Theater Tryouts

Cec and I went to tryouts for "The Cemetery Club" at the Huntsville Community Theater last Tuesday evening.  I went to volunteer to help behind the scenes, but Cec decided to read for a part.  

I tell people that my only stage experience was in a first grade program in which I portrayed a fireman and did a short recital, which is not entirely accurate.  There was the time I subbed for Dan Rather in a comedy skit.  Yes, Kenneth, I do have the frequency. It was the real Dan Rather.

When I was in law school at the University of Texas, I wrote a skit for a student-produced musical revue called Assault and Flattery. The skit was based on CBS Evening News and starred an anchorman named Dan Either.  When we were rehearsing, I read in the Austin paper that the real Dan Rather was to be in Austin for a speech the weekend of the performance.  His brother was a high school football coach at an Austin high school at the time.  Hmm, I thought, why couldn't Dan Rather play Dan Either.  Since he had once been a law student at the University of Houston, he might just be willing to do it.  We had a history in Assault and Flattery of inviting local celebrities like outrageous car or furniture salesmen ("I want to sell YOU a car!" and "You don't need money--just a little bit a month!") to appear in the program as surprise guests.  Dan Rather would be real coup.

So with a Law School dean's permission (long distance calls were expensive in those days) I boldly called CBS News in Washington and asked to speak to Dan Rather.   It was amazingly easy to contact him.  After being transferred only a couple of times, I heard someone say, "This is Dan Rather."  Wow, me a nobody law student was talking to a big star!  He was very cordial and said he'd be happy to do the part but that a breaking news story would keep him from traveling to Austin.  So you guessed it.  I had to step in as his substitute and play the part myself.

Cec's only previous acting experience was as lead in a high school play.  She says she got the lead because no one else was willing to play an older person.  In the middle of the play during a complex movement sequence, either she or another actor turned the wrong way and they collided.  Suddenly everything went quiet.  Thinking quickly, Cec reached for the other actor said "You must be Aunt So-and-so.  I forgot my glasses."  That saved the scene, and the director quickly punched the lenses out of a pair of sunglasses for Cec to wear in a subsequent scene. The play was a big hit, and everyone remarked how real the collision scene seemed.

Anyway, I was very proud of Cec's performance at the tryout. She really did a great job, and one scene in which she knelt and spoke at the grave of her dead husband was really moving, eliciting spontaneous applause from the other aspiring actors.   We did not see Monday night's truouts, but I thought that Cec was one of the best on Tuesday.The producer for the play (the director in charge of casting was a Sam Houston State senior student) was sitting in front of me, and she was shaking her head "yes" and making approving hand signals as Cec said her lines.  Now, Cec was not perfect, of course, and one would expect reading an unknown play cold, and several of the others clearly had had more acting experience.  However, I thought they overplayed their parts while Cec sounded natural.  (I define acting doing something unnaturally in a way that seems natural).  On the way out of the theater, several of the others stopped by and complimented her. 

Ultimately, Cec did not get a part, but I think she made a very good impression. I predict that she will be in a play in the near future, and I think we will have a lot of fun with the Theater.

Always...Patsy Cline

Patsy Cline has always been one of my favorite singers.  Her voice was incredible, and her country-pop stylings have become timeless classics.

I became a fan of Patsy Cline as a result of a 1985 biopic about her called "Sweet Dreams" with Jessica Lange playing Patsy.  I read the book on which it was based as well.  Several years later I heard of a musical called "Always...Patsy Cline" based on Patsy and her music that was playing to excellent reviews at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.  

I did not have the opportunity to see a performance of the musical until this week at the Huntsville Community Theater in Huntsville, Texas.  We learned about it last week when we saw a banner stretched on a building on the courthouse square.  We drove the block over to the theater and were peering in the window when the director appeared and invited us in for an impromptu tour.  She even invited us to try out for the next play!  When we mentioned Cec's experience in television, she told us about a new cable television station in Huntsville, which just happened to be directly across the street.  She took us over and introduced us to the owner, who encouraged Cec to develop and produce a program that could be used on the station. 

Cec and I went to the musical performance Friday evening with a law school classmate of mine, who is now a professor of criminal justice, and his wife.

The performance was very enjoyable, though not flawless.  The story revolves around Louise Seger, a fan with whom Patsy became close friends.  Louise, played by local math teacher, Lastell McVey, tells the story of her meeting Patsy at a Houston honky tonk and their ensuing friendship.  Louise acts as the narrator and provides larger than life comedy and even joins Patsy in a couple of numbers.

The star was Mary Allen-Keating, a Huntsville native with a big voice.  She sings with Herb Remington and the River Road Boys out of Houston, who also performed in the on-stage band in the play.  Remington is a renowned steel guitarist and well-known performer of Western swing music, including a stint with Bob Wills.

We had a very enjoyable evening, and the HCT will probably be a regular stop for us.  We might even wind up in a play one of these days.

