Things My Mother Taught Me by Katherine DiSavino Presented by the Troy Civic Theater

This evening and Saturday evening are the Troy Civic Theatre's last two performances of Things My Mother Taught Me by Katherine DiSavino.  

The director is Steve Dietrich.   Beth Shrake is his stage manager and assistant director.  

This is a perfect play for Mothers Day. The comedy revolves around the intentional and unintentional conflicts that arise when people care about one another.  Everyone will recognize the craziness that arises.  Maybe you haven't had exactly the same experience in your life but you have had a similar one.

As you can see from the smiling faces, the crew and cast had fun preparing this play for your enjoyment.

The play takes place in a newly acquired apartment.

Olivia and Gabe have decided after a long relationship to move in together.  Rachel Smith is Olivia and Gage Emerson is Gabe.

Moving in is difficult when furniture doesn't fit through the doorway!  But that turns out to be the least of the happy couple's problems.

Gabe's parents, Lydia played by Sonja Hyer and Wyatt played by Mike Maxson turn up to help.  They have made a long trip from New York City to Chicago just to bring their helping hands.  In return, they plan to spend the night in the apartment's second bedroom.

A bit later, guess who arrives?  Olivia's parents, Carter and Karen,  Carter (Michael Robinson) and Karen (Niccole SueAnn Wallace) tumble in.  Remember that chair in the doorway?  And, of course, they are planning to stay in the second bedroom.

The mothers have lots of last minute advice to give the couple.  The fathers do, too.  The young couple's take on the advice plus the things they remember from childhood bring constant chuckles from the audience.

To add a little spice to the mix, the building caretaker shows up periodically. Max, played by Paul Robinson, is curious about the new renters and their visitors.  He has helpful and not so helpful suggestions.

The problems escalate and so does the laughter from the audience.  However, since this is a romantic comedy, all ends well, maybe even better than anyone expected.

To me, a little extra that made me smile was this poster in the lobby.  Playgoers were invited to post words of advice from their own mothers.

This is a perfect play to take your mother to.  It will have all of you remembering your own mother's words of advice.  Your mother will have memories of the reasons for those words of advice and what prompted them that will open your eyes to the uniqueness and preciousness of your own family.

To reserve seats, contact the Troy Civic Theatre by phone --  937-339-7700.

Butterfly Transect at Brukner Nature Center...Some Results from the 2016 Season

The 2017 Ohio Butterfly Transect Monitoring begins, weather permitting, on April first.  I have been seeing butterflies on warm days so I know they are on the move.

Last year we saw a greater number of species than we saw in previous years.  I like to think it is because our eyes are sharper now that they are practiced at finding butterflies.

We saw 38 species in 2016. The species we saw most often was the Silver-spotted Skipper.  2016 was a bumper year for Silver-spotted Skippers.  Officially, we saw 424 which was 44% of all butterflies we saw.  By comparison, in 2015 we saw only 54 which was 9% of all the butterflies we saw.

Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus)

The Cabbage White was the second most often seen.  Most years, it is the most common seen.  A non-native, it thrives in our area.

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae)

Coming in third in numbers seen in 2016 were the Pearl Crescents. They are one of our common butterflies though not always in the top three.

Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos)

In 2016, we didn't see any butterflies that have never been sighted in Miami County but we saw eight that we had never seen before on the Brukner Nature Center Butterfly Transect.

Harvester (Feniseca tarquinius)

Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)

Common Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis)
.

Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus)

The others, for which I don't have labeled photos were Zebra Swallowtail, Common Sootywing and Tawny-edged Skipper.

If the temperature is warm enough, the minimum being 60 degrees and almost full sun, we will start the 2017 season this weekend.

I hope you are seeing butterflies wherever you are.

The Troy Civic Theatre Presents Rumors by Neil Simon

If you are really tired of all the problems of the world and just want to laugh, see Rumors.  It is close to a laugh a minute. Lots of doors opening and closing, lots of misinterpretations.  And if you happen to feel like thinking, the play makes a pointed comment about rumors.

