In honor of the song that won't be sung on the HG stage this Corona summer, won't be part of the cancelled South Pacific, I share the thoughts that surfaced as I read Thomas's WE NEED YOU, JAY blog. The song that comes to me is "You've Got to be Carefully Taught" [to be afraid...of people whose skin is a different shade....] And that just leads me to some observations about my own family's experience. So, back to the 1960's and our time in grad school, living in married student apartments, with two young sons, at LSU in Baton Rouge. Just before we moved to Wellsboro.
With our regular season disrupted, I've been thinking a lot about what kinds of plays should be/could be programmed whilst we are still in the pandemic and also in the the post-pandemic world. A play that fits in one year may not necessarily fit in another. Different feel. Different world obsessions. Different directions. Different challenges. For instance, SOUTH PACIFIC seemed just the right fit as the capstone production of our 30th Season; we had produced in in 2002 and the story and feel and themes of the play all seemed to fit now. Though we have tentatively re-scheduled for 2021, I'm not so sure it fits.
This morning I woke up to news of two separate incidents involving a black man being treated badly. Badly? Sadly. Horrifically. Tragically. You've heard the news on both of these. One took place in Central Park where a white woman was incensed that a black man who was bird-watching would ask her to please keep her dog on a leash as per the park guidelines. She called the police on him. The other involved a man in Minnesota who was dragged from his SUV and surrounded by four white officers was strangled to death.
REMEMBERING BRUCE by Karin Knaus and Mary Ginn who were in HG's second mounting of Steel Magnolias under the director of Bruce Applegate. Bruce joined the HG family after moving here from the Bethlehem area, and directed such shows as THE MUSIC MAN, WAIT UNTIL DARK, MIRACLE ON 34th STREET and others. Bruce passed away in December of 2018 and is sorely missed.
Karin writes:
Working with Bruce was a real gift. Bruce had a way of making us all feel like we were incredibly talented and that we were doing so much RIGHT. As actors, he wold look at us with great joy and admiration, and he always let us know that he was happy with our performances and that he was entertained. More than that, he was a wonderful and warm friend. The cast of Steel Magnolias really bonded, as ladies often do, but he was a s much a magnolia as any of the cast members. I am sad I can't be in another of Bruce's shows. I miss his guidance and kindness and friendship always.
The combination of memories of HG shows that I've seen, and memories of those that I've rehearsed for and then performed in, and a couple months of sheltering in place, has made me think. Made me return to a book that has been on my shelves for years. THE CREATIVE SPIRIT. This book is a companion to the 1992 PBS television series of the same name. Paul Kaufman writes in the Preface, Wile E. Coyote Meets the Buddha, ""For creativity to happen something within us must be brought to life in something outside of us." So, the creative spirit is within you. Here's how I have seen it brought to life.
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MEMORIAL DAY MUSINGS by Thomas Putnam
28 May 2020
WE NEED YOU, JAY by Thomas Putnam
27 May 2020
REMEMBERING BRUCE by Karin Knaus and Mary Ginn
23 May 2020
THE CREATIVE SPIRIT by Barbara Biddison
23 May 2020
DRIVING MISS DAISY by Thomas Putnam
22 May 2020
MY LIFE AS A FRUITCAKE by Nancy (Franciscus)
19 May 2020
A UNIVERSAL FAN by Kate Sholonski
16 May 2020
THE WEEK THAT WAS by Barbara Biddison
16 May 2020