Tag Archives: herkimer county historical society

Was it a Killer First Draft?

Posted on October 3, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

Words to live by!

Of course, the first draft I just finished should have been done a week ago, but we cannot always live up to the ideals we set for ourselves.  The important thing is, I wrote it, I typed it into the laptop, I printed it out, I will edit and polish it, I will email it to the cast.  Then it’s on to rehearsals and performance, but right now I’m writing about writing.

Well, maybe a little about rehearsal and performing.  The draft I finished was for A Trivial Murder, the interactive dinner theatre we are presenting as a fundraiser for Herkimer County Historical Society.  The performance will be Saturday, Nov. 3, 6 p.m. at the Ilion Moose Lodge.  For further information, you can reference the Facebook event.

I feel a little self-conscious admitting in public like this that I am just finishing the script.  We are a month away from performance!  Well, murder mysteries don’t take as much rehearsal as a full-blown play.  Up north, where we had a company called Murder For Hire, we used to put them together in three rehearsals:  Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and go on Saturday!  I was younger and more energetic in those days.  Now I feel more secure with a little more time.

However, I am feeling increasingly good about this show.  After a few glitches, I got a really wonderful cast.  I think everybody will fit their part fine and fill it out with little touches I didn’t even think of when I wrote the lines.  That is why writing scripts is more exciting than writing novels.

Writing a novel, incidentally, is my next project.  Why don’t I have a novel published yet?  I am almost 55.  I was about to say, time to get off my butt, but in fact it is time to sit on my butt in front of a notebook or keyboard and get going.  I’ll write a few blog posts about it along the way.

 

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Post Show Post

Posted on September 22, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

I had meant to have a pre-show post, but time got away from me.  In my defense, I went running.  And to Valley Wine and Liquor for a gin tasting.  And to dinner at Sorrento’s.  Then to the show, which was Shattered Angel presented by Herkimer County Historical Society at Ilion Little Theatre.

As you see, still a couple of opportunities to see it.

The show was excellent.  It was interestingly staged and emotionally involving.  My steady diet of true-crime documentaries on television gave me a good perspective on the proceedings, as did my previous obsession with shows like LA Law and Boston Legal.  I have a pretty good idea of how things may have transpired in a modern courtroom.  But never mind my silly opinions and perspectives. Instead, here are a couple of pictures of the show (taken during rehearsal, of course.  One does not like to take flash photos during a performance).

I think this one is suitable for framing.

This shot was purely staged for the picture; the actual pose was never seen in the show.  But that is appropriate, since the show is not precisely what went down in the courtroom.  I believe I mentioned before how characters are combined and testimony condensed to give us the feel of the whole without simply presenting the transcript verbatim (have you ever been to a real trial?  It sometimes takes a LONG time to get to the point).

One of the most moving scenes of the play.

I really enjoyed the performances.  I’m too tired to give a real review, mentioning names and detailing specific parts deserving praise.  But I guess that is appropriate for Lame Post Friday. Let’s just give a shout-out and drive on.

The play continues Saturday, Sept. 22 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 23 at 1:30 p.m.  I can’t guarantee they haven’t sold out, but if you’re local and want to take a chance, go to 13 Remington Ave., Ilion, NY.  It’s a great show!

 

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Up Next: Murder Most Trivial

Posted on September 20, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

I went to work this morning determined to write on breaks and lunch, as well as right before the first buzzer rings.  I usually get to work early.  I used to always write my blog post at that time. Did I do so this morning?  Alas, no.  What the hell happened to me?

However, the news is not all bad.  While I was working, I got a couple of good ideas for my next murder mystery.  I quickly jotted them down when I got a chance.  I was mysteriously unable to write any more, but one does what one can.  Herkimer County Historical Society, beneficiary of the murder mystery, had asked for the premise and title for their Facebook page.  I thought I could manage that much.  This is what I messaged them:

The title of the mystery is “A Trivial Murder.” We’re all here for a taping of the game show, “Who Knows Herkimer History” with our host, Gary “Herk” Henderson. Gary is actually the new host. The original host died under mysterious circumstances, but let us not allow such gloomy thoughts cloud our evening! You should also just ignore those rumors that our returning champion has been given the answers in advance. There’s no scandal here! That journalist is here to do a puff piece, not a muck raking scandal-monger.

