Scenes from Sitka

I've been accumulating situations to blog about, but haven't accessed the internet for about a week. So here's a smorgasboard of experiences from Camp!

1). Last Saturday was our staff party. All the teachers, directors, and interns went on a charter boat trip out to a privately-owned island, where we hiked in to two different homes to eat dinner and dessert. At the dessert house, we had a few teachers jamming in a jazz combo all night long. It was one of the most intimate musical experiences I've had in my life. The night was capped off by Hank, our resident rock star, playing and singing the most rockin version of Mustang Sally I've ever heard.

2). A certain unnamed teacher told a story about picking shrooms in the local dairy's fields on the way home from high school each day. There were 2 seasons during the year, so he and his friends would stock up on the fungi and save them for year-round highs. His dad would drive by and could never understand why there were so many kids in the fields looking straight at the ground.

3). We had a gig at the Naa Kahidi, a local Native venue with a firepit in the middle. The show depicted a Muse wandering around the room and inspiring all different kinds of art, from music to poetry to dance. It was a beautiful and moving performance, but we left our board tape there. Grr...

4). Great people are all around me. Drew, who is so willing to help and never ceases to impress me with his selfless attitude. His new tattoo a few days ago made him the most popular guy around in the middle schoolers' eyes. WT, my favorite orange-headed clown from New York, is so attentive to other people and in tune with their emotions and feelings. These people are truly impressive, but both went back home in the last 2 days. Hopefully I'll meet more individuals like them.

5). Harry Race Pharmacy in town has great malt milkshakes!! I had my first a few days ago at 10 AM. This was a good choice.

6). The middle school talent show was awful. Think of a bunch of middle school students who've been together for a week and suddenly decide to put together a musical act or a choreographed dance on very limited rehearsal. Then take all 16 acts and try to do a tech rehearsal on all of them in 46 minutes. OI!!

7). A chubby middle-schooler who I've come to call "Chunk." If you've ever seen The Goonies, you know exactly what I mean. This first night of camp, most of the counselors and myself were sitting downstairs chatting when another counselor brought Chunk down to the nurse's office. We asked what happened, and the counselor told us that the kid fell out of his bunk bed and hit his head. He was crying and thought he had a concussion. We all felt sorry for him until we found out later that he had fallen out of the bottom bunk, not the top. One week later, Chunk managed to sprain his ankle falling from the top bunk. The next night, Chunk was livid with the counselor who made him sleep with his mattress on the ground. Kids these days...

8). Final performances!! Thursday was a 12 hour day for me, and Friday and Saturday were both in excess of 14 hours. Our final performances are structured in such a way that each class gets to perform what it has learned throughout the camp. This means 20 middle school kids directed by one teacher, who probably has unrealistic expectations for what I can supply in the realm of technical theater. Each class gets about 20-30 minutes of time on stage to work out technical needs, etc. Tech rehearsals were hell on earth, but final performances were beautiful. The majority of kids in my Live Event Production class really learned a lot and performed well each and every night. They even stuck with me through our lengthy tech rehearsals and many were still eager and willing to help after a long day of work. My hope is that the high school students (who came in today) will have similar attitudes.

9). Last night was Jazz on the Waterfront, an annual fundraiser for the Sitka Fine Arts Camp. We have so many world-class musicians on stage that it's overwhelming. The show opener was a small jazz combo, and the main act was a full 20-piece big band. The big band gave us four sets, including a dance set, a vocal set, and a rock/funk set. They created some of the best jazz I've ever heard. It was a true joy to run sound for that group. I know my dad will appreciate some of the music they performed in the funk set: September and Shining Star by Earth, Wind, and Fire; What is Hip by Tower of Power; 2 Stevie Wonder charts, etc. Hank finished off the night with another performance of Mustang Sally, leaving all the tipsy faculty sufficiently pleased.

High school camp starts tomorrow, and I'm sure it will bring many more stories to share...