Clarksdale, Mississippi, Tom Williams and Betty Ellis

In July, Laura and I took a drive down to Clarksdale Mississippi to study the accent for her upcoming role as Alma Winemiller in Tennessee Williams’ Summer and Smoke. Clarksdale is where Tennessee Williams grew up and was the inspiration for the town Glorious Hill, where the play is set. Clarksdale is also the home of the Crossroads and is the birthplace of the Delta Blues.

We rolled into town in late afternoon and checked around for a hotel, but it appeared that Clarksdale had seen better days. We decided to head up to the Moon Lake area to stay at a crappy casino on the river. There is a Moon Lake Casino in the play, which is where John Buchanan spends many a debaucherous night so we thought this was an appropriate place to stay. In the morning we headed back into town and found the downtown area, the Delta Blues Museum and Morgan Freeman’s juke joint, Ground Zero, where we had lunch. A kindly, unofficial tour guide of Clarksdale pointed us in the direction of Tennessee Williams park so we went across the center of town to visit his 20 foot by 50 foot park. Then something pretty amazing happened.

We were there about 15 minutes just soaking up the hot Delta air, trying to absorb some Tennessee Williams energy when an older woman pulled up in her car and started walking her dog around the park and eventually found her way over to us. At some point we mentioned that we were there to research accents and the area because of Laura’s part in the play. The woman, whose name is Betty Ellis, then proceeded to tell us the story of how she met Tom (Tennessee) Williams and how Summer and Smoke was her favorite play by him. She told us that Tom stayed in the rectory of St. George Episcopal church, the church she was active in all of her life. As we were recording her voice so we could study her accent more later, she told us about how the character Alma was based on her grade school piano teacher and that the character John Buchanan, was based on the son of the real life Blanche Dubois.

We were wondering how we just happened to be in that park at the same time as Clarksdale’s eyewitness expert on Tennessee Williams when she asked to borrow my cell phone so she could call her son to come let us into the church and rectory that is so prominent in Summer and Smoke. We tried to insist this wasn’t necessary but trying to talk an older Southern woman out of this kind of hospitality was futile. So, we followed her over to the church and toured the rectory where Tennessee Williams lived and where Alma, through his writing lived. It was quite a magical moment.

Thank you, Miss Betty!

Time and The Conways

Laura played Madge Conway in the Mainstage 4, 2007 production of Time and The Conways. I think Laura’s performance in this role really caught the attention of people at the theatre and she will likely be doing a big part every year. 

Job Search

I am now in a brutal search for a job.  I really love marketing and what better product to market than yourself.  But the whole process really sucks, dealing with sleezy recruiters and indecisive hiring managers.  It’s frustrating and I just want to start doing something productive for someone,  fast. 

You can  see my Linkedin profile,  by clicking this button:

Advise and Consent

 Laura played Mabel Anderson, the main character’s wife in the Mainstage 4, 2006 production of Advise and Consent.  It was a smaller role but I think it really showed Laura’s dramatic side very well.  She always calls herself a comedic actress,  but I always knew she could play these roles.   This play was very outdated,  but it did provide a glimpse into the workings of the Executive branch and the US Senate.  There were some themes that resonated well in the current and unfortunate Bush presidency.

Rebeca

My friend Rebeca flying.

The Tempest

Laura played a Spirit in The Tempest for mainstage 2 in 2002. She got to put a lot of her Grateful Dead hippy dancing to work for this one. I’m not sure which spirit she played but she is in these pictures somewhere.

King Crimson – Discipline

Laura used to call me a music snob and I suppose I still am. (even though you can now catch me walking around the house singing High School Musical songs) I think most King Crimson fans can be accused of being snobs. A lot of the Crimson fans I knew in the 80’s used to make fun of me for seeing the Grateful Dead so much, even though I was part of the same “progressive” scene as they were. So I never considered myself that much of a snob.

I have seen King Crimson a lot since the early 80’s. I first saw them during the Discipline tour. A few years ago, my friend Will and I drove from Chicago down to Nashville to see a rehearsal show they did at a small bar called 12th and Porter. I guess Belew has a studio in Nashville and they like to play at this club before heading out on tour. We got down there pretty early and stood about 5 feet away from the band at almost eye level. It was an incredible experience and I even caught a guitar pick from Adrian. I have it framed on my dining room wall along with the drumsticks Pat Mastelotto handed me after a show at the Chicago Theatre that I had front row for.  I also have a ticket signed by Dweezil Zappa and Ray White in that frame.

Now that’s a music snob for ya.

Mason and Dad

 Here is Dad and Mason on The Jetsons rollercoaster at Great America in summer of 2007.  All of the kids call this rollercoaster Benny and the Jetsons.

We spend most of August at our house on the lake and usually try to get down to Great America while we are there.  It’s  a little closer to that house than it is from the main place.

Pride’s Crossing

This is Laura playing Mabel Tidings in Pride’s Crossing, the mainstage 5 production at TWS in 2001. Check out those goggles and bathing suit:

Pride and Prejudice

 Here is Laura as Lizzy Bennett’s friend, Miss Charlotte Lucas in Pride and Prejudice at Theatre of Western Springs (TWS) for the mainstage 2 production in 2000. She’s on the far left: