A Three Hour Tour...

Ok, so I don't hide it... I love driving! I love tanking up my car, burning the fossil fuels and traveling at 70 miles an hour to some desitination. I love taking back roads and using my high beams.

But what do you do for the hours on end. Here's my usual run down.

Gas the car before the trip (or usually to a half tank to get me out of the city and to the cheaper gas).
After about 30 minutes into the trip I stop for a bathroom break, gas if needed, and coffee (with only one good eye, driving is a bit of a strain).
During that first leg I usually jam out to musical theatre.

Now it's the second leg. The shoes come off, and podcast comes on (right now always about Disney). Set the car in cruise control and "play games;" my favorite being that once I'm in cruise I pick a lane (center if its a three lane road, right if only two) then I try to stay in the lane without breaking (so I have to time the lane switching for passing) Childish I know, but it keeps me amused.

About 1 - 1.5 hours later, time for a stretch break. More coffee (if needed) but definitely some sort of food. This break is usually signifies a state crossing (usually just before or just after Delaware: see Delaware rant lower). Then it's time to listen to an audio book. God these things are amazing! In the past five years, I've probably read just as many audio books as regular books.

Finally I'm getting antzy and am ready for another break, but am so close to my destination I just push through. When I arrive I use the restroom and am so jonesed up on coffee that I can't even sit down for about a hour!

It's soooo much fun...

DELAWARE: I hate driving through Delaware. I've been driving on 95 in Delaware for 7 years. I always hit traffic. 95 in Delaware is 5 miles long. It usually takes 30 -45 minutes! I HATE DELAWARE!!!!!

Dear Kirk Cameron

In response to my friends blog I have decided to write an open letter to Kirk Cameron.

You might want to check this out first, for context of this post:



Dear Kirk Cameron,

Back in 1990, when I was 6 and you were on Growing Pains I had a weird crush on you and Tracey Gold. I wanted to be a part of the Seaver family. It was a great show that was exciting to watch and always could offer a laugh.

Time goes on, and TV shows disappear and you and Tracey moved from the limelight of my 6 year old eyes into the recesses of syndication.

19 years later, and I've discovered that you are crazy as a loon! Here is a list of my several problems with your video:

1. I'm an agnostic. I have been since YEARS before college! My top 100 university professors did not teach me how to be agnostic. My high school teachers didn't teach me to be agnostic. The Catholic Church taught me to be agnostic. I spent 14 years of my life trying to believe the "word of the lord." But it just didn't make sense to me. How could there be fossil evidence of dinosaurs when the Bible said the world started with Adam and Eve? How could Jesus have been the son of god (yes that is lower case) when god is incorporeal? And hundreds of other questions that didn't make sense: Most importantly, how could the church hate like it does, when Jesus loved everyone.

If we take for a fact that everything in the Bible is true, than Jesus was a miracle worker, he kept company with prostitutes and beggar and lepers. Basically the slums of the people of the time. He preached love, tolerance and acceptance of these people, not total disregard for who they are. He taught everyone to love all of god's creations. Not HATE! (Like you and the Christian right are doing). How could a religion based on the teachings of this "saint" be promoting bigotry and intolerance? That's when I left Catholicism.

When I understood that I was gay, and that god no longer accepted me, I realized that religion wasn't a place where I would find solace and acceptance, just hate and ignorance.

2. I believe there is a higher being, for some of the same reason that you mention. There is no scientific proof that on what actually created the universe (whether some sneezed and we're the by-product on it, or god needed to be created and in the process the big bang happened, but until we have a reason for the big bang, I have to agree that something started the whole thing). But I do hold the believe that that is where it ended. God isn't part of my life, he doesn't control my choices, he isn't holding a scale to weigh my heart against my sins. He's just not around. Where's the proof?

3.  I'm a teacher. I teacher Kindergarten. I allow my students to read whatever they want. I allow them to talk about whatever they want. And as long as they are talking pure and unhurtful words, I allow them to say whatever they want. When they ask if I believe in God, or if I go to church I answer truthfully, and say "Yes, I believe in a god." And "No, I don't go to church. Do you?" And if they ask religious questions I always defer with "This is a question to ask your parents." I don't push an agenda on them, I just help them be tolerant of EVERYONE!! (not just who the religious right think we should be tolerant of).

