asbury goes to the theatre at the beach!

I say that as if it were intentional, but it kinda sorta was!

None of us six wanted to travel out to Tybee Post Theatre at night, so we were all glad to come out for the 3 PM matinee offered by Savannah Repertory Theatre.

That's me, Robin, Tom, Heidi, Lee, and Gordon.

Yes, I'm wearing the jingle bell necklace from the Telfair tree lighting!

I even wore it to church today!

(smile!)

What play had brought us all out in the cold again?

"Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some)" - what a mouthful!

It was a rather minimalist production, with only three performers: Shawna Pena-Downing, introduced to me in summer of 2023; Nathan Houseman, an old favorite of mine; and Will Nunziata, an absolutely new player for me.

The play was an abbreviated version of holiday favorites, though names had to be changed for one of them, due to copyright law.

So, the trio is performing "Gustav the Green-Nosed Reingoat" in the photo above.

Very funny, especially as Nathan/Henry, had to be repeatedly reminded to not mention "Rudolph" or red noses!

Shawna was very cute as Yukon and Will made an adorable reingoat!

(smile!)

Another skit I really enjoyed was the "Fruit, Nut, Dating Game", with a volunteer from the audience called "Cindy" (though her name was Laura).

Shawna was the host of the show, with questions about fruitcakes, naturally!

Nathan kept getting hardball questions, while the other two had soft pitches, letting them get all kinds of points and him staying steady at nil.

Very funny!

I also liked the different take on "How The Grinch Stole Christmas", as well as "The Gift Of The Magi" (in which Will played the long-haired woman!).

And having Will performing Linus' soliloquy on the meaning of Christmas, with blue blanket and spotlight, right before intermission, was true and perfect.

(smile!)

However, my absolute favorite part of this Christmas show was yet to come.

Creating an amalgam of "A Christmas Carol" and "It's A Wonderful Life", the three-person troupe truly shone!

It reminded me of the mashup of two songs that I did a few years back.

Anyway... let me explain this scene.

On the left is Shawna as the Ghost of Christmas past.

On the right is Will as Mr. Gower, the pharmacist.

All the while, there in center stage, Nathan is switch-hitting the two roles of Ebeneezer Scrooge and George Bailey, and doing a spot-on job of it!!!

I loved every minute of it!!!

(smile!)

The show closed with scrambled Christmas carols.

Every other line it seemed was from a different song and it was hilarious!

Many thanks, y'all, from Seat I-18!!!

memories of trion, and summer drives to north georgia

Savannah Repertory Theatre had a different kind of play tonight, in as much as "Prisontown" wasn't a play at all.

It was a one-man monologue, performed by the same person who wrote it.

Lee Osorio, of Venezuelan heritage and a tiny town in the USA, owned the stage there.

Not literally, of course, but figuratively, completely and totally.

It wasn't just his size, either, though he is a tall, fully fleshed, expressive man.

His eyes were the draw, catching the viewer's attention and not letting go of their ears.

He had a message to convey, a message with many moving parts, a message sure to hold different meanings for every individual in the audience.

For me, it was a reminder of the six years of visiting my youngest brother while he was incarcerated up in a tiny town in north Georgia.

Those had been good visits for both of us, restoring our hearts and souls.

That was not quite the visit Osorio described tonight, though he had been with someone unknown to him, who was not conversant in English.

However, the basic rules of the facility where his visit occurred were similar to those I'd had to follow for my visits to my sibling: no sandals, no skirts, no shorts (I had mouthed this one as he said it), no cellphones, just your drivers license and keys.

He didn't mention whether he was allowed to keep those last two items on his person or not; I had to surrender mine at the outer entrance.

 

The facility he spoke of is the Stewart Detention Center, opened in 2004.

The place I went to is Hays State Prison, which opened in 1990.

His is a place for detained illegal immigrants; mine is a medium security prison.

His is operated by a private corporation; mine is run by the state.

His holds up to 1752 detainees; mine has a capacity of 1683.

The detention center is in the tiny town of Lumpkin, population about 900, which is the county seat of Stewart County, population near 5300; that means the detention center is the primary job source in that agricultural area.

