Jacqui and Ryan! What the heck has been going on?

Shucks it's been a LONG time since any posting has occured here. Maybe I was blogged out. Who's to say. Anyway I thought I would do some updating on what's been a'going on out West. Since I last posted our show A Rattling Sound closed which we were both relieved and sort of sad about. There's always that mix of sad and sweet when you end any big project I guess and this was no different. I think we were just proud that we pulled A Rattling Sound off and that we actually did what we set out to do. When that ended we jumped right into rehearsals for the next mainstage show at Pacific Theatre. It's the last show of the season and it's called A Bright Particular Star. It's a world premire play written and directed by the artisitic director of the theatre Ron Reed. It tells the intriguing tale of Lilia MacDonald, daughter to the Victorian writer George MacDonald. If you don't know who he is here's a pretty good quote that summed it up for me.

“I regard George MacDonald as my master; indeed, I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him.” C.S. Lewis

So yeah the story is all about Lilia, the theatre, artistic calling vs. christian duty, family, God, social expectations and love of different sorts on lots of different levels. It's got it all. The PT website (which has just been revamped and looks sweet: www.pacifictheatre.org) has a pretty good blurb on what the show is about and if you're anything like me if you love anything it's a good ol' fashioned blurb so here it is:

"World-renowned author George MacDonald and family—Victorian hippies of a sort—take their homemade stage productions on tour across Europe. His daughter Lilia is swept up by the exhilaration of a life in the theatre—spurred on by family friends Mark Twain, Lewis Carroll and even London stage luminary Kate Terry. But faced with competing family expectations, blossoming romance, and an urge to serve London’s poor, can Lilia justify so frivolous a passion?

So yeah, it's a great story about Christians and theatre and it really resonated with me. I think that as a Christian in theatre myself I definitely had to ask myself at one time "Is this worth it? Is this what God is calling me to do?" and the play explores a lot of that. I just love the Victoria time period too. The clothes were great, the whole look was pretty slick. Ruffled cuffs, suspenders, cut away jackets, canes, dashing hats...what's not to love? In the above summary my character plays a part in the "blossoming romance." My name is Charlie de la Rue. Pretty fancy huh? It's a great part and I feel really honored to have been given a chance to play such a cool role. Jacqui's character is great too. She plays Lilia's best friend and her name is Jenny Ward. She's an struggling actress with Gilbert and Sullivan's company and a bunch of crazy stuff happens to her as she pursues her theatrical dreams. It's pretty great. The cast is fantastic and the whole process has been really fun. We opened last Friday and we run through June 3rd so...if you just happen to be in the Vancouver area and want to see a cool play...

That's all I can think of for now. We miss all you guys a lot. It's pretty amazing that our time here on the west coast will be over before we know it. We leave these fair Canadian shores July 5th. Which is interestingly enough is the exact date we arrived here last year. Yup, that's right we'll have been here one year exactly. I don't really know what that signifies but in a nice circle of life sort of way it gives me a subtle feeling of closure and comfort.

So yeah that's all for now. Feel free to ask any questions about any details I may have over looked in my Bright Particular Star blurbing. Blurbs can only do so much. Blurb, blurb, blurb. Peace out.