what in the fudge is going on with TFP?

"Uh oh, that doesn't sound good. What's with this outpost of the American Legion? I thought things were moving along... right?"

Wrong. Moving the Two First Posts account to Navy Federal Credit Union has not yet occurred. I thought that was done at least a month ago, but, nope! Joe Cetti said tonight that he would set up the appointment to open the account, then let Doug and Sabrina know the time. Joe also said he'd opened the letter from Georgia Power to find TFP had been assessed a bounced check fee for the electric bill. Say what???

"You're kidding, right? I thought that bill was on auto-draft direct from the TFP bank account. Isn't that true?"

it is, but the TFP account didn't have enough in it. All the more reason to move the account from Huntington Bank to NFCU, so mistakes like that wouldn't happen. Money from savings would have been shifted to checking to handle it and prevent an overdraft. There are a lot of debts to be paid monthly. Kat Hancock brought up the laundry list tonight. As well as Georgia Power, there's Yates Astro (pest control), Republic Waste (trash disposal), DirectTV (sports for TVs), Comcast (wifi), and City of Savannah (water and sewer).

"I know all about overhead. I remember all the bills that came in for Smitty's Hardwood Floors, that I made sure got paid on time."

That's part and parcel of running a business! And tonight, Paul Lambert of Celestial Business Solutions, was there at the request of Billy Cope to talk to us about various options for the two business phones and for monitoring the six security cameras. Ring Central will be the plan for the phones. RING is for the cameras, which currently are sending their feeds to Billy's computer. However, it isn't like anyone is monitoring those. RING Multi, the lowest cost option, would provide 6-month continuous monitoring and data storage for $9.99/month, but no live monitoring. For that, we would need Virtual Security Guard, at a cost of $99/month, but that includes live monitoring, proactive-verified dispatch requests, and real-time intruder deterrence. I spoke up for that option, as we are going to have lots of cash around here, with that Queen of Hearts game and those Georgia Lottery games from Eagle Global. Even if TFP does invest in a safe, it will need some serious security measures.

"Let me guess: the others wanted just the Multi pack."

Yes, and, truth to tell, that's the one Lambert was pushing. As he said, TFP could always buy a larger package if it found that was needed. Of course, first TFP needs the business license to it can even open. Sabrina has called the chairperson for the City Council. Right now, we are on the docket for September 24, with Larry Jackson to speak on our behalf. Kat said she wants to script his speech and will talk to him tomorrow. Then the talk turned to issues with Wells Construction. Eric said that a diverter was not installed over the canteen's back door. With all the rain we have been having, the water pours off the roof and onto whoever is coming out, as well as splashing mud up from the ground.

"You have got to be kidding..."

Oh, it gets worse. Remember the walkway I took photos of two weeks ago? Yeah, well, no vapor barrier was installed under any of that, so it needs to be torn up and reinstalled properly. Apparently, it isn't level, either. Eric has talked to Justin about it, but needed the backing of the TFP's Board before he brought it up again. Joe recommended a letter be officially drafted to Justin about the problem. Then Kat spoke up about the concrete that was splashed up on the inside surface of that back door, as well as concrete handprints on the freezer. She also suggested that the air vents and filters should be cleaned, as they are likely full of sheetrock dust, and that would need to be done before the Health Inspection for the canteen. What the fresh hell is going on??? And Brenda said she would draft a letter to Justin about his responsibilities, but she needs a copy of the contract with him, to check out just what those responsibilities are.

"I thought Doug said a month or so ago that all papers were to be sent to Brenda so she could put them into the files for the business."

Oh, he did say that very thing. However, that has not yet come to pass. In fact, I was the one who sent her the insurance binder for TFP, with the addition of the required DRAM liability for anyone who gets drunk here. Doug emailed to all the signature paperwork he's received from Mount Vernon Fire Insurance Company, and I determined the two pieces needed for TFP records. Not that any of that is needed right yet. Kat reminded us that she is still awaiting the final draft of the contract between TFP and WTF.

"You have got to be kidding..."

Oh, if only I were. Yes, I had thought that was  done deal, but the changes decided on at the last minute have not yet been worked in. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot cannot get a business license until it has that final, signed, contract. So, that's been hanging fire since... well, since the Wednesday before I left on the cruise. That'll be six weeks, come tomorrow.

