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.

The Wolves

Cora excelled in her opening weekend of Wolves. Yes, opening weekend - they have a two week, 8-show run at the Main in Newhall. Her community theater debut!

Wolves tells the story of a teen girls indoor soccer team through the course of six weeks of their season. It's all told from the perspective of their warmup area, with the girls' conversations propelling the story forward.

Cora plays the very anxious goalie. She has very few lines for the first half of the play, as her character is super nervous pregame, and often runs offstage to puke.

And incident happens between these two friends on a ski trip, leading to a big fight.

And in Week 5 (one scene taking place each week), Cora takes the spotlight. The scene opens with her alone on stage, crumpled in a ball, sobbing. 

She then melts down, rips out her pony tail, throws off her shirt, screams, and then collapses in tears.

The audience was silent enough to hear a pin drop. No one knows what has happened to make 00 (characters are mainly known only by their jersey number) fall apart.

In the following (and final, long) scene, the next week, the girls slowly come on stage, one by one, and as the conversations unfold, you can gather that one of the players was hit by a car and killed.

Cora finally has a monologue - she no longer feels nervous about the game. (She doesn't need to say it outright, but it's clear that the loss of a loved one helped her realize that soccer games aren't life and death situations.)

Her acting throughout is impeccable. In fact, all the girls are outstanding. The best of their high schools or colleges, coming across as very real, relatable characters.

A new character shows up - we realize this is the Soccer Mom, whose daughter died in the crash. She has a long, meandering, grief-stricken speech, leaving most of the audience in tears. Cora is crying behind her - again, stellar acting. I can't watch her without tearing up.

It was a moving, heartfelt show. Not an easy watch, and a LOT of swearing from a couple of the characters, with more adult subject matter. Real, gritty.

We're all so proud of Cora for tackling this role (pun intended) and scoring.

Winner Winner Winner!!

These are the happy faces of Cora and her theatre classmates who had a great day at the Hart District Theater Festival on Friday. 

This was the first time for most of these kids to participate in this competition, which included all seven district high schools. It was a long day, and took place when we had that huge 7-inch rainstorm. 

Cora took part in two big acts - she was one of the ex-wives of Henry VIII in a musical number from Six. These girls took home the Best Supporting Actor award, and second place for overall musical number.

And, more importantly for us, Cora WON Best Supporting Actor for her role as Jaques in a scene from As You Like It. In this scene, she has the iconic "All the World's a Stage" monologue. She killed it! We are so, so proud of her. 

Week in Review

Stace, Violet and I went to visit with Eloise and the rest of the family on Monday night while Cora was at karate. Violet remains in love!

On Wednesday, I met up with JT in Montrose, and she planned a hike for us. We went up on the hills between the 2 Freeway and Descanso Gardens, with views of Downtown L.A. (behind my head here), just about to the Pacific.

 And here is part of Descanso Gardens behind us, and the San Gabriels beyond. It was beautiful, but SUPER windy! Like, walk with purpose, so you don't get blown over...

 It was also more hilly than JT realized when she planned the hike - the sign here says "Descanso Lateral," and we were questioning the choice of the word "lateral."

We enjoyed a lovely lunch after our hike - a day altogether.

 That evening, Stace and I took Cora out for a boba while Violet was at Pioneer Club to celebrate herstrong showing in the school's National Geographic Geography Bee, where students competed to answer the most geography/history questions. Out of nearly 70 students, Cora placed in the top 10!

On Thursday, I attended a training at Cora's school (where I got a free lunch!). I was asked to be the parent representative on a committee that is working to reward positive behavior on campus.

Time with Stace

 Stace and I had my parents come over to hang with the girls while we went to a dinner meeting held by the school district, to discuss goals and celebrate high test scores.

We celebrated further, by going to Chili's for a drink afterwards.

 While Vi and I were in Arizona, Stace and Cora went to a Hot Wheels touring event that happened to hit the parking lot of a local Walmart. Here's Cora with the Darth Vader car.

 Cora enjoyed some quality time with her cat... this time, outdoors. These two spend quality time together most nights, on her bed.

Cora also helped Stace tidy up the MG - they finished up the floor so he could lay the carpets he made, and then reinstall the seats.

They also watched movies and practiced karate together.

A Special Recognition

Cora hasn't had the easiest transition to junior high. She doesn't enjoy change at the best of times, and being around lots of new people makes her uncomfortable.

It's a difficult age, with kids growing in different ways, using awful language, trying to be "cool" in ways that seem mean and nasty. Cora would tell you that she really dislikes her new environment, despite enjoying some of her classes and loving a couple of her teachers.

After being such an amazing leader in elementary school, she didn't want to stand out at her new school. She's signed up for zero after school or in-school clubs, and would simply like to melt into the woodwork.

BUT...

This girl!

She cannot hide her light!

Her leadership. Her strength.

Her school held its first Student of the Month brunch Friday, and Cora was selected as one of just 11 out of 1,100 to receive special recognition for the character quality of trustworthiness.

Here she is with her Team Adventurer teachers, who selected her and had some beautiful things to say about her. Stace and I enjoyed chatting with them during the brunch, as you don't always get to know the teachers in junior high/high school.

About Cora, they wrote: "Cora exudes trustworthiness! Her teachers can rely on her to help other students, as well as count on her to help with various classroom tasks. She is a dedicated student who goes above and beyond what is expected of her. Cora is a student whom all her teachers praise, and she deserves this special recognition because she shows her good intentions on a daily basis. She has shown herself to be a genuine, honest person who can be trusted to do the right things. Congrats, Cora!"

Another honoree, 8th grader Sienna, was in Mrs. Shafarman's class with Cora; she was in fifth grade, and the class was a 4th/5th combo. 

We are so very proud of you, Cora. You are still being an awesome student and leader in class, even if you don't love every minute of it.

(Violet's school had a four-day weekend for Fall Break, so she was off and able to attend this special brunch. And we're so blessed to have Stace working in town, so he can pop over to be part of such things as well.)

Cora received some goodies, along with the certificate; free meals at two restaurants, plus $15 for Stone Fire, her favorite place.

Week in Review

Violet got her big back-to-school wish fulfilled this week, when she rode off with Cora to school.

She's been wanting to ride to school since that day last spring when I was sick and they had to ride together.

They rode together to school, and then Cora left her and moved on to the rest of her ride. Then, at the end of the day, Cora picked up Violet and they got home safely, in one piece and on two wheels. Four wheels.

Cora loves her school library, and checks out interesting reading material for her quiet moments at school. History is her favorite subject.

One day this week, Cora lost her electronics privileges. That afternoon, spent hours working on a new story she'd crafted in her head.

She pulled Violet in to draw some characters.

Clearly, we should ban video games and mindless YouTube watching more often.

Violet's class created their 3-D clay maps of California Friday, and for the first time, I got to help in her fourth grade class.

Later Friday, I took Violet and her friend Victoria to their school's movie night. They watched Secret Life of Pets 2.