It’s July

July 1st, 2009

July was originally called Quintilis as it was the fifth month in the Roman calendar. Later, it was renamed for Julius Caesar, who was born in the month.

America celebrates her 233rd birthday this July 4th.  See more of July’s happenings at HolidaysAndEvents.com.

Personally, I’ll be in rehearsals for Cinderella, A British Pantomime at Carrollwood Playhouse. The show runs in August.  I’ll also be working on finally getting the plushie tourist website up and running.

Elementary Music Education

June 12th, 2009

My music education began when I was an elementary school student in second grade at St. Francis Xavier School.  The sisters there offered private music lessons as an extra-curricular activity. I remember my father asking me what instrument I would like to play as we looked over the sign-up form together. I answered, “Piano!” Thus started my love/hate relationship with playing music.

I believe my first music teacher was a retired nun who was given the job simply for something to do. But with her help, I learn the basics of music: the note names, their position on the piano, scales, rhythm, and melody. I had music theory workbooks, where I would have to name the notes by filling in the blanks below the staff. The song books would include short, simple melodies like “The Old Gray Mare,” “Little Brown Jug,” and “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

In those days, there was no music room in the school. Each week, I was permitted to leave the school and walk to the convent for a half-hour lesson. I think those of us who took music lessons felt special, because we were able to get out of regular classes, if only for a short time. I know it really annoyed some of the teachers.

Also, by the time I was in forth or fifth grade and the curriculum required students to learn basic notation, I was ahead of the game because I knew how to read music.

A Spring Recital was held each year. This allowed the music and dance students to show off what they had learned. The recitals were my first experiences on stage performing in front of a audience.

Nuns were often moved to other schools, and when I entered sixth or seventh grade, a new music teacher had arrived at the school. By that time, however, I had come to the conclusion that I was not learning as much about playing the piano as I had hoped, and I quit taking lessons.

I did join the choir though. I always enjoyed the monthly trips the entire school made to church to rehearse for First Friday Mass. We practiced all the songs that were to be sung that month. This is how I found out that I loved to sing, so when the new music sister started a choir, I was in.

The five years of piano lessons and two or three years in the choir gave me a pretty good elementary music education. When I entered high school, I was able to join the band and continue with the church choir. These memories of playing music and singing are some of my most favorite.

My Theater Resume

June 7th, 2009

5’ 10 ½”
240 lbs
Brown/Gray Hair
Blue Eyes

THEATER

The King And I Captain/Edward Ramsey Little Flower High School
Arsenic And Old Lace Jonathan Brewster Little Flower High School
The Sound Of Music Admiral Von Steuben Little Flower High School
Don’t Count Your Chickens Until They Cry Wolf! Various Roles Temple University Children’s Theater
Cheaper By The Dozen Dr. Burton Carrollwood Playhouse
The Man Who Came To Dinner Westcott* Carrollwood Playhouse
Babes In The Woods (British Pantomime) Bert* Carrollwood Playhouse
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum Protean* Carrollwood Playhouse
Once Upon A Mattress Minstrel* Carrollwood Playhouse
1776 Judge James Wilson* Carrollwood Playhouse

* also Lighting Designer

MISCELLANEOUS

School/Church Recitals Piano/Choir
Skits Boy Scouts
Historic Tour Of Philadelphia Costumed Tour Guide Tracey Tours

BACKSTAGE

Windows Of Christmas Director, Stage Manager Holy Name School
School Talent Show Lighting, Stage Crew Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School
Easter Passion Play Director St. Cecilia School
The Muppet Show Follies Stage Hand, Shop Camp Saginaw
Peter Pan Stage Hand, Shop Camp Saginaw
The Wild Duckie Chase Technical Director* Sesame Place
Around the World on Ice Technician Busch Gardens Africa
Hollywood Live on Ice Technician Busch Gardens Africa
Key For Two Light Board Operator Carrollwood Playhouse
Christmas Carol Lighting Designer / Board Operator Carrollwood Playhouse
Witness For the Prosecution Lighting Designer / Board Operator Carrollwood Playhouse
Little Shop of Horrors Lighting Designer / Board Operator Carrollwood Playhouse
The Curious Savage Lighting Designer / Board Operator Carrollwood Playhouse
The Children’s Hour Lighting Designer / Board Operator Carrollwood Playhouse
Singing in the Rain Technician Show Palace Dinner Theater

* included participation in the show with actors and audience

TRAINING

B.A., Temple University, School of Communications and Theater, Philadelphia, PA

New Tonight Show, and Ladies, Learn More About Men

June 2nd, 2009

I really haven’t watched The Tonight Show much since Johnny Carson left. I don’t really like Jay Leno. I don’t know if it’s his type of humor, or the fact that he was chosen to replace Johnny over David Letterman.