"You've got to be kidding..."

Nope. But has that stopped anyone from scheduling events here? Nope! Kat has scheduled a birthday party, with a jazz band, for September 24. Brenda has a class reunion for Johnson High School set for September 18. And Trey, of Post 500, has an event scheduled for September 5, to run from 9 AM until sometime that night. I brought up that events are limited to four-hour durations, so that needs to be set up as three events, each with a separate rental contract for $300, and each with its own security fee of $250. That brought a gasp, but also nods of agreement. I guess I will wait to see what happens.

"I bet Trey had something to say about that!"

Surprisingly, he was not there. That is probably because we switched the meetings to Tuesdays instead of Wednesdays. (smile) I guess John may leave it up to Brenda to broach that topic with him. Here's what I know: the even cannot be placed on the calendar unless the contract is signed and the security deposit paid. So the membership recruitment, fish fry, and dance, just may have to be postponed if Trey cannot get those contracts signed and deposits paid. I do know that John stated tonight that Post 500 will not be getting 8 days of each month, so that's good. Also, at last night's Post 500 meeting, the Women's Auxiliary stated that they wanted their own meeting day, but that was shot down. They also seemed to believe that the conference room was theirs, but that was a misconception on their part. They had wanted a key for that space.

"Oh, really?"

Yes. What they don't know is those lockable doors are to be relocated. Remember that I have been pushing to get a lock on the interior door to the canteen? Right now, that has a sliding pocket door.  Now that the two Post Commanders have keys not only to their offices, but to the 5511 entrance, it's urgent that the leased space for Whiskey Tango Foxtrot be secured. No one, and I mean NO ONE, but Kat and Mike need to be using that area. That means a lockable door is required, just as the dry cleaners has and the church has.

"Does that mean new doors have to be ordered?"

Nope! Eric noticed that the doorway to the canteen and the doorway to the conference room are the same size. That double door can be shifted over to the canteen, and the pocket door can go on the conference room. Eric thought that would be an easy, and quick, fix, so I look forward to having that completed before that Labor Day event that the new Post 500 Commander wants. What a relief that would be!

"It certainly would be. No temptation for the fryers to get utilized by the wrong people, either. I am sure the insurance wouldn't allow that."

For sure. Okay, I'm done for the night. Later.

starz for cloudy skies

Yes, folks, that's right!

Comcast gave me free access to the streaming STARZ this week!

Hallelujah, as there was not much on TV to tempt me to stay home.

My STARZ Film Festival would have had more movies, but I didn't catch onto this freebie until Wednesday afternoon. 

Ten movies certainly qualifies as a Film Festival, n'est-ce pas?

(smile) 

"Love Jones" (1997)
'Nina' (Nia Long) is recently broken up, then meets 'Darius' (Larenz Tate), 
a poet determined to "change the blues in her left thigh into the funk in 
her right thigh", but that's a work in progress through the course of 
several years, mostly apart.

"Sing Street" (2016)
It's 1980's Dublin, Ireland, with music videos on the telly and 15-yo 'Conor'
(Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) at a new school - then he meets a would-be fashion model, 'Penny' (Maria Doyle Kennedy), who he convinces to be in the video for his band - so that meant he had to create a band, didn't he, and write some songs, too! 

Good thing his big brother, 'Brendan' (Jack Reynor), had all the best albums to give him some ideas!
Really great! Even recommended to Sandy and she loved it!

"Back To The Future" (1985)
So why this oldie? Because the last music video the kid's band shot was
based on the prom scene in this one! Marvelous!!! 
Great to see Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Crispin Glover, Lea
Thompson, and the gang again!

 

"Don't Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood"

(1996)

I have my doubts that this Wayans Brothers flick ever came to the local

cinemas in this seaport. Featuring Shawn ('Ashtray'), Marion ('Loc Dog'), and Keenan (as a variety of side characters), it was modeled as an after-school special as filmed through the "In Living Color" lens. Just sayin'. (smile) 

"The Limey" (1999)

Terence Stamp is a dad recently released from prison, out to track down the

music producer (Peter Fonda) last seen with his daughter before she ended

up dead in a car. Luis Guzman and Lesley Ann Warren are the only leads he

has and he makes good use of them.

Hey, Terence always makes movies I enjoy!

