Countdown!

The week of the show is finally here! I am confirming all the details of schedule, rentals, costumes, program, music, acknowledgments. This is the word oriented part of the production process. (Maybe I can fit a dance class in among the details this week!)

I doubt that "Cousin Lu" realizes the extent of impact her casual mention of her time in the Women's Army Corps last year had on me and on this artistic process. What started out as an idea for a ten minute piece has now turned into hour+ evening work. I wish she could be here in San Francisco to see it. (She lives near Detroit, MI.)

I have loved the stories these women veterans have shared with me...most recently the story of turning Gene Kelly down when he invited her to join him for cocktails. "I could kick myself. My husband has never forgiven me for saying no to Gene Kelly!"

Yesterday was the anniversary of suffrage in this country. This year we have had a woman running for the Democratic presidential nomination and now there is a woman running for vice-president alongside McCain. These stories of women turning gender expectations on their heads seem so timely and I wonder how much more will happen in my lifetime.