Showing posts with label Casa Manana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Casa Manana. Show all posts

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Bad Boys of Broadway

Enjoyed a fun musical revue at Casa Manana (www.casamanana.org) in Fort Worth yesterday. It's good to get out and support regional theater and be uplifted by significant talent. Bad Boys of Broadway highlighted songs sung by the bad, evil, or possibly misunderstood characters on stage. From Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar to the Phantom of the Opera to Jean Valjean in Les Miz (he did steal bread after all) our trio of singers kept us toe tapping or entranced.

The boys were joined by a woman (there's always a bad girl), and Carmen Cusack struck fear, temptation, and killer love in their hearts. What Lola Wants from Damn Yankees and Defying Gravity from Wicked were stellar numbers.

As for these Bad Boys, John Cudia's voice was pure on Bring Him Home and also Music of the Night. John Tower and Jason Wooten brought soul and verve to a variety of tunes. Their harmonies blended and they looked like they were having a blast.

So many great Broadway songs. I couldn't get to New York this weekend, but Fort Worth brought ninety minutes of NYC to me and I'm still humming some devil medleys.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

support the arts - convoluted tales part 1

This cute fellow, Jamil, shall be our introduction to a multi-part support the arts blog series. Somehow I'll pull it all together and declare a finale in a week or so. First, I'm putting in a plug for Crystal Hines, an extended family member, who is enthusiastically starting up a photography business. She captured Jamil's engaging personality and can do the same for you.

Check out her blog: http://www.peekthrumylenz.blogspot.com She's competitive for formal or informal shots and has an exciting, exuberant style. More on her biz later. I shall also pose a question - what can be done so that Jamil wants to read, is thrilled to read, and will spend life as an avid reader?


Guess I needed Crystal to take this indoor pic - hard to tell but there are two chairs and two posters of Jeffery Deaver's new book Roadside Crosses. Fort Worth makes it easy to support the arts in so many ways. Thanks to the Star-Telegram and other fantastic underwriters, the author series was held at Casa Manana tonight.

Mr. Deavers, author of suspense thrillers, answered questions by Jeff Guinn in a very informal discussion mode. He quoted Mickey Spillane, "People don't read to get to the middle...folks want to read to the end." That's the mission - keep the pages turning and keep the reader guessing.
Jeffery Deaver's unassuming manner and quiet humor kept the audience entertained for an hour. As a writer, I always come away with a nugget or two. He writes 8 hours a day, 6 days a week. It's his job and he loves it. He outlines thoroughly - every twist, turn, and nugget of information. His goal is to fool the reader, not cheat the reader.

Excellent evening. Support the arts - photography biz, established authors, and engage youngsters like Jamil in the pursuit. More to come.

Thanks
Joanne