Un bon vin rouge

On Saturday evening we had a special event, one that turned out to be beneficial for all. A few friends of the Artistic Director, connected with opera companies elsewhere, breezed into town. Tom decided that a presentation of scenes from our four productions should be done for them and the rest of the assembled multitude here at OIO. All the shows have been blocked, but we just moved into the theater. That meant a new space to work in. Each show is still a work in progress. It was a learning experience for the performers to see where they were at in the process. Some things went well and some didn't. And it was a chance for the rest of us to have a sampling of the shows and cheer everyone else on. This is a very good group of young adults.

Sunday was another day off (hurrah!). As the weather was inclement in the morning I opted not to go hiking in the forest preserve south of here. Instead, I drove to Fayetteville, home of the University of Arkansas. It lies west and south of here. I initially took the road we had taken last week for our Taste of Opera concert. When descending from these ancient hills the flat landscape is filled with endless commercial strips. It's hideous. Then there is the interstate south -- and that's boring. Fayetteville has a nice historic town center which houses the main campus of the university. I took a different route back, east then north. The last part, directly south of Eureka Springs, is really pretty. I am getting to know this corner of the state. Next week Arkansas celebrates its 175th birthday.

In the evening I went out to dinner with a colleague, one of the stage directors. We splurged on a really nice meal at a local eatery, even downed a bottle of wonderful Bordeaux (I'm usually a one glass per meal guy), so this was really livin' it up! Life is good in the Ozarks.