4. You are a loon! And you and the religious right need to rethink your scare campaigner. Us on the left won't put up with it for long. Even you said that Atheism and Agnosticism are on the rise. You loose more and more people when you preach hate and intolerance (btw, how many modern scientists would agree with your statements, it's easy to pick names from the distant past to give credit to your argument. How many of those same people believed the Earth was flat!!!!!).

It's time to understand that the Bible is not the word of god, but a few men's stories.

"You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye." Matthew 7:5


Thom

P.S. STOP BEING A LOON

"Gotta Sing, Sing..." Why Musical Theatre is the best...

Ok, so I know that I'm pretty gay, but this is one stereotype that I'm proud to have!

Musical Theatre, particularly American Musical Theatre, has changed my life.

Let's begin as a child. I watched 7 movies over and over as a child. 6 of which were musical theatre: Mary Poppins, Hello Dolly, Grease, Grease 2, and Wizard of Oz (and Saved by the Bell Hawaiian Style is the non-MT one). (Look soon for a post on Saved by the Bell). Musical Theatre encompassed a lot of my life.

I would watch these movies over and over and over again. I love the way these movies would make me feel and how I could easily relive the movies by just thinking of the music. As I grew older, you know, like 5, Disney reached it's Animated Renaissance with Little Mermaid, and I found out something important about musical theatre (particularly the Disney genre): Ariel wanted something, she needed it, she had to have it, and she went for it (as with the other movies above). I've since come to realize that my love for Ariel has come from my homosexuality, because she wasn't excepted by her family for the person she loved. I can empathize with her, because I'm ostracized from some of my friends and family because of who I love. So as a young boy I saw myself reflected on the screen in a female mermaid!

Then there came other movie musicals. Best Little Whorehouse! OMG. MAN ASS. That's not the only reason I loved it though. I found this musical by the time I was 6. Again, I found something in the musical that I wasn't getting from the rest of the movies I saw: Adult themes and exposure to things that would matter later to me in life (like female prostitution).

Gypsy came next. We never had this on tape, but I saw this on AMC once and loved it. Mom and I stayed up past midnight to watch it all. Again, this musical was about being something that you're not. Changing who you are and why you do what you do. Louis was being forced to be her sister (which younger bother has never felt like that). And once she found something she was good at (stripping) she finally became confident.

Then I rediscovered Grease and Grease 2. This time, it was Grease 2 that really stuck on me. Just like the original, it has great music, but this time it was a male lead. And he hid in his "Charades" pretending to be the cool rider, while being the "nerd." By the end, after his reveal, he was some sort of combination of the two. Many years later, I auditioned for my high school musical theatre program with his song and little did I know that I had been playing in my own charades and it was only musical theatre that allowed me to confront those issues (discussed later). [BTW if anyone has a motorcycle and a leather jacket, I'd love to reenact the scene when Stephanie gets taken away from the gas station by "cool rider"]

Then something amazing happened! I went to see Beauty and the Beast on Broadway! That opened a new door. When I saw musical theatre live, I finally understood something. You can't lie when your in a musical. You can't lie when you sing. The need for singing comes from you soul and you can't lie from your soul (unless you truly believe what your singing). But look at RENT, despite all the deception that happens it's only when Roger and Mimi sing to each other, does all the truth come out. Sweet from Buffy the Vampire Slayer's musical episode even says something to that effect (and is the point of the episode that Buffy can no longer hide the fact that she is living in hell because she was in heaven)

My "charades": It was when I was performing in Little Shop that I realized I was gay. Because of the accepting environment of the cast of MT, I was able to accept myself for who I was, and just like Seymour, come to terms with who I am (I just hope I don't get eaten by a big plant).

Then came Wicked. Taking one of my most beloved stories from childhood (I had even dedicated the month of May as a child to the Wizard of Oz), and giving it a new twist. The musical explores the friendship of GaLinda (The Good, of the North) and Elphaba (The "wicked" witch of the West). I found this musical when my own friendships were being tested and tried! When I finally saw the musical, I felt like I could never be the same person, because the story was so soul searching, that I can't even describe yet how it has moved me.

Granted, some musicals are purely entertainment: Legally Blonde comes to mind right away, but most have truly struck something deep within me. And in the words of Ariel, "Watch and you'll see, one day I'll be, part of your world!"

