My younger son landed the part of Jupiter in the school play (great solo, lots of fun), and his performances were on Thursday at 2pm (for his classmates) and 6:30pm (for the parents and the rest of the world). My eldest son was playing in his band for his school's open house--also on Thursday, also at 6:30pm. So, I left work early to watch and tape the two o'clock show, then ran home to change, pack and throw back a cup of soup before heading off to the open house. After watching/taping the band, Thing 1 and I toured his classrooms and hung out a bit before I left to see a friend in the Santa Rosa Junior College Jazz Ensemble.
God help me, I was a bit predisposed on this last. I shouldn't judge, but I had this preconceived notion that the group would be...well, academic. As in 'not very good.' But my friend has a huge love of music, and had a drum solo that he was very excited about in the last song of the first half of the show, so I thought I would go. Man, was I ever surprised. I got there after it started (they started at 7:30pm, so it was underway by the time I got there) and snuck in to find a seat in the dark theater. They were TIGHT. This ensemble was very, very good, and it made me wish that I could hear more than just the last two pieces in their set. But I did at least get to hear my friend play in a song called "Freefall", and he was absolutely amazing.
Last night, I went to see Denise in "A View From the Bridge", the current show at Ross Valley Players. If you don't know Arthur Miller's work, it is intense stuff. Most of his 'American Classics' are dark, struggle-against-the-tide type of shows. (Denise refers to this one in particular as a modern Greek tragedy.) To extract hope from a show like this takes work--you don't just get a smile and a toe tap, you have to understand the character's struggles, how human they are, and see it for what it is. Denise was outstanding, as was the actor playing Eddie Carbone, and a few of the supporting cast. The others seemed to be finding their feet still, and I look forward to going again later in the run to see how the child has developed. But I would still recommend the show heartily. Ticket information is here.
Since I was going to the show, I offered to drive Denise down to Ross early. I was looking forward to a bit of quiet time to myself and a burrito from a little Taqueria down there that I used to frequent. And, it was a chance for me to run an errand to visit my friends at The Mountain Play, where I did "The Wizard of Oz" last year (there are some links on my post here, if you missed out or want to have a flashback). It was great to see a couple of folks, but MAN are those people swamped right now. Their next show, "The Man of La Mancha", opens next weekend, and the sheer volume of logistics involved in putting a play up on the mountain is overwhelming. It was nice to catch up, lend some support, give some feedback, and pick up an archival copy of Oz. (Still hard to believe that was me under all that silver makeup.)
Anyway, all this supporting of the arts made me think: if someone who is a fan of sports can be called an athletic supporter, would a supporter of the arts be called a dance belt?
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