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Storytelling at the Lake: Wednesday night was storytelling at the Lake Anne Coffee House in Reston. For complicated reasons, apparently involving window repairs, we were telling outside in the patio area. That’s a bit challenging with people moving around more and noise distractions, not helped by having a hand-held microphone, which was slightly awkward. But it was a good show and I thought the audience was responsive. In other words, they laughed at the right places. (I told "Thank You, Miss Tammy" in which, among other things, I explain why the prince in Swan Lake can’t tell Odette and Odile apart.) Overall, a fun evening.
Big Fish: I saw the musical Big Fish at Keegan Theatre on Sunday afternoon. This is based on the movie, which I don’t remember well enough to judge how alike it is. The story involves the relationship between a journalist, Will, and his traveling salesman father, Ed, and Will’s search for the truth in the fantastic stories Ed did and didn’t tell. This show has only an adequate score, but it is sweet and has lots of feel good material. More importantly, it was well-performed, including convincing performances from Dan Van Why as Ed and Ricky Drummond as Will. I also want to mention the beautiful singing of Eleanor Todd as Sandra (Ed’s wife and true love). And then there is Grant Saunders, who had fabulous comic timing as Karl the Giant. The staging took good advantage of the intimate space. Overall, I enjoyed seeing this and would recommend it.
A Political Addendum: When I linked to my piece yesterday re: Charlottesville, a college friend mentioned that he had a concern that somebody would take advantage of freedom of speech to claim that they had spoken at a particular institution, granting them additional credibility. I think there is a distinction that can be made regarding who the invitation to speak is from. Merely appearing on the campus of a major university is not an endorsement, while, say, being a commencement speaker is. This comes down to the question every institution should ask themselves of "who do we want representing us?" I have enough trust in the values of the institutions I support to believe they would not provide a platform to the likes of David Duke or Richard Spencer or Steve Bannon.
As usual in life, context is everything.
Big Fish: I saw the musical Big Fish at Keegan Theatre on Sunday afternoon. This is based on the movie, which I don’t remember well enough to judge how alike it is. The story involves the relationship between a journalist, Will, and his traveling salesman father, Ed, and Will’s search for the truth in the fantastic stories Ed did and didn’t tell. This show has only an adequate score, but it is sweet and has lots of feel good material. More importantly, it was well-performed, including convincing performances from Dan Van Why as Ed and Ricky Drummond as Will. I also want to mention the beautiful singing of Eleanor Todd as Sandra (Ed’s wife and true love). And then there is Grant Saunders, who had fabulous comic timing as Karl the Giant. The staging took good advantage of the intimate space. Overall, I enjoyed seeing this and would recommend it.
A Political Addendum: When I linked to my piece yesterday re: Charlottesville, a college friend mentioned that he had a concern that somebody would take advantage of freedom of speech to claim that they had spoken at a particular institution, granting them additional credibility. I think there is a distinction that can be made regarding who the invitation to speak is from. Merely appearing on the campus of a major university is not an endorsement, while, say, being a commencement speaker is. This comes down to the question every institution should ask themselves of "who do we want representing us?" I have enough trust in the values of the institutions I support to believe they would not provide a platform to the likes of David Duke or Richard Spencer or Steve Bannon.
As usual in life, context is everything.