 

(As Always, these aren't my pictures)

Emmys

Dr. Horrible won an Emmy (although they don't air for another week, the ones that don't get air time have already been announced!) Although Buffy got shafted before Joss is being recognized for the wonderfulness that is Dr. Horrible.

If you haven't checked out Dr. Horrible, you should. Dr. Horrible is a great musical staring Neil Patrick Harris as the lovable Dr. Horrible who wants to rule the world and get Penny to fall in love with him. Captain Hammer, the "hero" of the story, stops the Dr. from only one of these.

Great songs.
Wonderful Acting.
AND NEIL PATRICK HARRIS!!!

More Reminiscing: 10 Toys I played with as a child

Here are the 10 Toys that I loved as a child (some as an adolescent) (again, none of the picture are mine)

10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: I was a turtle foot all the way. In a previous post I talked about how I used to bring my indoor toys outside; well these were my favorite. I used to have them in a TMNT bag, and I saved the cards that were on the back of the figures' and vehicles' boxes. I had the Turtles, Splinter, Shredder, Craig (The Brain), Bebop, Rocksteady, Several Foot Soldiers, April, KC Jones and about a dozen other random turtles (like Shogun Leo). I had the Turtle Van and boats and pizza shooters. These were some of the few action figures that I would play battles with.

One random TMNT thing I had was a 3D Sticker book (and if you ever had one of these books, you know how amazing they were). But the most random part of it, was/is that I actually can't see 3D, but I would still wear the glasses and pretend I could!

9. Power Rangers. Ok, if you've been to my apartment, you know that I love PR. From 93 - 98 they consumed my life. I loved the idea of transforming and saving the day from Rita. I have almost all of the zords from the Zordon era (but stopped watching the show when the Ranger cast would switch each season).  I did not play Power Rangers with these toys though (at least not the whole time). Most times I would play house or the zords would have to solve mysteries that would require them to come together. (In addition to all the zords, I have all the Auto Morphing Rangers; the Collectible 3'' figures; some weapons, and the Command Centers (yep, both of them))

8. Pogs. They were huge in early middle school. What's really funny is my cousin, Tim (5 years younger than me) would usually introduce me to a lot of these things on my list. And after a visit with him I became obsessed! This is most true with Pogs. And this, I would play and battle and Win! These were so much fun, I probably had 1000 of them and would collect them from anything that they came "free" in.

7. Disney Toys. This was my big collection. I have/had toys from most of the major Disney cartoons. I have hundreds of them and every time a new movie would come out, my mom and I would got scouring the city looking for the versions I preferred. (I didn't like the rubber ones, nor the actual action figures, but rather hard plastic, non-movable ones with no seams!)

6. Stretch Armstrong. (Actually his dog). I went through like 5 of these toys! They were great.

5. Monopoly. Particularly with Tim, his brother and sister and my brother. Every time we got together we would play. We'd start right after dinner on friday night and then around 3 or 4 we'd close out! I don't think I ever won, because if you fell asleep, you lost!

4. Barbie. OMG I loved playing with Barbies. Luckily I had 4 girl cousins (The Penny Club) and we would routinely play with them. My favorite this was to dress them up in gaudy outfits and have them go "out" on the town looking for Ken (who was usually topless!).

3. Dolls. More "House" and dolls. Again, my cousins and I would get together and when not playing other make believe games like "work" and "school" or "traveling" we would play house. Most of the time we would pretend we weren't related (meaning I wouldn't have to be married to any of them), and all of our spouses were elsewhere at the time). I remember though, than many times I would be a single dad! I would also always choose the youngest Cabbage Patch Kids! (I know, I loath babies now, but I always wanted the babiest of the baby dolls). One of my Aunts had given me my own cabbage patch doll (she's actually my great-great aunt on my mom's side - her only living relative other than her brother).

2. Littlest Pet Shop. OMG, these toys would amaze me. I loved that they used magnets to make them work. I had the entire 90's collection, including the actual pet shop! I used to carry the petshop around like a brief case!

1. Ironing Board. I know, weird right. But I loved to pull the ironing board out and play all the toys listed above on it. It would be extend the counter space where I played and give me a 270 degree playing area while I sat on the kitchen stools!

0. Bonus. A toy I had but never knew why? Thundercats! I never liked this show, never really played with the toys. I think I inherited these from my brother.