The prison is in the tiny town of Trion, population about 2000, located in Chattooga County, population over 25,000, with the county seat in adjacent Summerville, whose town population rivals that of the entire Stewart County; that means the folks in Trion have more job opportunities than those offered by the prison alone, giving them more options.

That makes a difference to the mindset of a community.

Options are important.

 

The lack of options, and lack of job opportunities, was at the heart of "Prisontown".

Trion is blessed to be a suburb of Summerville, giving its citizens the chance to have jobs at Mount Vernon Mills, or at the wide variety of stores and restaurants and service companies that support such a large manufacturer of denim.

Trion is also fortunate to be near the tourist trade of Summerville, with visitors drawn there by Reverend Howard Finster's Paradise Garden, as well as the many places in the National Register of Historic Places located there.

That means the presence of hotels, restaurants, gift shops, gas stations... get the picture?

 

Lumpkin has none of that going for it.

That town is the largest entity in the entirety of Stewart County... and the Stewart Detention Center is the largest entity in that town.

Once upon a time, back in the late 1960's, Lumpkin had acquired "The Fair of 1850" from Jonesboro, GA, renaming it as Westville Historic Handicrafts, then changing the name again in 2001 to Westville, which drew in tourists for the next fifteen years.

Then the attraction was bought by Columbus, GA, in 2016, lured there in the hopes of further enlarging both Westville and its associated tourist trade, opening in 2019...

just before the pandemic in 2020.

The attraction was permanently closed last year.

Might it to have survived the pandemic in the tiny Lumpkin?

Maybe, maybe not.

 

Providence Canyon is a nearby natural attraction in the same-named State Park.

However, that isn't really a source of jobs.

Folks who travel there come for camping, hiking, shooting photos, none of which require the presence of tourist trade support in the community.

 

So, why don't the citizens of Lumpkin leave?

Because that is the town of their grandfathers, that is the town they grew up in, that is the town where they are raising their children. 

The detention center has only been there for the time of one generation.

Westville has been gone for less than half of a single generation.

Give the people time.

They'll leave when their grown children have jobs and families elsewhere.

The detention center may be closed by that time, without a new influx of workers.

Give the people time.

la la la... whoops!

Oh, my! 

 

Would you just look at that dip?!?!

 

What a truly obnoxious thing to be coming up this weekend!

 

I don't mind the rain, but those lows in the 40's make it so hard for the highs to struggle into the 60's....

ack!!!

 

That's okay, I've cleared my slate of chores.

 

I washed clothes yesterday, even the linens, and was fortunate to find a machine that easily held all for just $3.50, so the "three loads" only cost me $7 and an hour's time.

 

During this open enrollment time, I applied to the 2024 medical plan that I desired - the AARP Medicare Advantage Patriot No-Rx - and look forward to more perks in the future.

 

I have obtained a new homeowners policy, this time from Homesite...

after having written and mailed a response to the other insurance carrier, with a copy of that response going to GEICO with a cover letter.

 

I feel very good about having accomplished all of that.

That made today feel special, like a new start.

 

My luncheon with Yvonne certainly made today special, too!

 

This was the second in our series of one-on-one meetings.

 

The first, like this one, was also at Olive Garden.

That had been on October 16th, also a Thursday.

And the time of that luncheon was also high noon.

No need to change a working formula!

(smile!)

 

There's definitely something to be said for being consistent.

A groove is a good thing to have when life gets hard to bear,

a groove can reassure when little else can.

Loss adjustment... yes, a luncheon with a good friend can certainly help.

See? I do believe the smile has reached up to her eyes for a while.

That's good for both of us.

 

After sharing time with her, I was off to share time with another friend...

and to finish out my AMC A*List with a trio of movies for a change.

That final movie, "Journey To Bethlehem", was a musical!!!

Yes, it was the story of Mary and Joseph, up to the point of Jesus' birth.

However, it was a retelling with a bit of vaudeville to it!

I mean, the Magi even do a song and dance about being "Three Wise Guys"!!!

But the one who steals the show, eating scenery with mouth wide open and both hands shoveling it it, was Antonio Banderas!!!

