Monroe High School Goalie Logan Summers,left defends his net from a shot by Snohomish High Midfielder Brandon Crutchfield #10.

Composed and posted with ecto Made on a Mac ©2006 Jim Scolman.

Composed and posted with ecto Made on a Mac ©2006 Jim Scolman

Composed and posted with ecto Made on a Mac ©2006 Jim Scolma

Composed and posted with ecto
Made on a Mac ©2006 Jim Scolman

Composed and posted with ecto Made on a Mac ©2006 Jim Scolma

Composed & posted with ecto, on a Mac.
© Jim Scolman 2006

Tennessee Williams walked the stage during the Monroe High School production of the William's classic, "The Glass Menagerie" opening night, Thursday, 3/16/2006 at Monroe High School.  Tom Wingfield, center, the Son, played by MHS Senior Scott Britton, gave narrative voice to Tennessee Williams words and insights to the characters, lives and motivations of the four member cast. Tom paced the stage, lit by a spotlight, offering biting, philosophical commentary on the lives and times of his Southern family on the eve of the Great Depression.

"Brittany Beck, right, a Junior, gave a spirited performance as  Amanda Wingfield, the Mother.  A faded Southern Bell transplanted to a back-street walkup in St. louis.  Beck brought to life the past glories of  a young woman of a certain Southern Class with now failed expectations.  She held desperately to the dreamy memories of how life was and still should be.  The Daughter, Laura Wingfield, played by Sophomore Brenna Landon, filled the Glass Menagerie Keeper with dignity, strength and a firm grasp of reality sadly missing in her Mother. Nathan Crume, Senior, left below, gave the mythical "Gentleman Caller" character  hope and possibility when he appeared in the second act.  Crumes scenes with Laura offered the sweetness and poignancy of a shared, remembered past and a possible future that was not to be.

In the production notes for the play Tennessee Williams said,"Being a 'memory play', The Glass Menagerie can be presented with unusual freedom of convention."  Monroe High Drama Director, Karl Akesson took advantage of this freedom by using lighting effects during scene changes, sound cues, and displaying visual images on a scrim above the stage.  These images highlighted action and dialogue on stage.

The classic show tunes of Lerner and Loewes "My fair Lady" rang through the Sultan High School Commons on Wednesday night as the cast, ensemble and crew ran through a final, full dress and technical rehearsal.  The much-loved show, inspired by the classic 1916 Bernard Shaw play "Pygmalion" is produced and directed by Sultan Highs music teacher Mrs. Jill Sumpter.  Mrs. Sarah Harkins is the  technical, scenery and drama advisor.

A highlight of the lavish production are the sumptuous period costumes,left,that lend a professional air to the show.  The large cast looks authentic and  comfortable in the detailed costumes.  The "Ascot" scene in particular stands out with the Singing/Dancing Ensemble massed on stage, all in lush black and white fancy dress .

The protagonists in this battle of the sexes,  Andrew Murray as Henry Higgins, Jenny Stone as Eliza Doolittle and Pat Santerre as Colonel Pickering, act, dance and sing well, sharing their obvious joy  with the audience.    Colonel pickering, Pat Santerre, acts as a  foil to the opinionated Henry Higgins.  It is fun to watch Eliza blossom from Covent Garden flower girl to Society star.

The signature, "On the Street Where You Live" sung by  Drew Wetzel, right, as Freddie Eynsford-Hill is delivered in a charming, quavery, high voice that is completely in character as Eliza Doolittles young suitor.  All of the singing  is polished and the choreography  moves the story along.

A show stopper is “Get Me to the Church On Time” performed by Cody Young as the witty, Cockney Alfred P. Doolittle, Elizas father.  The Ensemble provide great dancing and chorus for this rousing number.

The production is boosted by the Pit Ensemble, supporting the singing and dancing, and providing scene change interludes.  The band features a strong horn section.  Interesting production touches are having  actors enter from behind the audience, small scenes done in front of the curtain during scene changes and characters exiting off stage, through the Commons.  These production features add up to an enjoyable, well done evening at the theater.

Monroe Goal Keeper Logan Summers, #2, a Junior, makes the effort to defend
the scoring rebound kick by MV Forward Trevor Helms. ©Jim Scolman 2006

Composed and posted with ecto Made on a Mac ©2006 Jim Scolman.

Composed & posted with ecto, on a Mac.
© Jim Scolman 2006

Composed & posted with ecto, on a Mac.
© Jim Scolman 2006

Composed & posted with ecto, on a Mac.
© Jim Scolman 2006

I look at the Magnum web site from time to time to study the pictures, to learn from the masters, past and present. On the site there is an announcement for an upcoming exhibition by Magnum founder Henri Cartier Bresson. Rashly thinking I have seen all of Bressons work, but still wanting more, I clicked on the link. The pictures had been taken in the 1950s over a period of several years, with a subject that seems so mundane and common to hardly warrent pointing the Leica and exposing film. The photo essay traces the Seine River from its source to to the sea. An idea so simple but so rich in possibilities.

The Seine is well known in the photographs of Bresson and countless photographers since. The fascinating aspect of these river photographs is the number of shots that are new to me. Even so, several of the shots have a subtle familiarity too. This idea is a perfect subject for an essay. The river flows through history and through life itself. There are scenes on the river that are timeless and others that point to the future.

The journey begins with a picture that appears to be sort of a well in a field, the humble source of the Seine. Next is a perfectly composed picture of a house beside the river. The river is in a stone channel. A stone wall in the foreground leads to a classic "S" curve path between the river and the house. We all learned about the "S" curve in school and rejected it right away as corny and stilted. Here it is used to perfection. An otherwise static shot is brought to life by a small group of figures on the left side of the frame.

Two shots that have the subtle familiarity are scenes of picnics on the river bank. They look like they bracket the famous shot of the family group dining al fresco on the river bank. Both of these new shots have a strong diagonal composition with the river and the bank sharing the frame. One shot has a painterly composition with four figures and a Renault. The other has the foreground dominated by the struggle with a sun shade balanced by a figure in silhouette agenst the river in the background.

One frame that has seen widespread acclaim is an old couple sitting by a tree. This could be "French Gothic", with respect to Grant Wood, again this composition is brought high by the spontaneity of a running dog in the middle ground and the bridged river providing a pattern in the background.

There are two shots of bathers, one a vertical with the composition of bodies leading from the foreground through the middle to the river in the back. The stronger of the two is a shot of a wet, (from the river ?) flat surface with a wall of vertical stripes in the background. Filling this frame are a dozen bodies, the foreground elements are all horizontal while the three standing figures in the background echo the vertical stripes of the wall. The shapes and tones of bodies create an abstract photograph that is, at first, unlike HCB, but has his powerful signature that leaves no doubt of the photographer. I have commented on just a few of the shots in the essay. Please look at the entire effort.

These pictures, at first so simple, but with study rich and complex, again inspire and at the same time suggest "why bother", "what's the use". In the end the pictures of HCB, new and old provide a Master Class in the art and craft of photography.

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Composed & posted with ecto, on a Mac.
© Jim Scolman 2006