake into the ground with his bare hands, and other tasks that would be impossible for mortal men were a snap for the Boy of Steel. However, the sight of his own blood sends him into near shock. Over time, he learns to embrace his “normalcy” and not be afraid to engage in a game of two-on-two without fear of accidentally using his powers to injure one of his friends… even if one of them is Lana Lang’s quarterback boyfriend. One of my favorite moments from the episode is Lana’s observation that Clark doesn’t seem to “have the weight of the world on his shoulders.”

On the other hand, Eric takes a totally different approach to his new-found gifts. He flaunts them in front of people on the street. He flirts with a girl right in front of her boyfriend and flings him across the school parking lot smashing him on top of a parked car. When a powerless Clark attempts to intervene (his nature or is his nurturing), he receives a few bruised ribs and a cut to the head.  Eric’s parents are terrified of the “freak” he has become and determine to send him away to be studied and to find out what happened to him. Overnight, the teenager has acquired strength and abilities he could only dream of before but is totally unprepared to handle them.

Nurture: Jonathan and Martha Kent discovered a toddler inside a rocket ship in the middle of a field and raised that child with morals and responsibilities. Clark was not meant to score touchdowns with his power but for something more. As his powers advanced over time, the Kent’s were determined to hide these gifts and use them when necessary and secretly in order to protect their adopted son.

On the flip side, Eric was an awkward kid and constantly degraded by his parents; particularly his father. It may seem cliche to paint Clark in the best possible light and to show his counterpart in shadow. But I think the point here was to show how two different people from different backgrounds deal with extraordinary circumstances. A very good episode from the beginning of the series.

OK… nerdy sidebar: Shawn Ashmore who played Eric also was in the X-Men films as Bobby Drake/Iceman. His twin brother, Aaron played a certain cub reporter for the Daily Planet in the past two seasons of Smallville. Such a nerd!

Sunday afternoon in an attempt to beat the heat, I went to my brother’s for a swim. After, I watched Race to Witch Mountain. Last winter when it was in theatres, I really was unsure about seeing it. I really liked Escape and Return but have found most updates/reboots/prequels to be less than ideal. Also, the added attraction of Dwayne “the (c)Rock” Johnson was enough to make me question it even more. I am pleased to say that the movie was not THAT bad. The action and effects were heightened from the original movies from the 70s but there were nice touches from the previous films to delight fans.

Johnson plays Jack Bruno, a Las Vegas cabbie who has grown irritated with transporting weird Sci-Fi fans (including two Stormtroopers) to a convention at the Planet Hollywood. Enter siblings Sara and Seth, two seemingly innocent young teens who hand Jack a huge wad of money for transportation to a remote, run down shack in the middle of nowhere.

Like the original children, Sara and Seth are victims of a spacecraft crash landing. The government has acquired it and is hot on the trail of the survivors to “study” them. Unlike the previous installments, the children are being pursued by an alien “Assassin.”

Sara and Seth’s powers are basically the same as Tia and Tony’s with a few additions… probably due to the limited budget restraints of the 1970s. Sara’s touch with animals harkens back to her predecessor only this time the trio is joined by a canine companion instead of a black cat. A Winnebago RV is also instrumental in the action. Also, don’t miss a creative cameo by the original actors all grown up. I was expecting them to pop up as Sara and Seth’s parents or other adult aliens, but that would be too logical. For fans of Star Trek II who aren’t already in the know, Ike Eisenmann (who played Tony in the original movies) had the role of Engineer’s Mate, Peter Preston. In the extended Director’s Cut of The Wrath of Khan, it is discovered that he is the nephew of Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott.

I would recommend Race to Witch Mountain to fans of the original movies. There is a lot of action that may be a bit much for the really young, but it is a Disney movie.