His portrayal of an evil King Herod was so blatantly over the top as to be delightful!!!

There's even a flair of Bollywood in it for us!!!

Barbara and I are both of a mind to burn up all our A*List next week on this one movie.

As for the first and second movies, I've already spoken of them, here, and here, respectively.

 

I was feeling fairly well energized after that musical...

and given the mid-80's heat of the day...

so I decided to do something different tonight: I went to a play downtown.

 

Not to just any play, either.

I went to the last of the season for Savannah Repertory Theatre.

 

Why was that such a big deal?

Well, the last time I went to an evening performance for theirs, I was without my car for a week.

I resolved to be more mindful of big behemoths this time around, and, fortunately, none bothered me.

 

Good.

 

The play, "The Lifespan Of A Fact", was performed to a full house, so that was good, too.

In it, a new - and quite compulsive - fact-checker in New York is tasked by a journal editor there with making sure a favored writer has not taken too much literary license with his latest essay, a piece ostensibly about the suicide of a teenager in Las Vegas, but littered with extraneous bits and pieces to make it tied in to a gambling town zeitgeist. 

Amazingly, the characters portrayed by the actors are all three real people, and the play follows the real book, co-authored by the real writer and real fact-checker, about trying to get that essay published.

Apparently, it took seven years for the essay to be deemed factual enough to print.

The issue, besides the one of a twenty-something author insisting on the words he's written as being all important, is the belief of that author that the facts get in the way of the truth, which is why he changed so many facts to ones that "flowed" better in his essay.

Wow.

As a scientist, I cannot condone someone doing such a thing.

However, as a writer, I can understand the desire to have one's words leave a particular impression upon a reader.

It was an interesting piece, that's for sure.

Such a good day, well-spent...

and safely home, once more, with my car intact.

Such a good day, and such a good and warm day, spent with those dear to me.

i thank You, God.

backpack and backtrack

"Backpack? Well, I know you aren't talking about hiking... right?"

 

You got that right! I'm talking about that musical, "Backpack of Power", over at the Savannah Children's Theatre.

 

"What? They're doing it again? Didn't you see that last year?"

 

Yes, I did, but that was during its premiere performances. This was a little different. They've streamlined it and shortened the stage because they're taking it on the road! Rather, they're taking it to the middle schools, since 6th graders are their target demographic for the lessons of being strong, powerful, bold, and brave. I think it's wonderful that they're following in the footsteps of Savannah Stage Company with that program.

"Most excellent! And how did it go today?"

Well, the actors were wonderful, with the same cast as before in some of the roles, like for Kevin, the new kid on his first day of middle school, and The Backpack, a family heirloom that allows him to travel back in time a few minutes and have a second chance at his response to a tricky situation. Like when a black girl in his class is hassled by a white bully, but the teacher misinterprets the altercation and blames the girl, as does the principal. It's up to Kevin, on his second time around, to stand up for the girl and tell what he witnessed.

"Good for him! I know those tween years can be tricky for kids."

Actually, those were good lessons for adults, too. Sometimes what we think we see is not what actually happened. That's the premise of a new show I've been watching, "The Irrational". Jesse Martin plays a psychologist whose powers of perception are repeatedly called upon by the FBI and the police. It's a very smartly written show.

"He's a good actor. I remember him from "Law & Order". He was partnered with Jerry Orbach, wasn't he? Yeah, good actor."

For sure. And the ones in this play were good, too, and will be even better once they've had more time in front of an audience. The three performances this weekend are all free, to encourage folks to come and to give them practice. I went to the matinee at 3 PM today, which was fairly well attended. I'm glad that Savannah Repertory Theatre have put up some money to take this show to the schools. That will be a big help.

"SavRepTh is helping with funds? Very good! I guess being in their new location on Broughton Street is helping their cash flow. Hey, how was their last play? You never did say."

Oh, I guess I didn't, did I? I was so overwhelmed about the damage to my car afterward.

"So... how was it?"

