At Upstart Crow Studios for Annie rehearsal, Cast B is busy running through a scene where Annie and Daddy Warbucks meet FDR.
Here's a pic of Jaya Rowelle, the Cast B Annie, trying on her dress a couple of weeks ago:
A few weeks ago, Cast B was busy learning "We'd Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover," including some choreography. Here are Hazel Herring (l), Grace Kelly (r) and Taylor Doble (behind) practicing some of the dancing (which later got changed):
That same week, here's Upstart Crow's exec director, and the co-director of Annie, Eularee Smith helping orphan Molly (Caitley Criswell, I believe) whine a little more in the first scene. The girls are in the dance studio, and they're sprawled out all over the floor.
And here's Jaya in the Hooverville scene a few weeks ago:
I have some (poor quality but fun) video of some of Cast B's principals doing Ring Around the Rosy and MJ backstage ... and as soon as YouTube loads that, it's up! More from tonight probably Wednesday afternoon.
A flow of bright green water is making its way down the Millrace to the Willamette River. Nope, it's not a Duck related publicity stunt. It's a pipe break. According to the UO's press release:
Pipe break releases green dye into Millrace
At approximately 2 p.m. today, the University of Oregon's central power station was alerted to a failure of a temporary chilled water line supplying cooling to a nearby UO laboratory facility. When the line gave way, it released several hundred gallons of chemically treated chilled water into a utility tunnel. That water was pumped into the Millrace in accordance with the UO’s standard tunnel flood control process.
The water in the burst pipe had been treated with a green dye, which allows facilities staff to locate and repair leaks. While the dye is used at a very low concentration, it does impart a bright green color to the water. This dye is non-toxic and there is no danger of chemical hazard involved in this inadvertent release. In addition to the dye, the chilled water included a chemical called molybdate, which is also non-toxic and is used to prevent pipe fouling and corrosion.
The University of Oregon has activated a pump to increase the flow of water into the Millrace. This should help dilute the dye before it reaches the Willamette River.
If anyone's out there with a camera, I'd like to see a photo and see how this compares to the City of Chicago's annual dyeing of the Chicago River green for St. Patrick's day.
I suspect the R-G and other news sources will be all over this exciting green river story. (I mean c'mon the Millrace is green, that's well, interesting. Then again, so is green, biodegradable graduation gear, I suppose.) But if not, we'll start delving into if molybdate is really non-toxic to fish, and what they heck they use to turn water green — fluorescein was what they used to use on the Chicago River til enviros complained — and exactly what in the lab needed to be cooled down anyway...
UPDATE: The UO says its getting back to me on my questions…
The R-G is on the story, but they're slicker than I am and made the press release sound more like they've got actual news, as opposed to admittng to unanswered why is the water green questions like me.
This review will appear in the Feb. 11 print edition (with images, I hope)
Swinging Through London’s Doors
LCC’s Move Over Mrs. Markham farces it up
by Suzi Steffen
Last time I reviewed a farce, I led the review with a discussion of doors and how they should be used. That was Rumors at the Very Little Theatre, directed by Chris Pinto. Pinto must be into farces this season, for he’s at it again — and the doors work far better in this case — with the young actors at LCC in the British sex farce Move Over Mrs. Markham.
In Rumors, the set-ups of the first act paid off during an extended, inspired second-act monologue that Paul Hume Rhoden built into a towering fantasy of outrageous proportions. Though the whipped-up, goofy climax of Move Over Mrs. Markham, a late ’60s/early ’70s play by Ray Cooney and John Chapman, arrives with the collaboration of nearly the entire cast, it still relies heavily on the acting skills of one person — Melissa DeHart as Joanna Markham. Luckily, DeHart appears to know exactly what she’s doing, and she directs the traffic around her with the skill of a far older actor.
Read more after the jump!
Click any image to see the complete gallery from last Thursday's sold out show.
I have no words.
Well, I do. One is to follow Demonsheep on Twitter.
Another is to thank ABC's Jake Tapper for his tweet saying he'd been demonsheeped, which led me to this post at SFGate, which led to ...
DEMONSHEEP!
(Sit through the entire thing. Really. It is so, so splendidly bizarre, from the East Coast accented voiceover to the ... well, you'll have to see it for yourself.)
EDIT: Here's a Bay Area editorial headlined, "Fiorina's demon sheep ad destroys real debate." Ya think?
Lost in the guffaws is the video's fundamental meanness. It is unfair and misleading. We're disappointed to see Fiorina sink to this level. What's the point of running as a political outsider if you're going to get down in the mud with the hacks?
I so did not think the "fundamental meanness" got lost. You?
I give you my second effort, this one from iMovie. There's actually even more going on in the building, with dance class, private lessons (I think) and parents popping in and out of the front with questions and concerns. But here's a 2-minute snapshot of some of what happened Monday night at ... The Road to Annie!
UPDATE: List of scenes
1. Timothy Wilcox, music director, explaining to the denizens of Hooverville that they need a lyric book if they don't know the lyrics
2. "We'd Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover" (partial)
3. Wilcox explaining how they should sing the song
4. The next attempt at "We'd Like to Thank You Herbert, Hoover" (starts with applesellers Grace Kelly and Grace Gibson on the left, aka stage right; pans to Sophie the coal woman, played by Holley Flora and Olivia Nilsen on the right, aka stage left)
5. Eularee Smith discusses the cast list. (87 kids. We also talked about the difficulties of finding a Daddy Warbucks and an FDR.) BTW, Annie opens in four weeks!
6. Jackie Stolar leads the little kiddos in learning "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile"
7. Cast A Annie Asa Clevenger tries on the Annie wig backstage. Upstart Crow Studios artistic director Sarah Beth Byrum gives her opinion (in the grey hoodie at the end).
I just got back from an interview with the Eugene Ballet Company's Gillmer Duran, who's choreographing a new piece for the Feb. 13-14 Dark Side of the Moon performance.
Gotta say, I'm excited about this one. I watched rehearsal for the "Dark Side" portion yesterday, with EBC Artistic Director (and founder) Toni Pimble polishing up some of the choreography. Me, I'm not a Pink Floyd fan (to put it mildly), but the dancers made the music work. In addition to "Dark Side" (for which The Floydian Slips will play live, behind the dancers, on the Silva stage), the Ballet is also presenting "Common Ground," Pimble's collaboration with James Oliverio, and Duran's piece.
More on rehearsal and my interview with Duran later, but here's the video of rehearsal for "Without the Cover," by videographer Neil Moyer:
Without The Cover from NEIL MOYER on Vimeo.
When I last lucked into tickets to the Oregon Truffle Festival's Grand Truffle Dinner, the event was still held at LCC. The dinner’s current location at the Valley River Inn is a better-lit, more comfortable space that manages, despite its cavernousness, to feel a little more intimate. The floral arrangements, which rose from towering glass vases and drooped back down in green fronds, were a little over the top, but who's paying attention to the table decorations when a meal like this is on the way?
I barely had time to grab a small glass of the reception wine — Sweet Cheeks' sparkling red, which I want to try when I can pay it more attention — before we were finding our way to our table (to my amusement, VRI staff removed the table numbers shortly after most people were seated, which led me to envisioning lost attendees swiping plates from servers' hands in desperation. This did not appear to happen).
Let me be honest: I am not going to review the dinner so much as repeatedly point out, in 100 words per course, how rich and delicious it was. I was there to experience it, and the experience was, for the most part, delightful.
Also, it was a lot of food.
Crème Fraiche Tarts with Triple Cream, Shaved White Truffles & Mâche Salad with Black Truffle Vinaigrette
Chef Naomi Pomeroy, Beast
