last week of school

the final performance of one hundred demons! was friday night. it was the best performance out of the three, in my opinion. the audience wasn't overwhelming (as it was on thursday), the energy wasn't frenetic (ditto), and everyone onstage was relaxed, ready, understandable, and having fun. the video tech teacher and two of our drama students filmed the performance on thursday and already had a copy to me by friday. even though "video kills theatre," i'm glad to have this document, and i'm sure all the cast will be happy to have it also.
unfortunately, lynda never showed. oh well.
friend beth, who is moving out of colorado and into some as yet unknown territory, visited me on her way through texas. she came to see the play, which was fun for me, since beth and i share such a rich theatrical history; then we had time to hang out all of yesterday and most of today. we ate, drank, talked, smoked, cooked, saw a movie, and went to a museum. it was so much fun to spend a little time with her. also, we visited marcus at work. (maybe that link will inspire him to update his postings.)
right now i'm making copies of the one hundred demons! soundtrack for everyone in the cast and crew. here's the song list:
1. lovely day - bill withers
2. sunny afternoon - the kinks
3. brand new key - melanie
4. papa was a rollin' stone - the temptations
5. twist and shout - ike & tina turner
6. my little grass shack - amy hanaiali'i
7. one-sided love affair - elvis presley
8. time of the season - the zombies
9. dusty - daniel lanois
10. life on mars - david bowie
11. god only knows - the beach boys
12. pet sounds - the beach boys
13. do you believe in magic? - the lovin' spoonful
14. white rabbit - jefferson airplane
15. san francisco - 1 voice
16. hello it's me - todd rundgren
17. can't you see - waylon jennings
18. coconut - harry nilsson
19. bennie & the jets - elton john
20. (they long to be) close to you - the carpenters
21. bring the house down - s club 7
22. with a little help from my friends - beatles
23. love is the answer - todd rundgren
i would like to point out that s club 7 wasn't my idea. several girls said it would be appropriate for a certain transition. and it certainly was. but as opposed to the other songs on this cd, i would never listen to "bring the house down" in my spare time.
one more week of school. all i'm doing is exams. it has been a very good year. when i think of my first year of teaching there's something completely detached about it, as if i'm looking at another person in another place. it was so different this year. and thank the lord for that...
this year i learned about letting go of things students say, things they don't realize they're saying that hurt your feelings. i learned that it's not always good to be the "director of the department" when all that means is paperwork and bureaucracy. i learned that i love directing plays and that's what matters. red noses, the wake of jamey foster, and one hundred demons! were wonderful learning experiences. i learned that magic can happen in a classroom, but i actually have very little to no control over that (so far it seems mostly to hinge on chemistry).
now if i can just get through this week of exams, grades, papers, details, loose ends, deadlines... yeah, i'm sure i'll be just fine.