Actually, "Empanada Loca" was a one-woman show, peopled so descriptively that it seemed that they were right there with her. "Her" is Dolores, recently released from prison, doing time for her boyfriend, Dominic, and his drug trade. She was still in high school when she went in and she was still wrapped up in love with him, as made plain by her graphic sexual details of time with him. She felt sure he had waited for her, as she did the right thing and didn't rat him out - which is what she told the rat that had wandered into her space in the lowest level, dead end, subway station.

"She was talking to a rat?"

For real. At first, we all thought it might have been someone who was lost. We were all just along for the ride, listening intently as she poured out her story, nonstop, for almost 90 minutes. Talking about Tabitha, the inmate who taught her massage techniques; Luis, the boy who took her in after prison, giving her a place in his dad's empanada store; Jonah, the landlord who was schtupping the underage hired help there and threatening to evict them. So, "magic hands" Dolores tells us, she gave the landlord a massage, to relax him and make him chill... only she ended up killing the pervert. No worries, as Luis took the body out. Then, next thing you know, Luis is marketing "carne loca" and drawing in lots of customers!

"Oh, nice! Shades of "Sweeney Todd", right?"

Exactly. In fact, this play was inspired by that one. Ah, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street!

"All it needed was Johnny Depp to make it complete!"

Well, Diany Rodriguez was mighty fine as Dolores. So much energy she gave to that role! She never stopped moving during the play, and she never stopped talking, either.

"That makes two one-person plays, back to back, for you, doesn't it?"

That's true. "Every Brilliant Thing" was not quite two weeks before this one. That had been hard on me; this was not. I guess it's because I couldn't personally relate to a murderous masseuse providing meat for Mexican meals.

"Just like you couldn't resist a bit of alliteration there."

For real! Okay, got other things to do today and I'm burning daylight. Bye!

once, once more, with feeling

As I watched the musical tonight, on Comet TV, I compared it to the play on Sunday.

Held at the Trustees Theatre, that had been the first production of the year by the Savannah Repertory Theatre.

I had been a bit shocked at the cost - thirty-five bucks for a discounted senior ticket! - but I understood that they had chosen to hold it in a venue with 1200-plus seats.

I think they were hoping that a lot of tourists would choose to come as part of their Saint Patrick's Day celebrations.

I hope that worked out for them.

I, like a lot of Savannahians, waited until Sunday, when the partying crowd would have left and the parking would be free.

Ray Ellis and Randy Cannady and Beth Balance, fellow Asburians, were there.

So were Thomas and Danielle Houston, more of the thespians in town, as well as Travis Spangenburger and Erin Muller and Monica McDermott.

The fellow actors always do try to come out and support the other troupes, as long as they aren't already in a competing production that day.

For competing they certainly are, competing for those entertainment budget dollars, thinking that maybe folks had held onto them during the pandemic...

but knowing those monies had gone to streaming services, the same online platforms that they themselves had subscribed to for films and staged shows.

 

I was one of the last ones through the door.

That's because I knew the venue well and wanted to let all the strangers find their seats and get settled for this general admittance show.

Sure enough, I easily found a safe space up front, donning my mask just in case.

There were about five hundred people there.

I was in the 8th row, I think, last seat by the wall, with a clear view of the stage.

At first, I thought they'd started early...

but, no, they were jamming, giving an impromptu concert as folks came in.

They could have been an Irish band with the Savannah Music Festival, which began this week.

Very nice!

Then, "Once" began, with 'Guy' playing a melancholy tune on a guitar about the one that got away, hoping for money from passersby.

He gets more advice to add some words from 'Girl', a woman whose favorite line is "I'm always serious, I'm Czech."

(smile!)

I do believe that's my favorite part of the play.

Anyway, she and her family (mother, daughter, possible siblings) have come to Dublin hoping for a better life.

Her dream is to win the lottery so she can buy the piano in the bar she works at.

Meanwhile, her Hoover no longer sucks; but she's in luck, as 'Guy' is a vacuum cleaner fixer.

What a great coincidence!

(smile!)

The play had been billed as a musical...

and I would have liked to say it was one, as that seems to be the consensus...

however, a musical is not what it was.

As I told Beth at the WNS tonight, when she came over to our table specifically to ask what I thought about it, I replied that it was a concert play, but not a musical.

The people in it were performing songs they were recording for an album, not just bursting out in song and dance.