Looking over it again, I see where it could be improved.  And improve it, I will!  But not for this blog post.  For one reason, this is Wuss-out Wednesday, and I am only slightly less brain dead than I was yesterday (which I just now realize I should have categorized under “Tired Tuesday”) (another indication of my brain dead condition).  Then again, slightly less is still less.  I bet I’ll have that murder mystery finished in no time!  Can better blog posts be far behind?

 

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Another Shattered Shout-Out

Posted on September 14, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

This was printed on a post card I sent to a few people.

As I sit here typing in my blog post, the cast and crew of Shattered Angel are at Ilion Little Theatre enjoying their final dress rehearsal. I’m just happy all of them are going to be actually dressed, since my name is in the program under “Costumes.”  Full disclosure:  I personally did very little in outfitting the cast.  I like to think I helped, though.  I like to think I can also help publicize the event with my little blog here.  So here is another shout-out to our play.

Shattered Angel, as you may have read in this space, tells the story of the murder of an area school teacher by one of her students in 1914.  It is a sad story, and a fascinating one, because the defense was not guilty by reason of mental defect, a new idea at the time.   The staging is interesting, too, because although all the action takes place in the courtroom, it is not a straightforward depiction of the trial. Through the use of flashbacks and strategic condensation of testimony and arguments, we get a fuller picture in a shorter time.

The lady in the black dress is not actually in the courtroom, if you see what I mean.

Director Stephen Wagner wrote the script, based on the book Murder of a Herkimer County Teacher: The Shocking 1914 Case of a Vengeful Student by Dennis Webster, and courtroom transcripts.

This is one of my favorite shots.

I stole these pictures from the Herkimer County Historical Society’s Facebook page.  Historian Caryl Hopson took them at rehearsals.  I suppose I should have stayed at dress rehearsal with my Tablet and taken a few pics of my own, but Caryl does such a good job at it.

Once again, performances are Friday and Saturday, Sept. 14, 15 at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday Sept. 16 at 2 p.m.; Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 20, 21 and 22 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday Sept. 23 at 2 p.m., at Ilion Little Theatre, 13 Remington Ave., Ilion, NY.  For tickets, contact the Historical Society at 315-866-6413.

One more picture I found on Facebook.

 

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Yet Another Pre-Rehearsal Post

Posted on September 12, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

My heart is sore.  There, I’ve said it.  I don’t want to go on whining about my ills.  It’s tiresome. People will become bored and impatient or, worse yet, will worry.  Or they might give advice.  Sometimes advice is hard to listen to.  You know it is the right thing to do, but you already knew the right thing to do; you just didn’t do it.  Or it isn’t the right thing to do, but you know they mean well.  Or they are just being officious, and you want to throat punch them.  But I’m sure none of my readers fall into the last category.

One reason I feel wrong about dwelling on my problems is that it is Sept. 11.  I wanted to dig out my TV Journal from 9/11/2001 and share some of the things I wrote at the time.  I was home recovering from a bunion operation and sat glued to the television all day.  What a terrible event.  But I’m too tired and ill to brave the mess we call a library.

I just looked up at the television and saw something about the latest hurricane soon to make landfall.  I feel terrible for everybody in the path of that.  I do appreciate that I am not currently dealing with any severe weather, under the heading of Count Your Blessings.

In the meantime, I have a blog post to make, and I must make it before I head tofirst dress rehearsal for Shattered Angel, being presented by the Herkimer County Historical Society in cooperation with Ilion Little Theatre.  Opening night is Friday. Yikes!  It is Sept. 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22 and 23.  Performances are at 7:30 on the 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22; and 2 p.m. on the 16 and 23. Tickets are $15.  For more information, contact the Historical Society at 315-866-6413.