GLBT Round-up

It seems that the old Gay Marriage horse, hidden the past few months, is rearing it's head (ugly or not) again.

Here's a couple things I've come across:

First is a clip of a new anchor making a comment on how gay-marriage is actually promoting long-term marriage in Massachusettes; divorce is down.



And the second clip is an adorable Adge-prop (not sure if I spelt that correctly) from Ireland, following the story of a man who is seeking permission to marry his love.



I think that it's time for all this shit to give way, and just give every tax paying American the same rights. Enough with fucking taboos and the "institute of marriage." Like Blitzen said in The Eight Reindeer Monologues " by Jeff Goode "An institution doesn't feel./ An institution doesn't suffer./ An institution/doesn't have to look in the mirror/and see how pain has changed it's victim's face./The victim does." Why uphold an institution that has denied so many people so many rights for so long (Interracial Marriages) (hell even women in the Renaissance were just commodities!). It's time that the government got out of the whole marriage business and just issue Civil Unions to all!!!

Poor Pluto...

So I love Outer Space! It's one of my favorite subjects to teach, so I was devastated when Pluto was demoted.
But life goes on and I've since come to expect that all books be changed. One series of books that I became really fond of, still marked Pluto as a planet, so I refused to buy it.

Short post today. Look for more tomorrow.

Top 10 Things I miss from my Childhood

I've been reading a lot of lists today, so I've decided to make my own. This is a random list of things I miss from my childhood... spurned on by the fact that I'm broiling food for the first time in over 10 years!

They are counting down, but not in any order. (None of the pictures are from my childhood though)

10. Wall Oven. My parents' double wall oven with the broiler on the bottom. I used to make the best tuna melts in that thing!

9. The Front Stoop. Playing on the stoop. I had a few neighborhood friends (two next door and one across the street), and we used to play in front of our houses (despite me having a giant back yard and a pool and a basketball hoop). We'd bring out indoor toys (action figures, comic books, etc) and just play on my stoop. Now by stoop I mean two steps. Occasionally we'd play ball games and running games, and we had a strict limit placed by our parents (or at least my mom). We could go down to the corner (about 100 feet away) and up to just past the factory (50 feet).  Mrs. Broken was the house on the "corner" (not really a corner at all because the cross street didn't go through 67th but started on 68th (my block)), and her dog Penny! BTW, there was never adult supervision unless Mrs. Broken was gardening in her front yard!

8. The Penny Club. My grandma used to have a jar of pennies. HUNDREDS of pennies, so on rainy days she'd pull it down and we'd go into the hallway and build pictures. Giant, complex pictures. Art of pennies. My cousins and I now call ourselves the penny club!

7. "Sick Days" My mom was an awesome mom (still is). When we were younger, she would allow us to play hookie from school one day a marking period! We would have to let her know the night before and it just couldn't be on her day off AND it couldn't be a "test" day. These sick days were just great rest days.

6. Christmas. Now I know that Christmas is still around, but it doesn't have that magic like it used to. When I was 5, it took 1/5 of my life to get to the next Christmas. Now it's only 1/26 of my life. That's significantly smaller! So the magic of Christmas time (although it still brings me great joy) is lost because it seems to happen more frequently.

5. Weekend Trips. My mom used to take my brother and I on weekend trips! They were educational (Like Williamsburg) and random (like Caves in North Carolina) and fun (Day trips to the beach). Of course I still take weekend trips, but nothing will beat the red "Taurus" with Joey in the front (because he could read the road signs - he does have 4 years on me) and me laying in the back with my Highlights Magazines.

4. Movie Nights. My dad worked late hours often, but about once a month, I was allowed to stay up late and wait for him to close the restaurant. He'd call before he'd leave and ask what snacks I wanted (always a Cherry Coke). Then he'd come home and we'd watch a movie of my choice. (I seem to remember many showings of Mary Poppins).  Dad and I revisited these in High School on snow days (when we'd watch Sopranos all day).

3. Night Swimming. Again, my dad worked late, but in the summer, I could stay up much later. And when dad would come home, Joey and I would be in our bathing suits hoping Dad would want to go swimming. He'd pull our legs and pretend he was too tired, and we'd get disappointed, but then he'd run down the hall in his trunks and jump into the pool, with us trailing behind him!