 

"The Young And Prodigious T. S. Spivet" (2014)
This was a kid that even Sheldon Cooper might like! A 10-year-old scientist
(Kyle Catlett) that invents a magnetic wheel is invited to come from Montana to the Smithsonian Institute to receive an award, and so he goes, hopping onto a freight train that takes him as far as Chicago, than catching a ride with a truck driver who is into doing good deeds. Helena Bonham Carter is his scientist 'mom', but hers was the only name I knew. I didn't know his cowboy 'dad' at all.

 

"The Big Empty" (2003)
'John Person' (Jon Favreau) is an out-of-work actor, late on rent and about
to be evicted when he gets a job: deliver a blue suitcase to a man known as
"The Cowboy" (Sean Bean) in Baker, California. There follows a series of
misadventures as he keeps missing contact while one neighbor gets beheaded (Bud Cort), another gets kidnapped (Joey Lauren Adams), and an FBI man (Kelsey Grammer) comes sniffing around. At least the bartender (Daryl Hannah) seems friendly!

 

"Click" (2006)
I really like this Adam Sandler movie, about a man caught between a boss (David Hasselhoff) who just will not promote him for his hard work and a wife (Kate Beckinsale) and aging father (Henry Winkler) trying to get him to spend more time with the family. What he needed was a Universal Remote for his Life! Or so he thought until Christopher Walken - who truly puts the 'Beyond' in Bed, Bath, & Beyond - gives him that 'smart' tool.
Love this one about second chances.
Just what I needed after Wendy's funeral.

 

"Shelby" (2014)
Someone told Rob Schneider to apparently go wild voicing the dog in this
Christmas-themed movie, and so he did, nearly wrecking it. Good thing that 
Tom Arnold was there as the dogcatcher, Chevy Chase was the grandpa, and John Paul Ruttan was the magic-making boy, 'Jake', who truly loved the dog.

 

"H Is For Happiness" (2019)
Just as 'T. S. Spivet' had a broken family (caused by the accidental death 
by gunshot of his twin brother a few years earlier), so does 'Candice', 
whose family mourns her little sister who died of SIDS three years
earlier. Now, 'Candice' is part of a 7th-grade school project called 
"My Life Is An Alphabet" and she has been assigned the letter "H". 
Fortunately, there's a new boy in class, 'Douglas Benson From Another 
Dimension", whose autistic nature makes him an outcast at school. That 
makes him perfect for her! I really like Wesley Patten; he reminds me of 
what 'Will Trent' might have been like as a boy!
I'll be interested in what roles Daisy Axon takes on in the future.
This really seems like the kind of film that Cinema Savannah would have
brought to us, once upon a time. 

 

Now, I think I'll watch an old episode of "Will Trent" that I've been saving.

"It Was A Meat Cute" is full of puns about Meat Loaf and his songs, as an urn that supposedly contains his ashes is a hot ticket item.

Literally hot.

His girlfriend stole it from a guy that owed her money.

That should help the smile get up to my eyes again. 

(smile) 

as paul harvey would say...

Here's the rest of the story!

Honestly, I'm not a "history of royal families" fan.

I don't consciously seek out those kinds of stories on my seven local PBS channels, as I much prefer the travelogues, the cooking shows, Bill Ross, the mystery solvers, nature and science programs, bios of actors and dancers and musicians and artists... in other words, the plethora of other topics covered.

But those SIX ex-wives woke me up this morning, singing their songs, waving their microphones, and sashaying all over my mental stage.

Clearly, they wanted clarity.

However, while looking deeper into their lives, Henry emerged.

I won't say that he was an angel, because he certainly was not.

Whenever he could, he took the path of least resistance.

Finding a wife?

His first one had been betrothed to his older brother ever since 1488, when she was only three years old.

That was Catherine of Aragon, transported from Spain in 1501, not even knowing the language, to wed Arthur.

She was 16, he was 15, and he was dead within months from illness.

That left her as still a virgin, so Henry's family deemed her still as marriageable and engaged her to the 11-year-old Henry.

Fine.

That left her to hang fire until 1509, when they were wed.

Henry was 18 and she was 24 by then, so they set to trying to make an heir.

Within a year they had a daughter, but she died as an infant.

Three more miscarriages, including two sons, followed before they had a child that lived; that daughter was Mary, born in 1516, to a 30-year-old Catherine and 24-year-old Henry.

