HONK! what great theater

Theater with a message, the play Honk! music by George Stiles and book and lyrics by Anthony Drewe was great fun. The production I saw tonight was performed by the students of the Music, Theater and Dance Department of Oakland University. I've seen a few of their productions so far and, comparing with what I've seen of Broadway road shows and regional and local theater, these are very talented and very professional performers. Tony Edgerton as the cat was incredible in voice and dance as was Allyson Ortwein in each of her roles wonderfully energetic and dynamic-voiced. The message, of course, is that it's okay to be different--the theme of the classic fairy tale, The Ugly Duckling, upon which this is based. My favorite number was "Warts and All" sung in very campy style by Craig Hemming and a very hopeful, someday my prince will come kind of tune. What I'd love to believe, surely.

Traveling...

I'm fortunate to be able to travel a bit and I have a couple exciting trips coming up. The first is to the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-lake where I have tickets to see three plays on three consecutive nights. I've scheduled a day, too, for visiting Niagara Falls--something I haven't seen since my daughter (now 27) was 2. Following that trip, in July, I've booked myself on a cruise to Alaska from Seattle. This is a HUGE adventure for me! Oddly, though, what I'm longing to see right now is my favorite Michigan place--the Keewenaw. Looking out at Lake Superior from the front screened porch of a little one-room cabin just south of Copper Harbor--Heaven on earth. Big wind, big waves, big rocks, big happy. What pleasure can be found there in the midst of that slice of wilderness!