Let's be real here

Why I do what I do

Today was nearly perfect.

This morning, we opened our first children's show of the 2008-09 season, Miss Nelson is Missing!, a musical, based on the popular book.  We were supposed to preview last Tuesday night and open Wednesday morning but, well, there was this hurricane, see, and it messed with our plans just a little. 

First, I just want to let everybody out there know that we are a-ok after the storm.  We stayed in Houston until they could assess the damage, and when they told us it could be between one and two weeks before our power came back (and we would have to find some magical means to keeping Robbie's milk cold) we headed north to family in Oklahoma for a few days until the power came back in our apartment and my workplace. 

That said, much of the area is still a mess.  I heard today that the major supplier of Houston's power has only managed to get electricity back to 53% of their subscribers today.  About half the street lights in town are still either out or blinking red, causing people's commutes to work to double and, in some cases, triple.  Also, schools have been out all week long, and some aren't sure if they'll be opening on Monday or not yet.  And, of course, there are still thousands upon thousands of people whose homes are still without electricity and/or running water.  Houston's a big city.

As far as cleanup goes, I know there are electricians and tree-removal crews from literally all over the country and Canada down here to help out.  At one point, I heard that 9,000 workers had left their homes to come and help put ours back together.  So things are moving as quickly as possible, but there's still much to be done.

And many things south and east of Houston are damaged beyond repair.  Homes, businesses, you name it.  Gone.

All right, back to our story.  On Tuesday, the building where I work has power again.  By late Wednesday, our mainstage theater does, too.  Apparently, the church that houses our children's theater has had power since just after the storm left, so our spaces are pretty much "good to go" by this weekend.  The city-wide curfew is still set at 8:00 p.m. through Friday, and our children's show was cheated out of a tech week, so the decision is made that both shows will open today (Saturday).

As soon as this decision is made, emails go out to pretty much everyone who's ever been to our shows.  "The show must go on," we proclaim!  "The perfect cure for cabin fever!" we tell parents of children who've been home from school for far too long.  Calls go out to those who'd already had plans for coming this weekend.  Calls come in from folks looking for something to do. 

And we all converge in one place at 10:30 a.m.

In college, there was this little tradition we used to have before every performance.  The cast would come together and say in unison, "Play the play with love!"  This morning, for the first time, we really, really did. 

As theatre artists, we need an audience.  Any way you slice it, our job just isn't done without them.  As human beings, our world had been turned upside down in the past eight days.  This performance was, in a way, a return to normalcy for us.  While we know our city is still under reconstruction for the next week, the show, the audience, the chance to do what we do, reminds us that things are going to return to normal.  We are a cast, we are a team, we are a show, and because of that we will see this through together, come hell or literal high water.  It feels right.

But as we sit around the table backstage before the performance, we realize what this show means to every person who paid to come see us do a silly hour-long musical where most of us pretend to be second-graders.  We're reminded that our lives aren't the only ones affected by the storm in a language that can't quite be communicated through Channel 11's round-the-clock converage of the cleanup effort.  We've had a family half-jokingly ask if we could stretch the show to a 9-hour running time, as this is the first time they've been in air conditioning since the storm hit.  People who were looking forward to this Saturday morning outing two weeks anticipate it even more now.  For many families, this is the first "fun" thing they've been able to think about for awhile.  For kids stuck in houses or apartments because of the debris in their neighborhood, at last, an opportunity to be a kid for awhile!

This city needs a breath of fresh air.  And by God's grace, we are that breath of fresh air for these people, on this day, at this time!

We play the show.  It is fun.  We enjoy playing it, we enjoy playing it with one another, and we enjoy playing it for the audience. We love them.  And they love us.  We are a hit, and it isn't because we are good (though I think we are good).  It is because we are exactly what they needed. 

After our shows, we line up outside the theater and greet the kids, and sign autographs, and shake hands with parents, and answer questions.  And this time, this show, every single "Thank you" going both ways is absolutely, 100% genuine. 

And then we re-set, and we eat lunch (Jason's deli; I had a huge baked potato packed with barbecue beef and cheese), and a new audience arrives, and we do it all again.

And I wish I could have been at our main stage for the opening of All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten tonight, to see it all happen again. 

'Cuz some folks are asking

Hurricane Ike is going to hit us.  It will probably not be what's considered a direct hit, meaning that the most violent center of the storm should be south and west of us.  If things go as currently predicted, the storm's "dirty side" should hit us full-force, though, and as the storm is projected to change directions and shift northeast, there's a good chance that the dirty side of the storm will stall over us as the storm changes trajectory.  

Now, we're far enough inland that we should be safe; however, we're looking at possibilities to move further up and in if, in the next 24 hours, it looks like that may become necessary. 

Ike itself striking Houston isn't a huge concern right now (for me, anyway) because it will considerably weaken after traveling on land for a bit.  What does concern me is that the storm could be a Category 4 hurricane (they go up to 5) when it hits the coast, and it's very, very wide storm (earlier tonite, tropical storm-force winds extended 205 miles from the center) that could really wreak havoc on the coast.  That could screw the power grids pretty good, and we could lose electricity for a few days.  So pray that doesn't happen.

Also, the "dirty" side of a hurricane can potentially drop tornadoes once the bulk of the rain moves on. 

Finally, if the storm shifts shortly before landfall the the east, it could still hit us straight on.  Of note: 8 of the last 10 storms to come through this part of the Gulf have made such a shift in the last 24 hours before landfall.  (And two of the most recent shifts bailed us out from taking the brunt of hurricanes Rita and Gustav)

So there you have it.  We're fine, and we'll likely stay fine, but we're keeping an eye on the situation and will be ready to skip town if we must.  Please don't worry about us, but please do pray for us!