St. Patrick's Day Parade

A small Texas town may not seem like the most likely place for a St. Patrick's Day Parade, but Riverside, Texas does not let the lack of settlers with Irish ancestry get in the way of a good time.

There parade had four fire trucks,  a dozen or so "floats" and automobiles carrying dignitaries and political candidates, quite a few motorcycles (including four very fancy Honda trikes), and perhaps a dozen classic cars.  I had offered to drive military veterans in the parade for the H.E.A.R.T.S. Military Museum, but we were not able to coordinate it.

The only problem with the parade is that there were more people in the parade than spectators,unless people were gathered on a part of the route we could not see.  Several vehicles tossed candy and trinkets to the kids (little kids and big - the Werther's chews were very tasty).  Fortuntely there were enough kids to pick up most of the candy, although Cec and I did find a few stray pieces as we left for home.

After the parade the Chamber of Commerce served free hot dogs at the fire station to about 50-75 people, including the Murrahs. 

TV Mount

One of the problems we had to solve was where to place the TV.  I wanted a large LCD flat panel TV, but we had to coordinate locations for a fireplace and the TV without blocking the view of the lake through the rear great room windows. We finally decided place the fireplace in the middle of a side wall and mount the TV above the fireplace.  That locates the TV a little high, but we figured that recliner couches and chairs would solve that problem.  We also decided to use a low hearth and place the mantle as low as possible to reduce TV height. 

The width of the fireplace will permit us to install a 50-52" LCD television.  We are looking at a Sharp Aquos since it has a great picture and has the smallest footprint for a viewing area that size.

Mounting a TV on the wall makes it difficult to reach the rear connections and controls  So we decided to use a Peerless Smart Mount,which uses an extendible arm to permit the TV to be pulled away from the wall about 2 feet for rear access.  The Peerless mount, which was recommended by a friend in Michigan, is being used in a new terminal at Detroit Wayne Airport.

We wanted the TV to mount as close to the wall as possible, and this required a recessed box as shown in the photo at the left.  The entire mount mechanism will fit into the box so the TV mounts flush against the wall.  We will probably tilt the TV slightly downward for a better viewing angle.  

The builder had not understand our plan for the mounting box, and we had to delay drywalling around the fireplace to construct the mounting box.  That area should be completed next week.

Drywall Continues

The hanging of the drywall (see photo at left) is now complete, and it has been taped and "mud" applied.  One nice feature that the builder uses is installation of a plastic quarter-round on all corners.  Not only do they look very nice, but they protect the corners from chipping and other damage.

The next phase is texturing, which begins next week.  The style we have chosen is splattered on and then the peaks are flattened.  It gives the wall an almost stucco appearance and looks very nice.  This phase should be complete in about a week.

Snow!

Yesterday's rain turned into today's snow.  When we awoke this morning, large flakes were falling amid the rain.  It did not last long, and it did not stick.  All it did was leave a slush on the porch.

In my experience, which admittedly is 20 years out of date, it snows enough to cover the ground slightly about once every 5-8 years in East Texas.  My mother-in-law has been in Texas for at least 5 years, and she said this is the first snow she has seen here.

The largest snow in my lifetime was about 1950 when, as I remember it, there were probably several inches on the ground.  The big treat when it snowed was to make snow ice cream with milk, sugar and vanilla.  Only several days ago I saw a story that snow contains too many potentially harmful bacteria to let children eat it.  If the truth be known, snow was probably dirtier in 1950 than it is today.  In those days we had sawmill boilers belching out black smoke all day long, and the bacteria count has not likely changed.  There was a time in the late Cold War era when nuclear testing contaminated snow with dangerous amounts of radioactive fallout.   Snow ice cream was not a good idea in that era.

Drywall Begins..,and We Dodge the Rain

Installation of the drywall, which I've always called "sheetrock." began yesterday.  The photo at the left shows a drywall installer standing on a scaffold in the living area.

The builder told us some time ago that he would not start installation of the drywall until the roof is complete because water severely damages drywall board.  If it gets wet, it has to be removed and replaced.  

Unfortunately the roofing was only about one-half complete when the drywall crew showed up yesterday.  The weather forecast stated that rain would start as early as noon today.  

A rain shower several days ago illustrated the potential leakage problem.  The interior of the house had been pretty dry since the roof decking was installed in late January.  However,  the roofers installed horizontal strips to support the sheet metal, and they created little dams that prevented the water from running quickly off the decking.  The result was several leaks into the living and dining area on the back side of the house.  The front side was dry because the roofing was complete there.

So the roofers began a race with the rain to get the vulnerable areas covered.  They worked until dark yesterday and began very early today.  Fortunately, the rain did not arrive until late afternoon today, and the roofers covered all the areas that matter.  Only areas over porches that do not contain drywall remain to be covered.

As this is being written, it has been raining for about three hours.  We made it just in time!