tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131069847348172682024-02-20T23:47:24.006-08:00Theatre CharlotteThis is the official blog for Theatre Charlotte, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating outstanding theatre opportunities for the people of the Charlotte region.Jackie Timmonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145974039473909929noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-42140488486921110232012-08-31T14:49:00.003-07:002012-08-31T15:11:23.520-07:00A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Something for Every-Bawdy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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From the opening number (“Comedy Tonight”) theatre-goers will know what to expect from <em>A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum:</em> “pantaloons and tunics! Courtesans and eunuchs! Funerals and chases! Baritones and basses! Panderers! Philanderers! Cupidity! Timidity! Mistakes! Fakes! Rhymes! Mimes! Tumblers! Grumblers! Fumblers! Bumblers! No royal curse, no Trojan horse, and a happy ending, of course!” And this is just a sampling of the lyrical gymnastics provided by the genius of Stephen Sondheim who wrote the lyrics and music.</div>
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Everyone knows Sondheim as the foremost living composer/lyricist of American musical theatre. He studied music composition and lyricism literally at the knees of his neighbor, Oscar Hammerstein, III (of Rodgers and Hammerstein). He began his professional career in the fifties, providing lyrics for <i>West Side Story</i> and <i>Gypsy</i>. Since 1957, Sondheim has written music and/or lyrics for nearly two dozen Broadway musicals, with the help of producer/director Harold Prince. Yet, <em>A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum</em> was the first Broadway blockbuster Sondheim enjoyed as both composer and lyricist, followed by a string of hits during the next three decades that included <i>Company</i>, <i>Follies</i>, <i>A Little Night Music</i>, <i>Pacific Overtures</i>, <i>Sunday in the Park with George</i>, <i>Into the Woods</i>, and <i>Passion</i>.</div>
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Nearly everyone also recognizes the name Larry Gelbart as writer of television’s <i>M*A*S*H</i>, but not necessarily as co-writer of this stage comedy’s book. In the early days of television, Larry Gelbart surrounded himself with such comedic powerhouses as Neil Simon, Phil Silvers, Mel Brooks, Sid Caesar, and Ernie Kovaks. Gelbart can be credited with writing comedy scripts for radio, television, and film for over thirty years.</div>
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But who remembers the third member of this creative triumvirate that created <em>A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum?</em> Burt Shevelove collaborated with Gelbart on the libretto for the play back in 1962. Before venturing into such a project with the likes of George Abbott (director) and Hal Prince (producer), Burt Shevelove wrote and directed for the Broadway stage.</div>
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So it is safe to say that <em>A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum</em> is both a forerunner of and follow-up to some amazingly successful entertainment careers. (In fact, who knew in 1966 when casting a young Michael Crawford as Hero that he would one day take Broadway by storm as the Phantom of the Opera.)</div>
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When<em> A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum</em> opened on Broadway in May 1962, it was premeditated to offend all. The burlesque qualities inherent in the play were stolen from a variety of sources that included ancient Greek comedy situations, Shakespearean language, stock characters of Italian commedia dell-arte, bawdy antics of Molierè’s comedy, and American vaudeville, providing ample gags, puns, farcical characters, and broad comedic schtick. One of the most entertaining aspects in the play is its cast of characters. Flesh-vendor Marcus Lycus sets out to sell his collection of courtesans, aptly named Tintinnabula, Panacea, the Gemini twins, Vibrata, and Gymnasia. But more comical than the courtesans are their guardian eunuchs.</div>
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Gelbart and Shevelove borrowed generously from the plays of Roman comedy writer, Plautus (circa 254 184 B.C.), borrowing openly from two of his plays, <i>Miles Gloriosus</i> and <i>Pseudolus</i>. In both <i>A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum</i> and the plays of Plautus, Miles Gloriosus is a braggart soldier, while Pseudolus is a saucy servant. The characters, their situations, and the dialogue are as entertaining today as they were 2,000 years ago.</div>
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Ancient Roman theatre consisted mainly of comedies, presented in an aggressive style at parties, circuses, and animal and gladiator contests. Unlike the Greek comedies, Roman plays were relatively free of cultural rituals, religious odes, serious politics, or worshipful revelry, and they were most often accompanied by musicians. Adapting Plautus’s farcical comedies to the American musical theatre setting is particularly apt, as nearly two-thirds of Plautus’s witty repartee was originally set to music. Knowing this must have given Stephen Sondheim rich fodder for inspiration.</div>
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Typically, all of the action in Roman comedies takes place in the street; so scenes that logically would occur inside are placed out-of-doors. Eavesdropping is common, and many complications hinge on overheard conversations. One hilarious example of this occurs in <i>A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum</i> when father and son find they both want the same young virgin, Philia. They sing a duet (“Impossible”) enumerating each others’ romantic weaknesses. Of course, neither can hear the other as they lament in song, “The situation’s fraught, fraughter than I thought, with horrible, impossible possibilities!” But the lyric show-stopper comes early in the show, when four grown men gather in the street to justify, through song, their collective needs for maid service. They assert that “everybody ought to have a maid! . . . Pattering through the attic, Chattering in the cellar, Clattering in the kitchen, Flattering in the bedroom, . . . Jiggling in the living room, Giggling in the dining-room, Wiggling in the other rooms, Puttering all around the house!” The choreographic possibilities are limitless, especially since the men seem oblivious to an audience!</div>
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Four years after the play’s Broadway success, the film version opened to mixed reviews. The film cast borrowed from the stage’s success, using Zero Mostel as Pseudolus (the slave whose story is being told) and Jack Gilford as Hysterium (Pseudolus’s sidekick). But the film also employed television’s popular comedian Phil Silvers as Marcus Lycus (local vendor of flesh), as well as then-new-comer Michael Crawford as Hero (the young lover). Yet, most poignantly cast was the aging Buster Keaton as the wanderer, Erronius. Keaton, who was known to filmgoers as the enduring star of silent movies, brought the film genuine Vaudevillian manners as a myopic old man searching for his children who were stolen by pirates years ago. Ironically, Keaton died before the film was released, guaranteeing this movie a place in film history archives as Keaton’s last.</div>
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However, slapstick and broad comedic acting in film are distinctly different from the physical antics used in live theatre. With no camera lens to zoom in on a particular bit of schtick, the stage actor must rely on his place within the ensemble, taking into consideration comic timing, audience reaction, blocking, and focus--all technical terms for the artist. And this stage business is what sets the director of live theatre apart from the film director: the spontaneity of the live experience must be sought in each performance. A good director will provide the means for that spontaneity to occur over and over.</div>
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Theatre-goers can expect great things from Theatre Charlotte's production of <em>A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum</em>, including loads of laughs from a great script and score, an outstanding cast, recognizable music with witty lyrics, eye-pleasing sets and lighting designs, and top-notch direction that is sure to include the puns, gags, lechery, and raucousness for which the play has come to be known. You can expect “nothing that’s formal, Nothing that’s normal,” but “stunning surprises” and “cunning disguises”. This show has “something for everybawdy—comedy tonight!”</div>
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<i style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-indent: 0px;"><b>"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" runs at Theatre Charlotte September 7-24. Tickets are available through CarolinaTix at 704-372-1000 or </b></i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px; text-indent: 0.2in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><b><i><a href="http://www.carolinatix.org/default.asp?tix=59&objId=3119">CarolinaTix.org</a>.</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">By Kelli Frost; </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; text-indent: 0.2in;">Adapted from Utah Shakespeare Festival Insights, 1995</span></div>
Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-85927974111596391282012-06-21T16:30:00.001-07:002012-06-21T16:31:28.667-07:00Director's Note: The Odd Couple (Female Version)<i style="background-color: white;">Can two divorced women share an apartment together without driving each other crazy? </i><br />
<br />
If you ask that question in a low serious voice, you may not be able to stop remembering the familiar melody from The Odd Couple TV series. <br />
<br />
My introduction to the play was that TV show, where I loved how opposite the two friends were, and how the difference didn’t make a difference. Their situation, their friends, their whip smart dialogue are all indelible. Maybe you’ve compared these iconic characters to friends in your own lives: “You’re such an Oscar,” “He’s a real Felix,” etc. Fast forward to 1985, when the Good Doctor Neil Simon wrote this version to give, at last, an exploration of how women deal with divorce. It also gave us women a chance to play these plummy parts.<br />
<br />
At Kent State University (alma mater to me and Executive Director Ron Law), I was enrolled in Freshman English and asked to write down on a little card the top three American playwrights. My professor was looking for Williams, Miller, and O’Neill, and scoffed at my card where I’d written only one name, the most prolific and consistently successful writer of our time: Neil Simon. My respect has only deepened in working on this play. <br />
<br />
On behalf of the uncannily good-looking cast and crew, we hope you enjoy peering through the windows into 1985, and our version of this Odd Couple.<br />
<br />
<br />
—Jill Bloede<br />
Director, "The Odd Couple (Female Version)" at Theatre Charlotte<br />
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<i><b>"The Odd Couple (Female Version)" runs at Theatre Charlotte through June 24. Tickets are available through CarolinaTix at 704-372-1000 or <a href="http://www.carolinatix.org/default.asp?tix=59&objId=2571" style="background-color: white;">http://www.carolinatix.org/default.asp?tix=59&objId=2571</a></b></i>Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-23075455647230582242012-05-23T07:11:00.001-07:002012-05-23T07:11:48.935-07:00Director's Note: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling BeeAny of my former students will tell you “Mr. Delamar loves words.”
Vocabulary games, meanings, sentences, writing, correct spelling.
Before retiring, this “old school” educator even held out for quality
legible penmanship! What better play for me to direct than this one,
right?<br />
<br />
Having worked as a NC public school teacher in elementary and middle
grades for 30 years, I have a longtime respect, love and appreciation
for young people working through the challenges of those ages. Children
are searching for acceptance among their peers. They want to be heard
when they speak, to feel smart, to be taken seriously, especially by the
adults in their lives. Making their loved ones proud is a driving
motivation.<br />
<br />
With these themes explored so beautifully in “The 25th Annual Putnam
County Spelling Bee,” I encouraged the actors playing the young spellers
to “find the adult in the child” they are playing, not to be afraid to
let the adult show through as they transform themselves to a much
younger self. As funny and quirky as they are—Chip, Schwarzy, Leaf,
Marcy, Barfee, and Olive deserve respect and credence, just like all our
children do. These characters represent so much about growing up, a
sweet innocence but also a realistic awareness of so much.<br />
<br />
Thank you for going back to school with us at Theatre Charlotte.
Welcome to our “feel good” musical where the misfits are the stars and
the winners are you. Special gold stars for our four guest spellers for
being such a good sport and playing with us on stage.<br />
<br />
Dennis Delamar<br />
Director, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” at Theatre Charlotte<br />
<br />
<strong>Theatre Charlotte's production of THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTAM
COUNTY SPELLING BE runs through May 27 Tickets are available through
CarolinaTix at 704-372-1000
or http://www.carolinatix.org/default.asp?tix=59&objId=2570</strong>Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-39841880169260366102012-04-17T13:34:00.004-07:002012-04-17T14:03:29.339-07:00Theatre Thoughts: Our 85th Season<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5BkhCA1mBzTMG1apuvjy_wQk77qGZazPlPwyolyRIedYm_pl-5rjiKK_DH-fJZ2RqFSJp1jszXIusoqHXwBFR6VRg1QzRfDyhO_jvEQ4AXxUfoDjHttDI4zQHBaiWyURrfmFfv24IBIQ/s1600/THEATRETHOUGHTS.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 120px; height: 209px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5BkhCA1mBzTMG1apuvjy_wQk77qGZazPlPwyolyRIedYm_pl-5rjiKK_DH-fJZ2RqFSJp1jszXIusoqHXwBFR6VRg1QzRfDyhO_jvEQ4AXxUfoDjHttDI4zQHBaiWyURrfmFfv24IBIQ/s320/THEATRETHOUGHTS.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732478204634841938" border="0" /></a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>From the little village of Anatevka, Russia to a shabby New York apartment, all the way out on Avenue Q, with stops in 1960s Alabama, Victorian London, 1980s Georgia, and a professor’s home near a small college campus, Theatre Charlotte once again takes you on an incredible theatrical journey during our 2012-2013 season.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Theatre has the power to change lives, and Theatre Charlotte has been changing lives since 1927—85 years and counting! <p class="MsoNormal">During its 85 years, Theatre Charlotte has produced over 450 main stage productions which have been seen by over half a million theatre-goers and utilized the services of thousands of volunteers onstage, backstage and front of house.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>For the 85<sup>th</sup> season, Theatre Charlotte will present five main stage productions and A CHRISTMAS CAROL. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">After several years of trying to secure the performing rights, we finally are able to bring the beloved musical FIDDLER ON THE ROOF to our audiences.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The performing rights had been on hold due to a successful multi-year tour which finally came to an end in time.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>At one time, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF was the longest running production in Broadway history, featuring a wonderful score highlighted by “Tradition,” “If I Were a Rich Man,” and “Sunrise, Sunset.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This timeless musical has always finished at or near the top of our annual audience surveys.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Vito Abate directs, with Lisa Blanton choreographing and Ryan Deal as music director.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Our second production of the season is the regional premiere of John Ball’s IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, adapted by Matt Pelfrey.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is based on the award-winning book that inspired the Oscar-winning film (starring Rod Steiger and Sidney Poitier) and the Emmy-winning television series (starring Carroll O’Connor and Howard E. Rollins).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is an intense adult crime drama that is set in a racially-tense community Alabama in 1962.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>A white man is murdered and the local police arrest a black stranger named Virgil Tibbs.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is discovered that Tibbs is actually a homicide detective from California and he becomes the community’s main hope in solving the brutal murder.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This absorbing drama will be directed by Dave Blamy.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In December, Theatre Charlotte’s holiday tradition, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, is back for the sixth consecutive year.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is the classic tale of hard-hearted Ebenezer Scrooge who is visited by the ghost of his late partner, Jacob Marley and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This year, A CHRISTMAS CAROL will be directed by Kevin Campbell, who has played Scrooge at Theatre Charlotte for the past five years.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Our January production is just “dad-gum” funny.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is Larry Shue’s THE FOREIGNER and is set in a fishing lodge in Georgia.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>An incredibly shy Englishman, Charlie Baker, is visiting the lodge and is too embarrassed to talk to anyone so he adopts the persona of a foreigner who doesn’t understand English.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>When the other people at the lodge begin to speak freely around him, he hears many things he is not supposed to-secrets both frivolous and dangerous.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The cast includes the 70-year old owner of the lodge, a fraudulent preacher, his attractive fiancé, and other memorable comic characters.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Paige Johnston Thomas, the director of Theatre Charlotte’s STEEL MAGNOLIAS, returns to direct this comedy.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In March, Theatre Charlotte is excited to present the tragicomedy, WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? by one of America’s greatest playwrights, Edward Albee.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is the classic dark comedy in which George and Martha take part in a searing night of dangerous fun and games.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The play inspired the award-winning motion picture starring Elizabeth Taylor as Martha and Richard Burton as George.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>With its razor-sharp dialogue and shocking ending, this was a landmark Broadway play that changed the face of American theatre.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The season concludes in May with AVENUE Q, winner of the Tony Awards for Best Musical, Score and Book.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The cast includes puppets and humans and is a funny musical that tells the story of a recent college graduate who moves into a shabby New York apartment out on Avenue Q.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It soon becomes clear that this is not an ordinary neighborhood. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And be advised:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>this play contains full puppet nudity.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I think this is a fabulous line-up to celebrate our 85<sup>th</sup> anniversary season.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We hope you agree and join us for all six of our productions.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We at Theatre Charlotte are proud of our heritage and excited about our future—as we head toward 100 years of presenting outstanding theatre for the people of the Charlotte region.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Season ticket packages for our upcoming season will go on sale Friday, April 20, 2012.<br /></p>Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-47101255258889181382012-03-30T09:17:00.012-07:002012-03-30T10:44:10.670-07:00Around the World with Theatre Charlotte: The Americas<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghXDjSvHaN9xLvZ9lV9jFU1WdtCn7q7ZxwBA8sawMc-g3d_cdPRSKW7FT_gTwBSBoSBxAf9Mw4OJVpAB3PiO_XA4n3VBsFhqNuZsoR8bmDnrgTFzW6btKj7oez4cmS7JROGU-JJA5Bm4w/s1600/madisonblog.png"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 112px; height: 183px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghXDjSvHaN9xLvZ9lV9jFU1WdtCn7q7ZxwBA8sawMc-g3d_cdPRSKW7FT_gTwBSBoSBxAf9Mw4OJVpAB3PiO_XA4n3VBsFhqNuZsoR8bmDnrgTFzW6btKj7oez4cmS7JROGU-JJA5Bm4w/s320/madisonblog.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5717716957869704050" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Madison Culver is a former Charlottean turned globe trotter. Following her recent graduation from Johnson & Wales University, Madison began an embark around the world not dissimilar to the journey Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout take in AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS.</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;font-size:85%;" ><br />Unlike Fogg and Passepartout, however, Madison is in no hurry to complete a multi-continental race. This means she has been able to stop and see all the sights Fogg and Passepartout missed during their journey—and luckily for us, she is taking Theatre Charlotte along for the adventure by exclusively sharing her stories and photos with us, which we will post here weekly during our production of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS.<br /><br />To learn more about Madison, please visit <a href="http://www.wherethewindblowsnow.com/" target="_blank">Where The Wind Blows Now</a>, the blog she started to chronicle her travels and help people find inspiration in the beauty of life.</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Week 4: The Americas</span><br />The Americas--such a big place! From Costa Rica to New York, the Americas have captured my heart.<br /><br />Costa Rica is everything one would think a hispanic country to be. Beautiful scenery, hot nights, spicy food, and dancing...of course. Spanish is a brilliant language; in fact, learning to speak it was probably my favorite part!<br /><br />I could only imagine what New York was like when Mr. Fogg and Passepartout were there. I know for a fact it was far from similar to when I bounced along the streets of New York.<br /><br />Check out what Mr. Fogg and Passepartout missed out:<p></p><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBWkgWEGkFIhyphenhyphen7PXXVDYJgSpL8TwJykSOhrrhlPeIdMLjxzmOe24vOZxx-Lg7HDoQzs4k96cxwV0PWXqYunpLVjj0HdWaA_5ZAjHKnGOe2PViRSfiMBPOjlXSr6SlSFZUXX8sKhqFaxoE/s1600/DSCN0685.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBWkgWEGkFIhyphenhyphen7PXXVDYJgSpL8TwJykSOhrrhlPeIdMLjxzmOe24vOZxx-Lg7HDoQzs4k96cxwV0PWXqYunpLVjj0HdWaA_5ZAjHKnGOe2PViRSfiMBPOjlXSr6SlSFZUXX8sKhqFaxoE/s320/DSCN0685.JPG" border="0" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">from new york city...</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-25WLX8GGCZ_gro4cvYiUjlDASSDbFHZrSReVd0TJo_0Rpw6KiDOhii7m0M5HXZqQ8aUQ_CAj_fc1Tv75objPPvd_ilBRKG61BsgBRc7qlKejLlVMEdkiNdqEm18McThpszt4M7eCj3_T/s1600/DSCN1795.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-25WLX8GGCZ_gro4cvYiUjlDASSDbFHZrSReVd0TJo_0Rpw6KiDOhii7m0M5HXZqQ8aUQ_CAj_fc1Tv75objPPvd_ilBRKG61BsgBRc7qlKejLlVMEdkiNdqEm18McThpszt4M7eCj3_T/s640/DSCN1795.