Tag Archives: Ilion Little Theatre

Still Ill, but Throwback Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody, and welcome to a Throwback Thursday post.  I am feeling a little better from my ailment of the other day.  Not 100% but on the mend, and I thought I could make a quick post, just to not go to many days without.

Lovely fall colors, yes?

This is a picture from 2016.  It is a bouquet of flowers my dearly missed husband Steven sent me when I was leading lady in the play The BusyBody at Ilion Little Theatre.  Come to think of it, that play happened in the spring.  I don’t know why I shared the picture in November.  I’m sure my husband picked the colors because they are my favorites.

Look how cute they are.

Here are some fall decorations.  I decided the bigger ones were sweethearts and the little one was the guy’s little brother.  Note the straight mouth; he wishes little brother would go away so he can kiss his girlfriend.  However, the girlfriend thinks little brother is cute and his happy he is there.  I have shared that story before, but it is Throwback Thursday after all.

Wow, look at all that stuff!

And here is another picture of when my husband used to decorate.  Perhaps I will see what I can do for Christmas.

I see I have reached 200 words.  That will do, I say.  I hope to be up for Mohawk Valley Adventures soon.  After all, Shop Small Saturday is coming!

 

I Wouldn’t Waste an Axe Murderess, Would I?

Regular readers may have noticed that daily blogging continues to elude me.  Ooh, there’s a slimy passive-voice way to put it, as if I am pursuing the goal, but the goal is too clever for me, when the fact is that it is my own efforts that fall short.  You can call me out on that if you like, but you see I have already admitted the fault.  In any case, having missed posting Sunday and Monday but refraining from calling attention to the fact (till just now), I sit on my couch on Thursday morning preparing to make a Waste Not Want Not Wednesday post.

Full disclosure: I did not look like this when I played Roxy.

You can’t read her name tag, but it says “Roxy.”  It is Roxalana Druse, who famously killed her husband and was hanged behind the 1843 Herkimer Jail in 1887.  I had the honor of playing Roxy in the play of that name presented by the Herkimer County Historical Society and Ilion Little Theatre in 2015 (long-time readers may have read some of my blog posts about it).  This Roxy is in Renewed and Rescued at Mohawk Valley Community Market.  I stopped in briefly yesterday but must return for a longer visit (preview of coming attractions).

Just hanging out!

Here is a friendly-looking fellow I encountered one of the mornings I was out looking for pictures to go with one of my Village Board stories for Sentinel Media.  I adore Halloween decorations!  I should take some more pictures and do a blog post of them (another preview of coming attractions?)

This woman did not kill her husband.

I guess I am veering into Non-Sequitur Thursday territory after an ax murderess and a skeleton.  This is Michelle, one of the bartenders at the Herkimer Elks Lodge wearing my tiara.  I wore it for a play I was in last summer (Four Old Broads on the High Seas, perhaps you read some of my blog posts about it).  I happened to wear it to the Lodge one day, I forget why, and Michelle wanted to pose with it.

Ooh, look at me, over 350 words.  I’m almost through my second cup of coffee too.  Time to go for my run.  The East Herkimer Fire Department 5K is Saturday.  I fear I have not been posting nearly enough about that!  Well, as I said in the first paragraph, I have not been posting enough period, at least by my standards for me.  But I thank you for tuning in when I do.

 

Lame with a Dramatic Gesture!

So what is it now, six days since my last post, which was not a great post, although I was rather fond of the title.  It is now Lame Post Friday, and I feel terrible for not posting regularly.  I’ll be honest:  my depression is kicking my butt and I need to find new ways of combating it.  For now I will make a silly blog post.  For the future, I will seek out more better things to blog about (“more better” being the technical term).

Nice lunge, Tucker!

I looked for a silly picture to pep things up and found this rehearsal shot from Love’s Labour’s Lost, presented by Little Falls Theatre Company (LiFT) in 2022.  Oh, I miss summer Shakespeare!

I’ll wave my magic want and bring Shakespeare back!

Here is another summer memory:  Ilion Little Theatre (ILT) at the DooDah Parade in 2018.  ILT has not participated in recent years, which I find disappointing.  Perhaps I can be a mover and shaker in getting us involved next year.  Come to think of it, moving and shaking might help alleviate depression.

I love the photobomb!

I guess this turns out to be a theatre-themed post.  What a surprise, since Drama is my Life (said with a dramatic gesture)!  This, regular readers may recognize (if I still have any), is a shot from Four Old Broads on the High Seas, the play I was in with Players of Utica in July.  You know, thinking of my theatre friends makes me feel a little better.

So this is my silly post, so I can still say I am a blogger.  Will I ever be able to say I am a daily blogger again?  For the answer to that and other burning questions (actually some of my questions are only lukewarm), stay tuned to Mohawk Valley Girl!

