"Don Quixotic....."presented by Amphibian Productions

DON QUIXOTIC
play program

First of all The Travelling Toe must inform you Dear Readers of the full and correct name of the play presented by Amphibian Theater in Fort Worth.  The complete name of  this play is "The Quixotic Days and Errant Nights Of The Knight Errant Don Quixote".  Brenda Withers is the clever and imaginative playwright that created this fun and masterful play.

This play has a very different take on the Don Quixote story than that of the famous movie or play that is based on the movie. 

Rather than try to describe this unusual play,The Travelling Toe will reply on the program notes:

                            Alonso Quixano's fascination with medieval romance novels devolves 

                            into delusion when the small-town man rechristenes himself 

                           Don Quixote de la Mancha - a chivalrous knight bent on battling wicked

                           and protecting all who are good.  With his trusty sidekick Sancho Panza 

                           and their faithful steed Donkey Jorge.  Don Quixote sets off on a epic

                           adventure.  The new adaptation of the classic novel is a celebration of

                          imagination and proves that a little craziness isn't such a bad thing.

The play takes place on a small, pretty barren stage.   There are 6 actors in the play. Jeremy Schwartz, plays the part of Don Quixote and Ivan Jasso plays Sancho Panza.   The other 4 actors, John Forkner, Steph Garrett, Bob Hess, Nathan Smith, and Christie Vela  play various parts from barber to Priest, nurse, housekeeper and even a windmill.  They were all great in their roles.

The costumes were amazing.   Don Q for his armour, wore a baseball catchers outfit painted to look like battle-worn armour, so creative and funny.  Then when Don and Sancho were ready to go on their adventures, their trusty steeds came out on stage and the audience went wild. They were bicycles that were attached to stationary platforms but had the heads of a horse and a donkey on the front.  It was hilarious.

Notes regarding the costumes by
Laura Anderson Barbata

The Amphibian is always know for the unusual plays that they produce.   But as in the case of this one...a winner all the way!!!

Amphibian Productions


Disclaimer:  The Travelling Toe is not a professional critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only.
                                                                                                     

"Self'less" (movie critique)

SELF/LESS
movie poster

The Travelling Toe and a trusting  friend went to see the movie "Self/Less" because of another friend's recommendation and we were glad we did.

The plot of this movie centers on Damian Hale, played by Ben Kingsley.  He is a billionaire real estate magnet (reference that red-headed dude in the news) who is ruthless in his business dealings and personal life
.  

Ben Kingsley

He is estranged from his one daughter, played Michelle Dockery, who is an environmentalist and detests her father's ruthless behavior.

Michelle Dockery

Damian is diagnosed with terminal cancer.  There is no hope for any type of recovery.  He somehow is referred to Professor Albright, (played by Matthew Goode), who has created a radical medical procedure called "shedding".  How it is achieved is taking the ill person's consciousness and transferring it to a "supposedly" artificially grown healthy body.  It of course is none reversible.

Matthew Goode

Damian seeing no other options on the horizon, makes the decision to have the procedure done.  A host body is selected for Damian (Ryan Reynolds).  Professor Albright tells Damian he must have a public death to ensure that the center's medical team responds first to bring his body back to the lab.  Plus  it will confirm to all that Damian has actually died.  

Ryan Reynolds

Side Note:  As this part of the story takes place in New Orleans, it looks  like Damian has his last meal and a heart attack at Brennan's.

While he is "dying", he is immediately transferred to the science center and the procedure is completed.  When Damian wakes up in a new body, he must learn to walk and then re-build his strength.  Damian is now called Edward Hale.  After he is strong enough, Albright has him moved into a luxurious apartment in New Orleans.  But Albright tells Edward that he must take the prescribed medication at the assigned times.  The medication is to stop hallucinations which are the side effects of the procedure.

Derek Luke

Edward begins a new life in New Orleans.  He makes friends with a neighbor, Anton (Derek Luke) who introduces Edward to the various pleasures of New Orleans.  

But Edward misses taking his meds a couple of times and he begins to have hallucinations of another life of a home with a women and a sick child.  

When Edward seeks help from  Albright, he dismisses Edward's concerns and tells him that he needs to to continue taking the meds and that a change of scenery would help as well.  Albright arranges for Edward to move to Hawaii.  But Edward has other ideas.  He is able to ditch the team tracking him and he takes off to find the landmark and the people in his dream.  