I forgot to mention another thrill the parents had on their trip.  One morning, a large moose was wandering Charnel’s yard.  Dad was in the middle of dressing and ran out just in time to see the back end of the animal as it made its way along.  He quickly told her to take a picture but she was not about to snap the rear of any animal.  To hear, seeing the large beasts is common place; they previously had a moose wandering around their area for a week.  They have also seen a mother bear and her cubs in the wilderness near the roadway.

One the return flight, mom sat beside a businessman who had travelled to the state several times.  He asked if they had seen any moose.  The gentleman was slightly disappointed as he had never before seen one and my parents were blessed to see one on their very first trip.

all they brought back for me was this stupid tshirt. Well… not really stupid. I like it and was not expecting anything. I just remember some friends who went to Hawaii when I was really young and brought me a shirt with that momento printed on in (with Hawaii instead of Alaska, of course).

Like their trip last summer to California, their excursion had many memorable moments. As I knew he would, my father found plenty of time to engage in what must be his favorite pasttime: lawn maintenance. He mowed the lawn, pulled weeds, and whatever else he could find to do. However, all outside work had to stop at 9PM following the playing of Taps or there would be trouble. The sun rose at about 4AM and did not set until 11PM every night. Funny that I was asked if dad had sneaked his lawn mower in his carry on bag.

We were greeted by a slew of stories that seem unbelievable but with my family are quite probable. At the Army PX (store) there were three different areas: grocery, clothing, and miscellaneous. You had to pay for the items you picked up in their respective departments. For example, you could not pay for a ball of yarn in the grocery area… as my father attempted to do. And you could not pay for anything without a military ID. Problems ensued and I half expected to hear that the three adults and two small children had been arrested for shoplifting, but no such luck.

While taking a walk along the beach (in 50 degree weather… I would almost take that after the past few days), they happened upon many musicians trying to make a buck. A person from China attempting to return to his native land and a woman trying to pay her way through college were just a few.

As this is a family friendly site, I will not go into detail on my next topic. Charnel has a friend who sells products ala Avon. However, the catalog she sells from is anything but beauty care. Charnel was asked if she would like to start selling. She vehemently turned the offer down. However, I can see where the woman could make money selling her wares.

Finally, the parents had as memorable a return flight as they did going. All of the flights on the return voyage were packed. Consequently (and I don’t know how… only they could be so lucky), they only had one seat between the two of them following the layover in Newark, NJ. Thankfully, the airline took volunteers to be bumped to a later flight giving dad a seat.

As they got off the toll road after driving home from Detroit, the toll collector asked where they had been. Don’t you wish you had stayed another week when it will be cooler? I was thinking the same as I heard the forecast over the last week… WELCOME HOME!

Yahoo!  The Bombers finally have done something they have failed to do all season: completed a sweep of the rather lackluster (of late) Red Sox.  The first time the Yanks have taken a four-game home stand from their rival since 1985?! The one thing I grew sick of is the continuous mentioning of David Ortiz and his possible enhancement taking of 2003.  I mean, it seems as if (the last two games, anyway) that the games were more of a did he or didn’t he.  I think the whole scandal has gotten way out of hand and is ruining the great American pasttime.

The series began Thursday night with a 13-6 blow.

The excitement continued Friday night into the wee hours of Saturday until Alex Rodriguez smashed a two run walk-off shot in the bottom of the 15th inning.  Marking the first time a Yankee-Red Sox game  has gone scoreless  through  14 innings and only the fifth time in recorded history  that  a walk-off homer has been hit in  a scoreless 15 or more inning game.  A heartbreaker but the pinstripes came out on top.

Saturday, the Yankees also blanked the Sox 5-0

Finally, the first place AL East boys rallied to go up 6-1/2 games with a 5-2 victory.  One thing is for sure, Boston will be looking for blood when next the teams meet up.  But for now.. good luck to justj‘s beloved Tigers when they travel to Fenway Monday night.