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...to jaco, costa rica!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMErAlagEsfaJAR6HJnv-WkvLBwXjKYecs9Cz8qipg6SaJY3KRekmfpRDOb__mDXOFw5z1o8-CIPEzdp11pzrU9YKXNIfAEgko3KsiwPka9SkSchncK0rhrCI8XbvyZepy1vCBnyjIoPxB/s1600/DSC_0697.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMErAlagEsfaJAR6HJnv-WkvLBwXjKYecs9Cz8qipg6SaJY3KRekmfpRDOb__mDXOFw5z1o8-CIPEzdp11pzrU9YKXNIfAEgko3KsiwPka9SkSchncK0rhrCI8XbvyZepy1vCBnyjIoPxB/s640/DSC_0697.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbn9n4-VqLsd3x0z1rT9ocO9mxwwjHLREj3a6oBXd-4MOwu507CNmmjnh0ZS_zno-tC59ou-5P211ZkYUKxKKmf1CcZGSIlM4Cpl0M30lDaN1Apqlw1nW6QTf83ZdtvcVFRjCthDDZ_F_B/s1600/DSC_0711.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbn9n4-VqLsd3x0z1rT9ocO9mxwwjHLREj3a6oBXd-4MOwu507CNmmjnh0ZS_zno-tC59ou-5P211ZkYUKxKKmf1CcZGSIlM4Cpl0M30lDaN1Apqlw1nW6QTf83ZdtvcVFRjCthDDZ_F_B/s640/DSC_0711.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgycPP1mOIUtbkjcdj8XEYcXPhFV0NOLj60dZto-4Vj_RQqeU5LluC4q7yD70L-iGoz0jUOASskczaHQma2HB4CjtluIeBFr2-eA2UoExBH21ufjO9HgPwZd58aeyLDM4l9XZGFuGKH1Yqt/s1600/DSC_0678.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgycPP1mOIUtbkjcdj8XEYcXPhFV0NOLj60dZto-4Vj_RQqeU5LluC4q7yD70L-iGoz0jUOASskczaHQma2HB4CjtluIeBFr2-eA2UoExBH21ufjO9HgPwZd58aeyLDM4l9XZGFuGKH1Yqt/s640/DSC_0678.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcPIKQt4kpro9ckCHw4nA3ZfSIlTtzZUj3WRccQ8h8kpSci-UwYYOXMjBzhr-dnbcpS09heULHrZGBK17dTYu_1HCU0nY3cGbhdFhmpkAYLD1vk67XfE-PWkU_01lbrxLyeZzg_jivT8C7/s1600/DSC_0715.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcPIKQt4kpro9ckCHw4nA3ZfSIlTtzZUj3WRccQ8h8kpSci-UwYYOXMjBzhr-dnbcpS09heULHrZGBK17dTYu_1HCU0nY3cGbhdFhmpkAYLD1vk67XfE-PWkU_01lbrxLyeZzg_jivT8C7/s640/DSC_0715.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiib48ro5iuDLn86r4hflrBWNDH_bha2JP9Zmbxh_tqU2yhneut4tpfh66cZTN0S5ly28H-BqcoUeRz_bOV5X80XMvbQ0zwHoYcInuvszwKLPicqPHXEZQ49Tf3UMcBQb-aNlP9SsO6AVVa/s1600/DSC_0732.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiib48ro5iuDLn86r4hflrBWNDH_bha2JP9Zmbxh_tqU2yhneut4tpfh66cZTN0S5ly28H-BqcoUeRz_bOV5X80XMvbQ0zwHoYcInuvszwKLPicqPHXEZQ49Tf3UMcBQb-aNlP9SsO6AVVa/s640/DSC_0732.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></div><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQQJHK3waODfVb8YH0owz2SFrUHJ-n2gpiGcb3wObbFZ9rolxe25xwsmUPIshEoRAFbw7ceYjWslwV1NIeqcKtFLpkY9i5ez0TqYoWcSe5SgVqsLH21caJHHogszKjLIV8oZS1lbb4bMVD/s1600/38041_1306382151681_1594369662_30681379_2778108_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQQJHK3waODfVb8YH0owz2SFrUHJ-n2gpiGcb3wObbFZ9rolxe25xwsmUPIshEoRAFbw7ceYjWslwV1NIeqcKtFLpkY9i5ez0TqYoWcSe5SgVqsLH21caJHHogszKjLIV8oZS1lbb4bMVD/s640/38041_1306382151681_1594369662_30681379_2778108_n.jpg" border="0" width="267" height="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">at it's finest. volcano arenal.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHSWtN8lsF9JDzS_x2nZ_89OgoKbdNzE6KIbPCE1-Hf_NWn66gtUZy5lIhmDbokG1EoxWAHwEWXsQJ6MZ0Nzb1aDpfRIuriYtRAsm7dqk9JY1zZIuJvmlI2rWRj1K-qotmo68J3cPuDFsE/s1600/DSC_0771.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHSWtN8lsF9JDzS_x2nZ_89OgoKbdNzE6KIbPCE1-Hf_NWn66gtUZy5lIhmDbokG1EoxWAHwEWXsQJ6MZ0Nzb1aDpfRIuriYtRAsm7dqk9JY1zZIuJvmlI2rWRj1K-qotmo68J3cPuDFsE/s640/DSC_0771.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">animal sightings in limón.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix-yZLXctzPJlJPvLaZJMouxvfH-fbl-BAuXFK5E_A0g2ekXErxHPhT_XiFbHrM_aOTg6yELUP48Gy8yYW_Eo9jVkDKJzUuaIeG7n1IQfeucotdhyphenhypheni5LwHsDoFsKTu8fUHcSqXTxFgxZVB/s1600/DSC_0800.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix-yZLXctzPJlJPvLaZJMouxvfH-fbl-BAuXFK5E_A0g2ekXErxHPhT_XiFbHrM_aOTg6yELUP48Gy8yYW_Eo9jVkDKJzUuaIeG7n1IQfeucotdhyphenhypheni5LwHsDoFsKTu8fUHcSqXTxFgxZVB/s640/DSC_0800.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicbnKjADcMXamndn-KxLzVXAKAC1T7j1-jQkze_EDdZMqDUS48XYM0WOWKOr4c0hjIvSIpeKSaoDYcxIv5uRZLFmwYmdyXUrtxWnAfeH2gQqlq70y5xslSNJQcHDv7fmiFR8xaDLCif6wE/s1600/DSC_0724.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicbnKjADcMXamndn-KxLzVXAKAC1T7j1-jQkze_EDdZMqDUS48XYM0WOWKOr4c0hjIvSIpeKSaoDYcxIv5uRZLFmwYmdyXUrtxWnAfeH2gQqlq70y5xslSNJQcHDv7fmiFR8xaDLCif6wE/s640/DSC_0724.JPG" border="0" width="267" height="400" /></a></div><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpW0rbUPpRJNjq_SRpK6QcMYyJCosX7Pnws5qP4-ZgMpqpj5u0N7HXqXJjEDQcy4oApRaIp_fTQmlNGDFPPMvLbF1kmvkxXA8Zh6ICiZ3SmvNPxd9_9S5DnA-rOCg0ekFlCfesB7irJAmn/s1600/DSC_0710.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpW0rbUPpRJNjq_SRpK6QcMYyJCosX7Pnws5qP4-ZgMpqpj5u0N7HXqXJjEDQcy4oApRaIp_fTQmlNGDFPPMvLbF1kmvkxXA8Zh6ICiZ3SmvNPxd9_9S5DnA-rOCg0ekFlCfesB7irJAmn/s640/DSC_0710.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">beach life, here in limón, is quite contagious.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG3_xB0My-pbPywoqFCWPUreNc6hBQ5ctrYxJ2vrIOCjO6bzJLtpqOBWVV18w_HjitZ9Fur1wErX2KJBrNyAjJJm86FyOA9hyphenhyphenpgSxezURq7HwKzwjdQdEmPAcYAMRFwyDzh8NxwkDH2UxZ/s1600/DSC_0694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG3_xB0My-pbPywoqFCWPUreNc6hBQ5ctrYxJ2vrIOCjO6bzJLtpqOBWVV18w_HjitZ9Fur1wErX2KJBrNyAjJJm86FyOA9hyphenhyphenpgSxezURq7HwKzwjdQdEmPAcYAMRFwyDzh8NxwkDH2UxZ/s640/DSC_0694.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cahuita</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKLjBKvgobQb3_hc858r7kMc4ivw786UOrUgC21RdFkQXitiffbHyt0EbtlEdyoJtExCL7m7XS2kyeBp8srP0yLO1kWagtozXISUk8k1QpK-d1Q_2ByKCHgoH44LaYcMr0DfS7y0saqMpj/s1600/DSC_0701.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKLjBKvgobQb3_hc858r7kMc4ivw786UOrUgC21RdFkQXitiffbHyt0EbtlEdyoJtExCL7m7XS2kyeBp8srP0yLO1kWagtozXISUk8k1QpK-d1Q_2ByKCHgoH44LaYcMr0DfS7y0saqMpj/s640/DSC_0701.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrO039xeWfICsHMkBcsZRgW6hbzCdFW34MShzJYvayOQ_zcJq_jmcP3An9_tDAr8l7APepC7GHtQF0qEQaW0amVdqrLdJhXPZrK2vhS1-3OEm9wSpBrGgJQytfvIO1oV2afFyLJBZ7rhQE/s1600/DSC_0685.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrO039xeWfICsHMkBcsZRgW6hbzCdFW34MShzJYvayOQ_zcJq_jmcP3An9_tDAr8l7APepC7GHtQF0qEQaW0amVdqrLdJhXPZrK2vhS1-3OEm9wSpBrGgJQytfvIO1oV2afFyLJBZ7rhQE/s640/DSC_0685.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></div><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgySnKZwHGhLLH6HpjQGI-TUMO9TzdKCQoBqWPmNLh4ZW1zaSMVGdkbawEARjQ6-0-CKyjdokmIfcxLLihrv8JwjIfDEApa-AT3yKAWL5defMl74ywQoWarcs78P5G54gv-C-BytEGKey2_/s1600/DSC_0828.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgySnKZwHGhLLH6HpjQGI-TUMO9TzdKCQoBqWPmNLh4ZW1zaSMVGdkbawEARjQ6-0-CKyjdokmIfcxLLihrv8JwjIfDEApa-AT3yKAWL5defMl74ywQoWarcs78P5G54gv-C-BytEGKey2_/s640/DSC_0828.JPG" border="0" width="267" height="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cartago, costa rica's former capital city. its town center boasts a beautiful garden oasis.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilAZTw0smwax5l28o7Bpgu9R4QpyPGyjnkz8gyznvc1mkeM13m5MCpTPkzca-AliueA4HqWe8V7r6Bt_NhFP_Hcwei4bXYRsN-zwKqDjoamJRkXEAam7ajl2jtiCqr_nEzeTEHfWQv8sv-/s1600/DSC_0833.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilAZTw0smwax5l28o7Bpgu9R4QpyPGyjnkz8gyznvc1mkeM13m5MCpTPkzca-AliueA4HqWe8V7r6Bt_NhFP_Hcwei4bXYRsN-zwKqDjoamJRkXEAam7ajl2jtiCqr_nEzeTEHfWQv8sv-/s640/DSC_0833.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjZc-KT0xBP9tDfDRIOcxxI3s7_2y7qgi3KEQfxQJLrBT7mwavi4wrXqnBfE1He_1CHk0SxpRGPLmlaThlHV74PIxJCMcprAb76Ma1dvb40JqhgVqgXchf7VOJzv5_X3H09dhb6ff3hzE9/s1600/DSC_0644.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjZc-KT0xBP9tDfDRIOcxxI3s7_2y7qgi3KEQfxQJLrBT7mwavi4wrXqnBfE1He_1CHk0SxpRGPLmlaThlHV74PIxJCMcprAb76Ma1dvb40JqhgVqgXchf7VOJzv5_X3H09dhb6ff3hzE9/s640/DSC_0644.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgFL_G4JNwTydzEjVclOnIh70BtAxtEdyUKlNeLcRuAmTVUIy8Q0dIXTU1aZ7V_bYKSvC8l-bNEleR7QHnuWKZMVvMG28s1DgrltJxltX35U-JJNQeg6LWAAXEUsVZlVqgFli9g8KoQVna/s1600/DSC_0639.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgFL_G4JNwTydzEjVclOnIh70BtAxtEdyUKlNeLcRuAmTVUIy8Q0dIXTU1aZ7V_bYKSvC8l-bNEleR7QHnuWKZMVvMG28s1DgrltJxltX35U-JJNQeg6LWAAXEUsVZlVqgFli9g8KoQVna/s640/DSC_0639.JPG" border="0" width="267" height="400" /></a></div><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_2XO0dx_V1Rn4PtLfHOtpwAYXDWouf2KpGluPre5WFpVcDsCNTH-G6V38dYMtKMel3cGQsRoZMoArRqaKbG87sz_7k5LY7gzmqLiplXIA_YFzAypgnaTcL8AZlxccw2bi8VuiTPg6kIM_/s1600/DSC_0694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_2XO0dx_V1Rn4PtLfHOtpwAYXDWouf2KpGluPre5WFpVcDsCNTH-G6V38dYMtKMel3cGQsRoZMoArRqaKbG87sz_7k5LY7gzmqLiplXIA_YFzAypgnaTcL8AZlxccw2bi8VuiTPg6kIM_/s640/DSC_0694.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">zacero. this small town hosts interesting topiary arches and figures in its city center. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj5yLJ8UNTwdL5aFC5VyMrQLpwYnHFjtViNdezQz09pglOB3-XE6wyzvxlk7uovIaMQtoFhgzJVXZBvz5rlTXrgjSr_Q1cVMdiaG92JNbPYdm8oyUIucznvjaVn2bjM7h4Dy-dhop_H30f/s1600/DSC_0706.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj5yLJ8UNTwdL5aFC5VyMrQLpwYnHFjtViNdezQz09pglOB3-XE6wyzvxlk7uovIaMQtoFhgzJVXZBvz5rlTXrgjSr_Q1cVMdiaG92JNbPYdm8oyUIucznvjaVn2bjM7h4Dy-dhop_H30f/s640/DSC_0706.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">some of the faces that one will find in zacero.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv_4gIQ0mn3L2lw_8wryB3g5NU3Ced_aXF2j_55fgu_OFeM6g8JOPX_PTYf-PPn7_2E-ZTBqKvIjZiZQjIA3NSDL7kIYkTtVG7PzpGtZRN2PwYyoqiuBUWYM2JSkrv1rDeOHXOD2dZ_BLT/s1600/DSC_0659.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv_4gIQ0mn3L2lw_8wryB3g5NU3Ced_aXF2j_55fgu_OFeM6g8JOPX_PTYf-PPn7_2E-ZTBqKvIjZiZQjIA3NSDL7kIYkTtVG7PzpGtZRN2PwYyoqiuBUWYM2JSkrv1rDeOHXOD2dZ_BLT/s640/DSC_0659.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">i must have a thing for cemeteries. i always seem to find one, and once i'm there you can't get me to leave. this cemetery is 600 meters from my house, so i can visit it as frequently as i want. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCbjg8MQ-YmSuz2W6ekzxebJDGfVqbSAcFwj1w4TOBuCeJhOBIT29M2jIfZxnJZsuiVZQYdd6vYsKWntiW76vdPP_KYgpDmYbSRoRtzWFzpfYfwuMvQr-GHYX9EchALV9Enz5ILqN8zSMl/s1600/DSC_0646.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCbjg8MQ-YmSuz2W6ekzxebJDGfVqbSAcFwj1w4TOBuCeJhOBIT29M2jIfZxnJZsuiVZQYdd6vYsKWntiW76vdPP_KYgpDmYbSRoRtzWFzpfYfwuMvQr-GHYX9EchALV9Enz5ILqN8zSMl/s640/DSC_0646.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv0049BowZ3dBnOxkOPvhKdgo0v3_ZfXHHz6AGuIDFuBzagDbGzc84zYujVY6wfYgrOFLWDPW6lkapbXRDREehAQpf27NN30xdOFAeNA-lfy2_1O_kkVNyAiQJz2GhGsywCF9ozUIwMLDm/s1600/DSC_0669.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv0049BowZ3dBnOxkOPvhKdgo0v3_ZfXHHz6AGuIDFuBzagDbGzc84zYujVY6wfYgrOFLWDPW6lkapbXRDREehAQpf27NN30xdOFAeNA-lfy2_1O_kkVNyAiQJz2GhGsywCF9ozUIwMLDm/s640/DSC_0669.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></div><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0AeC6GIgI7LJboCYGz8X-4D-drl9QCygsEG2OmfqQGFQe937T3zzS_Br3GyFIduMU6TCtmDJU6OGO7s_UU1HqH8XMFvHyGWuv5j5qVrG5wSDCQlczhBNTap2GCqzgNXaQYe3An_u5KVnU/s1600/DSC_0644.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0AeC6GIgI7LJboCYGz8X-4D-drl9QCygsEG2OmfqQGFQe937T3zzS_Br3GyFIduMU6TCtmDJU6OGO7s_UU1HqH8XMFvHyGWuv5j5qVrG5wSDCQlczhBNTap2GCqzgNXaQYe3An_u5KVnU/s640/DSC_0644.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">black crow.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAbOL94hCeOIhSW3oet9GCl2D8s5GCQPoOtO0lNiFk4s-0hufd42oWTzYTmyi3xBkUEL6k9X_VcHruIgItQPVVTFATXj5KsqzOLRthvURyzhBSgnMH_oMf3B3wVepLbCtb5bYDj9dKETip/s1600/DSC_0633.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAbOL94hCeOIhSW3oet9GCl2D8s5GCQPoOtO0lNiFk4s-0hufd42oWTzYTmyi3xBkUEL6k9X_VcHruIgItQPVVTFATXj5KsqzOLRthvURyzhBSgnMH_oMf3B3wVepLbCtb5bYDj9dKETip/s640/DSC_0633.JPG" border="0" width="267" height="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my hammock. where i choose to reside most of the time. let's see where the wind will blow us next...</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Theatre Charlotte's production of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS runs through April 1. Tickets are available through CarolinaTix at 704-372-1000 or <a href="http://www.carolinatix.org/default.asp?tix=59&objId=2569" target="_blank">CarolinaTix.org</a>.</span></blockquote>Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-47092032329711918912012-03-26T09:58:00.001-07:002012-03-26T10:02:17.292-07:00Director's Note: Around The World In 80 DaysThere is nothing like travel to change your perspective. You learn things about yourself and the world. Phileas Fogg begins his incredible journey on a bet and, despite his precise calculations, learns there is more to life than mathematics. <br /><br />We are all on a journey. We are all racing the clock. It is these adventures along the way that make the journey worth taking, and these characters you meet, however briefly, that impact your life. And if your journey doesn’t change you, well then…you are not alive.<br /><br />This is an expedition of epic proportions and we really want you to take this journey with us. You are the final component in making this trip happen. We only have 5 actors and a few set pieces—no fancy stage tricks, no CGI, no computers, no cell phones, just some actors telling a story. In order to go aound the world we need you and your imagination.<br /><br />Have fun, ride the ride.<br /><br />-Nicia Carla<br />Director, “Around The World In 80 Days” at Theatre Charlotte<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Theatre Charlotte's production of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS runs through April 1. Tickets are available through CarolinaTix at 704-372-1000 or <a href="http://www.carolinatix.org/default.asp?tix=59&objId=2569" target="_blank">CarolinaTix.org</a>.</span>Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-32685800798525811702012-03-23T10:52:00.015-07:002012-03-23T12:37:54.705-07:00Around the World with Theatre Charlotte: Asia<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghXDjSvHaN9xLvZ9lV9jFU1WdtCn7q7ZxwBA8sawMc-g3d_cdPRSKW7FT_gTwBSBoSBxAf9Mw4OJVpAB3PiO_XA4n3VBsFhqNuZsoR8bmDnrgTFzW6btKj7oez4cmS7JROGU-JJA5Bm4w/s1600/madisonblog.png"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 112px; height: 183px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghXDjSvHaN9xLvZ9lV9jFU1WdtCn7q7ZxwBA8sawMc-g3d_cdPRSKW7FT_gTwBSBoSBxAf9Mw4OJVpAB3PiO_XA4n3VBsFhqNuZsoR8bmDnrgTFzW6btKj7oez4cmS7JROGU-JJA5Bm4w/s320/madisonblog.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5717716957869704050" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Madison Culver is a former Charlottean turned globe trotter. Following her recent graduation from Johnson & Wales University, Madison began an embark around the world not dissimilar to the journey Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout take in AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS.</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;font-size:85%;" ><br />Unlike Fogg and Passepartout, however, Madison is in no hurry to complete a multi-continental race. This means she has been able to stop and see all the sights Fogg and Passepartout missed during their journey—and luckily for us, she is taking Theatre Charlotte along for the adventure by exclusively sharing her stories and photos with us, which we will post here weekly during our production of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS.<br /><br />To learn more about Madison, please visit <a href="http://www.wherethewindblowsnow.com/" target="_blank">Where The Wind Blows Now</a>, the blog she started to chronicle her travels and help people find inspiration in the beauty of life.</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Week 3: Asia</span><br />I got quite a taste of Asia traveling through Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. Out of the three countries I visited, I enjoyed Thailand the greatest! It has something for every traveler--crowed party places, mountain trekking, and even remote beaches. I happened to get a dose of each scene.<p class="MsoNormal">Coming in second place is…Vietnam! It wasn’t quite as backpacker friendly as Thailand (loads of package holiday set-ups), but nonetheless an extremely good time. I arrived in Hanoi in mid February, the whether being particularly chilly caused me to move further south. There, I found the tropical environment my bones ached for.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Laos was interesting. I can’t really give a great review because my partner was dreadfully ill the majority of the time spent here. Needless to say, I wasn’t bopping around everywhere, but I did happen to stumble upon some very cool stuff. Here, see for yourself…</p><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL4pIXPKVmB_bY2-BxPs7or856OsXKNDCMBAQKtOHaCkILdRuJvU-q9eu-nTkmnhtTYtVl-nlS2H6dJfVcD-rO_T019Hn08QBgBioTfZ04WfZ_atWZ1XJ47qQYhgUcj21sbsmdm8t_DzGZ/s1600/DSC_0439.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL4pIXPKVmB_bY2-BxPs7or856OsXKNDCMBAQKtOHaCkILdRuJvU-q9eu-nTkmnhtTYtVl-nlS2H6dJfVcD-rO_T019Hn08QBgBioTfZ04WfZ_atWZ1XJ47qQYhgUcj21sbsmdm8t_DzGZ/s640/DSC_0439.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">china town in bangkok, thailand.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOmVnra4blj6WvnKftpeec21ZtqZPr-ahCRiZysulZRlyIa5At_5e128K4qIh80l1kNRNTR6wx5i91JQl-Q-q6Kw46E8f_ylBh8G8bJl4Aj2RVWiioXD0joDuZ_CCaaAw-VvUnbVFbl2K6/s1600/DSC_0443.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOmVnra4blj6WvnKftpeec21ZtqZPr-ahCRiZysulZRlyIa5At_5e128K4qIh80l1kNRNTR6wx5i91JQl-Q-q6Kw46E8f_ylBh8G8bJl4Aj2RVWiioXD0joDuZ_CCaaAw-VvUnbVFbl2K6/s640/DSC_0443.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></div><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdqGd8i_sz2U8tvgun02f1yd1nd7ZTA8XDm3_TN8DWt94jsOKmSGOH1dgp6Tq9uNGXv_Qyy8G4Fkjhb3IMBlC82YQriofpW8yioWY5MDcR_Xwphz0e_hiZDT1Y-7BaIheVfSL_LbFtZXWu/s1600/IMG_2622.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdqGd8i_sz2U8tvgun02f1yd1nd7ZTA8XDm3_TN8DWt94jsOKmSGOH1dgp6Tq9uNGXv_Qyy8G4Fkjhb3IMBlC82YQriofpW8yioWY5MDcR_Xwphz0e_hiZDT1Y-7BaIheVfSL_LbFtZXWu/s640/IMG_2622.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="299" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">chiang mai's ladyboys.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnP9IFhGyZ6rLHbqqQOACeyX9CGVzk966JojaJm7JL5b1VJO2SBLRYl9t2DwCfn6bKFq6e-lwzZgDlQfVHoFgr-kQYxUoHQJWHdLOnM5tl4fJWCezAMsRC34hUwf8Bb2YCEFFx1GcIaKIK/s1600/DSC_0426.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnP9IFhGyZ6rLHbqqQOACeyX9CGVzk966JojaJm7JL5b1VJO2SBLRYl9t2DwCfn6bKFq6e-lwzZgDlQfVHoFgr-kQYxUoHQJWHdLOnM5tl4fJWCezAMsRC34hUwf8Bb2YCEFFx1GcIaKIK/s640/DSC_0426.JPG" border="0" width="267" height="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHUL47d6Am5nM25BdYCa0BUvh6qaHlzb7WExtFYK1BDCRyz88k3X87Rmyj1CFBBZvB0HZJ0ktMseZ3fhu03ljSptCyd8bj0DqY_wo87Y-sFgOvtJprcQMIUGX9kXo1k8h_q-JWDQoa1sB/s1600/DSC_0428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHUL47d6Am5nM25BdYCa0BUvh6qaHlzb7WExtFYK1BDCRyz88k3X87Rmyj1CFBBZvB0HZJ0ktMseZ3fhu03ljSptCyd8bj0DqY_wo87Y-sFgOvtJprcQMIUGX9kXo1k8h_q-JWDQoa1sB/s640/DSC_0428.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></div><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiamkVUu3LKMMtQ5b5nKBrIwX7qkda8RerqPaA-PqwSybhIZwhEnBrijng8f2sF0hkD2Cjn7cpYVui5z3rJ66zyoNMz_LjeJh4m2QZtbjs-QRZ5dpZfgQ9tCgF-P6cQU8kUoS2HgdYLSCHN/s1600/DSC_0438.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiamkVUu3LKMMtQ5b5nKBrIwX7qkda8RerqPaA-PqwSybhIZwhEnBrijng8f2sF0hkD2Cjn7cpYVui5z3rJ66zyoNMz_LjeJh4m2QZtbjs-QRZ5dpZfgQ9tCgF-P6cQU8kUoS2HgdYLSCHN/s640/DSC_0438.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">young rice paddies.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfvl1vMuA6NfDTIjD6hz6zrSTm6YHEM10Rj3jrkPW2Gd9zcJY6nfh6l-FZoZHxGyeLKxk38GJKCykWig-SOr0JsqTYqzX2-JeM-HBiCBafFW4uagHYu1QScVpRm-r1qmHjsuE-WA5lqj__/s1600/IMG_2405.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfvl1vMuA6NfDTIjD6hz6zrSTm6YHEM10Rj3jrkPW2Gd9zcJY6nfh6l-FZoZHxGyeLKxk38GJKCykWig-SOr0JsqTYqzX2-JeM-HBiCBafFW4uagHYu1QScVpRm-r1qmHjsuE-WA5lqj__/s640/IMG_2405.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">rubber trees in koh lanta!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSa4wiQ0qRBIR5bsfcz9MNP_pQO446aWDe1UYuCv_tNmJis-xylO60uidZQVB-VuTRoY3_w0rTnj0bWaCD704M9nPixtlDuz-AoGYlZvCdenir30ywQheFXX91OA9SYEpK_vxdqj7ZIUeN/s1600/DSC_0392.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSa4wiQ0qRBIR5bsfcz9MNP_pQO446aWDe1UYuCv_tNmJis-xylO60uidZQVB-VuTRoY3_w0rTnj0bWaCD704M9nPixtlDuz-AoGYlZvCdenir30ywQheFXX91OA9SYEpK_vxdqj7ZIUeN/s640/DSC_0392.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">latex.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVIhEOZwlXTgTrN4X2_9JcGPq2KKEBWF8bSxxTySTB2aHAEBMd1qlf7c4egBrV4TQ1nRGnlm5M1VUugkbv57Up6nkSoyFrmE6xVaK5aUrkNp85Bmjur7YwlDDM7hsO2Gn1baHCRjSECTyE/s1600/DSC_0393.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVIhEOZwlXTgTrN4X2_9JcGPq2KKEBWF8bSxxTySTB2aHAEBMd1qlf7c4egBrV4TQ1nRGnlm5M1VUugkbv57Up6nkSoyFrmE6xVaK5aUrkNp85Bmjur7YwlDDM7hsO2Gn1baHCRjSECTyE/s640/DSC_0393.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the entrance to tham khao mai kaew. getting ready for spelunking.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy2fkY9S-tQ9izKTVrLe09IdM23luPM4ettB_k74HOpX33GgwMAOyvphSbBO3aTLlArQXl9CL5XdoBfaHtxvTLtWiFqc6GSNOSCpiKbEQlvzYNgy0-YUQ-PklQOv9wt5dJu9ssiI8sRxJo/s1600/IMG_2414.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy2fkY9S-tQ9izKTVrLe09IdM23luPM4ettB_k74HOpX33GgwMAOyvphSbBO3aTLlArQXl9CL5XdoBfaHtxvTLtWiFqc6GSNOSCpiKbEQlvzYNgy0-YUQ-PklQOv9wt5dJu9ssiI8sRxJo/s640/IMG_2414.JPG" border="0" width="267" height="380" /></a></div><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq6QyHgGeYD8vbVhkoUvhFcIMq0iF0bfQJlyg8GyNhLh4ukJ0b_g20ge560a3By6Au6MUUzwV2Mlxy72-gmUc9-UFMe90vtupU_lAFEFOvAHOdZoyuxCMwn-uq9tsVTtWg2f21UGG71oS2/s1600/IMG_2423.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq6QyHgGeYD8vbVhkoUvhFcIMq0iF0bfQJlyg8GyNhLh4ukJ0b_g20ge560a3By6Au6MUUzwV2Mlxy72-gmUc9-UFMe90vtupU_lAFEFOvAHOdZoyuxCMwn-uq9tsVTtWg2f21UGG71oS2/s640/IMG_2423.JPG" border="0" width="267" height="380" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">it was SUPER hot!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuc6blJmYjppcrNApxRXNrGoHBsvQA3v6kVMI2fvbhhfBPAIXxC5OZm23paGMqHVp6zYCDIjgysShl-gqxw70nqXP_EgzUHyU3I_K96zT1Gfy7ZCb8lVXAf97iAYg_Hgmi5a7cTgwC-GOg/s1600/IMG_2436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuc6blJmYjppcrNApxRXNrGoHBsvQA3v6kVMI2fvbhhfBPAIXxC5OZm23paGMqHVp6zYCDIjgysShl-gqxw70nqXP_EgzUHyU3I_K96zT1Gfy7ZCb8lVXAf97iAYg_Hgmi5a7cTgwC-GOg/s640/IMG_2436.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">lethal cheeky monkeys! they were FIESTY!! </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOR9O3uSfgcMUORTfIC1KnL9BYwSAruT8tZvE76xGXhnBYIW_DwnbJHbjnqgf9G6q4hyphenhyphenkB30uGMsC1h9wT31hOaF7kE74UV-Eh1D9k8Ov5XReLmGX_ZWJNeM0tlIiBZv9w2w_6YGuRKNtb/s1600/IMG_2438.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOR9O3uSfgcMUORTfIC1KnL9BYwSAruT8tZvE76xGXhnBYIW_DwnbJHbjnqgf9G6q4hyphenhyphenkB30uGMsC1h9wT31hOaF7kE74UV-Eh1D9k8Ov5XReLmGX_ZWJNeM0tlIiBZv9w2w_6YGuRKNtb/s640/IMG_2438.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">rolled up on this beauty taking a bath.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_rfaiJ-4b46U3FH9qjLkr6XZHjQ3NiQ3mnGGBkvS8JA_HjFG3eRdM8h82fsuJRBa1lzWPFPBYjWiafXcvc16-dGSb6QDhyjmenaapo4mjv3ng10ddX-9sIBN33Kvp7GyDeklA598DL0uv/s1600/DSC_0380.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_rfaiJ-4b46U3FH9qjLkr6XZHjQ3NiQ3mnGGBkvS8JA_HjFG3eRdM8h82fsuJRBa1lzWPFPBYjWiafXcvc16-dGSb6QDhyjmenaapo4mjv3ng10ddX-9sIBN33Kvp7GyDeklA598DL0uv/s640/DSC_0380.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">phi phi viewpoint.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZ-kNkKMjCipE6tKS5x4cEKavbsoNDtyX7tay4X33Rry0lf2qlh-ykNu6WeaLDgAfABICHJC-EFn2UDUTXU7Jw8D7z-2ycIhMv2zlTPyrepsqlin8zDYLU3LfS5uANqyldPVqgn0f9C2i/s1600/DSC_0373.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZ-kNkKMjCipE6tKS5x4cEKavbsoNDtyX7tay4X33Rry0lf2qlh-ykNu6WeaLDgAfABICHJC-EFn2UDUTXU7Jw8D7z-2ycIhMv2zlTPyrepsqlin8zDYLU3LfS5uANqyldPVqgn0f9C2i/s640/DSC_0373.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">rantee bay.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitaHb-ewoKEvPkQMhvKuQMPpaVL4cyeLaGCE5UVCUVtDGm3NdF4r2jcN5_EoiKqoQ2BgoS61P6-vCzJBxOfBLVPqJKtdKTHR6yyHSx51Xl3jeEpVLmy7uuNa7rRVHpkFAW387DK-LSSuC2/s1600/DSC_0417.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitaHb-ewoKEvPkQMhvKuQMPpaVL4cyeLaGCE5UVCUVtDGm3NdF4r2jcN5_EoiKqoQ2BgoS61P6-vCzJBxOfBLVPqJKtdKTHR6yyHSx51Xl3jeEpVLmy7uuNa7rRVHpkFAW387DK-LSSuC2/s640/DSC_0417.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">koh phangan. bay of hat yuan.