2. Bergenline Avenue. When I was younger B-line was (and still is) a few miles long shopping district with discount stores. Mom, Joey and I (in a stroller) would start at 68th street (our block) and just walk down; generally to the 30th street bus depot (when the district would dissipate). If Joey and I were well behaved, on the way back Mom would let us buy one thing. We'd walk into the discount store and pick out a toy (usually under a dollar!) and be happy for weeks with these toys. (God I had hundreds of toy "collections" from these stores. I had so much fun with them!) (P.S. That is actually a pic of B-line, after the modernization with black street signs and that cool clock)

1. Gift Budget. On those weekend trips with Mom, we were always on a tight budget (this was before cell phones and atms) so mom had X amount of money and that was it. But no matter how tight the budget was, she had a rule (again as long as we behaved) that we had a gift budget of $5 a place! (She even used to say, she'd pay for the tax, so we could get up to $5). So at every place we visited (even if there were multiple places in a day, when we got to the gift shop we had $5 to spend! I remember I'd always buy post cards and maps and then any money I had left went to a toy or guide book (yeah I was a looser). Sometimes our budget would be extended, or we could carry over the $5 to another gift shop, but we were in charge of keeping track of how much was left in our budget.

So those are things that I miss from childhood.

Julius Caesar

This past summer I got to spend a glorious week in the NYC metro area. I partied the weekend away and saw two Free Shakespeare Shows.

I saw Julius Caesar performed Gorilla Style by the Gorilla Repertory Theatre. It was performed WAY uptown near the Cloisters. It took about an hour on metro just to get up there, but it was worth it. This Gorilla style was performed in a beautiful setting in a park. There were many different playing areas, but the three most powerful were: the cliff walk way - used in a vital into scene where the conversation began  before the audience could see the actors, so it truly felt like we were eves dropping on a scene; the stair - two stories high at least, was used to make powerful statements about power and its inequities; and the tunnel - again, another long walk way that really made it seem that we were eves dropping.

The cast of mostly men were powerful and moving, and didn't allow this sometimes slow moving play to drag.

I was worried about not sitting in a seat to experience theatre, but because each scene took place in a different location, I wasn't on the ground too much, and there were lots of leaning places.

I hope that next summer, I'll be able to catch another show by them.

Marvel and Me...

The internet is abuzz right now with the Disney buy out of Marvel Comics. And I'd like to comment on why I'm a Marvel guy...

Let's start out with guiding you to my close friend's blog about why he's DC (Unsuper) which is the reason I've decided to comment.

Now let me preface by saying I love Superman and Batman (and am in love with Robin) and Wonder Woman, but I have an affinity towards the Marvel Characters. Ever since I was younger my Sunday mornings (when I would worm my way out of church) would be filled with the fantasy world of Fantastic Four and Spider Man (reruns of the 60's shows) (Sometimes Iron Man and more sporadically Spider Man Team Ups). I'd get up extra early to enjoy these old cartoons and little did I know they were in comic books! The plots would intrigue me and the characters would keep me coming back for more.

I cast away my Marvel friends for Power Rangers as I went through Middle School (yeah, I had few friends). But then in high school, something happened: I realized I was gay. And as I was struggling with my duel identities and both internal and external homophobia, so were Peter Parker and the mutants of X-Men.

Daily, Peter struggled to keep his life as Spider Man a secret and "in the closet." It was hard. It was dangerous. He was doing great things as someone he wasn't. (This argument can be played between Clark Kent and Super Man, but I always felt he was more well adjusted and comfortable in his tights than Spidey will ever be - this insecurity between CK and Supes would be played out more in WB/CW's Smallville.) I struggled for 2 years with my sexual identity and here was Peter struggling with his secret identity too!

The X-Men on the other hand represented the fear and hatred of the "other" and I would rush home from high school to watch re-runs of this fabulous series. The mutants were going through what I feared: scorn because of how I was made, verses understanding of who I was.

Then for a few years I left comics and American superheroes for Anime (particularly Sailor Moon). But just a few years ago I decided to turn my attention back to superheroes in tights, and FINALLY buy a comic book to experience the magic that way (I couldn't find the old series on television). I did my research and decided Ultimate Marvel would be the best place to start because it was the shortest run and I wouldn't have to deal with decades of back stories.

I've fallen away from Comics for a while (though I LOVE going to comic-con). And will probably pick back up soon (although it won't take long to catch up with Ultimate Marvel because it's such a few lines).

