Vicki McDermitt

I spent another Wednesday listening to music at Mayo Clinic's Atrium.  This weeks concert series performance was by Vicki McDermitt.  Very easy listening, and a great way to start off a day of running errands.





Ballet Under the Stars

After spending a fun filled and delightful afternoon watching The Drowsy Chaperone, I picked up my husband who spent the afternoon watching the Arizona Cardinals and his beloved Chicago Bears lose, and we were off to see Ballet Arizona perform once again in Fountain Hills.  The evening was perfect!  The weather was great...a little cooler, with a nice breeze.  The skies were clear and the stars were shining brightly.  Ballet Arizona performed some beautifully choreographed dance numbers.  The evening was enchanting, and my whole day was completely inspiring.  

The Drowsy Chaperone at the Fountain Hills Theatre

Last Sunday I went to see The Drowsy Chaperone which was the season opener at the Fountain Hill Theatre.  I was not familiar with the story, so I read the synopsis of this musical online before attending.  The play is a play within a play and it's a homeage to old Broadway.  Reading the synopsis does NOT do this production justice...you just have to see it for yourself.    I laughed my butt off at this one.  This production was so much fun, and so entertaining that I could easily go see it again.  The cast was all wonderful, but the success of this musical rests soley on the main character, The Man in Chair.  Terry Gadaire played 'the man in chair' and he just stole the show.  He was just great!  His character to me was a cross between Niles from the TV series Frasier, and Sheldon, from the TV series The Big Bang Theory.  I found myself during the course of the play not looking at the other actors, but focusing on Terry's facial expression because they were just so amusing.  I really do hope he gets nominated for this stellar performance.  There is nothing better than a LIVE performance.

 





Scott Hal



On Wednesday I had a bunch of mundane things to do like drop-off and pick-up stuff at library, do my weekly Trader Joe and Costco run.  Pretty typical mid-week day.  But now I know about the weekly concerts at Mayo Clinic, so before I start my to-do list, I stop over there for an hour and listen to some great music. 

This weeks performance was by Scott Hal who sang and played the guitar, ukulele and harmonica.  He played the most popular songs...ones that everyone has heard of before.  Even people walking by would stop and listen for a few minutes.  I could have stayed longer than an hour to listen to him, but starting off my day of running errands by listening to great music put me in a real feel-good mood.  :-)

Death of a Salesman

In 1984, my boyfriend who is now my husband, and I went to at the Blackstone Theatre in Chicago to see the play Death of a Saleman before they brought this production to Broadway.  I had wanted to see this play because Dustin Hoffman was playing the lead Willy Loman.  The part of Biff was played by John Malkovich who at the time was not well known outside of Chicago.  He was well known in Chicago for being a charter member of  the Steppenwolf Theatre Company.  I still have the Stagebill for this play, well I keep all the Stagebills to every play I attend.  So I pulled it out to see who else was in the play who later became world famous like John Malkovich.  It turns out that Linda Kozlowski played the part of Miss Forsythe.  She later became world famous in 1986 playing the female lead opposite Paul Hogan in Crocodile Dundee.  Glad I keep all my Stagebills, you never know who you see in a play that turns out to be  very famous.

Anyway, I went to see Desert Stage Theatre's production of Death of a Saleman last Sunday afternoon. I told the actors afterwards, and I truly meant what I said, that they were much better cast than the production I saw with Dustin Hoffman and John Malkovich.  I felt each actor in this production fit their part better than the Broadway production I saw.  That goes to show you how much local talent we have here in Arizona.  Our community theater can put together a cast that outshines a cast of award winning actors.

John Malkovich & Dustin Hoffman

Jimmy Shoffman, Don Crosby & Josh Kontak



Jersey Rocks

My hubby and I just celebrated our 26th Wedding Anniversary.  WOW!  And the great part is that it has really been a very HAPPY twenty-six years.  I was looking for something we could do, or go see that we both would enjoy.  Well I found it...Jersey Rocks.  And the show did rock.  Fun way to spend our anniversary.

PEOPLE v. The State of ILLUSION



I love films like What the Bleep Do We Know and The Secret, so when I read about this film in the Arizona Republic, I knew I had to see it. I am a true believer in 'you create your own reality,' and know your life will be more joyous when you awaken to this realization.  When you start taking responsibilty for what you create, good or bad, you take back your power.  And this film will help you realize just how powerful we all are.   :-)

The Universe is essentially a friendly place.  So friendly, in fact, that it will give you exactly what you expect it to.  Isn't that wonderful?  Of course, it depends on what you expect..Neale Donald Walsch

Fountain Hills Chamber Players

When I saw Beauty and the Beast the other week, I sat next to a lovely woman who told me about the free concerts every Wednesday at the Mayo Clinic.  She volunteers at Mayo, and always attends these Atrium Concerts.  I have lived about two blocks from Mayo Clinic for over 13 years, and never knew they held free concerts.  So today I went over there and heard the Fountain Hills Chamber Players perform for an hour.  The setting there is wonderful for an indoor, temperature controlled concert  The concerts are held in the atrium on the concourse level.  The sun shines in brightly, there are gorgeous green plants everywhere, beautiful artwork on the walls, and comfy chairs to sit. I picked up while I was there the calendar for the remaining concerts this year.  They offer a nice variety of music, so I will definitely go back many more times. What a nice way to spend part of your afternoon.  I will definitely try to get the word out on this musical treat.