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuGY6RozU17WdeD2I-buioY1gXjQEQEuToUQcBJGQSLidUKxzb7yZJ5FG5xaG4Ni0oKPuHdVpqNTrasUZSHyGoa7s0wFwCBQPXBLGlS-kmuG2Lu0cUoLe3kOMTR6eVi5Gwwoi8f5u_uM7A/s1600/IMG_2528.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuGY6RozU17WdeD2I-buioY1gXjQEQEuToUQcBJGQSLidUKxzb7yZJ5FG5xaG4Ni0oKPuHdVpqNTrasUZSHyGoa7s0wFwCBQPXBLGlS-kmuG2Lu0cUoLe3kOMTR6eVi5Gwwoi8f5u_uM7A/s640/IMG_2528.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">koh tao. shark bay.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvmUIWlmeUGNL1cNHz_Fz6HtpwGdke7ZyACA-DxOx-ABE-y5uM9IwpRPlRRNscaZpDQNy5hff_PljEW6XBcniLTSZbPso3TQOthgVem3Hs4jKJPJxrorVGUzoyqin6ET87L4pIyA3BhmpH/s1600/IMG_2472.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvmUIWlmeUGNL1cNHz_Fz6HtpwGdke7ZyACA-DxOx-ABE-y5uM9IwpRPlRRNscaZpDQNy5hff_PljEW6XBcniLTSZbPso3TQOthgVem3Hs4jKJPJxrorVGUzoyqin6ET87L4pIyA3BhmpH/s640/IMG_2472.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sunset beach in koh kradan.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio4VOSKH-MAvbgWTL2AjXSt5K5hPy6fEVQDE4eJXblI6OFHDVFxiwtoOFyXxGsGDRVnL4Vz8BlLagOcXVJ1WnkyM6SOBWCzt5_Kf0rLB4TfmD3h0jlxOgb3m9lBTzFTkCxoOjixKMmxQJI/s1600/IMG_2483.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio4VOSKH-MAvbgWTL2AjXSt5K5hPy6fEVQDE4eJXblI6OFHDVFxiwtoOFyXxGsGDRVnL4Vz8BlLagOcXVJ1WnkyM6SOBWCzt5_Kf0rLB4TfmD3h0jlxOgb3m9lBTzFTkCxoOjixKMmxQJI/s640/IMG_2483.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">can you see the fish?</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh57gRlJGScL0M-3dE-qBi5V2bfIx6YKf4Y8VKsiwOn8rDw_hpmilKoGD8QUsMbr8FDTZ-pw1vUJ0GcihnKcHpRYwhOkcu3tMMx6Fn2kOrr8HuC7lZ0tsKuPtUiJP75msxY5MIg4loAfeRb/s1600/DSC_0391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh57gRlJGScL0M-3dE-qBi5V2bfIx6YKf4Y8VKsiwOn8rDw_hpmilKoGD8QUsMbr8FDTZ-pw1vUJ0GcihnKcHpRYwhOkcu3tMMx6Fn2kOrr8HuC7lZ0tsKuPtUiJP75msxY5MIg4loAfeRb/s640/DSC_0391.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">south beach.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsIMUUjQZPJNYyY9k8nH36G_O4nqUORSh1QDbfwir7JLvx3pAZH73hTOStRfnac8CPMs4ZU9aIF9cWr6Q3c5Pn7ncWBFoR_exAc0Wr_cfPV9YmXtKt40jUdYcRTC6vmh_GBWdlvg7uAcdq/s1600/DSC_0400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsIMUUjQZPJNYyY9k8nH36G_O4nqUORSh1QDbfwir7JLvx3pAZH73hTOStRfnac8CPMs4ZU9aIF9cWr6Q3c5Pn7ncWBFoR_exAc0Wr_cfPV9YmXtKt40jUdYcRTC6vmh_GBWdlvg7uAcdq/s640/DSC_0400.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">paradise beach.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5TNnCmDPBaYykSNfQyCuCQX0JC46f7n3BmXHXipm5fyh_9-M3gTE7jrwNCIvH8dEvsxAXdNQVyHQjFbtR2lsdEc-MMVTPohoxSbdVkQJ3lVE4wws0GCc6JdpXUYsgqtg0Zk1Tfq8ePRAJ/s1600/IMG_2709.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5TNnCmDPBaYykSNfQyCuCQX0JC46f7n3BmXHXipm5fyh_9-M3gTE7jrwNCIvH8dEvsxAXdNQVyHQjFbtR2lsdEc-MMVTPohoxSbdVkQJ3lVE4wws0GCc6JdpXUYsgqtg0Zk1Tfq8ePRAJ/s640/IMG_2709.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="299" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">wat rong khun. buddhist temple in chiang rai.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiN2EfamymJrQQgozkQJFTuvefv5YuBKc6df-U8YkRG3-SolEAskDNZUF-Ni6t4muay6NhFxDXZ4VQaC493eov7JVHai01B3c4uuVwnRobrL0OmJD9h_fUgxYAlQFZz6xl11ZeeKMW4I0j/s1600/IMG_2711.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiN2EfamymJrQQgozkQJFTuvefv5YuBKc6df-U8YkRG3-SolEAskDNZUF-Ni6t4muay6NhFxDXZ4VQaC493eov7JVHai01B3c4uuVwnRobrL0OmJD9h_fUgxYAlQFZz6xl11ZeeKMW4I0j/s640/IMG_2711.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="299" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Tm4eZJpvWALMEH4G78GndIzdHaFPFuVzsD3RI0OHfRPPP14lqVYUsLD2gdwIEiOvPOESdZHzTKEy7fVuN2XdgFTZZSZcltQpnXs2cTZO3hcZSE8KIuaWCJNpdE99-c_BgCLDzH1DOASA/s1600/IMG_2721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Tm4eZJpvWALMEH4G78GndIzdHaFPFuVzsD3RI0OHfRPPP14lqVYUsLD2gdwIEiOvPOESdZHzTKEy7fVuN2XdgFTZZSZcltQpnXs2cTZO3hcZSE8KIuaWCJNpdE99-c_BgCLDzH1DOASA/s640/IMG_2721.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="299" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ntRiF1neC4OKX9xuZlWUojte5BxF_WoQw3yfZy0gn0qXTuSsjIoQncEQWjok9aBusDuHLvQMlDLQ9izsO9z3Tm5bved1q8LPT6gL-pTwEqOmV6E3QAo66Aod7CcUfvMohCF8BS75VuRh/s1600/IMG_2714.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ntRiF1neC4OKX9xuZlWUojte5BxF_WoQw3yfZy0gn0qXTuSsjIoQncEQWjok9aBusDuHLvQMlDLQ9izsO9z3Tm5bved1q8LPT6gL-pTwEqOmV6E3QAo66Aod7CcUfvMohCF8BS75VuRh/s640/IMG_2714.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="299" /></a></div><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmC8PcGpCVl0c90753rM_BPgiwx-BVpZG4kLgRCVTU3kLwBdGXTLPVmqV2aKElnVUJrgonSXEZL-IjFrI8NsgVZL8qzZR1NzI7jO4QtzBlCAyUlgFCZxmE7ltwvgAWy8sgEejDJyWCQsxu/s1600/IMG_2791.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmC8PcGpCVl0c90753rM_BPgiwx-BVpZG4kLgRCVTU3kLwBdGXTLPVmqV2aKElnVUJrgonSXEZL-IjFrI8NsgVZL8qzZR1NzI7jO4QtzBlCAyUlgFCZxmE7ltwvgAWy8sgEejDJyWCQsxu/s640/IMG_2791.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="299" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">into laos we go. phonsavan.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9nXmAdMN2yhRlymoiuJmbuWjA9wfvGMlfx_9L-_PvgfWGWXb529uYLqSz2mRJSnGnic1x2n3pXiICQiYNvVv2ZVXSnjm-TtLEBW3vTV15u6i8ArPI4UwBiyHuYN2GkOdfPTJP2ZSpkD7i/s1600/DSC_0515.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9nXmAdMN2yhRlymoiuJmbuWjA9wfvGMlfx_9L-_PvgfWGWXb529uYLqSz2mRJSnGnic1x2n3pXiICQiYNvVv2ZVXSnjm-TtLEBW3vTV15u6i8ArPI4UwBiyHuYN2GkOdfPTJP2ZSpkD7i/s640/DSC_0515.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></div><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxlJoeRYGuJzNjPJAO49nFNksCjpfpAKVyOe7-3vB7jiQpvbwIJ5Z1i08D6xnuNqYz_orlEc9FNCNH74jAbDqAgIJiH3v3zypOBkdZ6_uAcB52MWGIkaa1JlJq-jjQq2DqOrNbVoD9ZvL9/s1600/DSC_0466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxlJoeRYGuJzNjPJAO49nFNksCjpfpAKVyOe7-3vB7jiQpvbwIJ5Z1i08D6xnuNqYz_orlEc9FNCNH74jAbDqAgIJiH3v3zypOBkdZ6_uAcB52MWGIkaa1JlJq-jjQq2DqOrNbVoD9ZvL9/s640/DSC_0466.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">plain of jars site 3. according to my tour guide, the plain of jars is dated to the iron age (500 bce to 500 ce). since the 1930's archaeologists have discovered human remains, burial goods, and ceramic items around the stone jars. all of which leads scientists to believe the jars were apart of certain burial practices.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAdfgPTn1ST_Y1BfRlE2H-uEqgMVc4hfqNp2CXuzq08jAzWxc_5Z-KFOLkHyd3QXSRe5VqGjO00sT_CVJmQ_tP4j28VIQLn_F5UJ_2HOu6qVeRdvaroNyUAnOO79Gm0sPEXv3tO1giccmW/s1600/DSC_0494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAdfgPTn1ST_Y1BfRlE2H-uEqgMVc4hfqNp2CXuzq08jAzWxc_5Z-KFOLkHyd3QXSRe5VqGjO00sT_CVJmQ_tP4j28VIQLn_F5UJ_2HOu6qVeRdvaroNyUAnOO79Gm0sPEXv3tO1giccmW/s640/DSC_0494.JPG" border="0" width="267" height="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">plain of jars site 2.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB5d4650Llnu5MdQLfnLAUxh0sg6KCZLp9ZsUM43eTwlOIO5y8qm4BSC5RSsOCCJ4UOkw24FlACvf1O7QSuHCBhwXYrUH-2Y8i8LfFjjlG5vnNyfjA6vyymbN2nU-CiOsJLOC_i8WqabO9/s1600/DSC_0508.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB5d4650Llnu5MdQLfnLAUxh0sg6KCZLp9ZsUM43eTwlOIO5y8qm4BSC5RSsOCCJ4UOkw24FlACvf1O7QSuHCBhwXYrUH-2Y8i8LfFjjlG5vnNyfjA6vyymbN2nU-CiOsJLOC_i8WqabO9/s640/DSC_0508.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">plain of jars site 1. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9DSXpkqQ_mxEHKziC_NQFuG6WwoEuZUPT7HW9LXIpQpYBWIwDpJw28adjr__d_vKtYGcZ8gdqFjv2XHOOZY-0lyw2SylNPV62RFZZpVyJm1mZ0EtODycIthELleByS78SrgRq7OcYIf_c/s1600/DSC_0526.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9DSXpkqQ_mxEHKziC_NQFuG6WwoEuZUPT7HW9LXIpQpYBWIwDpJw28adjr__d_vKtYGcZ8gdqFjv2XHOOZY-0lyw2SylNPV62RFZZpVyJm1mZ0EtODycIthELleByS78SrgRq7OcYIf_c/s640/DSC_0526.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">plain of jars site 1 cave.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoKK-fZeqU7bl5X8wbXydxtyB5JxPyGc47M_VfDakyN4HSRaiHMaGB92OiE1V648Us63bBwekkh0K_dR0cOUmodM3gmPcI8YDLd1-PCowuTwRefQ_NZFAHjNkdf2AmQRbgLqv98K4Ug0NJ/s1600/DSC_0530.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoKK-fZeqU7bl5X8wbXydxtyB5JxPyGc47M_VfDakyN4HSRaiHMaGB92OiE1V648Us63bBwekkh0K_dR0cOUmodM3gmPcI8YDLd1-PCowuTwRefQ_NZFAHjNkdf2AmQRbgLqv98K4Ug0NJ/s640/DSC_0530.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the people used this cave for cremation. the hole on the left is natural, the next two are manmade.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-sx6tjMCZv2XrnkNZpgY7fP-8RCePnGB0as7VMWc_X-_IJjc7ZCXu1uED4r-qE6G3JH6ndwQD22vJdYNLXiN-XzKGaod71d99JrQdzaxVJ1ulfhlWnUP56S8Mv3Gu7pDRHmda-RV58F8G/s1600/DSC_0463.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-sx6tjMCZv2XrnkNZpgY7fP-8RCePnGB0as7VMWc_X-_IJjc7ZCXu1uED4r-qE6G3JH6ndwQD22vJdYNLXiN-XzKGaod71d99JrQdzaxVJ1ulfhlWnUP56S8Mv3Gu7pDRHmda-RV58F8G/s640/DSC_0463.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">bear rescue facility in luang prabang.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQdIFKxsAOj-3MN_pdwjh8nlXz572nttpvKxke6CbS7_NQobfdB5H9sT2w8-GGHd4uk9xtBq2ke0YLge7xw8jvE-JqxFuklkmOxS4WO_OKTZ9ZKwu3Ys3SPhgbBdjR-13D6MobcdUuvSu9/s1600/DSC_0474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQdIFKxsAOj-3MN_pdwjh8nlXz572nttpvKxke6CbS7_NQobfdB5H9sT2w8-GGHd4uk9xtBq2ke0YLge7xw8jvE-JqxFuklkmOxS4WO_OKTZ9ZKwu3Ys3SPhgbBdjR-13D6MobcdUuvSu9/s640/DSC_0474.JPG" border="0" width="267" height="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">swinging into kouang si waterfall.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz9D2cknhlKOiOh7d6KcdfeXPYXH6Vb-EHgaGKoqclJfT7dQ5MyVX1hGXyudXi6fccHShdmrp90QjBqyEo9WPfATrwRuD9MVe7SL-uzLWs0UgIBKszaJ-jlNuiACQZKsHUnJXc0suhAFY6/s1600/DSC_0492.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz9D2cknhlKOiOh7d6KcdfeXPYXH6Vb-EHgaGKoqclJfT7dQ5MyVX1hGXyudXi6fccHShdmrp90QjBqyEo9WPfATrwRuD9MVe7SL-uzLWs0UgIBKszaJ-jlNuiACQZKsHUnJXc0suhAFY6/s640/DSC_0492.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh81v6TETphlUX1Em8x7TIijViDszakP5ZSlLI_XoA3GSCKYEl4I27xOdGWMiHkLD2tLUBirmYSqMLLyVj_M_fMGbRyhOGeBmPdIXy4a2KtK6fvciP4XJ6yW-0FlC6D2Lg9Dlei1xaSzP2K/s1600/DSC_0506.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh81v6TETphlUX1Em8x7TIijViDszakP5ZSlLI_XoA3GSCKYEl4I27xOdGWMiHkLD2tLUBirmYSqMLLyVj_M_fMGbRyhOGeBmPdIXy4a2KtK6fvciP4XJ6yW-0FlC6D2Lg9Dlei1xaSzP2K/s640/DSC_0506.JPG" border="0" width="267" height="400" /></a></div><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj63FrmzRn7EV97nzuB3AFqUJbsexVK1snsQInHuYjjLxvQNVEmJqjfG0HG3ik3pUItdA26B5KM0HRenDPkzh0iGPPsdbBO-pWl3P7dfh0iSDRn7L1auywRCk-Y5vPbQ5DCaUs6sIHZICg7/s1600/DSC_0509.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj63FrmzRn7EV97nzuB3AFqUJbsexVK1snsQInHuYjjLxvQNVEmJqjfG0HG3ik3pUItdA26B5KM0HRenDPkzh0iGPPsdbBO-pWl3P7dfh0iSDRn7L1auywRCk-Y5vPbQ5DCaUs6sIHZICg7/s640/DSC_0509.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">view from the top of kouang si waterfall.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoqSGx_NKm3LkQhyphenhyphendU-nlLZzV-WkySIq7G-sZxvlog5zV7lpKZlyNr3uOk0Nq0vOOehBYhDeAjr-DBkyvfBDrHCNwJCNUk_crkFrBOQJJUoSc_K8DB0Eokbpa5w7L7eAoPhjxTfxS1yle8/s1600/IMG_2967.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoqSGx_NKm3LkQhyphenhyphendU-nlLZzV-WkySIq7G-sZxvlog5zV7lpKZlyNr3uOk0Nq0vOOehBYhDeAjr-DBkyvfBDrHCNwJCNUk_crkFrBOQJJUoSc_K8DB0Eokbpa5w7L7eAoPhjxTfxS1yle8/s640/IMG_2967.JPG" border="0" width="267" height="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">vietnam!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2y_gVShzDJNo3R50gaH2jUDsOHeB39YeplgPkW3d2MfJPYNmJJK3u2t4nC_0aGjwuISzqcL6-apwt7NNvoGEtCNkgGuYyTxWfDjFl-ugzfn_03x79gXnUESFkcUkrIIYi7P1RyH_7Qtfp/s1600/DSC_0490.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2y_gVShzDJNo3R50gaH2jUDsOHeB39YeplgPkW3d2MfJPYNmJJK3u2t4nC_0aGjwuISzqcL6-apwt7NNvoGEtCNkgGuYyTxWfDjFl-ugzfn_03x79gXnUESFkcUkrIIYi7P1RyH_7Qtfp/s640/DSC_0490.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">thien cung grotto, ha long bay</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxhoHUhoazsjngLFDk4m_Ec8ElU2Th7xlJ7oVNdd-FOV59UcbpEwZUcsjqc2exABpNQ1gQDg8ngl2uREE-cfHTsRQ98yF6zIVbVkS1vYNMz4doh9T1P4C53ptPczSC6VgyCctrvwm29ixn/s1600/DSC_0531.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxhoHUhoazsjngLFDk4m_Ec8ElU2Th7xlJ7oVNdd-FOV59UcbpEwZUcsjqc2exABpNQ1gQDg8ngl2uREE-cfHTsRQ98yF6zIVbVkS1vYNMz4doh9T1P4C53ptPczSC6VgyCctrvwm29ixn/s640/DSC_0531.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ha long bay</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuf4BAziT4LvACIzH5lrTIPOArN4W2egVRqQ4oMc7eajWCKTq-1KNHWr1i0dLvymCNxgq5EfFgK5zRlDIZenxh1HhkUZrORpaG4eixUlBKExB3P4d1Qwa9oX3Ys1YyiP9hhG4MpQJtOdBF/s1600/DSC_0571.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuf4BAziT4LvACIzH5lrTIPOArN4W2egVRqQ4oMc7eajWCKTq-1KNHWr1i0dLvymCNxgq5EfFgK5zRlDIZenxh1HhkUZrORpaG4eixUlBKExB3P4d1Qwa9oX3Ys1YyiP9hhG4MpQJtOdBF/s640/DSC_0571.JPG" border="0" width="267" height="400" /></a></div><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGNR2dN_o9GlApDpKWwlOP2U3weBc56dRjB7fsRDQnewPfDl9xG7FhkKnPITTUaF0CAlnHxWnbnRx_ToU4N6GcXfBsaFvvy837Zr8R4Fz8mkFMBQNTeSbNAxdKy_6stLoRv-3n7StSdktW/s1600/IMG_2880.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGNR2dN_o9GlApDpKWwlOP2U3weBc56dRjB7fsRDQnewPfDl9xG7FhkKnPITTUaF0CAlnHxWnbnRx_ToU4N6GcXfBsaFvvy837Zr8R4Fz8mkFMBQNTeSbNAxdKy_6stLoRv-3n7StSdktW/s640/IMG_2880.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="299" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">hoi an</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXNnlV2qzJnjCA1GbQ_RAsYyC61GbcSa8CRCLGF6Ld_alMnfRHIdgXOPwqJZtW2dK_zCg-4i0ZELnsfTvXlC66JmBFZS7yF7o5-T_f-hyUfTSSnRe5k_tPmErOdjZs6meTTt7dXbEAF-k/s1600/DSC_0561.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXNnlV2qzJnjCA1GbQ_RAsYyC61GbcSa8CRCLGF6Ld_alMnfRHIdgXOPwqJZtW2dK_zCg-4i0ZELnsfTvXlC66JmBFZS7yF7o5-T_f-hyUfTSSnRe5k_tPmErOdjZs6meTTt7dXbEAF-k/s640/DSC_0561.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiF6lQK6QmgKyFnxK5vOXxW2G5vAuX2KufGmJina8Z-gpbwbKzIYkFzerxASYd6NggQM3dYJPQXaHbNUx0-julv133N2kSrwSfs2jXpwaZezEJagpimWKOEGaZ4RDnk39UZVqr4wBunx1X/s1600/IMG_2888.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiF6lQK6QmgKyFnxK5vOXxW2G5vAuX2KufGmJina8Z-gpbwbKzIYkFzerxASYd6NggQM3dYJPQXaHbNUx0-julv133N2kSrwSfs2jXpwaZezEJagpimWKOEGaZ4RDnk39UZVqr4wBunx1X/s640/IMG_2888.JPG" border="0" width="267" height="400" /></a><br /><br /></div><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju-UBxaCJtL-gAQCN6krlP26R959HTo4zcZerAcoHlDtrJZUrFAeTX_WPX-hBg2DUlHlISkX5Ec_MZF6-eJbOtjmuM98PrRU7PVw9BrXhSCa0Jws9zzzwYLYcp_fzGGEhk6Q8LL8FPPwmR/s1600/IMG_2911.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju-UBxaCJtL-gAQCN6krlP26R959HTo4zcZerAcoHlDtrJZUrFAeTX_WPX-hBg2DUlHlISkX5Ec_MZF6-eJbOtjmuM98PrRU7PVw9BrXhSCa0Jws9zzzwYLYcp_fzGGEhk6Q8LL8FPPwmR/s640/IMG_2911.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="299" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">vinpearl land. nha trang.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqM082fO2qkWyKRtCl7UEnP8GPycsf_7DPFfXIysOI16SGCk0HUNmQJoW2sJordPtvLd_47gnXNpGqcxtsVHEUflUEzOd3gTFZvhuMLCkdisEV-VqYG4YScnskY3JPbgGdq4EZJMC-Ma5C/s1600/IMG_2912.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqM082fO2qkWyKRtCl7UEnP8GPycsf_7DPFfXIysOI16SGCk0HUNmQJoW2sJordPtvLd_47gnXNpGqcxtsVHEUflUEzOd3gTFZvhuMLCkdisEV-VqYG4YScnskY3JPbgGdq4EZJMC-Ma5C/s640/IMG_2912.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="299" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cable cars to vinpearl land</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjei3fXhFS4z6DUuz6xRSyvijXVTJdf7ScUjpgAJg9OWyG6S1Y9pjxXone5MLNYYj46E83PabRHEuRkLuLKiW9N_jHntWOGxz7Oh1KbXu0xv6D_EWIK4_wusZz3X02SPyQJ9obyNCRnb-Vq/s1600/IMG_2939.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjei3fXhFS4z6DUuz6xRSyvijXVTJdf7ScUjpgAJg9OWyG6S1Y9pjxXone5MLNYYj46E83PabRHEuRkLuLKiW9N_jHntWOGxz7Oh1KbXu0xv6D_EWIK4_wusZz3X02SPyQJ9obyNCRnb-Vq/s640/IMG_2939.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="299" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">kite surfers GALORE. mui ne.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisKKp8QxtF8FETl7spXGVLxThFltt0kRQMdMk5PrLC54gy84RD1ozNADOR6L6YFWCgtJbXkhnT8wbmcY8-uX5i6xgu1qduuOe63of-4OY0DUV92XY9umQ_YBt_UkZQ1jcamymYHBdw3iHk/s1600/DSC_0494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisKKp8QxtF8FETl7spXGVLxThFltt0kRQMdMk5PrLC54gy84RD1ozNADOR6L6YFWCgtJbXkhnT8wbmcY8-uX5i6xgu1qduuOe63of-4OY0DUV92XY9umQ_YBt_UkZQ1jcamymYHBdw3iHk/s640/DSC_0494.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the best way is the scooter way. ho chi minh.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3umJRqqB5fR7V460_SdHKVNZnhak7GzkBbs3iRW6HZY6Xl6-MiX7MWDywvNILkFBwqR0pCMMygnNrE4_gLWXmpXU49ThapDyDdzBp8JR3AimuAqlIzLZPcJ2dEYXtZuCzDNrSHyRIHM3z/s1600/DSC_0492.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3umJRqqB5fR7V460_SdHKVNZnhak7GzkBbs3iRW6HZY6Xl6-MiX7MWDywvNILkFBwqR0pCMMygnNrE4_gLWXmpXU49ThapDyDdzBp8JR3AimuAqlIzLZPcJ2dEYXtZuCzDNrSHyRIHM3z/s640/DSC_0492.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">street grub.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtwvC9Dp9t0NXCt8pCzVz02HISsv_osIaK93Z9r-UQ44Mntm2GsyfJyoy849mrRylUBKfK3nWS8tqAcSOl2MjHDPnDOc2GSN71wj1lxodE8NDttbYkUXGiGBrF-nKXAykNSpejUarjYiyJ/s1600/DSC_0518.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtwvC9Dp9t0NXCt8pCzVz02HISsv_osIaK93Z9r-UQ44Mntm2GsyfJyoy849mrRylUBKfK3nWS8tqAcSOl2MjHDPnDOc2GSN71wj1lxodE8NDttbYkUXGiGBrF-nKXAykNSpejUarjYiyJ/s640/DSC_0518.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">jackfruit tree. such an interesting fruit.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8plPEwOKZAXfVl7l11VGC3esfvoCSQN9LfM_KypPPdu0AAF1Ux27zIGnsSbV2IL8UGFOEz3Jh_ET3a1pdgrvmDzRILen5TG-D-sc89s6UN3HzIJkF0DsIgNEs7JsgKn9MYEObbQakhoF8/s1600/DSC_0499.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8plPEwOKZAXfVl7l11VGC3esfvoCSQN9LfM_KypPPdu0AAF1Ux27zIGnsSbV2IL8UGFOEz3Jh_ET3a1pdgrvmDzRILen5TG-D-sc89s6UN3HzIJkF0DsIgNEs7JsgKn9MYEObbQakhoF8/s640/DSC_0499.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">diagram of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cu_Chi_tunnels" target="_blank"><b>cu chi tunnel system</b></a>. complete with underwater entrance.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzWMJNFMfa5SjwxNNM5g4VbkLT-fyazecoVpSObu8ctNnmwCVF9cvAWV3Lp4SAvt0PSQoy3f_XvAyLUPbUlsB4nsNQHSBDC8Qfao7RRFe9fuobrid5HdmKarYLrSVXMrYcq5t5GreJpb4A/s1600/DSC_0505.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzWMJNFMfa5SjwxNNM5g4VbkLT-fyazecoVpSObu8ctNnmwCVF9cvAWV3Lp4SAvt0PSQoy3f_XvAyLUPbUlsB4nsNQHSBDC8Qfao7RRFe9fuobrid5HdmKarYLrSVXMrYcq5t5GreJpb4A/s640/DSC_0505.JPG" border="0" width="400" height="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">normal tunnel size.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkMPpU5xEsOEBumsr4NtR01U36dIiV2CoCDdyH_28rUCg0GMhqs8SSjwTy4zEVcHMqFejCnEyWnGmzUNODs_ecPTMIqkNFQ7MgFynDXcGzmS5_ZmExEdGm6oD-N-v9Q0M5G6vaxHp4zcLx/s1600/DSC_0512.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkMPpU5xEsOEBumsr4NtR01U36dIiV2CoCDdyH_28rUCg0GMhqs8SSjwTy4zEVcHMqFejCnEyWnGmzUNODs_ecPTMIqkNFQ7MgFynDXcGzmS5_ZmExEdGm6oD-N-v9Q0M5G6vaxHp4zcLx/s640/DSC_0512.JPG" border="0" width="267" height="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">i'm just over 5 feet tall...and it's a tight squeeze</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-VuXBjVv81yFFeDQFisriV6haC5GVPpwajwhitJpibS3kfBrRr5rwsws1AjpOFkrBK1N5CVChnTxblviqcVwMBBU8NFIDDwKEuTblV4zOLVKCbVXjX1svJIvSMTyiCcpnCqK2SDgbaslb/s1600/DSC_0516.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-VuXBjVv81yFFeDQFisriV6haC5GVPpwajwhitJpibS3kfBrRr5rwsws1AjpOFkrBK1N5CVChnTxblviqcVwMBBU8NFIDDwKEuTblV4zOLVKCbVXjX1svJIvSMTyiCcpnCqK2SDgbaslb/s640/DSC_0516.JPG" border="0" width="267" height="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">war remnants.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Jgtc6sLTcWEM54ZiUIdW9bL2RvZl2P84WdALSkv5qUW_sl3WWnG0zwxIqHGTWke1Dy8KdQO5R_b2y9RKv6oDy8-iPeQFI-DD9UG5CT_HXjK0sc3f7QL6OhmNQ04Gk6Oqx0IRUzsjvxMX/s1600/IMG_2975.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Jgtc6sLTcWEM54ZiUIdW9bL2RvZl2P84WdALSkv5qUW_sl3WWnG0zwxIqHGTWke1Dy8KdQO5R_b2y9RKv6oDy8-iPeQFI-DD9UG5CT_HXjK0sc3f7QL6OhmNQ04Gk6Oqx0IRUzsjvxMX/s640/IMG_2975.JPG" border="0" width="299" height="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">fried jellyfish anyone?</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Theatre Charlotte's production of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS runs through April 1. Tickets are available through CarolinaTix at 704-372-1000 or <a href="http://www.carolinatix.org/default.asp?tix=59&objId=2569" target="_blank">CarolinaTix.org</a>.</span></blockquote>Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-54347629208959483682012-03-16T19:18:00.015-07:002012-03-16T21:09:14.131-07:00Around the World with Theatre Charlotte: India<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghXDjSvHaN9xLvZ9lV9jFU1WdtCn7q7ZxwBA8sawMc-g3d_cdPRSKW7FT_gTwBSBoSBxAf9Mw4OJVpAB3PiO_XA4n3VBsFhqNuZsoR8bmDnrgTFzW6btKj7oez4cmS7JROGU-JJA5Bm4w/s1600/madisonblog.png"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 112px; height: 183px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghXDjSvHaN9xLvZ9lV9jFU1WdtCn7q7ZxwBA8sawMc-g3d_cdPRSKW7FT_gTwBSBoSBxAf9Mw4OJVpAB3PiO_XA4n3VBsFhqNuZsoR8bmDnrgTFzW6btKj7oez4cmS7JROGU-JJA5Bm4w/s320/madisonblog.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5717716957869704050" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Madison Culver is a former Charlottean turned globe trotter. Following her recent graduation from Johnson & Wales University, Madison bega</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >n an embark around the world not dissimilar to the journey Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout take in AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS.</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;font-size:85%;" ><br />Unlike Fogg and Passepartout, however, Madison is in no hurry to complete a multi-continental race. This means she has been able to stop and see all the sights Fogg and Passepartout missed during their journey—and luckily for us, she is taking Theatre Charlotte along for the adventure by exclusively sharing her stories and photos with us, which we will post here weekly during our production of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS.<br /><br />To learn more about Madison, please visit <a href="http://www.wherethewindblowsnow.com/" target="_blank">Where The Wind Blows Now</a>, the blog she started to chronicle her travels and help people find inspiration in the beauty of life.</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Week 2: India<br /></span>“He [Mr. Fogg] was a solid body moving through an orbit around the terrestrial globe, in obedience to the laws of rational mechanics.” I was anything but rational, and wished so much that Passepartout was also accompanying me.<br /><br />India is a truly magical place. Compared to the other places I’ve visited, it is by far the most adventurous. It’s culture alone is a long way off from being the tiniest bit similar to the western world; yet, India is still the jewel in my crown.<br /><br />I spent over 49 hours riding India’s trains, and ran into the exact problems as Mr. Fogg and Passepartout did on their train travels in India. And as anyone’s journey, mine wouldn’t have been the same without the hiccups.<br /><br />Here are a few snapshots from my time in India:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwoAYeIZwRe8G49if2th7knLRuosy2_jPzP3qL1t8snPoLXvjuNkmDw8JhRkZ7EvTH0AUTaXMGJmpypggtLhLfqc9zT50xTawF_5AP8D-xkvUyMIB4V-Q9k1CFcjszXED0rag_-tDX0P1s/s1600/DSC_0252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwoAYeIZwRe8G49if2th7knLRuosy2_jPzP3qL1t8snPoLXvjuNkmDw8JhRkZ7EvTH0AUTaXMGJmpypggtLhLfqc9zT50xTawF_5AP8D-xkvUyMIB4V-Q9k1CFcjszXED0rag_-tDX0P1s/s640/DSC_0252.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-GcD9gxWj54YclGZ39Eo37F1rFv1klYroQ0AJr6MsaOMBYy97W_Jzei46PtVfaQRFB10cgiieqehu_ox3FtInsdi0kOvVm8RbjJZ9yswfikskjHfBRQBb2UBg0c7ViW3k1JHLCm1-iJjN/s1600/DSC_0146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-GcD9gxWj54YclGZ39Eo37F1rFv1klYroQ0AJr6MsaOMBYy97W_Jzei46PtVfaQRFB10cgiieqehu_ox3FtInsdi0kOvVm8RbjJZ9yswfikskjHfBRQBb2UBg0c7ViW3k1JHLCm1-iJjN/s640/DSC_0146.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlmc7eWSTi7BKBoayY3FROGtToogAW9sANTLZy_3W7zeriqrsRMP0pg30GIHgYixY3tKrqLrr3IN-cih3X1ZMcdL3WQmd3vMYzR-Akbp1smvez5zPBkBhDWNSQl8BS3aJqFf1f4TzMc4x4/s1600/DSC_0155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlmc7eWSTi7BKBoayY3FROGtToogAW9sANTLZy_3W7zeriqrsRMP0pg30GIHgYixY3tKrqLrr3IN-cih3X1ZMcdL3WQmd3vMYzR-Akbp1smvez5zPBkBhDWNSQl8BS3aJqFf1f4TzMc4x4/s640/DSC_0155.