 

The Old Broad Blogs Lame

It is still Friday, that is Lame Post Friday, and I am having a very hard time coming up with anything to say.  It was opening night of Four Old Broads on the High Seas, the play I am in at Players of Utica (perhaps you read some of previous blog posts about it). The performance went pretty well.  The audience laughed a lot.  Is there much more to say about it?

Three out of Four Broads surveyed said we rock!

This is a previously used photo.  I think technically I am supposed to delete all the pictures I take during performances, since photography and video recording is prohibited by law.

Here are all four Broads!

I show a photo from an earlier rehearsal, just for the sake of showing all four broads.  Joan Crawford was famously insulted at being referred to as an old broad.  That was after the success of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane.  I must admit, it is not my favorite thing to be described as, but one must take the parts one can get in the theatre.

A different kind of an old broad, perhaps.

This is a picture of me in my last stage appearance, at Ilion Little Theatre in Prescription: Murder.  I guess I was an old broad then too, but nobody referred to me as such.  However, my husband was anxious to trade me in for a younger model. I find that even more insulting than being referred to as an old broad, quite frankly.

I forgot where I was going with this post.  Nowhere in particular, I suppose, because it is Lame Post Friday. The important thing (to me, at any rate) is that I am over 250 words.  Score!  I have blogged another day.  Once again, I thank you for tuning in.

 

Happy Lame Weekend!

I was just about to do something useful when I remembered, I never made my Lame Post Friday blog post!  OK, I probably wasn’t really about to do anything particularly useful.  Who is the arbiter of what is useful anyways?  Not me! (Ooh, I just flashed on when I was a kid, and you all yelled, “Not It!” then argued about who actually said it last and had to be It) (And how about, “Last one there’s a rotten egg, first one has to eat it!”)

So much for my parenthetical stroll down Memory Lane.  Save it for Throwback Thursday, me!  Quick, throw in a picture, because I obviously do not have much of substance to say.

See me in the back, looking like the Statue of Liberty? That was not my intention.

Here is a picture from July 2019, when I participated in the DooDah Parade in Ilion, NY with Ilion Little Theatre (ILT).  ILT did not participate in this year’s DooDah Parade, which was last night, but I was there covering the event for Sentinel Media. That is one reason I did not make my blog post yesterday.  I may make a whole blog post about that (Preview of Coming Attractions), but right now my phone is across the room charging, so I can’t transfer pictures to WordPress (First World Problems).

Who me? Drink wine?

This is a completely unrelated picture.  I include it  because it’s Saturday.  I may, in fact, have a glass of wine.  I hope you will feel free to indulge in whatever you may like and have a wonderful weekend.

 

Saw One Play, Rehearsing Another

Sunday afternoon I went to the closing performance of Getting Sarah Married, the last production of Ilion Little Theatre’s 2024-25 season.  I had a feeling I should have gone the first weekend; then I could have made a post encouraging local readers to go.  As it is, now I can only say, it was a very funny performance.  I congratulate all involved.  Alas that I do not have any pictures of it.  I ought to at least have a picture of Ilion Little Theatre in my Media Library, but I do not think I do.

It’s complicated.

I got on my Tablet and found this rehearsal shot shared by a cast member and stole it.  It includes all but two of the cast, and I think it shows something of the chaotic nature of the plot.

Today I have other theatre things on my mind.  I have to study my lines for Four Old Broads in the High Seas, a play I am in a Players of Utica.  Yes, I am one of the old broads, the one that is (a quote from the script) “dumb as a box of rocks.”  Yes, it is type casting.  It is an extremely silly script, but I imagine it will get a lot of laughs.

Me, doing my stuff.

The director shared this rehearsal shot on one of my Facebook posts.  I asked for silly photos to cheer me up.  Who, me, be silly?  SAY IT AIN’T SO!

Four Old Broads on the High Seas will be presented at Players of Utica, 1108 State St., Utica NY, July 25, 26, and 27, all seats $15.  For more information you can visit playersofutica.org

 

Agatha Christie, Can You Help Me Now?

About all I’m up to this evening is a Throwback Thursday post.  Never mind why; explanations are tiresome.  Many of my Throwback Thursdays end up being Theatre Throwbacks, which is not surprising since Drama is my Life (said with a gesture), but I think I will try for something different today.  Let us see what I can find in my Media Library.

Rather a threatening looking book cover, no?

Oh dear, I thought I was throwing back to a favorite book, which this is, but then I realized it is also a treasured theatre memory.  My late husband and I were in the stage version of this mystery at Ilion Little Theatre some years ago.

The movie was different from our play.