One more stillborn two years later marked the end of the possibility of him having a male heir from that source.... so he cast his eye around... and didn't even have to leave the palace.

By 1525, at the age of 34 years old, he was panting after Anne Boleyn, a lively and fashionable lady in waiting for his wife.

Anne's birth year is disputed, but one thing is clear: she was younger than Henry by at least a decade, if not more.

She insisted that he divorce Catherine and marry her, but the Catholic church did not agree... so Henry set about closing the monasteries and nunneries, shutting down their presence in England.

Catherine was sent to live in in a series of other castles, though without their daughter, Mary, who remained with Henry. 

Henry and Anne were secretly wed late in 1532, then formally wed early in 1533, and Henry was excommunicated from the Catholic church shortly after.

So, at 42 years old, he declared himself the head of the Church of England and settled that argument.

By early September of 1533, Anne had their daughter, Elizabeth, and not the son he had so long sought.

Then Anne had a series of three miscarriages... which, to Henry, signaled the end of her childbearing years... so he cast his eye around... and didn't even have to leave the palace.

Jane Seymour was right there, a lady in waiting for Anne Boleyn, after having served as lady in waiting for Catherine since the late 1520's.

There followed a series of unfortunate events.

First, in January of 1536, Catherine died and was buried.

Second, later that same month, Anne had her third miscarriage, which happened to be of a son.

Third, during that same month, Henry had begun wooing Jane with gifts.

Anne's days were numbered; by mid-May that year, she was accused and convicted of adultery (with four men) and treason (a plot to murder Henry), with the final judgement being beheading, which was conducted May 19, 1536.

The very next day, Henry wed Jane; he was 45, she was 28.

By January of 1537, Jane was pregnant and life was good for her and Henry.

She was not the party girl and remodeler that Anne had been, nor did she argue with Henry, preferring to be the quiet, supportive wife.

Yes, life was finally looking up for Henry!

Their son, Edward, was born in October of 1537 - their son!

But Jane died of complications of childbirth, about two weeks later.

Henry now had three children, and three dead wives, having lost all three of his wives within two years of each other.

He was 46 years old.

He took a break from rushing into another marriage.

After all, he had a male heir, so his royal line was secure.

Still, an alliance against France and the Holy Roman Empire would be good to have, so he sought a bride from Germany, depending on portraiture for his choice.

In January of 1540, his selection, Anne of Cleves, arrived and they wed.

However, they never quite clicked, the 25-year-old German-speaking woman and the 48-year-old English-speaking king... but he couldn't very well lop off her head if he wanted Germany to be o his side, could he?

Henry had the marriage annulled six months later, but still kept her in England, calling her  "the King's Beloved Sister" and setting her up quite nicely with her own castle and lands and money.

That left him still in need of a child-bearing prospect... so he cast his eye around... and found what he sought at her palace.

Catherine Howard was a 17-year-old lady in waiting for Anne of Cleves.

She was also the first cousin of Anne Boleyn, but apparently learned nothing from her cousin's fate.

By July of 1540, scarcely after the ink was dry on the annulment papers for his marriage to Anne of Cleves, the randy 49-year-old king was wed to the teenager.

Within a year, he'd discovered that not only was she not a virgin, but she'd had sex with multiple lovers, with no marriage to any of them!

The teen was accused of adultery and treason and locked away in November of 1541, with two of her lovers being killed (one by beheading, the other by hanging) in December of 1541, with their heads impaled on stakes on the bridge.

She, herself, was finally convicted and beheaded in February of 1542.

Alone again, Henry cast about for another wife, finding one at the abode of his 27-year-old daughter, Mary.

Ah, but Catherine Parr was no starry-eyed ingenue.

Already twice-wed and twice-widowed, the 31-year-old had another husband in mind, but canceled those plans when the 52-year-old Henry insisted she wed him.

That was in July of 1543.

No fool her, she was sure to install women she knew and trusted into her household with him, to grant him no new temptations.

It's doubtful he would have tried, as morbidly obese as he was, and with physical ailments that made him rather immobile.

He died in January of 1547, at 55 years old, leaving Catherine Parr a widow for the third time.

By then, she was 35 years old, but finally free to wed Thomas Seymour, the brother of Jane Seymour, when he again asked her.

They wed, in secret, four months after Henry's death.

