This last weekend was a pretty good ‘un. Friday after school, I decided I was sick of cooking, so I asked Mer and Zach if they would be open to the Cheesecake Factory for supper since we still had a gift certificate for there. Zach got in touch with Londa, and the evening was a go. Zach was good enough to drive, and we left the house just as the trick-or-treaters were hitting the streets; I was glad to get away since I had forgotten to get any candy for kids. Ooops.
The drive was pleasant, and uneventful. We chatted and laughed and had a general good time. The shocking thing came when we got to the restaurant. I have been going to the Cheesecake Factory on and off for about 12 years now, and have checked out at least three different locations. The place is always mobbed unless you show up at precisely 2:37 in the afternoon. We got there right in prime time – 7:00 on on Friday evening. I was braced for an hour wait or more. Imagine how happy all of us were when we were shown right to a booth. The restaurant was only about 3/4 full – I guess Halloween keeps folks out of the restaurants. We had a great waiter – he gave great service and was really funny. He was sarcastic without being mean, and he was friendly without compromising his performance. The food was grand, as always (I checked out a chicken sandwich), and Mer and I split our usual Factory Mud Pie for dessert. Certainly much better than cooking yet again.
We slept in late on Saturday – until 10:00, getting almost 12 hours of sleep. Needless to say, I did not go running. We puttered around, and went for a quick park outing (more on that later), before getting home at 4:00 for a 5:00 rendezvous with some of our CVCA students for the evening’s festivities. We were going to drive to Grove City College in Pennsylvania (about 90 minutes away). We ended up with three of Mer’s students, two of whom I know pretty well, in the back seat of our car. It was much fun listening to them chat and laugh. Being around younger folks helps me stay young, at least in my head, and it was an easy drive to the school.
We were going to Grove to see Shakespeare’s As You Like It. It is a wonderfully funny play. In the last few years, we have seen it now three times live and once on film, and it is always a good time. It has great characters – the Fool (Touchstone) is a typically brilliant Shakespearean fool. Jaques is very funny by being hopelessly depressed and melancholy. The really wonderful character is Rosalind. Rosalind is smart, resourceful, and funny. She has more lines than any other woman in Shakespeare, and is on stage for about 2/3 of the play.
Before the play, we met up with one of Mer’s former students, Weston, who gave us a quick campus tour. Grove has many new buildings, and they went with the can’t-go-wrong approach of red brick. The 3-year-old buildings look harmonious with the 100-year-old buildings. It is a pretty campus.
We were at Grove because the play had three CVCA students in it that we know, including Kevin, the CVCA alum who has worked with me for the last four summers when I have needed help. He is very funny, and was playing a pathetic, love-sick shepherd.
Grove’s theater program is part of the English department, not its own program, but the theater and set was still extensive. There were multiple roll-away sets, several fly-away screens for backdrops, many fake trees, and a thrust orchestra pit that could be raised and lowered for different scenes.
The actual play was excellent. The sound was clear, the sight lines were good (we were in the front seats), and the energy in the room was fantastic – I’m not sure I have ever been to a show with that many young people in the auditorium. It really added to the evening.
But what stood out was the acting. The actors were flat-out great. There were one or two performances that were less strong, but all the major roles were tremendous. Kevin did a great job with what is otherwise a small role; it is a pleasant experience to know an actor on stage. Touchstone and Jaques were top notch. Rosalind was electric – she delivered her lines naturally, her body language was near-perfect, her emotions were obvious to the audience, and she had really great comedic timing. I was deeply impressed with her, and the show in general. Apparently, I am not alone. There was a reviewer at the show that night who liked the show enough that they may get to do scenes from the play for a special showing in either New York or DC (I forget which).
As an aside, it was like a CVCA reunion at Grove – we ran into at least five different current or former CVCA students (in addition to the three on stage and the three with us). My boss and running partner was there with his family to see his son, Kevin, in the play.
The drive back was also entertaining with the three teens in back (especially the two girls talking about how hot Jaques was in the play), although I was disappointed in that I did not find a Dairy Queen on the way home. I was in the mood for a little snack. That would have been how I liked it.