The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 120, No. 27, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 8, 2010 Page: 2 of 40
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Hemphill County Area Newspapers and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Hemphill County Library.
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THURS DAV BJULY2D1D
THE CANADIAN RECORD
RECORD
ESTABLISHED 1893
INCORPORATED FEBRUARY 1998
PO Box 898, Canadian, TX 79014
Phone: 8DB.3Z3.B4BI
Fax: 80B.323.5738
BEN EZZELL Publisher/Editor
Publisher 1948-1993
NANCY EZZELL Publisher
LAURIE EZZELL BROWN Editor
editOrScanadianreccrd.com
MARY SMITHEE Business Manager
mary@canadmnrecord.com
ADVERTISING Holly Henderson
Jaquita Adcock
advertising@canadianrecord.com
NEWS/FEATURES
Cathy Ricketts, Julia Schaier
news@canadianrecord.com
SPORTS Jason Turner
jas:tfil@canadianrecord.com
DESIGNS PRODUCTION
Laurie Brown, Cathy Ricketts,
Holly Henderson, Jason Turner
PHOTOGRAPHY
Laurie Brown, Jason Turner.
Cathy Ricketts, Alan Hale
CONTRIBUTORS: Mary Jane McKinney,
Bob Rogers, Ruth Beasley,
Robin Mitchell
USPSD87-9BD
Periodicals postage paid atthe Post
Office in Canadian (Hemphill County),
TX. Published weekly in Canadian by
Nancy M.Ezzell
POSTMASTER: Send address changes
to The Canadian Record, PO Box B9B,
Canadian,TX 79014
SUBSCRIPTIONS:
S30/S3B/S42 Annually
Online Subscriptions S35/Annually
www.canadianrecord.com
*7&e
RECORD
and theEzzell Family
WINNERS OF THE
2DD7 Gish Award
FOR CHUIWGE,TENACITY'S INTEGRITY
IN COMMUNITY JOURNALISM
Si
A
Bringing the curtains
down at Texas Crown
I CANNOT IMAGINE donning grease paint and
cloaking myself in some fictional character, only to
stare into the dark maw of an auditorium filled
with invisible critics, but I've spent enough time ■
sitting through rehearsals of high school one-
act plays at Canadian Middle School Auditori-
um to appreciate the skill and cx-aft and sheer
chuptza required to do so. I've never dimmed
the lights or pulled the curtains. I've never built —
a set or designed an actor's wardrobe. I've nev-
er cued lines or, God knows, memorized a script.
Still, the first time I stood in the newly-restored
Texas Crown Performance Hall with my son,
Gabriel, who oversaw the restoration project for
the school district, I was moved to sudden and
unexpected tears. Inthat moment, I imagine Gabriel
and I both remembered his years in the brilliant Tal
Lastracco's high school drama classes, and that one
ascendant season when the cast and crew of What I
Did Last Summer performed onstage at the State.
UIL One-Act Play Contest.
The: fact that they won that contest—and brought
home honors and praise never before bestowed upon
a Canadian High School One-Act Play—seemed
entirely incidental to the experience. What I watched
happen onstage that year was transformative. That
it occurred in that theatre, with its faulty wiring
and frayed ropes and rigging, its nearly non-
existent lighting and sound systems—that such
ai'tistry was shaped and molded and coaxed to such
magnificent life on that stage—was nothing less
than miraculous.
Lostraeeo wag a madman and a genius. He
Changed young lives. He opened new doors. He
made the once impossible seem possible.
I witnessed such magic again the other night—
this time at the hands of the Missoula Children's
Theatre which, for 40 years, has fostered such
theatrical experiences in more than a million young
children's lives, and the Canadian Arts Alliance,
under whose auspices this five-day workshop was
made possible. Co-directors Brian Epperson and
Allison Eppex-son led the workshop, with the very
capable assistance of Mistie Walser, Chelsie Murfee,
John McGarr and others.
But the real alchemy took place in the young
50-member cast—four years old and up—who in a
matter of five days metamorphosed into sorcerers
and dragons and knights and crickets and soldiers
and urchins and foxes and cats...into all manner
of mesmerizing characters, brought vividly and
colorfully to life at the Texas Crown.
Anyone who watched—and about 400 delighted
parents and grandparents and friends did—was
offered ample proof of theatre's value, and of
those young actors' bright promise. It was a
moment as invigorating and full of charm as the
two days of Independence Day activities that
followed, and one we hope to celebrate each year
anew for decades to come.
Bravo to all involved, and thank you for a
night of sheer magic in an auditorium that has
been brought gloriously back to life. Here's to Tal,
who brought the curtains down, and to the others
who will undoubtedly follow.
In photos above: (top) The cast of Pinoc-
chio takes a final and well-desetyed bow
following Friday night's performance at
the Texas Crown; and (below) a series of
scenes from Dancing with Dragons.
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Brown, Laurie Ezzell. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 120, No. 27, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 8, 2010, newspaper, July 8, 2010; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth220847/m1/2/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hemphill County Library.