Any dances were in a bar setting to the music being played, not spontaneous actions in response to emotions.

She agreed, adding that she had not really cared for it.

I have to wonder if she might have liked it better if the songs had been presented in the same order as they had been in the film that inspired the play.

Perhaps she didn't like the Irish music?

I don't know, as she left the table soon after her query of me.

I do know this: I have no plans to see SavRepTh's version of "The 39 Steps", as I know from the Armstrong Masquers' production that the play has pretty much nothing in common with the Hitchcock film, being rather a send-up of it.

I'll funnel that money toward the end of month play from SavChTh.

That works!

(smile!)

Okay, the mercials have run their course.

Back I go to land of vampires and demons, "Once More, With Feeling"...

and quite gladly!!!

That is a true musical, with folks randomly breaking out in song and dance!!!

I do believe I still have a little crush on Spike...

I mean, James Marsters...

well, as long as he dresses like that rambunctious fellow!

Hey, did I ever tell you about the time I danced with him at Dragon*Con in 2008?

Remind me and I'll tell you about it sometime.

I still have the photo of me with him on the fridge.

Good times!

(smile!)

signalling for help from one of the richest guys ever

Jason had posted about the SavRepTh play a few days ago.

 

me:  

Hope I get a chance to see it. I'm already so busy this weekend...
hell, this entire month!
It's like everybody is trying to show us what they got!

 

Jason Arons:

Faustina Smith right? I need to get my ticket for Once and just found out the
Scad musical is Pippin!!!
 

me:

Shiite. The Savannah Jewish Cultural Arts Festival is going on through the 

rest of the month, too.
Just a surfeit of culture out there!
You watch, in May there won't be much of anything.

 

I went ahead and "stole" the Bat Signal from his page.

If anyone could aid me financially, it's Bruce Wayne, right?

(smile!)

 

Just a few moments ago, I struck up a chat with JinHi about the situation.

 

me:

Hope I get a chance to go [to the SavRepTh play]. 

SOOOOO much going on this month!
Budget can't handle all of it...
 

JinHi Soucy Rand:

Faustina Smith, oh, I know!
Especially this weekend, but I hope you can make it!
 

me:

All month long. 

Savannah Children's Theatre, Savannah Jewish Cultural Arts Festival, Cinema Savannah, school theatre, SCAD Theatre.

There were two plays last weekend that I totally missed b/c I didn't find out in time to plan for them and already had other events going on.

 

Honestly, I think I am one of the few that tries to support a wide range of troupes.

As for the SJCAF, I don't think folks even had that as a radar blip.

There's supposed to be a fb page that keeps track of all theatre being performed in town, but they leave out far more than they include.

I guess I'll just catch what I can...

and pay the piper later.

Hooray for plastic!

(smile!)

22 September 22

"Is this going to be some regular thing now? You had a similar post title last month."

 

Oh, did I? That just slipped my mind, dearie. Nope, just kidding! I rather like the way it looks, with the month booked by the same numbers. Makes it look important!

 

"And was today important for you?"

 

Actually, it rather was! Generation One had a 'lunch & learn' session, with Dr. Timothy Connelly of Memorial Hospital, and this was a full-house event. I guess everyone else wanted to hear all about "Vaccine Update", too!

 

"Was it helpful?"

 

It was to me! The speaker had a very down-home approach that reminded me of my teaching style. As it turns out, he is a teacher now, no longer seeing patients, and letting folks know the latest on the medical front is his specialty.

This new anti-COVID vaccine, for instance, isn't that new. It's still a mRNA vaccine, targeting the spike protein by which the coronovirus gains cellular entry. In fact, 50 % of it is the same as it was, with the balance being tweaked to account for changes in the spike protein.

It does not contain nay of the actual virus, either live or dead or attenuated, as do vaccines for influenza or polio or measles or pneumonia. That is how the mRNA vaccine for coronavirus differs from every other vaccine for disease.

That last part is not news to me.

However, it will be a disappointment to some folks I know.

They're waiting for some super-miracle vaccine that will prevent them from getting infected by the SARS-CoV-2 strain, whether it be Omicron version or the next one down the line.

