I never knew it could be like this: I arrived in Ashland around lunch yesterday and having a couple of hours before I could check into my room, I did what I always consider doing when I have a couple of hours to kill. I went to get a pedicure. I tried out a new place, Chloe Salon on Lithia Way next to the yogurt shop. Best…pedicure…EVER! It was like great sex with a ginger scrub. I’ll never be the same woman again.

Where the boys are: With my beloved Arden Forest Inn booked until Friday, I’m spending my first two nights at The Palms, a old-fashioned motor court converted into Ashland style. I have to say, quite lovely with beautiful flowers and gardens and lovely rooms. I recommend it, especially if you’re on a budget. But my favorite innkeepers, Bill and Corbett, met me for dinner last night at Standing Stone (which now serves sweet potato fries!). I can’t wait to join “the boys” at Arden Forest on Friday! Bill said to come over as quickly as I can on Friday to start enjoying the pool. The best part about the evening was a juicy bit of casting gossip for next year. But I’m sworn to secrecy! Those who know me well know how much this is killing me.

The Think Method: And now the stuff people really care about…the plays! OK, so I did go see The Music Man last night despite my pouty protesting at the idea of musicals at OSF. OK, OK, fine. It was good. OK, actually it was more than good. It was quite good and lovely and charming. I have to admit that I really liked it. But not because it was the big technicolor Music Man, but because it was understated and depended on the music to carry it through. I don’t think I care for musicals much because they’ve become carnival rides with crashing chandeliers and helicopters. But I love the music from so many musicals. It’s the music that makes the show for me. So by trusting the music, the show worked for me.

Also, I think casting Gwendolyn Mulamba as Marian was a brilliant idea. Her Marian is earthy and womanly. We know from the first minute we lay eyes on her that she doesn’t belong in a corset. She’s a woman who has forgotten what it’s like to feel like a woman, and her blossoming is wondrous.

Eternal ringing: I was also a bit skeptical about seeing Sarah Ruhl’s Dead Man’s Cell Phone. I haven’t liked any of the other plays I’ve seen by her, but everyone’s been raving about this one. And for good reason. It’s great. Just brilliant. I get her now or at least this play. A young woman, Jean, is annoyed by a man’s cell phone constantly going off in a cafe. When she goes to his table to ask him to turn it off, she finds him dead…and then answers his phone. Jean is pulled into Gordon’s life, going to his mother’s for dinner (“Meat, we have lots and lots of meat”), becoming his wife’s confidant, and falling in love with his brother. Even as she learns Gordon was not the nice man she wanted him to be, she continues to create lies in an attempt to soothe the wounds he left building to a chaotic, absurd, existential bundle of fun. I’m not kidding. It’s hysterical, in that crazy Fuddy Meers sort of way.

It’s Death Day: I’m off to see Death and the King’s Horseman tonight. Having seen Dead Man’s Cell Phone this afternoon, it seems I’ve got theme going.

  • Share/Save/Bookmark