"I and You" presented by The Circle Theatre

I and YOU
play program

On a stormy and rainy Saturday afternoon, The Travelling Toe drove to the Circle Theatre in downtown Fort Worth to see their current production of "I and You".  The 2 character play was written Lauren Gunderson.  It runs for 90 minutes with no intermission.  

Lauren Gunderson

The 2 young actors, Nate Davis (Anthony) and Mackie Louis (Caroline) are just amazing in their roles.   The material is very dynamic and they played well off each other throwing out  lines and reeling them back in.   Each character is nicely fleshed out and during the course of the play we learn more about each of them...but you must be patient as bits are sometimes casually tossed out in the conversations.

The premise of the story it that Anthony, a school mate of Caroline's shows up to work on a joint school project that is due the next day.  Caroline, is home bound due to an illness and is not at all happy to have Anthony barge into her bedroom, her world or her life.  The project they must complete is  about Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" and his use of pronouns in the poem - hence I and You.

Walt Whitman

"Leaves of Grass"

The playwright wrote a very funny line for Caroline to expound upon,  as she tells Anthony what she does not like about poetry is that when someone asks you if you liked the poem and you say what you think it means and then they tell you that you are wrong as it could be 4,600 other things!!  

As the project is discussed and worked on then the 2 characters begin to trust each other and we as audience members come to learn more about Anthony and Caroline.  

Krista Scott, director, must have had a guiding hand in molding these 2 young actors in this funny and emotionally charged play.  Caroline's world, which is her bedroom, is full of her favorite things and you keep spying something here, there and everywhere.   The set designer Clare Floyd Devries, did an awesome job in designing this fun bedroom. She has a tie dyed bedspread, posters of Elvis on the walls (Caroline's favorite singer), shelves full of pill bottles, a dragon kite hung over the bed, a pink fuzzy bean bad chair in the corner and some many knickknacks that Ms. Devries had to have hit many flea markets and garage sales for all the items she had placed in the room.

Well, dear readers, The Travelling Toe will have to leave the narrative here as this play has a very dramatic ending that is not to be missed.

Very interesting, exciting and excellent play.  Please go see it!



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

McLennan County Courthouse - Waco Texas

                    MCLENNAN COUNTY COURTHOUSE

                                                                         WACO, TEXAS

Photo by
Maria Jones

Photo by
Maria Jones

On a recent day trip to Waco,The Travelling Toe and the other 2 Road Warriors visited the McLennan County Courthouse.  

Photo by
Nancy Lynn Scott

It is a magnificent white stone courthouse that was build in 1901 in the Beaux-Arts style.   It was said that the dome on top of the courthouse was inspired by the dome on 
St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome.  Around the base of the dome there are a series of eagles with their wings spread out a bit.  On top of the dome is a sculpture of the Greece goddess, Themis, who was the goddess of divine law and justice.   She holds a scale of justice in her left hand.  In her right hand she holds just the hilt of a sword because during a storm the blade fell off and has never been replaced.

Beaux-Arts on Wikipedia


It is a lovely courthouse and is situated on a slight crest that gives it a impressive feel.  The grounds have several beautiful trees and a nice lawn area.

Since we visited the courthouse on a Saturday, we were not able to see the inside.  According to Texas Escapes, there is a interior skylight in the dome.

  
Texas Escapes

Dome skylight
photo by
Terry Jeanson

McLennan County Courthouse
photo by
Terry Jeanson

The McLennan County Courthouse has been awarded a Texas Historical Marker.

Texas is very fortunate to have so many beautiful and stately courthouses still being protected and often still in use on a daily basis.

Origami with Westmont Garden Club

                                        ORIGAMI FUN WITH WESTMONT GARDEN CLUB

At the April meeting of the Westmont Garden Club a fun activity was on the schedule for the meeting agenda.  A friend of the Club's  President was engaged to show us "green" thumbs how to fold creative origami paper crafts.   But instead of using paper we used crisp one dollar bills.  

Below is an explanation of what origami means provided by  Wikipedia.

Wikipedia Origami

Origami (折り紙^?, from ori meaning "folding", and kami meaning "paper" (kami changes to gami due to rendaku)is the art of paper folding, which is often associated with Japanese culture. In modern usage, the word "origami" is used as an inclusive term for all folding practices, regardless of their culture of origin. The goal is to transform a flat sheet of paper into a finished sculpture through folding and sculpting techniques. Modern origami practitioners generally discourage the use of cuts, glue, or markings on the paper. Origami folders often use the Japanese word kirigami to refer to designs which use cuts, although cutting is more characteristic of Chinese papercrafts.^[1]

The small number of basic origami folds can be combined in a variety of ways to make intricate designs. The best-known origami model is the Japanese paper crane. In general, these designs begin with a square sheet of paper whose sides may be of different colors, prints, or patterns. Traditional Japanese origami, which has been practiced since the Edo period (1603–1867), has often been less strict about these conventions, sometimes cutting the paper or using nonsquare shapes to start with. The principles of origami are also used in stents,packaging and other engineering applications.^[2]

How to make an origami heart

Examples of our best efforts

We all agreed that this was a very fun group activity and that it would be great to have several made up ahead of time and then leave them as tips for an extra surprise.

