Clin's Pop Blog

Art

2012-01-04T18:08:00.004-07:00

So, we have one of the best art teachers in the state at Riverton High School. Robyn Harris is a master at all she does. The best Christmas present at our house this year? These pastels that she did of Ellis and Millie taken from 2 photos my vice-principal took of the girls last spring.Millie (age 6)

Ellis (age 4).

The woman is a genius- everything she does looks great. If you ever want some photos sketched, let me know and I'll send you to her!

MDT Revue 2012

2012-01-01T21:56:00.013-07:00

What do Follies, Into the Woods, West Side Story, Sunday in the Park With George all have in common? That's right- they all have numbers being performed by the RHS Music, Dance, Theatre class on Friday, Jan. 6th and Mon. Jan. 9th at 7:00pm. (We are also doing numbers from 21 other shows as well).

Tickets are $6.00 and our fabulous accompanist will be:

And if you're a good audience, he might even sing something for you from Catch Me If You Can.

We also had amazing guest choreographers like:

Elizabeth Hansen (warning: audience participation dance...)

Kori Wakamatsu (former teacher at RHS and amazing professor at BYU)

Brooke Wilson- Friend and dance captain in Joseph at Hale Center Theatre.

David Holmes- Awesome performer- trained at Boston Conservatory (doing the number from Hair that we're also performing at BYU)

And last, but not least, former MDT alumni (and current BYU MDT major), Michael Milkanin (who did 2 numbers!!)

Some come out and see these awesome students and great Broadway numbers!

Dentist...

2011-12-31T13:19:00.003-07:00

So on Thursday I went for a cleaning and a checkup at the dentist. The hygienist was very nice and talkative. I know I don't always floss like I should, but after the startling story she shared with me, I am newly converted to flossing. Here is the true story she told me while cleaning my teeth:

You need to floss because bacteria gets in your mouth. The bacteria have a party in your mouth. When the party is done, the bacteria poop. That poop stays around your gums. You need to floss to get rid of the poop.

Well if I ever had doubts about flossing before, she cleared them right up. My vow for 2012- keep gums poop free.

See Ya Later 2011!

2011-12-31T11:34:00.005-07:00

I like end of the year lists. I like reading people's "best of" and "worst of" because it gives me things to add to my own list. Here is my own randomly generated list.

1st Broadway Musical Tour Seen by Jackie, Me and the Girls

Mary Poppins (Capitol Theatre) in September. The girls did pretty good. We may try Beauty and the Beast in March and Wicked August- but that will make it time number 5 for me...

Most Recent Book Read that Caused a Solitary Tear to Slide Down My Cheek

A Monster Calls. Holy cow an amazing book. Even though it's junior fiction, it it a powerful punch to the gut (in a good way) that will make you weep. If you have a heart. Or Soul.

Guilty Pleasure Movies

Loved Mission Impossible 4 and Harry Potter. Although someone (Oscar Wilde?) says there are no guilty pleasures- just pleasures.

Guilty Pleasure Theatre

Loved The Book of Mormon and Sister Act on Broadway and Noises Off at Utah Shakespeare

Where I Fantasized Vacationing from Movies and Magazines

Paris (from Midnight in Paris) and Croatia (from Budget Travel magazine)

What Kind of Souffle I Made for the First Time Ever

Chocolate. It turned out well-- but they're not kidding when they say eat it fast or it will fall.

Most bizarre gift from students

A 5 pound Hershey bar. We melted 1/2 of it for Christmas dipping. Not sure what to do with the other half.

Runner Up: A huge bottle of bubbles from the cast of The Miracle Worker that i still cannot open to this day.

Best 2011 Workout

The Brooke Wilson Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Megamix Dance. Followed closely by the Marilyn Montgomery One More Angel Hoe-Down.

Best 2011 New Tradition to Negate the 2011 Workout

Grand America Breakfast with Santa.

If You're Going to Break the Sabbath...

Do it at the Grand America Sunday Brunch.

Best Show That Makes Me Want to be British in WW1

Downton Abbey

Best Show That Makes Me Want to Write my own Sitcom

Parks and Rec or Happy Endings or Modern Family

Best Foot Rub

That Korean Place in NYC that's right by Pomme Frites

New Fun NYC Thing with Jackie

The Greenwich Village Eating Tour

1st Netflix Rental in 2011

The Hasty Heart with Ronald Reagan

Last Netflix Rental in 2011

Season 1 of Justified (so far so good)

Total Rentals from Netflix

126 (not counting streaming)

Favorite Bad Movie from Netflix

Curse of the Cat People (Brilliant!)

Show That I'm Conflicted About

American Horror Story...

Interesting Movie I'm Glad I Saw

Tree of Life. I think Mormons will have a different perspective on this film than others-- but I'm so glad I saw it.

Favorite PodCast

Podcats with Ames Bell (strictly invited guests only- limited to who could fit in our Joseph dressing room)

Almost made me want to go the North Korea

A State of Mind (Documentary- the gymnastics will blow you away)

Best Book Recommendation from Brother in Law Bryan

Child 44. Could not put it down.

Theatre seen in 2011

22 Shows

(First show of 2011- Phantom in Vegas. Last, Annie at PTC in Salt Lake) I liked both for completely different reasons.

Favorite Pet of 2011

Roomba!

Favorite Potentail Pet of 2012

Ipod Touch 64!

RHS Theatre involved in 2011

On the Radio- A Musical Revue (number 7 with Kelly DeHaan!)

The Miracle Worker

Smile

Annie Get Your Gun

HERE's TO MORE GOOD STUFF IN 2012!!

Western Romantic Comedy

2011-11-11T14:03:00.002-07:00

So next Thursday Nov. 17-Monday, Nov. 21st come to Riverton High School to see the Western Romantic Comedy Annie Get Your Gun. Not familiar with it? I bet you know the songs... Anything you Can Do I Can Do Better, No Business Like Show Business, Falling In Love Is Wonderful.
Come see it for our cast of 60 (nearly killing me...), our 9 foot high horse (thanks Hale!) our confetti cannons, our live pit and a fun evening of theatre!
Maybe if you ask politely, I'll let you sit on the horse.
Tickets are $7.00 for students and $8.00 for adults.
...we're also selling the amazing Craver's chocolate dipped cookies- so come for that too!

CLIN

2011-11-07T14:17:00.003-07:00

So I recently discovered that to some people, the name CLIN stands for:
Chronic Lymphocytic Interstitial Nephritis
or- in laymans terms, something really gross that can happen with your kidneys. I much prefer the acronym in the business world that sees the letters CLIN and thinks Contract Line Item Number. It sounds boring, but at least it doesn't involve pee...

Decisions

2011-11-06T18:01:00.003-07:00

I've decided to base all of my decisions the way our 4-year old does. When trying to decide which piece of halloween candy to eat, she will lay them out in front of her and say, "Skunk in the barnyard, pee-yoo. Somebody let him out, not you" and gradually eliminate it down to one lucky winner. It happens about 14 times a day. I think this would come in very handy in the high school setting (but so would our 4-year olds other popular saying, "Kiss my butt"- said right before going to church today). Oh, and there is also her lunch time conversation today of drinking a special Sprite she got trick-or-treating, "I'm going to pretend I'm Mom and that this is a Diet Coke. And that I have 100 more in my purse."
On an unrelated note, to the 60 people going on NYC 2012, it's gonna be fun...

TODAY is the Day

2011-10-28T07:18:00.003-06:00

So your NYC deposits are due TODAY. If you want to call it in, call Bob Guymon at Thomas Travel, 801-266-2775 and tell him it's about the Eaton Theatre Group. Come and see this show:

EVITA!

2 Weeks

2011-10-14T10:02:00.001-06:00

So exactly 2 weeks from today your NYC deposit is due. In tribute to that, here is a clip of one of my favorite Broadway performers ever (and I've only seen her live at Hale Orem), Audra McDonald. This will be playing when we are in NYC...

16 Days

2011-10-12T10:02:00.001-06:00

So you have 16 days to turn in your deposit for NYC- would anyone be interested in seeing this? (I'm considering it if Sister Act closes):

Rigor

2011-10-11T09:45:00.003-06:00

It's funny to me that the first words out of parents mouths at Parent Teacher Conference when they discover that their child has a bad grade in my classes is- "How can they be failing theatre/musical theatre/film/stage crew?"
By the tone of voice they are using, are they assuming that all their child needed to do to pass was to attend?
I then point out the 7 Shakespeare related assignments that are weeks past due and they look at the grade sheet in amazement that I actually have assignments. That I actually have written work that is required (and that most students should be able to fill out and turn in before the class period is over). I always wonder what they assume I do with them during class. Sit in a circle, hold hands and sing Kumbaya? Stare in a mirror at themselves until they find their inner reality?
It's also funny to me that in Film Studies, the parents turn to their child and say, "How can you be failing Film Studies? You LOVE movies!" Again, I point out that their little darling has not turned in any papers- and papers are 40% of the grade.
Just because someone loves something does not actually mean it will be easy.

Shakespeare Festival

2011-10-06T09:38:00.001-06:00

We leave today with 39 high school students to the Utah Shakespeare Festival High Shcool Competition. We will be competing in acting, dance and technical theatre. We will also be seeing this:

and this:

Oh- I also had my first polygamist parent teacher conference last night-
and 22 days until NYC deposit.

23 Until...

2011-10-05T09:37:00.001-06:00

If you turn in your deposit (and if this show is still playing), we will be seeing this:

24 Days Until...

2011-10-04T12:22:00.001-06:00

If you turn in your deposit for NYC, then you will probably be seeing this show:

New York 2012 Annoucement...

2011-10-03T09:37:00.004-06:00

So, you have exactly 25 days to turn in your $350 deposit if you want to go on our NYC trip in June of 2012.
As of right now, I'm doing two trips:

Trip #1: RHS students and parents (and if you prefer these dates, come with them).
June 12th-18th.

Trip #2: Adults, faculty, staff, RHS alumni (we need 40 for this tirp to happen).
June 19th-25th.

It's $1950 total for 4 people in a room (that'll get you 6 Broadway shows, hotel in Times Square, a day activity every day, airfare- even from Boise or Portland..., unlimited Subway card, plus me and Jackie as your guides!!) You'll even have the chance to see 3 additional shows of your choice (including The Book of Mormon- I'm not taking the group- but our travel agent will get you a ticket if you want one).

And...drum roll...chances are very high that one of our 6 shows will be this:

So come!! You'll have a blast!

44 Shows...

2011-09-26T21:49:00.008-06:00

So Joseph at Hale is finally over. At the end, I did 44 shows in 8 weeks. That's over 132 up and down groveling on my knees (which is why they now sound like creaky cathedral doors every morning when I wake up).

Overall, it was a great experience (even performing at 7:30pm and 10:00pm on a Friday night, followed by 9:30am and 12:30pm the next day)- and let's not forget that magical Saturday when I did 4 shows in a row- and honestly began hallucinating during the Megamix and thought I had arrived at a disco Celestial kingdom (well, everyone was in white and sparkles- except for Joseph's magical LED-lit coat).

My patient show wife Brittany. Really nice dance partner that megamixed and hoe-downed with me. I repaid her kindness by not breaking her nose (which accidentally happened in one of our shows between husband and wife).

Our dressing room (#1). Ames, David, Casey, Matt, me and Nate. Ames would host his daily pod cast (Podcats), David would lose all of his costume pieces, Nate would yell "ten minutes" with a finger puppet at everyone in the dressing rooms, Casey would sing in the bathroom and Matt would roll his eyes at all of us.

Below is Ames Bell (with some back issue), Casey Elliot (Go Go Joseph) and Dru (pondering his life as Pharoh).

GREAT SHOW EVERYONE!

New York City Day #2

2011-08-24T16:28:00.006-06:00

So Thursday in NYC was the first day of the Broadway Teacher's Conference at Jazz at Lincoln Center. I've decided the conference is totally worth it for the elevator ride alone up to the cool rooms our conference is in. Basically, we're located in Branford Marsalis recording and rehearsal studios.

So, I was up bright and early and walked from my hotel to the Time Warner building. The elevators weren't open yet so I went and got a snack at Bouchon Bakery and watched people react to the huge naked sumo wrestler statues in the lobby.

My first session was a getting to know you- and for being a theatre teacher, I dread doing "getting to know you exercises"- which makes me a total hypocrite because I make my theatre students do them all the time. I, however, met nice teachers from Australia, Georgia and Canada- so I guess it was worth it.

I then took a puppetry session from John Tartaglia (Tony nominee for Avenue Q and also a hilarious Pinochico from Shrek the musical). Totally fun and inspirational- Theatre 3 will be doing a puppetry unit this year. If I can get supplies.

After two sessions, it was lunch time so up I went to my favorite Grey's Papaya then a frozen hot chocolate at Jacque Torres. I then picked up some more chocolate love at Levain Bakery so Jackie would have a snack waiting for her in the fridge when she arrived the next morning.

That afternoon I listened to current Broadway stars talk about their Path to Broadway and then it was time for dinner.

It was Spiderman that night (and it started at 7:30pm) so I had a quick dinner after hitting the Drama Bookstore and stocking up on scripts for my school.

Now on to Spiderman. Hmmm.

Let's say the following: You can certainly see the 75 million dollars as the sets are jaw-dropping (and sometimes actor dropping as well), the flying is amazing (as the head of some mafia organization sitting next to me said when Green Goblin whizzed by his head (as in flew...not pee): "whoa"), but I think this show is a prime example of WAY too many cooks in the kitchen- and the end result is like everything was thrown up on the stage to see what sticks (random hip-hop military dance? Check. Spiderwoman Archnae vaguely seducing Peter Parker? Check. Crazy supervillians that look like they have a hard time walking? Check. Absolutely awful music? Check (more about that as it related to a class I took the next day from the music director- who has earned her spot in heaven working on this show...and did you see the number they did at the Tony Awards? THAT was the best number in the show- which says a lot).

I guess I'm glad I saw it- but I don't want to see it again- and it could have been an awesome show if the music was amazing... but it wasn't.

There. You've seen the best parts. Save your money.

But...Reeve Carney (he plays Peter Parker) and the guy that fell 25 feet head first into the orchestra pit last December came out and talked to us and answered questions. That was cool.

Go Go Go...

2011-08-14T17:41:00.004-06:00

So I'm in this little production called Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Hale Center Theatre in West Valley. I play Isachaar (one of the brothers) and the Baker (sentenced to death because he dreamed about birds and bread and baskets). (In the picture above, I'm top left. I'm really not facing the wrong direction... I'm just trying to cheat out so that side of the audience doesn't feel left out)...

Things I've learned about this production:

1. I am the 2nd oldest person in our dressing room. Last night, the 3rd oldest was planning a playlist for his high school reunion.... from 2001. I am an old man in this cast.

2. The only way I can get through shows is with Ibuprofen- and even then, I have to time it right so it kicks in during Act 2 when all of the brothers are on their knees for what feels like 45 hours.

3. If my microphone is turned on during my lift with my show wife in One More Angel in Heaven, the audience will literally hear me chanting, Please Jesus, Please Jesus on rotation.

4. It is next to impossible to sing a High A while jumping up and down.

5. All sense of modesty and decorum goes out the window when you have exactly one verse of Close Every Door to do a complete costume change from head to toe.

6. You know everyone in the cast sweats a lot when Hale covers every microphone with a condom. The oldest guy in our dressing room (who has seven kids) thought the actor playing Joseph was playing a trick on him... it took some convincing that the condoms were not a joke.

7. You should have gotten tickets yesterday because they have added about 20 shows (on one weekend I get to do the Friday 7:30pm, 10:00pm and the Saturday 9:30am, 12:30pm, 4:00pm and 7:30pm. I will just have to have a IV drip with Ibuprofen...) because the regular shows are sold out.

But if you want to try to see it, it runs through the 24th of Sept. and I'm in the MWF Sat. 12:30pm matinee cast. It really is a good show (to quote Ellis- Age 4- she can see Joseph's boob in one song...) and I sweat a lot.

90% Won't Care...But

2011-08-12T22:33:00.009-06:00

So today was our August showcase for Hale Summer Camp. One of the girls (11 years old) told us her uncle was coming. We said, That's nice. She then said, we're singing Step in Time from Mary Poppins and he played Bert on Broadway and London...and the teachers looked at each other and asked who her uncle was...
and it's this Broadway star:

Gavin Creel.

I know 90% of you don't care (or even know who he is), but he was Tony nominated for Thoroughly Modern Millie (the original Jimmy with Sutton Foster) and Hair (with Will Swenson).
He was really nice and gave me a bear hug (that lifted me off the ground) after the showcase- even though we were a little nervous playing our Mary Poppins songs with him in the audience.
My kind friend Neal Johnson took these pics:

And if you want to hear how amazing his voice is, listen to him sing this song from Next to Normal.

30 Sec. Mark

2011-08-08T08:17:00.003-06:00

Watch this video- esp. around the 30 sec. mark. You'll see the bad version of his message.
Basically they came and had me and Jackie improvise a big fight around balancing the checkbook. Millie was sitting next to me coloring and Jackie was holding Ellis and a big knife.

New York Day #1

2011-07-27T11:32:00.006-06:00

So I recently attended the Broadway Teacher's Conference in New York City. Basically teachers (from elementary to high school) come from all over the world (this year Switzerland and Australia were the furthest) to attend workshops from Broadway professionals and attend shows.

I arrived a day early so I could do my own stuff. Here is Day #1.

After a lovely red eye flight (thanks Jetblue) seated next to an elderly woman who was as still and silent as a stone- even though her tv was set to wrestling the entire flight. Even when everyone else turned off their tv's to try and sleep, her tv stayed on watching wrestling- even though she slept the entire flight.

