“Let it be known to the Americanologist of 3000 AD that we idolized a strange, boomerang-shaped, mighty, fiery thoroughfare of broken hearts and blessed events which we called BROADWAY.  That will explain us.” 

― Gilbert Gabriel

“The stage is a magic circle where only the most real things happen, a neutral territory outside the jurisdiction of Fate where stars may be crossed with impunity. A truer and more real place does not exist in all the universe.” 

~ P.S. Faber

The amazingly talented Sarah Kay

More Lea Salonga...

A medley of selections from Andrew Lloyd Webber's hits from Evita, then Jesus Christ Superstar, then Sunset Boulevard and then back to Evita.

Music has the ability to take us to wonderful and surprising emotional places.  For the brief space of the performance the actor becomes the person portrayed and we are left with a better understanding of the emotional lives of our collective history.

The Real SMASH

With the new show SMASH creating quite a stir on cable, I thought some of you might be interested to see a brief clip from Lea Salonga's audition for Miss Saigon.  You will see the two writers (who also wrote Les Miserables - one is the man who gives the autograph and plays piano) and you will also spy a very young Cameron Mackintosh on the panel.  Salonga would originate the role of Kim in Miss Saigon, play both female leads in Les Miserables at different points, and later be known for being the singing voice for Disney princesses.  This clip is so raw and she is just starting out, but it seems as if the people in the room know that she is going to be something very special.

Learning to teach

"Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths pure theatre."

 ~ Gail Godwin

One of the great things about getting to teach so often is that one gets to present ideas in a way that is both educational and entertaining.  I believe that teaching is a gift that, while it can be honed, is usually a natural talent.  The best teachers I have had, whether in the church, the classroom or in the realm of life, made learning exciting and fun.  A certain element of drama is involved in teaching.  Certainly knowledge and preparation are important as a teacher, but at least as equally as important is the ability to translate that raw information in a lively and thoughtful way. 

My grandmother is a gifted storyteller and was wonderful at the presentation part of teaching.  What she lacked in knowledge about pirates, Native Americans and famous battles from the past, she compensated with a dynamic delivery and cliff-hanging presentation style.  This method of teaching encouraged us as children to then investigate the subject further in our own time.  Had it not been for her detailed and dynamic style, I might never have been motivated to such a great interest in history and folklore.  Fortunately, I was blessed with a childhood that encouraged reading, investigating and learning.  I believe this attitude toward learning demonstrated by my grandparents and parents motivated my sister and I to be life-long learners.  One benefit of loving to learn is that you will almost naturally come to love to share your knowledge with others.

In addition to family influence, another teaching example stands out to me.  I had a brillant Bible teacher during my undergraduate education.  In his class on Acts of the Apostles, he demonstrated a breadth of knowledge that far out-distanced my previous experience with the material.  Having more than just knowledge, he taught the course as if you were really there with the early Christians experiencing the same dramatic events that are witnessed in that book.  I learned so much in that class both from his knowledge and his teaching ability.

If you are preparing to teach please remember: knowledge of the subject matter is valuable and essential but so is the ability to relate that information to your audience.  When these two elements are joined together in the right proportion for the situation, learning is sure to result.

Family time in Memphis!

Enjoyed attending the kick-off week to the international tour of the

Tony Award winning

Memphis: A New Musical

at the Orpheum in Memphis with my mom and sister.

Great show about the story of the music of a great city.

Thanks, Memphis!

"I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being."
-Oscar Wilde