"Clouds of Sils Maria" (movie critique)

CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA
movie poster

The Travelling Toe and movie flick friend, with trepidation and fear in our hearts, hit the toll roads to take us to see a film in Plano.   It is considered an "indie" film and was not showing in our neck of the woods so we had to seek it out at the Angelika Movie Theater in Plano.   The movie we saw was "Clouds of Sils Maria" staring Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart and Chole Grace Moretz.

Juliette Binoche

Kristen Stewart

Chole Grace Moretz

The synopsis of the movie is as follows:

When renowned actress, Maria Enders (Binoche), is cast opposite a young starlet (Moretz) Maria must come to terms with being a middle-aged actress in a youth-obsessed industry.  Retreating into the mountains with her assistant (Stewart) she prepares for the most important role of her life.

The Travelling Toe found that the majority of the dialogue to be somewhat  egotistic and boring.  Also we both found the movie to be slightly disjointed.  Maria expounds about her feeling one way but then takes action in the opposite way.  There is one scene that is still confusing and never explained.  It is when the assistant played by Stewart, just disappears in mid scene in an apparent show of defiance with the strong opinions Maria has regarding the acting abilities of the young starlet  as well as what the main focus of her own part should be.

Not being a fan of Ms. Stewart's acting ability, or lack therefore, she was very good in her role of the supporting assistant and actually did more than just sigh, pout, squint her eyes and thrown her hair around - she actually seemed  to embrace this role and did a nice job of it.  Ms. Binoche was brilliant in her role...you loved her, you worried about her, and cared what was going to happen to her.  Ms. Moretz played the young starlet who has little acting ability and lots of publicity courtesy of the paparazzi .   

The very best thing about this movie was the spectacular scenery of the Swiss alps.  There really is a town in Switzerland named Sils Maria.




The Travelling Toe gives this movie one middle toe up with the chance of a storm cloud racing down the mountain range.


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

"La Traviata" presented by Fort Worth Opera

LA TRAVIATA
program

The Travelling Toe decided to add some culture to her life and attended the Sunday afternoon performance of "La Traviata", presented by the Fort Worth Opera.

Giuseppe Verdi complete this opera in 1853.  It is based on a play he had seen in Paris that was written by Alexandre Dumas (the son of the famous author of the same name), called "La Dame aux Camelias". 

Giuseppe Verdi

Alexandre Dumas

Does the name sound familiar?   Perhaps you saw the 1936 black and white movie titled "Camille" staring Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor.

• 

  Camille
  1936 movie

So here is the story line in a nut shell.   Famous Parisian party girl, Violetta, loves to have fun and excitement in her life, but she is hiding a secret...she is gravely ill.   One night at a party, she meets a young man, Alfredo, and they are instantly attracted to each other.  Alfredo persuades Violetta to leave Paris and move to a country estate with him.   At the estate, Alfredo learns that Violetta's maid has been travelling to Paris to sell her possessions in order to pay their bills. Violetta does not want to live off Alfredo's money.   When Alfredo goes to reclaim her possessions, his father arrives at the country estate and begs Violetta to leave Alfredo.  If she does not then their family's reputation will be tarnished by her scandalous lifestyle.  She does not want to leave Alfredo but knows that  she must.   Violetta leaves the happiness she has come to know at the country estate and with Alfredo.  She leaves a good-by note for Alfredo and returns to Paris.

When Alfredo finds out she has left, he follows her to Paris.  When he finds her with another man, he throws money at her feet to re-pay her for what she spent on him.   Violetta is crushed by his actions, becomes ill, and faints.   The guests throw Alfredo out of the party due to his poor treatment of Violetta.

In the final act, Violetta, near death, calls out for Alfredo.   He and his father finally arrive and both beg for her forgiveness.  

So dear readers, if you have been to an opera before, you know what happens and for those of you who have not...the party girl coughs and then dies.  The curtain falls.

Rachelle  Durkin played Violetta and Patrick  O'Halloran was Alfredo.

Rachelle Durkin

Patrick O'Halloran

The stage setting was amazing as you could almost feel yourself drawn into a Parisian house party along with all the other guests.  Additionally, the costumes were just lovely too and reflected the time period of the opera debut.  

The Travelling Toe may not be an opera critic extraordinaire,  therefore she is free to simply enjoy a wonderful production without too much of a critical eye.



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

"Avengers: Age of Ultron" (movie critique)

AVENGERS:AGE OF ULTRON

Well, it was superhero Friday for the Friday Movie Mavens and The Travelling Toe.  We opted to see "Avengers: Age of Ultron".