After arriving bright and early (6:20am) at JFK, and grabbing my shuttle (30 minutes later), me and 6 other passengers were headed to Manhattan. I was next to a really nice couple from Australia who were in NYC for the first time. hey asked a lot of questions about Broadway shows and I hope whatever I recommended to them, they liked. Otherwise, it could sully their entire opinion of Americans.

I was dropped off at my hotel (the Wellington) on 55th and 7th where I got a room upgrade (to the top floor, with a balcony overlooking Times Square). The room wasn't ready so they held my bags and I was off to check out The Book of Mormon musical.

It was 8:20am and already pretty warm. When I got to the O'Neill theatre, there was already a line formed for Standing Room tickets. I sat down next to a film student from Columbia (cinematography emphasis) when the stage manager (or someone official) asked me to continue the line on the other side of the sage door. I was lucky because when I sat down, I was protected from the sun from a street barricade.

I sat down and read the new James Bond book, listened to my Ipod as I made friends with other people that joined the line behind me (a teacher from Canada attending the same conference as me, a mother of 2 teenage girls from Southern California, a guy from mid-town Manhattan who wanted a ticket for his birthday...etc). Around 10:00am there were over 50 people in line.

Since this was a Wednesday, they were doing standby for both the 2:00pm matinee and the 7:o0pm evening show. They came out and told us that they didn't know how many standing room tickets would be released at 1:00pm but if you didn't get a ticket then, you could stay in line until 6:00pm to get a standing ticket for the 7:00pm.

At noon they had all of us fill out papers for the lottery- around 100 people entered the lottery with 12 names being drawn for $27 front row seats. I didn't get them but at 1:00pm, I got my standing room ticket.

After grabbing a gross turkey sandwich, drinking a Coke to stay awake during the show, watching a homeless woman grab bread out of the garbage can to feed pigeons, I saw The Book of Mormon musical at 2:00pm.

I really liked the show (I'll do a separate entry for it)- and it was definitely worth the $27 I paid- but to pay $477 like someone did in the cancellation line? No.

After that, I checked into the hotel, showered and went off for a nice dinner.

After dinner was War Horse at Lincoln Center. I had gotten a seat on the 3rd row, but the way the theatre is, I was right next to the stage- so close that I got brushed with some of the horse's tails.

In short, the play was breathtaking with amazing puppets and a great story. The man next to me was uncontrollably sobbing at the end of the show.

I then went and grabbed some cheesecake from Carnegie Deli and it was off to sleep.

Summer Fun

2011-07-25T22:37:00.005-06:00

So in June, the fam packed their bags and made it to Disneyland- barely. I underestimated how long the security lines would be and got on the plane (Southwest) with only individual center seats available. I went to the back of the plane with Millie and loudly said, "OK Millie, sit between both of those nice business men and I'll sit right behind you." I knew I would be successful when Millie starting crying and one of those nice business men stood up and gave me his seat so I could be next to my 6- year old. Jackie was more direct. She stood in the middle of the plane and said, "Who's getting up so I can sit by my 4-year old daughter. She can't sit by herself." Her plan worked as well and we were off to Los Angeles.

We arrived late Thursday night to our nice room at the Howard Johnson (free upgrade- thank you!)

Over the next 4 days we did:

Friday- Magic Kingdom (normally not supercrowded this time of year- however, people had spent the night outside to get on the grand re-opening of Star Tours). We avoided that side of the park- but could not talk Ellis into going on Splash Mountain- esp. after Millie and I got off it SOAKED.

We played in the park til lunch, ate at Ralph Brennens, stayed up late for fireworks- had fun.

Saturday- Early entry. Ran like mad to get Star Tours fastpasses- not open at 7:00am- just rode it alone while Jackie and the girls hit Fantasyland. Met up with Jackie's parents and siblings and got to go on tons of rides because there were lots of us. We even ran over and (after waiting tons) rode the new Ariel ride at California Adventure. That night, came back for Fantasmic. Ellis fell asleep before the show and woke up just in time to see the Dragon. She was a little concerned.

Sunday- Did California Adventure- including getting SOAKED at World of Color (but in my opinion, worth it- amazing show). Had the picnic lunch which included our Fastpasses for the show. Got to ride Tower of Terror with other people- which is rare because I usually ride it with strangers because Jackie refuses to ride it with me. Even talked Ellis and Millie into riding on Grizzly River Rapids- and had fun.

Monday- Back in Magic Kingdom for Toontown Madness (pretty much had Toontown for ourselves for a while) and hit our favorite rides. Also had preferred seating for the new parade which was fun because we were the only people in preferred seating that had kids- so the cast members had fun with them.

Back in Utah on Tuesday so Jackie could be in class.

One thing: What was with all of the normal healthy looking people riding jazzies all over the park (and getting line passes?) Literally saw a family of 4 all pull up to City Hall all on jazzie while the dad went in to get line passes for the family. The dad came back out to tell everyone they needed to come inside, but the mom said, absolutely not. Jazzies were EVERYWHERE- and I don't mind if you are elderly or frail or have visible damage, but really, it was like the ship on the movie WALLE. They were obnoxious.

How True

2011-06-02T09:27:00.001-06:00

You have no idea how true these awards are (even if you don't normally watch videos on blog- this is short and funny- read the scrawl at the bottom of the tech awards screen):

High School Tony Awards Honor Nation's Biggest Drama Club Nerds

Vacation

2011-06-02T08:26:00.011-06:00

We leave for:

this afternoon.

I am excited for:

and for:

Jackie got so excited yesterday that she kicked a:

into the front room.

Hopefully we have lots of:

and not lots of:

Since we won't be back until June 7th, we'll fill you in on all of our shenanigans.

Haircut

2011-06-01T10:24:00.003-06:00

So our oldest daughter Millie has the hair of a Shetland pony. Her little sister Ellis has the hair of the silk on an ear of corn. For some odd reason, Jackie figured the perfect time to trim both of their hair was before church on Sunday.

So the girls settled in front of Veggitales and Mom got out her scissors.

Ellis- done in 10 minutes.

Millie- 1 hour and 45 minutes later, I yell at the top of the stairs that we have to go to choir. Millie comes up- with a... how shall I describe it... fashion forward, runway model, hair show style. Now the remarkable thing is that this style came about completely organically- and as Millie's hair dried, different lengths began appearing all across her head.

Millie suffered through church (most people didn't notice- or, thought Jackie was trying radical new styles on her oldest daughter) and 1st thing Memorial Day, I took Millie to a salon to have her style "adjusted" (I told the stylist that she did it too herself... I expected Millie to defend herself but she was interested in having her hair shampooed).

She is now a cute (well, she was cute before Jackie's "makeover") stylish, shorter haired version of herself. No more home haircuts in front of the tv for her.

11 Years

2011-05-30T18:59:00.002-06:00

So the class of 2011 graduates this upcoming Wednesday- and that day also officially brings to a close my 11th year of teaching theatre, film, and stage crew at Riverton High School.

In 11 years of teaching I've:

Seen 2 of my former students become high school theatre teachers themselves (1 starting at my former high school West Jordan High this upcoming school year)

Been to the High School Shakespeare Competition 12 years in a row (the first I directed All's Well That Ends Well when I was student teaching at Riverton).

Been a colleague with some of my former teachers (Dave Stoddard- who hired me as the principal at Riverton was my middle school biology teacher, Steve Bickmore- my high school AP English teacher, Ed Willis- my high school biology teacher and Georgia Fairbanks- my high school choir teacher (now a counselor at Riverton).

Been walked in on using the bathroom in the boys dressing room 1 time (I still apologize to the minister of the Draper Community Church in Christ- but it was the vice principal that let you into the boys dressing room while I was using it...)

Vomited 1 time in the boys dressing room (during rehearsals for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat)

Had the projector in Film Studies explode 1 time (but it was horrifying and thankfully the black smoke that poured out of it didn't set off the fire alarm).

Set off the fire alarm once (from the fog machine in 7 Brides for 7 Brothers)

Lost control at a production of Little Shop of Horrors at Dixie State in 2000 (but I partially blame Bradley Moss for that)

Have directed the following Shakesepare pieces: All Well, Titus Andronicus, 12th Night, Taming of the Shrew, and King Lear (twice- the dividing of the kingdom and the blinding of Glouchester)

Have directed the following musicals: Once Upon a Mattress, Working, Quilters, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Anything Goes, Les Miserables, Smile, Back to the 80's, Lucky Stiff, Secret Garden, Once on this Island, and Secrets Every Smart Traveller Should Know.

Have done 7 Musical revues- all with Kori Wakamatsu and Kelly DeHaan (for the MDT class).

Have directed the following plays: The Diviners, The Curious Savage, Lend Me A Tenor, 10 Little Indians, Cash on Delivery, Rumors, The Greek Mythology Olympiaganza, Arabian Nights, Soap Opera, and The Miracle Worker.

Have seen over 100 shows at Pioneer Theatre Company.

Have seen over 100 shows on Broadway.

Have taken students to see the Broadway Touring Shows in Salt Lake City for Wicked, Urinetown, Les Miserables, Cats, The Color Purple, Mary Poppins, Young Frankenstein, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Hairspray, and Spamalot (with Leanna Willmore!)

Worked with 1000's of students who are majoring in acting, musical theatre, music dance theatre, technical theatre, stage management all over the state of Utah. I've also worked with students that are now performing at Tuachan, BYU Young Ambassadors, Hale Orem, Hale WVC, Pioneer Theatre Company, The Grand and all over the USA.

Here's to many more years of RHS Theatre!

NPR

2011-05-09T18:37:00.003-06:00

So if you're interested in listening to a song from the new Book of Mormon musical, you can listen to the entire soundtrack on NPR (it's the only place you can listen right now). Try to listen to the first song (Hello)- nothing offensive there- and not have it stuck in your head the rest of the day. If I was in the mission field, I would be singing this on my bike. And the socially awkward missionary 1/2 way through? You all know they're out there...

Utah Premiere!

2011-04-28T12:41:00.003-06:00

So, this Friday, Saturday and Monday nights, come to Riverton High School to see the Utah Premiere of the Broadway musical Smile. 25 RHS Music, Dance, Theatre students are performing this show at 7:00pm (with me, getting carpal tunnel, accompanying them).

It's a great show that takes you behind the scenes of the 1985 Young American Miss Beauty Pageant. The songs (which are great and will get stuck in your head) are by Marvin Hamlisch (A Chorus Line) and Howard Ashman (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Little Shop of Horrors). Seating is limited to 150 so I know we'll be turning people away. Come see this fun and touching show! And buy candy at intermission. Drama club needs your money (since no one is voting for us on the KUTV contest).

Please Vote

2011-04-24T19:58:00.003-06:00

So, last year at this time, I was begging my 7 readers to please vote every day for the Riverton High School video on KUTV's website. It's that time of year again and this year, we have posted a video from the Broadway musical Mary Poppins. If you have an email address, please go here:
http://connect2utah.upickem.net/engine/ApprovedSubmissions.aspx?PageType=APPROVED&contestid=29092
and vote every day for the Riverton High School video so RHS can win some money. Our video quality is not the best, but the students sound great and the dance they are doing is hard.
(And I know Neal is reading this- great freaky video- did you know that number is cut in all productions now? It's been replaced with something else. It scared me.).

So, starting tomorrow (for the next 14 days) vote 1 time every day for us. And leave a comment under the video if you want. Thanks!
Thanks!

April

2011-04-14T09:37:00.007-06:00

Millie's 6th Birthday. She got a lot of fun presents (but announced to Jackie that Grandma and Grandpas give better presents than Mom and Dad- she is now off my Disneyland list- other 6 year olds may send me a headshot and resume to be considered as Millie's understudy on our Disneyland trip in June. Must be able to pray that you won't hurt your bottom at the top of a water slide at the new rec center pool while a long line of children are behind you ready to push you down).
When riding her bike with a new helmet and bike bell (that I attached)- she rings the bell- and it falls onto the sidewalk in a thousand pieces. Though it is a Disney Princess bell, no amount of Disney magic is going to be able to put this bell back together.
She then goes to bed under the new "princess canopy" from Ikea (that I put up)- it proceeds to fall off the ceiling and onto her head the next morning.
There is a chirping sound driving her crazy- I try to find the smoke alarm somewhere upstairs that needs a new battery- I replace it- still more chirping. Finally (while Jackie is out of town at a conference) it drives me to the point of profanity and I unplug all of the upstairs smoke detectors.
Unfortunately, my father (innocently enough) asks how the alarms are doing- in front of Jackie. This proceeds to unravel my web of lies involving the smoke alarms in front of her. Jackie has the family go on an outing to Walmart to purchase 10 9 volt batteries to replace every single smoke detector in the house.
After doing all that- still chirping from downstairs. The alarm in the family room has wiring issues- I think I solve it by reconnecting everything while simultaneously not exploding with electrical current. Jackie helps by periodically asking, "do you know what you're doing?" and the always helpful, "please don't kill yourself."
2 days later, the stupid thing falls off the ceiling.
Our great cousin Curt comes over with his family for Millie's birthday (and so he can have gluten filled cake)- but as is custom at the Eaton home, if you come for cake, you must fix something- and he proceeds to rewire the smoke alarm- AND attach it to the ceiling so it doesn't fall on someones head!
He also looks at our bathroom sink drain stop that stopped working- pulls it out- does something fancy under the sink (while I nodded pretending that I had any idea what he was talking about)- pulled out a part that I will now take to Home Depot to "attempt" to fix. Somehow, the sink will probably explode in Millie's face.
And what, you may well ask, is up with our bathroom towel rack that fell off the wall in November- after me "fixing" it 3 other times? Don't worry your pretty head dear reader. It is still laying on our bedroom floor looking forlorn. Jackie has learned to just shake herself dry like a Labrador retriever after taking a shower.

Spiderman the Musical- again

2011-03-15T09:29:00.000-06:00

Spiderman the Musical

2011-03-14T09:59:00.001-06:00

Although I'm seeing it in July for a conference I'm attending (if it's still open that is...), I think this is probably accurate...

Tom Hanks is Great

2011-03-05T10:23:00.000-07:00

March Thoughts

2011-03-02T10:09:00.002-07:00

In no particular order:

I liked The Social Network but I am happy that The King's Speech won Best Picture. In my Film 2 class, I had students fill out ballots guessing what they thought would win. My winner guessed 17 right. I guessed 8. Jackie and I ate brownies and ice cream while we watched. That was our big Oscar Party.

The Miracle Worker was a great success. Great audiences, great performances (and, so far, no letters to the principal). Fun show to direct. Now it's on to coaching for Region and the MDT musical Smile- which, if you live in Utah, will be the Utah premiere. It's really fun.

Should I audition for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at Hale? Maybe.

Just bought our airfare for Disneyland yesterday. We have no place to stay yet (waiting for Summer deals), but grabbed $89 flights on Southwest to Los Angeles minutes after I check out of school on June 2nd. Excited to see World of Color and the new Star Tours and Little Mermaid ride.

Jackie made oatmeal in the crockpot for dinner last night. It was really good (much better than instant). She also chopped up apples Top Chef style to stir in it. The girls loved it.

Submitted Millie's name for Chinese immersion. We shall see what the lottery does.

I have to start thinking about a school musical for next year. Any thoughts?

Going to NYC for a conference in July. Seeing Spiderman (not excited- it's part of the conference), How to Succeed (very excited- with Daniel Radcliffe too), Sister Act (medium excited) and one other show with the conference. Going out a day early to see 2 other shows. I believe Book of Mormon may be one of them...

Started making plans for NYC trip 2012- friends and family, always welcome to come (or watch Millie and Ellis). It will be a great trip. Student trip June 4th and NEW adult/alumni trip June 18th!! Save your pennies. A deposit of $350 will be due Oct. 28th to reserve your spot.

See What Carole Mikita Liked

2011-02-24T20:54:00.001-07:00

Come see what Carole Mikita liked Friday, Saturday or Monday night!
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=14506197

Video

2011-02-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

Funny video- I know Lincoln from BYU.

Miracle

2011-02-20T17:27:00.002-07:00

So this week, my production of The Miracle Worker opens on Thursday night. I always feel bad for the actors in the play because our auditorium holds 1313 people. You can have a 100 people there, but it only fills out the first 7 rows so it feels empty.

This year, we have a new ASL teacher and because The Miracle Worker is the true story of Helen Keller and her teacher Annie Sullivan, she thought having her advanced students interpret the play for the deaf community would be cool.

So, this Friday night, they are going to interpret- and if the word going around is correct, we will have a lot of the deaf community at our show- which is awesome.

KSL TV is also coming out on Tuesday to film our dress rehearsal and interview kids. I have to say, our Helen and Annie are amazing- as is the rest of the cast. I love my lighting and set as well. So, if you're looking for something to do, and you want to cry a little (from happiness- because the ending of this play will get you every time), come on Thursday, Friday, Sat. or Monday night to Riverton High School at 7:00pm and see The Miracle Worker.

Roomba

2011-02-12T18:56:00.002-07:00

Well, it took a couple of months, but now the girls no longer shriek when the Roomba gets turned on. For a while, the quickest way to a: get the girls to run screaming to their mother and b: pick everything off the floor really quick, was for me to make a grand entrance (preferably Saturday morning) and annouce that I was turning Roomba on in their rooms.

First Ellis would cry that Roomba would vacuum up her dolls. Millie would cry that everything she loved is under her bed and that's where Roomba likes to go.

We reached a turning point last Saturday when Roomba was cleaning Ellis's room and Ellis came up and said that she would like an apple to eat while she sat on her bed to watch Roomba clean her room. And she did- for 45 minutes. Millie was slightly traumatized when Roomba began beeping and announcing "Error, change brushes" really loudly in her room. It turns out it had sucked up her jelly ring- but it was ok and Millie wore it proudly.