But, I am Marvel, because Marvel was about real people doing extraordinary things because the things were forced upon them. DC takes the extra-ordinary things and gives it to extra-ordinary people (Batman withstanding). Marvel reflects the "everyday-ness" of being a superhero and how it affects all aspects of ones life.


(Now give me more of this and I'd switch over... lol)

Date-ability

So yesterday I blogged about Date-ability and thought  I should expound upon it.

Date-ability is an arbitrary list of must's and mustn't's a person (guy in my case) must meet in order from him/her to be considered for dating and other...

Now let me preface... my "other" category has far less must's and mustn't's on it. One must is "hot" and "sexy," we can save the rest of that list for another blog "f*ability?"

Now to move on to dating:

Must have attended college or currently attending college. The more graduate and post graduate degrees the better (like I said in the other blog a PhD can turn a 5 into a 7!).

Next: He must have a full time job. (At least now that I have one - the must before used to be a full time student at least). In these economic times it's a challenge, but it's still a must. Also, this job should require an aforementioned college degree (and not some fast food job) (see previous post for more info of my accepting my classist view of dating).

Next: He must like technology. I'm not saying he has to be a computer wiz, but he should have a computer, know what twitter is, use his cell phone for more than talking... etc. And at that he must watch TV (this is a big part of my life... and I'm not afraid to admit it).

Next: He must enjoy dancing. (Now he doesn't have to be good at it, but just enjoy going to a club). Music is a big part of my life and it doesn't have to be a part of his, but he must appreciate my connection to music.

That's it for now. (btw if you meet these requirements, drop me an e-mail: because I am single... and with a list of these must's I think I'll be single for a while).

Does college play a role in date-ability?

So I came across this article on my friends facebook Marriage eludes high-achieving black women. The title gives you a great synopsis of the article: Educated Black women are staying single longer (or forever) and/or not birthing children because of the lack of educated Black men (not that Black women only marry Black men, but the argument is that this is one factor in the article - "black women... comprise 71 percent of black graduate students" Brian Alexander finds in a census study).

I completely understand the idea of marrying in your same educational level. When I really started dating, I've got to say, when I found out a guy didn't finish/attend college, the date was over for me. (One time the date ended when he told me he didn't have a driver's license - it would have been fine not to have a car, but no license!). 

I do tend to find the more educated to be more attractive (someone can be bumped up from a 5 to a 7 just by studying for his PhD!).

I know an advanced degree doesn't mean intelligence. And when I discovered one of the reasons for my "elitism" I was shocked with myself! It's class-ism! In today's society people of our age (mid 20's +) go/went to college - it was a given. But I went to a tier two school because my parents had money (well the availability to borrow the money). But if my parents hadn't had the money... state school here I come. But if I were from a lower economic status, I might not have been able to go anywhere... work force here I come!

So I was appalled with myself when I put two and two together. And although I'm conscious of this fact and try not to let advanced degree play into the factor of date-ability, it does.

I don't know the solution to this problem (neither the struggle of the educated Black woman to find love nor my perplexing classist view of higher learning), but I do know that this is something I struggle with and can empathize with the Black women in the study.

Much Ado About Nothing

So I saw a bunch of plays in my quest to see all of Shakespeare, before I started the blog, so I'll back track and review them.

On August 28, 2009 I saw Much Ado About Nothing at Olney Theatre. This was another free performance (a preview). It was supposed to be outside, but Hurricane Daniel pushed it inside, I assume this space was once a barn.

The show was standard good. Nothing to write home about.

Much Ado is about the misunderstanding and eves droppings that occur around two sets of lovers: Claudio/Hero, Benedict/Beatrice; with a minor plot involving Jon the Bastard (the Prince's brother); and random guards-men.

Much Ado in general, although a good plot, lacks a certain something that I like about Shakespearean comedies (It has all the grace and charm of Midsummer but lacks fairies). I'm not sure what it's missing, but hopefully by the time I've seen all of Shakespeare, I'll have a more defined view of it.

As for the performance itself, like I said, it was generally good, with no one thing standing out as great/amazing. There was a surprise of double casting the Prince and the Bastard. It took a few moments before I realized he wasn't the same person (and I'm highly familiar with the play). But after it was understood, the transitions between characters were clear.

All-in-all I'm happy this was a free event.