November 9th marked the fifth anniversary of my darling husband’s passing. It is always a surprise how immediate the loss feels in spite of the distance traveled. A moment of reflection on how proud I am of the decision we made to wed in 1984 and how full and rich our life together was. How enriched I am for the depth and breadth of Jimmie’s theatrical life. We loved the laughs and adventures we had, most specifically, our adopting and parenting of Chris. We were collectively and individually so proud of his accomplishments in love and his own parenting journey and his continuation as a hockey coach. Sweet sweet memories flood me today. I am so grateful to friends who have reached out in a myriad of ways to let me know they remember him as well.
I also made it halfway through my chemo journey on November 8th and am feeling amazingly good for Day 3. I thought I better bring you all up on the adventures that Destiny, and her new friends, Honey and Amour have had in the past week.
First, the addition of Honey or Honey Karina as she is now known. Amour is a little shy, and may only appear as a hat fringe. When poorly applied, she looks like a choir master in a bad toupee. With gratitude to my friend Ann Closs-Farley, here are some of the fitting looks.
Honey Karina had a very busy week. She went to campus to see Hit The Wall (closing this weekend) on Homecoming day and was incognito at the Village and at the McClintock Theatre, even after the show, when waiting to greet students. It’s weird to be on leave and still have your heart in every step your colleagues are doing to advance the work of the department. I just want to lift up my amazing colleagues, Leia Crawford, Michael Latimer, Duncan Mahoney, Joe Shea, Christopher Paci, Brittany White, Ann Closs-Farley, Tak Kata, Howard Schmitt, and all the other unnamed faculty and other staff who have made this semester drive forward successfully.
Hit the Wall by Ike Holter is one of the most beautifully rendered productions I’ve seen at SDA. I know I’ll get guff from folks for making that statement. I was completely blown away by Gregg T. Daniel and Chevaughan Dyer’s co-direction, the original music by Daniel Lincoln, the commitment of the actors to telling this compelling story about the Stonewall Rebellion. The scenic design by Kate Schaaf is spectacular – I was continually surprised by the collaboration with lighting designer Jace Smolansky. Light boxes directing our attention around the L shaped double story set were helpful but not distracting. Smolansky’s light guided our attention throughout to the pertinent actions and made the riot scary and present. Costume Design by Crystal Son was natural and this was the most effective I’ve seen wigs used in a production (assistance on wigs and makeup by Juliet Black). The script called for actors to play multiple roles and costumes allowed the ensemble to change these roles effectively. The actors looked completely comfortable in their movement/choreography by alum Hayden Price. Sound Design by Alma Reyes-Thomas was impressive given the live music without a production engineer. The Schaaf-designed balcony space housed Daniel on keyboards, and a guitarist as well as a split level playing space for the greek chorus of the play, Tano (Nate Riel, also AD), and Mika (Davon Collier) who greeted/taunted the audience as we entered. Performances by Rafi Perez (Carson) and Malika Dinon (Roberta) were beautifully articulated and vulnerably powerful. Will Domke (cop) was chillingly fascist in his interactions both before and during the riot. Maya Reyna (Peg) was compelling and relatable throughout their journey. Farah Hosseini (Madeline) was sympathetic as well as icily unsupportive at times to Peg. Luke Bucaro (A-Gay) was the smarmy underbelly character snakelike, who took advantage of anyone who allowed him to. Amos Pai (Newbie) moved throughout the world, interacting with Tano and Mika at first, then coming into his own power as the play unfolded. Amazing work by all.
The Saturday matinee audience was diminished by the homecoming events, but all were nevertheless engaged throughout the play. Particularly effective was the raid and resulting rebellion, which felt dangerous and completely present for all in the space. Highly recommend this! I’m not sure tickets are still available, but you can try at the link above. This production will also be streamed, so if you aren’t able to get to campus, you can still see the production which will be streamed at 4:00PM November 16th. Click on that date’s link to be forwarded to eventbrite. Tickets are $7.18.