That's never going to happen.

The way to not get infected is to wear a mask, maintain your distance from folks outside your social bubble, and wash those hands!

What the vaccine does do, and does remarkably well - like, with an effectiveness of >90% - is keep that viral infection from developing into a case of COVID that lands you in the hospital and fighting for life on a ventilator.

That's a huge miracle, to me.

And it's much better odds than folks had 100 years ago when that pandemic came home with the American GI's from WWI. 

"So true. Hey, that's when that crowd-sourced flick, "Pearl", was set, isn't it?"

 

Yep, that's correct! I'll get around to that later... nah, since you brought it up, let's do it now! But, first, you have to hear the title I'd made for this week's A*List.

God's Country Pearl, The Woman King

Nice, right?

 

"Well, not as catchy as last week's trio, but I guess it'll do for a bunch of chick flicks."

 

These were most assuredly not "chick flicks", which tend to be rom-com or deep into weepy, emotional family dynamics.

That is not what any of these were.

By the time I sat through the first two, I suspected each one was centered on a woman with a deep-seated, festering, grudge who loses control and kills people. Fortunately, that theme was not present in the third movie.

 

"Really? That's what "God's Country" was all about? I thought Cinema Savannah was bringing that to town?"

 

Yeah, Tomasz is, and yeah, that's how that movie is. Ex-cop left New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and moves to Montana as a college professor, with her mom, both still bristling, seventeen years later, with hatred for the mess in Louisiana. After the mom dies, the ex-cop finds an outlet in two rednecks. And just what great wrong were they doing to her? Parking in the canyon where she had her house. Seriously. 

I watched it at the AMC, with Barbara and Carolyn, and they took her side. Seriously.

I took the side of the deputy sheriff, caught between two factions running hellbent for leather into a murderous conflict.

"That doesn't sound like the kind of film Tomasz would get."

 

I agree, especially as there was no nudity in it.

 

"Hahahaha! Yeah, I know what you mean. And the other movies?"

 

"Pearl", like you said, is set in 1918 and features folks wearing masks all around town. The lead role is a fresh-faced young woman, trapped under her mom's baleful eye, trapped on the farm she had wanted so to leave, trapped caring for her dad who is bound to a wheelchair after catching the deadly influenza. She had married a man from a wealthy family, sure that he would take her away from her poverty, but he had joined the Army and left her right there, with her dreams of becoming a famous dancer slipping out of her grasp.

 

"Oh, the poor girl!" 

She may have been financially bereft, but she became morally bankrupt, starting small and then going after any and every source of aggravation in her life. It was rather comical. Try to imagine Dorothy if the woman on the bicycle had been her Auntie Em.

"Yeah, you'll need to target that rabbit hole with your first niece, not me."

Good idea. Now, what about "The Woman King"? Well, that one is billed wrong on several counts. First, the summary would have you believe this was an anti-slavery movie; that's wrong. That aspect is one of the subplots, but not the crux. Second, the previews would have you believe that this is a war movie with lots of fighting; that is also wrong. This is a movie about a squad of fighting virgins, much like the Amazons, and there are a couple of fight scenes. But the heart of the film is the leader of the squad, who, as a rape victim, is not a virgin, and who did bear a daughter, who her best friend put up for adoption.

"None of that is even hinted at in the trailers!"

I know. They concentrate on the slave trade, and try to throw any white people under the bus, so to speak, and minimize the role played by the African king and the black trader he worked with most. It's truly a much better movie than the previews make it out to be. By the end, I was catching a note of similarity between this one and "Lifemark", which also dealt with adoption rather than abortion.

"Well, I guess you can tell what demographic they were targeting by keeping the focus on race relations and conflict. Anyway... what else did you do to mark the date?"

 

I was the gate wench for "The Christians"!

 

"You were what??? Oh, you're trying to be all cutesie about telling me you were a volunteer again for the SavRepTh show."

 

Well partly, but that's also where they put me! For usher detail, I'd expected to be inside. Nope! I was on front gate duty, welcoming 'parishioners' to 'Pastor Paul's church' and waving them toward the open doors. How nice to be outside as the day became dusk! 

