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Show s " Following 'the performance most of the audience: was at the reception for Dan Rodgers ati FatherCarley's house. Kathy Jones and Val Thornell were clearly , moved by the performance, and spoke of the powerful nature: of the play, Violet Terry proclaimed it wonderful.. When .Dan Rodgers Rod-gers did enter ;the reception the room' burst into spontaneous spon-taneous applause. Normally, I ' vyould rush right over and ...snap a..;, photo and ask questions about the play, but I admit I was. honestly too awed to push forward. Instead I 1 remember a conversation I had had with Dan during a photo session we had done last week. "How would you describe Father Damien now that you have spent several months exploring his character?" charac-ter?" I asked; " Very simply," replied " Dan. "He was an ordinary man who made extraordinary moral choices." Strike a vein?... No matter what your faith, this is the week to observe ordinary men who were forced to make extraordinary extra-ordinary choices... When you think you have met your limits this week, reach out and go just a bit further... Have an extraordinary Easter... Jamie. are involved in taxing, telephoning tele-phoning and treats.' To the point.. The under 10 competition competi-tion soccer team from Park City has yet to win a game. The boys have been practicing in the Memorial building and are clearly at a disadvantage from their Salt Lake City counter parts. Never mind. . . The boys want to win, try hard and play a good game. It's a simple thing, but it represents an attitude from reading the weekly reports of those soccer games unless you were a stickler for little things like the score you would swear Park City won. GinnyCsmith has made an effort Jo-record the games in such a wav that kids something different... First off the performance of "Damien" at St. Mary's Church started late. The building was cold and the benches were hard. I was clearly uncomfortable and not alone. Most all of the audience 'sat with their coats on for the entire performance. I had been told ahead of time there had . been lighting problems with the show and so Dan Rodgers would be forced to perform with only, the existing church lights. A tape clicked on and to the chimes of heavy cathedral bells, Damien approached the altar. For the -next hour and a half, the only noise heard by the spell-bound spell-bound audience was either laughter or sniffling. So convincing was Rodgers in his one man performance of the leper priest of Molakai that I hated the head of the board of health who I never saw. I repulsed by the sight of the hundreds of lepers that crowded the boat from Honolulu, Hono-lulu, and even more repulsed by the health department's consistent ignoral of their basic human needs. I felt Damien's pain when he stuck his feet in boiling water only to remember minutes later he f had'not added the cold and he didn't know it (The leperasy had started at his feet.) And T felt his pain when his superior called him a defective priest. "Yes, I rub ointment on their wounds when they ask me. Yes. sometimes on the women; wo-men; But they are suffering; they come to me in pain. Can a "priest do no less?" he pleads to his invisable superior. In hopes that you will make an effort to see this performance perform-ance as it now goes on tour, I will not tell you how and where the story of the'haunted priest ends. I would only tell you that the performance ended to thunderous applause. Ordinary... Extraordinary... Two words, entirely different differ-ent meanings because' they are separated by that which is extra... . A soccer team, a school project . fair, and a one man : ShOW... . 'V. ' : Ordinary... Extraordinary... Soccer parents are not unlike little league parents; they have many of the same obnoxious characteristics. Rude, loud and putting undo amounts of pressure on their offspring to succeed for them. Like fans of any sport a certain percentage attend to vent off their own frustrations to those of team. I have witnessed in my three short seasons parents par-ents result to physical violence, vio-lence, children with-so much pressure to perform they have become physically ill, and the tears after losing proving they have been successfully taught the Vince. Lombardi rule (winning isn't everythingit's ' the only thing!) Soccer in Park City is a big sport for a lot of little guys; more than 200 children are involved in the recreation departments program here. It would be a rather ordinary program were it not for the extraordinary efforts of some concerned parents. These kids are coached after school and that means fathers make themselves a"ailable every week for those kids. Mothers new ways to educate (and let's admit it, amuse) their students. stud-ents. Well, project fairs by elementary students do often smack of the ordinary. But a project fair Park City style is nothing less than extraordinary. extraordin-ary. , ''':. ' First off, it's a bit unfair to label it a project fair. The Marsac Mini-Arts Festival is a potpourri of creative experiences experien-ces for the students. So very many people work together to present the students with opportunities to work in mediums from hoop weaving to dramatics. To list a few of the involved adults is to miss a few I know, but the extraordinary extraor-dinary talents of Jana Cole, Sidney Reed, Linda Singer and Sharon Reid should be singled out. Tuesday night, Marsac was a blaze of color and music and. laughter. Proud students showed even prouder parents their displays of talent cleverly displayed all around the building. (I was especially partial to the tough little guy who had done such an admirable job on the cake decorating.) -,-.. A spring time open house would be ordinary, but Park City Mini-Arts Festival is... extraordinary. Nice work teachers, parents and helpers, et. al... I had expected it to be a rather ordinary show. But right from the start, I should have suspected it would be are encouraged and proud of their effort. And when I see the effort made by Franci Eisenburg, Tom Bock, Danielle Dan-ielle Bean, in addition to the Diolenys. the Hixons and the Smiths to be in Salt Lake with a car full of anxious players to face another tough team at 9:00 am. I think that's a bit extraordinary. (But then I think anybody who can honestly hon-estly claim to be functioning at that hour is extraordinary!) When springtime comes to an elementary, school in the mountains it is a bit of a mixed blessing; childred one day are allowed to check out balls and play in the yard, and the next must? sit inside watching a blizzard rage on. Teachers push their creative limits in |
