Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Ok, I know that i have been a slacker with keeping up with the blog, but once you hear what we have doing all fall, you will know why.

After the summer production of "Man of La Mancha" came to a close, school started up and then it got insane. I was asked to be in another production called "Spoon River Anthology." This show is a collection of poetry written by Edgar Lee MAsters about two small towns in Illinois. There are musical interludes that go on between each of the monologues and that is what I did. While at the same time trying to put on my fall play at school, "Meet Me in St. Louis" (the play, not the musical). When those were finished, our community theater group the Hawthorne Players, decided to start a trdition and produce an original adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" each year. So, Jennifer and I were asked to play the Cratchits and Christopher got to be on stage as one of our children, how appropriate. Yes our 4 year old got to be in his first stage production and he did pretty well. At least when he wasn't picking things up off the stage and throwing them into the fake fire place. And I finished the first semester of teaching a college course, even though it was only a community college class, I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope it leads to something more full time. All in all it was a great fall and we are looking forward to the New YEar with some exciting opportunities waiting for us. Stay tuned. Here are some photos of the fall happenings.


Two of my leads in "Meet Me in St. Louis." Mary Beth Freitag (on phone) and Kaylee Fogarty.


Christopher as Spider Man for Halloween.


The picture that went in our flyer for "A Christmas Carol." Pictured are Scrooge, Tiny Tim and the 3 Spirits.


Christopher and my 2 nephews, Ethan and Caleb, showing off their Christmas fishing poles.


My mother and her new fiance Terry McCameron


2 of our Cratchit children. Christopher and Drue. Drue is the grandchild of our director Nancy Crouse and is also from Guatemala. Could you tell? What a cutie.

I'm still alive

Just wanted to let you all know that we are still here and it's just been incredibly hectic this fall. You can't even imagine. I will catch you up when I have time.

And the Winner is.......

Me... Last weekend I was given an award for a Musical that I music directed and Conducted with the Hawthorne Players in the summer of 2006. That year we produced "Kiss Me Kate." I had 18 volunteer orchestra musicians and a great cast and the award was titled "Outstanding Acievement in Musical Direction." Below is a picture of me accepting the award.



Arts for Life is Community theatre group that raises money for different charities and every year they present a best performance award ceremony for the entire St. Louis area. My nomination was up against 5 other shows and music directors. I am not one to toot my own horn but some accomplishments I am very proud of and this is one of them. Below is a picture of everyone who received an award that night.

Unrest in Guatemala

Lately there has been a lot of turmoil going on in Guatemala regarding orphanges that were raided. And now, children who were waiting to come to America with their adoptive parents, have gone missing. We are so blessed that we got Christopher out of there when we did in 2004. I can't imagine what these families are going through now. Here is a link to some news stories that were aired here is St. Louis last week. Scroll through the news stories to find that Guatemala ones and watch the videos.

The Final Weekend

Well.... this is it. Next week both Christopher and I go back to school. Me to teach, he to learn. We have had an exciting summer with Man of La Mancha, hot weather (right now it is 97, forecast for Sunday is 102...WOW). And lots of picnics and family outings. This fall brings some excitement as well. I will be teaching a Jazz History class at the local communtiy college which could lead to something full time in the St. Louis Community College system (finally, my masters degree comes in handy.) I also have been invited to sing with the international award winning barbershop chorus the Ambassadors of Harmony. Their director, whom I have met in passing, saw our Man of La Mancha production and invited me to join on the spot. I feel very flattered, but it is such a huge committment. So... I am thinking about it and discussing it with my wife. Click here to see their performance a few months ago in Denver, Colorado, where they came in second at the international competition (In 2004, they won it!)

So anyway... back to work. I am excited about what is coming up at school this year. What shows we are doing (Meet me in St. Louis and The Wizard of Oz),the students that I will have and the people that I am working with.

We are closing this weekend by having a barbecue for my niece, Genni, who will be going away to college in a couple of days. She is going into Music Education at McKendree College. I am very proud of her and will help in any way I can.

