Waverly is dreaming

Notice the new poll at the top of the right-hand column? It's a new Google feature that I'm going to try to use every week or so.

The current poll's subject is about high school drama because that's been a major topic around our household lately. Richard is directing A Midsummer Night's Dream at Waverly High School. It opens this evening.

There are several times when I've started to write about it, but I'm not really part of the process and I do want my husband to be able to both vent and crow without worrying about whether it will show up in print.

From the outside, it's been somewhat fascinating to watch the process. It's also made me realize how much I miss teaching drama and specifically the kids that I taught.

Originally they were going to have a longer rehearsal process but Easter, a choir trip, and basketball tournaments got in the way. Now, the day of opening, they're wishing they had a few more weeks to get comfortable in their lines. Of course, they're very busy high school students so it is possible that if they had another week, they wouldn't have learned their lines until this week.

It's also been exciting to see these students take on the challenge of Shakespeare given that they don't have drama classes offered at Waverly currently. They do read Shakespeare in their English classes, so they are familiar with the language and the stories. Most of the cast has also performed in other plays. A lot of the work, though, has had to take place in rehearsals.

Last night, Richard was at Waverly until after midnight working on the set while I worked at making gifts for his cast (which, alas, won't be done for tonight's opening). They're having one final rehearsal this afternoon before performing this evening.

I'm looking forward to it. My son's Cub Scout pack will be there--they'll be seated in the balcony where we can all sit together. If you're interested in coming out, they'll perform tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are only $5.

Other offerings this weekend:

• Thunder at Dawn at the Creole Gallery, put on as part of Riverwalk's Black Box series
• Hate Mail at Williamston
• Flowers for Algernon at Lansing Civic Players
• Blue Room at MSU Arena Theater
  
• Our Love is Here to Stay at Ruhala Performing Arts Center