The play is over! I can get back to feeding my DU addiction again.

[Aristus]

Last performance was today. We shed tears and shared hugs, and all said: Well, I'm glad it's over.

We had a good run, now it's time to move on.

For fans of William Shakespeare's Thought For The Day, it will mean regular weekend columns again.

For those who missed me, I'm back, and I've missed you, too.

For those who didn't miss me, here's your chance to get to know me better, if you want to...

Good evening DU Loungers!

[KT2000]

1. I wish everyone

would work on a play or two in their lifetime.
They say sports teaches teamwork but there is nothing like working on a play for teaching teamwork and pushing people beyond what they thought their limits might have been.

[Aristus]

2. Spoken like someone who has done some theater.

What plays have you done in the past?

I just finished up "The Farnsworth Invention" by Aaron Sorkin.

[KT2000]

6. Local plays-

did the costumes for our local community college - Elizabethan for that- Volpone, Midssummer Nights Dream and ?
Community theater was Neil Simon, Eugene O'Neil-Moon for the Misbegottenl, Dickens Christmas, One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest, and others that I don't remember the titles, just the costumes!
Loved working on all of them.
Did a couple musicals - Sound of Music and South Pacific for the local light opera. - Gag!!
The funniest though was working costumes for the local high school. They didn't have the "let's all work together" thing yet. I remember one little darling who threw her costume on the floor and said there was no way she would wear that!

I used to be a costume volunteer at the Civic light Opera in Seattle - many many years ago.

I remember at the end of dress rehearsal I felt like a deflated blaloon - it was done! - well except for the maintenance part.
You probably have that sensation now having finished the run. It is intense.

Haven't done it in yers but still have dreams where they have moved up opening night and I'm not done!!!

[Aristus]

8. Sounds like you've had some real adventures in theater.

Seems like a diverse set of experiences.

[KT2000]

9. Yes - I did whatever

came along!

Are you an actor?

[Aristus]

11. Yeah. I've been doing community theater since I was a kid.

For me, it has always just been recreation - dress up and pretend. Different people do it for different reasons. Some people act in order to explore the arts; others to exorcise personal demons, etc. I just do it for fun.

Best role I ever had was as Mozart in a local college production of "Amadeus". The costumes for that one were amazing...

[KT2000]

7. I meant to ask -

What did you do in the play? Acting?

[Aristus]

10. Yeah, I was a utility player on this one.

Most of the cast played multiple roles. There were 22 actors and around 70 speaking roles. I had a varied selection of roles: a shore-based radio operator during the 'Titanic' disaster, a fundraiser for scientific research, an RCA executive, Douglas Fairbanks (that one was fun!), a Prohibition-era bartender, and a patent lawyer. Lot of costume changes; you would have liked the show for the costumes alone...

[KT2000]

12. OMG - that sounds great

would like to have seen that one.
Fun costuming too - variety!

[Aristus]

13. The womens' costumes were especially good.

The play took place from 1912 until the mid-1930's, so the women got to wear outfits as varied as a peacock-feather coat for a flapper, and the fur-collared overcoats women commonly wore back then during cold weather. And the hats......you would have loved the hats!...

[KT2000]

15. Sounds great!

and I bet the shoes too!
Which theater did this?

[Aristus]

17. The shoes were fantastic.

I wore a pair of brown-and-white 1930's-style spectator shoes as Douglas Fairbanks. It was cool. It would be cooler except I have my own pair of spectators; two pairs actually. One black-and-white, & the other brown-and-white. I have more shoes than any guy in the western hemisphere really ought to...

I also got to wear a cool pair of two-tone, basket-weave-style Vito Rufolo shoes in a couple of scenes.

Of course, you were probably asking about the women's shoes, weren't you?

[KT2000]

19. Men's shoes too!

I don't know this play but it sounds like the costumes would be critical to the story telling. I am guessing the audience has to identify the time period quickly to keep up.
Shoes are difficult and can really distract if not right but you really scored.
I hope you keep ALL of your shoes forever - who knows what play will come up in the future.

[Aristus]

20. It's called "The Farnsworth Invention".

It's about Philo T. Farnsworth, the man who invented the concept of electronic television; he came up with the idea when he was in the 9th Grade!

The play takes place starting roughly around the time the Titanic sank. (This scene features David Sarnoff, the radio operator in New York who broke the story of the sinking. He would go on to work for RCA, and was a founder of NBC.) There is a flashback to the early 1900's, to Sarnoff's boyhood in Russia, when the Cossacks burn down his family's house. As the possessor of many types of shoes, I supplied the actors with the Russian-style jackboots that lent authenticity to the scene.

The play concludes in the mid-1930's, with the lawsuits that resulted from David Sarnoff essentially stealing Farnsworth's patent for the television system. So, lots of different period costumes were needed. It was fun...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Welcome back, my dear Aristus!

I'm thrilled that you had such a great success!

And I'm even happier that you're back among us again!

[Aristus]

4. It's good to be back, CalPeg!...

[elleng]

5. Oh Yea, Bard's Words to the Wise return!!!

[unionworks]

14. Welcome back!

I never enjoyed plays till I saw the version of "Hamlet" that featured Kate. Winslett as Ophelia. Gave me shivers!

[Major Nikon]

16. I love local small theatre

I just went and saw The Hound of the Baskervilles last Friday night.

[progressoid]

18. Hey!

It's nice to have a break but it always good to come back too!