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Show A8 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010 Vtht Sentinel Guardian of Your Community News Mapleton play performed for packed house Judith Everett STAFF WRITER It used to be that the mention of a stake musical production would elicit patronizing smiles and polite shakes of the head, but Mapleton North Stake's recent production of "And They Lived Haply Ever After" has changed all that. The play, an original work by Mary Nielson, was performed March 12-13 to a packed house and rave reviews. 'This ain't no road show," said cast member Kathy Roberts. The musical is the story of a jilted young man, played by Ryan Gale, whose grandfather, played by Daniel Bardsley, tries to set him up with the girl next door, played by Meghan Olsen. The grandfather's approach is through his own versions of fairy tales, with the theme of "stop looking for Cinderella and start thinking about the step sisters." When auditions were held in early February, there were so many enthusiastic responders that Nielson decided to let them all be in the play. "I went home and tossed one scene and wrote another scene around it so everyone who wanted to be in it could be," she said. Because most of the scenes were individual stories, it made the play easier to rehearse over the relatively short time frame. By breaking the cast up by scene, they could all rehearse at the same time, and only met together a few times before the final performances. The sets were designed by Mapleton artist Anita Harmon, and the costumes were designed and created by Leah Gifford, Shelly Taylor, Wylene Benson and Betsy Ferguson. The crew decorated the foyers for the performances and the cast members interacted in character with the audience members as they arrived. "It was more than a play; it was an atmosphere," Nielson said. Because the play was an original work, the cast members had complete ownership over their parts. There was no precursor to any character, no Broadway star to compare their interpretations with. When they would ask Nielson how to act, she would give them free reign. It was that ownership that made the play so much fun, and so well done. "Once they caught on and started putting their own personalities into it, it was fabulous," she said. Nielson, who has written many small plays, had never worked on anything so big before. She felt the play was such a success because of the tremendous support from everyone involved, from the stake leaders to the crew to the cast themselves. "We had tons of help and tons of hours and tons of fun. Everybody is sad that it's over," Nielson said. Charlie Hardman / The Sentinel PLAY TIME: The Mapleton North Stake's original production of "And They Lived Happily Ever After" involved a large cast and many hours of work — and fun. SF City Council: From CITY • A l able for children ages 0-5 years old. After council comments, business matters were addressed. The council amended Title 15 so that wind-testing facilities are included within the Public Facilities Zone. This does not deal exclusively with the wind farm at the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon, but allows for conforming use and expansion of another property here with Spanish Fork. The council then heard two requests involving zoning map amendments. The first was a request from Mark Dal tin regarding the In-fill Overly Zone at 142 West Center Street. Dallin wants to build a duplex on the property but needed the overly to be approved by the council before construction on the duplex could be started. After some discussion by the Planning Commission on orientation of the building, Dallin submitted a new plan and the council approved his request. The council then addressed the issue of three properties at the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon. The change was made that the property belonging to Spanish Fork City and Staker Parsons would change from Industrial 1 and Industrial 2 to Industrial 3. The land owned by Strawberry Water Users was left zoned as it was per their request. In regard to old business, the council approved the preliminary plat for the proposed subdivision at 1450 East 100 South. The approval allows the owners to sell the property for an assisted-living facility. The council then heard from City Attorney, Junior Baker, on the possibilities of changing the amount of signage for any project larger than 25 acres. The specific request was coming from the company representing the North Park Project. After some debate the council ultimately decided that they can't justify changing the rules simply because the city is involved in the project and that the new park would be a better draw than larger signs. Dale Robinson from the Parks and Recreation Department then informed the council on the changes in the contract with UDOT for the 1-15 core project. The intersection of Interstate 15 with Spanish Fork Main Street will have an enhanced layout rather than the basic package. This means that instead of just field grass there will additionally be rocks, trees and boulders in the land surrounding the roadway. Spanish Fork City will be responsible to maintain the land, and if they want to add any- thing additional they must get UDOT approval. While Robinson said they're not thrilled about the agreement, it's still better than just getting the standard set up. There are no funds available for the 1-15 Highway 6 interchange. Finally, Baker again addressed the council, this time in regards to alcohol sales within Spanish Fork City. The change was initiated because the current ordinance needed to be cleaned up and kept standard with Utah State regulations. they doubled the advance. I didn't want to lose the job, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't selling myself short either. They agreed, and I illustrated the book." Now that she has been working as an illustrator for several years, Olson said her favorite part of the process is simply "painting the illustrations ... that's the fun, easy part. I turn on music or a movie and paint away." The hard part, she said, is coming up with the ideas, designing the whole book, and doing the drawings. Of the various types of illustration she's done, Olsen likes illustrating picture books the best. "Book covers and magazines pay better if you break the price down per illustration, but I don't do this for the money ultimately anyway," Olsen said. 'The whole process from the time I get a job to the time I turn in the final art takes about eight months to a year. I don't like to work on more than two full-length picture books at a time, so I fill in some of the illustration gaps with smaller and quicker art for magazines or educational books. You definitely don't become rich writing or illustrating picture books. You could even ask a Caldecott Award winner that and they'd tell you the same thing. I do it because I love it." These days, Olson is working on several new illustration projects, and she has also started doing some of her own book-writing. She participates in writing groups and attends writing conferences to hone her writing skills. One of her favorites is "Writing for Young Readers," held annually in Utah. She is also constantly working on becoming a better artist, since, as she said, "Whether on my own or with an agent, the work has to first be up to par to get the job. It doesn't matter who you have in your corner if you aren't good enough at illustrating to create a book. So I'm always trying to improve." Olson is currently illustrating a book about a little penguin for Marshall Cavendish Publishing, as well as developing a couple of her own stories, which are not purchased by a publisher yet. She also has two books coming out this year — a chapter book called "The Chihuahua Chase," by A.E. Cannon; and a read-aloud book titled "Tickle, Tickle! Itch, Twitch!" which she wrote and illustrated herself. More of Olson's work can be found at www.jujubeeillustrations.com. Local illustrator: From OLSON • A l of work." Olson also participated in writing and illustrating conferences in Utah put on by a network of nationally published authors and illustrators. She describes the networking done there as invaluable, and said, "I did that kind of thing for nearly 10 years, but it brought in the work. I would never say it was completely on my own that I got started, because so many people encouraged, networked with me, and shared knowledge along the way." Olson said her first real "success" came when she landed the illustration job for a book called "Hip, Hip for Annie McRae!" As a relative newcomer to the industry, she was nervous about asserting herself, but she wanted to set a good precedent, so she found the courage to negotiate for a price she felt was fair. "The publisher, GibbsSmith of Layton, had seen the postcard and wanted to see more work," said Olson. "I showed them my portfolio, and they asked if I wanted to illustrate the book. They offered me an advance I felt was quite low, so I nervously told them I couldn't do it unless |