I have just returned from a very pleasant, extended Father’s Day Weekend in Fort Collins, Colorado, with my daughter Sara and her family. Although Sara and Ian had come East for my grand-daughter Rachael’s high school graduation party, I hadn’t seen Jim or the girls since my ninetieth birthday celebration in California last July.
Trips to Colorado are always lots of fun; this one was no exception. Fort Collins is a delightful city located at the edge of the foothills where the Cache La Poudre River comes out of the Rocky Mountain Front Range and heads east to join the South Platte River. In some respects, Fort Collins is a distant suburb of Denver; more appropriately it is the northern-most city in a narrow metropolitan area extending south 175 miles to Pueblo.
The rationale for the trip this specific weekend was the opportunity to see a pair of very special shows. My twenty-year-old grandson Ian has just finished his Sophomore year at the University of Colorado, where he is focusing on theater. Each summer the University sponsors a world-class Shakespeare Festival; this summer Ian is working there as a menial, starting at the proverbial bottom.
One of the plays being presented this summer is “Two Gentlemen of Verona”. Its venue is a lovely outdoor theater on the University campus. Despite forecasts of monsoon rain that prompted us to fetch along foul weather gear, we were treated to a beautiful June evening and an enjoyable performance. The majority of the cast were professional actors with national credits; Shakespeare came easily to them. The star of the show was a yellow lab named Mabel who portrayed “Crab”, the pet of Proteus’ servant Launce. This is the only Shakespearean play in which a live animal performs; Mabel didn’t miss a cue.
The fact that these plays, initially written four centuries ago, are still being performed and enjoyed is a tribute to their relevance. The audience certainly appreciated this presentation, obviously impressed with its quality. For me it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
The other show was “Singing in the Rain”. My fourteen-year-old grand-daughter, Claire, is also peripherally interested in the theater. This summer she participated in a three-week long workshop for teenaged would-be Thespians, sponsored by “Academy by Divabee”, a musical theater school located in Fort Collins. The culmination of the workshop was a pair of performances of this beloved show in the Candlelite Dinner Theater. It is not a coincidence that an adult theater group had just completed a successful run of “Singing in the Rain” there, making their sets available for the younger troupe.
The movie version of this show has always been one of my all-time favorites; it was interesting seeing it adapted to the stage. One must be impressed with the fact that this group of young people was able to come together and produce such a complicated performance in three weeks. Best of all, the feature scene did include rain, enhanced by the Don Lockwood character purposely splashing the audience in the front rows.
Claire appeared in five scenes, with four costume changes. Two of the scenes were ensembles; she is an excellent singer and dancer. Her big moment was acting as the orchestra conductor at the end of the show when Lina Lamont’s dubbed singing voice is exposed.
It also was a treat to visit with seventeen-year-old Nora and observe the way she has matured. She will be a Senior at Rocky Mountain High School this Fall, balancing two major interests – public service and sports. Nora has been active in Student Council for the past three years and was elected President of the Senior Class this year. In addition, she has had a fine career playing goal-keeper for an elite soccer team and hopes to play for the high school this year.
Nora’s college plans are still quite flexible. She has visited the major universities in Colorado and would be happy with any of them. In addition, she and her mother are planning to drive to the Pacific Northwest in July to visit schools in Oregon and Washington.
When Sara and Ian were here, I introduced them to the world of outdoor sculpture with a tour of the Public Art Bridgeville exhibition. Now that we are experts in this area, they reciprocated by taking me to the Benson Sculpture Garden in Loveland. Recognized as “one of the twenty must-see contemporary art sites across the USA”, this is a long, narrow municipal park with a small stream and ponds running through it. Tastefully located throughout it are 178 individual works of art.
Whereas the Bridgeville exhibition provides a broad spectrum of art, ranging from abstract to realistic, the Benson collection is dominated by realistic statues of people and animals. My favorite was “Rice Ritual”, a realistic bronze statue of an Asian peasant, by sculptor Carla Knight. I also liked Linda Prokop’s “Big Wish”, a massive wishbone being pulled apart by two children, well enough that I photographed Sara and Ian helping them. The total display certainly warrants a return visit.
We are fortunate to live in a time when it is possible to visit family and friends who live far from us. The miracle of modern transportation is truly a blessing. I still enjoy travelling, but even more, I enjoy getting back home safely.