THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2021 • THE BULLETIN
COVER STORY
GO! MAGAZINE • PAGE 17
Unwelcome pandemic results in teachable
moments for local artists and educators
BY DAVID JASPER • The Bulletin
T
he workshops Bend playwright Cricket Daniel has been teaching on behalf of Cascades Theatrical Company this winter aren’t the first that she’s
ever taught, but they have led the Bend playwright to a new insight about herself: She loves teaching. It would be tone deaf and idiotic to suggest that
COVID-19, which has killed over 485,000 Americans, has been a positive in our lives. Nevertheless, its arrival here nearly a year ago, and the pivots and
other changes that necessitated, has led Daniel and others to learn some new things about themselves.
It’s not surprising that Daniel has some
wisdom to impart. Over a decade ago, de-
termined to see her work on stage, Daniel
began teaching herself to write, starting with
her 2009 comedy “Couple Dating.” It was
followed by more shows written and pro-
duced by Daniel, including “Gina Galdi and
Guest,” “Helen on Wheels” and “I Shot Jen-
nifer Lopez.”
Her 2018 tale of four senior women who
set off to revisit significant sites from their
younger days, ”Lost Virginity Tour,” caught
the interest of “Menopause the Musical” cre-
ator Jeanie Linders and is set to tour nation-
ally when the pandemic danger subsides.
Because her CTC workshops are being
taught via Zoom, Daniel said, two aspiring
playwrights living outside the area — one in
San Diego, the other in Burns — have been
able to participate.
“So it’s a ton of fun,” she said. “I am very
much enjoying it. I do see this as something
I would like to continue doing. I can see my-
self maybe offering consultations through
my website, other playwriting workshops
like this.”
Maintaining composition
When things began to slow down last
year, Bend composer Chris Thomas, who
wrote the score for the recently released
film “Haymaker” and “Imagine Symphony
Live,” the latter of which recently netted him
a Hollywood Music in Media Award, began
channeling some of his energy into not just
scoring films, but also teaching about film
scoring.
“It was right at this point when more and
more people were asking me to go some-
where and teach something, or offer a pre-
sentation. And then suddenly it was all off,”
he said.
Thomas took some time — months, he
said — to ponder “what I was going to say,
and stand behind. It wasn’t so much me
thinking about, oh, how to teach film music.
It was more like, ‘What do I really believe
in?’”
After some introspection, “I started to
realize that the way I like to interact with
people — I guess I’ll use the word — educa-
tor, like I really started getting into teaching
and presenting and sharing music. I care a
lot about capturing my thoughts accurately,
and having the right advice for younger mu-
sicians.”
He decided to take it further, by involving
more kids in those cities in playing music
and not solely listen to him talk about writ-
ing for film.
“I’ve been writing music to little scenes
from movies, and sending them all a part in
a click track (an electronic metronome), and
they play along on a phone, and they send
me their stuff,” he said. “I create this giant
Continued on next page
IN THE BALANCE OF COMPETING HARMS - WE SHALL PREVAIL
Submitted
Jacalyn, a retired opera singer and her artist husband David Kreitzer moved to Bend last year,
where they’ve opened Kreitzer Art Gallery. Jacalyn said that her revelation this past year has been
to offer vocal instruction to her students for free “and inspire them to use this time to prepare,” she
said.
541-788-5858
905 SW Rimrock Way Suite 100A
Nolan Town Square • Redmond, OR
ladiesofl eadusa@gmail.com
Sharon Preston