The movie was written and direct by Joss Whedon.  

Joss Whedon

All the usual Marvel superheroes were on board for this newest adventure:

          Iron Man                                                  Robert Downey Jr
          Thor                                                         Chris Hemsworth
          Captain America                                   Chris Evans
          Hawkeye                                                Jeremy Renner
          Black Widow                                          Scarlett Johansson
          The Hulk                                                  Mark Ruffalo 

Robert Downey Jr

Chris Helmsworth

Chris Evans

Jeremy Renner

Scarlett Johansson

Mark Ruffalo

The story opens up with the superheroes taking out a mountain fortress that is manufacturing robots and has secret software programs in development.  Tony (Iron Man) finds the program and determines that it is the beginning of AI (artificial intelligence).   He takes the program to one of his secret labs and loads out it out where it starts regenerating.  While Tony is off doing other things, the program morphs into Ultron who has concluded that the super heroes are the problem to attaining world peace.  Then as Ultron grows in strength, he determines that all humans need to be annihilated as well and he will start a new world.   Ultron begins to replicate himself into killer robots.  Along the way Ultron recruits twins - brother and sister, Pietron (Quicksilver) and Wanda (Scarlet Witch) to help him achieve world domination and take out the superheroes.  As the twins become aware of what Ultron is planning, and even though they want revenge on Tony Stark for the bombs his company built that killed their family, they come to realize that what Ultron is planning to do is much much worse and switch their allegiance to the superheroes.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Elizabeth Olsen

As you would expect, a showdown between the superheroes and Ultron and his robot army is inevitable.  But there is help on the horizon as Nick Fury shows up when he is needed the most.

Samuel L Jackson

When Tony tries to use a software program to re-tune Ultron, a new super hero is born, Vision, who is played by Paul Bettany and looks interesting in a total red outfit and he even has a cape!

Paul Bettany

The Travelling Toe will not reveal any more of the story line or surprises within the movie as you dear reader will just have to see the movie for yourself.  One surprise that The Travelling Toe will share is that going forward several superhero characters are moving on to new adventures and new ones could be featured next time.  Such as Vision, War Machine and The Falcon plus Scarlet Witch.

Don Cheadle

Anthony Mackie

A couple of side notes, if you a Marvel fan, then you know that Stan Lee will make a cameo appearance in the movie (just like Hitchcock) and when he is seen, everyone in the audience calls out "It's Stan Lee"!  Also there are lighthearted moments in the film as well and funny lines are tossed out at each other.   It keeps the audience engaged.

Stan Lee

The Travelling Toe gives this movie 1 big toe and 1 middle toe up with cape on each toe....fly, fly away!


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

" A View From The Bridge" presented by Amphibian Stage Productions

A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE

The Amphibian Theater of Fort Worth often presents live screenings of productions from the National Theater located in London.  The plays are show at the Magnolia Theater at The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.  They recently presented Arthur Miller's play "A View From The Bridge".

Amphibian Stage.


National Theatre Live


The Travelling Toe and 2 other friends attended the Wednesday afternoon showing of the play.  

The play opens with the local attorney narrating  the story of a Brooklyn longshoreman, Eddie Carbone, his wife Beatrice and his niece Catherine. Eddie and Beatrice have raised Catherine since she was a young child when her mother, Beatrice's sister, died. Eddie is very protective of Catherine (hint, hint).

Into this family dynamic, comes two Sicilian cousins who arrive at their house to stay and find jobs.  The cousins have entered the country illegally.  One of the cousins,  Mario, needs to work hard in order to send money back to Sicily to his wife and sick children. The other cousin, young handsome Rodolfo, wants to explore NYC, the American life and to become a citizen.  Rodolfo becomes attracted to Catherine - and she to him.

When Eddie sees this, he becomes very jealous of the attraction between the two young lovers. He is driven  by his own demons to commit an unforgivable betrayal of the 2 brothers.  The play ends in a fight scene among the players and someone is killed...but who?   Well, dear readers, The Travelling Toe never reveals an ending.

The drama was staged within a square setting and without any scenery which just added to the stark and depressing feel of the play.   Additional all the actors played the entire production barefoot. It ran about 2 hours and 15 minutes with no intermission.  This helped to build the emotions of the players and it was obvious that something good was not going to happen...there would be no happy ending.

Arthur Miller's plays often are dark and this one certainly is - almost like a Shakespearean tragedy.  Certainly this play will not have you walking away with a smile on your face but it will give you lots of "views" to discuss.

Arthur Miller

The very handsome British actor, Mark Strong, played Eddie and Nicola Walker played his wife Beatrice.  They are both excellent actors and did wonderfully in their roles.   

Mark Strong

Nicola Walker

Cast and Creative Team
List of Credits