So, in short, the Roomba is awesome. It goes all around and under the dining room table (like a dog!), under the beds, and doesn't fall down the stairs. It got stuck once downstairs under our entertainment center and once under Ellis's bed on her matresss lining- but it figures it out if it gets a rug, magazine or drapes and reverses and lets it go. Since Jackie likes detail cleaning things with toothpicks (not being sarcastic), she even loves cleaning out its brushes when it's done with it's cycle (about 25 minutes per room). It's the pet we will never have.

A Conundrum

2011-02-10T09:25:00.002-07:00

So Millie's elementary school has a Chinese immersion program. If you sign your student up, from grades 1-6th they will be with the same students each year in a program that is 50/50 Chinese and English. By immersion, it means the every day of school, for 3.5 hours, they hear NOTHING but Mandarin Chinese (and this starts the first day of 1st grade)- the rest of the day is in English. The goal with the program is to have the students fluent by 6th and continue the program through middle school so that in 9th grade, they can take the Chinese AP exam. I guess studies have shown that if students learn a 2nd language before puberty, they make connections in the way they think that make learning a 3rd or 4th language very easy.

The problem is that, since Millie is in year-round school (and because the program is popular and students are only admitted by lottery), the Chinese immersion program is only available C Track. C Track is the "not so popular track" or, the "crap track" because of when they take their breaks. If Millie were to do it, she would be on it the next 6 years year. Ellis would also get priority to be in the program because they want siblings to learn to communicate with each other. Millie would only get 3 weeks off in July for summer break- and I teach at Hale Center Theatre for 2 of those weeks (and the rest of times she is off-track, they don't coincide with ANY of my breaks at the high school). She would be in school the entire month of June (which I get off) and all of August (she would get off right as I start back up with high school). Then if Ellis gets in, it means that for the next 8 years, no doing anything as a family over the summer, except for 1 week in July- but maybe that's ok. Is it worth it? Thoughts?

Also, Jackie and I are became addicted to Downton Abby on Masterpiece Theatre. We can't wait for the next season.

Up To

2011-01-28T10:06:00.002-07:00

So last week, Jackie I and journeyed south to St. George, Utah for the annual Utah Theatre Conference at Dixie State College. It's a fun weekend of warm weather, meeting up with theatre teacher friends from across the state, watching shows, going to workshops and getting off of your bathroom routine because you're eating a lot of crap.
First, we took students to see this:

Now, I have seen over 150 Broadway shows, both in New York and touring shows. But, in all of my years of teaching, I have NEVER seen The Phantom of the Opera. Bizarrely, I've seen Cats 4 times, Les Miserables 4 (not counting our school production last year), Wicked 4, etc. etc. But Phantom? Never.
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised AND, if you are going to see it, the Las Vegas production is the way to go. 90 minutes, no intermission and amazing technical effects that are not in the Broadway or London production. Plus, we had an amazing 45 minute talkback with the stage manager, stunt coordinator, Christine understudy, spotlight operator and a backstage worker. Fantastic experience.
Over the weekend we also saw a production of Once on this Island- which has the distinction of being the first musical Millie ever saw (when she was 3 weeks old).
Also, last week I took students to see the hilarious comedy Black Comedy at Pioneer Theatre Company. Great show which I first saw at BYU.
Also, now that it's a new year, start planning to put in your deposit for our NYC trip in 2012 in October. We are taking 2 trips. One for students and their parents and one for adults and alumni. That should help keep the numbers manageable.

Winter Tunes

2011-01-04T09:15:00.002-07:00

So if you're like me, you are bloated with Jackie's famous Christmas fudge (or if you're my 5-year old, you're feeling great after eating everything in your Christmas stocking in 30 minutes secretly in your room), nothing is good on tv this week, you've already seen the movies you want to over Christmas and it's freezing outside. Well, if you are looking for something to warm you up, let the sweet, sweet sound of Broadway showtunes do the trick.

This upcoming Friday, Jan. 7th and Monday, Jan. 10th, the Riverton High School MUSIC, DANCE, THEATRE class will be performing their annual winter revue, On the Radio: A Broadway Revue. Tickets are only $6.00 and the show starts at 7:00pm. Accompanied (as always) by the amazing Kelly DeHaan (who will be singing a song from the musical Shrek), this revue features a little bit of everything. You want dramatic ballads? We have them (Children of Eden, Edges and A Tale of Two Cities). High energy dance numbers? Got those too (Grease, Chicago, Memphis). Chopping up people and eating them in pies? Got that (Thoroughly Modern Millie- we've put a dark spin on that show...).

So come on out this Friday or Monday and see this great show!

I Think I Saw...

2011-01-01T15:32:00.003-07:00

So a couple of weeks ago I was stirring from a Sunday afternoon nap- when out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw movement under the door of our unfinished section of our basement.

I lept up and yelled "mouse", which brought Jackie out of her cavern of studies.

For the following 2 weeks, Jackie was a woman crazed. She cleaned everything (including the wallpaper. If we had wallpaper) looking for the villainous varmint. Strangers were told at Walmart and Home Depot (as I searched for traps). Neighbors shared their horror stories with mice. Jackie became an insomniac- she was like a cat on a hot tin roof waiting to pounce on our furry visitor.... which is funny because the longer I thought about it, the less likely I was that I saw it in the first place. There were no signs of food gotten into- no droppings (although the discovery of a raisin under the sofa nearly called for the smelling salts for Jackie)- just the foggy mind of an afternoon Sunday nap.

So the traps remain empty- but Jackie is ever vigilant.

And to help with Jackie's cleaning schedule, on Christmas we welcomed a new pet to the Eaton household:

The Roomba 550. It cleans amazingly well- and all by itself. I even found myself saying "excuse me" to it the other day when I got in its way. Jackie can program it to vacuum it any day she wants. It's only gotten stuck once (under the entertainment center) and Ellis has only asked to ride it one time (although she has requested it "get out of our house" when she thought it was going to climb up the sofa and get her.

So all mice watch out. Between Jackie and the Roomba we're ready and waiting.

Beautiful Video

2010-12-06T22:12:00.001-07:00

Thought of You from Ryan Woodward on Vimeo.

Watch this beautiful video- choreographed by my friend Kori Wakamatsu and danced by two of my former MDT students at Riverton High, Shellie Telford and Michael Milkanin- both now MDT majors at BYU.

I Swear...

2010-12-03T12:41:00.003-07:00

I don't swear very often. Sometimes in school when I'm at my wits end (usually with someone in stage crew) or sometimes a well placed swear in rehearsal will get the attention of the cast (along with the throwing of a chair). But, I know for a fact, that, at least at my school, I do not swear as much as the athletic dept. coaches (and certainly not as much as our choral program. Our choir teacher is like a sailor*).

The point is, swearing doesn't really offend me, and though I don't do it often (Jackie wins that award in our house), when I do it, I like to make it count. Here are my preferred variations of swearing (usually when I'm alone in the car).

The following work with any profanity you can think of (although they are not always grammatically correct):

****apalooza

****nation jingle himer schmit

****me up and call me Shirley

****zacrackin

****zapoppin

****me and everyone I've met

What in the**** is going on

Crock ****ing Good

It's kind of like mad-libs, but if you're going to swear, be creative!

*she is not like a sailor. She's in the Morman Tabernacle Choir and I've yet to hear her swear. But it's funny imagining it. It's even more funny imagining our previous choir teacher Leanna Wilmore doing it as well.

Black Friday

2010-12-02T09:21:00.004-07:00

So last Thursday night, Jackie and I decided to brave the crowds at Walmart at midnight in Brigham City. We arrived around 11:45pm. I was on assignment to get some $1.97 DVD's for my brother Tim (he wanted the Bourne trilogy) and we were going to look for some presents for the girls.

After wandering around a bit (no cart for us), I hung around electronics (with 1000's of others) while Jackie staked out toys. Around midnight, there was honest to goodness shrieking (the same sound I would imagine that starts human sacrifice) as Walmart employees began opening their palates of stuff. Jackie scored a Zhu-Zhu pet- but it was at the risk of life and limb. Try as I might, I could not get into the aisles with the DVD's (Walmart intentionally put the DVD palates in narrow aisles so you had to maneuver for them). When I finally got there, I could only get the Bourne Ultimatum for Tim (but I could have gotten him every season of Sex and the City). I tried to get to the Wii games, but by the time I got there, there wasn't anything I wanted (because people were carrying them away by the 20's- I don't even think they stopped to look at titles). I did score a $10 Toy Story 3 DVD (which I was very proud of) and Jackie got a Snuggie for Millie and some games for Ellis.

After the madness, the real Christmas joy began. We stood in line for about an hour to get $47 worth of stuff. Thinking back on it, I should have gone up and gotten some magazines to read in line, but I didn't.

After Walmart I had contemplated going to Kohls for their 3:00am opening- but decided it wasn't worth it. Give me my Amazon and Costco and my shopping will be done without super long lines.

Christmas Gifts

2010-12-01T07:12:00.003-07:00

I rarely write Christmas lists- and for the most part, I ignore other people's lists as well. I want to surprise people with stuff they didn't even know they wanted.
Yesterday, Jackie made up her Christmas wish list
* A suitcase
* The book, A Guide to Humanistic Studies in Aging: What does it mean to grow old?

* The book, The Creative Age: Awakening Human Potential in the 2nd Half of Life

This is it.

No gloves, chocolates, massage oil, gift certificates or music.

2 hardcover books on aging and the arts and a suitcase.

The gauntlet has been thrown down.

To delve into the tricky mind that is Jackie and find out what she wants- when she doesn't even know that she wants it.

Dear Audience Members

2010-11-30T09:26:00.004-07:00

Dear Audience Members of High School Theatre:

First, thank you for attending our productions. We love that you come to see your friends and family members. Here is just a few words of advice to make the experience more pleasant for all involved:

1- We believe that $7 and $8 tickets are not unreasonable prices for a school musical. To sigh loudly and turn to your companion and debate the worthiness of the production (when your own family member is in it) holds up the line for everyone. When you ask me if the production is worth it, I WILL ALWAYS SAY YES- even if the show is a steaming pile of poo- which our shows are not. A freaking movie with people you don't even know costs more than it does to see your own flesh and blood in a show.

2- If you have a huge family and ask nicely for a discount of some sort, I am inclined to give one. When you come up and demand a family rate NOW, I will not discount anything for you.

3- If the show starts at 7:00pm and you come in at 8:00pm, I will still sell you a ticket for full price and not feel the least bit bad about it. I will also be watching to make sure you do not slip in at intermission.

SPECIAL NOTES FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL MATINEE ATTENDEES

1- Teachers and students- you are fantastic. We fully realize that when one of our male actors removes his shirt during the production that you will hoot and holler for 5 minutes. That is ok. We also realize that when two characters kiss it will blow your pubescent minds for a bit- so much that you have to vocalize. We have no problem with this at all. It is the parent chaperones I would like to address:

(All of these are based on letters sent to me and my principal over the past week--all from parents who attended our middle school matinee- this was the show South Pacific. Note: only one letter was received on our production of Les Miserables- and it was on how sad that we could not do the student version of the show. We did do the student version).

* When a character is drinking (brandy, beer, etc.) on stage, we are not actually having them drink alcohol. Most likely it is watered down Diet Pepsi. Caffeine Free. When characters are drinking out of bottle, they are always IBC Root Beer bottles.

* No one showed their underwear on stage. The Polynesian costumes were school appropriate and based on real island wear from the 40's.

* When two characters kiss, the lights go out, come back on and they are seated on the front of the stage, it shows a passage of time. It is your own dirty mind that infers that they had sex. Plus, you were surrounded by 900 8th and 9th graders that were hooting and hollering.

* It is not immoral to have a male character remove his shirt. He's on a freakin island in the south pacific. He is still a good person that can make good choices.

* The message of the show South Pacific is about tolerance and prejudice, not advocating pre-martial sex. If it makes you feel better, the character that commits premarital sex dies shortly thereafter.

* The phrase Stingy Bastard- while not a polite phrase- is the phrase in the script and in the book. We made sure the actress was comfortable saying the phrase- and it's the American soldiers that teach it to her. I don't suggest running around saying it all the time, but it is a great phrase to use when you are stuck in traffic.

* If our play was rated like a film (which is still subjective), our production would have been PG. Not PG-13 (based on current rating standards), certainly not even close to an R and going to a X rating is a bit extreme for one guy without a shirt, kissing and 3 uses of the phrase Stingy Bastard. Thank you. Next time, let your student come and you stay home.

High School Musical

2010-11-13T19:15:00.004-07:00

If you live in the state of Utah, over the first 3 weeks of November, you could see over 50 different high school musicals. We all do them around the same time of year. Our district alone is doing Brigadoon (played the Daddy in this show my junior year. Loved pulling out the huge medical dictionary as the "family bible", finding the most hideous pictures possible (a tie between a distended gonad and a goiter on someones neck the size of a football) to have Daniel Babcock sign his name on because he was marrying my daughter), West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Guys and Dolls and our production of South Pacific. These 5 high schools are also all within 15 miles of each other.

Also going around the state is the Utah premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, Cinderella, 42nd Street, Titanic, and about 44 others.

Why go and spend your hard earned $8.00 ($7.00 if you're a elementary, middle or high school student) to see a falling chandelier, tap numbers, princesses in gigantic pumpkins or sinking ships when you can come and see South Pacific at Riverton High School this upcoming Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday nights at 7:00pm?

You'll hear Some Enchanted Evening (a lot- when Rodgers found a good tune, you'll hear it enough times in the show that you will need a lobotomy to remove it), Bali Hai, Honey Bun and all those other great songs. Also, we hired ScentEvents (a company in Los Angeles that works with hotels and the movie business) to custom make us some fragrances that the audience will smell at certain points in the show. It's kinda cool.

So join me at Riverton High to see this great show- and if you're not sold on the Rodger's and Hammerstein classic, we are selling there amazing cookies:

They make these in Pleasant Grove and sell them all over the world (for a lot of money- Larry H. Miller movies sell them for $4.00! We're selling them for $2.00). Each cookie is huge AND the bottom is dipped in chocolate. So come have some cookies and Wash that Man Right Outta Your Hair this next weekend.

The October that Was

2010-11-01T15:42:00.002-06:00

October has flown by-looking back, here is what I recall:

1st week: Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City. My King Lear ensemble does great (even though one of the judges proclaimed it melodramatic- it was the blinding of Glouchester). We take 3rd in a really competitive division. I have a tech theatre student take 1st in costuming and an acting student take 1st in monologues (winning her a $1000 acting scholarship to SUU). Our dancers also did great taking 2nd in ensemble and 3rd in duos.

Highlights of the trip: The Pastry Pub for dinner-one of my actors vomiting after eating a gas station hot dog- one of the dancers vomiting (multiple times- but she did not eat a gas station hot dog)- seeing Pericles- seeing Greater Tuna (and having my male students proclaim it as the best play of all time)- watching The Office on the way down.

2nd week: Buying 5 10 foot long sheets of Styrofoam to make our sand bar for South Pacific. Picking them up at this amazing warehouse (it was like the Willy Wonka of Styrofoam. They had a 9 foot high champagne bottle and table and chairs made out of the stuff). It was hilarious because we had no rope to tie everything down (it was windy and we didn't want 50 feet of Styrofoam blowing down the road) so we found some rope (homeless person rope is what my students called it) on the Trax rails and tied it up. Fall Break- celebrate by taking the girls to Witch-A-Pa-Looza and Thanksgiving Point. Jackie and I celebrate by seeing The Social Network and eat at The Copper Onion. The food was great (but I vomited later that night. Not sure if related...)

3rd week: Went to The Drowsy Chaperone at Hale (really good)- visited my dad in ICU (huge heart attack but he managed to avoid bypass surgery)- tripped over one my my dad's many tubes sticking out of his body (almost causing brand new bypass surgery)- made dad laugh (not good when hooked up to many tubes)- 3 days later, watched them move my dad to another room (he's out of the hospital resting comfortably- well, as comfortably as you can with my mom cooking meals without salt, fat, dairy or anything good)- set up a doctor's appointment (at Jackie's insistence) to get heart and cholesterol checked- eat at In-&-Out for dinner after appointment is made- played for Primary Program (big hit with Jackie on microphone duty).

4th week: Take students to see Dracula at Pioneer Theatre Company (students were thrilled when blood got on their shoes and program...)- got a big chunk of the set painted- took girls to ward Halloween Party (Ellis got sick and we left early)- trick-or-treated Sat. night in the rain with the girls- watched The Shield Season 7.

We're excited to see The Color Purple Broadway musical coming to Salt Lake City Nov. 17th. If anyone is interested in going, I have 4 tickets left ($50 each- 8th, 9th, 10th row orchestra on the right). Happy November.

Sports Related Injury

2010-09-27T09:50:00.004-06:00

It's not often that you hear the following sentence associated with me. I have a sports related injury.

Sure, there was the minor concussion I got the one time I got roped into playing church softball so our ward wouldn't have to forfeit. I went to catch the ball, missed, and it bounced off the top of my head.

Or there was the time I was on a jetski at a scout camp (the kind of jetski you had to start on your stomach, move to your knees and then stand up), lost all upper body strength in the middle of the lake, wasn't wearing glasses or contacts, rode all around the lake on my belly while squinting and trying to find our camp- thinking I've found it, riding up onto the beach swearing that I'll never do that again, realizing that it's not my camp and they are random strangers, flopping back down on my belly (a very majestic exit) and riding along shore until I find our camp. I think my sore arms the entire trip were sports related injuries.

And let's not forget the time my sister Emily and I were in the back yard on the monkey bars having a chicken fight when she kicked my gonads so hard that I thought I was going to puke them up. I think a chicken fight is a sport.

