Thirty years ago

A short story: some thirty years ago, when I was in the midst of my high school teaching days, I had a special student I'll call Jane Doe. Jane was smart and clever and funny and utterly charming---to both her classmates and teachers alike. Just one of those gifted 17 year olds who already showed glimpses of her unique talents.

The years pass.

This weekend a few sisters and I had the opportunity (courtesy of gift certificates from last Christmas!) to attend our local Erie Playhouse production of Jesus Christ Superstar. This is a shout-out to everyone living within 25 miles or so of Erie, it is wonderful...go see it. The singing is strong, on pitch and highly professional...always a big factor in local productions. But what makes it quite the show is that it is set in contemporary times! The songs are the classic ones, but the costumes and the over all "feel" is modern. Very, very well done and totally enjoyable

The director? Jane Doe!

Another parallel: you may have caught the Masterpiece Theater's production of a new version of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, "Sherlock." I believe they just aired Season 3 this past January. This version is set in modern day London and the BBC admitted that it didn't know if the British would take to it, as it was so different in locale and culture from the originals. But, the first one was a huge hit both in Britain and the US. They are now considering season four.

Moral of these two cases:  if you have a really good story and good directors and writers--adaptations work.

Horseshoe pond, home of our houseboats and the little boats you need to get out to them.