COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • AUGUST 1, 2018 •
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Auditions for CG Theatre’s production of ‘The Fantasticks’ set for Aug. 19
Cottage Th eatre will hold
auditions on Sunday, August
19 at 6 p.m. for “Th e Fantas-
ticks,” a touching fable about
passion and innocence. Th is
production, the fi nal show in
Cottage Th eatre’s 2018 sea-
son, will be on stage for three
weekends, Nov. 30 through
Dec. 16.
Th e musical is directed by
Kory Weimer. Auditions will
take place at Cottage Th eatre,
700 Village Drive in Cottage
Grove, and no appointment
is necessary.
Eight roles are available
for men and women ages 16
and older.
Th is timeless story has
captivated the hearts and
imaginations of generations
of theatregoers. Written in
1960, and featuring enduring
classics like “Try to Remem-
ber” and “Soon It’s Gonna
Rain,” “Th e Fantasticks” is a
romantic, allegorical musical
about a boy, a girl, two fa-
thers and a wall.
Th e neighboring dads
trick their children into fall-
ing in love by pretending to
feud. Once Matt and Luisa
discover their parents’ decep-
tion, they reject the arranged
love match and grow apart.
Following a series of dis-
illusioning experiences, they
fi nally fi nd their way back
to each other aft er realizing
that, "without a hurt, the
heart is hollow."
“Th e Fantasticks” the lon-
gest-running musical in the
world with good reason: at
the heart of its breathtaking
poetry and subtle theatrical
sophistication is a purity that
transcends cultural barriers.
Th e result is a touching fa-
ble of love that is both nostal-
gic and universal at the same
time.
Interested actors should
prepare 16 to 32 bars of a
song that demonstrates their
vocal talents, and bring sheet
music for the provided ac-
companist.
If actors are interested in
the non-speaking role of Th e
Mute, they should come to
auditions prepared to tell a
story without using words.
Additional audition de-
tails are available at www.cot-
tagetheatre.org, or by calling
the Cottage Th eatre at 541-
942-8001.
Betty Kaiser’s Chatter Box: Mother Nature surprises city girls
a month every summer in
nearby Crestline. My grand-
father wasn’t a fi sherman
either but he loved trout.
He would pile us kids in
the car and off we would go
to the trout farm where you
paid to fi sh.
Betty Kaiser
Grandpa said it was the
most expensive activity
of the summer. Th ere, an
s a former city girl,
employee baited the hook
I am constantly
on your fi shing pole and the
amazed at Mother
fi sh would practically leap
Nature’s surprises. Living
out of the water into your
in the country has been a
lap. Fortunately, I not only
whole new learning expe-
didn’t have to bait the hook
rience. My latest wildlife
but someone else took the
encounter had me shaking
slimy, squirming fi sh off the
my head and my heart
line and put it into the buck-
pounding.
et for me.
It seems worthy of sharing
Fast forward a few decades
on this hot summer day. Feel
and I’m living at C.G. Lake
free to sit back and laugh
where fi shing is a regular
with me.
pastime. But not for me. I’m
First, I am not a fi sher
more like someone out of a
woman. Th e closest I ever
Justin Moore Country song:
came to catching a fi sh was
I can’t even bait a hook.
at the Blue Jay Trout Farm
Th at all sort of changed
in the San Bernardino
a couple of weeks ago. A
Mountains. My family spent
strong wind had blown
A
through our six acres of trees
and branches were scattered
on the deck and under the
trees closest to the house.
I got busy with my rake
and wheelbarrow and began
cleaning up. Th at’s when I
saw what looked like a 12-
inch log covered in mulch
about three feet inside the
tree line. I went over to pick
it up and it moved! It was
breathing.
Yikes! I practically jumped
out of my jeans!
I gently nudged it with a
stick and it rolled over and
fanned out what looked like
tail feathers.
A bird? And it was still
alive? Eek! I ran into the
house, fi lled the tea kettle,
dashed outside and poured
water over the “bird.” Well,
the bird was a fi sh and its
gills were opening and clos-
ing. I had to rescue it!
I covered the fi sh with a
damp cloth, laid it in a box,
grabbed the car keys and
drove over to the lake. At the
boat ramp, I gently put the
fi sh in the water, it briefl y
swam a few inches and was
still.
A fi sherman was nearby
with his little girl. I asked
him if he knew anything
about fi sh.
Duh. Of course he did.
He was fi shing.
I told him my fi sh
story and could tell that he
thought I was a few bricks
short of a load. Finally, he
got curious, came over and
said, “Doggone, it’s a Cat-
fi sh.” (Or something like
that.) He called his daughter
over to check it out as he
nudged it into deeper water.
Th e fi sh, however, had
other ideas and kept coming
back onto shore!
Th e fi sherman asked me
where I found it. I told him
it was covered in mulch un-
der the trees but came alive
when I poured water on it
from a tea kettle.
I still didn’t know how it
got there. Th en it dawned on
me. Th ere’s an osprey nest
nearby. Sometimes other
birds try to steal their fi sh
when they’re coming home.
Perhaps there was a tussle
and he dropped it on our
property — but three feet
under the trees?
By this time my fi sher-
man’s daughter is asking
questions and he is describ-
ing the fi sh as identifi ed by
its whiskers. Th en, hoping
to get rid of me, he assured
me that my fi sh was going
to be fi ne and I drove home
— still shaking — to ponder
what had happened.
Later, I was telling this
story to my friend Emily
who proceeded to confound
me with her own Mother
Nature story. She lives in a
house on a city lot in Eu-
gene. Her backyard has a
nice big deck overlooking a
little stream that runs into a
pond.
A small Blue Jay (slightly
handicapped because of a
chopped off tail!) has been
Cottage Theatre presents
A riveting story of love,
loss, and healing
Meet
DON
JOHNSON
Don joined the service team at
Brad’s in 2006 aft er work for
General Motors for 47 years,
and is the Parts Manager.
Don in his free time he enjoys
golfi ng, fi shing and hunting. Stop
in and say Hi.
frequenting the pond to
drink water and check out
the tadpoles.
One day while Emily
was relaxing outside, she
noticed that the tadpoles
were now frogs. Suddenly, a
HUGE Bullfrog leaped out
of the water, jumped on her
bluebird and swallowed its
entire head!
Emily leaped into action
and eventually was able to
free her bird’s head from the
bullfrog. Th e frog dove back
into the pond and the bird
has never been seen again.
Emily will never trust her
bullfrogs again.
Evidently they are carni-
vores that will even eat their
own young. Th at’s Mother
Nature at work.
We city girls sure have a
lot to learn.
Contact Betty Kaiser’s
Chatterbox at 942-1317 or
email bchatty@bettykaiser.
com
August 10-26
By Joe Musso
World Premiere
Treehouse
CLIP & SAVE • CLIP & SAVE • CLIP & SAVE
OIL CHANGE
SPECIAL
$19.95
up to 6 qts of oil
Gas Engines Only.
Excludes Diesel Engines,Dexos & Synthetic Oils
With this coupon offer good through 8/31/18
Not Valid with any other offer.
Service Now Open Saturdays 8am-5pm
541-942-4415
2775 Row River Rd. • Cottage Grove
www.bradschevy.com
Sponsored by:
Directed by Tara Wibrew
Contains some mature themes.
With support from:
Part of the American Association of
Community Theatre’s 2018 NewPlayFest
Tickets available online, by phone, or at the door one hour before performance
Thursday−Saturday 8:00 pm; Sunday 2:30 pm. $25 Adult, $15 Youth (18 and under)
541-942-8001 • 700 Village Drive • Cottage Grove
www.cottagetheatre.org