That didn't do over very well with the royals!

Within a year, she was pregnant, which was a wonder, as she had been thought to be barren, having never been pregnant through her other three marriages.

On August 30, 1548, she gave birth to a daughter, Mary Seymour, then  Catherine died of childbirth complications within a week.

She was 36 years old.

So, by September of 1548, Henry VIII was dead, five of his six wives were dead, leaving only Anne of Cleves still living.

She did so for almost another ten years, outliving Henry's son (Edward VI died in 1553) and dying just one year before Henry's first daughter (Mary I died in 1558).

Anne of Cleves was only in her early 40's.

Only the second daughter, Elizabeth I, lived a full life, reaching 69 before her death in 1603, having served as the Queen of England and Ireland for 44 years. 

That's a longer reign than her father had, and certainly more than her mother - Anne Boleyn - ever dreamt possible.

Wow...

... and all of that led up to two seniors at Cambridge writing a musical to be presented at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. 

Okay, history lesson over, let's resume our lives, shall we?

(smile!) 

a quartet and a plus-one from tom of amc

I not only filled my dance card, but had to be gifted another dance!

See what the banner says?

"You have already maxed out your reservations for this week, but you can still make reservations for showtimes this Friday and beyond."

But how would that do me any good?

"SIX: The Musical LIVE!" was leaving and Carolyn had not yet seen it!

I had raved about it over the weekend, but our schedules were off.

Today's screening at 7:45 PM would be the last chance to see it with my friend, but I was out of free dances... or was I?

Nope!

I still had a pass from Tom!

So that's how it happened that she and I, as well as about twenty others, were there grooving to the show from the Vaudeville Theatre earlier tonight!!!

I have some research on that bit of Tudor history, but first I want to get my A*List caught up, so I can cross that off my list.

(smile!)

So, what else did I see besides that musical?

Two others that were centered on music, plus one that wasn't.

That would be "Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma", seen primarily because Gillian Anderson was in it.

I took that to mean it had some raison d'etre, right?

Wrong.

Its sole purpose seemed to have been to bring in the LGBT+ audience. 

I guess she was just getting a paycheck and keeping up her SAG membership, because this was pretty lame.

However, I definitely enjoyed "Nimrods" and "Elijah Peel"!

The first one was a road trip movie, with three teens who drive across the country to Los Angeles, under the mistaken impression that their band - Analog Dogs - has been selected to open for Green Day's New Year's Eve concert.

[Sidebar: Green Day is almost 40 years old now!] 

Hilarity ensued, of course!

One of the boys was Mason Thames, who I do like, and he ended up with a travel crush on the character played by Mckenna Grace, who I also like.

Nice to see them paired up again in just a year!

(smile!) 

That leaves "Elijah Peel", which tells the tale of a 35-year-old musician sliding down from the top of his career as a rock musician, landing up in the hospital with a heart attack after too many drugs, too much booze, and too much hard-living.

Enter another patient at the hospital, more ambulatory than he is, who comes to visit him when she hears he is there.

Not one of his usual groupies, 'Jessica' is a 10-year-old dying of a brain cancer, and she is intent on making sure 'Elijah' knows about Jesus.

Kudos to Evelyn Grace Kite as the girl, and Robert Malcolm Cumming as the addicted musician trying to remake his life, and to Kevin Sorbo as his agent.

I had been concerned that this would be a tearjerker, but pleasantly surprised.

Good music in both of those movies!

Okay, time to get some knowledge on English history!

for 5 more minutes we're 6!

I told Carolyn after seeing the movie tonight that it seemed like "a hip student's study guide for a history class."

I was close!

"SIX" started out in late 2016 because Toby Marlow, a senior at the time, was selected by Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society to create a show to premiere at the 2017 Fringe Festival in Edinburgh.

I'm guessing it was along the lines of a doctoral thesis.

Lucy Moss was also on the project, and she researched the concept by watching Lucy Worsley's "Six Wives" on BBC.

Toby Marlow researched by reading Antonia Fraser's "The Six Wives of Henry VII".

Together, they livened things up with Beyonce's 2011 video concert album, "Live At Roseland: Elements Of 4".  

They were off and running after that!

The six wives of the Tudor king were envisioned as pop divas, with each having her own unique song, and the entire one-hour show was a contest between them to determine who had it hardest under the man.

