Home for the Holidays, by Thomas Kincaid

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Okay, before you throw up, let me tell you what it is that you are looking at (and I won't tell you the rude comments I got from my children before they tasted it!). This is a yummy, cream of veggie soup that I made yesterday. It is very yummy, despite its suspicious appearance.

You make it by taking two small packages of frozen peas and carrots, milk, butter, garlic powder, salt, pepper and a little cayenne. First, steam the veggies. Then, put them in your blender with all the remaining ingredients (I'd use a tablespoon of butter and enough milk to get things going). You can season to taste. What you get is a suprisingly yummy, fiberous and interesting looking soup. It is great with homemade bread with butter and a salad. Trust me! Try this. It is so much better than it looks. It is inexpensive and good for you.

Okay, stop laughing! :)

Item 2 for today is that last night, for our weekly Family Night, we went to a little local production of a well known musical, because we knew someone in the cast and, long story short, cost was negligeable (sp?) because of our connection. Fortunately, few people I know locally read this blog, because it was the worst thing I have ever seen in my entire life. You know, all community theater is not created equal. Some productions have far greater resources than others. They have more money behind them, so they have better production values. They have large numbers attending the auditions, so there is more talent to pull from. And some community theaters attract good directors. Other theaters have none of these advantages. I am sure with this particular production everyone involved did the very best they could. It would have been so much better with competent direction. As it was, the director broke every rule of Acting 101, by not having the actors "cheat" forward (face towards the audience) and even allowing them to frequently turn their backs on the audience. The blocking made absolutely no sense and most of it was carried out with no character motivation. Some of the most important scenes were played way down stage instead of up stage where they could be seen and heard better. During the musical numbers, crowd control was horrible, with too many people going every which way all at once. The orchestra (consisting of 6 people) was actually pretty good, but singing talents were mixed. God bless them for all the hard work, but it was awful. My daughter kept asking me if the main character was suppose to be drunk, because he was constantly lolling about with no focus to what he was doing. He rolled his head around on his shoulders like he had no control over himself and his eyes were closed through most of his scenes (why? I have no idea!). Bless his heart. No he wasn't suppose to be drunk, though he would be very good at playing that. I know this is awful, but I couldn't wait to get out of there. I couldn't see my friend, because I didn't know what to say. I don't lie, but I have no desire to hurt, either. I guess I'm just going to be honest with her and tell her that there was a lot of potential to the production, but the direction was poor. What else can I say? Any ideas? I don't want to lie. That isn't right.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the yummy soup that looks like (I'm quoting my children) green baby poo and my guilty play review.

Have a great day!
Elizabeth

Gracious.

It doesn't help that my background is in acting and film. I was professional at one time and so it's not like I'm a novice. However, I really try to be open and fair.

7 comments:

Trish said...

I believe you I believe you....I too make wonderful veggies soups which, upon pureeing....sometimes look dubious! Grin.

Love your description of the local theater group...been there too!

Anne said...

That soup sounds really good to me. I was raised on yummy green soup!

I saw a bad play a little while ago, and complimented some of the actors on their costumes. :) I would try to move on to another subject quickly! I agree you can't lie. :)

P.S. my verification word is "reching"! LOL.

Alexandra said...

Pea soup - yum!

Julie Harward said...

The soup fits your blog today...sounds good. Your critic of the play...well, you could tell your friend how much you appreciated all her hard work to put it together I guess. About 24 years ago, we lived in Kaysville and I sang the lead in The King and I...it was so much fun, a huge production. I did one of my posts on it here a while ago. Guess we have acting in common, I have done the leads in many musicals. Thanks for stopping by for a visit. :D

Marie said...

That's really funny Elizabeth!
I'm glad you made the time to go.
Local plays sometimes remind me of
tv news stations in smaller markets where the anchors are just starting out--you hope they're at least having fun until they get more experience! You just have to smile like I'm sure God does--at all of us amateurs down here! LOL (And we work so hard at it too!) LOL

Beth at Aunties said...

I glad the soup tasted good!:)
I am not sure what theater you are talking about except I have been busy and I didn't waste any money and time on it!:-)


PS I love going to the theater but our own local one also has some problems.

Myrnie said...

Mmm, I love making veggie soups. Roasted veggies are good too- potatoes, carrots, onions, beets. I always under-season though, I'll have to remember everything you put in for next time :)

When you said you'd "done auditions" I was curious what you auditioned for! Now I know! (I still haven't heard back, BTW- drat it.) Did your friend do a nice job in her part? Perhaps you could just say "I really like x song?" I'm sorry, isn't it hard when you can't find anything good to say?