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfhZNFxNM3GHuKWrPlx0W1N0-xYWD3Jdtswc1Azsq_3xNxIxGNd9D9mYVZ7ZKrh8iioAqirBP3qGrWELm1HF8IEEwUM3YyoZsNHTeAzdc2iQ6LLgn26BmU_O7HResx9I3_MbLjVwb6vUdC/s1600/DSC_0156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfhZNFxNM3GHuKWrPlx0W1N0-xYWD3Jdtswc1Azsq_3xNxIxGNd9D9mYVZ7ZKrh8iioAqirBP3qGrWELm1HF8IEEwUM3YyoZsNHTeAzdc2iQ6LLgn26BmU_O7HResx9I3_MbLjVwb6vUdC/s640/DSC_0156.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic3LoHjYDelYS8W6xmhAdXRPwQTu41FvmRtjCnm7c5o9Uat_aSHgYEuQhNqiflBpVXSXY26hmI1n1a7B90NfQvEdfq9Ap8GkLkJIfKDn4wc7K7BlKie-2bHqeFsvIz37L1lLcxnB3D5lWN/s1600/DSC_0274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic3LoHjYDelYS8W6xmhAdXRPwQTu41FvmRtjCnm7c5o9Uat_aSHgYEuQhNqiflBpVXSXY26hmI1n1a7B90NfQvEdfq9Ap8GkLkJIfKDn4wc7K7BlKie-2bHqeFsvIz37L1lLcxnB3D5lWN/s640/DSC_0274.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWD2Z9Fp921JU18m_cIA_KcRtiYHv0goKe7T8ODXfJ8Hx3HAj_qSLTXpoXuIykzWzs0ts7gqunE_1Gj1RGITePYBKn4_Fj6MTqV1QzdJQs30RBRdskfXsjFLmrfDNdNhOq595QZp_Rne08/s1600/DSC_0171.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWD2Z9Fp921JU18m_cIA_KcRtiYHv0goKe7T8ODXfJ8Hx3HAj_qSLTXpoXuIykzWzs0ts7gqunE_1Gj1RGITePYBKn4_Fj6MTqV1QzdJQs30RBRdskfXsjFLmrfDNdNhOq595QZp_Rne08/s640/DSC_0171.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sleeper class train.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwxkXlB1vyHDJnolEhBGb9KYxUyFN0KtaWY5igDoG5mP3cL3A2AlQGDsNsEr-3EkEons4rhdjWqnvHidlfd9IVeHsrO1CPJA5If2Dx_0RiqrY4CIRCdgpADwLm9bBEnN8aBjr38SSuqy7Q/s1600/DSC_0185.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwxkXlB1vyHDJnolEhBGb9KYxUyFN0KtaWY5igDoG5mP3cL3A2AlQGDsNsEr-3EkEons4rhdjWqnvHidlfd9IVeHsrO1CPJA5If2Dx_0RiqrY4CIRCdgpADwLm9bBEnN8aBjr38SSuqy7Q/s640/DSC_0185.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">holy cow! cow on the tracks...and yes, a train was coming.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGOA_-uQenA9S3K6uaMnBa6vp6-lx2xWmIkWzG0qwTCUZoiJ5EjVswey-i8LRYvj7xEL66Gh91Mda0C8EEIYTdTiiCPLk7cgpUwQAm22eL7cfJHDq5jl2e7aLkJCOMYAg3ATJiswHd-tN_/s1600/DSC_0260.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGOA_-uQenA9S3K6uaMnBa6vp6-lx2xWmIkWzG0qwTCUZoiJ5EjVswey-i8LRYvj7xEL66Gh91Mda0C8EEIYTdTiiCPLk7cgpUwQAm22eL7cfJHDq5jl2e7aLkJCOMYAg3ATJiswHd-tN_/s640/DSC_0260.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">me. journaling on the train.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8jLJyJ2TfHV9Ihj2L64DeHF9uaS_kTnyi7zxDt3SwjFYuXQ5-VWEOmdFQu4OkmI2twKp6oG8JvFSeyUpCy6lrRZSsOAVpQnDiyqulPAK0bIsX3nN9vtva3zssaoPXG-4lgGts8HAKMiw-/s1600/DSC_0104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8jLJyJ2TfHV9Ihj2L64DeHF9uaS_kTnyi7zxDt3SwjFYuXQ5-VWEOmdFQu4OkmI2twKp6oG8JvFSeyUpCy6lrRZSsOAVpQnDiyqulPAK0bIsX3nN9vtva3zssaoPXG-4lgGts8HAKMiw-/s640/DSC_0104.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">streets of mumbai</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTfGLRuwtIqusb0S1qbkXCUNvuKLDWUTUN-HOiCLkZiW2Y3JCkMWZZwLufw5rokRHv2nr2NDMpWLz4G_NWDN_8VrdNM3CixMy0bm3k6VWDiKtmYOzOqWfn7ocFCuFteiajyCWZ41PqOqNe/s1600/DSC_0040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTfGLRuwtIqusb0S1qbkXCUNvuKLDWUTUN-HOiCLkZiW2Y3JCkMWZZwLufw5rokRHv2nr2NDMpWLz4G_NWDN_8VrdNM3CixMy0bm3k6VWDiKtmYOzOqWfn7ocFCuFteiajyCWZ41PqOqNe/s640/DSC_0040.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">india is absolutely amazing!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiubqrtLy2OP9Z1DofAzjQUW9Bd5MmbO11vMcReTJ81eRYCtclX0zUTIVD0C7CqLjMb8zuFUTCEvRCwfXldMAZwkVUollXmKxVT4VdJ8oHMrrgQomaJcgErAZVF44DfelDbIdvm3YwpiQOS/s1600/DSC_0049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiubqrtLy2OP9Z1DofAzjQUW9Bd5MmbO11vMcReTJ81eRYCtclX0zUTIVD0C7CqLjMb8zuFUTCEvRCwfXldMAZwkVUollXmKxVT4VdJ8oHMrrgQomaJcgErAZVF44DfelDbIdvm3YwpiQOS/s640/DSC_0049.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my thoughts of this wonderful place were way off target! it's so much greater than i ever thought it was going to be.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5_XqH_u9HkvxALAPXJ7J_uhL7Ap9NoUBPBZ91XXkMi7jvff7X_P4qctWzBpMp-Oq2jzPZ6l-qNCWCoj3HShz12WJrbvBgc-_BX1s8RsVILbPRVHSInuiXlR5PzlpgZXvxGPiayVDEZyZ/s1600/DSC_0032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5_XqH_u9HkvxALAPXJ7J_uhL7Ap9NoUBPBZ91XXkMi7jvff7X_P4qctWzBpMp-Oq2jzPZ6l-qNCWCoj3HShz12WJrbvBgc-_BX1s8RsVILbPRVHSInuiXlR5PzlpgZXvxGPiayVDEZyZ/s400/DSC_0032.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">one of my favorite things about india is all the beautiful colors.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPYzh4tmUYxOMDX2kSDNBJLwjXJjjjHD70tOEQnIfxrBhbHp2E4cWVWsmF22NT1MQOA8tRFmcq5n0130qo1N3-DXprA9fnq3oGPE9IGcL9XqATsrg_Z4n4hbO9MTB-cfpfefrkJXhCyilw/s1600/DSC_0231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPYzh4tmUYxOMDX2kSDNBJLwjXJjjjHD70tOEQnIfxrBhbHp2E4cWVWsmF22NT1MQOA8tRFmcq5n0130qo1N3-DXprA9fnq3oGPE9IGcL9XqATsrg_Z4n4hbO9MTB-cfpfefrkJXhCyilw/s640/DSC_0231.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">woman i bought a blanket from</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW5_l4Fuw3CEJoGL6lKYoFtw1PAB9dR92MVv0UmHqAM5B6gW4Bq0FLdjdnUMCC8bfMxMQPAmIHjj9HEXyM4u3fEPBJQ2CcYI6d80V0eS__AM-6ulVLGQb41p099P2rXXVJ0fBo4JCEwwuW/s1600/DSC_0240.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW5_l4Fuw3CEJoGL6lKYoFtw1PAB9dR92MVv0UmHqAM5B6gW4Bq0FLdjdnUMCC8bfMxMQPAmIHjj9HEXyM4u3fEPBJQ2CcYI6d80V0eS__AM-6ulVLGQb41p099P2rXXVJ0fBo4JCEwwuW/s640/DSC_0240.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CURRY!!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI0Kl4v29VD1yKjnKN3CFsQW7oEcyBdljDtxC_wJoT3V-nwNShLO1J26bub_2l_Z6cCB9xl8GplR_nIlqVYrii4tlvLzlQImzfpz5BfxPTS9XKtDZ7kpbDitA6IaZisAehiC_8qq4tHTJp/s1600/DSC_0281.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI0Kl4v29VD1yKjnKN3CFsQW7oEcyBdljDtxC_wJoT3V-nwNShLO1J26bub_2l_Z6cCB9xl8GplR_nIlqVYrii4tlvLzlQImzfpz5BfxPTS9XKtDZ7kpbDitA6IaZisAehiC_8qq4tHTJp/s640/DSC_0281.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">palolem beach, goa.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDYtxDQo-g_uNldeaEUaGfGh8fXksBDb3PVKCyXS3mYAKYtLUZvwAXnztFBGl4Z2Xl05-JevDyAIKyVB4PxrxA0OVpnf9xcFiVxdqZSSFYKBhuutXxIy8ND-YSQLSXM51hoPPbnbmDscYA/s1600/DSC_0283.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDYtxDQo-g_uNldeaEUaGfGh8fXksBDb3PVKCyXS3mYAKYtLUZvwAXnztFBGl4Z2Xl05-JevDyAIKyVB4PxrxA0OVpnf9xcFiVxdqZSSFYKBhuutXxIy8ND-YSQLSXM51hoPPbnbmDscYA/s640/DSC_0283.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">starfish make me smile.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCICJ5q2-DAtnYnN7Wopie7wK5QpsiQLIDnis46CYvWaI7k_aQJtL8upW72Mw8MsNfZEp70ziEz0ZzzzQebkxFDLRE8UtwnkzU7l2dnxt-st4XI8XgHl3Iy41-AUna2MVqnLtBPp1zCe3-/s1600/DSC_0246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCICJ5q2-DAtnYnN7Wopie7wK5QpsiQLIDnis46CYvWaI7k_aQJtL8upW72Mw8MsNfZEp70ziEz0ZzzzQebkxFDLRE8UtwnkzU7l2dnxt-st4XI8XgHl3Iy41-AUna2MVqnLtBPp1zCe3-/s640/DSC_0246.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sunset. palolem beach.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9eurfX06DyDEnhTvW1gpc223IGvPrktcxG3TwsliT18iWgpAwSd5uJ_HerMvrjc_P0FKVQO_88ywrN84x6soNpJalSrymCkhcIS-9_1efA1lozvKdxi3EZH-rzPLySX4O47Z-mOiMoago/s1600/DSC_0283.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9eurfX06DyDEnhTvW1gpc223IGvPrktcxG3TwsliT18iWgpAwSd5uJ_HerMvrjc_P0FKVQO_88ywrN84x6soNpJalSrymCkhcIS-9_1efA1lozvKdxi3EZH-rzPLySX4O47Z-mOiMoago/s640/DSC_0283.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">hampi, a place like nothing i’ve ever seen before. the only thing i could compare it to is bedrock off the flintstones, crossed with indiana jones.</td></tr></tbody></table><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2UV2bZNomy5wZyvguSUEl89GHjpi44jJetu9Hi303pJaOxZb-2HHCuU5m6yiVA-Uy4BdWBPctyWPbThvW3UDoQL0JdgoiuAtLsTNoSL6cTyxE3NAbY-QVNTRNyvjfMeF9vvJbSS-6xRo_/s1600/DSC_0347.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2UV2bZNomy5wZyvguSUEl89GHjpi44jJetu9Hi303pJaOxZb-2HHCuU5m6yiVA-Uy4BdWBPctyWPbThvW3UDoQL0JdgoiuAtLsTNoSL6cTyxE3NAbY-QVNTRNyvjfMeF9vvJbSS-6xRo_/s640/DSC_0347.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">one of the many temples of hampi.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRXkcnmuK9dDS3ko5CwBM4Fc9O98x-yh8asnppKcXeE5qB7RVAx7pqrRP7fRCVfpCBQxgKA7uldWIZ8ScQkqeTonbhiYJQaIMHBhwMRaq2-l-47zqKnWsPbYCqFbnDtsmzGNAiVNuCwl0f/s1600/DSC_0358.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi7HQbmPAxBcfbEnpMqZOcbYWlGLDay8GAhROQrn9_TURI_AmQ7tuPsjIUywu8FgQhlJTMgip67-Ukgu2etty1BExQ162nNqiumsvZTNbwNOmZg-PioU1JQhVC7wZkaiSiwtUu3S-Q7v6-/s640/DSC_0416.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLaPDVBZVrXiDcnoQh7B-FAqf1ZGoSAK3lFDLnZBYvD-QZIAzizFuU0eufLevpiC7ODpCukwe8OlmJ7swx4vIcDqW1Y3vgtzeTYfFp0YGRQjcdfTXGqCbwoaLNJt6ENEHJLV7ipnBLB2z0/s1600/DSC_0418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLaPDVBZVrXiDcnoQh7B-FAqf1ZGoSAK3lFDLnZBYvD-QZIAzizFuU0eufLevpiC7ODpCukwe8OlmJ7swx4vIcDqW1Y3vgtzeTYfFp0YGRQjcdfTXGqCbwoaLNJt6ENEHJLV7ipnBLB2z0/s640/DSC_0418.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwnQooNpZl2xFKMkhe6KIl8X2Guu2NqkHOHLD5omjtJ64oDEzlGk5Fu9ZmKO_wZl6s1WqeBgykgTL1JcCk1JmIYD9r5BL10_gr76uBuYQLuFre3lPEMFqv1eEGPkq87Ex0okgOo4GyKmcx/s1600/DSC_0423.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwnQooNpZl2xFKMkhe6KIl8X2Guu2NqkHOHLD5omjtJ64oDEzlGk5Fu9ZmKO_wZl6s1WqeBgykgTL1JcCk1JmIYD9r5BL10_gr76uBuYQLuFre3lPEMFqv1eEGPkq87Ex0okgOo4GyKmcx/s640/DSC_0423.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs0BjGm3v6xUtyZ5qImYq_L2lhy3VWm2lltJutkOXrG3F9T0Uj_vMv8bXc1LYr_G2OYGhBod8EMdjr8vK-ar-s1GepcylLd6gUGQ3BEfh7wARLqV6mjT95DfoJxlCHVH0JmPF7pRTn6PBy/s1600/DSC_0491.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs0BjGm3v6xUtyZ5qImYq_L2lhy3VWm2lltJutkOXrG3F9T0Uj_vMv8bXc1LYr_G2OYGhBod8EMdjr8vK-ar-s1GepcylLd6gUGQ3BEfh7wARLqV6mjT95DfoJxlCHVH0JmPF7pRTn6PBy/s640/DSC_0491.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdbb_gZXrGNEaS3LPbstcbwlkaGU6C5S5L99qlyGxS9ZoP-KkoYNiZaJ5jOCP8cDdUwx-sDECEu8dITjzAs6JGX-da7wpV1BYoOSvQQOoCK4Kk5sF9nMEXHBSC-u2hriw-zMAEuR3vtbEs/s1600/DSC_0501.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdbb_gZXrGNEaS3LPbstcbwlkaGU6C5S5L99qlyGxS9ZoP-KkoYNiZaJ5jOCP8cDdUwx-sDECEu8dITjzAs6JGX-da7wpV1BYoOSvQQOoCK4Kk5sF9nMEXHBSC-u2hriw-zMAEuR3vtbEs/s640/DSC_0501.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpmcAZe3u8yfJr5WrYP8js208GNVRCDmNuFGWPFdmYY6q3zSlJuEXZseofoW37nuhb-Fq-eDO-S8dT7HrqWG6qSO4CKvtYi3bXanqL9Rh5Uj1Q-0iht6H-xQWV1aDODySuFuapm08go4Rg/s1600/DSC_0504.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpmcAZe3u8yfJr5WrYP8js208GNVRCDmNuFGWPFdmYY6q3zSlJuEXZseofoW37nuhb-Fq-eDO-S8dT7HrqWG6qSO4CKvtYi3bXanqL9Rh5Uj1Q-0iht6H-xQWV1aDODySuFuapm08go4Rg/s640/DSC_0504.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFs_amMXlWKbfDuR88KNzwM0Uer4iR7S5fM0ZRDI_dHwXYaOFUxXwuMadXszJSpR_nle1FRY3ZEGioTajOz_12glyZHL5RlpPx67fx58VU536EO1YBlmtRYaVWaw7_xwIs6r2bDvfSpCC9/s1600/DSC_0525.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFs_amMXlWKbfDuR88KNzwM0Uer4iR7S5fM0ZRDI_dHwXYaOFUxXwuMadXszJSpR_nle1FRY3ZEGioTajOz_12glyZHL5RlpPx67fx58VU536EO1YBlmtRYaVWaw7_xwIs6r2bDvfSpCC9/s640/DSC_0525.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc1aTEyG3wpvrOGMtPCbvwbtRzp84TrghEFS5HqKC9zoXy1xE0ELvzevNj2xth9M28phtw68GrQzZ32_mZGq2tZqn9Saw2PP7x5q3R2G-0TcnC9oOG0SUtwSZZq56Cz2UrxdPkFIuexA2w/s1600/DSC_0529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc1aTEyG3wpvrOGMtPCbvwbtRzp84TrghEFS5HqKC9zoXy1xE0ELvzevNj2xth9M28phtw68GrQzZ32_mZGq2tZqn9Saw2PP7x5q3R2G-0TcnC9oOG0SUtwSZZq56Cz2UrxdPkFIuexA2w/s640/DSC_0529.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></div><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaCCjRh3JcFbqWHXrU7X4OuOpX2dH2V-pmfVxCn6jK-MkUnFTwdV8U2biphGqZqkG5WmuP-t92Ac2ullxW0m57HkDdkpv_Vc6s4VSBUJeB8mJ7BlW66vignSUfrgFMAbR4wojD0RRDuxG4/s1600/DSC_0515.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaCCjRh3JcFbqWHXrU7X4OuOpX2dH2V-pmfVxCn6jK-MkUnFTwdV8U2biphGqZqkG5WmuP-t92Ac2ullxW0m57HkDdkpv_Vc6s4VSBUJeB8mJ7BlW66vignSUfrgFMAbR4wojD0RRDuxG4/s640/DSC_0515.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">dinner time in the 15th century. men would walk through the aisle and serve the food on the stone.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggCjk9JjGuDgLS0td79tQ6ewoJiHGzuXjvB_w4kyf7iqEZ4qwgBCH_TsR4WCP0nRNU4cylBRwnotGgo2GjZ8FB30Y-ghTyvQjv3jKd_WNEIpO60tMtjEXy53FvW9umW8ImD24OJYxDIy8f/s1600/DSC_0521.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggCjk9JjGuDgLS0td79tQ6ewoJiHGzuXjvB_w4kyf7iqEZ4qwgBCH_TsR4WCP0nRNU4cylBRwnotGgo2GjZ8FB30Y-ghTyvQjv3jKd_WNEIpO60tMtjEXy53FvW9umW8ImD24OJYxDIy8f/s640/DSC_0521.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a><br /></div><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC-PcGeSKBBtqX-g0bdkiqp7vKc3KtQ3qawE4h-Y_QwbY31MaSrfa1QnfcWVeeehyphenhyphenc7BKAMwMMqdjeWvG_ilBoAge_juO4-9MPv9Cef4dPkgcqyWhpb8XQYKvyeoMHDY5t24DjIK0dPe9s/s1600/DSC_0260.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC-PcGeSKBBtqX-g0bdkiqp7vKc3KtQ3qawE4h-Y_QwbY31MaSrfa1QnfcWVeeehyphenhyphenc7BKAMwMMqdjeWvG_ilBoAge_juO4-9MPv9Cef4dPkgcqyWhpb8XQYKvyeoMHDY5t24DjIK0dPe9s/s640/DSC_0260.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">india's versions of holiday decorations</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOvpfRb2zY-4YN7RGCu4U5w_ZRidWrmaA-LgIHf7egVK9UzmF1U-jAXhwmxSTQyEukANIBkru22S11yt-D-5a5dfCjlgi1yyMKmyWvYgKtZ3nQOZot2TEZHsP17RzA1HrqhTX5esX2sL80/s1600/DSC_0273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOvpfRb2zY-4YN7RGCu4U5w_ZRidWrmaA-LgIHf7egVK9UzmF1U-jAXhwmxSTQyEukANIBkru22S11yt-D-5a5dfCjlgi1yyMKmyWvYgKtZ3nQOZot2TEZHsP17RzA1HrqhTX5esX2sL80/s640/DSC_0273.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">all women workers...minus the man watching them work.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbZmiRGVtDyVeJ3Bc4lN1FenE8K-o0iFchf1c3LpH8ydwhp6nPdrAU3CEAvnkYzXHYcIsC3ON-xjy902NJDUP4xB0_kw3weadfgwSno82cDK6e73qmLdaZNBfoJcPIOOTmhapKmqoHg3qh/s1600/DSC_0287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbZmiRGVtDyVeJ3Bc4lN1FenE8K-o0iFchf1c3LpH8ydwhp6nPdrAU3CEAvnkYzXHYcIsC3ON-xjy902NJDUP4xB0_kw3weadfgwSno82cDK6e73qmLdaZNBfoJcPIOOTmhapKmqoHg3qh/s640/DSC_0287.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">her name is Lakshima. i found her in one of the markets in pondi. she didn't have any chains on her, but her master was sat next to her with his poker. she was the most beautiful thing in all of pondi and as you can see, her eyes tell quite a story. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnscRwh_m3zwmndXLdwSmpBPkahvPDs0TDA4qTJtmgFFaIuVq3FudpNdV-WobT_spp5CebGjNzdM3MbCl0PE4aeiOSO3hker6oXwCRGImu4dTDAfTrVhgkmJnxSZECj-X1Fq4Jq-aNYzMZ/s1600/DSC_0240.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnscRwh_m3zwmndXLdwSmpBPkahvPDs0TDA4qTJtmgFFaIuVq3FudpNdV-WobT_spp5CebGjNzdM3MbCl0PE4aeiOSO3hker6oXwCRGImu4dTDAfTrVhgkmJnxSZECj-X1Fq4Jq-aNYzMZ/s640/DSC_0240.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">backwaters of fort kochi.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPsBVJqTwD6cPx_FvG62taYMHrtJYomerMxH4WfeJ0g9H_n2RL9RVw8iA8ktaYfXsJWvzDHe1RGG91Bol-EEdb6jzbOzgxBgGiynZ30s8WuYADwgzh2R3MS3uIqYSM1uagEauNAuxgOxlm/s1600/DSC_0248.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPsBVJqTwD6cPx_FvG62taYMHrtJYomerMxH4WfeJ0g9H_n2RL9RVw8iA8ktaYfXsJWvzDHe1RGG91Bol-EEdb6jzbOzgxBgGiynZ30s8WuYADwgzh2R3MS3uIqYSM1uagEauNAuxgOxlm/s640/DSC_0248.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifz0LR8gW2wwuVT4YsiyHKUi-ZXKRqikOyREUXK06jbYRkDlzsKY4K1r4OCKfGBcRgDmlKyHzGYYsOU_rUojILX4XLR_I1Wys2LPLOCLQ6r7XoEOOyD2PUJUHi6W5sNiMTCkUEbXCYLD1h/s1600/DSC_0263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifz0LR8gW2wwuVT4YsiyHKUi-ZXKRqikOyREUXK06jbYRkDlzsKY4K1r4OCKfGBcRgDmlKyHzGYYsOU_rUojILX4XLR_I1Wys2LPLOCLQ6r7XoEOOyD2PUJUHi6W5sNiMTCkUEbXCYLD1h/s640/DSC_0263.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></div><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZq0jO8uhoqnrHDEGrbLsCsdvpDJmZRZbRAB0x_Z9l5lvVt1AlWKw3mkVVFdNk5OCbzW0z2DpPVENEsOJyOwjRtGX0JI_YgWzFqgrOWyaXlGnpFOlZpv1fnrwsP62mVbnw4k4o-SgBxAKl/s1600/DSC_0262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZq0jO8uhoqnrHDEGrbLsCsdvpDJmZRZbRAB0x_Z9l5lvVt1AlWKw3mkVVFdNk5OCbzW0z2DpPVENEsOJyOwjRtGX0JI_YgWzFqgrOWyaXlGnpFOlZpv1fnrwsP62mVbnw4k4o-SgBxAKl/s640/DSC_0262.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this man is separating the coconut meat from the shell in order to make full use of the coconuts.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj9jG-BnhyuAs7QxtCtq3oFfBz0XbW9nxVlTLS60A0PJK10bT-BM_Oh_5R-RzFuIcKf-T4c9CnmHDAUYYsQqEArOblx8TaObrlBO1D6c5MAcSt_PnSHhVfXcGWGrjC75eYyeSl-LLxrHju/s1600/DSC_0271.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj9jG-BnhyuAs7QxtCtq3oFfBz0XbW9nxVlTLS60A0PJK10bT-BM_Oh_5R-RzFuIcKf-T4c9CnmHDAUYYsQqEArOblx8TaObrlBO1D6c5MAcSt_PnSHhVfXcGWGrjC75eYyeSl-LLxrHju/s640/DSC_0271.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this woman is in the process of creating rope from the coconut shell's fibers.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2u_kRErCOR9vGSRnoFhOB_X3hLF8u2MaiHooR8vV83BcTIOAe9X-OcD4Q2inV5_V9Jiu0JtZBnkA360bmwDbj3Rk6qu2JvYVEr_HWF6U7E1IVyCZ450ZrsV91UkUDa3c8JyQe1rTrP17g/s1600/DSC_0279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2u_kRErCOR9vGSRnoFhOB_X3hLF8u2MaiHooR8vV83BcTIOAe9X-OcD4Q2inV5_V9Jiu0JtZBnkA360bmwDbj3Rk6qu2JvYVEr_HWF6U7E1IVyCZ450ZrsV91UkUDa3c8JyQe1rTrP17g/s640/DSC_0279.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiisZAMgdJfMfOYqbypHgmh85WIkPbBUEdW14FjALTkU_8vB_mUuclwOGp6nAi5wkR5B5_I2oqYEaKRYToBZY2DBG3GDcQs2TsiO_x2ejAc0nu9qAm8-mIRZO1vPEBP8KkWapeH95s22xUP/s1600/DSC_0238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiisZAMgdJfMfOYqbypHgmh85WIkPbBUEdW14FjALTkU_8vB_mUuclwOGp6nAi5wkR5B5_I2oqYEaKRYToBZY2DBG3GDcQs2TsiO_x2ejAc0nu9qAm8-mIRZO1vPEBP8KkWapeH95s22xUP/s640/DSC_0238.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">beach no. 5, havelock island, the andaman's.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDuiCFkAyCR1v4e1ph0TKmdIt6ljLWaHr03mVTXTdE2c_C4lza__1wmF_MhM26c7MAi20e6yzLocFQoBhhhiXsd0By7fa6st3UCBhql2URFf3Iye0vHvISvFRmzUZrBM1SJSSMrz-NzSOr/s1600/DSC_0273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDuiCFkAyCR1v4e1ph0TKmdIt6ljLWaHr03mVTXTdE2c_C4lza__1wmF_MhM26c7MAi20e6yzLocFQoBhhhiXsd0By7fa6st3UCBhql2URFf3Iye0vHvISvFRmzUZrBM1SJSSMrz-NzSOr/s640/DSC_0273.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">right after sunset. beach no. 7, havelock island.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Theatre Charlotte's production of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS runs March 16 through April 1. Tickets are available through CarolinaTix at 704-372-1000 or <a href="http://www.carolinatix.org/default.asp?tix=59&objId=2569" target="_blank">CarolinaTix.org</a>.</span></blockquote>Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-90240976284831801112012-03-12T18:46:00.003-07:002012-03-12T18:58:59.085-07:00Interview with 'Around The World' Playwright Mark Brown<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEfZKaMHOZZy_0mA_vCq5t3GVw2s4v6wxuXVbSeHRcAuXHcdbj8qCWupm__GMr3MCi0-RCTB8rXzIKObB89_-2F2ooqx44ogHbV9XHVj_6RNLwhVSaM1WbZMG012uBOUI3I_K0obHIBiw/s1600/AroundTheWorldsq.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEfZKaMHOZZy_0mA_vCq5t3GVw2s4v6wxuXVbSeHRcAuXHcdbj8qCWupm__GMr3MCi0-RCTB8rXzIKObB89_-2F2ooqx44ogHbV9XHVj_6RNLwhVSaM1WbZMG012uBOUI3I_K0obHIBiw/s320/AroundTheWorldsq.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5719195287198811122" /></a>Mark Brown is an award-winning writer and actor who has appeared in theatres across the country, including South Coast Repertory and Utah Shakespearean Festival. Films include <span style="font-style:italic;">Out of Sight</span> (with George Clooney), <span style="font-style:italic;">Holy Man</span> (with Eddie Murphy and Jeff Goldblum) and <span style="font-style:italic;">Amy's O</span> (Winner Best Film: Santa Barbara Film Festival). Notable TV credits include the Emmy Award-winning series “From the Earth to the Moon” (with Tom Hanks), “House,” “Ally McBeal,” “Providence,” “Diagnosis Murder,” and countless commercials and made-for-TV films.<br /><br />His play AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS has literally been produced around the world. Awards for 80 Days include two Lillie Stoates Awards, including Best Production (Orlando Shakespeare Festival), four Shellie Awards, including Best Production (Center Rep Theatre), five Sarasota Magazine Theater Award nominations (Florida Studio Theatre) and two Los Angeles Ovation Award Nominations (the Colony Theatre). The Sacramento Bee named <span style="font-style:italic;">80 Days</span> Best Theatrical Comedy of 2004.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: When did you launch your theatrical journey with <span style="font-style:italic;">Around the World in 80 Days</span>?</span><br /><br />A: It began in 1999 when several of my friends and I sat around discussing one of our favorite subjects---what novels would make good stage adaptations---and Around the World in 80 Days came up. Someone said, "It'll be great. We'll follow the balloon from country to country." I piped in with, 'There's no balloon." I hadn't even read the novel but somehow I knew there wasn't a balloon in it. How I knew this little bit of trivia I'll never know, but it’s true. There's no balloon. There's no balloon in the book. There's no balloon in my script. It's the curse of the movie, really. The one with David Niven that won five Academy Awards. The film had a balloon. It's what everyone remembers. But there's no balloon in the book and there's no balloon in this show.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: So other than having no balloon, what challenges did you encounter in turning a classic novel into what has become a classic play?</span><br /><br />A: I did several different versions of the play. Originally I tried to do it using the original words from the book with characters commenting on their own feelings, but the first act ended up being two hours long. We would have needed a dinner break to do the entire play.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Q: Fortunately, you chose to cut the play down. Is that when you came up with the concept of using only five actors to play three dozen roles?</span><br /><br />A: I actually set that parameter at the beginning, to have five actors. I had flow charts that showed costume changes, things like that. I really wanted to keep it to five actors. There was one scene where I needed a sixth actor, so I ended up having one actor excuse himself to use the bathroom, and then quickly come back on as another character. It’s the only reason he goes to the bathroom.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: Did you find that your experience as an actor helped in the writing of this play?</span><br /><br />A: I think it helped in writing this play, and my other plays as well. I wanted this one to be fun for the audience, and for the actors. Sometimes I think actors want to kill me for what I have done. But I sort of knew what was possible for quick changes, and breaking down the fourth wall as well as breaking down time and space throughout the entire show.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Q: Since writing<span style="font-style:italic;"> Around the World in 80 Days</span> and having it premiered at Utah Shakespeare Festival several years ago, it has been performed – fittingly enough – around the world. Does the play’s success surprise you?</span><br /><br />A: It was big hit in South Africa, and has been done in England, in Canada, around the United States, and just had an off-Broadway run. I thought it was fun, but I never thought it would take off like this. Of course, it has great name recognition, and it has a small cast. You don’t need a backdrop or elaborate sets, it is as simple can be. I did not put a lot of stage directions in the script because I really wanted directors to bring their creativity to it. I wanted set designers and costume designers to figure out how to create this world on stage. I did not want to nail it down to anything.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Q: Have any productions of your play been done in a larger-than-life setting?</span><br /><br />A: Most productions have been fairly simple. This show really relies on the imagination of the artistic team and of the audience. If you were to see a Radio City production of this play, you’d see a real elephant but it would be really boring because you’re not using your imagination. If the actors tell the story like eight-year-olds and bounce around, it’s live as opposed to literal. It’s like seeing my daughter pretending that “now I am in the castle,” or “now I am underwater, save me daddy.” It’s fun to do that. We have all been to that place. With this play, it’s “I’m on an elephant, now I am on a train.” It’s a really fun play, a fun night out at the theater. It’s about as deep as a shallow puddle, but it’s really fun. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Theatre Charlotte's production of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS runs March 16 through April 1. Tickets are available through CarolinaTix at 704-372-1000 or <a href="http://www.carolinatix.org/default.asp?tix=59&objId=2569" target="_blank">CarolinaTix.org</a>.</span>Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-25036779588744972082012-03-08T18:18:00.043-08:002012-03-09T10:33:53.149-08:00Around the World with Theatre Charlotte: England<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghXDjSvHaN9xLvZ9lV9jFU1WdtCn7q7ZxwBA8sawMc-g3d_cdPRSKW7FT_gTwBSBoSBxAf9Mw4OJVpAB3PiO_XA4n3VBsFhqNuZsoR8bmDnrgTFzW6btKj7oez4cmS7JROGU-JJA5Bm4w/s1600/madisonblog.png"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 112px; height: 183px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghXDjSvHaN9xLvZ9lV9jFU1WdtCn7q7ZxwBA8sawMc-g3d_cdPRSKW7FT_gTwBSBoSBxAf9Mw4OJVpAB3PiO_XA4n3VBsFhqNuZsoR8bmDnrgTFzW6btKj7oez4cmS7JROGU-JJA5Bm4w/s320/madisonblog.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5717716957869704050" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Madison Culver is a former Charlottean turned globe trotter. Following her recent graduation from Johnson & Wales University, Madison bega</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >n an embark around the world not dissimilar to the journey Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout take in AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS.</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;font-size:85%;" ><br />Unlike Fogg and Passepartout, however, Madison is in no hurry to complete a multi-continental race. This means she has been able to stop and see all the sights Fogg and Passepartout missed during their journey—and luckily for us, she is taking Theatre Charlotte along for the adventure by exclusively sharing her stories and photos with us, which we will post here weekly during our production of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS.<br /><br />To learn more about Madison, please visit <a href="http://www.wherethewindblowsnow.com/" target="_blank">Where The Wind Blows Now</a>, the blog she started to chronicle her travels and help people find inspiration in the beauty of life.</span><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Week 1: England<br /></span>The home of tea time, red telephone boxes, beautiful gardens, and the Queen is naturally England; however, Mr. Fogg has probably enjoyed very little of such. This rigid character, described by Roger Cardinal, is “as cool as the iced beverages he sips at his club; he insists on standards of punctuality and regularity which are utterly inhumane, as witness the way he sacks his first servant because the poor fellow brings him shaving-water two degrees colder than usual”. These are just a few of Mr. Fogg’s unique personality traits, which when paired with his adventurous, risk-taking French manservant make for an incredible journey around the world!<br /><br />Now, because Mr. Fogg has put such a large bet on the time frame of his journey, he enjoys incredibly brief moments in each place he ventures. So, I’m here to fill in the blanks for you. Here are just a few things Mr. Fogg has missed out on in his own country of residence:<br /><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifuqJA-uZoxGrBTUz5G3jzzavbvSJS2TdbIy4pXmhlp7p7DxHL6AKqm45kXCuZ94AqyzoHej6IqtLtXpqCKrLYWtc88ACiPPTs-6fTkR63e5NxxUdAKjm8YQQUdcnAs0roZxbswDL_d0G2/s1600/DSC_0706.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifuqJA-uZoxGrBTUz5G3jzzavbvSJS2TdbIy4pXmhlp7p7DxHL6AKqm45kXCuZ94AqyzoHej6IqtLtXpqCKrLYWtc88ACiPPTs-6fTkR63e5NxxUdAKjm8YQQUdcnAs0roZxbswDL_d0G2/s400/DSC_0706.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">tower bridge</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifSX82XmLmn8En6gxDZK5URvQQj1ZNgUuDMPv9-ZUGXnKL1AjcfWhtJq9UcxNcw3OQdySpuq2DD5PM4hQmZGjzmRngoeDGdqisrLKEs2KcOPD1Ha0IfM25UsxonQVJocEbVVpZ7GTuOfD7/s1600/DSC_0727.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifSX82XmLmn8En6gxDZK5URvQQj1ZNgUuDMPv9-ZUGXnKL1AjcfWhtJq9UcxNcw3OQdySpuq2DD5PM4hQmZGjzmRngoeDGdqisrLKEs2KcOPD1Ha0IfM25UsxonQVJocEbVVpZ7GTuOfD7/s400/DSC_0727.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"when the lions drink, london will sink"</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIF6R-BSfA6OvwKh9lMnfw7rEdaiSF8DKoTIkQlBmxKShMOGuCDyG-StPW5pBImcS17dMWcoKBvAGIDaHPovIUfMbJsGiUkIEJtIhHZmS7fGNj7bGMpFXlURev4WpHITMAjcsQHVfkd8Zu/s1600/DSC_0744.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIF6R-BSfA6OvwKh9lMnfw7rEdaiSF8DKoTIkQlBmxKShMOGuCDyG-StPW5pBImcS17dMWcoKBvAGIDaHPovIUfMbJsGiUkIEJtIhHZmS7fGNj7bGMpFXlURev4WpHITMAjcsQHVfkd8Zu/s400/DSC_0744.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">london eye</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgenhivycYKZ2q64Nj6wz68VWM1FnwkP3AI72_k1XccFTtQIYhiC1YjNf3HP0YrQC6XJqbBoDeA6evVpWekXtaoDDAcVa7F2lZoswpo2ECmxK6de-DeBoDwqY0_AN5TWe1eQIQO1yoFUSSu/s1600/DSC_0747.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgenhivycYKZ2q64Nj6wz68VWM1FnwkP3AI72_k1XccFTtQIYhiC1YjNf3HP0YrQC6XJqbBoDeA6evVpWekXtaoDDAcVa7F2lZoswpo2ECmxK6de-DeBoDwqY0_AN5TWe1eQIQO1yoFUSSu/s400/DSC_0747.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">big ben</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiIKjs4te1D5xCUdQcN2YAjRwF18y5LbOpSDUksKFU2YRR6vtVLji0rZsn9-wtKQ8jSnHjnBXt8EA5ZHGTqj0LBkQTFXDTYj7qCcG0UulFAwqcki5TlkonKsk4sb8MxM7xf5EKgFYkGvox/s1600/DSC_0802.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiIKjs4te1D5xCUdQcN2YAjRwF18y5LbOpSDUksKFU2YRR6vtVLji0rZsn9-wtKQ8jSnHjnBXt8EA5ZHGTqj0LBkQTFXDTYj7qCcG0UulFAwqcki5TlkonKsk4sb8MxM7xf5EKgFYkGvox/s400/DSC_0802.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">west minster abbey</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI9TGmSAvbH8sej-whA_oQixRebg1q6PefLZOg0iHbtgxMaqAKfGC_-dNMzDoCsIyPPLDxEWKc7z1nqUlkS2MQLHNMaXBtN-REB6xfg3T1uXwcjn43JK0ubKE0Y1-TgHrA54af3AliXwMf/s1600/DSC_0807.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI9TGmSAvbH8sej-whA_oQixRebg1q6PefLZOg0iHbtgxMaqAKfGC_-dNMzDoCsIyPPLDxEWKc7z1nqUlkS2MQLHNMaXBtN-REB6xfg3T1uXwcjn43JK0ubKE0Y1-TgHrA54af3AliXwMf/s400/DSC_0807.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">gargoyle i made friends with while standing in line.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvDq6uzwH70_WiN9nQu5eyVBSWr8mHQEbcNpXcfLUvfm56Pyt7Szamqv3GTkbbP4bALaSCkdEHBi5PZfL8XVH15r_FGfn7jmtivTJenogLVpO8nDUPF3DcxIqGPupimABP_HMXGyi9Sv1C/s1600/DSC_0619.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvDq6uzwH70_WiN9nQu5eyVBSWr8mHQEbcNpXcfLUvfm56Pyt7Szamqv3GTkbbP4bALaSCkdEHBi5PZfL8XVH15r_FGfn7jmtivTJenogLVpO8nDUPF3DcxIqGPupimABP_HMXGyi9Sv1C/s400/DSC_0619.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the albert memorial. its beautiful.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvePZfpT2f0_sW5aTIILruEHdkjZkezdGLJnst4FNFZjcbCnXwn2RtsqAmw33onVXRMcnIlMYFrX578lE4pupizXoYYvK9QD1J3g4h1xDYyjL0osvO_cRVvLx6QPsAhVIS5hTxoJ7T67lH/s1600/DSC_0662.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvePZfpT2f0_sW5aTIILruEHdkjZkezdGLJnst4FNFZjcbCnXwn2RtsqAmw33onVXRMcnIlMYFrX578lE4pupizXoYYvK9QD1J3g4h1xDYyjL0osvO_cRVvLx6QPsAhVIS5hTxoJ7T67lH/s400/DSC_0662.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">nelson's ship in a bottle</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYBYk9viVKrcwFL-oHnJDZJzzYggf7KTqjDkYXXf2Z4W_HyyunqikqnJmAjm-begQv1eN__5dg8o1dbIVkVavkUUq3oF97dO9xUCgvkcoebzlq4vn7q5AQNoJYVN39Ggmo7znwouFOdS4H/s1600/DSC_0582.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYBYk9viVKrcwFL-oHnJDZJzzYggf7KTqjDkYXXf2Z4W_HyyunqikqnJmAjm-begQv1eN__5dg8o1dbIVkVavkUUq3oF97dO9xUCgvkcoebzlq4vn7q5AQNoJYVN39Ggmo7znwouFOdS4H/s400/DSC_0582.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">york minster</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2NTJpEtH2rFK_tmSbV0Vy7Ede1YU86iDchzueMisA5X1kLJWPuRcv4ChX3vpBtQ153l5ybos-pHeS2C-vSKWjgNQB1jwk6dM0utikecTKT7ioS3ZZbkBsfYjrlnovqLw7DNOv0YBHMUDA/s1600/DSC_0601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2NTJpEtH2rFK_tmSbV0Vy7Ede1YU86iDchzueMisA5X1kLJWPuRcv4ChX3vpBtQ153l5ybos-pHeS2C-vSKWjgNQB1jwk6dM0utikecTKT7ioS3ZZbkBsfYjrlnovqLw7DNOv0YBHMUDA/s400/DSC_0601.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">most of the kings</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiP2lbEYhvOj8gR4lBsXbP56VI65Pu3up4vDKHTJz8s9lCnoN4NKuws6muwymYP_ChxqgaFbX2sZqupMr44k1h79x9cs5xyDL7AIy8o_L_jIyzs-AWgaMpEdq69mM5mjTC9cin9l8UOiyO/s1600/DSC_0608.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiP2lbEYhvOj8gR4lBsXbP56VI65Pu3up4vDKHTJz8s9lCnoN4NKuws6muwymYP_ChxqgaFbX2sZqupMr44k1h79x9cs5xyDL7AIy8o_L_jIyzs-AWgaMpEdq69mM5mjTC9cin9l8UOiyO/s400/DSC_0608.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">headless figures. interesting.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOytq3NFmLlDvGmCuKs4Z1kvQLTM3_vBthCelYf7OqtGR2s_diBkDTxt0Ygw67xiKxWYvD5R9KbDTo0O13uBVbBu5WIDP-GofIw_BFtj8euF5NlbLNjBQKuD01zOybKCvWrL2hq4oYqDiq/s1600/DSC_0468.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOytq3NFmLlDvGmCuKs4Z1kvQLTM3_vBthCelYf7OqtGR2s_diBkDTxt0Ygw67xiKxWYvD5R9KbDTo0O13uBVbBu5WIDP-GofIw_BFtj8euF5NlbLNjBQKuD01zOybKCvWrL2hq4oYqDiq/s400/DSC_0468.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">edinburgh castle</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4bniunieUOzgBGn2KJi5czaBL0AQu21UtS_nWBEAVrNUGIY62M5BCI1qGjugd7PbP9zKOoFKK6Zs1YiWaS_OJkBqVjFIT0FZY0sBKjIYNIhWmsKxaVqN1mEBpulBoUbGQdpFIx5eOKzP8/s1600/DSC_0448.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4bniunieUOzgBGn2KJi5czaBL0AQu21UtS_nWBEAVrNUGIY62M5BCI1qGjugd7PbP9zKOoFKK6Zs1YiWaS_OJkBqVjFIT0FZY0sBKjIYNIhWmsKxaVqN1mEBpulBoUbGQdpFIx5eOKzP8/s400/DSC_0448.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">views from edinburgh castle</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm2R8loAl7YCPoFCMKmJKKw-CSDG1Ge4abu8Wwj2IB128BL_t0WiPWCbQ6HDig4Jd7NyMFeyDL1n9_SBnZtzcNLGwrYxMD7JReNjS8lzUcHBodCHJYHXUkcPT7g5gEJ3MuBncRHRwuVxYv/s1600/DSC_0400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm2R8loAl7YCPoFCMKmJKKw-CSDG1Ge4abu8Wwj2IB128BL_t0WiPWCbQ6HDig4Jd7NyMFeyDL1n9_SBnZtzcNLGwrYxMD7JReNjS8lzUcHBodCHJYHXUkcPT7g5gEJ3MuBncRHRwuVxYv/s400/DSC_0400.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">edinburgh captured my heart</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggUMLLiABmT0QTp0dZK19urQ44EQ0rhBjURwi_HWhKpg6OgNrcKRmlWv1-6aDvWl_ne49GIYjay0LN11iyYOMpqYmpAE1cdO3rB24mp7oCNpEutG5MdLQxng-7dq5MPelJ6J2LwaZ9NYd-/s1600/DSC_0533.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggUMLLiABmT0QTp0dZK19urQ44EQ0rhBjURwi_HWhKpg6OgNrcKRmlWv1-6aDvWl_ne49GIYjay0LN11iyYOMpqYmpAE1cdO3rB24mp7oCNpEutG5MdLQxng-7dq5MPelJ6J2LwaZ9NYd-/s400/DSC_0533.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">greyfriar cemetery</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUImhfKp1I4t1NOLwxqJfF_r3RKTqW9RBWXrpPVi7TIfJmXoweT4l-EXagDlNyrWUpBos4HTe2k7Ex4uRlVX9k69O9VdhYEzmRJO-7-6BZCw4afxMuWeGhDgXcGF3qkf-CHH12ZKGYv3JB/s1600/DSC_0541.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUImhfKp1I4t1NOLwxqJfF_r3RKTqW9RBWXrpPVi7TIfJmXoweT4l-EXagDlNyrWUpBos4HTe2k7Ex4uRlVX9k69O9VdhYEzmRJO-7-6BZCw4afxMuWeGhDgXcGF3qkf-CHH12ZKGYv3JB/s400/DSC_0541.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">headstones in the wall</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFoInyphyphenhyphenkmPVNIWc2Ob9DBHkulwO3iM2gBRs0jC7N9FhOEZhevhpuU1Dd0uGY0oOEmbnqZuw1tyioxLIqQBWQpYnPlRP98sYM7ggYoRwOjTI-6EzbZaUqlEO4iUp_hkSL3hQgSWS5Ce2m/s1600/DSC_0174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFoInyphyphenhyphenkmPVNIWc2Ob9DBHkulwO3iM2gBRs0jC7N9FhOEZhevhpuU1Dd0uGY0oOEmbnqZuw1tyioxLIqQBWQpYnPlRP98sYM7ggYoRwOjTI-6EzbZaUqlEO4iUp_hkSL3hQgSWS5Ce2m/s400/DSC_0174.JPG" border="0" height="336" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the uk's version of san francisco...brighton</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfWUANfmhnHp9hwJAYD0OhG9MLycAdBeapBhnWVgVHGI4dbC6qK02MxyOFlv_66oGuUG3-gi3_598jwzrTobqETmQKL0LNn14eVum9XhXMqH2U3D73w4pWPCc6EyOAEjkaxpbT05Asec6K/s1600/DSC_0305.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfWUANfmhnHp9hwJAYD0OhG9MLycAdBeapBhnWVgVHGI4dbC6qK02MxyOFlv_66oGuUG3-gi3_598jwzrTobqETmQKL0LNn14eVum9XhXMqH2U3D73w4pWPCc6EyOAEjkaxpbT05Asec6K/s400/DSC_0305.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">rocky beach</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXr46olbVxmznqpYp-aZULu3NaIIpTIw9RChEGFbgY9_Sh-UeQ8LFe-WOajqZAfjuE9fz2My_upfv2FLfZvSr0xVLTb2nkrKHuV5euCUlKlnrc5TcQLB_wUMssnxVAojEtCRV6cNgPDaUK/s1600/DSC_0207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXr46olbVxmznqpYp-aZULu3NaIIpTIw9RChEGFbgY9_Sh-UeQ8LFe-WOajqZAfjuE9fz2My_upfv2FLfZvSr0xVLTb2nkrKHuV5euCUlKlnrc5TcQLB_wUMssnxVAojEtCRV6cNgPDaUK/s400/DSC_0207.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">brighton pier</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB8Cp-xJ-u26Oc89yJHoogguThIJvjHP2IaGUGEG62Bplaz01UaOfleAhIl8RyNkwZBFW48RuQc33kh3BvSJVR7i58EZIHhwMXa2z66sbAS0WU-xKwCLIvGsJrACsYv2m826_xdnmcI6nK/s1600/DSC_0208.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB8Cp-xJ-u26Oc89yJHoogguThIJvjHP2IaGUGEG62Bplaz01UaOfleAhIl8RyNkwZBFW48RuQc33kh3BvSJVR7i58EZIHhwMXa2z66sbAS0WU-xKwCLIvGsJrACsYv2m826_xdnmcI6nK/s400/DSC_0208.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">brighton was amazing!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIHs-etr7GjMRSgGFNg75BaDAX5_0_lr4kJIiZjObJNZy90mD4__1mdOMS5Ymg-oc0W-NxYXRzRs4WoZPZc-_IsQx4aVT-4jaM6AHtkOhw-eHLkXx2gM_TZkTfbQ2t7_1CkrzhfEkyyPhI/s1600/DSC_0377.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIHs-etr7GjMRSgGFNg75BaDAX5_0_lr4kJIiZjObJNZy90mD4__1mdOMS5Ymg-oc0W-NxYXRzRs4WoZPZc-_IsQx4aVT-4jaM6AHtkOhw-eHLkXx2gM_TZkTfbQ2t7_1CkrzhfEkyyPhI/s400/DSC_0377.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.royalpavilion.org.uk/"><b>royal pavilion</b></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_awZH9yzV0y6WViPn7lJW8Q2yHoSvrlCJvZgCGV0YtE9Fn09wMzlamh6eRElbBXRnXylQ506lisDiWfSX2k7HyyuyeMcRu67aksSuqxCDmyTZ2ZTRHQBZ-h1s6RY2yPsddsSAW0hw1OBe/s1600/DSC_0397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_awZH9yzV0y6WViPn7lJW8Q2yHoSvrlCJvZgCGV0YtE9Fn09wMzlamh6eRElbBXRnXylQ506lisDiWfSX2k7HyyuyeMcRu67aksSuqxCDmyTZ2ZTRHQBZ-h1s6RY2yPsddsSAW0hw1OBe/s400/DSC_0397.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">walking up to king's college</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVOkpG7tcrawguyduawI80cOhSuGx51AtfHfQngsB31Tte6Tf6PqyvTVIh1VjjgUiv6x2MXCZkM8u85fQaAqlcc2R6KwhDUTW5-YBIZr3h6V4PaZzlFtS-1dGVeoqOz5Ycu2rr65cvBCgX/s1600/DSC_0163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVOkpG7tcrawguyduawI80cOhSuGx51AtfHfQngsB31Tte6Tf6PqyvTVIh1VjjgUiv6x2MXCZkM8u85fQaAqlcc2R6KwhDUTW5-YBIZr3h6V4PaZzlFtS-1dGVeoqOz5Ycu2rr65cvBCgX/s640/DSC_0163.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">king's college</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYDZ3zgScLdYm5kDfFx8U_qvK4j3uwdDph9RO9YzYvkZGM_k8-Xh35ugOnS3ggleqMXxPSbc8sG9X_oWckMx23wJvugliWKiYyuObSO8RtWGG_ulLf7FutNfcQkhZnLcMzpnNcEaFJcgKA/s1600/DSC_0405.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYDZ3zgScLdYm5kDfFx8U_qvK4j3uwdDph9RO9YzYvkZGM_k8-Xh35ugOnS3ggleqMXxPSbc8sG9X_oWckMx23wJvugliWKiYyuObSO8RtWGG_ulLf7FutNfcQkhZnLcMzpnNcEaFJcgKA/s400/DSC_0405.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">clare college courtyard, right outside the entrance to king's college</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUIAQ-AU3bCQGgegJQGSfeUmhbQsU69l5glEyLLW_iyfSYf7T0dAWT_ikXPldb-MyyMgIn5DC5NQfvfa0HoFQ4bkAH90jsi76jfdIM1HhZeedJvLp-b5bj0D4ac2-JZte4ibOkv1Sv7b05/s1600/DSC_0167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUIAQ-AU3bCQGgegJQGSfeUmhbQsU69l5glEyLLW_iyfSYf7T0dAWT_ikXPldb-MyyMgIn5DC5NQfvfa0HoFQ4bkAH90jsi76jfdIM1HhZeedJvLp-b5bj0D4ac2-JZte4ibOkv1Sv7b05/s640/DSC_0167.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">fantastic ivy building which is part of clare college</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpJKgXQh6ZnNly-_uiZpopp_i7dJIM2fso_EWbAOCDN3hb8gvIIDNdem_9QnEdytqtO3Urn4ehy3djOAqvIHMO_vPkBoe7cb-96qKQq52KSURL86LI4yfKSb1Ox9u1PXPKYG302_JEx4IQ/s1600/DSC_0181.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpJKgXQh6ZnNly-_uiZpopp_i7dJIM2fso_EWbAOCDN3hb8gvIIDNdem_9QnEdytqtO3Urn4ehy3djOAqvIHMO_vPkBoe7cb-96qKQq52KSURL86LI4yfKSb1Ox9u1PXPKYG302_JEx4IQ/s640/DSC_0181.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">view from "The Anchor" (great pub)</td></tr></tbody></table></div><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7A703qwWuoLIQf4ULfMG1kP7_cFvQEl13shWBlpMU8hcKSJqJwstQUwbaqrCd3gRP-KYEcTIs5zgEustJe00hKzjvZEZrLY6Qqmr0VwsBrDvjhul5ykhuOp1Hax7RQajsx-QZ6rbUvuIJ/s1600/DSC_0181.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7A703qwWuoLIQf4ULfMG1kP7_cFvQEl13shWBlpMU8hcKSJqJwstQUwbaqrCd3gRP-KYEcTIs5zgEustJe00hKzjvZEZrLY6Qqmr0VwsBrDvjhul5ykhuOp1Hax7RQajsx-QZ6rbUvuIJ/s640/DSC_0181.JPG" border="0" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">stairway to "the mound"</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHDpUuCA2sPyOZCykT-tzS4q7UlH3hUejo2JE__Qatq6eJOUSaZMAYN2Qaa46QUzpWrhpMjiD7FmV1tDQjA9S2lqzIRGzWyngoK29NUIzDtQW6wweVxE8IgJ8gWJbqhIBDJ6o4fQbHcq0y/s1600/DSC_0167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHDpUuCA2sPyOZCykT-tzS4q7UlH3hUejo2JE__Qatq6eJOUSaZMAYN2Qaa46QUzpWrhpMjiD7FmV1tDQjA9S2lqzIRGzWyngoK29NUIzDtQW6wweVxE8IgJ8gWJbqhIBDJ6o4fQbHcq0y/s640/DSC_0167.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">views of cambridge from "the mound"</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKa9uhwfRTevxgSMgZsl55XV-4e9cwGx4SjrdXijLhdCaKodo6UF7mIjc4L-6F4azTDqEXtYfxJKAn_yD_rjoRQVfDpiGm5FPmeJZXPLs3LVqmbJ0rU0NHUibLuQEHpoup8OkWT6nGmTAe/s1600/DSC_0173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKa9uhwfRTevxgSMgZsl55XV-4e9cwGx4SjrdXijLhdCaKodo6UF7mIjc4L-6F4azTDqEXtYfxJKAn_yD_rjoRQVfDpiGm5FPmeJZXPLs3LVqmbJ0rU0NHUibLuQEHpoup8OkWT6nGmTAe/s640/DSC_0173.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">punting on the river cam//cambridge</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8rRljP71yDHQLQIig1WnF6sk6IaJNvhWgPQkQCWbUcBF-ax63fFAlmLuZP_oT2AaMD2rTaV_aO1-Tg1NMVg-dAiu2AWyvxAEntffpKEJOu2c-LREepCOXBCxTaDCaUM_f4LQ89dfYHdot/s1600/DSC_0195.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8rRljP71yDHQLQIig1WnF6sk6IaJNvhWgPQkQCWbUcBF-ax63fFAlmLuZP_oT2AaMD2rTaV_aO1-Tg1NMVg-dAiu2AWyvxAEntffpKEJOu2c-LREepCOXBCxTaDCaUM_f4LQ89dfYHdot/s640/DSC_0195.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the beautiful ben, our river punter.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJy0slElKmvj8UI6U9CyKMhd6GXc0PKY53cWG5EkculyfOzmRka8ICFZzdet6V1RXj-Gzyikm8V1xTMD-dwhyJlfotJ9JfCnHabZJhSMxYtZMJ07YHn38Gu258U2lqvIPiAYNioBi3gj8-/s1600/DSC_0203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJy0slElKmvj8UI6U9CyKMhd6GXc0PKY53cWG5EkculyfOzmRka8ICFZzdet6V1RXj-Gzyikm8V1xTMD-dwhyJlfotJ9JfCnHabZJhSMxYtZMJ07YHn38Gu258U2lqvIPiAYNioBi3gj8-/s640/DSC_0203.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">kitchen bridge//cambridge</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIOxQLrMJ6iRKLC_Pg43Z_kcL4p-yBy0aiIBuB9HiLlZC_f0W5YxmOiW1Weldx0p0VkcR2ldiOVl5QuAiq4KV097_O0frvy1ZVMnmdBgeK6m0mwAypB8fH4dUCY83NwMCrowaGSy4zqP3R/s1600/DSC_0157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIOxQLrMJ6iRKLC_Pg43Z_kcL4p-yBy0aiIBuB9HiLlZC_f0W5YxmOiW1Weldx0p0VkcR2ldiOVl5QuAiq4KV097_O0frvy1ZVMnmdBgeK6m0mwAypB8fH4dUCY83NwMCrowaGSy4zqP3R/s400/DSC_0157.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">in the UK i discovered this "activity" and i absolutely had to do it! <a href="http://www.zorbsouth.co.uk/" target="_blank"><b>zorbing</b></a>.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIjDSJ7DFUKdwVssjWYtUaPA80iNnFG0tMviXqIDzWkKFOnBeUEK20JnOEMWfwfQpddqD5XELpBtSJ10hImDr-SXkQuNheJppSJ35b2kc8b1aoiyXI0tf2SFA3OfwtdylQBse66A6l3EMH/s1600/DSCN1758.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIjDSJ7DFUKdwVssjWYtUaPA80iNnFG0tMviXqIDzWkKFOnBeUEK20JnOEMWfwfQpddqD5XELpBtSJ10hImDr-SXkQuNheJppSJ35b2kc8b1aoiyXI0tf2SFA3OfwtdylQBse66A6l3EMH/s400/DSCN1758.JPG" border="0" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ahhhh getting ready</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-2Nv2s814V5PdQy3Hut8E5FJdZTq2st3O9LxDFJrhpUi2m5Y1wRkgD3t-x_1M4Lk2ncR6WYIW1h037R1r3biJ92nBcH4Ukrl-IL5nv3JZJ7ykWprYMtioIkzzIoACgu2EVe11FLrOU-dM/s1600/DSC_0068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-2Nv2s814V5PdQy3Hut8E5FJdZTq2st3O9LxDFJrhpUi2m5Y1wRkgD3t-x_1M4Lk2ncR6WYIW1h037R1r3biJ92nBcH4Ukrl-IL5nv3JZJ7ykWprYMtioIkzzIoACgu2EVe11FLrOU-dM/s640/DSC_0068.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the <a href="http://www.jurassiccoast.com/" target="_blank"><b>jurassic coastline</b></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3KTwvfyv7t4XDHEDkcgeugojI5MVr52spUiArVXHP9-2KY_7-QF4T12jc5CJUBzXiL7Dtll-VthXlWOEifcEqH60wke3lHpNkeL6FtyofWrIJ4m87_LzxQGK5eWz-AHNksufHtBPTzi4M/s1600/DSC_0118.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3KTwvfyv7t4XDHEDkcgeugojI5MVr52spUiArVXHP9-2KY_7-QF4T12jc5CJUBzXiL7Dtll-VthXlWOEifcEqH60wke3lHpNkeL6FtyofWrIJ4m87_LzxQGK5eWz-AHNksufHtBPTzi4M/s640/DSC_0118.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">i was nervous to stand because of the crazy winds</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPPUjM5dXrE6-3rZsqi8FvzP-V5G4p-ya2ehouynjEpb9UBBFs63f6b3vSGRpqtUS9dDaR4YVXQ0ngmqXibyg_KTQ5umndnGFHzadoZuV5dzarPjJpA9Cuew5nyRYxQYMeNi87Vo7akXSl/s1600/DSC_0130.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPPUjM5dXrE6-3rZsqi8FvzP-V5G4p-ya2ehouynjEpb9UBBFs63f6b3vSGRpqtUS9dDaR4YVXQ0ngmqXibyg_KTQ5umndnGFHzadoZuV5dzarPjJpA9Cuew5nyRYxQYMeNi87Vo7akXSl/s640/DSC_0130.JPG" border="0" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">man of war</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Theatre Charlotte's production of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS runs March 16 through April 1. Tickets are available through CarolinaTix at 704-372-1000 or <a href="http://www.carolinatix.org/default.asp?tix=59&objId=2569" target="_blank">CarolinaTix.org</a>.</span></blockquote>Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-28826497540441474302012-02-18T02:41:00.000-08:002012-02-18T11:04:49.874-08:00Inside SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2AlwdbVnxS9WJSMFocDjeZXtMWLWvuevoMKdmpeXRvd3Jg7QzSYi91Dm6ckLHt07sS94dBBm6WflRpFvk7uTOT3zXFPhtDnuc2_Wi-Xp43_dNRMAkNztiC_EqfxGTEXQSkG1DqrW9qRo/s1600/sfanwflyer.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 207px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2AlwdbVnxS9WJSMFocDjeZXtMWLWvuevoMKdmpeXRvd3Jg7QzSYi91Dm6ckLHt07sS94dBBm6WflRpFvk7uTOT3zXFPhtDnuc2_Wi-Xp43_dNRMAkNztiC_EqfxGTEXQSkG1DqrW9qRo/s320/sfanwflyer.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710427542812196034" /></a>Theatre Charlotte is proud to announce a special production of <span style="font-style:italic;">Songs for a New World</span>. This music revue transports the audience from the deck of a 1492 sailing ship to a ledge 57 stories above Fifth Avenue and features an array of characters from a young man who has determined that basketball is his ticket out of the ghetto to a woman whose dream of marrying rich gets her the man of her dreams and a soulless marriage. These are contemporary themes presented through contemporary characters singing contemporary popular music. Written by Jason Robert Brown, who has been called "one of Broadway’s smartest and most sophisticated songwriters since Stephen Sondheim," the score features soaring melodies and irresistible rhythms with a wide range of songs that encompass jazz, gospel, funk and rock. <br /><br />One of the characters in <span style="font-style:italic;">Songs for a New World</span> says "I don't want to philosophize. I just want to tell a story." And that line describes <span style="font-style:italic;">Songs for a New World</span> perfectly; in fact, it tells a whole collection of stories. It's not a book musical – there is no over-arching plot and no consistent characters throughout the evening. In its construction, it owes much to <span style="font-style:italic;">Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris</span> and the theatre experiments of the 1960s. It’s a collection of independent scene-songs but it’s also more than that. In a 1998 review in St. Louis’ Riverfront Times, Mike Isaacson wrote, "<span style="font-style:italic;">Songs for a New World</span> is that very rare beast: an abstract musical. There is no specific location other than the natural ambiguity of the human heart and mind." And yet it has a very strong sense of unity about it. Even though many of these songs were actually written for other projects over the span of several years, this show feels like it was planned as a unified whole from the beginning.