I’ve been super busy lately helping out with a Northfield Arts Guild production of August: Osage County as well as getting my daughter, Rose, to and from rehearsals and performances of Northfield High School’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Revival XI. To top things off, I decided to audition for the upcoming NAG production of the musical Oliver!

Well, I got in the show and I’m really excited that I’ll be playing Widow Corney. We’ve already started rehearsals and things are going well.

Just for fun, I decided to pull out my copy of Oliver Twist and start reading through the Dickens story that inspired the musical. I found my paperback copy of Oliver Twist that I purchased when I was in England for a January Term class through University of St. Thomas back in 1996. That visit was life-changing! (click HERE to read my previous post about my host parent, Bob). When I opened Oliver Twist, I found inside a British Rail ticket to Canterbury, England. Oh the memories! I took a day trip to Canterbury on my own one day during my J-Term. It was one of my favorite, certainly one of the most memorable!, days in my month-long trip. I toured the Canterbury Cathedral, had lunch with some lovely ladies who were on the cathedral tour, and purchased a handmade teddy bear from Canterbury Bears. Then I hopped back on the train so I could attend an evening show with the rest of my class. Except the train broke down and was late back into London. I had to run quite a bit but I made it to the theater just on time!

Earlier in my England trip, I had the fun of seeing Oliver! at the Palladium Theater. Wow! I’ve wanted to be in Oliver!, and have wanted to be silly Widow Corney, ever since. Dreams do come true.