Dear Readers, I must leave the story there so you can discover for yourself if Edward finds the truth of who he really is, who the people are in the dream and if anyone is really who they say there are.  As Mulder always said in the "X-Files" ....."the truth is out there"!

Yes it is a somewhat predictable plot but there are also a few surprises along the way.  The story kept us captivated and we had to see how it ended.

The Travelling Toe gives this movie 2 middle toes up with a side order of those famous New Orleans treat, beignets..




Disclaimer:  The Travelling Toe is not a professional critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only.

"Mr Holmes" (movie critique)

MR. HOLMES
movie poster

The Friday Movie Mavens and The Travelling Toe toddled out to the local multiplex to see the new movie about a very famous fictional detective - "Mr. Holmes".  

The movie starts the renowned English actor Ian McKellen as Sherlock Holmes.  

Ian McKellen

The premise of the story is that in 1947, an aging Sherlock Holmes has retired to the beautiful English countryside to re-write the details of his last case and to care for his beloved bees.  

Taking care of him and his home is a war widow, Mrs. Munro, who is played by the wonderful actress Laura Linney. Also  in the group is her curious and intelligent son, Roger (Milo Parker) who often tries her patience.

Laura Linney

Milo Parker

Holmes takes an interest in the precocious young lad and they form a unique friendship. When Holmes begins training Roger on how to care for the bees and the aviaries, his mother expresses concerns about the dangers of working with bees, but they continue on with both enjoying the bees and their time together.

One issue Holmes has is that he is struggling with his memory.  He takes to writing down people's names on the cuffs of his shirt to help him remember them.  Another mystery in the movie is his recent trip to Japan, who he meet, what he went there for and brought back with him.

When Dr. Barrie (Roger Allam) drops by to check on Holmes he discovers the extent of the memory problems that Holmes is having.  The doctor gives him a journal and tells Holmes to make a mark in the journal during the day whenever he can not remember a name or some other event.  Later on, during another visit, the doctor looking through the journal finds many marks on each day increasing over time.

Roger Allam

There are several stories at play in this movie::

                        Holme's remembering and re-telling to Roger what happened about  his last case

                        the mysterious trip to Japan

                        the story of his housekeeper and her young son

                        the story of  the bees

                        Holme's illness

                             
Do all these stories wrap up and end happily?  Well, Dear Reader, you will just have to hunt for your own clues to solve the mystery.

This movie does move at a slow pace but the English countryside where the movie was filmed more than makes up for that.  The house and gardens were just beautiful as was the beach area and the ever famous White Cliffs of Dover.

Holmes and Roger
on walk to the beach

One last note, a favorite English actress, Frances De La Tour has a small part in the movie. Not sure it you have seen the PBS series "Vicious" but both Ian McKellen and Frances are in it and it is rather funny.  And OK she was in some of the Harry Potter movies!

France De La Tour

The Travelling Toe gives this movie 2 middle toes up - one with a magnifying glass and one with a deerstalker hat.


Disclaimer:  The Travelling Toe is not a professional critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only.

"Pippin" at Bass Hall presented by Performing Arts Fort Worth

PIPPIN
program

The Travelling Toe and friend hobbled to Bass Hall to see the touring production of "Pippin"presented by Performing Arts Fort Worth.

Bass Hall

PIPPIN
cast picture

Having never seen "Pippin" before we were not totally sure what the storyline was.  The fable centers on Pippin (of course) who is the son of legendary King Charlemagne. 

Side Note:  In this production John Rubinstein played the King, but in fact he actually played Pippin in the original version when it opened on Broadway in 1972.

John Rubinstein

The MC, called The Leading Player, begins the show by coming on stage to invite the audience to watch a circus troupe help tell Pippin's story.  

Pippin, heir to the throne, is not a strong and mighty warrior like his step-brother Lewis and is searching for the real meaning and purpose for his life.  He first decides to become a soldier and goes to war with his father and step-brother.  But Pippin finds that war is not the answer to his inter-turmoil, plus he is not very good at it.  He goes to his grandmother, played by the beautiful Adrienne Barbeau to seek counsel.

Adrienne Barbeau

Side Note:  Not only does Adrienne still look fabulous but she sang and then did some trapeze work with a very nice looking partner while still singing.

Granny tells Pippin to live life to the fullest and to find his purpose in life.