Well, after playing Super Mario Bros on Wii with Jackie all weekend, I have Nintendo thumb on my left hand from pushing so hard. It hurts to put anything on that thumb- but it was totally worth it because we made it to World #3 because of my injured thumb. There were times I wanted to give up- throw in the towel- weep about not being able to have Mario stand still on the ice worlds- but I persevered and the injury is totally worth it. I may have to play with a band aid tonight- but we're making it to World 4 if I have to cut it off completely. Go sports!

City on Fire...

2010-09-21T19:31:00.007-06:00

Sunday, September 19th.
2:10pm: While loading up the girls into the can after church, I look up and see a plume of smoke on the other side of the mountain. Dang hippies.

4:20pm: Leave for my first day as assistant ward choir director. Notice smoke appears bigger and blacker (but not as black as my optimism for ward choir participation and attendance).

5:00pm: Leave from the 1st practice of the new Mill Canyon Women's sextet (that's all that showed. But we're going to give Lawrence Welk a run for his money). Notice smoke appears bigger and wider.

5:15pm: Friends from Los Angeles arrive for dinner.

6:00pm: Eat dinner. We don't notice smoke because we are telling stories about Jackie from high school. No pesky fire on the other side of the mountain will detract from that fun.

6:30pm: Go outside and notice that the fire appears to be getting much, MUCH wider. Still not on our side though. Even though it's windy, we don't smell smoke.

7:00pm: We go back outside just in time to see a wall of fire (with flames REALLY high) jump the top of the mountain and start spilling down. Jackie says, what should we pack just in case? Friends from LA tell us thank you for making them feel like they're at home.

8:00pm: Put girls to bed- notice that now we start smelling smoke. Jackie starts putting together boxes to be on the safe side. Our friend from LA suggests taking pictures of all the rooms for insurance purposes.

8:20pm: No that it's dark, the mountain looks like a volcano with lava pouring down the sides. Our street is jammed because 1000 homes are being evacuated and our street is a thoroughfare. It reminds me a little of the war scene from Duck Soup because everyone has horses, jet skis, boats, etc.

9:00pm: We hear cops evacuating the neighborhood to the west and, smelling smoke in our basement, we (and by we I mean Jackie) start putting valuables in boxes and get suitcases ready. I watch the news and see watch fire coming down the mountain spurred on by heavy wind. Everyone is out in their backyards hearing police say "mandatory evacuations", but not on our street yet.

9:30pm: The news says evacuations could continue through 2:00am. In watching the news, I realize that I will not be watching the finale of Food Truck Race on Food Network and Mad Men. Luckily they are both DVR's. Unluckily, if it's burnt to a crisp, there are several things on it I haven't watched yet. We hear that while people can leave the neighborhood, they cannot get back in.

10:00pm: Jordan School District (my district) announces school closings. They don't say what schools. There is no way that I am setting my alarm for 6:00am if I don't have to.

11:00pm: Watch out of our bedroom window and see great walls of orange flames cresting down the mountain. In some ways, it's like a really twisted room at the Anniversary Inn. Only the theme makes you want to run away instead of gettin it on.

Midnight-5:00am: Awake watching the fire out the window ready for a pound on the door to tell you to leave. Check the news every hour on the hour.

5:00am: I am awakened by the dulcet tones of Mary Richards (a friend from BYU and Jackie's former roommate) that tells us (finally) that Millie's elementary school is closed (but mine is open).

Monday, September 20th: I walk around school like a zombie, but everything is good. I have students that were evacuated and that didn't know anything about their home yet. I have teacher friends that also don't know anything yet. We are glad that amazing firefighters came from all over the state to help (and are still helping today) save all of the homes that were saved.

All pictures from KSL. Go to their website to see other pictures from the fire. 3 homes were incinerated in the fire.

Observations

2010-09-08T20:28:00.002-06:00

So tonight while having dinner at the Golden Corral (they have good rolls...) Jackie looks around and says, "I never thought of myself as a Golden Corral kind of person". This was in reference to the many ladies at the restaurant sporting several tattoos- and probably more specifically, the woman at the table next to us that was sporting a shirt that was so low-cut that we could see her cleavage piercing (Christmas gift idea for Jackie- although it looked horribly painful. Like a jewel nestled between two Christmas hams).

Also said by Jackie when we got home after I set up our brand new headboard for our new king-sized bed: I never thought I was the sort of person that would own a headboard.

Well, now you are that person Jackie. Now you are.

This Summer I...

2010-09-04T14:02:00.003-06:00

Had to go to a urologist 4 times. The first time was three days before leaving for New York (without going into too much detail, imagine trying to pass a watermelon through a straw- and it was not kidney stones). Let's just say, to save me a possible trip to an emergency room while in NYC, they quickly performed an emergency procedure (without out pain meds)... with the entire office staff gathered round. The other fun story was a trip to the radiologist and getting to hold my own catheter (and accidentally letting go halfway through the procedure causing a Bellagio-style fountain effect all over the place). Everything appears back to normal now.

Drove the family out to Oregon and coast. We played at a windy beach, took the girls to eat at the same pizza place Jackie and I ate at on our honeymoon, played Ticket to Ride with cousins at the beach house, watched Jackie clog up the 1 toilet at the beach house numerous times (until Judy found the "hidden toilet" in a scary basement), ate at the Otis Cafe (delicious), drove along the coast while everyone in our van watched The Princess and the Frog, went to the world's largest sea cave and saw lots of sea lions, went to OMNSI in Portland, ate at the street carts in Portland and read lots of books.

Taught 6 weeks at Hale Center Theatre summer camps. That's enough about that.

Bought a new king-size bed with frame, pillows, sheets and a actual headboard. I guess we're truly grownup now that we have a headboard.

Hung pictures up on the wall that had been on the floor since we moved in June of 2009.

Went to Pioneer Village with my parents and the girls.

Saw 14 plays/musicals. 9 in NYC (see previous posts), 1 The Wedding Singer at Hale (with my former student Matt Baxter stealing the show as George), 1 Pirates of Penzance at Hale (with my former student Bailee Paxman as a fantastic daughter- took Millie to this one and she loved it. Well, I know she loved the free cookie and root beer that she got at intermission thanks to Clint), 1 110 in the Shade at Hale Center Orem with the fantastic Audra McDonald. Seeing her in that show that close was worth every penny. It was fantastic. 1 Hairspray at Riverton City with 10-12 RHS Theatre alumni as leads and ensemble. They were great.
Millie went to her 1st Broadway show. We (and a few Riverton Drama students and alumni) went to see the Broadway touring show of The Lion King in Salt Lake City. She did great. It helped that she already knew the songs (she's sat a few times in her room and wept to Shadowlands) and story. Having a bag of Skittles ready for Act 2 also helped. The cast was great and Millie loved it. It was good preparation for Mary Poppins next year.

Saw (in the movie theatre) Toy Story 3, How to Train Your Dragon, Inception and The Other Guys. Also became addicted to The Shield and we are currently on Season 4.

So now school's back in session- I already cast our Shakespeare ensemble (a bloody good King Lear) and we're holding auditions for South Pacific after Labor Day. Happy 3 day (birthday) weekend.

NYC Adventure (2010 Days 6 & 7)

2010-08-08T17:58:00.006-06:00

Sunday morning- 1st goal: matinee tickets. We helped kids get tix to West Side Story and other shows (Our Town!!) after getting a delicious pastry at a famous French bakery Petrossan. While Jackie walked the street with everybody and their Puerto Ricean flag for the huge parade going down 5th. While she hit H&M and other stores, I (while grabbing a quick Magnolia Bakery lemon cupcake for sustenance) raced over to get matinee tickets for Sherie Rene Scott's show, Everyday Rapture. After scoring our rush tickets ($21 a piece=awesome) and racing back to get Jackie at Rockefeller (while watching CBS set everything up for the Tony Awards broadcast at Radio City, we shopped on the street for a bit to get stuff for Millie and Ellis.

We both really liked Everyday Rapture- a autobiographical show about how Sherie was raised Mennonite and how they don't believe in really performing (unless it's church hymns) and how she was always torn between her faith and her love of singing. The songs were great (esp. her two backup singers) and the show clipped along.

After that, we walked out into pouring rain and realized we were far south enough to try a famous cupcake place- The Cupcake Cafe- by the Port Authority Bus Terminal. The cupcakes all were like mini works of art and I got to eat a huge sweet potato doughnut.

We went back and dropped off our stuff and went to go eat dinner at a great Greek restaurant on 9th. We got the tasting platter for two so it had a big mix of everything Greek and we were the only people in the restaurant. We people watched everyone trying to get out of the rain (and I saw famous Broadway director Jerry Zaks) while some actors were running to the Tony Awards at Radio City.

After that, our group got to see our final show, Billy Elliot. Our seats were better than when Jackie and I had seen it earlier and I still loved it. Some of my students were confused by the fact that it was a drama but also funny (they couldn't figure out if it was a musical comedy or not)- but most people loved it (I think it was my mom's favorite).

After that, it was a stop at a pizza joint for a late night snack and we got to see Memphis get awarded the Tony for Best Musical.

Monday, we had to get up early to pack AND go to the NBC Studios Tour. Some of group opted out of the tour (it was early), but most of us staggered down to the NBC Studio store in Rockefeller to begin our tour. It was fun seeing the Saturday Night Live set (and Dr. Oz's set), but the best was afterwards eating with the Cox's at our famous French chocolate place in Rockefeller Center. We got gourmet hot chocolate with some cake and chocolate truffles.

After that, we packed up and headed back to JFK (where, JetBlue has the nicest terminal with the nicest food)- decompressed from the week, talked to our group about favorite shows (Memphis, Fela!, Our Town were all mentioned) and had an event free flight home to SLC!

Thanks for a great 2010 trip NYC- we'll see you in 2012 (where I am considering doing two trips- a student trip and an adult trip- let me know if you're interested!)

Brilliant

2010-08-07T09:25:00.000-06:00

This is genius- (but it does have a naughty word):

NYC Adventure (2010 Day 5)

2010-08-01T17:48:00.005-06:00

I woke up early on Saturday morning to take a group of students down to Union Square to get student rush tickets for Fuerzabruta a crazy show that takes place on the ceiling above your head (while you stand). I thought their box office would be open at 9:00am- but I was wrong. The box office didn't open until 1:00pm- which was cutting it really close to our 2:00pm matinee performance of Lend Me a Tenor- but I told them to play around Union Square and get their tickets fast at 1:00pm and meet us at the theatre for Tenor. Well I was wrong again because they didn't sell student tickets until an hour before the show- and they waited in Union Square all morning for nothing (but I did show them where crazy Max Brenner's chocolate shop was).

At the same time, Jackie was with people helping them get Sunday matinee tix at the TKTS at the Seaport. They sell matinee the day before- but a lot of what people wanted to see were not available- so after hanging out there a bit, us and and Coxes headed over to S'Mac- a tradition that cannot be missed whenever we're in NYC. I ate what I always eat- the Moroccan mac & cheese and I never regret it.

After that, we were off to the matinee of Lend me a Tenor- which had it's fun moments (but Boeing-Boeing in 2008 and Noises Off in 2002 were funnier). After that, I ran to the Drama Bookstore to grab a bunch of scripts for my drama room.

We met my family at In the Heights to help them get lottery tix. Nate was the first one called so he got 2 front row tickets- which he used with my mom, leaving my dad to sit up in the balcony with strangers. Then they helped us get tix for Rock of Ages- which we saw that night. What I liked about Rock of Ages:

1- Our usher. Best usher ever in a Broadway house- he was hilarious and had NO FEAR when it came to putting drunken middle-aged women who were sitting in the wrong seats (and were adamant that they weren't) in their place.

2- The mom of one of our students LOVING every song that came up that reminded her of her high school years (this show uses every hit hair band song from the 80's that you could think of- in other words, my mom's version of hell).

3- The cast of the show. They were having a ton of fun (and I don't know how they sing that way 8 shows a week) and Constantine (from American Idol) was really good.

4- The way that a beer vendor would come out and show his wares whenever a hit song was about to begin. I'm going to start this at my high school during our shows. Great fundraising opportunity.

My only issue is that I couldn't understand some of the dialogue- I don't know if it was me or the speakers. But I was partially deaf when the show was over. A successful Saturday night in NYC (except for the students that didn't make it to Fuerzabruta- but they went to Serendipity instead).

NYC Adventure (2010 Day 4)

2010-07-31T15:46:00.000-06:00

By the time I finish this trip report, it's going to be 2012 and time for the next trip- so...

Friday morning is always the early morning. It has to be early because if you've ever gone down catch the Statue of Liberty ferry and you've seen the lines that form in the afternoon, you know it's worth it to get on an early boat.

We got every down and on the boat to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. This year we let people get off at the Statue, and in retrospect we should have gotten off there too- we always figure because we don't have enough monument access passes that it's not worth getting off at the Statue and waiting for the next boat for Ellis Island- but this year (similar to the Museum of Natural History in 2008), we were at Ellis Island with every single elementary student in the greater New York and New Jersey area. We did see a cool video that we had never seen before- but basically, it was too crowded to enjoy it like we had in the past (but it was great to see the kids wandering all over instead of just camping out at the gift store).

After the boat ride back, we walked the group up Broadway (and let students rub the Wall Street bull statue's testicles), showed them Wall Street and then it was off to China Town- but before being accosted by a crazy man in the subway that was raving on and on about Jennifer Lopez. Most of the group found him amusing (and some even recorded him with their ipods), but after a bit, he was getting in people's faces and swearing (a lot), I called security- but they couldn't understand me. As the subway arrived, our chaperones did a great job not allowing him on the car with us as we went up to Chinatown.

We let the group go in Chinatown- and the Coxes and us found (with the help of the Coxes awesome I-phone) the best hole-in-the-wall dumpling/noodle place. You got 12 dumplings for $3.00 so we got two orders for us- and then we all got a noodle soup- with various meat products. I think in the end it didn't matter what you ordered because even though I got the seafood one, everyone got at least one baby octopus in their soup. It was awesome watching the man in the back whack noodle dough on the table- just like in The Amazing Race! It was also funny watching our waitress/chef yell at an older man slurping soup on a table so she could give the table to us.

After that, we met up with Arianne and Ben for the free afternoon at the Museum of Modern Art. We then met up with Nate and my parents to go meet my cousin Allison for dinner at The Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridian hotel. It was hilarious walking through the lobby with Nate (and Nate saying, it's really fancy) and then going behind this little curtain and being in The Burger Joint (which looks nothing like the rest of the hotel).

That night the show was Kristen Chenoweth and Sean Hayes in Promises Promises. I thought the show was a lot of fun- even though Jackie sat next to me scowling through it (she's just not a swingin 60's Burt Baccarat kind of gal)- until Katie Finneran came on at the beginning of Act 2- and was brilliant. I thought the dancing and design was great- Sean Hayes was really likable- and he and Kristen signed all my students programs and posed for pictures. For some of the mom's in my group, they were more excited meeting Tony Goldwyn- most notable for being the bad guy in the movie Ghost. He was the bad guy in this musical as well. While I waited for students to get autographs, Jackie went back to the hotel- and was sound asleep before I even got in.

NYC Adventure (2010 Day 3)

2010-07-24T09:37:00.000-06:00

Thursday morning we were up early to take the subway over to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Because our group was so huge, we had arranged a 1 and a half hour guided tour of the museum and then time by ourselves. Even though our groups were still over 30 people big, we got the best docent in the entire museum- James Spann. He was a former actor and literally kept our attention the entire tour (and we would have stayed with him longer).

After the tour we went up to look at the huge bamboo exhibit on the roof of the museum. It was pretty crazy that the entire structure (which could be walked on) was only held together by lashings.

We met up with everyone that wanted to go through Central Park (a lot of people opted to stay back at the museum or head over to Serendipity on the Upper East Side). We only lost one group of 4 boys who were walking over to Bethesda Fountain- but went on the wrong road (luckily Brent and Amanda went to get them) and we stopped by Strawberry Fields before heading for a eating tour of the Upper West Side. 1st stop was Gray's Papaya for hot dogs, Jacques Torres for chocolates and finally Levain Bakery for cookies.

While we were eating, my brother Nate was arriving in NYC from Virginia- along with my sister Arianne and her husband Ben. Ari and Ben were coming on a bus from Boston, but Nate decided to only spend $4 on transportation from JFK to his mid-town hotel- which also took about 3 hours (with luggage). He did say that New Yorkers are friendly and helpful (especially when lugging 2 suitcases around on the subway).

After our cookies at Levain, it was off for more NYC eating with Brent and Amanda Cox. We hit the Village for the Coxes first experience with Pomme Frites- a place that every other time we had tried to go to with them, it had been closed. Jackie and I first ate here in 2004- and though they only serve fries, they are the best fries in the land. Between all of us, we had about 8 sauces to dip our frites in- and they were amazing.

After frites, we hit the dessert restaurant Chickalicious where I had a special version of cheesecake- basically it was a cheesecake foam that dissolved on your tounge and left the most delicious taste- I don't know how to describe it- only to say it was the "essence of cheesecake". We also had a lemon basil sorbet that was so refreshing, I secretly licked my plate when no one was watching.

That night, the show we saw (along with a talkback afterwards) was Memphis- which later won for Best Musical at the Tony Awards. I went into the show knowing the music, but not being blown away by it- but I was blown away by the show that night. The actors were having so much fun up on stage that it was infectious. The 2 leading performers were great and the dancing was fantastic! (Especially when we learned at the talk-back that they had been dancing all morning in rehearsals for the Tony Awards). What was even better was at the talkback, almost every lead came out to talk to our group and they were really down-to-earth and fun with the students. We loved the show! Even my brother Nate (who doesn't know much about theatre) really liked the show- which is high praise indeed.