Such fun!!!

After its debut at Fringe, it opened on London's West End in 2019 at the Arts Theatre, where it ran until the pandemic shut it down.

"SIX: The Musical LIVE!" was the filmed performance in 2022 at the Vaudeville Theatre, featuring all six of the original cast from those 2019 shows, who have been singing and dancing this music at that location since September of 2021.

What a marvelous sextet they are, too!!!

 

Natalie Paris as Jane Seymour
Aimie Atkinson as Katherine Howard
Jarnéia Richard-Noel as Catherine of Aragon 
Millie O'Connell as Anne Boleyn 
Alexia McIntosh as Anne of Cleves
Maiya Quansah-Breed as Catherine Parr
 

The women describe themselves in song as "divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived", which is an odd way of looking at one's life.

Then again, isn't that how history differentiates them? 

I found it humorous that Henry VIII had three wives named 'Catherine' and two named 'Anne'; perhaps he had a problem remembering names in the throes of passion?

Hahahaha!

I also found it interesting that hand-held microphones were used instead of the ubiquitous Lavalier mics which are more common now.

Might that have been a nod to the women taking charge of the power taken from them by having a firm grasp on that penile prop?

Marlow and Moss didn't point to that rationale, but Freud would differ.

Now, how about a bit of fun?

It's been a while since I had one of my movie-time matching games, and this historical musical lends itself well to such a thing.

Plus, as I've done a lot of research on this myself, a game would be an entertaining way to pass on that knowledge! 

For those who choose to play, the names of the wives - listed in order of marriage to that king - are used multiple times, of course.

However, bear in mind that each letter has only one correct numerical answer.

I've posted their photos and marriage dates to serve as clues.

Enjoy!!! 

 

The Wives:

 

1. Catherine of Aragon

 

2. Anne Boleyn

 

3. Jane Seymour

 

4. Anne of Cleves

 

5. Catherine Howard

 

6. Catherine Parr

 

 

Their historical data:

 

a) She was lady in waiting to Catherine of Aragon. 

 

b) She was the first cousin of Anne Boleyn and the lady in waiting to Anne of Cleves.

 

c) She was the one married to him for 24 years, but is called the Dowager Princess of Wales.

 

d) She was the only one to give him a son, Edward VI. 

 

e) She was 31 and on her third marriage when she wed him.

 

f) He is buried beside her at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

 

g) She was the 30-year-old mother of Mary I (aka 'Bloody Mary').

 

h) She became the 30-year-old stepmom to his three children when they wed.

 

i) She wed him when he was only 18 years old, after first marrying his brother.

 

j) She was 24 years old when she wed him for his shortest marriage.

 

k) She was his youngest wife, at only 17 years old, but didn't live to see 20. 

 

l) She was known as "The King's Beloved Sister" and outlived him by a decade.

 

m) After his death, she wed the love of her life, then died a year later giving birth to his son.

 

n) She was the 24-year-old mother of Elizabeth I, but died within three years. 

 

o) She is the only one to have received a Queen's funeral.

 

--------------------------------

What?

Already looking for the answers?

I'll post those later, I promise.

Meanwhile, why not click a few links and see if that helps?

(smile!) 

Did you know that Mozart piece wasn't an opera?

I had been sure that I'd be seeing an opera tonight. The Savannah VOICE Festival always gives us an opera near its end, you know. For this SVF14, the choice was Mozart's "Die Zauberflote", usually simply called "The Magic Flute". Hooray! I'd never seen that one, though I have heard some music from it. That was a very funny piece called "Pa-Pa-Papageno", featuring the bird-catcher, 'Papageno'. Evan Stark did a wonderful job in that role!

"So you did get to see that opera! I'm so happy for you!"

Well, as much as I'd looked forward to it, I hadn't realized that it's a musical, not an opera. During the show, I thought perhaps someone had restaged it, with lots of talking between the songs, to cut down on all the translation. See the songs were all in German, with English subtitles displayed on the film screens at Asbury Memorial Church. You follow?

"Of course. That's how it's been done every year in the past. That's why you made sure to bring your glasses this time."

