Friday, July 29, 2016

Performing as Dolly

Thoughts on theatre.

Hello Dolly has been a blessing and a frustration all at the same time.
I want this show to be so good...then I look around and have to remember it's Community theatre, not Broadway and many people in my cast have never been in a show before.

What I like about Community theatre is giving new people opportunity to be on stage.  What I don't like about Community theatre is new people on stage who have never been in a show before.  I want to put in the program that this is their first show so the audience gives them a "break" and appreciates what they are trying to do ...but it doesn't work that way.   I want it to be a good experience for everyone, but it's a much longer process because they are in it.

I was getting totally stressed out thinking about the quality of performances or lack there of...and lack of commitment to the show from some actors....especially the know-it-all teenagers who are always on their phones....but all that was doing to me was making me stress EAT!   SO I have come to the re-realization that I'm only in charge of me and my performance.  That's all I can do.

The rehearsal process has kind of felt like "commando" theatre where we are all just hunkering down waiting for the battle to begin ... the battle with costumes and props , with remembering movement and stage directions, with attitudes and keeping everyone pumped up to perform.   Art isn't easy.

But.....
I do love this process though...meeting new people, learning the songs, memorizing the script, working on character and back story....then putting it all on stage with other actors to hopefully tell a beautiful story that the audience will be interested in.

I love playing Dolly.  She is a bucket list role for me, with amazing songs and an iconic character. Dolly is a "broken" person who had a great active life with her husband but when he passed away she just  locked up her heart and emotions and just went into meager living mode trying to make ends meet.  When our story starts, Dolly is tired of living this way and wants to "rejoin the human race."  She has a plan to marry a man- actually a family friend- who has money.  She just needs to convince this widower that she is the right girl for him.  Hello Dolly is about awaking up to life again, taking charge and embracing all of it, the tears and the joy.

And one more thing..........my costumes are amazing!  I have 5 gorgeously designed dresses..the only problem is they are all so heavy with layers of corsets and bustles and petticoats and hats and gloves and purses for all of them.   I will be sweating up a storm every night.  The hats are heavy and I have already had a nightmare that the hats  pull my red wig off while on stage.   I must admit I'm a bit worried about that.  I have to make sure I get my wig really anchored into my own hair.

Why is there so much drama with drama?
Curtain call..
                                                    Me with Wendy Inkley as Irene Malloy...
Director and theatre BFF Jan Smith is the director



Sunday, July 24, 2016

Take me out to the Ballgame

 27 of the extended Cole Family attended the BEES  - 24th of July celebration - Baseball game.  We love going to this every year for the camaraderie and for the fireworks.
 Alfie loves any sport that has a ball attached, so he was in heaven and very intense about the baseball game.  Bre couldn't find a hat to fit his head, so this one worked, with the glasses of course.  He is a hoot.


 We love the ball park food and singing "take me out to the ball game" for the 7th inning stretch. Our group sounds really good and really loud.  We aren't shy.
 Adam had 7 of his clan their, Liz and Al, then 8 of Gary's group and 10 Welches.  We do this mostly in honor of my dad, who was a big baseball player and fan of the game.  It's tradition now, and even though half of the group could really care less about the baseballgame, just being outside at the ball park with each other and wonderful fireworks at the end, makes it all worth while.
 Alfie was soooooo Happy.  It was fun to hear Landon explain the game of baseball to Sophia.  She was really trying to learn. Andrew and Alex were being good sports...just by being there...but they loved the fireworks!!

Some things I love.....


......Diet Coke..... Now a days it's caffeine free most of the time, but I still love it with coconut syrup and fresh limes....delicious!
...... Being  Dolly in Hello Dolly.  We are still in rehearsal mode but I'm enjoying every moment of it.  This is such a beautiful story of loss and then getting back into Life.  It's about new found love and new beginnings.  I think I can relate to Dolly on many levels with the things my family has gone through the last 3 years.   I love singing my guts out on the stage and dancing and being with fellow actors.  I like it so much I even said yes to riding on the Hello Dolly float for the Bountiful Parade.  I don't like hot, commercialized  parades...but I did it.
...good friends......Linda and TimWangsgaard are wonderful, steady friends. 
.........Motorcycling with the Wangsgaards..... We didn't do any rides last summer because Wayne was training for LOTOJA.... I didn't realize how much I missed it.   I love riding the canyons, or around Pineview reservoir listening to music and seeing the beautiful scenery go by through a motorcycle helmet.  
.....Having Alfie around.  I get to have him while his parents teach a drama camp this summer.  We have a lot of adventures.  The other day we went to  a matinee movie of "The secret life of pets."  He was darling.  He got to have the big bucket of popcorn all by himself. He mostly liked this movie, although the middle was dark, scary and weird for a 2 year old...and for a 54 year old too.

