Some nature

Even though I have been a little busy with my show, Pete and I have still found some time to enjoy the nature here in Utah. We spent one Sunday afternoon at a reservoir called Sand Hollow - it was beautiful. Though the water was cold! It felt good on a hot day. We just lounged on the rocks and read or tried to make our way around the rocks and sandbars under the water. It was a beautiful day and Pete took a ton of pictures (I'm sure they will make it onto Flicker in a month or so!)

We got the best camping tip ever from James, the scenic director here at the Festival. He said his favorite campground in Utah is Oak Grove. It's about 40 minutes away on the the highway, but then another half hour on a winding, one-lane, gravel road. It was well worth the trip. We were lucky enough to get the last campsite in the place and we had a spectacular view of the mountains that surrounded us.

It was warm during the day but cool at night (not Cedar Canyon cool, but all-dogs-in-bed cool.

Mojo started something that he hasn't done for a while - he dug little dens for himself all weekend. By the time we left on Sunday afternoon - there were 4 little Mojo size holes around the site and both dogs needed baths from all the dust. Not sure if you can see him behind Pete in the second picture, but he is in a little den under the bushes staying cool!

There was no place in the site that we couldn't look without seeing a beautiful view. It was just a fantastic campground and we had a wonderful and relaxing weekend.

Comedy of errors Follow up

We had our publicity photo call for The Comedy of Errors last night and I thought it would be fun to compare the renderings that I posted a couple of weeks ago with the (near) finished product. PS. follow the link to the right to Kathi's Pix to see the renderings and finished products side by side. It's fun!



I think they look great! Last night during the photo call, someone described the show as "Disney on Crack" I think that's a pretty accurate description. Although I haven't posted any pictures of the ladies in the show, they do look an awful lot like Disney princesses - think Beauty and the Beast or Aladin. It's pretty funny.


Below are pictures of the other set of twins, the servants and a picture of both sets of twins together. It's going to be a funny, funny show.

Roadrunners and Camping

Last week Pete and I finally had a night off together when the St. George Roadrunners were in town. So we drove the 45 minutes down the canyon to see a game. It was a pretty good game, at first we were sitting right in the path of the speakers, so it was a little loud, but once we moved, it was a lot of fun.

The game when back and forth for a few innings, but then settled in with the Roadrunners trailing. But in a dramatic turn of events, they came back in the bottom of the eighth and won the game!

We had a good time, the Roadrunners game seems to be a family event in St. George and by the middle of the sixth inning there appeared to be bands of roving children, stalking the mascot and seemingly without any adult supervision. But they seemed to have a good time and so did we.


Later in the week, I had a Saturday and Sunday off in a row so we decided to go camping. We are only about 30 minutes from Cedar Breaks National monument and we found a campground only about 15 minutes up the mountain from Cedar City so Friday afternoon we drove up and set up the tent (in the WIND) then after my rehearsal ended (around 10:30) I did my notes and things then we threw the pups in the car and drove up to the tent.

It was, in a word... cold. We went straight to the tent and snuggled into the bed and played some cards, then decided that we would just read because we could snuggle under the covers and finally, just got under the covers and tried to convince the dogs they would be warmer in bed with us.

It was a cold night, but the morning was clear. We had a nice breakfast and lounged around the campsite reading and relaxing. Unfortunately, it turned cold again in the afternoon and we decided to have dinner and a fire while we listened to the ball game and then head back to town. So we packed up the tent, got some firewood and started dinner.

Then it started to rain.

We drove back to town and went to a movie, thus ended the first camping trip of the season. Next time we're heading south, into the desert.

The Comedy of Errors at USF

Here are the pictures of my set drawings and the theater.



Also some of our costume drawings.


Egeon is an old man who is the father of twin boys. 33 years ago, they were separated and he lost his wife and one of the twins at sea. Seven years ago, the remaining son set out with his servant (who also has a twin brother who was lost at sea with his master's brother and mother) in search of his twin and mother. At the beginning of our story, Egeon has been looking for his son for 2 years when he stumbles into an enemy city where the penalty for being from his home town of Syracuse is death. When he tells his story, the Duke of the city gives him one day to try to raise his bail.

In the mean time, his son has also stumbled into the town, with his servant. Little do they know, their long lost twin brothers live in this town. And the hilarity ensues.

It should be a fun production! I know the rehearsals have been a lot of fun so far.

More summer work

So here I am in Utah. This is the view from the front door of my office. The stage management team (12 of us) are in a house about a block from the two theater spaces. It's very cozy! The third picture is my apartment. I am in the garden unit closest to where I am taking the picture. It was a busy first week full of prep work all gearing up for tomorrow when all the actors arrive and we begin rehearsals.

Today (Sunday - our day off) we had brunch as a stage management department and several of our crew chiefs and electricians also participated. It was a great meal and good to get a head start on putting names with faces. At the height of the festival, there are more than 400 people here, luckily I don't have to learn all their names at once!!

Only 10 days until Pete joins me here - yes, I am counting down.