This is the movie poster from the DVD I have.  There is at least one other movie version of And Then There Were None that I would also like to have on DVD.  I would also like to direct the play version if Ilion Little Theatre wanted to revive it.  It has been a few years; I wonder if they would.  Perhaps not. They recently presented Mousetrap and plan to do Murder on the Orient Express next spring.

So much for not doing a Theatre Throwback.  On the brighter side, I am over 200 words, and tomorrow is Lame Post Friday.  I hope to see you all then, figuratively speaking.

 

 

Happy Blogiversary to Me

Under the heading Shows How Much I Pay Attention, WordPress just wished me a Happy Anniversary (or did they mean Blogiversary?).  I did not even remember that was coming up.  I have been blogging since 2011.  Fourteen years (took me a minute to do the math).  Full disclosure:  my lightheadedness continues, so I am not up to doing much of a blog post anyways.  I think a Throwback Thursday will just about fit the bill.

Look how cute he is (was).

From May 2011 to October 2016, my blog was unillustrated, because I did not know how to add pictures (what, unillustrated is not a word?  I’ll be damned).  One of the first posts I did with pictures featured my dear, since departed, husband Steve at Pumpkin Junction in Sauquoit, NY.

A creepy shot from one of my favorite movies.

Once I learned how to add pictures I took, I soon learned how to download pictures from the internet, so I was able to indulge my love of movie monsters.

Yes, I am a drama queen.

And I was able to use my blog to tout my community theatre endeavors in Little Falls, Ilion, and Herkimer.

This was a great evening!

 

I also like to plug local businesses as well as the music and art scene.  The above picture is Oscar Stivalo and friends playing jazz music at the Renaissance Pub in Little Falls.  The Ren was hosting an exhibit of Stivalo’s paintings, and this was the opening.

And so my blog continues.  There are some new businesses in the area I need to check out and write about, as well as some favorites I want to revisit. As always, I thank you for staying tuned.

 

Roxy Returns?

Wednesday I thought I could not possibly make a blog post but said to myself, “Just try,” and succeeded.  Earlier today that method failed.  The festering beginning of a post lingers in my Drafts in case I can make something of it at some future time.  That time is not now.  However, I will try to come up with something else.

There he is!

Last night I had a real blast from the past.  Friends of Historic Herkimer County showed the DVD of the play Roxy, based on a local historical murder, which the Herkimer County Historical Society and Ilion Little Theatre presented in 2015.  I played Roxalana Druse, who murdered her husband and was hanged for it (oh dear, should I have include a spoiler alert?). My late, dearly missed husband, Steven, played at least three parts.  In the picture above he is Dr. A. Walter Suiter.  It was very moving seeing him on screen like that.  He was such a wonderful actor and enjoyed it so much.

 

Obviously he is axing for it.

That took me a while to find, but here I am in a dramatic scene with my abusive husband and two of my accomplices after the fact.  I was a little worried about watching myself on the screen and in particular hearing my voice, but it was all right.  I went with two of my dear friends, Jim and Kelly.  Jim played the prosecutor who helped get me hanged.

So I guess this is kind of a late Throwback Thursday, maybe even a Non-Sequitur Thursday post.  At least it’s a post.  One does what one can after all.

 

Good-bye, Columbo!

AAAaand we’re back to late posts.  It is early Tuesday morning, and I am sitting at my Chromebook hoping to do my Monday blog post.  It should be my last post about Prescription: Murder, the play I was in at Ilion Little Theatre.  The second weekend coincided with what is either a cold or a very bad batch of allergies.  I am hoping for the latter, because I hate to be contagious.  Then again, don’t say I never gave ya nuthin’!

He is a cop, after all.

I brought donuts from the Friendly Bake Shop in Frankfort, NY for the last performance.  People often bring treats to share backstage, and I have not been to the Friendly Bake Shop in a while.  Yum!  I especially like the plain donuts, such as Lt. Columbo is eating right now.  We all teeheed about the cops and donuts cliche.  Really it is a silly cliche.  EVERYBODY likes donuts!  It is not exclusive to cops.

Isn’t she pretty?

This is our illustrious director.  She did a wonderful job and was great to work with (the two do not always go together, unfortunately).  She is also just about as cute as allowed by law.

Two lovely ladies.

And one more picture of the two female characters who survive the entire play.  Actually everybody but me survives the play.  This isn’t And Then There Were None, which Ilion Little Theatre put on in 2010.  My late, beloved husband Steve and I were both in that one.  Neither of us survived.  More than that I shan’t say, in case you ever get the chance to see the play; I don’t want to spoil the ending.  In any case, I can recommend the book by Agatha Christie.  Fun read.

Auditions for the next play at Ilion Little Theatre are Sunday and Monday, April 13 and 14.  I do not plan to audition.  I must conserve my energies for Recipe for Murder Royale, which is coming up sooner than I like to think (preview of coming attractions)!