If you live near Troy, you are in luck.  There is one more performance Saturday evening.

It is at this Anniversary Party where the Rumors fly.

Ken and Chris Gorman are the first arrivals at the Anniversary party but the couple celebrating the anniversary are nowhere to be found. Why? Where are they?

Ken Gorman is played by Alain Alejandro and Chris by Corie Schweser.

Next to arrive are Claire (Jessica Suba)  and Lenny Ganz (Scott Atkinson).

They are followed by Ernie and Cookie Cusack played by G. Michael Robinson and Julie Zalar.

   And the last to arrive are the Coopers... Gage Emerson as Glenn  and Bonnie Littlejohn as Cassie.

Finally, things become so strange that the police, played by Michelle Robinson and Jessica Echols arrive.  Even the police are stunned by the situation.

        

What has become of Charley and Myra??

Niccole Sue-Ann Wallace directs and Jennifer Kaufman is Stage Manager.

As always, the people named in this article are supported by many others.

Often the Production Crew is never seen.  But Jennifer Kaufman snapped this photo of two of the usually unseen Production Crew as they watched a rehearsal.

Barrie Van Kirk's contribution was applying make-up and styling hair.  Gerri Nichols was responsible for Costume Design.

Jennifer kindly let me use her photos for this blog.  The only one that I took was the first one of the Anniversary Invitation.

Almost, Maine by John Cariani Presented by the Troy Civic Theatre

Almost, Maine.  The set...the stars are in the sky and the snow is on the ground.  The stage crew were pleased with the opportunity to try out the brick painting skills they learned at the Ohio Community Theatres Convention in Cleveland over the Labor Day Weekend.  There is a door to the left as well as to the right.  The set was perfect for expressing love in its many aspects in a little crossroads inhabited by people who are like people everywhere.

The play consists of eight skits plus a prologue, Interlogue, and Epilogue.  The last three are parts of one complete skit but also sum up the theme of the entire play.

There are plenty of opportunities for gentle laughs, for remembering when we have our own problems with this thing called love.  Sometimes the skits caused me to think, "I know where this one is going."  Sometimes I was right.  Sometimes I was surprised.  Some of the questions explored are "How  do you measure the size of love?"  "How does hope affect us?"  " How can something be sad and glad at the same time? "  "How does a person know whether something hurts?"  "How do we know if we are actually seeing what is in front of us?"

There is a bit of almost magic woven into the community of Almost, Maine.  Sometimes things are a bit different than real life.  But they are only a little different.

My daughter called this "an actors' play" because each cast member has an opportunity to portray several characters with varied personalities.  The play can be performed by as many as nineteen individuals or as few as four.  The Troy Civic Theatre's version has a cast of  nine.

Almost, Maine is a relatively new play, first performed in 2004.  It only played in an Off-Broadway theatre for a month but has steadily increased in popularity.  All types of theatre groups from high school to professional produce it.  For many years it has been one of the top ten plays performed in high schools.

If you choose to see Almost Maine, you will leave the theatre with happiness in your heart and perhaps, a rueful smile.  It takes us so long to learn about love and there is always more to learn.

The cast for Troy's production includes...

Beth Shrake as Glory/ Rhonda and Steve Dietrich as East/ Phil/ Dave

Jennifer Kaufman as Marvalyn/ Hope and Sydney Edington as Ginette/ Waitress

Jenny McClain as Sandrine/ Deena and Doug Lowe as Jimmy/ Lendall/ Man

Braden Stafford as Pete/ Steve

Niccole SueAnn Wallace as Marci

Tina Hayes as Gayle/ Shelly

A Week of Winter is Upon Us

We often get our first real winter weather between Christmas and New Year's Day and that is what is happening this year.  We will have highs in the 30s Fahrenheit and lows in the 20s for the coming week.  This morning  there was a light covering of snow on the rooftops and on the van.  By mid afternoon the snow had melted.

Our area is recovering from about 4 inches of rain which caused river flooding.  I haven't heard of any massive damage like there has been in Missouri.  The flood plain in our area is mostly parkland.