Downtown Scottsdale Art & Culture Tour



I like to find things to do that I have never done before on my Artist Date.  So when I find something new to do, I am always a little more excited.  Today I went on the monthly Art & Cultural Tour in Downtown Scottsdale.  And even though I have lived here over 13 years, I still learned things that I did not know about the area.  We met at the Old Adobe Mission which was built in 1933, and we were treated to a talk on the history of the mission by a docent before we boarded a trolley for the tour.  The two hour guided tour covered interesting tidbits on the history, culture, architecture, arts, and some celebrity fun facts.  The tour was fun and entertaining as well as informative.  And it was also FREE.  You can't beat free!

When we finished the tour I only wished I could have gone to The Mission restaurant next door for lunch.  I have never eaten there, but always wanted to dine there.  Today I had some other pressing things to do in the afternoon that couldn't wait.  So next time I'm down there I will definitely get to that restaurant.  I just LOVE Scottsdale.  :-)

Intro to Wiring Wrapping Class

Last Fall I tried my hands at a few jewelry making classes.  I took an intro to beading class and one for wire wrapping.  I enjoyed the beading class, and did not care much for the wire wrapping.  I thought it was too labor intensive for me.  I find I enjoy designing a piece of jewelry, but don't care much for putting it together.

Well I took another wire wrapping class this week at a different beading shop.  I thought maybe I would like it more a second time around.  Well, I didn't.  I definitely liked this class better than the first one.  The teacher was much more patient and friendly, plus there were some very nice ladies taking the class with me.  In this class we were to make a pair of earrings, and a pendant.  I only got one of my earring made, and I broke the wire on my pendant before class was over.  :-(   Oh, well.  I had fun at the class, and I am happy I gave it another try, but wiring wrapping is just not for me.  I'll stick to just beading.



Beauty and the Beast

This afternoon I went to the Fountain Hills Community Youth Theatre production of Beauty and the Beast.  I admit that I knew very little what this story was about until today.  Since I don't have children I never went to see it at a theater when it came out in 1991, and I never bothered to rent it either.  I've only seen little bits and pieces of the film while baby sitting my niece who is going to be turning 21 years old this November.  She always liked me putting the tape in while I was with her, but she would never sit still for more than five minutes to watch it because she rather I play with her.  So I never sat through the entire movie.

The cast was superb, and I love the little intimate theatre where they perform.  At the end, I was actually getting very choked up and teary eyed.  Later, after I got home, my husband and I called our niece.  She's attending the University of Illinois and wants to be an environmental lawyer.  She definitely has a lot of that Belle spirit in her.

The Wizard of Oz

I started this new course on Sunday, August 28th, and I went on my first Artist Date on the same day.  I saw the Children's Theatre Production of The Wizard of Oz at Desert Stages Theatre.  Last go around I saw a few of their Mainstage and Actor's Cafe Productions, and I vowed to go see this time around the Children's Production.  I am so happy that I did...the cast was fabulous.  What I learned also which also wow'd me is that there are four cast members for each character. There are four Dorothys, four Totos, four Wizards, etc. Each child actor performs in three shows a week, but rotates the character they play.  They may play a leading role like Dorothy on Friday night, then for the Saturday matinees be a dancer in the cast.  This theatre obviously gets so many kids to audition who are very talented, they are able to have four actors play all the leading roles.

Seeing The Wizard of Oz was a perfect first Artist Date to start this new course of journeying to my creative heart center.  There are so many Zen lessons in this story, but the most important one of all is that you always have the power within yourself.  When Glinda tells Dorothy, "you've had the power to go back to Kansas," Dorothy awakens to the realization that her heart's desire is an inward journey, not an outward one; and though her true Self may not be apparent, it still resides deep within.

It is extraordinary how extraordinary the ordinary person is.

GEORGE F. WILL



New Moon, New Start with the Vein of Gold

I started Julia Cameron's course The Vein of Gold - A Journey to Your Creative Heart on August 28th which happens to be a new moon.  It is always beneficial to start any new project or adventure on a new moon, and I've read this particular new moon is one of the most poetic and inspired new moons of 2011.  So what a GREAT time to start, plus just like last year my hubby is busy with college and professional football.

The Vein of Gold is not a weekly course like her other ones.  You can take as much time as you need with each chapter. The only requirements for this pilgrimage is to write your Morning Pages daily, which I have pretty much been doing even over my break.  Weekly Artist Dates, which once again I have done a lot, but not each week, and daily walks.  Okay, have NOT been doing daily walks during our Arizona summer, nor will I do this until it cools off a bit.  But I will definitely get back into hiking in the mountains soon.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Complete Artist Way course, and I look forward to delving even more into this creative pilgrimage.  Let the creative fun begin.

To create is always to learn,

to begin over, to begin at zero.

MATTHEW FOX