In the second act, Pippin decides to take control of the country away from his father by killing him and  becoming King.  After the deed is done and Pippin is King, he learns very quickly that for every decision he makes it has ripple effects and sometimes not always in a good way.  He keeps trying to fix things and only makes it worse and finally revokes all the laws he has made. Finally he is so distraught, he goes to his father, the dead King, and asks for his knife back. The King comes back to life and is once again in charge of the kingdom.  Pippin then sets out on his quest to find the meaning and purpose for his life.

While on his journey is he set-upon, beaten and injured.  A young widow, Catherine, finds Pippin laying by the road and takes him in to nurse him back to health.  Catherine lives on a farm with her young son Theo. When he is feeling better Pippin tries to help around the farm by feeding the pigs and the chickens.  This part of the play was really funny because of the antics of the actors playing the pigs and the chickens.  

But alas, Pippin is still not satisfied with life and leaves Catherine and Theo.  He is not sure he is meant to have an ordinary life.

Back on the course to continue his journey, he comes across the MC who tells Pippin to jump into a roaring fire box since he always wanted to do something extraordinary.  Pippin, on a trapeze bar, swings over the fire box and prepares the jump.  Then he sees Catherine and Theo and jumps down and runs to them.

The MC cancels the Grand Finale and the players begin to take down the circus curtains and pack up the props and leave Pippin, Catherine, and Theo alone on the stage.

The storyline of this play is a little strange.  However it was beautifully staged. The stage setting take place inside a circus tent.  All the "actors" were not just singers or dancers, but also tumblers, jugglers, trapeze artists, and gymnasts.  It was like a mini Cirque du Soleil show.  All the performers were amazing!  The original Broadway choreography was devised by Bob Fosse and you can still see some of his signature moves in this play.

The King and Step-Queen

The Birds, Bees and Butterflies with the Westmont Garden Club

CONEFLOWER

The Travelling Toe attended the monthly meeting of the Westmont Garden Club.

The program topic was “Birds, Bees, Butterflies:  The Pollinators”.  It was presented by Master Gardner Sher Dunaway with her able assistant, husband Bill Dunaway.

Sher Dunaway
Master Gardner

Bill Dunaway
tech support

Tarrant County Master Gardner

The first topic in Sher’s presentation was creating a haven for butterflies, who are considered the flying jewels of the sky

There are over 400 species of butterflies in Texas.  It is one of the most diverse states in the US for butterflies.  Sher talked about one of the most spectacular butterflies that migrate through Texas and that is the Monarch Butterfly.  The Monarch has the longest know distance of any insect migration. 

Monarch Butterfly

The female is lightly darker than the male and also has slightly wider wing veins.  The males have a small spot on the inside of their wing.  The most important plant for the Monarch is milkweed.  The most common types of milkweed are:

                    Antelope Horn          Green Milkweed            

                         Swamp Milkweed - which is native to Texas

           

                    Butterfly Weed         Tropical Milkweed

Monarch caterpillars feed on milkweed.  Eggs are laid in the spring and it takes 3-4 weeks for caterpillars to complete the cycle.  To attract butterflies to your garden, the best perennials and annuals to plant are:

                     Cone Flower              Milkweed                       Asters

                     Parsley                       Hollyhocks                     Spider Flower

Trees that can serve as host sites for butterflies are:

    

         Apple                        Cherry                               Plum                Dogwood

These plants have short tubular blossoms that provide easy landing for the butterflies:

   Bee Balm             Purple Cornflower           Lantana                     Butterfly Bush

To provide a source of nectar the plants suggested are:

             Tree Peony               Zinnia                            Scabosa                         

             Marigold                 Coreopsis                 Antique White Rose

Ensure that these plants are in a sunny location as butterflies need the sun to warm their bodies.  Also place a few flat stones in sunny locations next to the nectar sources so they will have a place to warm up.  Butterflies do need access to a water source and will drink from puddles or muddy areas.  They also enjoy various fruits.  To attract butterflies have continual blooms in your garden from spring through fall.

From butterflies we moved on to discuss bees as pollinators.   Bees are the most important insect when it comes to pollination.  One in three bites of food depends on the honeybee.  Example:  80% of the world’s almond production comes from California.  1.6 million colonies of honeybees must be transported to the orchards before the almond trees flower. Honeybees are not native to the New World but came from Europe with the first settlers.