Tomorrow I have rehearsal for Donate to Murder, the murder mystery LiFT, Little Falls Theatre Company, is presenting at Herkimer Elks Lodge on Saturday, Sept. 15.  Yikes!  That’s close too, with fewer rehearsals left!  It is dinner theatre with $25 tickets including a turkey dinner by Brian Hess of PK’s Pub.  Yum!  For more information, contact the Elks at 315-866-1439.

I guess I’ll call this a Tired Tuesday post and drive on.  At least I plugged two plays.

 

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Thank Goodness It’s a Blog Post!

Posted on August 29, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

Actually, I had no pleasant delusion today about it being any day but Tuesday.

You knew I was going to have a Tired Tuesday post, didn’t you?  Any local readers might have guessed it based on the level of heat and humidity we all were dealing with here in the Mohawk Valley (YES, I’m whining about it and will probably continue to do so, if you do not want to listen, just move on!).

More astute readers may guess by that parenthetical comment that I am a little sensitive these days to accusations of whining.  A work friend kept yelling at me to quit my whining and I didn’t think I WAS whining but merely observing some unpleasant circumstances.  I have not spoken to him for two days, because I figured I would actually whine.

Where was I?  Ah yes, whining.  I always say, go with your strengths. No, no, I don’t want to whine but rather to make a respectable blog post.  I am making it before rehearsal tonight.  There is more costume work to be done!  Pieces to be looked for, stuff to be put away, people to talk to, plans to be made.  I was telling another work friend about going to rehearsal and he said, “You just can’t help yourself, can you?”  No, I cannot.

I found this on Facebook just now.

At the risk of repeating what is on the above graphic:  performance dates for Shattered Angel are Sept. 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22 at 7:30 p.m.; Sept. 16 and 23 at 2 p.m. at Ilion Little Theatre, 13 Remington Ave, Ilion, NY (directly behind Remington Arms).  Tickets are $15 general admission, $10 for students and can be purchased by mail by sending a check to: Herkimer Historical Society, 400 N. Main Street, Herkimer, NY 13350, or by calling 315-866-6413 or by stopping by the historical society during their hours of operation, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.  PLEASE NOTE: “Shattered Angel” is a special, additional production in conjunction with the Herkimer County Historical Society and is NOT part of the regular 2018-2019 theatrical season. Thus, subscriptions and memberships are not accepted for these performances.

Tomorrow I have rehearsal for my as yet untitled murder mystery, which will be presented at the Herkimer Elks Lodge on Sept. 15 (another reason I could not audition for Angel).  I’ll have more information on that production soon.

In the meantime, I shall close with a monster picture I could have used yesterday.  In a comment, Pouring My Art Out said Great White Sharks were monsters too. I agree.

How would you like to brush his teeth?

 

 

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Shattered Post with Monsters

Posted on August 28, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

I don’t know that you would call us monsters…

This is a fast Monstrous Monday post, because I want to go to bed!  Yes, I am old and I am tired.  Anyways, I led with this picture, because my friend, Kim, is strangling me. It seemed appropriate since SHE kept me out this late!  Just kidding, it wasn’t her fault.  We were at rehearsal for Shattered Angel, the play the Herkimer County Historical Society is presenting in cooperation with Ilion Little Theatre.  Kim and I are helping with the costumes.  Actually, she is doing most of the work. She is SO ORGANIZED!  I should take a lesson.

In the meantime, that doesn’t make this a very monstrous post, does it?  Let me find us some monsters.

I don’t think this lady got her full night of beauty rest, either.

Here’s a picture from Nosferatu I haven’t used so many times.  Regular readers know he is my favorite guy.  He’s scary.

“Was somebody looking for a monster?”

Here’s a more cheerful-looking monster for us.  I’m not sure where this guy is; I don’t even remember where I found the picture.  Still, a smiling Godzilla, what’s not to like?

He looks a little disgusted by the whole exercise, doesn’t he?

