What’s in Mrs. Hale’s Receipts for the Million 1857:
4051. The Voice.— In ordinary conversation, the modulation and proper management of the voice is a point worthy of the attention of young ladies; for a fine and melodious voice “Sweet as music on the water,” makes the heart-strings vibrate to the very core.
Tree Soldier One Act Reader’s Theater a Success
Just a follow up to my novel’s adventure onto the stage as a reader’s theater at the Bellingham Theatre Guild. It was an amazing experience to first write a play that had to be less than 30 minutes and make sense. The novel, after all, is 365 pages. But it worked. Many thanks to my wonderful, talented cast:
Old Spinelli/Young Spinelli……Leon Charbonneau
Old Hardesty/ Young Hardesty……Sandy Brewer
Costello………………………..Ben Perry 2/17 & 2/21 Doug Starcher 2/26
Callister………………………..Dana Burnidge
McGill……………………….. Todd Citron
They really brought to the life the boys at Camp Kulshan. One of the actors said that he had always loved the parks and building that the CCCs built around the West, but he had never thought about the people — these young men — who built them.
Many thanks also to Marla Bronstein who mentored me and found my actors. It couldn’t have happened without her.
Theatrical Things
It had been a long time since I did makeup in college plays. So I had to relearn some lingo. The host introduced the plays before each performance is called The Guiding Light. The person who sits in the light booth with the lighting director is called the booth buddy. Someone also said “booth bunny.” That’s kind 
of cute.
The play did well, enduring some nasty late winter weather that nearly shut my town down. But people came to the play. And people are now asking to perform it elsewhere. How wonderful is that?
Future Plans
The creation of and the opportunity to perform Tree Soldier as a one act reader’s theater came out of nowhere, but more than ever when I heard the actors reading my words, I knew that I wanted an audiobook for Tree Soldier. That is going to happen in a matter of days as production gets underway. I’ll keep you posted.
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