Honeybee

Vanilla is the second most expensive spice after saffron.   The Millepora Bee must pollinate the vanilla orchard on the day the flower blooms.   If the orchid is not pollinated it will wilt and drop off after a single day.  Vanilla orchids survive only in the tropics.

Vanilla Orchid

Bee colony collapse disorder is due to these causes:

Use of pesticides

Increase of urban development

Extreme weather conditions

Poor colony health

Asian Varroa mite

Asian Varroa mite

The next pollinators discussed were birds.  North Central Texas lies beneath one of four fast lanes of North America.  The bird migration is called the Central Flyway.

To attract birds to a garden requires:

             Bird feeders         Nesting boxes              Bird baths

Also, trees and shrubs provide shelter and food.

Backyard birds in Texas most normally seen are:

            
        Robin       Blue Jays       Cardinal      Hummingbird      Downey Woodpecker

                        
                           Mockingbird           Doves

Cardinal

Native trees and shrubs that attract birds are:

   
                            Beauty Berry       Blackberry     Crap Apple

                           Fir                         Juniper          Hawthorne Shrub

Ornamental Grasses can also be used to attract birds:

  
                        Mexican feather grass    Basket grass    Big Muley

Silver Spike Ornamental Grass

Hummingbirds are the jewels of the garden and are the only bird who extend its tongue to lap up nectar.  They are attracted to the shade of red so these are good plants for the Hummingbird:

      
                      Honeysuckle       Red Yucca      Turks Cap     Bee Balm

                         Cora Bells           Sandy Cypress       Fuchsia

Hummingbird

The program ended with the thought that we are all stewards of the land and must protect it and the creatures in it.

"Terminator Genisys" (movie critique)

TERMINATOR GENISYS
movie poster

Well, the Friday Movie Mavens and the Travelling Toe hit the multiplex to see the new action flick "Terminator Genisys" .   Arnold said he would be back and he certainly does that with this 5th edition of the Terminator film franchise. Since his governor days are over guess he has to have a steady paycheck again.

James Cameron

Gale Anne Hurd

It all started back in 1984 when the Terminator series was created by James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd. 






There are now 5 movies that make up the Terminator franchise:

1984    The Terminator

1991    Terminator 2: Judgement Day

2003    Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

2009   Terminator Salvation

2013   Terminator Genisys

The bedrock of these movies is centered on Skynet and it's intelligent machine network.   The machine view humans as security threats and are out to wipe our humanity itself.  

Those humans who do survive the attacks re-group and begin to form fighting teams called the Resistance.  

Somewhere along the technical highway, Skynet develops the ability to time travel.  Hence that is why Arnold's Terminator is still around so he can help Sarah fight the new Terminators that show up from time to time. 

In Gensys, the time travel machine is used by Kyle Reese to travel back to 1984 and save Sarah Connor and postpone Judgement Day, which is the day that humanity will cease.

The movie begins in the future where the Resistance is fighting Skynet, then goes back to 1984, then goes forward and then you just lose track of what date they have landed in now.

One fun aspect of the movie was seeing the "older" Arnold fight the 1984 Arnold.  Just shows you what computer effects can do now.

There is one surprise revealed in the movie and that is who originally wrote and set up the programs for Skynet to annulate humans.

The Travelling Toe gives this movie 1 big toe up with a gel insert  just for the special effects.

Beware there are 2 more Terminator movies to follow over the next couple of years

Arnold Schwarzenegger
Terminator
(Pop)

Emilia Clarke
Sarah Connor

Jason Clarke
John Connor

Jai Courtney
Kyle Reese

Disclaimer:   The Travelling Toe is not a professional critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only.

"Dirty Dancing" presented by Performing Arts Fort Worth at Bass Hall

DIRTY DANCING
play program

The Travelling Toe and friend attended the Sunday matinee performance of "Dirty Dancing" at Bass Hall.  The play was presented as part of the Broadway at the Bass series by Performing Arts Fort Worth.

Bass Hall

The play is based on the 1987 movie of the same name starring Patrick Swayze as Johnny and Jennifer Grey as Baby.

If you do not know the story either you were born after 1987 or you live in a cave.  "Dirty Dancing" was a big hit when it premiered and really launched Patrick's acting career into the stratosphere.  

