Busy, busy, busy...

I've not made the time to blog as normal...and the blogging will probably be pretty sketchy for another month, but I'll try to keep it alive. 

I'm happy to report that the smoke has cleared (for today), and it's so great to see blue skies and mountain peaks from my patio.  Our green grasses have all turned golden, and a hint of autumn is sneaking in.  We may have seen the last of the 90 degree temps.  The nights have significantly started to cool down.

Music scores, scripts, blocking notes --  those have taken my attention lately.  We are now in the middle of rehearsals for the musical melodrama (a dinner-theater production) I'm directing for the Riverton Library's fund-raiser.  We've got a GREAT cast, and it's been a blast so far.  It all goes on the stage Oct. 2nd and 3rd. 

Throw into the mix of activities more private music lessons too.  I had 6-ish over the summer, and now with school starting and kids getting back into their fall routines, I'm back up to 11 students.  That fills my schedule!  That's plenty!  I still want to feel like I've got days to do as a retired/rewired person should. Hmmm...I'm working on that.

The Labor Day weekend is going to be busy with my family coming in...and I should have photos of more 4-wheeling to share...

Hope you all have a fun/relaxing/joyful weekend.

Practicing for the musical

I'm pretty excited to be playing in the orchestra for CWC's spring musical production of "The Music Man."  I love musical theater, and overall, playing in the orchestra is a fun experience. (Wish I could see the show and play at the same time!)  I love hearing the music...especially as the orchestra gets a couple of rehearsals under its belt and the performance gets tighter.  Our second rehearsal comes up this weekend.  The following rehearsal will be a run-through with the cast singing.   Practice, practice...  I'm playing keyboard bass.

Children's Theatre

I saw that the Missoula Children's Theatre was coming to "town" this week.  I encouraged a talented piano and voice student of mine to audition for the show; she did, and she was cast as one of the town kids.  We're (family and friends) all thrilled that she will have this experience! 

The guy in yellow on the left is one of the directors; the girl in pink standing all the way to the right is my student.

Over the years, as a drama director, I  had a few opportunities to direct children's theatre, and it was a far different experience than that of directing my regular high school drama productions.  Those little ones havd a ton of energy and many more questions than I knew what to do with at first.  Plus, those little guys were not at all shy about giving the director their "uncensored" opinion on nearly everything.  That was quite an adjustment for me.  You have to learn a few tricks quickly!

The two college students that organize, audition, direct, and produce this production of The Pied Piper in just 6 days do remarkable work with the kids, the majority of which are K-5th grade.  There are maybe 10 or so older students who take on key roles.  I've been able to watch rehearsal, and in the last two days I've seen these kids (maybe about 60 or so) learn all the lines, songs, and choreography for this show, and tomorrow they are completely off script and will be putting all the scenes seamlessly together. Incredible work!

We are all looking forward to the final production on Saturday on the college's stage.  Should be a real treat!