— by Margie Doyle —
We are good!
A heartfelt and humble “thank you” to Grace McCune, Jake Perrine and the Orcas Center for bringing us all together — the 140 cast and production crew and the 230 audience members for a night that Joyce Burghardt pronounced, “It’s the old Orcas Center!” Meaning that the navel of our Orcas universe was humming and pounding with song, astonishment, music, dance, neighbors, pride, choreography, polish, sound, nostalgia, hope, rhythm, fancy, poignancy, emotion, and good will.
The kids of all ages who put on the show will never forget the work, nerves, soul and exhilaration of “Across the Universe” as performed at Orcas Center in May 2015. They gave it their all and they were all stars.
Neither will I, speaking as one audience member. The seminal and varied music of the Beatles helps of course, but the huge heart, love and passion of Grace and Jake, communicated through all their “crew,” delivered the performance of a lifetime to a hungry audience that ate it up.
As a benefit for Orcas Center, “Across the Universe” brings not only funding to the arts non-profit, but also a message of goodness, joyful work and neighborliness that feeds the soul. The message continues — I want to be a part of that, and so I invite all to join me in making a generous (whatever that may be for you) contribution to Orcas Center so that shows such as this on any scale can be offered on “our” Center Stage. May be that it’s easiest to click here to do so: https://orcascenter.org/about/support.asp.
(Note: although Opening Night was sold out, there were at least two empty seats in the audience — it’s worth hanging around for the waiting list)
Favorite moments from “Across the Universe”
- Jake Perrine’s dramatic welcome to the Opening Night of “Across the Universe”
- Laura Ludwig’s incredibly alive body dancing, and facial expressions
- Allana Lago’s simple, bell-like rendition of “Let it Be,” then joined by Katie Wlaysewski-Luft Luft’s passionate-to-the-core performance.
- Grace McCune’s all-encompassing dance-like conducting of the choir and then turning to embrace the audience into the choir to sing “Imagine”
- Bentley, Martin Lund’s dog, watching the performances from the bandstand, ultimately to fall asleep (straight through rendition of “Helter Skelter”)
- Adia Dolan and Sparks singing “Hey Jude” for all generations
- the little daisy girls in white leotards and yellow tutus dancing to “Here Comes the Sun”
- Jake Perrine’s theater arts class carrying the statue of liberty to the song “She’s so Heavy”
oh there’s so much I’m leaving out… you have to see it!
Without a doubt, the best show ever. In all the years that I
have been on Orcas and all the shows and plays I have seen or
been in, this one had it all. Congratulations for a job well
done
OK, my Sandy suggests I forward what I emailed to singing partner Cali Bagby, after Sandy & I returned home from Friday Opening Night:
Back from “Universe” opener, thinking that some 325 Island families are having a hard time getting their kids to sleep tonight; Team McCune/Perrine outdid itself – months of intensive work are certainly paying off, beginning tonight, as a huge cast, reminiscent of the chariot scene in Ben Hur, took to the stage and captivated, time after time, song after song, bit after bit, with talent, precision, charm, pathos, drama, musicality, humor. . . can’t adequately express my appreciation, and admiration. Choral stuff was wonderfully precise, on pitch, energetic, delightful. . . truly impressed here. . . thanks again. Good stuff. Thanks, Cali! Lemme know whenever you, or Grace, ever need a walk-on groupie! You wouldn’t even have to sing Helter Skelter!
FYI, Martin’s dear dog’s name is Winston. His karma always adds extra magic to a show.
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