Once Upon a Mattress

Cora played Lady Merrill in her college production of Once Upon a Mattress, a musical take on the Princess and the Pea fairy tale.

She's front right in this photo. 

And she's in the center front, here. 

It was entertaining, with great singing. We could hear Cora in many places! A family-friendly musical, Ellie especially enjoyed watching it.

 

For the Friday night show, Violet's friend Sofia came with us, and Lucas and Mackenzie came as well.

These forever fans also came - Mrs. Hawthorne, Jen and Sue! Auntie Mel, Ellie and Grandma also were there. And on Saturday, Christina and her girls attended.

And this was from Opening Night.

Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui

Cora appeared in her college debut, "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui," by celebrated German playwright Bertolt Brecht. The play is an allegory about Hitler's rise to power, in a story set around 1930s Chicago, with gangsters taking over the cauliflower trade.

Cora had about eight different roles, several of them key parts. She was a very different person each time. 

Here, she's a Chicago vegetable seller.

Here, she's playing Bowl, an accountant who witnessed shady dealings. Arturo Ui, the Hitler-esque gangster, is very interested in his testimony but has him killed on the way to the investigator's office. 

Here, Cora plays young Dogsborough, son of the city councilman who gets himself into ethical trouble. The play featured clowns throughout.

Cora is the investigator O'Casey, when Ui and his lieutenant, Roma, walk in. 

An adjudicator (like a judge) from the national college theatre festival came out and chose these three actors to compete in the upcoming regional festival in February!

O'Casey isn't buying what Ui's selling during the investigation.

Here, Cora is a newspaperman in Cicero, a nearby area where Ui wants to expand his empire. Here, Dullfeet (Cora) is chatting with a florist/gangster friend of Ui's.

Final bows - it was set in the black box theatre, with a simple set.

It was raining on Opening Night, and the cast greets guests outside. 

Cora's West Ranch people all came out to support her on Thursday.

Grandma and Grandpa came to a show, and Grandpa took all the top photos during a photo call.

We didn't manage to get a family photo with Violet, because she came Friday night, when Cora ran out to say a quick hello but had to rush back in. That was the night the adjudicator came, and was giving them her opinion.

Thanks, as always, to the other friends who came, who I wasn't able to get photos of: Melanie and Nick, Heather and Maggie, Sue and Betsy, Christina, Coach Greg, Mrs. Hawthorne, Moira, and Colleen, Rigo and Lucas.

Week In Review

On Monday evening, we went to the archery range at dusk, and Violet did the walking course, where you shoot at animal targets placed up in the nearby hill. 

Since we were in Saugus, we stopped by my parents' house to meet Maverick, their new golden retriever!

He's super sweet - classic golden. He'll be 5 years old soon, so he's about Summer's age. They're getting used to each other, and she is much happier now, having another dog friend.

 

On Tuesday afternoon, Cora drove (I rode shotgun, and helped with directions) to L.A. to film a little advertisement for a weighted stuffed animal designed to help with anxiety. She's a professional commercial actor! She did great driving, too, through the traffic on the way home.

Also this week, I drove out to spend Friday with JT at her house, and we walked to lunch and shopping.
We didn't get any photos. But I do have a photo of Winston playing with the cat toy she gave us, one her cat wasn't interested in.

 That evening, Stace and I watched a murder mystery play in Old Newhall.

On Saturday evening, we celebrated my Mom's birthday with an escape room - we escaped! - and dinner at BJ's.

For some reason we asked Violet to take a few photos, instead of my Dad. Dad, you're back in charge next time!

On Sunday, Stace and I went to a British classic car show at the Gene Autry museum in L.A. A couple of Stacey's coworkers were there and had invited him. 

This MGB seems to be the original color of Stace's model.

Stace was excited to see this Ford Escort Cosworth, a very fast Ford from the 90s. Not sold in the US, this car was one of the most stolen cars of the decade in Britain.

Stacey's coworker friend Brian was there with his dad and the MG TC that they restored and hot rodded by putting in a V8 engine. Their car won a show award.

Graduation Celebration - and Headshots

On Tuesday, we hosted Cora's school theatre friends and their families, for a little theatre-focused graduation party.

It was fantastic to finally host again after the construction! We worked hard to get the yard looking decent.

Here's the "adults" table...

...and the students and teachers section.

Jarod brought all his karaoke gear, at our request, so anyone who wanted to could sing. 

This was actually the impetus for the gathering - the students always have a karaoke party during the last theatre class of the year. While we set up the banquet, some of the moms were saying that they'd love to do karaoke, too. 

Even though I have NO desire or business singing with a mic, I loved helping make it happen.

 And these guys could sing! 

While we're on the subject of theatre, here are a few of the headshots Melanie took of Cora.

And, just for fun - this photo came up in my Facebook Memories, from the day Cora played Dorothy in Wizard of Oz when she was 7. 

After the show, when she'd changed clothes but still had on a bit of makeup, my Dad took this photo of her. It reminded me strongly of this famous shot of Vivien Leigh from Gone with the Wind.

I thought one of the more recent shots could work in a similar way. 

Maybe not as close in the expression, but not bad.

Percy Fan Club

 It's hard to express how proud I am of my girl. This musical was exhausting - she was on stage basically the entire time, and battled through feeling sick throughout. 

But no one in the audience would have known it - she sounded great, and her emotions came through in every song. Percy goes through a lot of emotions, too.

For her high school acting finale, it was great for Cora to have all four grandparents in the theater.

We had quite a crowd, especially on Opening Night. 

The lighting is awful in the auditorium, but the lobby is very loud and chaotic after shows, so it's best to stay where it's quieter.

Kindergarten teacher and mom friends! Mrs. Hawthorne has come to most of Cora's shows...

...as have Jen and Sue. I have such good, supportive friends! Colleen and family have also made most of her shows, and are in the above pic.

JT and Kelly and their families came out, as well - it was a great show for their children. 

Cora's friend Michael, who she plays D&D with, has come to all of her shows, too.

(Cora is underdressed because she was overheated at the end of the show, singing and dancing for hours under the hot lights.)

Vaughn and Anna have also seen most of her shows.

Mackenzie (Luke), Rowan (Annabeth) and Lucas (Mr. D), after the final show. Sad these four won't be on stage performing together again! How can Cora be finished with high school theatre?

Here's the cast board I made.