The bike trail that spans our county from north to south is flooded where it borders the Great Miami River.

The falls to the right of the sign is roaring with water.

Across the street, the parking lot for Farrington Reserve is covered with water.  Just beyond the treeline you can see the overflowing river.

The baseball diamonds in Troy are flooded.

The bike trail underpass near Charleston Falls is filled with water.  You can tell by the waterlines on the trees standing in the water that the water was higher yesterday.

There is plenty of water flowing over the falls.  Because we have had dry weather this fall, a lot of the water has sunk into the ground.  Because the land soaked up the water, the flooding was not as bad as it might have been.

The Celtic Tenors, a concert at Hobart Arena in Troy

We've been to three high school graduations in Hobart Arena.  Years ago I took  a Cub Scout group or maybe it was a 4-H group to Hobart for ice skating.  This was the first time Tom and I have gone to the arena for a concert.

The concert was perfect, just the right amount of folksyness.  The music was grand.  Some of instrumental accompaniments were performed by The Celtic Tenors and the musicians who travel with them.  Some of then were performed by the Dayton Philharmonic, Neal Gittleman conducting.

I liked the tenors' arrangements, Each tenor showcased his voice and then they blended their voices. The selections were a mix, a couple operettic melodies so well known that I think everyone in the audience recognized them, a few Irish folksongs, at least one Scottish folksong, a few popular songs, and many Christmas songs.  The tenors encouraged us to join in the choruses which was fun, too. Tom and I don't have a lot of opportunities to sing.

Between songs, the tenors entertained us with amusing comments and funny incidents from their lives back in Ireland.

If The Celtic Tenors come your way, go hear them.  You will be happy you did.  You can learn more about them at

www.celtictenors.com

Picture from the back cover of the CD we bought.

The Troy Civic Theatre presents A Nice Family Gathering December 11 and 12

Last Friday evening, Tom and I went to see A Nice Family Gathering.  Phil Olson is the playwright.  Both of us enjoyed it. Everyone in the  audience had good laughs and thoughtful moments as well.  Me, being who I am, shed a tear or two.

I hope that you take time  from your holiday preparations to come to the play this coming Friday or Saturday evening.  You will be glad you did.

The Lundeen family is a typical loving family with family jokes and perceived long standing slights which are part of all families.  The thing that makes them a bit different from some families is that they are of stoic Norweigan descent and the word, love, is not part of their spoken vocabulary.  The cast, directed by Terressa Knoch, created a believable loving family beset by problems as all families are.

The Lundeens are having Thanksgiving dinner at the family home a few months after the death of  Dad because Mom decided she would like to have "A Nice Family Gathering".  Nobody knows that Carl, the second son, is being haunted by Dad who has a last message for Mom.  The plot thickens when Mom invites a single friend of Dad's, Jerry Myers, for dinner, too.What is the meaning of this invitation?

Robert Hyer plays Carl Lundeen, the son haunted by Dad's spirit.

Don Kuchta plays Dad (Carl Lundeen) who causes Carl, his son, much frustration.

Karen Lohr is Mom (Helen Lundeen) who loves her family, even if she is absent-minded.

Josh Lurie is Michael, the oldest son, who has multiple problems in his life.

Tina Hayes plays Jill Lundeen, Michael's wife, who has problems, also.

Sydney Edington portrays the youngest child, Stacy Lundeen.  Stacy goes about living her life in her own way as members of  her family go about their more conventional lives.

Jerry Myers, the friend Mom invited for dinner, is played by Steve Dietrich.

The cast meshed well, creating a believable family.  There was a genuine feeling of love and caring as the play proceeded.

Sydney Edington and Robert Hyer participated in The Troy Recreational Department's Children's Musical Theater productions for many years.  It is great to see children's musical theater performers graduating to Troy Community Theatre productions.

As always, my thanks to the production crew and all those who helped to make this play possible.

Here is a photo of the cast and the crew who were present on Friday evening.