Dad's Birthday in St. Louis

Yes, it's a little behind, but I have been very very busy!! Here are some pictures from our celebration of Dad's birthday. There were presents, there was a cookie cake (yum) and it was even cool enough outside for some washers.

After a fantastic lunch of steaks on the grill, we played a game of NHL monopoly and it was an early evening. Which left plenty of time to play more Scrabble and cards!

It was the perfect end to a lovely and relaxing evening.

Summer 2009 baseball begins!

Although we already made it to two Brewer games before my show opened, the official summer baseball season began last week when we headed down to St. Louis to enjoy our Christmas Present from Pete's parents. Tuesday night we drove down to Beloit to start our weekend vacation with a Snappers game.

The Snappers were playing the Cardinals team, the Quad Cities River Bandits and it was typical A-Ball in April.

Cold.

At first pitch there were 14 people in the stands - I love the picture of granny with her umbrella and cracker jack in front of the big sign that says it's fun to be a fan! Pete was in a contest to see how far you could hit a whiffle ball - the first picture is Pete calling his shot! We are pretty hard core fans and even though the temperature was supposed to be 40 degrees, it felt more like 20. The River bandits were winning 13-1, so we left after the 7th inning stretch. The Bandits went on to win 15-2.

Wednesday we headed down to St. Louis for our Christmas present - watching the Cardinals beat the mets 12-8 from Homers Landing, an all inclusive party deck in Center field. We had a great time, the seats were fantastic and the game was great. We saw Albert and Rick Ankiel hit home runs.

It was 82 degrees and a perfect day to spend in the ballpark.

How I Became A Pirate

I opened my last show of the season April 17th - a very cute play about a little boy who joins a band of pirates and discovers that life at home isn't so bad!

It's a fantastic set that starts on the beach and then moves out to the open sea - survives a soccer ball eating shark and a storm before returning back to the home port.

We also had an extremely talented group of musicians in the cast - a pirate band that gave us no end of entertainment. I only rehearsed, teched and opened this world premier musical and then handed it over to another stage manager to run the performances...

I miss me pirate mateys!

Top: clockwise from left: Susan Nicholson, Lee Becker, John Nicholson, Todd Denning, James Valcq, Bo Johnson (and Petey), and young performers Andrew Oppmann, Ashley Patin, Teddy Warren at the wheel and Austin Zdziarski

Center: John Nicholson standing above, from Left to right, Lee Becker, Susan Nicholson and James Valcq

Bottom: Bo Johnson with the book on his head - Clockwise from lower left: James Valcq, Ashley Patin, Lee Becker, Austin Zdziarski, Todd Denning, Susan Nicholson and Andrew Oppmann.

The Baptism

Pete and I are very excited that we are the Godparents of our nephew Gavin Henry. The baptism was a lovely private ceremony in Madison 3.28.09. Just family and friends and afterwards, lunch at Ridges Golf Course.

















We gave the 4-generation picture another shot, but there were still a lot of eyes closed! This is a pretty good shot!

Barney & Bee

Pete's show - BARNEY & BEE opened tonight!! BARNEY & BEE tells the tale of Jo and Stephen, hosts of an ill-fated dinner party to which Stephen has asked Barney, the husband in a newly separated couple. Unbeknownst to Stephen, Jo has also invited the wife (Bee) and her new boyfriend - a recipe for social catastrophe! Two talented actors play all five comic characters in Frayn's witty, fast-moving farce.

It was great and the actors were working very hard but they couldn't have done it without Pete's props which included a fully set table that Pete has tricked out so that everything (plates, bowls, full silverware setting, napkins, place mats and wine glasses) smoothly slide from one end of the table and back!

It's a cute play and Pete did a GREAT job - more pictures as they become available!

Spring Training Day 4 - Mets vs. Nationals

Our last spring training game, we opted to see another park rather than drive back to Jupiter to see the Cardinals. Conveniently, the Mets were playing the Nationals only about 45 minutes from where we were staying in Harmony. So we got a new park! Also, though this is the Nationals training facility, during

the regular season it will be the park where the Brewers' Florida State League team will play - so a Mets game for Karen, Steven and Anya and a home-town connection for us! It's a beautiful park and we had great seats behind home plate in the sun! We didn't want to return North without a little color!

Because of it's location Space Coast Field has a lot of Cape Canaveral tie-ins including foul poles that commemorate the lost space shuttles Columbia and Challenger. Unfortunately, the Mets lost - 8-3, but as we said earlier, the top 15 Mets are not with the team as they are spread among their home countries teams in the World Baseball Classic. After the game, we went to The Melting Pot for a dinner of bread & vegetables soaked in Melted Cheese and fruit & Cake dipped in melted chocolate. Good friends, Baseball & Sun, tasty food - the end of a perfect vacation!

We had one non-baseball day, Monday we were forced to amuse ourselves around Harmony before our flight home. It was torture to walk to the pool for a swim and then sit in the sun and play cards. Torture!

Back home in the rain and fog, it's still 27 days to opening day. *sigh*