Get With the Program

My running's again been out of synch with the rest of my life, mainly due to time-consuming projects at work and a visit from my 94-year-old grandmother, a recent refugee of one of the bigger northern California wildfires. My college kid in Sonoma reports that some days are better than others, and I'm sure that familiar smell and smokey haze gives her flashbacks to the fires that ravaged our old suburb. My heart goes out to Donald, one of those who was ultra-primed to run his first Western States 100, which, as most of you know, was cancelled due to the poor air quality created by the fires.

I ushered again last night, this time for a one-man production about the American composer George Gershwin. I again was put in charge of programs and this one guy who was dressed more like a stagehand than patron smiled as he walked by me, so I gleefully offered him a program. During the encore, the actor/composer called the director onstage to sing "Embraceable You" and, wouldn't you know it, I'd pushed a program on the show's director! Not just any director, either. This guy's been nominated for Tonys and directed some pretty well known films, like My Big Fat Greek Wedding. He also helped launch those TGIF shows that played on ABC Friday nights in the 1990s -- Full House, Step By Step, Family Matters, etc.

So, last time I volunteered to do theatre programs, I unkowningly pushed them on members of the cast. This time, the show's director. I think I'm moving up.