NYC Adventures (2010 Day 2)

2010-07-18T19:55:00.000-06:00

We opened our eyes at the lovely Hampton Inn (on our 10th Wedding Anniversary) and made our way down to the complimentary breakfast. For the first time that I can recall, Jackie actually made it out of the room for breakfast (normally I'd bring her something back to eat on her own in the room). We then marched ourselves down to Rockefeller Center to do The Top of the Roc.
Having been to the Empire State Building 3 times, I can tell you that I'm no longer taking groups there- being in one of the first groups on top of 30 Roc is SO MUCH BETTER! You get great shots of Central Park, Empire State, Chrysler Building, New Jersey... and you get the world's coolest elevator ride up to the top. Our group loved it and it was worth it.

From the top of Rockefeller Center we directed students where to go for their Wednesday matinee tix. Jackie took a group to Lincoln Center to get student rush for South Pacific (success), I took students to get rush tix for Fences with Denzel Washington (no-go, but we did get valuable information about how to get them on Sat.), a fellow RHS faculty member and her husband to Million Dollar Quartet lottery (success- and the two kids that wanted Fences also made the lottery) and I settled in for the long TKTS line. My parents and the Coxes were on the other side of the line- and they ended up being ahead of us. So Brent got 4 tix to A Little Night Music with Angela Lansbury and Catherine Zeta Jones (Row B!) and my parents got great seats for South Pacific. Jackie was waiting for me (in the rain) at one of our favorite lunch spots, Nougatine at the Trump Building, but since I was taking forever, she came down and met me at TKTS. We quickly grabbed lunch at another great place, Bouchon Bakery in the Time Warner Center. We ate our goodies in shelter from the rain next to the A Little Night Music theatre in the hotel breezeway of the hotel we stayed at with our 2002 group. Altogether, our group saw the following shows for their matinees: Wicked, Million Dollar Quartet, In the Heights, South Pacific, and A Little Night Music.

A Little NM was great- we were all the way to the left, but I could rest my arms on the stage if I cared to. There was a man sitting next to Jackie that looked like he wanted to join in on our conversations (I wasn't noticing it but it was cracking Brent and Amanda Cox up- they were sitting right behind us) and we got a special sneak peak of Catherine Z Jones when she flashes open her robe to her suitor- and since we were on the extreme edge of the audience, we could see her plastic/body stocking upper body.

We were really impressed with the simplicity of the set and the amazing singers in the cast. It was great (even if Catherine did strange choices in Send in the Clowns- we figured she was being so specific that she was directed that way).

After that, we ran in a downpour to the subway and went to one of the oldest steakhouses in NYC, Keens Chop House. They had all of these crazy smoking pipes on the ceiling and an actress got arrested in the early 1900's for refusing to leave (they didn't serve women then). She won her case. Jackie had crab cakes and lobster bisque and I had steak hash (which was so much I couldn't finish).

We then ran to the hotel to meet everyone for The Addams Family- which I led everyone to in a downpour. When I got to the theatre, I was literally wringing the water out of my clothes.

Now I'm conflicted with The Addams Family- I think the cast did the best they could with some weak material. Nathan Lane was fantastic (as was most of the cast- esp. Kevin Chamberlain as Fester and Jackie Hoffman as Grandma), the set was amazing (including all of the puppetry) and I think most everyone had a lot of fun with it- but I wanted more. I love Andrew Lippa (the composer) and except for the opening number and a fun duet between Wednesday and her fiance, I thought the music was pretty weak (but the orchestra sounded great). However, my group loved it and we got to have a great talkback after the show with some of the leads which was a lot of fun.

After the show, we went up to another of our favorite places Eatery for dessert- Jackie got a killer ice cream sandwich and I had red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. Happy 10th Anniversary! Nothing like spending it with 71 other people (and a hotel room with your parents!)

NYC Adventures (2010 Day 1)

2010-07-14T08:42:00.000-06:00

Aah, the pleasures of a red-eye flight. Arriving at 9:30pm- checking everyone in (well, I socialized, Jackie did the checking), having 3 students get detained at security because they were over 18 and didn't have a government issued ID- just a student id- having a guard call homeland security on them- taking forever- then finally letting them through- calling parents to send a birth certificate so we don't have the problem coming back- ahh, fun times.

Even with Jet Blue's lovely leg room and TV, it's still a red-eye. I tried to be prepared and took a melatonin before boarding- and I even bought Jackie and myself inflatable neck pillows with fleece covers. I over inflated "the bladder" (as it says on the package) of the pillow which wouldn't let my head go one way or the other- it looked like I was in a neck brace. I released some of the air- only to find it uncomfortable. Jackie was on the other side of the aisle nestled against a window seat by the Coxes- I was next to my parents- my mom sleeping somewhat soundly after taking a combination of 42 pills while my dad stayed awake watching a shark movie on the USA network. Oh- Jet Blue also passed out free Hanes T-shirts as we boarded. I tried to use it as a pillow but it was still uncomfortable. But, no matter- our group of 70 (2 people already had flown in from Arizona and were doing laundry because a can of hairspray had exploded inside their suitcase) was ready to go.

We were stirred around 1:00am by an announcement from the pilot asking if there was a doctor on board. I prodded my dad but I don't think they were looking for a doctor of mechanical engineering. The person turned out to be ok, but the pilot put his foot on the gas because we arrived at JFK 20 minutes early (around 5:40am).

Looking and smelling like zombies, we collected our luggage (nothing lost) and loaded our three buses to the city. I don't remember our drivers name, but he was great- he pointed out lots of stuff to our group and got us to our hotel pretty quick (even taking some detours to show my students some other stuff). The other half of our group had a first time driver that got lost and wasn't sure where he was going.

The Hampton Inn was a little overwhelmed by our groups arrival (they had 1 poor porter taking in all of our luggage- students and Mr. Cox helped) but they welcomed our group and told them to come in and eat breakfast. My mom was so delirious that she tripped and fell in front of the hotel- and asked if she could check-in then (at 8:00am no rooms were ready).

After our group ate, we were off on the subway to Brooklyn. I was a little nervous about it because I have never been to Brooklyn- let alone leading a group of 72. The subway was right across from our hotel and it was hilarious waiting for the entire group to get through the turnstiles before we all entered the train.

We got to Brooklyn and, on a clear, sunny and warm June day walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. The group had a great time and when we reached the other side- even though we were going on no sleep, we were off to St. Paul's by Ground Zero. St. Paul's wasn't open until 10:00am so I took a few students to Ground Zero- but our group got separated and divided (Jackie was at the back and I was at the front) and it took MUCH longer to get to the viewing windows of Ground Zero (and when we got there, my entire group had to pee- led of course by my mother...) but we made it back to St. Paul's and then it was off to Grand Central.

We were going to attempt a little tour of Grand Central but, because of sleep deprivation, everyone was a little loopy so we all ended up eating and relaxing at the Food Court underneath Grand Central- while Jackie took me, my parents and the Coxes on a little guided tour.

We then (after almost leaving my parents behind because of dawdling) were off to the NYC Public Library- which, while being open, is having it's front facade redone so the awesomeness of the building was dampened a bit- but students loved going inside and looking at everything Jackie recommended- everyone that is except my parents who were going to go try to see if our room was ready (it wasn't).

After that, it was off to Times Square- but we were sidetracked by the arrival of The Naked Cowboy which caused our group to be split up all over the place. We met up at the Times Square Visitors Center where I briefly became the tour guide to people not in our group because they were overhearing my advice to my students about how to get cheap tickets the next day. My favorite was the cute Indian couple asking me if i recommended La Cage or Fela! like I worked there. We then took students to show them how TKTS works- and again, I became a tour guide to other people listening to my explanation.

After that it was check-in- for some people (almost everyone except Jackie, me and my parents). After getting everyone situated (and Jackie only becoming delirious briefly), it was into our room for a nap.

After the nap, we met everyone for Next to Normal- which most of our group loved (we had one student weeping so loudly at the end of the show the mom next to him was worried about him). I still think the show is amazing and I was happy to see Alice Ripley before she left.

After the show, kids got autographs and then it was time for John's Pizzeria (famous from our 2008 trip where Jackie and I took half our pizza into Spring Awakening and where my tech boys saw the Jonas Brothers eating lunch) right across the street from the theatre. Our group had unlimited calzones, salad, soda and wood-fired pizza. I collected the $$ as students came in- and after everyone left, me, Jackie and my parents looked like mafia counting out all of the money for the restaurant. After that, we walked up to the hotel and quickly went straight to bed for fun the next day.

2010 Trip Show Previews

2010-06-05T10:12:00.000-06:00

Our first show will be Next To Normal which just won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Jackie and I saw it in 2009 and LOVED it. Here's a preview:

After that, on Wednesday night we are seeing the great Nathan Lane in The Addams Family:

On Thursday we see the musical Memphis which is nominated for Best Musical:

and on Friday we see Kristen Chenoweth and Sean Hayes in Promises Promises:

Saturday we see Lend me a Tenor (which I've loved ever since I directed it at my high school):

and finally, Billy Elliot which won Best Musical last year.

Come with us in 2012! We'll have a great time (or we may be going to London...)

2004 New York Trip

2010-06-05T09:41:00.000-06:00

Since we had so much fun in 2002 (and we didn't lose anyone), we decided to go again in 2004. Our group doubled in size since everyone heard how much fun we had in 2002- so we had about 40 people. We also had entire families come (including one family of 4- the father not only had never been to NYC, but he also couldn't remember if he had ever seen a PLAY before in his life- he thought that he had...) we also had the fun additions of Bradley and Shawnda Moss + my cousin Austin Cope (who had the pleasure of going to Pomme Frites with us and Jared Stromberg and eating amazing french fries).
Our first show was the high energy Hairspray which was hilarious. Michael McKean (from Laverne and Shirley + Christopher Guest films) was Edna. The group loved it.

The next show was Assassins at Studio 54- this is the first and last show I ever paid full price for. It was nominated for Best Revival (and won) and it had Neil Patrick Harris, Denis O'Hare, Michael Cerveris and lots of fantastic actors. It was amazing (but I still don't know if it was worth $210 for both Jackie and myself...)

Our group split up that night and Jackie went to see Thoroughly Modern Millie and I went to The Lion King. The Lion King was in Disney's amazing theatre that used to be Ziegfeld's back in the 20's. It was visually impressive.
After that was our play Sly Fox with Richard Dreyfus, but the most memorable part was going to take students to the Empire State Building--- only to have the Olympic Torch arrive in Times Square from Greece. The crowds were a big as New Years Eve and we were literally holding students shoulders to keep them from getting separated. Bradley and Shawnda reached the Empire State Building only to be turned away because it had reached capacity.
After that it was Billy Joel's Movin' Out- most memorable was afterwards waiting for dancers to get their autographs only to have Hugh Jackman come out from the theatre next door and sign some students programs (he was starring in The Boy From Oz).

We then went to Forbidden Broadway- which I was worried about because it was in a small Off-Broadway theatre- and everyone had a great time (I still remember Austin Cope's face when the cast of Rocky Horror Picture Show came out...)
Last, but not least, we got to see Wicked with the original Broadway cast 2 days after Idina won Best Actress for the show. Unfortunately, she was out filming a movie- BUT we still had everyone else (and Eden Espinoza was fantastic). The best part was Norbert Leo Butz (playing Fyero) slipped and fell on his butt causing Kristen Chenoweth to break character, laugh and leave the stage. Very funny. She was really nice to students afterwards and took pictures with everyone. It was a fantastic trip!

2002 New York

2010-06-03T09:38:00.001-06:00

We leave for NYC with our group of 72 (don't you wish you were going with?) in 4 days. I also should be currently cleaning my drama room for end of year check-out, but I don't want to. However, I was dusting some posters up in our room from past NYC trips and it provoked memories.
1st Broadway show EVER in New York City:
Oklahoma! Some people may poo-poo this show, but our entire group (we had 20 including me and Jackie) fell in love with this version that came in from London. It was beautiful- and it was great that the dream ballet was danced by the actual leads. We had front and center seats in Gershwin theatre (which is where Wicked is currently playing) and we all loved it. This same version was released on DVD with Hugh Jackman playing the lead. It's not as good as it was live, but it's pretty much the same show we saw. It also makes me laugh whenever parents come up and say, "why don't you do something high school appropriate like Oklahoma!?- because Oklahoma has an attempted rape, murder, and drug induced dancing.

On our trip we also saw The Producers- which, while being very funny, was most memorable for the steep stairs in the balcony causing a gentleman to fall into my lap before the show began and for our opera student tour guide- while being very nice (and trying to figure out what Mormons from Utah were doing in NYC), had the LOUDEST laugh I ever heard in my life. He was getting more laughs than the actors were on stage.

We then saw what turned out to be everyone's favorite show of the trip Metamorphoses. This play has a huge pool of water as the set, and I had heard there was some brief, partial nudity. Well that brief partial nudity turned into full frontal male nudity (although, since he a Cupid, he was wearing wings...) and he walked very slowly right to our section of the theatre. As I had visions of my teaching career going down the toilet, one of the parental chaperones on the trip turned to me and said, "that's one naked gentleman"- and I knew I was safe. The show was FANTASTIC and everyone's favorite (right Arianne?)
We then saw Chicago for 1/2 price (I liked it, but my favorite was a junior male student of mine was in the front row- right in front of all of the ladies doing their Fosse splits right in front of his face...), and we saw Urinetown with the original Broadway cast- and it was hilarious!

Our last show was Noises Off with Patti LuPone- which had our entire group laughing until we were weeping- except for Jackie. It's becoming a running joke that every NYC trip I take everyone to a comedy that everyone loves... except Jackie.
We also got to see Vanessa Williams as the Witch in Into the Woods- however, the guy that stole the show was the actor that played Milky White the cow- he was out there dancing away on his little cow legs- and that same actor is nominated for a Tony this year as the lead in Memphis.
Since this was our first trip there, it was memorable for:
The viewing platform of the World Trade Towers- which were still smoking and you had to stand in line to pay tribute.
The backstage Times Square tour- we got to go into a few theatres and get some history on them. This tour is no longer offered so it was pretty cool.
Eating way to much food at Carmine's Italian restaurant (and Jerry Hunt getting sick).
Our group tour of the Met Museum- with focus on the phallic fertility canoes on special display.
Did I forget anything Jackie?

10 Years of Teaching

2010-05-17T14:01:00.000-06:00

So at the end of the 2009-2010 school year (1 and half weeks to go!) I will have taught high school Theatre, Film Studies and Stage Crew for 10 years. Here are some things I've learned:

1- For every awesome bus driver (and they are out there) there are many crazy ones:

a. The bus driver that ran into a lamp post at Olympus High causing it to crash down on the roof of the bus. I remember students grabbing stuff covered with broken glass on it.

b. Our naked bus driver Clay at Shakespeare Competition. Enough said.

c. Our bus driver that tried to take the bus through the Carl's Jr. drive through. It didn't work.

d. Our bus driver that stood up and covered a students mouth while he was talking "too loudly".

2- Student teachers (for the most part) are fun:

a. Celeste Ballio having a mouse run up her pant leg in the drama office.

b. Celeste telling students about forms and shapes found in film- and talking about breasts.

c. Glen and his Shakespeare birthday party

d. Celeste and Glen going up to Pioneer Theatre Company- and a student barfing all over the bus (at least it wasn't Jackie- she's vomited on many bus rides).

3- Trips

a. driving the Uhaul to Dixie State in January with The Crucible set in the back.

b. Sending a student home from UTA on the Greyhound bus for breaking curfew.

c. a food fight at Golden Corral

d. Students getting ticketed for turn style jumping in a NYC subway

e. Student getting almost arrested for shoplifting in NYC- only to be saved by a cashier that recognized him by his orange shirt.

f. Students almost getting into a Hummer limo in Times Square- and then thinking probably not.

g. Having a travel agency go bankrupt 2 days before your trip to NYC- leaving you 48 hours to put a trip together.

4- School stuff

a. Accidentally erasing the district substitute line with the message: This is Clin Eaton from Riverton High and I don't think I'm doing this right...

b. Using the bathroom in the Men's Dressing room (and locking the door) only to have the door opened on you by a Vice Principal bringing a local pastor around to show him the facilities.

c. Having a student take off their pants in the middle of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window in film Studies.

and many many more...

Shows I've Directed

ST- Shakespeare Team

MD- Music Director/Accompanist

1999-2000

All's Well That Ends Well (ST)

Guys and Dolls (MD)

2000-2001

Fiddler on the Roof (MD)

The Curious Savage

Quilters

2001-2002

Once Upon a Mattress

The Diviners

2002-2003

Titus Andronicus (ST)

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (MD)

Lend Me A Tenor

2003-2004

How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying

Working

2004-2005

King Lear (ST)

Me and My Girl (MD)

10 Little Indians

Once on This Island

2005-2006

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Soap Opera

Secrets Every Smart Traveller Should Know

2006-2007

12th Night (ST)

Seussical (MD)

Cash on Delivery
The Secret Garden

2007-2008

Anything Goes

The Arabian Nights

Disney Review

2008-2009

The Taming of the Shrew (ST)

No No Nanette (MD)

Rumors

Back to the 80's

2009-2010

Les Miserables

The Greek Mythology Olympiaganza

Lucky Stiff

Funny Video

2010-05-11T18:50:00.000-06:00

I know these (there are 3 of them from 2nd City Comedy Group) have been making the rounds online, but I think this one is the funniest- even if you're not into theatre- try it.

What's Up

2010-04-27T21:53:00.000-06:00

So, since I've last posted, I've shaved my beard (goodbye Fiddler! goodbye Dream Sequence Bobble-heads! good-bye trying to get in bed before midnight! goodbye great friends and a great show!), took students to Legally Blonde, Our Town and State Drama Festival (the play I directed got Straight Superiors), helped Millie turn 5 years old, participated in a Princess Themed Party, went to Disneyland over Spring Break, got previously mentioned beard vomited on by a sick Ellis at Disneyland, will go to Carl's Jr. for Ellis's 3rd birthday tomorrow (she requested the Twinkle Twinkle Star restaurant) and am finally getting caught up on Netflix movies and DVR items.