OK, here is a very basic premise of the movie and play.   Baby and her family go to the Catskills for a summer vacation.  Baby is not impressed with being there and begins to make friends with some of the staff when she seems them "dirty dancing" in their private quarters. Johnny, the resort's handsome dance instructor and his current partner Penny are slated to appear in a dance contest and Johnny needs the prize money badly.   But Penny finds out she is pregnant and decides not to have the baby.   But there is a no money to take care of it so Baby steps in and gets the money from her Dad. When Penny has complications from the medical procedure, Johnny enlists Baby to be his new dance partner.  As they begin practicing and spending more time together they slowly start to fall in love with each other. 

Through a misunderstand, Johnny is accused of being a thief and even though he is proven innocent, he is fired.  Baby is totally disheartened when she learns he has left the resort.

At the last show of the season, all the dancers decide to dance the way they want to not as they are required to do.  

In the play we saw Sunday  Johnny comes running down the aisle and jumps on stage and grabs Baby and says that famous line from the movie, "Nobody puts Baby in a corner". Audience members just screamed!

The play was full wonderful music of the 1960's that could not be obtained for the movie.  It really helped set the tone of the show and often reflected what was happening on stage.

The resort scenery was projected on to the stage and changed with the different scenes, from a golf course, to the dinning room, to the woods and even a swimming pool. Rain was projected on the set with accompanying sounds and it almost felt like it really was raining in the theater.

The two leads in the touring play were very good, Samuel Pergande as Johnny and Gillian Abbot as Baby.  Samuel had the longest legs and wore tight black pants and if he had had a nickle in his pocket  you could have seen if it was heads or tails.  But wow...was he ever a great dancer.  He just had that natural talent, grace and rhythm.  

Samuel Pergande & Gillian Abbot

Also it must be mentioned that 2 other actors did the majority of the singing and both had excellent voices, Jennlee Shallow and Doug Carpenter.  Doug performed a marvelous rendition of "In the Still of the Night" that wowed all the audience members.

The live orchestra conducted by Alan Plado were also brilliant.  Most of the time they were on stage but up on a platform as if on a band stand playing for the guests.  Live music makes anything better!

If this road show comes your way, do go enjoy it.  


Disclaimer:  The Travelling Toe is not a professional critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only.

"Mass Appeal" presented by Circle Theatre

MASS APPEAL
play program

The Travelling Toe and a friend attended a Saturday afternoon production of "Mass Appeal" at the Circle Theatre in downtown Fort Worth. The play was written by Bill C Davis.


Circle Theatre

Bill C Davis

Bill C Davis


The comedy-drama is a 2 character play.   It centers on the conflict between a popular parish priest and a young idealist seminarian.

The young priest-to-be Mark Dolson, has a hard time relating to people, plus he sees the world only in right verses wrong with no shade of grey involved.   The parish priest, Tim Farley, sees the world in various shades of grey and dishes out tired and true tag lines to comfort or counsel his parishioners.  Father Tim also has a liking for good wines and other types of alcoholic spirits and has a standing appointment each Monday to go to the racetrack. 

Mark is struggling with the hierarchy of the church seminary and its handling of some major issues involving other seminarians.  Father Tim tries to help Mark without getting himself in hot water with the Monsignor.  He makes a joke that his next parish will be in a corn field in Iowa if he can not convince the Monsignor that Mark has good intentions and just needs more time to mature in his faith and his views of the world. 

We both thought the play was very funny and very emotional as it touched on issues facing the Catholic Church, as well as other church denominations,  even in today's more tolerant atmosphere.

Jakie Cabe, who The Travelling Toe has seen in several productions at the Circle Theatre, as well as a few  other local theater groups, played Father Tim Farley and was excellent.  He was spot-on as the wise cracking parish priest who just could not give up his comforts to defend Mark.

Mark Dolson was played by Justin Lemieux.  As a young man himself,  he played the role really well as you could see him struggling with maintaining and defending his ideals as he could see his dream of becoming a priest slip away.

It is always interesting to see how a play will be staged at Circle Theatre, as there are 3 sides for audience members so the theater must make good use of  the back wall and even parts of the stage area itself.   For this play, the stage setting was very well done and imaginative..

All in all it was an excellent production and an enjoyable afternoon at the theater.

This might be hard to read but it is the bio's of the two actors in the play.

One final note, during the play the plot seemed somewhat familiar.  So The Travelling Toe did a spot of research and found out that the play had been made into a movie in 1984 and starred Jack Lemon as Father Tim and Zeljko Ivanek as Mark Dolson.

Disclaimer:  The Travelling Toe is not a professional critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only.