But that wasn't the best part. Nope, it was getting hugs from Deborah and Kimmi as they came through and saw my smiling face! They're in-country from Costa Rica for the next two weeks and will be in Savannah for the next few days. After all, the Savannah Jazz Festival is going on and Deborah so loves that music!

 

"Hey! How very cool!!!"

 

It was, it was! And they were accompanied by Sherry, and fellow Savannah blogger Thomas Houston, and I got big hugs from them, too! Then, as the play began, I was able to sit down a row back from them, so we were all watching it together. So very nice!

"And how was it this second time? Did it still leave you with so many questions?"

I think maybe it didn't have as strong an impact on me as it did that first time. Plus, 'talking' it out with Grandpa had helped. Especially after I realized he had been my age when we had those deep debates. What an eye-opener for me that realization had been!

"Well, you have to remember that he's been gone for forty years now. I guess March would have been that anniversary."

I think I need to take a trip to Waycross in the near future. It's been a while since I visited family there, both the living and the dead.

"Lunch with cousin Lynn again? Nice! We could go for sushi!"

Yes, we could! Imagine that: sushi in Ware County! Very nice!

(smile!)

having a bit of the irish after a bit of royalty

Oh, my!

If I'm not careful, I just might get spoiled!

I've already been to two plays, and tonight I had a third... with another next week!

It's been more than two years since that's happened...

and the timing has been perfect for my 64th birthday celebration!

i thank You, God!

And many thanks to my bfe, too!

Tonight, the physicist took me out for prime-time sushi as well as a play for adults!

It's been awhile since he had Japanese, so the choice of restaurant was his.

Hey, we already know I love the sushi!

At Ta Ca Asian Fusion & Sushi, a downtown place we'd not been to in ages, he chose the Tempura Sushi Roll and I selected the Louis XIII Roll - that's the one with the red roe and creamy topside.

We split them, so we each had the best of the Classic and the Specialty offerings... 

oh, so good!

What a treat!

Plus, we had onion soup - that was different! - and the always tasty salad with ginger dressing.

No need for dessert with all that!

Then, we were off to the entertainment for the evening, something a bit different and definitely meeting the approval of the bfe!

Savannah Repertory Theatre had Bill Irwin in town to perform his one-man show, "Of Beckett", a show he created in 2018.

SavRepTh's new digs on Broughton Street were not quite ready, so the show was held at the Savannah Cultural Arts Center.

How wonderful to find familiar faces there!
Ryan McCurdy and Jenn Bishop of SavRepTh!

Lynita Spivey, Tara & Trick Kelly, Travis Spangenburger, Justin Kent & Valerie, and Chris Soucy - those Odd Lot peeps I've only seen on fb for two years!

JinHi and Mark Rand - Savannah theatre royalty!

And the bfe even took my arm in his and helped steady me as we took the stairs to our seats... how gracious!

And he did the same when it was time to depart on those steps, too!

The performance took excerpts from several of Samuel Beckett's works, all of which had been part of Bill Irwin's life since his birth.

Seriously, that's what he said!

Of course, he was referring to "Texts For Nothing" - no, not the Dire Straits song!

These were opinion pieces, thirteen of them, which had been written in 1950, which, as happenstance would have it, was the year Bill Irwin was born.

Right place, right time, to his mind!

He recited the 1st, 9th, and 11th of the texts, as well as portions of "Waiting For Godot", the only Beckett piece I was really familiar with, padding the running patter with anecdotes and quick-change wardrobe additions of hats (bowlers, top hats, and even a straw boater) and two sizes of baggy pants.

Very entertaining!

Many thanks, bfe, for treating me to these gifts tonight!

And, again, i thank You, God, for giving me strength -

for the strength to walk the block from the parking garage, across Oglethorpe Avenue, and up Montgomery Street to the performance site...

and for the strength to walk back from the SCAC to the parking garage, leaning on the bfe's arm to keep me from panicking along that busier path.

Yes, I could have asked the dear physicist to drop me off by the Center's doors, and then to pick me back up again after the show -

but I needed to walk and to prove to myself that I could.

And, it was reassuring to know I could and did, with a little help from my friend.

(smile!)