Question of the week in “Little House” land---how can three cast members have school without books and other school supplies? The answer is simple; they can’t, so Tuesday’s normal school day was turned into a field trip to the Joslyn Art Museum.
Next question—why didn’t they have the regular school supplies and their books for the first day in Omaha,NE? That answer is simple too---someone forgot to put the school’s two trunks on one of the four semi-trailer trucks hauling the sets, costumes and other paraphernalia for the “Little House on the Prairie The Musical.”
So the trunks extended their stay in Fayetteville, AK, for another 24 hours and Carolyn Dunning, our traveling tutor, had to make some quick plans on Tuesday--¬just an hour or so before school was scheduled to start.
The trunks had to make their journey to Omaha by themselves and even that was not without drama—someone or something broke the bottom out of one of the trunks and the contents apparently spilled out somewhere—granddaughter Taylor Bera’s science book was missing when the trunks arrived on Wednesday and many of the students’ folders were damaged.
So Tuesday unexpectedly became a field trip day and the students and chaperones were able to enjoy an informative trip through the Joslyn, Nebraska’s largest art museum that opened it doors first in 1931. Its collections features work from antiquity to the present with an emphasis on 19th and 20th-century European and American art plus a large collection of art of the American West.
My favorite two paintings in the whole museum ---and they would have been Helen’s too if she was back on the tour with us—were originals by French painter Claude Monet. We have copies at home but the originals are breathtaking. One of the Monet’s, “The Meadows” painted in 1879, was given as a gift to the museum by former NY governor and US Ambassador W. Averell Harriman, who at one time was chairman and vice president of the Union Pacific Railroad based in Omaha.
The school kids toured the museum and took some time to sketch some of the priceless paintings. Taylor chose a 1903 painting of a woman in a blue gown by John Singer Sargent. Her rendition was really nice ---she showed a lot of attention to detail in her work.
Other highlights of the tour can be found in my photos for the week at:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=317889071803%3A1736011037
Our trip from Fayetteville to Omaha was pretty much uneventful but long and tiring. We had to journey by way of Dallas-Fort Worth airport which about doubled the “as a crow-flies-mileage” of 430 miles.
We were greeted in Omaha by lots of snow on the ground but temperatures above freezing for our week in Nebraska. It has been in the minus double digits for several days the previous week.
Little House played to good crowds in the Orpheum Theater that was originally built in 1927 and retained its early century splendor during a $10 million renovation in 2002. It was originally built as a vaudeville house.
Five huge chandeliers hang from the ceiling in the seating areas and smaller versions are present throughout the lobby.
Being an inquisitive guy, I had to find out how they clean the chandeliers inside the theater. The Orpheum’s production manager said that each light was originally fitted with a hand crank cable system to lower the entire light assembly. The system was retained during the renovation to maintain the historical integrity. He said that all of the chandeliers are lowered, cleaned and bulbs replaced once a year—generally during down times in the summer.
All of the major touring companies have played the 2,600-seat Orpheum. Little House got a good review from the local Omaha World-Herald:
http://www.omaha.com/article/20100113/ENTERTAINMENT05/701139876
The acoustics in the hall are spectacular. We were sitting in the upper reaches of the balcony for sound check prior to the opening night performance on Tuesday and we could hear routine conversations going on at stage level between songs. Sound travels very well in both directions inside the theater. This is something the production manager says they need to be aware at all times while inside the theater—you never know who may be listening.
Tomorrow we head for Madison, WI, for a week-long gig before a five-week run in Toronto.
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