Anything Goes

I recently went to see the musical Anything Goes with my mom and grandma.  The next day, I wrote this letter to the Music Circus to compliment them on a fabulous production as well as kindly put in a suggestion for next year!  

Dear Music Circus Associate:  

First of all, I would like to thank you for providing entertainment and musical education to my life for the past 18 years.  Your shows are not only clever interpretations and enthusiastic performances of some of the classics, but provide life lessons and education in musical theater.  I have always enjoyed my time spent at the Music Circus and will continue attending productions whenever I am able to do so. 

   

I first attended the music circus in 1994 when I was just six years old.  My parents took me to see The Secret Garden.  I absolutely loved it.  From the story of Mary Lennox, to the songs, to the flawless perfection of the performance, I just couldn’t get enough.  We sat on the edge of one of the ramps so I was able to experience it all up close.  After seeing my first musical, I was hooked.  I have seen at least one musical a year since.  Some of my favorite productions at the Music Circus include The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Hello, Dolly!, 42^nd Street, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and most recently Anything Goes.  Some of them I have even seen twice over the years.  I have also seen musicals at the Convention Center with the Broadway series, on Broadway in New York, and at the Hult Conventional Center in Eugene, Oregon.     

The one musical I would love to see again that hasn’t come back to the Music Circus since 1999 is The Secret Garden.  Every year I wait for the new shows and every year I feel a small twinge of disappointment that The Secret Garden is not on the list.  I have very much enjoyed every production I have seen in the last 17 years yet I would still love to see The Secret Garden again.  I was thrilled to see it was listed on the survey this year.  I feel this musical has a little something for everyone.  When I was most recently at the Music Circus, I asked a crew member why this loveable production has not been in the musical line-up recently.  She explained to me this musical used to be one for the children before Music Circus decided it was a little too dark for a children’s musical.  While that is certainly understandable, I do not see why this fantastic musical hasn’t been brought back at all since 1999. 

When I explained this to my mom and grandmother during intermission at Anything Goes, my mom agreed the story line of The Secret Garden is a little too mature for young kids.  She went on to tell me that she felt Kiss Me Kate was a little too risqué for my brother and I when we went as a family to the production on Broadway.  At the time, I was twelve and my brother was eight.  I asked why she thought this, especially since we had seen The Phantom of the Opera the night before.  “Phantom was just scary”, she said, “in Kiss Me Kate, she sings ‘I’m always true to you, darling, in my fashion’, goes on to sing about 100 different guys, all while wearing a blue negligee.”  That’s a good point, I guess.  “But Mom,” I said, “I would rather learn about the world from a Broadway musical than from some of the music, television shows, and movies out there today.”  In a world that can’t have a single caption on a television or movie screen for more than 4 seconds, where eight year olds have cell phones, and where humans are being replaced with computers, I believe musical theater is something to be appreciated and cherished.  It’s true that some musicals are for a more mature audience than others, but the importance is in the art.  The Music Circus has been captivating audiences for 61 years.  They have kept the art alive through fantastic productions.  Even in our economic climate today, I was surprised to see an almost full house at Anything Goes.   But then I realized that the Music Circus has affected numerous people.  Everyone at that performance has a story like mine; a story of how the Music Circus has impacted their life in some way. 

This started off as a letter to convince you to put The Secret Garden into the 2012 Music Circus line-up.  And while I would still love for that to happen, I know I will not be disappointed with the shows you end up choosing.  In closing, I would just like to say thank you: thank you for a summer tradition with my family, thank you for the entertainment, and thank you for keeping musical theater alive in Sacramento. 

With kindest regards,

                                                                                                      

Elizabeth A. Ostapeck  

Summer Days!

Well today was the day.  What happened, you might ask?  Nothing terribly special, in fact it was an ordinary Saturday in Sacramento but indeed, something happened.  I went shopping with my mom in the morning, found some good deals, had a terrific lunch, and went to Starbucks to work for awhile.  And then, it happened.  What I had been putting off.  What I had put on the back-burner. What I didn't want to think about.

I finally finished unpacking from France.

It was difficult but with all of my effort, I hoisted my suitcase up and dumped it's contents (skirts, shirts, scarves, glow sticks, papers, maps, public transportation tickets, 1 chest x-ray and more) onto my bed, zipped up the suitcase took it out of my room and began the dreadful process.  And hour and a half later it was done.  There were no signs of France in my room.  All of my French clothes hung up or shoved in draws, all of my maps and souvenirs neatly put away with my books, and the last of my euro stowed away in a coin pouch.

It's a sad day my friends.

But nevertheless, it needed to happen and now it's time to move on.  And I have been moving on, which is why it took me so long to complete this task in the first place.  I have been all over the place, Oregon, Sacramento, the bay area and have spent all of my free time with friends, family, or searching for that next step in my life.  And what fun it has been!

Since I wrote last, I have been up to Bend, Oregon one more time. We watched Stephen START in a game last Thursday.  That's right, he is a starter now.  So proud!  The Bend Elks did great last weekend and we had so much fun as always (even with a rain delay)!

Double Rainbow

Storm clouds moving away

San Diego chicken was the entertainment of the night

And this week, Sarah and I had our fun at the California State Fair!  Along with her roommate, we had a day of fun in the sun, walking around the exhibits, seeing the hypnotist, and visiting the midway at night!  And no trip to the fair would be complete without outrageous fair food!  And we definitely had our share!