In the midst of all of this, I've been directing (and accompanying) my MDT class in the musical Lucky Stiff. It performs this weekend (Fri. April 30, Sat. May 1st and Mon. May 3rd) at 7:00pm on the RHS Stage (seating is limited to 200). Shows are at 7:00pm except for a special 2:00pm matinee on Saturday. For extra fun, I double cast everyone in the show- everyone performs in each show, but they play different parts (what was a thinking). There is the Friday night/Saturday night cast and the Saturday matinee/Monday night cast. Come see both! This musical comedy involves a dead uncle in a wheelchair, stolen diamonds, a dog home in New Jersey and a kickline done in blacklight. Millie proclaims this to be a much better musical than Fiddler on the Roof. So, come watch me get carpel tunnel by playing for the entire show this weekend! It'll be fun. (And it's only $6.00).

Where to Start

2010-03-24T22:26:00.000-06:00

So much going on (upcoming Disneyland trip, sick daughter story involving vomiting and peanut butter, Fiddler on the Roof antics, tv and theatre updates)- but I want to go read the new Fablehaven book so this will just have to suffice:

This says more than I ever could.

Riverton High Contest

2010-03-03T09:22:00.001-07:00

In honor of the Broadway tour of Legally Blonde coming to Salt Lake City at the end of March, the Broadway tour and KUTV news are holding a high school competition where students perform a number and people get to vote for them (they're also judged by professionals). My MDT students have a number uploaded, so between now and March 14th, go to this website, register (name, email and phone number) and go to video #4 and vote for my students. You can vote once a day- a lot of the videos are really fun- but vote for us!

Prop Shopping

2010-02-28T14:59:00.000-07:00

So I went to DI yesterday to buy props for my region play. I'm doing a play based on Greek mythology so I needed a bunch of dolls for the girls in the show to portray the Sirens and Furies.

Did you know that DI removes the clothing off Barbie dolls? Well they do. There I am, standing in the middle of the toy aisle with children running all around me picking up various nude Barbie dolls and trying to examine them while trying to emanate non-threatening vibes ("I am not a pervert. I am not a pervert.") After I found the perfect 12 dolls (and a big pink plush snake which will be used to kill Eurydice), I walked up to checkout. There I am, a 34 year old man with a big scary beard holding a 6 foot pink plush snake and 12 completely naked Barbie dolls. A little girl looked at me and whispered to her dad asking why I was holding 12 Barbies. He didn't answer, but he subtly shifted himself and his daughter away from me.

To top off the embarrassment, my debit card magnetic strip would not be read- so I was at the register for what felt like 8 hours with the pile of naked dolls (not yet bagged) in a plastic heap in front of me as the clerk gave me accusatory eyes. I quickly escaped to my vehicle and drove away quickly- still feeling somehow ashamed for what I had done.

Why I Haven't Posted Recently...

2010-02-26T11:33:00.001-07:00

#1- I've been fiddling my brains out at Hale Center Theatre. I'm in the Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday cast and it's a great show (but long. very very long). I'm also doing a lot of Monday shows for my double. On Saturday when I do the 4:00pm show, before the end of the show we have to start setting up for the next show at 7:30pm. There's a very quick turnover.

Fun story- I did the show Monday night and I left stage the same time I always do at the end of Act 1 (with 4 other people). I was talking to them in the green room when one of the Russians ran on and told me my microphone had been left on after I left. Right after someone gets knocked out with a bottle, there was silence on stage- except for everyone hearing me talk about what happened Saturday night at the show. Luckily I wasn't in the bathroom and I'm not a swearing sort of person. Come see the show- if you can get tickets. They just added 7 4:00pm matinees because it's been selling out.

#2- Connected to Fiddler, I've been sore because during the dream scene I wear a huge 75 pound fake head of Teyve's daughter on top of my own head. It needs to be seen to be believed. The 4 of us that have to wear them affectionally call them the damn bobble heads.

#3- I've taken students to The BYU Young Ambassadors Show (with Millie. That was interesting) and 12 Angry Men while also supervising the set for our high school play of The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940- which turned out great. We also went with our friends the Coxes to see the Broadway tour of Avenue Q- which was great as well.

#4- My school district is in uproar and dissarray. Hopefully I still have a job next year- (and if I do have a job, I will be teaching one more class with out being compensated).

***Beard Update 2010***

We are at the phase I like to call Adam Pontipee after Millie has kicked him out of the house.

(33) Years of Jackie

2010-01-26T07:00:00.001-07:00

33 Reasons why Everyone (esp. me) loves Jackie:

1. She first caught my eye dressed in full makeup as a porcupine.

2. Her face cannot tell a lie.

3. She doesn't realize how funny she actually is- which makes her even funnier.

4. She can win my students hearts by singing on a bus the complete lyrics to Ice Ice Baby.

5. She is now queen of couponing. Bordering on obsessive. She'll get me deodorant for $.30- and her big birthday gift was a Sunday subscription to 2 papers for more coupons.

6. She'll Wii sword fight with Millie.

7. She tells our daughters that their beautiful AND smart.

8. For the most part, we like the same shows on tv.

9. I introduced her to the joys of shrimp cocktail on our honeymoon- and she's liked it ever since.

10. She was not scared off when she first met my family in Nov. of 1999- she even sat by Nate in the car as he sang Shake your Bon Bon by Ricky Martin a hundred times in a row.

11. She liked to read.

12. She's not just an eternal companion- she's an eternal chaperone.

13. She's a great performer- she doesn't do it often- like Hailey's Comet, you have to catch it quick.

14. She introduced me to the world of NPR.

15. She plays the piano.

16. She used to hate to cook. Now she still hates it, but she can make gourmet recipes.

17. She doesn't like to drink milk- which leaves more for me.

18. She addicted to Diet Coke/Pepsi/whatever she has a coupon for.

19. She'll come and coach my MDT students- and they'll listen to her over me.

20. She's obsessed with lawn maintenance.

21. She's obsessed with recycling.

22. She's obsessed with not owning animals. I tried to get her to read All Creatures Great and Small. Didn't work.

23. She gets car/bus/air sick really easily. (There was vomiting on our honeymoon. and on a school bus trip to Cedar City).

24. While not crazy about cake, she does enjoy other desserts.

25. Periodically her jaw will dislocate in her sleep.

26. She looks good with blond, brown, long or short hair.

27. Some days she wants to be a large African American woman with a voice to match.

28. She still owns clothes from high school.

29. She can get along/talk to ANYONE. Unless their kind of famous. Then she won't speak.

30. She loves me and Millie and Ellis- even after one of us wets their pants on the carpet (not saying who...)

31. She'll be the first to admit that some days just need Cafe Rio.

32. She's multi-talented, beautiful and smart.

33. Here's to many more birthdays- because, as she has cross-stitched on a pillow- I have to die first.

Happy Birthday!

Beard Watch 2010

2010-01-20T16:51:00.000-07:00

When I was a lad (well, a teenage lad) I used to sneak peaks of the book The Joy of Sex at our local library. The pictures were somewhat scary because it was from the late 70's and the couple were scary (and hairy). Looking at myself in the mirror this morning, I realized that my Fiddler beard makes me look like the guy from The Joy of Sex book (and since no haircuts are allowed, the hair is gonna look like him pretty soon too):

So that's what my beard looks like.

A scary hippie from a how-to sex manual from the 70's.

I Wish Our Ward Choir Was Like...

2010-01-18T17:59:00.001-07:00

Words cannot describe this- but I promise you if you watch all the way through, you will get a sneak peak of what the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has up their sleeve for a future performance. PLEASE WATCH ALL THE WAY THROUGH- it's worth it.

Bladders

2010-01-15T15:38:00.000-07:00

So today at the end of my Film Studies class, I came as close as I ever had in my adult life to wetting my pants. In a normal classroom situation, I would excuse myself and run to the restroom. However, today the entire class was being graded on a presentation- and there was literally no time for me to leave. I tried several positions to relieve the agony in my bladder- sitting down at my desk, sitting down on my table, sitting down in my chair, standing with one foot casually resting on a chair (almost lost it there) and pacing back and forth in the back of the class like an mental patient trying not to see the visions in their head. The problem was not helped when one group kept talking on and on about how their film needed a large water tank to be the ocean at the end of their film.

Mercifully, the presentations ended with 2 minutes left of class- I yelled, congrats! It's the end of the semester- I probably won't see you again unless you take Film 2- I'm letting you go 2 minutes early! As I was trotting to the door (I was not capable of running at this point), a student comes up to ask me about his final presentation (which he did very well on) and about how the idea for his zombie movie came to him at 1:00am. Through clenched teeth, clenched urethra and summing all the powers of the great beyond, I replied that I had to run to a faculty meeting so I wouldn't be late. With that, I briskly walked to the men's bathroom and found sweet relief.

Happy end of 1st semester. Half way done with the school year.

Beard Watch 2010

2010-01-14T10:13:00.001-07:00

I am growing a beard. Not just any beard mind you... I'm not shaving until April 10, 2010. Some fellow teachers at my school at first thought it was just stubble for the holidays. Now that I'm starting to look like the lumberjack that I think has always been inside of me, they know me well enough to ask if it's for a show.

I'm currently in rehearsals to play Avram in Fiddler on the Roof at Hale Center Theatre. You don't know the character of Avram? I bet you do. You know the song "Anatevka" when the Jews are being forced to leave their village by the Russians? Avram is the one that sings "A hat." Got it now? I'm him.

This is the 3rd production of Fiddler that I've been in.

#1- 1985. The Russian soloist in "To Life" in my elementary school's production. My microphone falls down my pants. No one hears me. My sister Emily is a fluorescent ghost in the Dream Sequence. The actor playing Tevye gets in trouble for saying "shit" backstage with his microphone still on.

#2- 2000. The Russian soloist in "To Life" at Riverton High School's production of Fiddler. I again, play the Russian soloist because not one boy that auditions can sustain a high F# long enough. I'm also the musical and technical director. When "To Life" comes on, I run down onto the stage, sing, start to dance with Teyve, and then run back upstairs to direct the spotlights.

It's strange because a lot of teachers ask me if I'm Tevye when I tell them I'm in Fiddler. I think they're just secretly telling me that I'm fat.

So, I'm not allowed to shave or cut my hair until the show is over. I think by then I'll look like Steve Carell in Evan Almighty. Maybe I'll even let birds live in my whiskers to protect them from the cold. A stage crew student told me today that if my beard gets long enough, I could braid it and look like Satan. I sarcastically told him thanks, but he assured me it was a compliment.

Maybe if you ask Jackie kindly, she'll post a picture of me on her blog with my 3 week beard. Beard watch 2010 has begun!

Broadway Revue

2010-01-05T09:29:00.001-07:00

So if you're like the Eaton's, you still have your Christmas tree up (and it looks like it will continue to be up to become a Valentine's Tree next month) and you're living off stale fruitcake and sour eggnog in the fridge.

Well, get rid of the holiday doldrums and come to Riverton High School to see Broadway and All That Jazz a musical revue put on by the 24 students in my Music, Dance, Theatre class. It performs Friday, January 8th and Monday, January 11th at 7:00pm. For a measly $6.00, you get 24 songs from Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals (that works out to $.25 a song! Cheaper than I-Tunes and LIVE). Here's the show (accompanied by the amazing Kelly DeHaan- who will be singing, to quote him, "a beautiful but a bitch of a song").

All That Jazz- Chicago (done in scandelous Fosse style)

Lion Tamer- The Magic Show (made famous by Kristen Chenoweth- although, also according to Kelly DeHaan, on her recording, she takes the song so slow she was probably on a perscription drug)

Summer Lovin'- Grease (extolling the virtues of giving in to peer pressure to make a juvenile deliquent want to sleep with you)

Sarah Brown Eyes- Ragtime (performed by white actors because we are "color-challenged" at RHS)

Coastin'- Edges (a great song by a new composing team)

He Vas My Boyfriend- Young Frankenstein (no letters please)

We Can Do It- The Producers (2 Mel Brooks songs in a row)

I Know It's Today- Shrek (for Millie and Ellis)

Follow Your Heart- Urinetown (because the show is about peeing)

A Little More Homework- 13

He Did It- Curtains

Run Away with Me- The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown

9 to 5- 9 to 5 (by Dolly Parton!)

Never Neverland- (not from Peter Pan)

Secondary Characters- Title of Show

Standin' on the Corner- The Most Happy Fella

It Won't Be Long Now- In the Heights

We Beseech Thee- Godspell (hippies)

What Am I Doin'- Closer Than Ever (a fun song about stalking)

Positive- Legally Blonde (the hardest song Kelly has to play)

Those Canaan Days- Joseph

I'm the Bravest Individual - Sweet Charity (no Fosse movement in this one)

I'd Give It All For You- Songs For a New World (2 Jason Robert Brown songs in the revue)

Don't Stop Believin'- Glee/Rock of Ages

So, grab the fam and come on down with $6 and see this great show- Friday and Monday!

Christmas Break Films 2009

2010-01-03T10:02:00.000-07:00

These are the films I saw over Christmas Break 2009:

The Princess & the Frog- It made me happy. The songs were great, it had fun Disney characters and it was funny. A

Up in the Air- Great script, great performances from all the actors- something affecting about using real people talking to the camera about losing their jobs. A film that sums up the feelings of 2009. A

Avatar- Glad I saw it in 3-D. Amazing visuals- to bad the plot couldn't have been something new and unique. Some of the dialogue wasn't to great either... B-

Sherlock Holmes- Really fun (although somethimes more style over substance)- but I really liked Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr. It was also fun seeing one of the best actors in BBC's Little Dorritt as the police inspector. B+

Paranormal Activity- I like films made for $15000 that are still effective. It made me pull my blanket up a little- and Jackie refused to be in the same room with it. B

Inglorius Basterds- I can't stop thinking about the first 20 minutes- and the guy that played the Nazi Hunter deserves the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Brad Pitt was fun in it as well. It's nice to see that Quentin can restrain himself. I even got Jackie to watch it. B+

A thank you to babysitters and family members that made this list possible. We could not have seen these without you. Now that it's 2010, it's back to bed at 10:00pm sharp.

Excited about 2010

2010-01-03T09:50:00.000-07:00

Things I'm excited for in 2010:

Church at 11:00am! No more working on my lesson during Sunday School... well, not spending as much time working on my lesson during Sunday School. Copies still need to be made.
Fun theatrical experiences: My Music, Dance, Theatre class's Musical Revue (more in the next blog), a funny Region Play, the Utah Theatre Conference at UVU this year, being in Fiddler on the Roof at Hale, directing an un-yet chosen musical in spring and the big NYC trip in June of 2010 with 72 people...

Taking Millie to see the Broadway The Lion King tour in Salt Lake in August.

Millie turning 5 and starting kindergarten.

Ellis turning 3 and leaving the confinement of her crib.

Jackie getting paid to create a class for the U of U on aging in the arts.

Going to see movies like Iron Man 2, Dispicable Me, and Date Night with Steve Carell and Tina Fey.

A new show on HBO by the same creators of The Wire about New Orleans post-Katrina. If it's half as good as The Wire...

Netflixing things like Weeds, The Shield and other tv shows we missed.

Netflixing at least 1 classic (pre-1975) award winning film that I have not seen. This month's entry is The Man Who Would be King.

The Summer's family reunion (place TBA)

Using Hale $$ for a family vacation (or paying off the appliances, car or putting in a bathroom downstairs)

Fencing against Jackie and Millie with Wii Sports Resort.

Happy 2010!!

Sweet Sweet Television

2009-12-29T11:19:00.000-07:00

Don't judge me.

Clin's Stories of 2009

TV ON DVD:

Battlestar Galactica- RIP you wonderful show.

Cranford- Great BBC miniseries. Judi Dench can do no wrong.

The Tudors Season 2- Less sex, more heads being lopped off.

Weeds Season 4- Great change up with the family moving from their Little Boxes. Nice cliffhanger ending.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1- To introduce Jackie to it. Solid as ever.

Summer Heights High Season 1- They need to make a season 2 right now. Best show to come out of New Zealand since:
Flight of the Conchords Season 2- Looks like this is the last one. Enjoyed it while it lasted.

Long Way Down- Ewan MacGregor riding a motorcycle from the top of Scotland to the tip of South Africa.

Life on Mars- I haven't seen the American version but the BBC one is really good.

The Dollhouse (Seasons 1 and 2)- Interested idea- hard to pin down the tone.

Breaking Bad Season 1- Really great performance from the dad from Malcolm in the Middle.

United States of Tara- Arriving today on Netflix. I like Toni Collette though.

DVR/TV

Top Chef Las Vegas- Delicious

Project Runway LA- Okay

Real Housewives NJ- More table flipping!

Real Housewives NYC- Don't like Kelly. More Bethany.

Real Housewives Atlanta- Better in Season 1

Real Housewives OC- You're better off Jeana.

Lost- I miss Juliet.

Big Bang Theory- Sheldon rules

How I Met Your Mother- It's like Friends for the new decade

So You Think You Can Dance- I like you better in the summer

Glee- A+

My Life on the D List- Kathy is great

Flashforward- Needs to step it up

V- I hope I remember you in March

24- Jack was back and I liked the female president

The Amazing Race- Has won my heart.

Next Food Network Star/Next Iron Chef

American Idol- Better on DVR to fastforward boring results show. I think I'll miss Paula this season.

Modern Family- Brilliant

Better off Ted- Great writing

The Office- Still Great

Parks and Recreation- Gets better Fall of 09

30 Rock- Alec, Tina, Jack and Tracy= fun

Community- Has its moments

The Good Wife- Juliana is great- so are the plots.

The Soup- Summarizes everything else so I don't have to watch it.

What I Liked in 2009

2009-12-28T12:39:00.000-07:00

Theatre

Cash On Delivery- (Hale WVC) Cause I was in it. They sanitized too much of it, but it was still a fun show with fun cast members.

All Shook Up- (Hale Orem)- Cause Jackie was really fun in it and a 3 friends were the director, choreographer and music director. Jackie looked great with a dead fox around her shoulders.

Curtains- (Hale WVC)- Great cast- great voices- ok script.

The Yellow Leaf- (Pioneer Theatre Company)- Ummm.... beautiful set?

Dial M for Murder- (Pioneer Theatre Company)- Fun mystery.

Miss Saigon- (Pioneer Theatre Company)- Great show (especially the leading lady as Kim).

A Chorus Line- (Pioneer Theatre Company)- My first time seeing it live- they were fantastic.

Is He Dead- (Pioneer Theatre Company)- Hilarious cast- made me want to direct it (again).

A Christmas Story- (Pioneer Theatre Company)- Cute.

Rumors- (Riverton High School)- Fun cast, fun set (to build).

Back to the 80's- (Riverton High School)- Awesome!

Charlotte's Web- (UVU)- Fun to go with Millie- nice director's concept that made the script better.

Children of Eden- (BYU)- Great singing and dancing- strange set and costume choices.

Thoroughly Modern Millie- (BYU)- Great singing and dancing- is it just me or is this show really long?

Wicked- (Broadway Touring Company)- This is time #4 for me. Great cast and they were really nice to my student afterwards.

Catch Me If You Can- (5th Avenue Theatre Seattle)- Fantastic- can't wait for this to go to Broadway. Aaron Tveit and Nobert Leo Butz were awesome.

God Of Carnage- (Broadway)- The whole cast was great, but Hope Davis was a great projectile vomiter and James Gandolphini was just funny.

***Our Town- (Off-Broadway)- Best show of 2009. I'm so glad we got to see David Cromer (the director) as the Stage Manager. A production that stays with you a LONG time.

Shrek- (Broadway)- Really fun show- would have liked to have taken the girls to it.

Next to Normal- (Broadway)- Very touching, powerful show. A backup show for our trip in 2010 with students.

The Norman Conquests- (Broadway)- So glad I did the marathon 3 shows in one day. Amazing cast, script and direction. Not gonna be done for a long time so I'm glad I saw it.

Les Miserables- (Riverton High School)- Awesome cast, crew and pit.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged- (Utah Shakespeare Festival)- Fun to run around on stage back and forth with the actors.

Tuesday's With Morrie- (Utah Shakespeare Festival)- Great cast- many sniffles from all around me (except the obnoxious girl next to me that kept texting and leaving the theatre).

Movies

I saw a lot- here are just a selected few:

The Princess and the Frog- Great classic Disney animation. Ellis only had to leave the theatre once to pee (and Jackie and her missed a great song) and she ate an entire large popcorn pretty much by herself. A-

Harry Potter and the 1/2 Blood Prince- Another one we saw in an actual theatre. Really good.

A-

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist- Great scene in the bus depot. A-

Religulous- Sucked. D-

Let the Right One In- Creepy- especially the ending scene at the pool. B+

Rachel Getting Married- Like watching a car crash/interesting. B

Milk- Great performances and an interesting story. B+

Slumdog Millionaire- Loved it. A

Vicky Christina Barcelona- Started a solid B and ended up with a solid C. Penelope is an A though.

Frozen River- Intense and very believable. A

The Reader- Conflicted. B-

Revolutionary Road- Kind of like MadMen- great performances (especially from the mental patient) B+

The Wrestler- I think Mickey was playing himself. B

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button- OK. B-

Coraline- LOVED this film. A

I Love You Man- I love you too. Paul Rudd is brilliant. A

Wendy and Lucy- Sad and touching. AState of Play- Interesting story. B+

Knowing- No Thanks. D

Appaloosa- This is not the film that will revive the western genre. C

Away We Go- I kind of liked it. Great soundtrack. B-

Drag Me to Hell- It was fun (possessed goats?). B

The Taking of Pellham 123- kind of silly. B-

Wallace and Gromit Loaf and Death- Genius. A

500 Days of Summer- More romantic comedies need Hall and Oates musical numbers. A-

The Proposal- a B to the film, an A for Betty White. More romantic comedies need Betty White.

The Cove- More tense than Duplicity with Clive Owen and Julia Roberts. A

The Hangover- An ok film (would have been worthless without Ed Helms who can do no wrong). B, but getting Jackie to watch the whole thing? A.

Public Enemies- should not have been this long and slow. Not with this cast and director. C

That's all I can remember right now. What I want to see over Christmas Break? Paranormal Activity, Sherlock Holmes, Avatar are at the top of my list. Next post- TV (cause this post is too long.).

Ho Ho Ho 2009

2009-12-27T22:48:00.000-07:00

Right now, it looks like Santa overdosed on eggnog and vomited Christmas cheer all over the front room. The girls toys are everywhere (and migrating to all areas of the house). The girls only want to wear their Disney Princess nightgowns (even to church)- and, Christmas was basically (to quote their Uncle Tim)- an explosion of pink and princesses.

The best sight is looking into the new dollhouse and seeing Dollhouse "Dad" sitting at the kitchen table with Sleeping Beauty while Dollhouse "Mom" is driving the baby twins in the minivan with Snow White in the passenger seat. I'm assuming with her great house cleaning abilities that she's the nanny. I also guess that Dollhouse Mom and Dad have a very open relationship when it comes to fairy tale royalty.

Tonight we froze to death at Temple Square and we all had a dinner of hot chocolate, cookies and gourmet popcorn. Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T13:42:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas everyone. In memory of Christmas 2009, on Dec. 23rd, after watching 2 episodes of Leverage (new episodes start this Jan. 15th), and falling asleep during Dollhouse, Jackie announced she was going to bed. A few seconds later, she screams "Clin! Get up here now!" I go upstairs to find that Ellis is completely naked and has peed all over herself, the bed, blankets and pillow in her room (we're not sure on the sequence of events).

I had hidden some presents (gourmet popcorn to be placed out Christmas Eve morning on the sofa for the girls to discover, and Christmas Eve pajamas for all) in the laundry room for the night and told Jackie not to go in there. While I was bathing a screaming Ellis at midnight, Jackie comes into the bathroom and says "I went into the laundry room. I only saw some stuff." She then proceeded to go into Ellis's room, change the sheets while swearing and saying "I'm taking all of Christmas presents back. We overspent. I hate this mattress. I hate this bed. We don't need Christmas gifts! ARGH!!" (direct quotes). With Ellis's screaming waking up Millie, she stumbles into the bathroom, puts her hand on my shoulder and says "I love you Dad. It smells like pee."

After getting Ellis to smell like gingerbread, we put her back to bed- but unfortunately her blanket- THE blanket (the only one she HAS TO HAVE to sleep) is urine-soaked and in the washing machine (with the gourmet popcorn on top). She has to settle for another blanket which causes her to scream for an hour. During the screaming, Millie periodically yells from her room, "I can't sleep with Ellis screaming". Jackie periodically yells to Millie "Be quiet!" and I yell, "I'm calling Santa if you don't fall asleep RIGHT NOW."

So Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Memorable Gifts

2009-12-21T17:07:00.000-07:00

A fake Cabbage Patch Doll for Christmas sometime in the 80's. The head looked Cabbage-Patchy but the body was different. I think I liked it.

Skelator's Castle (with a working drawbridge with sound effects). I think Battering Ram (whatever his name was) was included. Really cool. Somewhere around age 11 or 12. He-Man was awesome.

A Sony Walkman. Around age 13 or 14. Perfect for those drives down to Orem in the back of a station wagon.

An assorted box of chocolates. My sister Emily bought this for me at Pic-&-Save (or something like that). There was a reason it was only $3.00 (for about 100 chocolates). The centers of these chocolates contained colors and flavors not found in nature. I got sick after eating them. (I also remember giving my brother Nate a gumball machine that year with tons of gumballs in it. That afternoon he took a bath with it. The water caused all the color to melt off the gumballs turning the water grey. No more gumballs for Nate).

On my mission, we went out as district to eat at Claim Jumper restaurant. Someone at a table by us bought our table an entire Motherlode Chocolate Cake (those of you that have eaten at Claim Jumper know that an entire cake could probably feed 20 people). Everyone was full to the point of barfing so me and my companion (Elder Wagstaff) took it home. It took us about 3 weeks to finish it (and even then we threw most of it away).

My first Christmas on the mission, we were feeling sad on Christmas Eve so we went to 7-11, each bought a magazine (I think mine was People and my companion's was Sports Illustrated) and Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. I then dyed my hair that night (a gift from friends). My companion confessed to the mission president later that week. I didn't bring it up.

A mission companion (Elder Bunker) crocheted to relax. I joked to him to make me something for Christmas- and he made me a bright blue crocheted jockstrap. I used it as a plant holder in college.

10 years ago this Christmas, Jackie made me- by hand- a huge thick maroon quilt. It's very cozy- and Jackie always uses it downstairs when we're watching tv. I haven't gotten to use it for 5 years.

Jackie got me The Art of Shaving badger-hair shaving brush and really nice shaving lotion. Unfortunantly (and fortunantly), I just got cast in Fiddler on the Roof at Hale Center Theatre so I'm not allowed to shave until April 10th, 2010.

A piano. Although I'm the one that bought it, it was memorable. Especially when I had to use my sister to trick Jackie into getting out of the house.

Yesterday during our ward Sacrament Christmas Program, while the choir was singing something about angels, my little angel (Millie) was on my lap. She got mad at me, threw her head back and one of her butterfly hair clips punctured my cheek. As a geyser of blood shot out of my face, Jackie motioned to me to go to the restroom. Now it looks like I have a huge zit on my cheek-bone. Millie is no longer allowed to wear her butterfly clips to church.
Though this wasn't really a gift, when I was 16 we went as a family to look at the lights downtown at Temple Square. On our way out of the city, Nate (probably 10 years old)announced that he had to pee NOW. My dad pulled into Hardee's on 300 South (now Carl's Jr.). Nate ran out and then ran back really quick. We asked how he did it so fast and he replied that he didn't have time to go in- he just stood in front of the wall of windows and peed in the bushes out front. That story is a gift by itself.

I'm sure there are a lot more things- if you gave me a memorable gift write it in the comments section.

Things I Like (School)

2009-12-11T09:22:00.000-07:00

I like it when students are prepared for their classroom performances. That way I can give them more notes than, "memorize."

I like it when students go to a theatrical production somewhere and tell other students to not climb over seats or put their feet on the chair in front of them.

I like it when students say that they are so excited for our New York trip that if they think about it too much they can't sleep.

I like it when one of my drama club officers who works at In-&-Out burger brings me 2 Double-Doubles before the restaurant is open to the public.

I like it when I can send my musical theatre students into the auditorium to rehearse without me and I go in to find them actually rehearsing.

I like that Millie can attend pre-school at my school, meet Santa Claus there and tell him that what she wants for Christmas is "a secret."

I like it when Film Studies student turn their papers in early- and when they all write on different movies and not just Forrest Gump.

I like it when students say on their quiz on the film Tootsie that the main social issue in the film is NOT cross dressing.

I like watching our school Improvisation Team perform with Laughing Stock for a charity performance. Very funny to watch a student pretend he has no bones.

I like reading students play critiques- especially when they don't like the show.

I like it when Theatre 1 students, after the voice and diction unit, call me Mr. EaTon- with a T.

I like it when our musical makes enough money to buy another microphone.

I like that I only ended up with 1 negative letter about Les Miserables (the letter wanted to know why I didn't do the high school version of the show- I'll take it as a compliment that they thought I did the Broadway version).

I like it that Millie and Ellis feel comfortable enough around the MDT students to go up to them and a: demand to be played with or b: sit on their laps without warning.

I think I like it when 3 students and 1 alumni are with me at callbacks for Hale Center Theatre's Fiddler on the Roof.
I like it when students get nervous about auditions (as long as I know they're prepared).
I like it when my students work with college professors, choreographers or professionals and do not embarrass myself, themselves or the school.

I LOVE my fellow faculty (esp. performing arts- but Brent Cox in Yearbook knows he is an honorary member of the Performing Arts Faculty- and his wife Amanda too) and staff. It's why I'm staying at Riverton instead of Herriman (that and the fact that I now have a music library worth over $4000...)

What I've Been Up To...

2009-12-01T17:01:00.000-07:00

So though I'm very excited to see this over Christmas Break, this is what I"ve been up to:

Directed Les Miserables at the school. They (the students) did great and we sold out (1315 seats) on Monday night- which was a fun way to close. It was great that my parents and inlaws (and lots of other people) came. What makes me laugh is that I've gotten letters from offended patrons for the following shows: Ten Little Indians (brandy drinking), Anything Goes (costumes and language), My Music, Dance, Theatre revues, Once Upon a Mattress (pregnant out of wedlock), and others--but nothing on Les Miserables.

What I've been watching (TV): Amazing Race, How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, Top Chef, Modern Family, The Good Wife, Glee, The Office, 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation.

What I've been watching (movies): Dollhouse (Season 1), Food Inc. (interesting to watch after Thanksgiving dinner...), Wallace & Gromit (Loaf and Death- great), Lost in Austen (never-ending), Little Dorrit (great!), The Taking of Pellam 123 (OK...) and other sad documentaries.

In the meantime, I'm taking students to: Children of Eden (at BYU), A Christmas Story (at PTC) and I just bought tickets to the tour of Avenue Q- nothing says Merry Christmas like full frontal puppet nudity.

Plans for the Week

2009-11-15T18:57:00.001-07:00

So...

Do you hear the people sing? Singing the song of angry men?

Do you know any lovely ladies? Master of the homes? Comforters? Philosophers? Cunning little brains? Regular Voltaires?

Have you dreamed any dreams of days gone by?

If so, come this Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Monday to Riverton High School's production of Les Miserables: School Edition (7:00pm). Fear not- school edition just means it's been trimmed from 3 hours to 2 hours and 40 minutes. All the good stuff is still there (Lovely Ladies, Master of the House, lots of tenors singing in falsetto, Fantine still croaks...). If I do say so myself, the (huge) cast does a great job, the orchestra is coming along (it's always touch and go with violins and horns) and my student technicians sat outside in a snow storm on Saturday to await an overnight delivery of a spotlight lamp that had exploded the previous day- that's dedication.

Tickets are $7 for students and seniors and $8 for adults (college age and above). That works out to about $.05-$.07 a minute! If you don't like musicals, come for the REALLY good cookies we're selling at intermission. We do use haze, fog and gunshots- so bring the babies and infirm. It'll be a fun night!

You Know the Musical You're Directing is About to Open When...

2009-11-12T20:16:00.000-07:00

You wake up at 5:00am not being able to get Master of the House off of rotation in your head. The only song that will bump it is Don't Be Tardy for the Party from The Real Housewives Atlanta.

Your 2 and 4 year old dance around the house (and probably Primary) also singing Master of the House. I think they only know that phrase... so far...

You spend 2 hours trying to find a short and long haired wig that's the EXACT SAME COLOR- you order it and spend a lot of money having it overnighted- then you find out it's on back order. You then spend another 2 hours trying to find 2 other wigs- get them ordered- only to find out they won't arrive until after opening night. You decide to weave 2 wigs by hand from the hair you have pulled out of your own head.

You get an anonymous letter from a parent (forwarded to you from the principal) that is furious because you made a sick student come to rehearsal (a lead that had to sing/mouth her words for the first time with the orchestra pit) for 30 minutes (and you made sure she touched and spoke to no-one)- and it turns out she's sick from being lactose intolerant. The letter states that the principal should "deal with me".

You have to speak to 3 different boys about the importance of wearing deodorant (their poor dance partners came up and begged me to do it. I have no qualms about it. I love giving the deodorant/antiperspirant talk).

You realize you just spent 10 minutes talking about microphone packs with the girls in the cast and you've said the words "bra straps" about 15 times.

You have to remind everyone that wearing underwear is not "optional" for this production (or any other at Riverton High School).

You spend 30 minutes adjusting corpses on the barricade for optimal effect. You also have to make 2 boys hold their breath for 8 seconds when their faces pass in front of the fog machine.

You have to explain to administration that if the fire alarm goes off, it's probably because of the aforementioned fog machine.

That if the halls around the auditorium spell funny, it's because the haze machine you rented had fluid in it from a Halloween party at the E Center that wasn't flushed out yet. Or it's the boys not wearing deodorant.

The Lion King

2009-11-01T15:53:00.000-07:00

So this past week, everything was about The Lion King.

Millie discovered that she could sit throughout the entire movie without getting scared- and then she discovered the Broadway musical soundtrack. She learned that she could make herself weep during "quiet time" by listening to the song Shadowlands 100 times in a row and that she and Ellis could perform a beautiful pas de duex to Can You Feel the Love Tonight.

Since the Broadway tour of The Lion King is coming to Salt Lake City in August, I ordered a bunch of tickets last July for my school (faculty and students). Since I ordered so many tickets, I was invited to The Lion King Musical Cocktail Party last Monday. Since I got to bring guests, I brought Jackie and Brent and Amanda Cox from the high school. None of us had ever been to a cocktail party before so here's my thoughts (I hope Jackie, Brent and Amanda will leave comments if I left anything out):

We arrived to the Rose Wagner Theatre and they had it decked out with food on three levels, an open bar and servers circulating the area. I think they were hoping people would get pretty loose so they could open their wallets and order tons of Lion King tickets for next summer. I already purchased my tickets so I wasn't falling for their ruse. But in using the facilities, Amanda discovered a lonely bartender stuck by the bathrooms that became our go-to guy for getting multiple Cokes and Diet Cokes without standing in a line.

