Let's Do the Time Warp Again

So last weekend I was part of a rather peculiar expedition.
In the wint'ry depths of February, I set out for the town of Worcester. My companions, traveling from afar both East and North, were Stephanie Lepine and Andrew LeTellier. We intended to pay a visit to our eccentric amigo, Anthony Celi. Somehow, through alcohol and imagination, we wound up in London in the 1870's. Don't ask me how it happened, everyone. Alls I know is we spent much of the night in Victorian England at a dress ball.
Tony's Victorian counterpart was Dr. Henry Jekyll, and, depending on Martini consumption, Mr. Edward Hyde. Andrew found work as an accident-prone chimney sweep, and Steph fit right in as . . . uh . . . a lady of the evening. I was Phileas Fogg, explorer extrodinaire and circumnavigator of the globe.
We danced the night away, oddly enough, not to 19th Century sonatas, but to current hip-hop hits and 1980's remixes. There must have been some sort of temporal anomaly.
You may not believe me. I realize this seems like a fairly incredible tale. However, pictures are available on Facebook.

Before the time-traveling fiasco (Italian for flask) we all treated ourselves to the finest Mexican food available at Worcester's own Texican Mills, and then attended what was to be the highlight of the evening: EJ Massa's final performance in David Mamet's Speed the Plow.
The show ran from February 8th through the 10th in the Little Theatre at WPI. The Little Theatre, named, I'm assuming, either for it's size or for it's founder, Simon Q. Little, is a delightful blackbox in which EJ also starred in Much Ado About Nothing.

Long ago, Tony, Andrew, and I tried to make it to that Shakespeare show, but failed miserably and ended up drowning our sorrows in enchiladas.
Fearing that history would repeat itself . . . (not the Victorian part, but the EJ's other show part) and we would also miss this last performance, we redoubled our efforts and succeeded in getting great seats for this spectactular prodcuction.

EJ has always possessed and air of maturity on stage that gave him a good deal of credibilty as an actor. In this play, about a jaded, fast-talking Hollywood executive torn between his best friend and a hot receptionist, EJ's maturity came through once again, and he breezily skipped away with several key scenes.
What made the play even better was it's nature: it was a comedy and it was current. Granted, it was written in the late 80's, and even though it's a comedy, it is underneath a shark-toothed satire. Still, though, to see EJ get to ham it up a bit, to use some of his gloriously hilarious facial expressions, vocal pronounciations, and ticks made the show truly enjoyable.
But EJ went farther than simple comedy to give shallow producer Bobby Gould a degree of halting vulnerability. It was a delight to see him perform.

To anyone who missed the show: Shame on you!

To EJ: Kudos!

To Tony: You still owe me 15 bucks.

But enough looking into the past.
Let us cast our gaze, now, my friends, toward the future. Shining with all the glitz and promise of a three dollar scratch ticket.

First on the agenda is the siempre caliente Martina Desnoyers, who will be starring as Betty Rizzo in the Westfield State Musical Theater Guild's production of Grease. It runs from Thursday, February 22nd to Sunday, February 25th.
The show starts at 8:00 p.m., Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, with 2:00 p.m. matinees on Saturday and Sunday.
It will be at Westfield State College, Parenzo Hall, in the Denver Auditorium.
Yer lookin' at anywhere from 2 to 6 Washingtons-a ticket, so break open that piggy bank and head out on the town.
Let's all show up to see Martina and her Pink Ladies strut their stuff.

Also on the horizon:

Chaotic Chicadee Caitlin Szewczyk will be in a production of Bye, Bye, Birdie, with Troy Michigan's own Rigdedale Players, from March 2nd through the 18th.
I realize most of us will not be able to witness this delightful show firsthand, but let's send her some love and encouragement anyway.

And Catholic Casanova Andrew Mendard will be lighting director for Boston University's West Side Story.

When you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way.

Speaking of which, I had better jet. It's getting late and that Southern Comfort aint gonna drink itself.

Keep checking for more updates, and feel free to comment with thoughts, ideas, or special intentions to be potentially mentioned.