Ho-Hum

Well, I haven't written in like a week because, well, there really hasn't been much to write about. Last weekend was a blast, that left both Noreen and I tired and drained. The party was a blast, and we had a really good turnout. It's always fun to have people over, the dogs even behaved themselves. Volunteering to help recruit new Horizons volunteers was pretty cool. We met some interesting people, and even saw some friends out and about at the festival. The play at Noreen's future school was amazing. The kids turned in some really amazing performances, full of youthful zeal. The pieces themselves were extremely important, and very poignant for Boston. I have more to write on this, and I will below. On the other end of things, BU's show was interesting but in a boring way. The performers were all very talented and made very interesting choices, and it's always good to see that the school is keeping up its reputation. The design aspects were beatiful and very original. My problem was with the show, Red Noses. I don't remember who it was by. I mean, I tried, I really tried! I guess it had some social, political, and cultural messages in it(authority and religion are ultimately self-serving, spectacle distracts the populace from its troubles, blah, blah, blah). It just conveyed those messages in such a scattered, confused, completely abstract manner. I can forgive the first two, and often have, if i'm engaged emotionally(and I don't mean in a Lifetime, Hallmark sort of way). As didactic, intellectual, blunt, and overtly political as Brecht is and intends to be, I can get into it and enjoy it because it usually makes me laugh, or shocks me, and the characters make me care in some way(which makes me hear the message). This didn't have that(though the actors gave their best), so we left at intermission. Now, being a performer in my past and at heart, I am ok with this, because I'd rather see an empty seat than bored faces. That just keeps throwing it at you the whole time. Instead, we walked around the city and enjoyed the gorgeous weather!

The rest of the week has been pretty run of the mill. Noreen has had off from school, and is working part-time. She has the mornings free which is helping her rest up for an action packed summer full of more school. At our volunteer night, we had a meeting with all the other volunteers. It's a monthly thing, so pretty routine, going over each kid and what's been going on at the house. Good Stuff! No plans this weekend, which is a good thing. Just some cleaning, and playing with the dogs.

Now, as promised more on the high school thing. Now, this school is part of the Boston Public Schools. It's arts specialized, visual and performing. So, basically it's like the Boston version of Fame. Noreen is interning here this coming school year. We saw the senior showcase, written, directed, and performed by the students! Which, as I said earlier, was really good. The performers were all very excellent, and the pieces were very well written(and I hate to do this, but I do have to say, "for high school kids"). Still, for high school kids, this was far and away better than anything I was in during high school, or have seen at high schools before. Obviously, some kids stood out, and some stood back. But my point is not to critique their show, just to say that I thought they were talented which is why the next part is shocking. Out of this whole senior class of theater focused students, only a few(like 3 or 4) were going on to study theater at college. And none at the very well known LOCAL theater schools in the area. Now, this is big to me for a couple of reasons. First off, they were talented, at least half of them were as good, if not better, than my classmates at BU when we started school. Second, I'm only saying LOCAL schools here, like BU, Boston Conservatory, Northeastern, even BC, Harvard, and Emerson(one kid is going to Emerson, so I guess there's that). Now, let's allow for some things with the population here, I realize that the schools listed tend to be expensive, which these students may have trouble affording on their own. Additionally, I know that many of these schools have pretty stringent academic standards, and knowing what I know about the academics at the high school and with theater focused kids in general this could be a hurdle. However, on those two points I offer this; BU was known to overlook academic performance in high school if you demonstrated excellence in ability, believe me, some of my compatriots had slacked a bit in high school. Also, they went out of their way to make the money thing work for low income students, even inventing "special scholarships". I can't speak for the other schools' theater departments but I can't believe it's too far off that mark, especially for local kids. Now, here's where my discussion starts, why aren't these kids going to these schools? Is it the money, despite what I perceive about financial aid; or could it be the money guaranteed afterwards? Is it the academics? Is it a class, culture thing? Is it the major? Is it that the kids just don't want to, but I highly doubt so high a percentage of the class wouldn't want to pursue this knowing how theater gets into your blood in high school? Now, remember that all these kids are from the city of Boston, and fall on the spectrum as either working class or low income. Interesting too, out of the ones going to college, two of the four majoring in theater are the 2 boys in the class which starts a whole nother, though highly intertwined, discussion. Leave your thoughts about it if you have any, I haven't really come up with anything but questions.

Thanks, have a great weekend!