They flew in 3 leads (Rafeeki, Simba and Nala) from the Las Vegas production to perform 4 numbers for us. They also brought in members of a local Baptist church choir to sing and sway- with the minus track.

One of Disney's head honchos in the theatre department talked about Disney on Broadway- and made a man shriek with excitement behind me when he lead us to believe that Julie Taymore (the director of The Lion King who is way too busy trying to save the new Spiderman musical to fly out to Utah to pimp her show) was backstage ready to answer questions. She spoke to us from a video filmed over 10 years ago.

The poor Broadway Across America Salt Lake spokesperson was REALLY NERVOUS. I thought he was going to pass out and forget his own name as he welcomed us. I felt bad for him.

They were serving 3 kinds of shrimp: cocktail, tomatillo and "gin". I was tempted to get the gin kind (it was offered) but I refrained. They also served really good potato balls. And curry things.

Tiramisu tastes good with The Lion King trademark dusted in gold on top.

The goodie bags were great. They included: A plush doll (retail $16-20) of either Simba (mine), Scar (Jackie and Amanda), Puumba (Brent), the Broadway soundtrack, the Broadway souvenir program ($20), a DVD featuring Rosie O'Donnel screaming and weeping about how much she loves the show (Ellis and Millie watch it every moment they get).

Somewhat unrelated, today during the sacrament portion of our meeting, Ellis climbed into Jackie's lap and began singing "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" at the top of her lungs. If she had waited just 10 minutes, it would have been a beautiful testimony to share with the congregation.

Overall, it was fun to go to- but it seemed odd to ask us to buy tickets when most of us got invited because we had already purchased A LOT of tickets to begin with. It was good to learn that if you happen to drop a bunch of shrimp into a puddle of gin, you can still eat them- they'll be alright.

What I'm Excited to Read

2009-10-30T18:48:00.000-06:00

Elna Baker is a FUNNY girl.

This story becomes WET YOUR PANTS FUNNY at 8 minutes. It's worth it.

Fall Theatre

2009-10-18T16:52:00.000-06:00

Being a high school drama teacher, I get to see a lot of shows. Here are some memorable ones from the past 4 weeks:
Charlotte's Web- I took Millie down to Utah Valley University to see their inaugural show in there brand new children's theatre. I also wanted to go see former Riverton students playing Fern and Fern's mom. The show (directed by the great Christopher Clark), was fantastic with the 2 actors manipulating and voicing puppets for all of the animals. It was great- and Millie loved it. They had a great educational outreach program for the all the kids to do activities based on the show. Millie's favorite part was petting the Charlotte puppet on our way out.
A Chorus Line- we took 40 students up to see the educational matinee of A Chorus Line at Pioneer Theatre Company. I was excited because I had never seen it on stage (and the movie is horrible). We were in the first 4 rows and it was a fantastic show. The dancing was great and it was fun reading student play critiques about how there wasn't a set- but there didn't need to be. It'll be fun referencing the show in Musical Theatre class and why the show was so revolutionary in the 70's when it first was on Broadway.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged- This show is always a favorite- I show the film version in Theatre 3- and the production at the Utah Shakespearean Festival did not disappoint. Even Jackie chuckled a little- which is usually pants-wettingly funny for me. I felt a little exposed in my seat because it was sticking out from everyone else- so needless to say, I got pulled up on stage and was made to run all around during the show. Jackie was greatly concerned for the state of my britches- she says it was her prayers alone that made them stay up as I ran around, but I would have been aware of any potential "wardrobe malfunction" and was completely in control of the whole situation. The 3 actors had great timing and it was a fantastic show.

Tuesday's With Morrie- All I knew about this show was that Jackie had to read the book for a class at the U and she hated Mitch- she thought he made all his money off of Morrie. I have to say the play production at The Utah Shakespeare Festival was pretty powerful and everyone from our school was weeping (sometimes hilariously so). Jackie immediately lined everyone up for pictures after that show to forever capture their tear stained faces.
Curtains- This was a show that a lot of people went to in New York of 2008- but Jackie and I didn't so we used my two free comps (from doing Cash on Delivery in Jan.) and went. It was really fun- and a lot of friends were in the cast and they were great. It was a fun production- but I wish that Jackie was cast as Carmen- she could play that part really well (although Camille was fantastic).

Shakespeare in Fall

2009-10-15T17:58:00.000-06:00

So last week, I took 49 students (and 5 chaperones) down to Cedar City, Utah to compete in the Utah High School Shakespeare Competition. We had lots of fun, saw great shows (another post later), cringed in horror while Jackie sang Ice Ice Baby to everyone on the bus and had a student take 2nd in monologues, 1st in costuming, 2nd (as a team) in the technical olympics, 1st in the dance duo and 2nd in dance ensemble. But that's not what the Shakespeare Competition is about. Here are memories (in no particular order) I have:

In 1992 going and competing in scenes with Danny Jewell and Nathan Culmer with a scene from The Tempest. We took first, all got scholarships to SUU and none of us accepted them. I chipped Danny's front tooth in our 3rd round with my bottle. Sabra Gertsch and Kirt Bateman were so mad because they took 2nd and worked about 4 months on their scene- while we whipped it together (with help from John Adams) in 2 days.

That same year, waking up in the middle of the night hearing Alexis Baigue vomiting somewhere in the hotel room. I think it was the tub or the sink. It then woke up Nathan Longhurst and Kirt Bateman. Alexis kept apologizing to us between heaves. Then we all decided to incorporate vomiting into the lines of King Lear. I think it made for a stronger scene.

Wearing a costume in 1991 in monologues and seeing THAT EXACT SAME COSTUME in 2006 in West Jordan High School's ensemble. At least the tights were different.

Having my mom dye my tights a beautiful powder blue for my monologue in 1991.

Going down as a student teacher in 1999. We had our crazy 85 year old, chain smoking bus driver Clay. He takes off from a dance leaving Shawnda Moss, Bradley Moss and myself behind. Shawnda is fuming as we walk back to the hotel. I tell her I'll talk to him while she chews out the students for leaving on a bus without a chaperone on it. I knock on the door and he opens it smoking a cigarette while wearing a white wife beater- AND NO PANTS OR UNDERWEAR. I had not been trained for this at BYU. I asked him why he left the school with no adults on the bus and he replied, "You weren't there." I found this perfectly valid and ran away so he could close his door. The whole bus ride back, I couldn't look at him without turning red. Shawnda had him fired.

From 2009, having the manager of the hotel call me to tell me "I'm so sorry- but your students broke two of our beds." What I found funny was he kept apologizing- like the beds should have been made to withstand four 17 year olds jumping on them.

Running in pouring rain with dance company in 2007 trying to figure out where the dance competition was taking place.

Going to the coaches reception one time and listening (and watching) a drama teacher get drunker and drunker until all he kept repeating was "Shakespeare's all about the f***ing". He said this about 25 times. I just kept nodding and sipped my Sprite.

Performing our western style Taming of the Shrew in front of everyone at the awards ceremony.

Watching Neal Johnson with his middle school students following him around like lemmings- and following him even more closely when he was mean to them. In fact, just being around Neal Johnson and listening to his stories makes the Shakespeare Competition worth it every year. (Especially the year his student accidentally stabbed another student in the back with a plastic dagger in the middle of a performance in front of all the judges).

Being pulled up on stage in 2009 for The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged and made to run back and forth across the stage. Jackie swore my pants were going to fall down in front of everyone, but they were firmly cinched across my waist.

Lies

2009-09-23T22:06:00.001-06:00

So this morning I realized I was out of deodorant/antiperspirant. This will not do on a day I have parent teacher conferences. So, I borrowed my wife's. I thought it would be fine because it was labeled unscented. That is a lie. Every so often, I caught a whiff of honeysuckle with a hint of tulip- and after looking around my immediate personal space, I realized it was me. So, either Secret "unscented" is a lie, or when mixed with my particular pheromones, I smell like Temple Square in April.

Unrelated topic: 2 moments of laugher till I cried :When the baby was presented in tonight's episode of Modern Family, and the footbal team in Glee performing Single Ladies on the field. Hulu them immediately. They were great.

Public Confession

2009-09-21T19:21:00.000-06:00

So have you ever publicly confessed to something kind of embarrassing? Thanksgiving Dinner? Testimony meeting? Well, this woman in Texas went to a school board meeting to give her two cents about teaching abstinence in schools... and makes a confession to everyone- only to have it turn out that the abstinence meeting was the day before- and that this school board meeting was on alcohol awareness. A special thanks to Christopher Clark for tweeting this to my attention.

Autumn

2009-09-20T12:48:00.001-06:00

There's a nip in the air and the sun is setting earlier- it's the time of year I love the most:
Fall TV Season!!
I post the following without shame or embarrassment. The reason we have a DVR is so we can record everything we want and watch it when there is nothing on- or- watch it later so that a 60 minute show becomes 40 min. After having a DVR for a bit, it's weird actually watching TV somewhere where you have to watch commercials (Mom and Dad...). It's very 2001.
Here is the Eaton Family's 2009 Fall DVR schedule. A * means this is a brand new show (Not counting Word World, Charlie and Lola, and Yo Gabba Gabba for the girls. Those are all a given):
Sunday
60 Minutes (Jackie likes cranky Andy Rooney- and what's nice is they summarize all their stories before it even begins so you know if it's worth watching).
Mad Men- It's like the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, but sad.
The Amazing Race- We love our Phil and his raised eyebrow.
Monday
How I Met Your Mother- we've watched it from the beginning, but it gets funnier and funnier. It's like Friends- but more random.
The Big Bang Theory- This show would be ok- except Jim Parson's portrayal of the scientist Sheldon takes it to genius level. He deserves the Emmy Award tonight.

The Rachel Zoe Project- A Bravo reality show that follows professional stylist Rachel Zoe around. It's kind of dysfunctional but entertaining.
Tuesday
*V- I remember watching this miniseries when I was little in Ohio. I'll give it a chance (plus it has the actress who plays Juliet on Lost in it so it can't be that bad).
*The Good Wife- Could turn into another court case of the week show, but it looks intriguing.
So You Think You Can Dance- Part of me likes this show in the summer because it gives some new television when everything else is re-runs, but Jackie and I are hooked on this show.
Wednesday
*Glee- So far my favorite new show of the year.
*Modern Family- So far critics have compared it to Arrested Development- which is pretty lofty, but it stars Jesse Tyler Fergeson (who Jackie and I like from the Broadway musical 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) so we're game.

*Cougartown- This show is for Jackie. I'm not sure why.
Top Chef Las Vegas- Still amazing challenges with great food.
Thursday
This night puts the DVR into overdrive.
Real Housewives Atlanta- We love our NeNe.
Project Runway- We also love our Heidi.
*Flashforward- I hope it's like Lost and not like Heroes.
The Office- Can't miss tv.
Parks and Recreation- Already like it better than last year (with the episode about the gay penguins).
*Community- Joel McHale is great, but we already love the Indian guy who has pop culture Asperger's Syndrome. Plus Chevy Chase as a grouchy old man.
30 Rock- Kenneth is going to go on strike this season!
Fringe- We didn't watch Season 1 until the early summer- and we loved it. Each episode got better and better. JJ Abrams can do no wrong.
Friday
The Soup- We don't need to watch America's Next Top Model when Joel McHale does it for us.
Dollhouse- We're getting Season 1 on Netflix- then we'll watch this.
(We'll also watch Supernanny if we stumble across it).

Saturday is Netflix or catch up on shows (we still have the last season of Burn Notice and Leverage to catch up on!). You are all invited over for fall tv viewing parties. Just bring the chips and salsa (or pork rinds for Jackie).

For you Sound of Music fans...

2009-09-14T22:00:00.000-06:00

Those of you familiar with Improv Everywhere- this is not them. But it's just as good. Filmed with over 200 dancers in Central Station in Belgium- it was used to promote a tv show connected to The Sound of Music. This is what happens in my head every morning.

Turning 34

2009-09-13T15:37:00.000-06:00

So far, my 34th year on this planet is pretty good.

Since my birthday was on a Sunday, Jackie and I got a sitter on Saturday. Off we went to the City of Salt Lake to frolic and play.

The day began with a trip to the Utah School of Massage Therapy. There was a huge wait so we put in our names and we were off to a matinee of the great film (500) Days of Summer. Since it was my birthday weekend, Jackie participated in carbs by sharing a popcorn with me at the theatre.

The film was great (and had a great soundtrack too).

After that, it was back for hour long massages. We then went and had a four course dinner at The Melting Pot- a fondue restaurant. We got the 4 Cheese fondue (with garlic and pesto) that we ate with bread, vegetables and apple slices. Then we got our salad with tomatoes, mozzarella and heavy basalmic vinegar. After that, we ate the oil based main course- which was a variety of shrimp, chicken, sirloin, ravioli and vegetables that we dipped in a variety of batters and dipping sauces. We finished off our meal with the cookies and cream chocolate fondue which came with cheesecake, strawberries, rice crispy treats, bananas and pound cake for dipping.

After that, we went home, got the girls, went to Smith's, got mistaken for a homeless family (by a nice older lady behind us in line that felt bad for Millie because I was not letting her get any Mike-n-Ikes- and because Millie and Ellis looked like urchins out of a Dickens novel).

We then got home and watched a long French film called I've Loved You So Long.

The next day (my actual birthday) began with a fun trip to Priesthood Executive Committee at 8:00am. Followed by church where Millie had a melt down in Sacrament Meeting. After church, Jackie allowed me to have a nice long nap followed by my favorite meal- Thanksgiving dinner- shared with my parents and my brother Tim.

My presents were a case of Mexican Coke (the drink- not the powder) and an advertisement for a LG 50" plasma tv. This was a good present because I've owned our old tv since 1998 and the picture was starting to turn permanantly pink. It was also a surprise because if you've ever met Jackie, you know that purchasing a birthday present like this goes against everything in her DNA- Jackie had purchased it two days previously (they didn't have any in stock)- so we were off on Labor Day to pick it up- along with a new sofa set for the downstairs family room. We continued my birthday celebration on Labor Day by eating breakfast at the Original Pancake House in Sugarhouse- where the girls feasted on berries and cream and Ellis would only eat in Jackie's lap.

All in all, a great birthday- even when we discovered that the sofa set in our family room only allows 4 inches for someone to get past it to get around the basement, it's the perfect accompaniment to the 50" plasma. And the new tv stand that took me and Jackie 5 hours to put together. Everyone's invited over to our house to watch Top Chef in all its 50" glory.

Back to School

2009-08-24T17:20:00.001-06:00

This clip has nothing to do with school starting- it's just freakin unbelievable. Whether you like barbershop, The Music Man or choir- if you watch this all the way through it will blow your mind.

The Countdown Begins

2009-08-19T09:13:00.000-06:00

Starting next Monday (August 24th) through Wednesday, September 30th, you can put down your deposit for our New York City 2010 trip. The dates are June 8th-June 14th 2010. The minimum deposit is $300 (but you can put down more) and if you don't want to turn it in to me, or mail it to Bob Guymon at Thomas Travel, you can call Thomas Travel and put down the deposit with a credit or debit card (be sure to say it's for the Eaton Theatre Group). For the deposit ONLY, Thomas Travel won't charge you extra for a credit card transaction (they will for future payments). You can also bring in the deposit to Riverton High School and I will mail it in for you (and I will make you fill out a registration form so we get the correct info for the plane ticket). The cost for 4 in a room is $1850- and you can work out your own payments with Bob at Thomas Travel as long as you are PAID OFF IN FULL by April 30th, 2010.

With the deposit we are securing our hotel (Hampton Inn Times Square North) and purchasing tickets for Billy Elliot, The Addams Family, and Spiderman (if it's still happening). So donate that plasma, sell some stuff on Ebay or collect on an inheritance because we want you to come!

Bob Guymon for Eaton Theatre Group

Thomas Travel
535 E. 4500 S.
Suite D-200
SLC, UT 84107

August Update

2009-08-16T16:31:00.000-06:00

So, we survived our road trip in our new minivan to Oregon and back. No one vomited or wet themselves (in the car at least) and, other then Jackie driving 45 minutes in the wrong direction on the freeway, we made good time.
Here are some highlights from the trip:

Going to Ray's favorite Thai food restaurant and eating really good curry.
Seeing the new Harry Potter movie with Bryan.
Having Millie become attached to a doll that whose head spins- each with a different face. I call it the Satan doll, but she loves it.
Jackie having to stop every 45 minutes for a toilet on the way home.
Eating at the grossest Jack in the Box ever in Burley, Idaho. When we went in, there was a note on the door that said they were out of 12 different menu items (including burger patties).
Getting donuts at VooDoo Donuts.
Geting confused playing Munchkin with family members.
Millie and Ellis playing in the downtown fountain with cousins (and random strangers)
Eating streetfood in Portland
Literally walking into our house, turning on the lights and having a bishopric member call us to speak in sacrament meeting the following Sunday. We think someone was watching the house.
Going to Seattle with Greg and Judy to see this:

Great performances- definately something to catch.

In celebration of Hale summer classes ending, I share this clip which combines 2 of my favorite things: Musical Theatre and Folk Singers from New Zealand:

Road Trip 2009

2009-07-25T10:25:00.000-06:00

So we bought a big blue Toyota Sienna minivan- and tomorrow morning, we're taking it on it's first roadtrip. We are off to Portland Oregon to stay with Jackie's folks. Jackie parents are also being nice enough to watch the girls overnight so Jackie and myself (and our sister and brother-in-law) can go up to Seattle to see this:

I'm sure we'll have lots of stories afterward- stay tuned!