| I?m completely satisfied with how THE HAIRY APE turned out.?In THE COLOR OF LIGHT, a novel by William Goldman, a writer would always turn in his work to his editor friend, who never gave compliments.?The editor friend would only say, "On to the next," which meant that the story was as good as it could get, it was done, so move on to the next story.It was by no means perfect, and there were definitely things we could have done better, but I don?t see any reason (other than a paycheck) why I should ever revisit this show.?So on to the next.Which is M*A*S*H.?Technically, I?ve been prepping for the production since the end of SOUTH PACIFIC a year and a half ago.?There were veterans in Korean War Veterans Association Chapter 293 who were also in WWII who served as interview subjects for our SOUTH PACIFIC PROJECT: PACIFIC WAR STORIES, the memory project surrounding our production of that musical.?It was my association with KWVA that inspired me, on the spur of the moment, to say at a meeting that maybe I should consider doing the stage version of M*A*S*H and we could take the lessons we learned in SoPo and apply to a new memory project paying tribute to area veterans of the Korean War.?They were ecstatic at the idea, I ran the idea through channels, greenlights all around, and so I started laying the initial groundwork in March of 2007.?My community partners this time around are more extensive.?I met with the marketing folk from the NAS Museum Foundation today, and it looks like the big gala out at the museum on May 10 for the cast and veterans in the atrium is going to go forward.?Among the tentative celebrity guests (if I can get them to say yes, and both have hinted they will) are Wayne Rogers, the original Trapper John in the television series, and Congressman Jeff Miller.?PJC would provide music and do a scene from the play as entertainment, and it will probably be a ?50s theme party that the museum will use as a fundraiser.?Azalea Trace is catering an after-party for their veterans and guests and the cast after the first Sunday matinee.?The Milton campus is hosting a special celebration for us on their campus for our Thursday pick-up rehearsal in-between the performance weekends.?American Cancer Society and our Nursing Dept. from the Warrington campus are to get together to provide a program before one of our performances on the important role nurses played in the Korean conflict.?Students from the following classes have worked on the memory project, called "PJC Remembers the Forgotten War": Public Speaking, Interpersonal Communications, History, English Comps I and II, American Literature, Cosmetology, English, Introductory Statistics, Nursing, Acting II, Introduction to Theatre, Video Field Production and Editing, and Graphic Design.?Two new programs have been created at PJC as a result of the project, one which created an interviewing manual to streamline interview techniques and protocols for students from journalism, public speaking, broadcast, history and theatre for the creation of oral histories or as research for papers and speeches.?The other program is called "Adopt-A-Student" and in it administrators and other non-teaching personnel interview students involved in a large project like this at 3 different points in the semester to determine what they are learning by participating, thereby proving to outside parties that learning is taking place, one of the hardest things for teachers to do for purposes of accredidation, because in the past, it was trusted that if the teacher said learning took place, everyone believed the teacher, but now we have to PROVE that learning is taking place.?All because there are some teachers who will SAY learning has taken place, and they will cash their paychecks, despite the fact they never taught nobody nothing.?Austen and Will shall be appearing on the episode of PJC Today which we tape on April the 8th for broadcast on WSRE-PBS on April 18th, along with me, Jen Ehrhardt, Jim Gillespie from KWVA Chapter 293, and Dr. Goodspeed, the historian from the NAS Museum.?Bob?s got the floor plan ready for the set for the play.?I?ve started my pre-production work on the script.?I?m in the processing of taking the interviews our students have conducted with veterans, which have since been transcribed, and turning them into the testimonials that will appear on the 24 x 36 memory posters, along with the portrait of the veteran interviewed and associated imagery.?Austen is going to create half of them, Jen?s ex-husband who is a graphic designer is going to create the other half.?I?ve already made arrangements for the printing of the posters, either for free or at a GREATLY reduced price, which means this time I may be able to afford nicer frames for them.?The Women?s Expo on April 25th has invited us to perform a scene from the play for them, so I?ll need to decide on what that will be and have rehearsals within rehearsals once the show is cast to get that 20 minute scene ready.?That same scene will probably then be what we do if the gala ball goes forth at the NAS Museum.?The Korean War Veterans Association is also going to host a dinner with all of their veterans who were interviewed and the cast of M*A*S*H around the night of April 16th.?It?s going to be expensive for me personally.?It will cost about 20 bucks a plate for the students, and I expect about 24, and it is not in the budget, so I?ll have to write a check.?No problem.?It?s not that I have a lot of money, but hey, if I wanted to get rich I wouldn?t have gone into teaching.?It is only money, yes hundreds of dollars, but hey, money is a tool, a means to an end.?And not only will that be invaluable research for the cast, breaking bread with the folks who lived through the stuff they are recreating onstage, but think of the memories it will purchase not only for my students, but for the brave men and women who sacrificed so much so that we could continue to pursue life, liberty, and happiness.?I?ll write the check and say thank you for the opportunity to write the check.?And I will sleep well.?And I will smile.?Even if I?m feeling neutral.Auditions are coming up soon.?And the style for this show: as REAL as it can get baby!?Realism rears its ugly head, and I?m gonna french kiss that bastard!!! |
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