So there she was beside me at the computer, this blonde princess, nine going on 25, all involved in my every keystroke, giving directions and carefully watching to be sure I cared properly for her newest birthday possession: a slender thing of beauty, an iPod Nano (a gift from her parents). Together we surveyed the contents of my iTunes library, searching amongst my eclectic music collection for some suitable to be placed in her personal collection residing on the new “toy.”
While some of my suggestions elicited less than enthusiastic responses and knitted brows (as she tried to figure how to not embarrass me and still reject my ideas in the same act), others were met with a happy smile and even excitement. Predictably, the Beatles were required, as was Kenny Loggins. Joining them were danceable songs from Abba, wistful melodies from The Beach Boys, and a couple of her favorite Billy Joel anthems (learned at the knee of her Uncle Jason). We agreed on the proper versions of a couple Blackeyed Peas’ songs, those often demanded at the teen dances her mom and dad are often asked to conduct. After she accepted some Eagles, a couple Carole King ballads and all of her Uncle Jason’s original music, I began to swing and miss. When I saw I wasn’t going to “improve” her music taste with Bruce Springsteen or Frankie Valli, I didn’t even try to foist any Michael McDonald’s motown or Feliciano’s jazz or blues on her.
However, I did something sneaky to her – I added the music and poetry from the TV show, Beauty and the Beast to her library. I told her to wait until it was time for bed to listen to it, adding to the suspense. Imagine her surprise when her heart is filled with the soaring strings, emotional orchestral arrangements and the stirring poetry of Shakespeare, Keats, and Rilke (read brilliantly by Ron Perlman). Since she often retires to Beethoven, jazz, Broadway soundtracks, or offerings from NPR, hearing this won’t be a revolution for my princess, but it will help her on the way to a new appreciation of classic poetry and how music can set the tone and advance a story.
Just as I learned to appreciate music from her Great-Grandmother, the flower girl has a passion for it, earned from her mom and aunt, the music, dance, and movie connoisseurs; from her grandmother, whose XM only seems to play Channel 28 “On Broadway;” and from her Dad and Uncle, whose vocal and instrumental musical talents are remarkable. I imagine her now deceased Great-Uncle Dick, a jazz clarinetist and her Great-Grandfather, an improvisational pianist, are chuckling with pleasure in the beyond. To say that Euterpe, the Muse of Music, inhabits her world and informs her heart, is to state the obvious. And her guardian angels are happy for it.
Don’t miss “The Diviners” onstage at the CCHS Auditorium Thursday (9.14), Friday (9.15), and Saturday (9.16) evenings at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday (9.17) at 2:30 p.m.. Tickets are available at the auditorium in advance or at the door, day of show. With moving dialogue, appealing characters, and true to life emotions, “The Diviners” is funny, poignant and thoughtful. Greige Lott is Buddy Layman, Kurt Warakomski plays his Dad, Ferris. Other cast members include Alex Ruiz (C. C. Showers), Kyle Butler (Basil) and Torria Lewis (Jennie Mae).
The following weekend, our community gets to revisit the cultural treasure that is “Crooked Rivers’ Sisters Three.” This historical, musical trip through the history of Camden County, along the crooked rivers that define our geography and way of life, will be reprised on Sept. 22 and 23 at 7:30 p.m. and Sept. 24 at 2:30 p.m. in the CCHS Auditorium. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students/seniors; they are available at local tourist centers in St. Marys and Kingsland, as well as at the Auditorium and local businesses.
Opportunities for this week and the future: don’t miss local actress Dina Barrone in “Menopause the Musical” Wednesdays through Sundays at TUC until Dec. 17; Theatre Jacksonville offers Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” 8 p.m.; and Players by the Sea open Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic “Pirates of Penzance” 8 p.m.
If you have ideas or events you want me to share with readers, send me a note at pkraack1@tds.net.
9.13.06
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