Now that Conan O’Brian is the host, I may start watching more. I tuned in for his first show, and I liked it. I’m not watching as much TV as I used to, but it’s nice to know I have another choice other than Dave if the mood strikes me.

While watching Conan, I saw a preview of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. I usually don’t watch his show either, but since one of my favorites, Anne Hathaway, was a guest, I decided to watch.

Miss Hathaway is preforming in New York’s Shakespeare in the Park series this summer. She is playing Viola in Twelfth Night.

When Jimmy asked her how she prepared for a role where she disguises herself as a man, she said she had to admit that she stuffed a rolled up pair of socks down her pants and practiced walking around her apartment.

Anne said it did help her understand men better.

I think that this might be something all women should try. I’m not sure how helpful it really would be, but I have heard a couple of woman wonder what it was like to have something down there. ;)

I believe we all understand that it isn’t the package that makes the man, but trying out the feel of a certain part of male anatomy may be educational for the ladies.

And while I’m more than willing to educate myself on what it must be like to be a woman, just don’t ask me to try to give birth.

Places I Have Worked, Jobs That I’ve Had

June 1st, 2009

Here is a list of places I’ve worked at and other links for jobs that I’ve had.

  • SamEric Theater
    When I was nineteen, I went to the downtown movie theater to get a job as an usher. Two weeks later, I was made assistant manager. Although it was a fairly easy job, there was a lot of responsibility. The SamEric was the largest movie auditorium in the city of Philadelphia (1200 people). Also, my lack of social skills made it difficult for me at times. Yet, I am proud to say I worked at the largest movie theater in Philly.
  • Camp Saginaw
    While working at the SamEric and going to Temple University, I attended a job fair at school. This let to my getting a job as a camp counselor at Camp Saginaw in Oxford, PA. The first year I worked there, I helped with the shows the campers did. During the second year, I also taught Model Rocketry.
  • Archdiocese of Philadelphia
    After a failure in trying to join the Air Force, I thought I would try teaching (something I always wanted to do, but thought I was too temperamental). Between 1984 and 1991, I taught at three Archdiocese schools: Holy Name of Jesus in Fishtown, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in South Philadelphia, and St. Cecilia in Foxchase. I did feel somewhat the hypocrite, since I was already an atheist by this time, but I did teach Religion, along with all the usual elementary curriculum. I did enjoy it, but I was not well suited to handling 30 kids at a time day after day.
  • Sesame Place
    During the summers of 1989 - 1991, I worked with the Muppets. I began as an Entertainment Tech and ran a show called The Wild Duckie Chase, where kids would act and be inserted into a video with Bert, Ernie, and Super Grover. I was able to become Area Supervisor of the Technical Services Department in 1990. I was then able to work on all the shows in the park, plus the exhibits, video games, and computers.
  • Busch Gardens Africa
    Working at Sesame Place allowed me to move to Florida and work at another park owned by Busch Entertainment. From 1991 through 1995, and again in 1998, I worked at the Moroccan Palace Theater. The shows at that time were ice shows, so not only was I doing real professional theater work, I was also helping to maintain an ice rink. The two shows I worked on was Around the World on Ice and Hollywood Live on Ice. This was one of the jobs I really enjoyed.
  • VerticalNet
    I moved back to Philadelphia for two years from 1995 to 1997. While I tried to establish a business on the Internet for myself, I began working for a net company in Horsham, PA called VerticalNet. It specialized in websites for specific industries (vertical markets). I learned a lot about coding and graphics while working there. The company has been sold and reorganized a couple of times. It was never really profitable, but I didn’t know the Internet bubble was coming. I also didn’t know that the man who became CEO while I was there, Mark Walsh, was such a big player on the web. I decided office work was not for me and I missed Florida. I left the company after only 10 months.
  • LBI.net
    I have worked with computers since 1981, and I build my first webpage in 1994. When I decided to move back to Philly for a bit in 1995 and create a neighborhood website for Fairmount, my friend Paul Neal decided to build one for Long Beach Island, NJ. I’ve been working with him on LBI.net ever since.
  • Yesindeedy
    I always wanted to work for myself and own my own business. I seem more suited to that than working for someone else. I tried many businesses through the years, but in 1998, I officially began a web-based company called R-JEM Enterprises (a name I had thought of years before). Later, I decided no one would recognize or remember that name, so I changed it to Yesindeedy Software, and then simply, Yesindeedy. This reflects my hope of a happy future and positive outlook on life. While I still continue to work on the Internet, I’m hoping that Yesindeedy expands into Real Estate and Show Business in the future.