for love of a great-aunt

"Does that mean some of the little blondes in Hinesville have sent postcards to you?"

 

Nope, not yet. I know it sometimes takes a while for their parents to get them into the mail, even though I did make sure to stamp and address them. Want to guess again?

 

"Well, I know you went to a new musical today..."

 

There ya go! Actually, I was incorrect on that. I thought the Savannah Musical Theatre Festival events were all new musicals, but that wasn't quite right. In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't have the money for the entire 3-day, 5-event schedule. These were all staged readings of musicals in the developmental process. That means no set design, no costumes, and no props. Well, I take that back. The one I attended did make use of a child's noise-maker that mooed like a cow.

 

"Did you say "mooed"? Like, bovine noises?"

 

That's right, and it was pretty funny, though it wasn't intended to be. "The Top Hand Of Lone Tree Ranch" is a western musical, based on the 1960 book of the same title. It was the story of a boy living with his older sister and their grandpa while the parents were at a hospital for the dad's recovery from an accident. James Venhaus, the playwright, chose the book because his Great-Aunt Anne Pence Davis wrote it. My guess is she gave him the book as a boy, much as I have done for my great-nieces and great-nephews with my pumpkin book.

 

"Oh, yeah, I remember that book!"

 

I had such fun writing that... but, I digress. As I said, this was a bare-bones production, with the primary goal being to get audience feedback after. I'll say this: the playwright was kept busy writing suggestions most of the hour of that "talk back" session. That's him on the far right. He teaches at Savannah Country Day, which is where Gabriella Galoni and Emmett Witchel attend. Those two kids were 'Janie' - the older sister - and 'Paddy', the boy. 

 

"They're over on the left, right? To either side of the older guy that must be the grandpa? And isn't that Justice of the Savannah Music Festival by them?"

 

Yes, yes, and yes. Justice was just there as the moderator of the "talk back". 'Grandpa' was read, and sung, by Gary David Keast, a newcomer to me. Then there's Rayshawn Roberts who's done a lot of works with the SavChildTh in the past. He was the only one with three roles! He had 'Mr. Mitchell', the rancher. Then he did 'the Shopkeeper', and finished up as the 'Dad'. Standing next to him in this scene was Laura Wild, as 'Mom', but she also played 'the Shopkeeper's Wife' in the scene where 'Paddy' comes in to buy some sweet feed for the young calf left behind accidentally by 'Mr. Mitchell'. It really is a sweet tale about a boy learning the value of being honest, applicable as much now as it was back then in the 1950's in rural Texas.

 

"Most excellent! And who was the woman in the flowered dress?"

 

That's Luisa Nolasco. She was the narrator and also operated the 'moo' toy. She's been in several of the SavStageCo's works the last few years.

 

"Well, did you like it???"

 

I very much did! I just wish I had read more on Savannah Repertory Theatre's website so I would have been better prepared for what I was getting. At least they had a variety of ticket options for this! I chose the $10 Community Ticket, as it was considerably less than the $27 Senior/Military Ticket. I believe that all the tickets should have been $10, as this was not yet a finished work, but I also understand that they had to pay for that space at the Savannah Cultural Arts Center.

 

"What a great break on the tickets! And how nice to have seen something that was a different genre than many musicals!"

 

For sure! This has been quite a Western-themed day for me! Before I came to this, I was on fb and my friend Sherry Giddens had posted a Western joke! "If you talk to a cow while you're milking it you will get more milk. It's the old in one ear and out the udder!" I proceeded to share that with lots of folks right then and there! My youngest brother, Tony, even sent me a chemistry joke meme in return!!!

 

"Hahahaha! Too bad there's no "J" on the Periodic Table!"

 

Hey, I was just happy that he thought of me when he saw that! I was not about to rain on his parade. It's not like he designed that meme. He just found it and sent it my way!

 

"What about the new elements that filled in the 7th Period? No "J" in them?"

 

Nope, nary a one had a "J". Very impressive to see that all filled in, isn't it? That's been since late January of this year. So, now there's talk of creating and filling in an 8th Period. Of course, none of those elements exist outside a lab, and then their presence is so brief that verifying them is difficult. Still, it brings to mind that conversation I had with Cedric years ago, doesn't it?

 

"Most def it does! Science has progressed so quickly the last few decades!"

 

Yes, it has. Life in general has sped up so much since the cellphone age began. Today has been a bit of a respite to a slower pace. For instance, this evening I watched "Westward The Women", a 1951 Western I spotted on GritTV and taped a day or so ago. I'm glad I did! Talk about a slower pace... it took that wagon train several months to go from Chicago to a small mining town in California! Such a good movie!

 

"I'm glad you've enjoyed your step back in time today! That's been a nice break from the usual, hasn't it, dear?"

 

It has been, it truly has. 

(smile!)