<br /><br />It accomplishes this mainly because every song in the show is essentially about the same thing: those moments in life when everything seems perfect and then suddenly disaster strikes, in the form of the loss of a job, an unexpected pregnancy, the death of a loved one, the end of a marriage, imprisonment, even suicide. But it’s even more about <span style="font-style:italic;">surviving</span> those moments. It's about the way we regroup and figure out how to survive in a new set of circumstances – a new world – even against seemingly overwhelming odds. These are songs about that new world, a world in which the definitions of family, distance, money, technology, the very nature of human contact is changing every day, a world in which the rules <span style="font-style:italic;">don’t</span> apply as often as they <span style="font-style:italic;">do</span>, a world in which the solutions our parents found don’t work for us, and a world in which today’s answers probably won’t apply tomorrow. For someone who has lost his job or lost a spouse, our everyday world becomes just as frightening, just as dangerous, just as uncharted as the New World was to Columbus.<br /><br />The other thing that lends unity to this show is composer Jason Robert Brown's musical habits. There are a handful of rhythmic, melodic, and accompaniment patterns that he obviously likes and that he uses frequently throughout the show. And because he wrote "The New World," the opening number, last, most of these patterns are gathered together in the opening to provide a nice musical framework for the evening. Also, the melody and sometimes the lyric of the opening are used throughout the show as transition pieces and even occasionally show up within other songs.<br /><br />Because the opening number was written last, it functions as an unusually strong opening, more a prologue than a first song really, a survey of all that is to come for the rest of the evening. The opening stanza conjures images of frontiers, of brave new worlds waiting to be conquered, of those who crossed oceans to find freedom and land, of those who conquered the skies, first with airplanes, then with rockets and space shuttles (and who knows what next?), and of those who explore the inner terrain, both on the atomic and sub-atomic level and within the human mind itself.<br /><br />As the first verse begins, the lyric tells us explicitly what the show is about: "It's about one moment . . . And just when you're on the verge of success, the sky starts to change and the wind starts to blow." In each song we will meet someone who has reached a defining moment in his or her life. It's a moment almost everyone encounters, when you feel like you've finally made it, you've finally crossed the last mountain and there are only good times ahead. But at this particular moment, suddenly everything changes. The environment (whether physical or emotional) transforms, becoming something new and unknown. Things look different and feel different. Forces beyond your control force you off your safe path, making things more difficult, perhaps making it impossible to continue on the road you'd chosen.<br /><br />When this happens, you find you’ve become a different person. The woman who just found out she's pregnant redefines who she is. She's no longer a single woman, a person of freedom and opportunity. Now she's an expectant mother, a person of responsibility, of limited choices, of tremendous expectations. The man who finds himself fired after a lifetime in one job finds that he can no longer think of himself as an executive; now he's unemployed. Instead of going to his office everyday, now he goes to the unemployment office once a month. The rich woman who finds out her husband is having an affair no longer defines herself as a woman of privilege and power, but now sees herself as a victim, as a figure of probable public ridicule. The song's bridge sums it all up:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"> But then the earthquake hits<br /> Then the bank closes in<br /> Then you realize you didn't know anything.<br /> Nobody told you the best way to steer<br /> When the wind starts to blow.</span><br /><br />You are hurled into foreign terrain, a place in which the rules you've learned all your life no longer apply. Parents, school, friends all taught you how to handle yourself and your life when everything's going well, but nobody ever told you how to navigate the bewildering world you find yourself in when genuine disaster strikes, when your life crumbles beneath you. Now you are in a new world and you must learn – quickly – the new rules, the new dangers, the new route to happiness.<br /><br />In the songs that follow in this show, we meet people who find themselves in a new world. Some of them triumph in their new landscapes, some of them don't. Some of them see their new worlds as dark and foreboding; others sees them as chances for new beginnings.<br /><br />Just as "The New World" gives us a wonderful introduction to the evening's topic, "Hear My Song" provides the perfect summing up. "The New World" tells us what to expect and "Hear My Song" tells us why we've been through this series of stories. The message of this song – and of the whole show – is that we <span style="font-style:italic;">all</span> go through these bad times. In a very real sense, none of us is ever really alone. None of us is ever the only person to have ever gone through a particular crisis. And our salvation comes through community. It is through telling our stories and listening to others' stories that we find the strength to go on. The most important lines in the show appear in this final song:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"> Hear my song --<br /> It was made for the times when you don't know where to go.<br /> Listen to the song that I sing.<br /> You'll be fine.</span><br /><br />In other words, look at how these ordinary people all survived their extraordinary ordeals, and know that you can too. We all find ourselves in new worlds from time to time, in situations where the rules we've always lived by no longer apply. We must all know that we can survive and even thrive there. And that's not just the theme of this show. It's the reason for theatre in general. From prehistoric people telling stories around the fire, to the biggest techno-spectacle on Broadway, theatre is about telling stories, stories that unite us, that show us our commonality. It's significant that at the end of the song, the line "You'll be fine" has been changed to "We'll be fine." It's about community. It's about shared experience. And it's about the fact that as humans we are all forced to go on new journeys, into new worlds, over and over again throughout our lives.<br /><br />Since its debut at the WPA Theater in October 1995, <span style="font-style:italic;">Songs for a New World</span> has been produced hundreds of times all over the world, and its centerpiece song, "Stars and the Moon" has been recorded by countless wonderful singers including Audra McDonald, Karen Akers and Betty Buckley. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Theatre Charlotte’s special production of the show will be presented for two nights only, February 24 and 25, and will be directed by Stephen Gundersheim with musical direction by Ryan Deal. Tickets are available through CarolinaTix at 704-372-1000 or <a href="http://www.carolinatix.org/default.asp?tix=59&objId=3000">CarolinaTix.org</a>.</span>Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-37856888600761724442012-01-22T09:32:00.000-08:002012-01-22T09:37:31.943-08:00Father Flynn's Opening SermonWhat do you do when you’re not sure? That’s the topic of my sermon today. You look for God’s direction and can’t find it. Last year when President Kennedy was assassinated, who among us did not experience the most profound disorientation. Despair. “What now? Which way? What do I say to my kids? What do I tell myself?” It was a time of people sitting together, bound together by a common feeling of hopelessness. But think of that! Your bond with your fellow beings was your despair. It was a public experience, shared by everyone in our society. It was awful, but we were in it together! <br /><br />How much worse is it then for the lone man, the lone woman, stricken by a private calamity? “No one knows I’m sick. No one knows I’ve lost my last real friend. No one knows I’ve done something wrong.” Imagine the isolation. You see the world as through a window. On the one side of the glass: happy, untroubled people. On the other side: you. Something has happened, you have to carry it, and it’s incommunicable. For those so afflicted, only God knows their pain. Their secret. The secret of their alienating sorrow. And when such a person, as they must, howls to the sky, to God: “Help me!” What if no answer comes? Silence. <br /><br />I want to tell you a story. A cargo ship sank and all her crew was drowned. Only this one sailor survived. He made a raft of some spars and, being of a nautical discipline, turned his eyes to the Heavens and read the stars. He set a course for his home, and, exhausted, fell asleep. Clouds rolled in and blanketed the sky. For the next twenty nights, as he floated on the vast ocean, he could no longer see the stars. He thought he was on course by there was no way to be certain. As the days rolled on, and he wasted away with fevers, thirst and starvation, he began to have doubts. Had he set his course right? Was he still going on towards his home? Or was he horribly lost and doomed to a terrible death? No way to know. The message of the constellations—had he imagined it because of his desperate circumstance? Or had he seen Truth once, and now had to hold on to it without further reassurance? This was his dilemma on a voyage without apparent end. <br /><br />There are those of you in church today who know exactly the crisis of faith I describe. I want to say to you: Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty. When you are lost, you are not alone. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.<br /><br />Copyright © by John Patrick Shanley.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Theatre Charlotte's production of DOUBT, A PARABLE promises to be a highlight of the theatre season. The show runs through February 5. Tickets are available now through CarolinaTix at (704) 372-1000 or http://www.carolinatix.org/default.asp?tix=59&objId=2568</span>Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-82017618775503922502012-01-16T08:14:00.000-08:002012-01-16T09:02:33.194-08:00Playwright's Preface for DOUBT, A PARABLEWhat’s under a play? What holds it up? You might as well ask what’s under me? On what am I built? There’s something silent under every person and under every play. There is something unsaid under any given society as well.<br /><br />There’s a symptom apparent in America right now. It’s evident in political talk shows, in entertainment coverage, in artistic criticism of every kind, in religious discussion. We are living in a courtroom culture. We were living in a celebrity culture, but that’s dead. Now we’re only interested in celebrities if they’re in court. We are living in a culture of extreme advocacy, of confrontation, of judgment, and of verdict. Discussion has given way to debate. Communication has become a contest of wills. Public talking has become obnoxious and insincere. Why? Maybe it’s because deep down under the chatter we have come to a place where we know that we don’t know…anything. But nobody’s willing to say that.<br /><br />Let me ask you. Have you ever held a position in an argument past the point of comfort? Have you ever defended a way of life you were on the verge of exhausting? Have you ever given service to a creed you no longer utterly believed? Have you ever told a girl you loved her and felt the faint nausea of eroding conviction? I have. That’s an interesting moment. For a playwright, it’s the beginning of an idea. I saw a piece of real estate on which I might build a play, a play that sat on something silent in my life and in my time. I started with a title: Doubt.<br /><br />What is Doubt? Each of us is like a planet. There’s the crust, which seems eternal. We are confident about who we are. If you ask, we can readily describe our current state. I know my answers to so many questions, as do you. What was your father like? Do you believe in God? Who’s your best friend? What do you want? Your answers are your current topography, seemingly permanent, but deceptively so. Because under that face of easy response, there is another You. And this wordless Being moves just as the instant moves; it presses upward without explanation, fluid and wordless, until the resisting consciousness has no choice but to give way.<br /><br />It is Doubt (so often experienced initially as weakness) that changes things. When a man feels unsteady, when he falters, when hard-won knowledge evaporates before his eyes, he’s on the verge of growth. The subtle or violent reconciliation of the outer person and the inner core often seems at first like a mistake, like you’ve gone the wrong way and you’re lost. But this is just emotion longing for the familiar. Life happens when the tectonic power of your speechless soul breaks through the dead habits of the mind. Doubt is nothing less than an opportunity to reenter the Present.<br /><br />The play. I’ve set my story in 1964, when not just me, but the whole world seemed to be going through some kind of vast puberty. The old ways were still dominant in behavior, dress, morality, world view, but what had been organic expression had become a dead mask. I was in Catholic church school in the Bronx, run by the Sisters of Charity. These women dressed in black, believed in Hell, obeyed their male counterparts, and educated us. The faith, which held us together, went beyond the precincts of religion. It was a shared dream we agreed to call Reality. We didn’t know it, but we had a deal, a social contract. We should all believe the same thing. We would all believe.<br /><br />Looking back, it seems to me, in those schools at that time, we were an ageless unity. We were all adults and we were all children. We had, like many animals, flocked together for warmth and safety. As a result, we were terribly vulnerable to anyone who chose to hunt us. When trust is the order of the day, predators are free to plunder. And plunder they did. As the ever widening Church scandals reveal, the hunters had a field day. And the shepherds, so invested in the surface, sacrificed actual good for perceived virtue.<br /><br />I have never forgotten the lessons of that era, nor learned them well enough. I still long for shared certainty, an assumption of safety, the reassurance of believing that others know better than me what’s for the best. But I have been led by the bitter necessities of an interesting life to value that age-old practice of the wise: Doubt.<br /><br />There is an uneasy time when belief has begun to slip, but hypocrisy has yet to take hold, when the consciousness is disturbed but not yet altered. It is the most<br />dangerous, important, and ongoing experience of life. The beginning of change is the moment of Doubt. It is that crucial moment when I renew my humanity or become a lie.<br /><br />Doubt requires more courage than conviction does, and more energy; because conviction is a resting place and doubt is infinite—it is a passionate exercise. You may come out of my play uncertain. You may want to be sure. Look down on that feeling. We’ve got to learn to live with a full measure of uncertainty. There is no last word. That’s the silence under the chatter of our time.<br /><br />-John Patrick Shanley<br />Playwright, DOUBT, A PARABLE<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Theatre Charlotte's production of DOUBT, A PARABLE promises to be a highlight of the theatre season. The show runs January 20 through February 5. Tickets are available now through CarolinaTix at (704) 372-1000 or http://www.carolinatix.org/default.asp?tix=59&objId=2568</span>Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-63645912497822424392012-01-11T06:16:00.000-08:002012-01-11T06:26:24.225-08:00An Introduction to DOUBT, A PARABLE<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiByL49HpEAWeS-BbD1p5FNgw9mDtHzO6cotY_mZhH-b2dC9XN8ERfRVYdeEDLtMam4uEn_g6noupXRjvGCjKNRIix3wI3FWQahWYRcwzDanaUZB334TLzAzBqEQ4bSguuJusFmJo8VDI8/s1600/doubt.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 251px; height: 314px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiByL49HpEAWeS-BbD1p5FNgw9mDtHzO6cotY_mZhH-b2dC9XN8ERfRVYdeEDLtMam4uEn_g6noupXRjvGCjKNRIix3wI3FWQahWYRcwzDanaUZB334TLzAzBqEQ4bSguuJusFmJo8VDI8/s400/doubt.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5696378402031697330" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">Set at the fictional Bronx-area St. Nicholas Catholic school in the fall of 1964 on the cusp of the Second Vatican Council, DOUBT, A PARABLE, written by John Patrick Shanley, involves a conservative older nun, Sister Aloysius (Katherine Goforth), who does not approve of teachers who offer friendship and compassion instead of the discipline she feels students need in order to face a harsh world. When she suspects a priest, Father Flynn (Dave Blamy), of an unspeakable crime against one of the students under her charge, she is faced with the prospect of charging him with unproven allegations and possibly destroying his position as well as her own. </span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-family:arial;">To help build her case, she asks for help from an idealistic young nun, Sister James (Emily Rast), who finds her compassion and love of teaching challenged by the strict codes of the older woman. Sister Aloysius also turns to the student’s mother (Iesha Hoffman). The focus of the play is a small group of individuals in a small school, but the huge issues raised will resonate with the audience long after the lights come down. <span style="mso-bidi-">Much of the play's quick-fire dialogue tackles themes of religion, morality, authority and certainty.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-family:arial;"><span style="mso-bidi-">DOUBT, directed at Theatre Charlotte by Gina Stewart, is about how we arrive at certainty and how we deal with uncertainty. Though couched in the issues of morality and authority, this play is about the whole of idea of certainty or lack thereof and that having a lack of certainty and living in doubt can be a passionate exercise rather than something that cuts you off at the knees and makes you weak. In fact, it can make you strong. To live in a state of doubt is to live in a dynamic present tense way rather than sit back on the couch of convictions.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-family:arial;"><span style="mso-bidi-">DOUBT has garnered critical acclaim and awards since its debut in 2005. The play was heralded as "Best Play of the Year" by over 10 newspapers and magazines, including Time, Entertainment Weekly, and The Wall Street Journal. The Broadway performances of DOUBT have received numerous awards. It assembled 8 nominations for the <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight:bold; mso-bidi-font-style:italic">2005 Tony Awards </span>and won 4 Tonys, including Best Play. For DOUBT, Shanley was awarded the <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama</span>, an award he could put on the mantle next to his Academy Award for Best Screenplay for the 1987 film, Moonstruck, starring Cher, Nicolas Cage and Olympia Dukakis.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-family:arial;"><span style="mso-bidi-">Shanley wrote and directed a film adaptation of DOUBT in 2008 starring Meryl Streep as Sister Aloysius, Philip Seymour Hoffman as Father Flynn, Amy Adams as Sister James and Viola Davis as Mrs. Muller. Released to great fanfare, the film received 5 Academy Award nominations, including a nod for Best Adapted Screenplay, among its acclaim.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-family:arial;"><span style="mso-bidi-">Theatre Charlotte's production promises to be a highlight of the theatre season.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The show runs January 20 through February 5. Tickets are available now through CarolinaTix at (704) 372-1000 or <a href="http://www.carolinatix.org/default.asp?tix=59&objId=2568" target="_blank">http://www.carolinatix.org/default.asp?tix=59&objId=2568</a></span></p>Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-32797578300604192552011-12-12T06:09:00.000-08:002011-12-12T06:11:42.607-08:00Director's Note: A Christmas Carol<blockquote>"A Christmas Carol" is a ghost story. It is a ghost story that reminds us all of the magic of Christmas…but a ghost story, nonetheless.<br /><br />When I was approached about directing this year's production, I knew I wanted to honor the Christmas tradition Theatre Charlotte has established, which has become a part of so many lives over the past 5 years. At the same time, however, I also wanted to give the audience something a little different. To keep the production fresh and exciting, I wanted to meld tradition and invention… and remind us all that this is a Christmas ghost story.<br /><br />The invention comes in the form of many new costumes and sounds, and an entirely new set and light design. Chris Timmons' new set plot has allowed for more magic on stage. Our dark moments are darker. Our scary moments are scarier. Hopefully, our happy moments are even happier!<br /><br />On the first day of rehearsal I asked our cast about their favorite holiday traditions (an idea stolen from previous director, Vito Abate). The answers ranged from the traditional (presents and time with family), to the more unique (Belkie Bears and 104.7). Kevin Campbell, our Scrooge since the first "Christmas Carol" in 2007, proclaimed that his favorite tradition was spending his holiday season at Theatre Charlotte in his favorite role!<br /><br />As we present our 5th anniversary production of "A Christmas Carol," we hope that spending part of your holidays with Theatre Charlotte has become one of your favorite traditions!</blockquote>-Stuart Spencer<br />Director, A CHRISTMAS CAROL at Theatre CharlotteWillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-58301480355922140472011-12-01T01:05:00.000-08:002011-12-01T01:12:55.210-08:00Adding More Magic to "A Christmas Carol"<blockquote>The other day our intern asked me what was different with “A Christmas Carol” this year and apparently word travels because she isn’t the first to ask that question. In a nutshell, the answer is... “much.”<br /><br />I think the more appropriate question is, “why?” With the same script as last year, why not pull out the set pieces, dust them off and take it easy for a change. Well, I think I have finally found ways to solve some of the problems that have plagued the show in the past. Funny what you can do when you can spend the appropriate amount of time devoted to one production (never mind that this case study was stretched out over three seasons).<br /><br />At the start of this process, I referred to the previous year’s design which in turn had some modifications from the first year when I was sort of backed into a corner to design the show at the last minute, with no money, the need for levels and little time to develop a clear picture of the show. In trying to modify that design, I soon found that I was complicating the process even further, so the best thing to do was to scrap everything and get back to the basics. What were the most important elements in each scene and how could I make this show transition more smoothly? How can we do a better job of establishing the mood of this play? That isn’t to say that this year’s production will look like a poor man’s “A Christmas Carol,” on the contrary, I think this year will be much more successful artistically and technically. <br /><br />I don’t want to give a lot away, but let me say a few things about this year technically. At times, there will be more magic in transitioning from one place to another and hopefully more seamless scene changes. There is more attention to detail this year, so while there are a few pieces that will be returning, they have been dressed up a little. With the help of lighting, we will reinforce the mood of the story to create a darker and happier Christmas Carol than we have seen in past productions, maybe dating back to the first year we did “A Christmas Carol” with a different script. However, I would venture to say it was the most successful of the four productions we have done. And did I mention that we hope to showcase our new LED lighting fixtures (thanks to all who donated through Power2Give, you know who you are!) <br /><br />If you still think you have seen it all in this production, let me conclude by saying that there will be more magic this year. Theatre Charlotte certainly can’t afford to play on the same level as others around here, but we make the most of what we have and you can still create magic by being resourceful and with a little trial and error. Look for a few more “effects” this year that will hopefully leave you wondering about the magic of live theatre, all the while filled with the spirit of the Holiday season.