Currently Listening !Hero The Rock Opera (Digipack Version) By Various Artists see related

Shuffleblog 2

So I did this once before, and I stole it from Dave.  Here's how we do it:

Put your WMP or iTunes or whatever on random. 

Skip to the next song.

Now, blog something that has something to do with that song in some way.

Ready, go:

1. Narshe mines music from Final Fantasy VI
Wow.  I'm glad I have this on my machine!  Also, I've always thought Final Fantasy VI (III in America, for the SNES) would make an awesome movie. (Actually, like 4 awesome movies)  I intend to write them one day for the fun of it.  I say that because I would never be granted the right to write an official movie by the folks at Square.  Partially because I'd want it to be live action, and I'm sure they'd insist on computer animation.  Also because it's Japanese, and I'm not, and that I can understand, because I wouldn't want to Americanize the product in any way, shape, or form, because I think the story/characters is/are so beautiful as is.  (Well, we'd have to change Tina (Terra in America)'s green hair, but they've already done that in the extended intro of the PS1 version of the game.  Anyway, yes.  When I get in a rut sometimes writing-wise, I'll get cracking on the first of the FFVI quadrility.  For the heck of it.  And it'll be awesome.

2. Day by Day by dcTalk
It's pretty easy to argue that dcTalk may have been the best Christian rock band ever. 
Anyway, interesting to me that the chorus for this song came from the musical Godspell.  Makes me wonder how many musicals these rockers were acquainted with.  If they'd done another album, what other gems may have popped up in the middle of one of their tunes?  "You Really Ought to Give Iowa a Try"?  "Point of No Return"?  "Our State Fair"?  It would be fun to try to draw the spiritual parallels from those songs.  (Well, creepy in the case of "Point of No Return," actually) 
That reminds me of a time that Sherri and I watched The Emporer's New Groove and tried to turn the entire thing into a Christian allegory.  I have to admit, we did pretty well, especially given the source material.  I don't remember it all now, but I think that Pascha may have been God's patience, and David Spade was living in sin (sin=llama face).  There was more to it, and of course it wasn't perfect, but it did end up fitting a lot better than one may have expected. 

3. Hands by Miss Angie
I think a lot of teenage Christian guys go through the "I love all Christian girl rockers" phase.  If I hadn't gone through that phase, I doubt I would have ever picked up Miss Angie's CDs.  Admittedly, Lift My Eyes is a pretty rockin' tune, but other than that...meh.  She has a slightly sci-fi/superhero/cartoon character look to her, at least in the first album.  I don't know that that justifies the fifteen dollars I spent on the disc, though.  Really, looking back, there are a ton of things that I spent fifteen or so dollars on that were pretty much crap. 
Which somehow reminds me of the play A Bad Year For Tomatoes.  For those who didn't live through that delightful experience, let me just assure you it was also a bad year for community theatre comedy.  It's no wonder the place served complimentary alcohol during the intermission; probably made the play a LOT more bearable.  No exaggerations here, folks.  None.

4. Yoshi's Story, from the Super Smash Bros. Melee live orchestral recording
My sister gave me a copy of this.  I don't understand why it's so much quieter than EVER OTHER CD IN MY LIBRARY.  Even my wife's classical hymn collections are far louder than this full orchestra.  I have to give them kudos for this particular musical outing, but Yoshi?  Really?  Of all the video game music you could transpose to live orchestra and play live in a grand concert hall featuring one of Japan's finest musical ensembles, you picked Yoshi?
I have to interject here that I have tremendous respect for Yoshi.  Not bagging on the character.  I mean, the dude eats his enemies, and finds a way to do make it seem not disgusting, nor disturbing, but actually cute.  Not an easy task. 
Whoa.  Short song.

5. I Can Be Your Friend by Veggie Tales
First thought: This is an extremely unusual night for my randomizer.  Seriously. 
Anyway, I really like the O.C. Supertones version of this song.  For one, it's louder and allows for more typing.  For another, it really just flat out rocks.  Within the bounds of silly "I Can Be Your Friend, I Can Be Your Friend, If Your Hair is Red or yellow, we can have lunch, I'll share my jell-o" territory, of course.
Sorry for stupid capitalization.  No time to go back, next song!

6. I'm Sorry by Flight 180
Again with the Christian rocker girls.  Ska girls, no less.  I still love third-wave ska.  I still want to play in a ska band.  One of the few things I never left behind in high school is my desire to play in a ska band.  Or sing in one.  I won't be picky.  I even learned to play drums to enhance my chances to play in a ska band.  I kept almost sort of getting one a little bit put together, but all the attempts failed. 
Bands that almost, but never really, happened: TBA, The Happy Ogres, Bingo Chub Dingo, Astor Place Riot (we did play one song one time at one show, and it was awesome).  I did once play in my church's praise band for a few months.  Closes I've ever gotten. 
So far, anyway.  I don't care if I'm 35, this is one wish I probably won't give up on.  Just probably had better let someone else try to put it together, because I'm 0-for-4 thus far.

7. Holy Ghost Hop by Carman
Seriously?  SERIOUSLY? 
Okay, so this sort of reminds me of a news story I read recently.  (Recently = half a year ago or so)  A man went into one of those really charismatic, Spirit-filled churches.  He was a member and a regular attender.  His back was hurting, so he went to the front to have hands laid upon him in prayer.  The priest or whatever laid a hand on the man's head and the Spirit filled him.  The man fell backwards in the Spirit, completely healed!  And then he landed on the hard floor and hurt his back worse than it had originally been hurt.
He then sued the church.
True story.

Okay, gotta go.  Someone popped up online to chat with!

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