Daddy Daughter Ride

Wayne and Laila had a fun Daddy Daughter Motorcyle Date with Terry and Becca Welch.  Wayne has been planning this and looking forward to it all summer.  They took the girls through the Alpine loop and many canyons and finally ended up in Park City.  They stayed at the main street Marriott and rode the zipline, coaster and Alpine slide.  They ate a lot of good food and even saw a movie, "the secret Life of Pets."  then more motorcycle riding and finally home.
 Last minute waffle to get ready to ride.  We love Wayne's Honda Gold wing...it's so comfortable.
 Laila, Becca, Terry and Wayne.
 Becca and Laila are so cute together.  They laugh  a  lot.  Riding on the back of Terry's motorcyle and having to hang on- she's a thrill seeker-  and going on the coaster ride were the best parts for Laila.






Monday, July 18, 2016

Bear Lake 2016 and Birthday!

Bear Lake has my heart.
My niece, Rachel summed up Bear Lake and our decades of family vacations there, this way:
This place is sacred for us. So many memories lie in this sand and swim in this water.  We have laughed here. We have loved here. We have lost here.  We have lived here.  Every year is different.  We are all a year older, maybe a little wiser, but definitely changed.


Here are our Bear Lake Bests:

Melinda:  The Family tree picture.  It changes every year, but I'm so glad we take it.  
Reading at the beach
Double Raspberry shake for my birthday
Celebrating my birthday at the lake and a special visit by a dinosaur!
Wayne:  Hanging out in the Boat
Riding bike around the lake
Laila: Biking every day to get food at Zips...20.4 miles total with friend Kaitlyn Pattison (KP)
Tubing til our elbows bled
Monson and Lexi:  Liz in a dinosaur suit at the lake
Watching Sophia tubing
Tayla in the lake
Everyone Pokemon Going
Juanito Bandito
Andrew:  Being on the boat
Downtime in  the conco
Playing on the beach
Sophia:  Going on the tube with Landon
Seeing Link at the Hairspray show
Games
Landon and Alex:  Pickleville Playhouse shows
Seeing the kids overcome fears
Bear Lake as Landon's birthday present
Addison:  Watching Alf on the beach
Building Sand Temples
Jumping off the boat with Alf
Bre:  Zipz hand dipped corn dawg and blackberry lemonade
Being with Alf on the boat

 Juanito Bandito is always a hit...we love going to the Pickleville Playhouse.
 Pappa and ALfie....we made it to the lake....and Sweetwater.
 Alfie kept asking people to build sand temples.... not castles .  It was so sweet.

 Eric, Janessa, KP, Laila and Preston... the teenagers and one teenager at heart.
 Alfie was determined to play volleyball.  Alfie wants to play anything and everything with a ball attached.  It's like he's obsessed.
 Volley ball sportsing night....so much fun.
Wayne and Casey biked all the way around the lake..50 miles. Becca and I joined them for 30 miles.
 

 So much time on the beach...we love just listening to the water and the kids playing in the sand...and every so often we would get on the boat to tube and wake board.
 Laila and KP hung out with cousin Preston and his friend Eric...

ANDREW lost his head.....or is that Sophia??
 Tayla arrived with her parents from California.  SHe is representing Grandma Sheri at the beach with her sweater on...

 Feeding the Fish at the Marina....the carp are gross
 Ice cream EVERY NIGHT.....

 TIme spent on the boat...with family and KP  Kaitlyn Pattison, Laila's cheer friend.

 Sisters.  We certainly missed Marcie this year....only a few tears were shed.  Mostly happy memories.
 Family Tree pic...missing Tru and Bre.....


 Our Utah Ute Canopies....and Alfie carefully taking his car across the water.
 Sophia was brave and trubed with Landon

 Happy Birthday to me.... Double Raspberry Shake and Fries at LeBeaus.




 Becca and Casey brought a giant floatie....it was awesome.
 Just hanging out on Robert the Flamingo  float.... Rachel brought it up.
 Liz made my birthday complete and completely hilarious.  She showed up in the dino costume at the beach and then entertained the crowd.  It was wonderful.




Liz put the costume on one more time to play volleyball....so funny