Until next time.

Marc

Man of La Mancha Pictures

Here are some pictures of our Man of La Mancha Production


This is a picture of me as the Padre in the confessional listening to Don Quixote's Niece and house keeper singing "I'm Only Thinking of Him."


This is our Don Quixote and Sancho on their "horses".


Me at the end of the show singing the reprise of "To Dream the Impossible Dream."


Our Whole Cast

The Show is On

We opened our production of "Man of La Mancha" this past Friday night and it went really well. Our cast is very strong vocally and when we are backed up by a full 24 piece orchestra, you can't go wrong. Click here to read one of the reviews.

I will post some pictures of the show on my next post.

Marc

I'm a little late

OK, I have been a little lazy with keeping up the posts. But I will try to be better. I wanted to share with you a really cool opportunity I had at our 4th of July concert. Every summer the band I play in, Northwinds Concert Band does a concert in front of thousands of people in our town right before the fireworks go up. This year's theme was broadway. So we did some broadway and some patriotic music. I asked the director if I could sing a song from one of my favorite broadway shows "Jersey Boys." If you don't know this show it is the story of Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons. Anyway... so I arranged "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" for concert band and we peformed it. It had a few little bumps in the performance but the arrangement worked great. I am very proud of that accomplishment.

We also spent some time last week sight seeing around the St. Louis area. One of the places we visited was Meremac Caverns. If you are familiar with the Caverns, it is a big cave where Jesse James was reported to hide out with stalactites that are millions of years old. A truly awesome sight. Here are some photos.




My niece Genni is graduating from high school and going into Music Education at McKendree University next fall (proud Uncle Marc). She had her graduation party last weekend and we had a blast. We got to see some family that we haven't seen in a long time and who have never met Christopher. Here are some photos from that.


Genni, Kara, Christopher, Ethan and Caleb (My son and my brothers kids)



The whole family with my Mom's side. My Grandparents, Mom, brothers, their significant others, their kids, Jennifer and Christopher.



Christopher and Ethan

Tag... I'm it.

Ok... Happi you win, my turn.

Five things I was doing 10 years ago.

1. I had just moved back home from living in Decatur for 3 years right out of Millikin.

2. Rehearsing a musical called "Kismet"

3. Meeting my beautiful wife in above mentioned musical.

4. Living with my good buddy Carl, who helped me out with a place to live when I couldn't afford much.

5. I was starting to make my mark on the St. Louis region as a working musician.

5 Snacks I enjoy

1. Popcorn
2. Doritoes
3. Fritos and French Onion Dip
4. My sons Fruit Snacks
5. Grapes

5 songs that I know all the lyrics to.

1. To Each His Dulcinea (the current song I am working on for "Man of La Mancha")
2. Piano Man
3. Come Sail Away (Love Styx)
4. Many Wiggles songs
5. Can't Take My Eyes Off of You (From my new favorite Broadway Musical "Jerse Boys")

5 things I would do if I were a Millionaire

1. Give some to my Mom and my brothers.
2. Give some to the school where I teach.
3. Start a Production company to produce musicals.
4. Buy a new house.
5. RETIRE, except for my Production co.

5 Bad Habits

1. Playing with my toes
2. Beer
3. Always being too early
4. Being a perfectionist when it comes to music
5. Forgetting to lock the front door.

5 things I would never wear again

1. Parachute Pants
2. Michael Jackson jacket and glove
3. Members Only Jacket (I might wear this one again)
4. Cardigan Sweaters
5. Fat pants

5 things I like to do

1. Spend time with my family.
2. Go to a movie
3. Play golf
4. Go out on dates with my wife.
5. Beer

5 Favorite Toys

1. He-Man and Skeletor Castle
2. Legos
3. Hotwheels
4. Transformers
5. Sit and Spin (Threw up on this several times as a kid)

This was fun, thanks Hap.

Birthday "Fun"?