Have to take a picture with the Golden Bear

Love this pic by the frog fountain!

Another Golden Bear!

Floriculture exhibition complete with live parrot

Deep fried twinkie. That was lame compared to...

Chocolate Covered Bacon!! Yummy!

Midway at night

Parting view

Add in a few bike rides, lunches with friends, a lot of job hunting, and way too many TV marathons and there goes my month of July.  Summer is going by fast and I cannot believe I have been home for almost 2 months. Life isn't going to slow up anytime soon either! And I wouldn't have it any other way!

C'est la belle vie!

Home sweet home!

Well after 36 hours of straight traveling, I finally made it home last Thursday.  It was an interesting trip to say the least as trans-Atlantic flights generally are.  There were so many little things that I was so nervous about but now that it's over I can finally breathe.

First of all, meet my traveling companions:

so not fun lugging these guys around

After taking the train to Paris, I took a taxi to the airport, flew to Iceland (no volcano problems, in fact Iceland was beautiful!), flew to Seattle, (saw Greenland on the way, which was also beautiful), and finally made it through customs and caught the shuttle to my hotel.  AND with all with my luggage that weighed more than I do.  Then, I met up with Chris in Seattle and we went to go see Pirates!  On my flight from Seattle, I saw the beautiful Crater Lake (covered in snow as if it was February) and...

Mount Shasta from the plane

So far since I have been home, I have been having a blast!  My second night back, I went to the Wrangler with some friends.  Nothing to welcome someone back to the United States then a country bar with a live band.  The next night was something I have been looking forward to for months: the sleepover with my friends from high school!  We went out to dinner first and then went back to Jenna's house for some drinks and time to catch up.  So wonderful to see everyone and be all together one last time before Justine leaves for 2 years!

the girls with our friendship bracelets! 

friends

taryn, sarah, and justine

jenna and me

Sunday, I was invited wine tasting with Justine and her family for her Dad's birthday.  So we took a short day trip up to Napa and went chocolate tasting and wine tasting.  The chocolate fair was amazing.  I have never had chocolate that good in my life.  And then we visited Domain Chandon for some sparkling wine.  It was a little overcast as it has been for the last week but still a wonderful day with good company. 

with my bestie

hanging out with the wind-chimes

rock made out of wine-bottles

inspired by france

hanging out at Domain Chandon

at the front entrance

And that's just the beginning, I have a lot of exciting plans for this week!  It's good to be home.  I miss France but I am really enjoying being home and spending time with my family and friends!  One adventure is over and another is just beginning!

C'est la belle vie! 

Last Weekend Home

For my last weekend home, my parents threw me a "Bon Voyage" party with a lot of friends and family.  We planned it for awhile and everything turned out great!

My roommate from college, Katelyn, decided to fly down for the event and I picked her up from the airport on Friday night.  After getting things ready for the party Friday, we got to bed early in order to get up early and finish getting ready for the party.  Saturday morning we went helped my mom by going to the bread store and putting some of the food together.  People starting arriving around 1.  My mom had a brilliant idea for the party:  She printed everyone's name on tiny labels and attached them to pins.  We attached giant maps of the United States and the World to cork board and had everyone pin the states and countries they had been to.  It was really fun for the guests and fun to see where everyone had traveled to.  Props, Mom.  That was a great idea.

The party went great.  I think people had a lot of fun.  It was wonderful to see people I hadn't seen in awhile and talk with old friends.

Justine, Jenna, and Me

Uncle Dave, Grannie, Bruce, and Me

All of the girls

Alex, Aaron, and Ella - The cutest neighbors ever!

After the party, the Duck game was on TV.  Sydney, Ally, Alyssa, Katelyn, and I went to Streets of London pub to watch the game.  We were very loud and cheered at all of the touchdowns.  Ducks won (naturally). 

After going back home to change and go out, we went out with all of the girls that night.  Because none of us live in Sacramento anymore, we were unaware of the popular event called Second Saturday.  Apparently, on every Second Saturday in Sacramento is the day that everyone goes out and walks around downtown at night. It was the largest crowd I have seen in downtown Sacramento.  We walked around and ended up going back to Streets of London.  We ran into a few friends at the bar but generally hung out with each other. Little did we know the exciting part of the night was yet to come.  Just after midnight, there was a shooting on the same block the bar was on.  Luckily, we were on the patio of the bar which was in a small alcove off the main sidewalk of the street.  We got inside right away and made plans to leave soon after.  We were surprised by how calm we were at the time.  It was a frightening experience but we stayed safe and with each other.  We all got home safely, thanks to Zac and Sarah (Justine's brother and his girlfriend) who drove us that night. 

Sunday was a pretty quite day.  Katelyn and I went shopping, and then came home to relax and watch a movie.  After dinner, I had to drive her to the airport for her flight home.  I was so happy she was able to come and I got to see her one last time before I left for France. 

It was a great, wonderful, fabulous last weekend at home.  I am so thankful for all of the wonderful people in my life.  I know with the great support system I have that I can do anything.  I feel truly blessed and loved with this many amazing people in my life.  I will try to get in one more post before I leave.  Only 2 more full days.  Can't believe it's here already! 

C'est la bonne vie pour moi!  :)