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Okay now you know what it was like in Louisiana.

06/11/2016
Yes, it's true, from the shores of Lake Michigan to the shallows of Lake Maria the air temperature is hovering around 90 degrees and, more importantly, the dew point is in the upper sixties. This climate is similar to a day in Mandeville Louisiana. Hot, sweaty, clammy, pick your  adjective. The difference? Tomorrow, in Wisconsin, it will be in the seventies. The dew point will be in the fifties, at worst. In Louisiana, it will be like today, every day until September. I do miss Gordon.

Ah the theater, Goodness knows I love the theater.

Maria and I went to an Attic Theater performance at the University of Wisconsin, Fox Valley. Attic Theater has been an active group regional players since the 1950's. We used to go to their performances when we lived here before moving to Milwaukee. Their schedule is medium to light. Last night's offering was a comedy "Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike." Three siblings are facing the last part of their lives. Vanya, am aging gay man, His adopted sister equally feeling that she has done nothing with her life since she shouldered the responsibility of taking care of their parents until they passed away. And Masha the world famous actress, five-time divorced and with her career in descent, she returns home with a young man in tow, the charming but scheming, Spike.
The play is driven by their Caribbean-born cleaning lady who is able to predict the future and her predictions for this bunch are not good.

With the possible exception of having to abandon the auditorium because of a tornado warning, the evening was enjoyable. I always enjoy and in fact envy these actors and behind the scenes people who labor for very little in return to put on these performances.There so much talent among us and it's gratifying to see them get a chance to display their craft. The only thing that bothers both Maria and me is that the major part of the audience is older people. Hopefully, live theater will start drawing a younger crowd.

After the Storm, Orlando, and the Tony Awards
Why I love theater. Live performance is tension in itself. There is no do-over.There is no oops. There is tomorrow, but that won't help the audience that is there tonight.

I dislike award shows. Yes, they are formats which allow us to see celebrities, but there is little to take away from the endless stream of those same celebrities thanking their parents. I am particularly critical of the Oscar Awards because I don't think they ever get it right. But I never miss the "Tony" awards. and here is why. This is the host, James Cordon, doing the opening number for the show.

https://youtu.be/PRVwHP__qMM

That's entertainment!

From the soggy and uncomfortable cool shores of Lake Maria, (oh yes we went from high's in the upper eighties and lower nineties to rain and high's in the mid seventies with frost warnings at night in 24 hours.) this is Grace and Eli's Poppa Jeff at Camp Jeff wishing you all well.



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