"Call of the Wild" movie review

Went and saw "Call of the Wild" this weekend with my sweetie.  It's been over 40 years since I read the book.  I must say, although there were per force significant changes from book to movie.  However I feel the spirit of the original work is well served by this movie.  The human actors did an excellent job. This was expected considering who they are. The really unexpected thing was the reality of the CGI animals.  "Buck", the star of the film, was amazingly rendered with pathos and comedy and passion. All the animals were well done. I found the film exciting and touching, as did most of the other attendees. I'm sure producers will be in line at the Academy Awards.

Happy New Year's Eve Eve

Okay, partiers:  one more day until the New Year's Eve murder mystery radio show, "A Murder for Auld Lang Syne". We're working to get everything ready here for the live audience: tables, chairs, set-ups, etc.  But since we can only fit around 65 folks in the Nickel Manor (48 at tables, the rest in chairs alone), I suggest if you're coming, get here early.  We've got reservations for about 20 already! Tickets are $10 at the door only...first come-- first served.

Doors open at 6:00 PM (CST) and the broadcast/live stream begins at 7:00 PM (CST).

If listening in is your preference, there are 4 choices for the live broadcast:

• 93.5 FM Smooth Rock  [East Texas, USA]
• Facebook @ John Lamb
• Twitch  @ PART_501
• YouTube @ Nickel Manor

The last three will host the cast recorded so you can watch (or re-watch) starting at 11:00 PM so that the countdown at the end of the performance coincides with the actual New Year's countdown.  Cool, huh?

Coming on February 8, 2020 we'll be turning the place into a Comedy Club. Keep watching the Nickel Manor Facebook page and here for more details.

P.A.R.T. live radio theater streaming to a device near you

The reborn Palestine Area Radio Theater has another broadcast coming up for New Year's Eve, 2019 at 7:00 PM Central time.  We're doing an original work titled "A Murder For Auld Lang Syne".  It hearkens back a bit to the style of the 1930's detective movies and novels although it's set in modern day Texas.
There will also be an "encore presentation" starting at 11:00 PM streaming only (for now).

It will be broadcast live-

• on radio (Smooth Rock 93.5 fm) 
• with a studio audience (at 501 Avenue A, Palestine, TX)  

and live streamed over-

• Twitch (PART_501), 
• YouTube (we're having an issue with YouTube right now. TBA), and 
• FaceBook (John Lamb).  

This will unfortunately be the last broadcast over Smooth Rock 93.5 FM as they are being sold to a Houston Christian Talk Radio Ministry.  The local country station won't carry us (for now), so after this we may be only live streamed.  That will certainly change our advertising strategies.

Tune in, won't you?

"A Tuna Christmas" at Palestine Community Theatre

Done.  Over.  Off the boards.  Another one for the books...
Our Bubble's burst....The end of the line...Saya Nora...Twenty one skiddoo...

"A Tuna Christmas" at the Texas Theater in downtown Palestine, Texas was a joy to behold...finally.
Truthfully, I struggled with lines this time around, and as a consequence, so did my cast-mate, Gerry.
If you don't get the right cue line, it's hard to get the right response.  BUT in the end we got it.  The "Tuna Helpers" as we call our dresses, were phenomenal..

Attendance was good, with houses over 200 at times.  It was a pleasure here at the end of things. We were glad it was over and we could get back to our lives.  But we'll miss some of the 22 people we've been in the last few weeks.

Good show, wish I could recommend it, but it's gone.  Red, White, and Tuna anyone?

Tin Woman at Palestine Community Theatre

On October 6, 2017 we will open a new play at the Texas Theater here in Palestine.  Directed by Carol Moore, it's Tin Woman, by Sean Grennan.

Tin Woman is the story, based on a truth, of 5 people- a heart transplant recipient, the heart donor, and the donor's family.  The donor, Jack, is understandably very quiet during almost all of the play due to being...well...dead.  There are flashbacks of him that serve as poignant reminders of his humanity.  Joy, the recipient is in emotional turmoil as happens a lot in this type of surgery; "Why me?"  Jack's family, father Hank, mother Alice, and sister Sammy are in pain.  The loss of a child is one of the most painful things parents can go through:  the grieving process- a torture. This story is the story of their journey of healing, with Jack as silent witness to their torment.