Tomorrow is my beautiful wife's 30th birthday. We had a surprise party for her last Sunday and boy was she surprised. I was finding it very difficult trying to hide something from wife especially when there is three year motor mouth hanging around. I love that my son enjoy's talking so much, but he definatley can't keep a secret. Everything went off without a hitch at the party. We were going over to her parent under the assumption that we were having dinner with her parent and her grandfather who's birthday was Saturday. It was a perfect cover because that is something we would have done no matter what. When we got there and she saw everyone there (about 30 friends and family) she was so surprised. I love my wife and I am glad that I got to do something special for her. Christopher was also surprised by the way. We also found out that Christopher will be having a new baby cousin. Jen's brother Rick and his wife are expecting their first baby. We are very happy for them as well. By the way the pictur above is of Jennifer and Christopher plus two of her friends from high school that we don't get to see very often, Erin and Michelle. (Michelle is the one seated with her kids).

Also the show that I am playing right now has gotten some great reviews. Click here and you can see the one from a local radio station KDHX. Or you can see the one that was in the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

Anyway.... We are off to see "Shrek the Third" so I will tell you how Christopher liked it on my next blog.

A Couple of Pictures

Christopher and Mommy at Mawmaw and Pawpaw's, and Christopher taking a picture of Daddy.

School's Out for the Summer!

Today was mine and Christopher's last day of school before summer break. We are both very excited. Not only do the two of us get to spend more time together, but it the swimming season as Christopher would say. We think that we are going to try to get him some lessons this summer.

My summer is just about as packed as the school year is. Starting next week, I am playing in the band for a production of "Urinetown." This a musical that is still playing in New York and is hysterical. You can also check out some of the people who will playing in our production here, although some of the language is adult.

I am also playing the role of the Padre in our local community theatre's production of "Man of La Mancha." So there is definatley no rest for the weary. The concert band that I play in is also playing a concert on the 4th of July. This is always my favorite thing to do in the summer. Thousands of people listening and then the fireworks start up right afterward. Last year we had to leave because Christopher was extremely frightened of the "Boom, Boom's."

Jennifer will be having a milestone birthday this year. She will probably hate having me say this, but now we can welcome her into the "30 something's."

Have a great holiday weekend everyone and I will be blogging more often now that I have more time.

Marc, Jen and Christopher.

I guess It's my turn....

Happi, tagged me to reveal seven little known facts about myself. Let's see...

1. My new favorite beverage is Coke Zero. (And for those extra special days, with cherry)

2. I LOVE the TV show "Heroes." I never miss it, and if I do, I watch it online.

3. Within the last 3 years I have lost about 40 pounds, put back on 10 and then lost 5 gain. My goal is another 15.

4. Piggybacking on Happi's comment about organization, I love and need to be organized. Even though sometimes you wouldn't know it by looking at my office at school.

5. I love watching my son sing songs from the musical "Jersey Boys." That is the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Songs like "Sherry" and "Big Girls Don't Cry" and his favorite "Walk Like a Man."

6. We have had Christopher home now from Guatemala for alittle over three years and time just flies by. I can't wait till he is doing HIS piano recital.

7. This is a little know dark secret of mine.... I really like... Barry Manilow.

One more....

8. Jennifer and I have been married for 7 1/2 years and we met during a show called "Kismet." We have had many trials in our life, but I wouldn't want to go through them with anyone else. I love you honey and Happy Mother's Day.

Thanks for tagging me Hap.

