Oh What a Beautiful Morning / Oh What a Blustery Day

Posted by Bob Wall
Yesterday's Bifocals Monthly Meeting was a HUGE success, drawing nearly a hundred laughing theatre lovers into our Barksdale Willow Lawn lobby to hear the one and only Scott Wichmann talk about his lifelong association with A Thousand Clowns. (That's 13-year-old Scotty to the right, making his professional debut as "Nick" in a Pennsylvania production of A Thousand Clowns.) The record-breaking turn-out at yesterday's free monthly event (the previous record was somewhere around 40 attendees) was due to three factors:

1. Scott Wichmann - need I say more

2. a new influx of theatre enthusiasts recruited by our energetic Bifocals leaders, Pat Walker and Ellen Bode, to participate in and/or watch some free staged readings that immediately followed our Sandwich Fixin's Buffet, and

3. a group of 30 or so up-and-at-'em stage fans who came from one of our area retirement communities on a bus.

Word about our Rostov's Coffee & Conversations events (the second Tuesday of every other month), and our Bifocals Monthly Meetings (the fourth Friday of most months) is starting to spread. We hope you'll make plans to join us for one of these fun-filled upcoming programs:

Tuesday, March 8, coffee/tea/pastry bar opens at 9 am, panel discussion begins at 9:30 - Rostov's Coffee & Conversations, Strike Up the Band: A Peak into the Orchestra Pit of Barksdale's Musicals, moderated by Ford Flannagan, featuring three music directors from past and upcoming Barksdale shows (that's our pit band for White Christmas to the left)

Tuesday, April 12, coffee/tea/pastry bar opens at 9 am, panel discussion begins at 9:30 - Rostov's Coffee & Conversations, "All the World's a Stage" -- And I Manage It, moderated by Joy Williams, featuring three stage managers from past and upcoming Barksdale shows

Friday, April 22, lobby opens at 10:45 am, guest speaker begins at 11 - Bifocals Monthly Meeting, The History of Hanover Tavern: Bruce Miller will revisit the past glories and infamies of Barksdale's ancestral home

When yesterday morning went so well, we should have known we were headed for trouble later in the day. That trouble blew in, literally, at about 4:30 pm, when the high winds of yesterday afternoon swept down a tree in Hanover, knocking down electric lines, and causing the loss of power to Hanover Tavern. With a sold-out house eagerly awaiting last night's performance of Nunsense, Phil Whiteway stayed by his phone until 6:30 pm, when word came that the power was still off. Our terrific box office staff had already called each of our ticket holders, advising them of the situation, and telling them that the decision to cancel or not would finally be made by 6:30 pm at the latest. Phil passed on the bad news, and our valiant box office workers set to work, calling everyone again to cancel the show.

Fortunately, and by popular demand, we will be reviving Nunsense in July at Willow Lawn, so those who really want to see the show won't be disappointed, just delayed. The entire cast will be returning for the summer revival, with the exception of Shalimar Fields, who had long planned a family vacation to Rome during the month of July. Every good nun's dream, right?

Not to fear, the wonderful Ms Fields will be replaced by the equally wonderful Katrinah Lewis. Another blessing.