Tonight was my monthly turn as worship leader at church. It seems like there have been a few songsters added to the roster making it seem like a longer stretch between turns. As usual, it went just fine with only one major goof… not musical.  Opening song: “Gather Us In” went well an old favorite, but good to start things off with.  The responsorial psalm had the same words as the offertory hymn but different melodies, but both versions of “Taste and See” went well.

THEN, came communion! We usually need to sing two songs to fill the time.  I announced the first song: #303 “Where Charity and Love Prevail.”  HOWEVER, what Dolores’ introduction was definitely NOT for “Where Charity and Love Prevail.”  Instead, she had the second song “At that First Eucharist” up.  So we sang that and then I announced that NOW we will sing “Where Charity and Love Prevail.”

The closing song, “Go, Be Justice” was a song that was unfamiliar to me until I heard the melody which was familiar but I could not place and still cannot.  I think it curious that many hymns have the same melody but different words   DeeDee and I both agreed that if anyone complained we would gladly let them come up and take our places next time.  Somehow, I did not hear a word.

AHHH, Chicago… great band that saw its heyday in the 1980s, but this is not about one of their signature songs.

My tale begins nearly two weeks ago when I had admin, taylhis, and their 4 young’uns over for an evening of fun.  Of course when you get a group of kids together one thing inevitably arises: SLEEPOVER!  I was young once upon a time and remember those days quite well.  So, I helped arrange a date which my niece (not to be confused with another) Elizabeth could possibly stay over with her new chums.  This took a bit of doing since Elizabeth would be spending a week or so with her mother.

Finally, we decided that we would all go to the opening of the WCCT’s youth theatre extravaganza.  This was not a problem with my brother – at first.  When I first asked, there was nothing going on.  Then everything snowballed.  Thursday night was fine… BUT… Elizabeth had to be home the next morning by 10AM.  Wednesday, I was informed that she had to be home by  9AM so they could make their way to Columbus before COSI closed.

Now for the title of the post, Elizabeth rode her bike to the store to fill me in.  In so doing, she kept insisting that it was Thursday instead of Wednesday.  I kept offering logic to the contrary but there was no convincing the 9 year old.  It was nearly 6PM; I get off Thursday at 2PM.  But there was no convincing her.  I wonder if she really thought that it was indeed Thursday or she really does need to be in the youth production next summer.

I hope the little ones had as much fun as the older kids.  The 37 kids on stage were all adorable.  Maybe Tay will post about the experiences the kids had during the sleepover.

Watchmen is a very entertaining, interesting, and very graphic take on the world of superheroes.  The movie is adapted from a one shot 12-issue comic series released in the 1980s.  The setting is an alternate world circa 1985 in which President Richard Nixon is still in office (apparently, the 22nd amendment was appealed).  Instead of the disgrace of Watergate, Tricky Dick’s actions concerning Vietnam painted him a hero.

The masked heroes of the piece are in danger of being outlawed by order of the president.  One of these, the Comedian, is murdered.  The rest of the members of the disbanded group of characters, known collectively as the Watchmen, investigate to determine who was behind the death of their fallen comrade.

During the movie there are flashbacks which delve into  the past of each hero.  Silk Specter, Nite Owl, and Ozymandias are the supporting heroes but it is the mysterious Rorschach and the tragic Dr. Manhattan who held my fascination throughout.  Rorschach wears a mask that continuously changes revealing different ink blots (his own personal Rorshach test, yes?).  Dr. Manhattan started life as a physicist but following a catastrophic nuclear accident was transformed into a blue, glowing mutant with several powers (oops… and for the most part, naked with glimpses of all his outer extremities… not enough to warrant anything but the R-rating).  Some of the good guys are so conflicted that it is difficult to say that they are indeed heroic or just as evil as the people they fight.

As I touched upon, there is a lot of graphic violence here.  Lots of crunching bones, blood, and slo-mo action. One scene involves a baddie having his henchmen’s arms sawed off his body.  Definitely not for the young or sqeamish. Plus, the nearly three hour film could turn off some people, but I enjoed it.  A very different comic hero film.