Correct about me bringing my glasses, but they don't always have an opera. Sometimes they perform a musical instead. I had misunderstood and thought tonight's performance was to be an opera, but that isn't what I got. And here's the thing: that's how it was composed and presented back in September of 1791, just two months before Mozart's death. "The Magic Flute" was a collaborative work with Emanuel Schikaneder for his theatrical troupe. They didn't call it a musical, though, but the German term: singspiel. Literally, that's a "singing play", i.e., a musical!!! How about that!!!

"That's amazing that musicals go back that far!"

Yep, just by a different name! "The Magic Flute" was actually a fairy tale, written to show that things aren't always as they appear. In the first act, we learn that the 'Queen Of The Night' isn't the good guy but the bad one! I'm glad Melanie Spector was able to explore her evil side for this one! Then there were Benjamin Sokol as the supposed bad guy, 'Sarastro', with his confused henchman, 'Monostatos', played to hilarious consequences by Henry Drangel!

"Was that Melanie coming down the stairs?! What great makeup and poise!!!"

Yes, that vision in black was her! Her headdress even had a light in it for a spooky aura. The guy is Eric Sebek, in his first theatrical work with SVF! He told me the other night that he's been part of this festival for eight years, but this is his first role - he was so excited about it! That's because he played 'Tamino', the lead role!!! He was a prince in search of 'Princess Pamina'... what silly, rhyming, names! Emma Petersen played that role. Together, they were quite charming!

"Oh, I remember him from last year! Him and his brother and their dad!"

Yes, and his dad was there tonight, too, to watch Eric shine! I had so much fun with this one, and loved working as the directional wench. That volunteer position usually goes to Lonnie Breslow, but he and Penny were ushers this time. Kim Owens handled the lame, granting them special access. However, I think I'll try for that spot at the foot of the stairs again. That made me privy to first sight of all the singers after their transformations into the characters. Yes, please!

"Good for you! I hope that's how it will work out next year for you."

Thanks! I felt I was definitely in the right place, right time! My odometer even tried to confirm that for me, but I missed the special mileage reading by ten miles. My guess is I had "247247" back at the church, but didn't see it when I parked. Still "247257" has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? (smile!)

another cabaret at the UUC!

There were two differences, however, from the one yesterday.

First, I was the only volunteer usher for "Night And Day: Cabaret with Samantha Talora", as the other three had opted for the salon event later tonight.

Yesterday, I'd worn my green, flowing dress, with my hair in a high ponytail.

Today, I took my hair down after I arrived.

I wore Mother Pat's summery Hawaiian dress with the golden dolphins.

Nice to give the audience something different!

Second, this event was actually double-billed, as it also featured Assaf Gleizner on the piano, as well as his talented arrangements of some of the music.

Remember, this event was titled "Night And Day".

Well, it turns out that the singer knew of two songs with that title, but different lyrics.

When she'd asked Assaf which one he'd prefer, he replied, "why not both?"

So that's what they'd done, blending the Cole Porter oldie with a much more recent one by Roxanne Seeman and Billie Hughes that Bette Midler sang about 30 years ago.

Magnificent fun!!!

When I talked about the mashup afterward with Assaf, I just had to share the one I'd done some years back!

He thought "I Feel Pretty" and the James Brown funk was an exciting idea!

Maybe I'll hear that being played at a future SVF concert?

That would be grand!!!

Samantha wove a story for us from the songs tonight.

She mentioned that she'd been on an episode of "Stories From The Stage", one of the short PBS programs I enjoy.

I'll have to see if I can find the one she was on!

That was early on in her time of saying "Yes" to scary things.

My guess is that change in quest began after her younger brother's death from cancer in 2013.

I know very well how that can change one's perspective.

Her story in song carried us from childhood ("Little Voice") to a change in attitude ("I'm Not Afraid Of Anything") to a realization that there will always be differences between people ("The Other Man's Grass Is Always Greener" and "The Secret Of Happiness").

Those last two made me think of Erma Bombeck and her humor!

After that biographical intro, she then sang a song for her dog, a song for her husband (that involved a gender swap from the Ray Charles version), and a song in memory of her brother.

Those were all straight from the program... but then came a change!

Instead of the listed tune, she sang one of my favorites: "You'll Never Walk Alone" - oh, yes, so beautiful it was, too!

Then she performed the next listed one... and encored with "Oh Shenandoah" instead of the posted Simon & Garfunkel song.

Nice change, y'all!

Yes, this has been a pretty amazing day, with plenty of lovely surprises!

(smile!)