But this is not a ghost story.  It is the story of the living.  It is the story of love and healing and forgiveness.  As the title suggests, both literally and figuratively,  the Tin Woman finally finds her heart.

We're in the final stages of rehearsal rolling up to opening night in a handful of days.  There is laughing, crying, and more than a little hoping... and I'm just talking about the cast here!

Jack...................Brandon Haygood
Joy.....................Katherine Newton
Hank..................Jim Vincill
Alice..................Dr Jan Sikes
Sammy...............Shannon Smith
Nurse/Darla.......Sandy Webb
Stage Crew........John Lamb and Laura Richardson (with subst Kathy Lamb)
Tech Crew.........Roy and Chaudra Dantin
Asst Director.....Sharie Bailey
Director.............Carol Moore

Showtimes are:
Fridays and Saturdays @ 7:30PM--- Sunday Matinees @ 2:00 PM
October 6, 7, 8 and 13, 14, 15
Opening night celebration begins one hour before curtain.

Addams Family Musical 2016

May 23, 2016

Unlike other places, I've intentionally not posted here in quite a while.  Same reason as before:  Every time I do, people get pissed off, and I really don't like doing that.  Not to be a coward about it, but...well...I'm a coward about that.  But we'll try it again all the same.

This summer, the final two weekends of July 2016 to be precise, Palestine Community Theatre will stage "The Addams Family Musical" based on the old TV show.  I was cast as Gomez Addams after a private audition (I was out of the state during the regular auditions).  It will be a challenging part, but I need a mental challenge.

In this blog, I will try to comment, analyze, and kvetch about the production.  Let's see how many people I piss of this time.

the 39 Steps at HCPAC

2/11/2015

This past Sunday, my wife and I attended the matinee performance of the farcical adaptation of Hitchcock's "The 39 Steps".  We did not know what to expect beforehand.  However, when we noticed in the program that only four actors portrayed all the characters, we knew it had the potential to be fun.  It was.

To begin with-- the four actors:
John Smith plays Richard Hannay, Canadian spending some time in England so that he can become involved in intrigue.  Smith does an excellent job of balancing his role as straight-man with the farcical aspects of the production.  He plays the farce straight up with a twist.

Cassandra Schwantes manages three roles- Annabella (exotic murder victim), Margaret, and Pamela (romantic interest).  She differentiates the characters very well, giving each a life of their own.  He best is Pamela.

Listed in the program as "Clown1 and Clown2" we have T. Gordon Mayhall and Dustin Bartee.  They play everyone else- male and female- sometimes changing roles while still on stage to hilarious effect.  They are the police, the spies, the housekeeper, and the evil spymaster.  They are the innkeeper and his wife, the train employees, and on and on.  They are fun.

The staging was quite creative and the stage crew were absolutely awesome.  Let me name them: Gary McDonlad (coordinator), J Niswonger, Anita Joblin, Teri Kirksey, and Kyra Dawson.  These fine artists created, sometimes in full view of the audience, a wildly changing and amazing set of scenes.  They would slide furniture on from offstage such that the chair came to rest exactly behind the actor already in the motion of sitting down.  There was a riotous nod to "North by Northwest" done in silhouette that blew me away.

Last, and no means least, the director, Marcia Colbert.  Imaginative direction.  Collaborative staging (if the actors are to be believed).  She took on a tough script in a tough space with a small cast and crew.  But with creativity, vision, and obvious passion she turned out a great show.

I highly recommend this production.  It runs for three more shows (Sunday matinee of course).  Athens Little Theater at Henderson County Performing Arts Center is in the black box theater just off Hwy 19 south in Athens, Texas at 400 Gibson Road.  Phone (903) 675-3908

For goodness sake, GO SEE IT!!