</blockquote><br />-Chris Timmons<br />Set Designer/Lighting Designer, "A Christmas Carol" at Theatre CharlotteWillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-25121158704847961782011-11-16T08:25:00.000-08:002011-11-16T08:48:23.531-08:00Theatre Thoughts: The Wells Fargo Wagon is a Comin’<span style="font-weight: bold;">THEATRE THOUGHTS: Notes From the Executive Director<br /><br /></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> 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</w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">On Saturday, October 29, the cast of Theatre Charlotte’s production of The Music Man reunited to perform 6 songs from the show as the kick off to the Wells Fargo Community Celebration at the ribbon cutting ceremony opening the Wells Fargo Museum.<span style=""> </span>It was remarkable that we were able to bring together 35 of the 41 cast members over a month after the show closed to do this performance.<span style=""> </span>But, it was a tight cast and they were proud of the work they had done and wanted to share it once more.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I had been working with Wells Fargo and Arts and Science Council officials for several months leading up to this, as it was just too perfect for us to lead off the festivities with the song “Wells Fargo Wagon” and the Wells Fargo wagon riding up the street.<span style=""> </span>Originally, the Wells Fargo Community Celebration Day was scheduled for a Saturday in September, smack in the middle of our run of the show.<span style=""> </span>That would have been a great marketing tool for the show as well as for our overall brand.<span style=""> </span>However, Wells Fargo pushed the date back to the end of October.<span style=""> </span>This created some doubt as to whether we’d be able to participate or not.<span style=""> </span>The Wells Fargo team reiterated that they would really like us to perform.<span style=""> </span>So, at the beginning of rehearsals the first week of August, I started getting cast members to commit to the appearance on October 29 and to put it on their calendars then.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The production turned out to be quite good with the members of the cast enjoying the work they were doing together.<span style=""> </span>This made it all the easier for them to keep their early commitment.<span style=""> </span>I made arrangements with the costumer, Jamey Varnadore, to have the costumes cleaned and ready to go for October 29.<span style=""> </span>Ryan Deal, our fabulous music director, and Mike Charlton, the drummer from the show, were also lined up for that day.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhleen2tjE4H-xxQWJiASmsiOvZXlsDPmknb6whHFHog1CkJvydTd9KoFJ7FLnnxt4DK-ZSIngCE8mLQTVZM-_SXxqlvTmagXOl5zXKnor_wDA5AL7mU16WrgYREcYzImaQhRU22ZONwM/s1600/wellsfargo1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 314px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhleen2tjE4H-xxQWJiASmsiOvZXlsDPmknb6whHFHog1CkJvydTd9KoFJ7FLnnxt4DK-ZSIngCE8mLQTVZM-_SXxqlvTmagXOl5zXKnor_wDA5AL7mU16WrgYREcYzImaQhRU22ZONwM/s400/wellsfargo1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675635660710075314" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We had a scheduled rehearsal for Saturday morning, October 22 with members of the Wells Fargo team on hand to approve the numbers we were going to perform and to time them (these folks were very precise).<span style=""> </span>Only half of those committed to performing could attend this rehearsal.<span style=""> </span>Ryan and I had six songs picked out to rehearse and we would let the Wells Fargo people tell us which they wanted.<span style=""> </span>In addition to “Wells Fargo Wagon,” we sang “Iowa Stubborn,” “Ya Got Trouble,” “Till There Was You,” “Gary Indiana” and “76 Trombones.”<span style=""> </span>The cast members that were there sang beautifully and the Wells Fargo team was so impressed they asked us to do all 6 songs!<span style=""> </span>They said they would work out the timing of the speeches to accommodate the musical numbers.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">When I awoke at 5:15 am on October 29, it was pouring rain and was extremely cold and quite windy.<span style=""> </span>I was anxious about whether we would be able to perform outside on Tryon Street.<span style=""> </span>By the time I left at 6:45 am, the rain had stopped, but the wind had picked<span style=""> </span>up and the temperature was in the low 30s (and the cast would be in costumes designed for July 4, 1912 and not two days before Halloween!)<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Everyone showed up, got in costume and prepared to rehearse at 8:30.<span style=""> </span>Wells Fargo had a wireless body microphone for all cast members.<span style=""> </span>There were a number of technical glitches, so we never really had a sound check or rehearsal, but the performers were on top of their game.<span style=""> </span>At 9:30 am, my six year old, Chloe, her first time with a body mike—and boy was she excited about that—kicked off the ceremonies with her line, “Papa!<span style=""> </span>The Wells Fargo Wagon is just comin’ up from the depot!”<span style=""> </span>Then the cast began to sing “Wells Fargo Wagon” and as the song neared the end, up galloped the real Wells Fargo Wagon.<span style=""> </span>The cast waved and sang as it approached.<span style=""> </span>The song ended and Mayor Foxx, Kendall Alley and other Wells Fargo officials disembarked and made their way to the podium.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLCadD7-v7TVqO1Ln17FPHYZX84ePQmTUhGT6Du70oUlKXY0ifX2DBYV4b6c2bzygXhT7ZZeaRM0fH-up8LHG-0zSr3XxNe8e_FdMiBGlN-6bGSKS8oKaSw58ixs4krHyb5knMOrkhXO0/s1600/wellsfargo2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 313px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLCadD7-v7TVqO1Ln17FPHYZX84ePQmTUhGT6Du70oUlKXY0ifX2DBYV4b6c2bzygXhT7ZZeaRM0fH-up8LHG-0zSr3XxNe8e_FdMiBGlN-6bGSKS8oKaSw58ixs4krHyb5knMOrkhXO0/s400/wellsfargo2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675636021074515362" border="0" /></a></span><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Mayor welcomed everyone in a short speech and Jay Everette, a Wells Fargo official, began to announce the recipient organizations of $100,000 in grants Wells Fargo customers and employees had voted to receive.<span style=""> </span>As I conferred with Ryan about the upcoming numbers, I heard something to the effect of “and we would like to award $10,000 to Theatre Charlotte.” <span style=""> </span>Well, that was one of the most surprising moments in my tenure as Executive Director!<span style=""> </span>We had not been told ahead of time that we were going to receive this and it came as a complete surprise.<span style=""> </span>And there I was, dressed like a stage hand complete with walkie talkie.<span style=""> </span>Stunned, I made my way to the podium and mumbled to Jay Everette that had I known, <span style=""> </span>I would have dressed differently.<span style=""> </span>He laughed and said it was just fine.<span style=""> </span>We posed for pictures and I floated back to the side of the stage with The Music Man cast.<span style=""> </span>The cast then flawlessly<span style=""> </span>performed the other five songs and the performance was over.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We were treated to a thawing out with hot chocolate and hot cider before we were guided a couple of blocks away to get a group photo taken in front of the Wells Fargo Wagon.<span style=""> </span>And that completed this really rewarding morning and brought The Music Man to a joyous ending!<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">-Ron Law<br />Executive Director, Theatre Charlotte</p></blockquote>Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-5296509751057105952011-11-07T10:41:00.000-08:002011-11-07T10:42:45.884-08:00Director's Note: Cuckoo's Nest<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> 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class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">Many of us have very fond memories of ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST.<span style=""> </span>My first introduction was the now-classic film, which I saw the day it opened, without much advanced hype.<span style=""> </span>I was immediately enthralled with its story and acting.<span style=""> </span>Since that time, I was given the chance to direct two productions—both more than twenty years ago.<span style=""> </span>On both those occasions, I steadfastly refused to read the novel, because I reasoned that most of my audience would not have read the book.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This time I have rethought my approach to the material and have returned to Ken Kesey’s masterful novel as my primary source.<span style=""> </span>We have tried with this production to be as faithful to Mr. Kesey’s vision as possible within the confined of the two-act version of the adaptation by Dale Wasserman.<span style=""> </span>The cast has been encouraged to read the novel and have found depth and insight into their characters through the words of the late Mr. Kesey.<span style=""> </span>When possible, we have staged iconic moments, not as they were in the movie, the three-act Broadway original, or the two-act revision, but as they are described in the novel.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We as a cast and production team have enjoyed the journey with Mr. Kesey as our guide.<span style=""> </span>We hope you will also.</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p> <p class="MsoNormal">-Charles LaBorde<br />Director, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST at Theatre Charlotte</p>Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-13228990543808496062011-11-02T08:33:00.000-07:002011-11-02T08:36:56.560-07:00Theatre Thoughts: MTA Awards<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEWBSY9YUWf9dP7pkyx7vCA66LpFSeHIsCV5G4pOoTL_XTmyuK5VECGF1Zjbnv-6T3Rc_0e5sWZ2e2lV4X2S8gW55lzg8MrL_HX_irbvbk_QJdPDVGl1BUFirwO7vieTGNzqp1Dq-mPkQ/s1600/mtaaward.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEWBSY9YUWf9dP7pkyx7vCA66LpFSeHIsCV5G4pOoTL_XTmyuK5VECGF1Zjbnv-6T3Rc_0e5sWZ2e2lV4X2S8gW55lzg8MrL_HX_irbvbk_QJdPDVGl1BUFirwO7vieTGNzqp1Dq-mPkQ/s320/mtaaward.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670422393935794066" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">THEATRE THOUGHTS: Notes From the Executive Director</span><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> 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<w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="37" name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" line-height: 115%;font-size:12pt;" ></span></p><blockquote style="font-family:arial;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >Awards.<span style=""> </span>Awards for theatre excellence.<span style=""> </span>Competing with other theatres and theatre artists.<span style=""> </span>The Metrolina Theatre Association (MTA) Awards.<span style=""> </span>So easy to dismiss them—until you actually win.<span style=""> </span>Then suddenly you feel a bit like a hypocrite. <span style=""> </span>That was the position I found myself in on Sunday, October 9 at the Metrolina Theatre Awards banquet at the Omni Hotel.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >First, some background info for those who are unfamiliar with MTA.<span style=""> </span>MTA represents more than 60 theatre organizations, along with hundreds of theatre artists, directors and producers in the Charlotte region.<span style=""> </span>MTA was established on April 1, 1984.<span style=""> </span>Its mission is to advance member participation through technological innovation, strengthen arts awareness in the community by creating new ways to engage the public and be a strong advocate of the performing arts.<span style=""> </span>Whew.<span style=""> </span>Anyway, one of the ways of helping create arts awareness is the awards process and ceremony.<span style=""> </span>But, I always thought, “Awards?<span style=""> </span>Who’s going to care the day after the ceremony? <span style=""> </span>And competing with one’s peers?<span style=""> </span>Not such a good thing.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Anyway, The Metrolina Theatre Awards recognize outstanding performances and creative elements in 8 categories - Drama, Comedy, Musical, Regional–North, Regional–South, College/University, and Special Event. The Metrolina Theatre Association organizes more than 80 peer nominators; for the 2010-2011 season, MTA nominators attended 105 adjudicated shows, submitting thousands of nominations. They then completed a preliminary ballot to select the award nominees. The final vote was certified by an independent accountant.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >The <span style=""> </span>2010-2011 Theatre Charlotte season was outstanding, both in terms of revenue and artistic quality.<span style=""> </span>It was the finest in my six years as Executive Director and most likely one of the most successful in Theatre Charlotte’s 83 years.<span style=""> </span>It included ANNIE, STEEL MAGNOLIAS, THE GRADUATE, THE GLASS MENAGERIE and RENT, with bonus productions of A CHRISTMAS CAROL and SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR.<span style=""> </span>There was excellent work done by many actors, directors, designers and stage managers.<span style=""> </span>For this work we received over 40 nominations in various categories, including about 10 for our outstanding production of RENT.<span style=""> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >In spite of my outward cavalier attitude about awards, I went to the ceremony baffled about certain nominations and the lack thereof, but feeling excited about the chances of some of our nominees.<span style=""> </span>The event itself proved to be a lot of fun.<span style=""> </span>I enjoyed the ambience of the hotel ballroom.<span style=""> </span>I liked being able to socialize with so many area theatre people.<span style=""> </span>Then the awards ceremony began.<span style=""> </span>As the final awards—the MTA Exceptional Awards for Technical Excellence, Emerging Artist of the Year, Theatre Person of the Year and Theatre Company of the Year—approached, I was actually excited about what Theatre Charlotte’s participants had won.<span style=""> </span>Chaz Pofahl, Outstanding Actor in a musical for RENT, Billy Ensley for his direction of RENT, John Hartness for his lighting design of RENT and Ryan Deal for musical direction of RENT, were deserving of the awards, as were Laura Moore, Vito Abate and Marla Brown for their original writing for special events and Ann Israel and Laura Moore for performances in special events.<span style=""> </span>Then the announcement of Outstanding Musical.<span style=""> </span>I expected it to be RENT and it wasn’t.<span style=""> </span>I was surprised at how badly I felt at that moment, considering how much I tried to convince myself awards didn’t really matter.<span style=""> </span>I was not unhappy for the winners, but felt badly for all those connected with our excellent production of RENT.<span style=""> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >The presentation of the Exceptional Awards began.<span style=""> </span>It was now time for the Theatre Company of the Year Award and Theatre Charlotte was a nominee (as we had been a handful of other times during my tenure as Executive Director and had never been selected.)<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>After the disappointment of RENT not getting the award, I was not feeling positive about being selected as Theatre Company of the Year.<span style=""> </span>The nominees were announced and the envelope opened and… Theatre Company of the Year…Theatre Charlotte!<span style=""> </span>I have to admit, a jolt of adrenaline surged through me and I bolted from my chair. I don’t remember what I said exactly.<span style=""> </span>I thanked all the appropriate people.<span style=""> </span>And then Michelle Gutt, the Theatre Charlotte Board President and I posed for pictures with the Theatre Charlotte award.<span style=""> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >To sum it all up, I am still not totally sold on this awards business, but, I do have to admit, when you win one, it is pretty damn exciting.</span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style=" line-height: 115%;font-size:12pt;" ></span></p><span style="font-family:arial;"> -Ron Law</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Executive Director, Theatre Charlotte</span>Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-59525368342307136292011-10-11T07:42:00.000-07:002011-11-02T08:39:15.741-07:00Theatre Thoughts: Play 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font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold;">THEATRE THOUGHTS: Notes From the Executive Director</span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote>Play selection.<span style=""> </span>One of the most important things a theatre does.<span style=""> </span>It is an incredibly time-consuming, yet incredibly engrossing process.<span style=""> </span>At Theatre Charlotte, we pick plays to meet the following criteria:<span style=""> </span>fulfill the theatre’s mission and vision; attract not only audiences, but talented performers, as well; to physically fit our facility; meet budgetary requirements; and not be a recent duplication.<span style=""> </span>Oh, and something else that has become increasingly challenging—being able to secure the rights to produce the show.</blockquote><span style=""> </span><p></p><blockquote> <p class="MsoNormal">At Theatre Charlotte, I am responsible for the selection of plays and musicals to present to the Board of Directors for final approval.<span style=""> </span>Each summer I recruit an advisory committee made up of theatre practitioners, theatre-goers and several board members.<span style=""> </span>In the spring, we survey our patrons and ask them for show preferences.<span style=""> </span>We pay close attention to the opinions of our audience members.<span style=""> </span>After analyzing the survey results, checking the Theatre Charlotte list of productions over the past ten years and checking to see if other theatres have done any of the shows recently,<span style=""> </span>I prepare a list of some 75 musicals, comedies and dramas and send it to the advisory committee for their initial feedback.<span style=""> </span>This feedback usually reduces the list to around 50.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I prepare copies of these <span style=""> </span>scripts for members of the advisory committee to read upon request.<span style=""> </span>I also gather CDs of the musicals for distribution.<span style=""> </span>I begin checking with other theatres in the area to see what might be on their lists.<span style=""> </span>And I receive more feedback from the advisors.<span style=""> </span>By now, the list is down to around 30.<span style=""> </span>This is when I begin to put combinations of possible seasons together.<span style=""> </span>Should this be an opening musical or one that closes the season?<span style=""> </span>Should this be in the traditionally tough October slot or perhaps in March?<span style=""> </span>Is there enough visual diversity in this grouping?<span style=""> </span>How many male actors are in this combination, how many females?<span style=""> </span>What strong roles for men are there?<span style=""> </span>For women?<span style=""> </span>Racial and ethnic diversity?<span style=""> </span>This process reduces the total to around 15 to 20.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Then I begin to see if the rights can be obtained to produce these shows.<span style=""> </span>This has become a very complicated <span style=""> </span>process over the past couple of years—for several reasons.<span style=""> </span>First of all, there are so many revivals on Broadway—and revivals of shows that are traditionally the mainstays of community theatres.<span style=""> </span><br />When these shows go on tour, it becomes quite difficult to get the tour producers to release the performing rights.<span style=""> </span>And to top it off, Charlotte has become an “A” list city for these tours.<span style=""> </span>We totally applaud the NC Blumenthal Performing Arts Broadway Lights Series for their success over the past few years—it enables all of us to see high quality productions without having to wait for several years for a tour to come through—but, it does make it difficult to secure the performance rights for some shows.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">So far, in putting together FY13 (2012-2013 season), we have been denied the rights to CHICAGO, HAIR, DRIVING MISS DAISY, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, and JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR.<span style=""> </span>We were denied the first three because of tours and the latter due to a Broadway revival and probable tour.<span style=""> </span>We produced ANNIE this past season after trying for two years to get the rights.<span style=""> </span>After being denied this season, it is therefore imperative that we have a list of back-ups for each slot in the coming season.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">We now have put together quite a strong season for 2012-2013 to present to the Theatre Charlotte Board of Directors.<span style=""> </span>Stay tuned for a future announcement of the next season!</p></blockquote><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">-Ron Law, Executive Director of Theatre Charlotte</p>Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-49598294784684814042011-10-05T09:11:00.000-07:002011-10-05T09:27:53.455-07:00Cuckoo's Nest: A Set Design<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1KwBoFulISZ7xrbUkydJwWA51q-Hjafd2lUi1RYsqI_UdWFKgFHXGyp2GUMpgKcsaV8HmgxMZ1ESKnZS_ccgQ_WANbJuuQQt7e4YEhqGCbm_jOy8SqOx_3DUcCdPW_Yk0ptoiDr7Y1dA/s1600/setsketch.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 246px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1KwBoFulISZ7xrbUkydJwWA51q-Hjafd2lUi1RYsqI_UdWFKgFHXGyp2GUMpgKcsaV8HmgxMZ1ESKnZS_ccgQ_WANbJuuQQt7e4YEhqGCbm_jOy8SqOx_3DUcCdPW_Yk0ptoiDr7Y1dA/s320/setsketch.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660045529257952546" border="0" /></a><br /><blockquote>It’s hard to think of <span style="font-style: italic;">One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest</span> and not think of a sterile, white hospital setting with patients dressed in white uniforms roaming about the premises. There is a certain comfort in reproducing what people “remember” from a movie or a previous production of the same play, but what is the fun in that?<br /><br />When <span style="font-style: italic;">Cuckoo’s Nest</span> was officially on the schedule, I knew that we could do something a little more visually interesting with this show. It wasn’t until reading the novel that the first real <span style="font-style: italic;">sparks</span>, so to speak, began. To be honest, I struggled at times to get through the book and wasn’t very fond of it. However, what struck me was one of the hospital’s patients’ descriptions of this machine that was holding him and others captive, while molding them into what society has accepted as normal. His senses overcome by the sound of electricity surging through the walls and the cog wheels grinding and turning. The idea of this giant machine is what I was looking for.