Thanks to all who attended one of our shows this year! The first, at Town Hall, sold out the downstairs space and was a ripsnorter, indulging in oodles of spirited holiday fare. The second, at the Good Shepherd Center Chapel, drew a more intimate 70 or so, but revealed its own candid pleasures.
Performers included Julie Briskman, Frank Corrado, Paul Dorpat, and Jean Sherrard, displaying a wide range of seasonal tonics, anecdotes, and antidotes. Musicians included John and Tia Owen, Mark Kramer, Stu Dempster, and Ethan Sherrard. We particularly thank our tech support staff – artists both – the always inspired David Verkade and Jean’s brilliant former student Rhys Ringwald.
Here are a few photos from both events:
What is not noted in Jean’s short description of our two nights on stage with the – mostly – gentle Christmas parodists, James Thurber, Jean Shepherd, Truman Capote and Nathan Englander is that Jean Sherrard (not Shepherd) produced it all. And that included purchasing the cookies and apple cider for the Good Shepherd show. Much thanks once more to Jean. Now we need to ponder and ask and ponder again shall we do a Third Annual show next year? I have about 70 e-mails featuring a great assortment of reasons people could not make it this year and expressing hopes that we will do it – or something – again. Curiously, not one of this year’s retreats featured the flu, although one did frankly confess to old age. For that one I had a simple response, “But Ron I was there and I am older than you.” By a few months.
I respond now to my own pondering. Three times would certainly make it a “tradition.”