Earnestness April 16, 2008
Posted by Jamieson Ridenhour in Earnest.add a comment
Well, well. The play is done and we’ve all survived. My life is beginning to drift back to normal: I’ve worked my way through the backed-up grading and have cleared the scarily numerous piles of paper from my office floor.
The Importance of Being Earnest was a great success. We had 200 people on opening night, and somewhere near 600 over the course of 4 performances. The cast were stellar–I was really proud of the work they put in and the final product. I think I’m prouder of this production than of anything I’ve done so far at UMary. I have missed doing theatre, particularly the collaborative nature of the art form: actors, set designers/builders, costumers, stage crew, and me all working together (and don’t forget the long-dead playwright) to realize a single experience for the audience. And, bottom line, it was terribly, terribly funny. Here are some shots of my cast in costume before the final performance:
Obama April 3, 2008
Posted by Jamieson Ridenhour in Alex, Earnest, politics, visitors.add a comment
The whole family is making the four hour drive to Grand Forks tomorrow to go to the ND Democratic Convention to see both Obama and Clinton give speeches. I’m very excited–a chance to see both candidates speak; a great opportunity for all of us but an especially cool thing for the kids. Ian has been really interested in the campaigning and is eager to see the candidates in person. A long drive, and an even longer drive back tomorrow night (Gwyn works Saturday morning), but I can’t wait to hear Obama. I’ll report once we return.
Otherwise, mainly preparing for Earnest, which opens next Thursday. Last minute prop finding, etc. The revolving stage and the light board went kaput this week, but they’ve now been repaired. Friday and Saturday are off, and then long late-night rehearsals until Thursday’s opening. It’s going to be good–the cast are really funny, and the set looks great. I’ll post pics soon.
For now, here’s a couple of shots of our recent houseguests:
Songwriter and longtime buddy David LaMotte spent four days with us at the end of February, giving workshops at UMary and Prairie rose Elementary and giving concerts at the library and in our downstairs living room. We had thirty people here for the house concert!
And my brother Alex came to visit this month–the first sibling to make the trek. Unfortunately we were all sick that weekend. And as for the weather, well…
North Dakota in March…lovely.