Marc

It's Over

OK.... I am back to the blogosphere now after my show at school is finished. We had our final matinee performace today. Over all the kids did a great job. I am very proud of them and the work they put into it. I had some really great parents helping coordinate costumes and props and many other things that I just couldn't deal with. After a long week last week of rehearsing every night a leaving the school at about 10:30 every night, the kids were really dragging. We had a small house for our final dress on Thursday and then a pack gym for the opening night. The opening night performance was awesome! The kids fed off the energy of the audience and it was great. We came back for Saturday night's show and I gave them the whole don't let down your gaurd speech for the second perfomance. You know the whole don't relax your concentration or your focus. And what happened..... just what I told them not to do. So... we had some slight laps in memory and concentration, which made the show not go as well as the night before, but it was still good. And mind you, the audience really didn't know the difference, but the kids and I did. Now let's get to today.... I call this the show from H.E. Double Hockey sticks. First, Annie's mic went out right before the show so, the first two songs, "Maybe" and "Tomorrow" we didn't hear. Then my sound guys got it fixed and it was OK. Then, during the "Love" song from Warbucks to "Annie," Sandy (the dog) wanders out onto the stage and the audience got a laugh and ruined the whole emotion of the song. Next, someone decides to turn on the the stage lights during Annie's final reprise of "Maybe." Again a very emotional part is messed up. All in All we made it through and I am very proud of my students for the work and the professionalism they showed. The perfectionist in me gets very annoyed when something messes up my show. The kids gave me a really cool directors chair and a $50 gift certificate to a local restaurant, do I have great students or what. The seniors got all emotional because it was their last show. I just hope I made it memorable in a good way for them. My Daddy Warbucks said that this was a very low stress show for him compared to what they have done in the past. I guess I can take that as a compliment. Anyway.... on to my next project which happens the first weekend in May. No rest for the wicked I guess.

Blessings

Easter Break

Things have been very hectic around our lives recently. Since we are on our Easter break starting today, I finally have time to breathe and reflect. We are getting down to the wire on my production at school. We have two weeks left until we open and it is getting very scary. I have faith that we will be ready and have wonderful show, but there is just so much to do between now and then. The kids have been doing fairly well. They just need to get memorized. Most of the work that need to be done is technical. Painting sets, setting light, getting costumes etc. This has been the stuff that I take for granted when putting on a show in community theatre because there is always someone else doing it. Now that it is all me, I never will take it for granted again. Not to mention preparing for spring concerts with my choirs and bands and putting together the music for our Hawthorne Players fund raise show. Lord, give me strength!

Jennifer has been great through all of this. My long hours at school means that she has to make special arrangements for Christopher and try to run the house without her husband for a while. I Love You!

Christopher is doing well in preschool and getting more talkative everyday. He talks almost constantly from the time he gets up in the morning to when he goes to bed at night, which by the way, most of the time is still in our bed. He has been loving getting outsie during our weather, not so much today with it being 30 degrees right now. I have big Daddy/Christopher plans for the summer. Like taking him to a Cardinals game, teaching him to catch a baseball. All the stuff that makes being a Daddy fun.

This is the time for Easter when Jesus rose from the dead. We like to remind ourselves of Christ's passion by watching Mel Gibson's movie "Passion" or "Jesus Christ Superstar. Doing something to remind us of His suffering for us.
If you get a chance, visit my friend Happi's blog to read some very good insight's to Christ's Passion.

Yeah.... for Spring Break

It's been a while since my last post, so I thought that I would just say HOORAY for spring break. Things have been very hectic not only at home, but also at my work and Jennifer's work. She is still trying to get caught up from a computer crash last year and I am getting stressed trying to put our musical together at school. Say a prayer for all of us that we can keep our sanity. We are going to try to do some family stuff this week, but Jen still has to work (which is why we couldn't come up to Chicago Jerry and Happi). Well, here is a picture to keep us in your thoughts. More to come soon.

Braggin' About My Wife

OK.... It's time for me to brag about my beautiful and talented wife. As some of you know, Jennifer and I are involved in our community theatre company, the Hawthorne Players. Jennifer uses her Bachelors Degree in Theatre Arts to Shine on our local stage. Last Novemeber, she was in a production of "Proof." Some of you may have seen the movie version with Gwenyth Paltrow. Which by the way does not compare to the stage production. Anyway.... Jennifer played the sister of the lead, Claire. If I say so myself, it was one of her best performaces. You can read the review here.

http://www.kdhx.org/reviews/2006/proof.html
Every January, the Hawthorne Players have an awards banquet to pay tribut to the shows and performances of the previous year. Sort of an Community Theatre version of the "Tony" Awards. Jennifer was nominated for best supporting actrees for her role of Claire against three other people. Drumroll............ She won!! She has won before but this one was really well deserved. I am very proud of her as are many of our friends and family.