<br /><br />I will have more about the design and also examples of research in the lobby during the run of the show, so I won’t go into details here. I will say that it has been fascinating to research the early years of these giant hospitals and the treatments for the mentally ill (and sometimes not so mentally ill). One doctor took felt that the buildings themselves played a key role in the treatment of patients. Dr. Thomas Kirkbridge documented in great detail how hospitals for the mentally ill should be designed and constructed, from choosing the right spot of land, to the exact dimensions of the windows and doors. Some hospitals built in the Kirkbridge style still stand today, although many have been destroyed or become the subject of ghost hunters and photographers of the macabre.<br /><br />My assistant, Emily Mazelin, and I have talked extensively about incorporating into the set design, the machine that the patient refers to and elements of these Kirkbridge buildings. The challenge is not only space, time and money, but also staying true to the integrity of the script and subject matter. If we have done our job, the scenery will play together with the lights and the sound, supporting the action on stage while giving the audience a little more to digest beyond white, sterile hospital walls.</blockquote><br />-Chris Timmons<br />Set Designer, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST at Theatre CharlotteWillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-24125355394643382592011-09-29T10:32:00.000-07:002011-09-29T16:05:31.664-07:00Final 'Music Man' Musings<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRwsmeB4bTLXUww2gBmp9Wrs2Y2im8v2Ce4DRJ_4Wdrc1IxhIeGq3cCxd-KNkXHlRk3u_-nzLoTN60Sb8mQ5tGdMoLNG167Y4R5W1LbQQweeLb_57489scvtyKUsjK-qrsPDJOpMxe444/s1600/IMG_5383.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" 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mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;Times New Roman","serif"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;" ></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" line-height: 115%; Times New Roman","serif";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" ></span></p><blockquote style="font-family:arial;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" line-height: 115%; Times New Roman","serif";font-size:100%;" >I found the entire process of pre-production, casting, rehearsing and performing THE MUSIC MAN to be incredibly rewarding, satisfying and just plain fun.<span style=""> </span>I entered the process somewhat dubiously.<span style=""> </span>I was to be working with a set designer that I had never worked with before (and one who was relatively inexperienced), I had a “minor” heart attack two weeks before auditions, we were going to be delayed in getting on stage to rehearse and to build the set due to the installation of a new rigging system, and suddenly the task of mounting the show seemed huge and daunting.<span style=""> </span>I started worrying (even thought I assured my doctor that I could easily manage my stress level) that we wouldn’t have enough people audition and certainly no one to play the leads.<span style=""> </span>The choreographer, Lisa Blanton, costumer, Jamey Varnadore and music director, Ryan Deal, all worked hard to keep me calm and assured me that we would be able to put together a talented cast.<span style=""> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" line-height: 115%; Times New Roman","serif";font-size:100%;" >Well, it turns out they were correct.<span style=""> </span>We had 109 people audition for the show and were able to assemble an outstanding cast (see previous blogs).<span style=""> </span>Not only were the people we cast talented, they turned out to be wonderful, disciplined, dedicated and hard-working.<span style=""> </span>And man, could they sing!<span style=""> </span>And dance (and those that weren’t dancers could move well and worked hard enough so that we didn’t have to eliminate dance sequences from the production numbers)!<span style=""> </span>This tremendous group of folks made my 75<sup>th</sup> production as director an exhilarating experience.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" line-height: 115%; Times New Roman","serif";font-size:100%;" >Rebecca Primm, the previously mentioned set designer, was also terrific to work with—after some minor communication “burps.”<span style=""> </span>She fully bought into my deconstruction concept and designed a wonderful sparse set that nicely outlined the necessary parts of River City, Iowa called for in the script.<span style=""> </span>We decided that we would focus on the people of the town that Meredith Willson patterned after real people from his life in Iowa.<span style=""> </span>With 41 people in the cast and very little backstage space, we didn’t have room for a lot of scenery anyway.<span style=""> </span>I found it amusing that one local reviewer has several times referred to the “budget strapped” set!<span style=""> </span>Ha!<span style=""> </span>Not even the case.<span style=""> </span>It was a conceptual choice and one that is utilized even on Broadway these days.<span style=""> </span>And it is a concept that truly worked for this production in many ways, including fast and efficient scene changes.<span style=""> </span>This put a lot of pressure on the costumer, as the pop of color had to come from the costumes.<span style=""> </span>But, Jamey Varnadore rose to the occasion, providing brilliant, colorful 1912 costumes—for the cast of 41, many of whom had multiple costume changes!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" line-height: 115%; Times New Roman","serif";font-size:100%;" >Some thoughts about Lisa Blanton and Ryan Deal.<span style=""> </span>This was the 4<sup>th</sup> show that Lisa and I have collaborated on.<span style=""> </span>We are now like an old married couple who can finish each other’s sentences.<span style=""> </span>We have no turf issues—if she sees something in the staging or acting, she is comfortable in commenting and likewise, I comment about the dancing!<span style=""> </span>As for Ryan Deal, he is the best music director/vocal coach in this area.<span style=""> </span>He can work magic with the vocal dynamics of an ensemble.<span style=""> </span>They are both fabulous talents and nice people.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" line-height: 115%; Times New Roman","serif";font-size:100%;" >The performances were quite consistent in quality, particularly with the addition of audience feedback to the equation.<span style=""> </span>The timing and precision of line-delivery, the energy and vitality of the performers and commitment to the material were solid for every single performance.<span style=""> </span>We did have one interesting performance on the Friday of the closing weekend.<span style=""> </span>The dimmer pack fueling the lighting for the show became temperamental and the lights began to go off and on and off and on with the blackouts happening faster and faster and the blackouts lasting longer.<span style=""> </span>Stagehands had an electric fan blowing on it, cast members flapped their skirts at it and I waved a production photo at it—all in vain attempts to cool it down.<span style=""> </span>Finally, I stopped the show, explained the situation to the audience, asked their indulgence and we continued the show with the work lights.<span style=""> </span>And that night, at the conclusion of the curtain call (and following a standing ovation), Bobby Mauney (Harold Hill) had the audience sit down for an “important announcement.”<span style=""> </span>The boyfriend of Kristin Graf (Ethel Toffelmeier) came onstage, took her out of the ensemble, got down on bended knee and asked her to marry him.<span style=""> </span>She said yes and the audience again stood and cheered.<span style=""> </span>The magic of the theatre experience!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" line-height: 115%; Times New Roman","serif";font-size:100%;" >I loved the whole damn process!<span style=""> </span>(Plus, ticket revenue put the show in the top 4 highest grossing Theatre Charlotte shows—bonus!!!!)</span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" line-height: 115%; Times New Roman","serif";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" ></span></p>-Ron Law<br />Director, The Music Man<br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;Times New Roman","serif"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;" ></span></p>Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-41333931173167999562011-09-15T18:56:00.000-07:002011-09-15T18:58:33.048-07:00The Rest of the Folks in River City<blockquote>I will continue bragging about the cast of THE MUSIC MAN at Theatre Charlotte. I will go in alphabetical order. Andrea Cameron (ensemble) has returned to TC after a ten-year absence and we welcome her abundant talent with open arms. She has a BFA in music theatre from Elon University. Bobby Faucette (Conductor/Constable) is new to TC. This is his first time on stage after a long hiatus. By day, he is a child clinical psychologist. Joan Gaston (Maude) has had roles at CPCC, Opera Carolina and SMOKEY JOE’S CAFÉ at TC. Kristin Graf (Ethel Toffelmier) was introduced to her fiancé by a fellow cast member in TC’s production of ANNIE last season. At TC, she has also appeared in GODSPELL.<br /><br />Anna Hertel (Amaryllis) is a 6th grader at J.M. Robinson MS. Shehas performed at CPCC Summer Theatre and takes dance at Sullivan Dance Centre. This is her first show at TC. Evan Hyser (ensemble) is a recent graduate of the UNCC Department of Theatre. This is his first non-college production. He would like to specialize in voice acting. After performing in a number of church musicals, Cassidy Kirkwood (youth ensemble) is making her main stage debut. She is enjoying working in the show with her Dad, William. William Kirkwood (Olin Britt) is returning to the stage after a 17-year absence. This is the second time his played Olin—the first time being when he was a sophomore in high school.<br /><br />Isabel Kissel (youth ensemble) is 9 years old and making her TC debut. She has appeared in productions in Huntsville, Alabama, Rock Hill, SC and FT. Mill, SC. Chase Law (Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn) is appearing in her 4th TC production, the others being SEUSSICAL (Gertrude McFuzz), A CHRISTMAS CAROL (Belle and Raucous Lady) and ANNIE (Miss Hannigan). She is my lovely and talented wife. Samantha Lasch (Marian Paroo) is making her TC debut. She has previously appeared as Maria in a national tour of WEST SIDE STORY, as well as a European tour of the same show and SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER in Las Vegas. Bobby Mauney (the ebullient Harold Hill) in his first production at TC, is an insurance agent by day. Favorite roles include Sancho in MAN OF LA MANCHA, Sparky in FOREVER PLAID, and Riff in WEST SIDE STORY. Jerilyn McDonald plays Mrs. Paroo in her first TC production. She has also performed at CPCC and Matthews Playhouse. Jonathan McDonald (Ewart Dunlop) has recently been seen in RAGTIME at Davidson Community Players and at TC in ANNIE, SEUSSICAL and THE FULL MONTY. Eli Newman (youth ensemble) is in his 4rd TC show, the others being SEUSSICAL (JoJo) and A CHRISTMAS CAROL (twice). He has aspirations to be an actor in movies. Will O’Donoghue (youth ensemble) makes his main stage and TC debut after performing in shows at Sharon Elementary where he is in the 4th grade. He enjoys singing, dancing and playing the flute. Meredith Westbrooks Owen (Alma Hix) returns to TC for the 4th time. She has been seen at TC in RENT, ANNIE and SMOKE ON THE MOUNTAIN. Laura-Nelle Parnell (ensemble) is performing in her first show at TC. She is a native of Charlotte and appeared in shows at NC State, including INTO THE WOODS and GODSPELL. <br /><br />Avery Primis (youth ensemble) is a 6th-grader at Carmel MS. She enjoys singing and dancing and has appeared as orphan Kate in the TC production of ANNIE and as Cindy Lou Who IN TC’s SEUSSICAL. Jennifer Reid (ensemble) is also in her first production at TC. She has appeared in productions with Matthews Playhouse, the JCC and Opera Carolina. Winston Sims (Oliver Hix) is in his 4th production at TC, the others being SEUSSICAL, SMOKE ON THE MOUNTAIN and ANNIE. He teaches theatre at Marvin Ridge HS. Camella Snouse (ensemble) has worked with various artists, including the great Loonis McGlohon. She is entering her 9th season with Opera Carolina, with her next performance being EUGENE ONEGIN next spring.<br /><br />Stuart Spencer (Mayor Shinn) returns to the TC stage after a two-year absence. He has appeared here in THE FULL MONTY and SEUSSICAL and will direct the 5th annual production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL for TC. Vivian Tong (ensemble) was last seen in THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE at the Edge Theatre Company. She has appeared in the TC productions of RENT and ANNIE. Christopher Tyler (Jacey Squires) is new to Charlotte. Previous credits include THE PRODUCERS, RENT, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, THE WIZ and WEST SIDE STORY. John West (Marcellus Washburn) returns to TC after last appearing in THE FULL MONTY. He is recreating a role he played 28 years ago. He has also performed at CPCC, Matthews Playhouse and The Little Theatre of Winston-Salem. Sloane Wood (Mrs. Squires) returns to TC after playing Vera in SMOKE ON THE MOUNTAIN. She teaches music at Cox Mill Elementary. Jim Yost (Charlie Cowell) worked at TC last season as the director of THE GRADUATE. He has also directed SHAKESPEARE IN HOLLYWOOD and I’M NOT RAPPAPORT at TC.<br /><br />Whew—two blogs to brag about this amazing cast—41 individuals coming together to form an ensemble, to become the folks of River City, Iowa.<br /><br />-Ron Law<br />Director, THE MUSIC MAN at Theatre Charlotte<br />9/15/11<br /></blockquote><br />THE MUSIC MAN runs September 9th through 25th at Theatre Charlotte. Tickets can be purchased through CarolinaTix at (704) 372-1000 or online at http://www.carolinatix.org/default.asp?tix=59&objId=2565Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-32803448371461974332011-09-08T09:29:00.000-07:002011-09-08T09:31:24.841-07:00Deconstructing The Music Man<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> 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mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> </p><blockquote>For those unfamiliar with Theatre Charlotte, it is a small, 70 year-old building, originally built to stage single set interiors—drawing room comedies, dramas and mysteries.<span style=""> </span>As time marched on, musicals were added to the season mix.<span style=""> </span>Now, Theatre Charlotte mounts 2 main stage musicals per season, as well as a Student Theatre Guild summer musical.<span style=""> </span>With our small stage and little wing space (the area on both sides of the stage, unseen by the audience), doing a large musical becomes a daunting challenge.<span style=""> </span>In addition to space issues, there are certain budget constraints, as well.<span style=""> </span>So, when taking on task of staging a huge show like THE MUSIC MAN,<span style=""> </span>a lot of thought must go into how to present it in our facility and with our budget and do so while maintaining the integrity of the script.<span style=""> </span> <p class="MsoNormal">One of the definitions of what is called deconstruction would be the effort to take the limitless context into account, to pay the sharpest and broadest attention possible to context, and thus to an incessant movement of recontextualization.<span style=""> </span>This is a fancy way of explaining the study of the script in order to laser-beam onto the essential elements and eliminating all that is unnecessary.<span style=""> </span>This process has been done with varying degrees of success for recent Broadway revivals of SWEENEY TODD, COMPANY and to an extent, CHICAGO.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">To deconstruct THE MUSIC MAN, I studied the script for focus and through-line.<span style=""> </span>I researched other productions of the show and read all that Meredith Willson wrote about the creation of THE MUSIC MAN.<span style=""> </span>I decided that the focus really could be on the people of River City, Iowa and their life being changed from “Iowa Stubborn” to one filled with hope and inspiration.<span style=""> </span>The first step with the set designer was to compress the 16 different locations into as few as possible.<span style=""> </span>We decided on 9 different locations.<span style=""> </span>We then discussed the essential elements of each of these locations and what we could minimally present and still maintain an understanding of place in the imaginations of audience members.<span style=""> </span>I wanted to put the focus on the people of River City (and their colorful 1912 clothing) and the effect of the Pied Piper of boys’ bands, Harold Hill.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Set designer, Rebecca Primm, and I decided that what we wanted were merely outlines of buildings—nothing “filled in”—no walls and no doors (except for the one into Mayor Shinn’s house)—with the skyline of important buildings hung from stage pipes.<span style=""> </span>The selected colors are muted, Victorian era pastels with the pop of color coming from the costumes—or clothing—worn by the people of River City.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This reliance and focus on the people and the script could only be truly successful if the cast was strong—energetic and diverse, with unique personalities.<span style=""> </span>We were fortunate in being able to assemble such a cast.<span style=""> </span>They are amazing actors and singers who move really well with each projecting an individual and interesting personality—no mean feat with a cast of 41!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I think the set is functional and has just enough to suggest time and place, the lighting to assist with time and place, as well as mood and atmosphere and the costumes providing color and defining personalities and relationships.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">It has been a challenging, yet rewarding experience!<span style=""> </span>In my next posting, I will return to bragging about the members of the amazing cast.</p> <p>-Ron Law<br />Director, THE MUSIC MAN at Theatre Charlotte<br />9/8/11 </p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><em>THE MUSIC MAN runs September 9th through 25th at Theatre Charlotte. Tickets can be purchased through CarolinaTix at (704) 372-1000 or online at </em><em>http://www.carolinatix.org/default.asp?tix=59&objId=2565</em></p>Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213106984734817268.post-43270156817942560852011-09-01T15:34:00.000-07:002011-09-15T18:54:39.359-07:00The Talented Cast of The Music Man<p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> 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mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">I began last week’s blog by saying, “After casting 43 men, women….”<span style=""> </span>Well, that number is now 41.<span style=""> </span>This often happens with a big cast over the course of a rehearsal period.<span style=""> </span>I must say that the 41 cast members we have are incredibly talented.<span style=""> </span>In fact, this is one of the best singing ensembles I have seen since coming to Charlotte 8 years ago.<span style=""> </span>So, this week and next, I decided to brag about these hard-working and incredibly dedicated folks.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I have to begin with our “teen” ensemble and the actors portraying the teen characters Zaneeta Shinn and Tommy Djilis, as well as the two youngsters who play Gracie Shinn and Winthrop Paroo.<span style=""> </span>Tanner Bass is a senior at South Mecklenburg High School.<span style=""> </span>THE MUSIC MAN is the third production he has appeared in.<span style=""> </span>He made his theatrical debut last year in South Meck’s production of ONCE UPON A MATTRESS.<span style=""> </span>This summer he performed in the Theatre Charlotte Student Theatre Guild production of CABARET.<span style=""> </span>For Michael Jemison, THE MUSIC MAN, is his third production at Theatre Charlotte, having appeared in the Student Theatre Guild productions of CABARET and SWEENY TODD.<span style=""> </span>He has also played JoJo in South Mecklenburg High School’s SEUSSICAL.<b style=""><span style=""> </span></b>John Pope is a junior at Marvin Ridge High School.<span style=""> </span>THE MUSIC MAN also marks his third show at Theatre Charlotte.<span style=""> </span>He has performed in the Student Theatre Guild’s CABARET and SWEENEY TODD.<span style=""> </span>Other recent roles include Jesus in GODSPELL at Marvin Ridge High School.<span style=""> </span>Nicholas Sidoran, a senior at Ardrey Kell High School, has been involved in the Charlotte theatre community for three years and hopes to pursue theatre as a career.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Patricia Phelan is a junior at UNCC where she is studying child psychology.<span style=""> </span>She has appeared in such shows as THE WIZARD OF OZ (Dorothy), GREASE (Sandy), BAT BOY (Shelly Parker), among others. <span style=""> </span>This is her first show at Theatre Charlotte. <span style=""> </span>Lauren Thompson was recently seen in Davidson Community Players production of RAGTIME.<span style=""> </span>She is a graduate of Northwest School of the Arts where she appeared in THE WEDDING SINGER (Linda), HAIR (tribe) and JOSEPH…DREAMCOAT (ensemble).<span style=""> </span>This is her Theatre Charlotte debut.<span style=""> </span>Liza Veilleux is a senior at South Mecklenburg High School and is appearing in her second show at Theatre Charlotte.<span style=""> </span>She participated in the Student Theatre Guild production of CABARET this past summer.<span style=""> </span>Sierra Key is 15 years old and attends Mooresville High School.<span style=""> </span>She enjoys theatre, dance and singing.<span style=""> </span>She recently performed in ONCE ON THIS ISLAND with Davidson Community Players Connie Company and in DCP’s production of RAGTIME.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">As Tommy Djilis, Chase Jones, is making his debut at Theatre Charlotte.<span style=""> </span>He holds a Bachelor of Science in nutrition from the University of New Hampshire and works in cancer research at Carolinas Medical Center.<span style=""> </span>Previous roles include FOOTLOOSE (Ren), LES MISERABLES (Jean Valjean) and WEST SIDE STORY (Shark).<span style=""> </span>He is an alum of Charlotte Christian School.<span style=""> </span>Hannah Day, Zaneeta Shinn, is appearing in her second production at Theatre Charlotte, having previously appeared in the Student Theatre Guild’s production of SWEENEY TODD.<span style=""> </span>Other credits include HELLO DOLLY, BYE BYE BIRDIE and A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD, all at CPCC.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I have a particularly fondness for the youngster playing Gracie Shinn, the Mayor’s youngest daughter, as she is my daughter in real life.<span style=""> </span>Chloe Law is 6 years old and a first grader at Trinity Episcopal School.<span style=""> </span>THE MUSIC MAN is her fourth Theatre Charlotte production, including SEUSSICAL (Elephant Bird and in which she received a Metrolina Theatre Association nomination), A CHRISTMAS CAROL (Belle’s daughter) and ANNIE (orphan).<span style=""> </span>As Winthrop Paroo, Noah Carroll is playing his “dream role.”<span style=""> </span>This is Noah’s 4<sup>th</sup> production at Theatre Charlotte and the 9<sup>th</sup> in his fledgling 4-year theatre career.<span style=""> </span>He is 10 years old and a fifth grade student at Trinity Episcopal School.<span style=""> </span>He enjoys dancing and playing the piano, cello and guitar.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">My next blog will feature more members of this incredible cast.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">-Ron Law<br />Director, THE MUSIC MAN at Theatre Charlotte<br />9/1/11</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><em>THE MUSIC MAN runs September 9th through 25th at Theatre Charlotte. Tickets can be purchased through CarolinaTix at (704) 372-1000 or online at </em><a href="http://www.carolinatix.org/default.asp?tix=59&objId=2565" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em>http://www.carolinatix.org/default.asp?tix=59&objId=2565</em></a></p>Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820007756897753026noreply@blogger.com0