And we end with the iconic Frankenstein’s Monster.  Yes, it’s been a dumb post, but I’m tired.  In my defense, before rehearsal I was finishing the script on my murder mystery.  More on that and on Shattered Angel in subsequent posts.  As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

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But I’m Not IN the Play

Posted on August 9, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought of that title as I realized it would be a good idea to make my blog post NOW, before leaving the house, although I do plan to return.  I am going to attend the first read-through of Shattered Angel, the play being presented by Herkimer County Historical Society in cooperation with Ilion Little Theatre. I have neither a part nor a clearly defined backstage role, but I have proffered my services wherever needed.  Additionally, I want to write blog posts about it.

If anybody noticed me whining about my health yesterday (in addition to whining about a parade costume), they may like to hear that I felt much better today.  I even felt energetic enough to do a load of laundry, print out the character sheets for the murder mystery I’m working on (preview of coming attractions), and go to the read-through (of course, I have not done the last thing yet, but I feel energetic enough for it) (and if I stop feeling so energetic, there are a couple of couches in the lobby of the theatre; I am ready for any eventuality).

We’re all pretty pumped about this read-through, because we finally got a full cast.  It’s TERRIBLE when you don’t have enough actors!  Of course I am flabbergasted that this could ever be the case at all.  I love to be in a play.  I thought lots of people did.  I spent junior high, high school and college auditioning for plays I never got a part in.  I’m still a little miffed about some of them, so let us not dwell on these dreary memories.

I suppose some of you are thinking I should have written my blog post AFTER the read-through, so that I might have had more to say about the play (you know who you are).  Don’t worry!  I’ll write another blog post tomorrow!

 

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Good-Buy to Books

Posted on August 2, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

This afternoon instead of having a Mohawk Valley adventure I could blog about, I spent some time routing around in the extremely messy room we call our library looking for books to donate.  As a result, in lieu of my expected (by me anyways) Wuss-out Wednesday post, I will give a brief plug to a community event I hope to go to on Saturday, a book sale hosted by the Herkimer County Historical Society.

The sale will also include history books from the society’s gift shop — I KNOW there are one or two of those I want but have not purchased yet — and post cards — regular readers may recall that I love to send people post cards.  The society has been on Facebook asking for donations.  Of course I love my books.  I like to own books and re-read many of them multiple times.  On the other hand, I have a lot of books.  I seek out book sales, used and new book stores, rummage sales, thrift stores, anywhere you can buy books. And sometimes people give me books they’ve finished with that they think I might like (or that they just want to get rid of).  I LOVE BOOKS, there, I’ve said it.

So I gathered a few books to donate.  Some thrillers, some romance novels, a couple of true crime stories… Steven will bring them to the society tomorrow, I think.  The sale will be Saturday, Aug. 4, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Eckler Building, 406 N. Main St., Herkimer, NY.

My only worry now is that I will return from the sale with more books than I donated.  These things happen.  In the meantime, I may try to do something about that extremely messy room, because, you know, removing those books to donate did not help much.

 

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Not Enough Actors? Say It Ain’t So!

Posted on July 29, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

I went to the second night of auditions for Shattered Angel on Friday.  Once again, that is a play about a local historical murder being presented by the Herkimer County Historical Society in cooperation with Ilion Little Theatre (or is it “in conjunction” or “under the auspices of”?  I don’t know the details).   As it turns out, we have a slight problem.  Not enough actors showed up.

The background was from a different play.

There were enough folks there to read a couple of scenes.  Unfortunately, even with doubling parts, I don’t think we got enough to cast the play.

These guys read several time.

One fellow read but thought he could not do the show, because of his work hours.  Three weekends is a kind of a large commitment.

Another scene.

I read this scene on Wednesday.  I was just filling in, though, because there was nobody present who really qualified for the part I read, that of the young murderer (I didn’t need a spoiler alert for that; this is a murder play but not a murder mystery).

Another angle.

I wanted to include one shot with the director, Stephen Wagner.  He’s pretty cool.

So, local readers, are any of you actors?  Would you like to be in a play?  Go to the Ilion Little Theatre Club Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ilionlittletheatre/.   Send a message, write a post, call the theatre.  Older male actors are primarily needed.  Can anybody help us out?

 

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