phantoms and jazz

saturday i went to see phantom of the opera with menc in pittsburgh. amazing show, simply amazing. i loved the sets and effects. they brought their own stage that fit on top of the one at the benedum, so it had candles and footlights that came up out of it. i also loved the fog going through dry ice - looked so cool, like a waterfall, or something. at one point, the phantom was suspended in the air on part of the proscenium that separated and flew on its own. i want their set. the acting was fairly good, too, expecially the phantom. his voice was amazing.

tonight was guest artist - ellis marcelis. the concert was great. there's a reason why they call him the father of new orleans jazz. it was really weird not being there all day, and having no idea what was going on. we rented this cool fiber-optic curtain for the shows. had we bought it, it would have been about $20,000. i was afraid to go near it after i found that out.

today i had a breakthrough in student teaching: the seniors are sort-of talking to me and don't appear to be quite so frightened...that's more than i can say about guys at college.