The wonder years
Tonight Thom and I are going to see an all-male production of Bye Bye Birdie, by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington. Sounds like fun! It premieres at Lisner (GW) tonight and plays through Sunday. Side note: did you know that both Thom and I have played the character of Albert Peterson in school productions of Bye Bye Birdie? For me it was in the seventh grade with Mrs. Christensen’s drama class. Ah, and thus a starlet was born.
Side note to the side note: my middle school now has a website, including a staff directory, and of all the teachers I had, it seems the only one still on the staff is Ms. Ross, who taught social studies and the yearbook/journalism class. Yours truly was editor of the yearbook in eighth grade. I remember, to apply for the top staff posts we had to write a short essay—maybe it was just a paragraph—and I think I likened to yearbook to a “gem” or some such inanity. Yes, the gift of hyperbole, even then.
Last side note, I promise. Speaking of essays, my high-school entrance essay was on what famous person I wanted to meet (or be?), or something like that. I decided on the President. But for some reason that will continue to escape me to the end of my days, I specified the current President at the time, George H. W. Bush. Yikes. You’d think I was a young Republican-in-training. God forbid that essay ever gets dug up and quoted back to me, Tim Russert-style. “Senator, let’s get your words up on the screen. In 1991 you wrote, and I’m quoting here…” Hm. That’s pretty unlikely. Never mind, then.
Have a great weekend, kids.