Have agreat day and keep a song in your heart.

A Day at the Zoo

Hello friends and family, since the weather was so nice today (69 degrees, sorry to Happi and Jerry in snow covered Chicago) we decided to take a trip to the St. Louis Zoo. This is one Christopher's favorite places to go. He especially likes seeing the Peguins and Puffins and riding the train. Here is a picture of Christopher and his friend Elijah at the Zoo. At school, these two are inseparable. So when Elijah's mom called to see if we wanted to go to the Zoo, of course he said YES! I hope everyone is doing well and keep checking back for more updates.

Quote of the Day

Sorry I haven't been keeping up. Nothing really exciting going on, but keep checking. Here is the quote of the day

" I have no pleasure in any man who despises music. It is no invention of ours: it is a gift of God. I place it next to theology. Satan hates music: he knows how it drives the evil spirit out of us."
Martin Luther



This is so true. Keep a song in your heart and the Devil won't be.

The Doctor is in?????

The past couple of days have not been very good to a certain little 3 1/2 year old in our house. Christopher came down with a fever on Sunday afternoon and we didn't know why. We gave him some Motrin to bring the fever down which made his little tummy upset. Jennifer took him to the doctor yesterday morning and found out that he had a double ear infection, which had not totally cleared up with since last month when he had a double ear infection. So we got him some Tylenol and an antibiotic and he pretty much slept all day yesterday. This morning he got up and seemed to be feeling better. Ear infections are terrible.

Now, here is the "good" part, wait for it.......

We originally took Christopher to the Doctor because a little girl is his class had strep, so we thought maybe he had it when he came down with a fever last month. The doctor did a swab and found no strep, but would send it off to the lab just in case and call us if it came back positive. We hadn't heard from the doctor so we "assumed" that everything was OK..... not so much. We found out yesterday when we took him to the doctor that he did indeed have strep and no one told us. Someone in that Doctors office really dropped the ball and made us quite upset, especially my beautiful wife, because Christopher is definitely Mommy's boy.

The moral is to make sure that you follow up with the doctors on everything when it comes to our children's health. Thank God that it wasn't something worse that they didn't tell us about.

Quote of the Day

The whole problem can be stated quite simply by asking, 'Is there a meaning to music?' My answer would be, 'Yes.' And 'Can you state in so many words what the meaning is?' My answer to that would be, 'No.'
Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990)


Music fills our lives everday. Gives thanks to God that you can hear it.

What Goes Around, Comes Around

When I was in High School, I got the chance to play Daddy Warbucks in our schools production of "Annie." And I had the opportunity to be in the show again 6 years later in Decatur. And now.... I am producing the show at Gateway Academy, where I am the Director of Music and Drama.

I have to tell you that I was really sceptical about doing this show again, but it has been a lot of fun so far. I have a really great cast, supportive parents, and kids who are really excited about the production. I thought that I would be starting to get sick of it, but not so much yet. Today we blocked the song "N,Y,C" and it looks really good. Although I could use some help from friend Happi in Chicago. :)

Anyway.... If you are in the St. Louis area, come see the show April 20, 21, and 22. As the title suggests, what goes around does indeed come back around.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Presidents Day

Yesterday, Christopher and Daddy had off school so we spent the day together. We honored our presidents by seeing the movie "Night at the Museum." Christopher has an enthusiastic love of Dinosaurs so as soon as he saw the trailer, "Daddy can we go see the T-rex with all the bones?" How can I say no to that. The movie was very good. Not only funny, but also a heart tugger. Go see it if you want a laugh out loud experience. Christopher and Daddy loved it. Have a great day and say a prayer for your friends and family.

Welcome to our Blog!

Hello everyone and welcome to our blog. We have been reading many great blogs and decided it was time to create one as well. We will use this blog to update friends and family on what is happening at our house and in our lives. Keep checking back to see more posts in the near future.