Reading -- And There are Giants in the Sky, Paris Texas!

Or, How to deal with a Giant?  (Production photo of Stephen Sondheim' / James Lapine's Into the Woods, currently playing at Paris Community Theater).

Failing schools reflect poorly on the community - theparisnews.com: Columns: "Almost half the public schools in Texas failed. That should get some notice. Here’s another statistic — that’s significantly worse than a year ago." This is an editorial by J.D. Davidson in THE PARIS NEWS, August 12, 2012 edition.  I hope you read it, and if you didn't, you will go check it out, with the link provided.

The editorial touches on the reason that I have taken up my reading activism stance in our community, and I am thankful to the Friday Paris Rotary Club for being the first group to allow me to come speak to them about why reading matters -- for Adults as well as for Children, especially in our community.

I will be happy to speak to any group; I had great feedback from that engagement and have heard that many were inspired to pick up a book and read. It is a small thing with the potential for long term benefits in your life and in our children's lives, and in our community. It's the reason for my byline in my reading reviews in THE PARIS NEWS: "But that's just my opinion. So turn off your screen and pick up a book. You be the judge -- you might just change your life."  

If you give me the chance, I think I can convince you to pick up a book, too. 

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Many of you know that it has been a life changing Sondheim Summer for me because of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's musical / book Into the Woods.

[All of this after a hard day's work, because we have been busy at the title company, isn't that good to know!]

So naturally, I had to know more about Sondheim. I recently loved thumbing through this detailed book on some of his musicals, including Into the Woods.  I like this book because it is not a "tell-- all."  Rather, it is just an information session. For example, Sondheim explained that because our attention spans are getting shorter, composers, playwrights and producers must make shows shorter -- ("Ahem") not that he paid any attention to that in Into the Woods.

 If you are coming this weekend, just be prepared. The Acts are long, but well worth it in the end.

Thank you Paris for coming out and supporting Paris Community Theater in our opening weekend of Into the Woods -- including many friends and family, and our sponsor Dr. Grossnickle and family, and sponsor Kimberly Clark.  Dr. Grossnickle also brought the esteemed Mayor, Dr. Hashmi, who said he truly enjoyed the show.  We were excited to see the Mayor continue to experience more of what Paris, Texas has to offer.

 It is the kind of story that sticks with you.  More than a fairy tale/ more than a fable.   So, I think I can speak for the whole cast when I say we are excited for this coming weekend, as we continue to live the dream of Into the Woods.  If you haven't seen it yet, we hope you make time this weekend.

(Picture by Robbie Gunn, story and more pictures at www.inparistexas.com).

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What is it about?  I've given more details in my prior blog, but pictured here are Cinderella, Little Red, Jack (and his Mom),  the Baker and his Wife, and you can't see the crowd favorite, Milky White (MOO!!!)  all heading into the Woods to get their wish.  When you go into the woods, what do you get? You might get your wish, and you might get a Giant (read here by the talented Lisa Martin, sure wish you could see her emoting her death throes!!).  As our Jack (Josh Maxwell) so beautifully sings to us, There Are Giants in the Sky.

And there are.  There are Giants in Paris, Texas, too.  We can hide from them, or we can try to figure out how to deal with them.  I'm glad there are so many of you here that aren't into the hiding thing.