Other outings in the past few weeks included:
Walking with Amal at the Music Center on November 2nd. This was a really special encounter with Handspring Puppet Amal, who made a journey across the United States from Boston to San Diego. There were several events in LA that day and November 3rd. This video from PBS America describes her walk across America in 2023 and ends with footage of her international journey over the course of 2021. Here are some images from my encounter with her at the Music Center. First, I met the SMs who were in charge of the event. (Always look for the folks with clipboards and headsets in the crowd). In this case, Matthew Jackson and assisting him Student Joshua from CalArts where Matthew teaches. It was great to meet Matthew in person, as we’ve corresponded but never met. The event was really special and quite powerful, with dancers and musicians and even dancers in the water pools around the walkway she traversed.
Amal (whose name means “hope” in Arabic) asks us to never forget the plight of refugees of war and poverty. The shrine above was populated with photos and candles for many of those, particularly children. This San Diego Union Tribune Article is helpful in describing the purpose of this huge artistic expression embraced by cities all over the world. When I registered for the Music Center event, which was free, we were encouraged to contribute to their collection of blankets, first aid kits which I was happy to do.
The next night, I attended a preview of Inherit The Wind at the Pasadena Playhouse. I have an historic attachment to this production because my husband, James Greene, appeared in the ensemble of the 1955 Broadway production with Paul Muni (Henry Drummond), Ed Begley (Mathew Harrison Brady), and Tony Randall.(E.K. Hornbeck). Here are some pics that Jimmie had in his collection. You can see Jimmie in the upper left corner of the first picture, and in the front row of the second. What is confusing from the Broadway World listing of the cast and replacement cast, is Jimmie is listed in the replacement cast, but is clearly here with the original cast. Go figure.
Anyway, back to present day (thank you for allowing me that peregrination). Michael Michetti’s taut direction of this extremely timely remount of the play is presented on a sparse stage that features the back wall of the 1925 Pasadena Playhouse structure (the same year this play was originally written by Lawrence and Lee. Some might say that
the removal of scenic elements borders on criminal. I actually found it charming and disarming. A seating area of jurors in the front of the stage, populated by two actors whose voir dire process we witness early in the play had an immersive-invoking effect for the rest of the audience. The bank of seating on stage from which the desired witnesses for the defense were called was helpful in establishing the “we are they” feeling with audience. Michetti fostered that from the pre-curtain moments where members of the company entered as actors, then became characters with the start of the play. The costumes by Sarah Ryun Clement are almost disconcertingly contemporary.
The play feels particularly relevant now in light of the recent election of Mike Johnson to the speaker of the house. The banner stretched across the stage “Read Your Bible” became a talisman in the action of the play. The judge’s denial of permission to Drummond, played here powerfully by Alfred Molina, to call to the stand expert witnesses to speak on Evolution shook me to the core. Both Molina and John Douglas Thompson (Brady) were larger than life representatives of the debate of religion vs. science. The ensemble was strong and individual, eclectic and diverse. Everything about the production brought it forward in time in a powerful way. I felt lucky to be witness to such a strong production. Another don’t miss moment at the Pasadena Playhouse, who under the strong artistic direction of Danny Feldman earned the Tony Award Winning Theatre label this year. I’m happy to see how full the theatre was that night and expect good things for them going forward.
Other events included lunch with Leia on Tuesday and a leisurely catch up about all that I’ve missed (or some of what I’ve missed). We ate at the University Club, then walked over to the lawn near Thornton, and snagged some of the red Adirondack chairs to shmooze some more in the fall foliage. When 3:30 rolled around, we meandered over to have a tour of the new Dramatic Arts Building (DAB) currently the UUC. Project Manager Hunter Gaines toured our small group through the building which is close-ish to completion. We are expected to take occupancy in February 2024. Here are some pictures from our tour.
Other Gifts of the Week! I received two lovely soup gifts which are hitting the spot. I love soup right now. It is my fuel. Thank you Emi and Madeline!
Bottom line: Five years out from one of life’s major transitions (losing your partner), I’m feeling good and looking forward to the healthy years ahead. Stay curious and curate your non-work time carefully. It pays off in the end.
lifeinthethe8tre 