Tuesday, December 30, 2008

The Nutcracker: not what I imagined, but better than I expected

On a blessedly cool December evening, blogger mama took her 2 girls to meet their Brownie Girl Scout troop at the oh-so-adorable Temecula Community Theater to see their production of our holiday favorite, The Nutcracker.

What little girl doesn't love to dress up and meet her friends and stay up late on a school night?  No little girl I've ever met, I tell ya what!  Brownie troop 1520 was as adorable and well-behaved as ever, and they were especially excited because we got to sit in the very front two rows.  How's that for good luck?

The production was beautifully done, with ornate costumes, perfect timing on all the sound and light cues (from my time spent on stage during all my schoolin' years, I've come to appreciate the difficulty in making this sort of thing happen), and the dancers could actually dance.  It was downright lovely.  Now I must warn any purists out there that there has been some "finagling" with the story line....it really makes more sense in this format, but it isn't the NYC-Ballet-and-all-other-major-company-in-the-whole-wide-world way to do it, so I can see how some might object.  The music is all there and all right and all the characters and the basic premise are the same, but the order was moved around a bit.  I can't explain it right, so you'll just have to go next year if you'd like to know what the heck I'm talking about.  Oh, and, um, during the party scene in the beginning when the guests are dancing with each other....they....um...(how do I say this without freaking you out?)....sing.  Yeah.  Okay, shake it off.

The music and dancing were so spectacular and the production so tight, that everyone in the audience, our crew included, was disappointed when intermission rolled around.  We were able to placate them by suggesting they practice their own dance moves in the courtyard outside the main auditorium, which they happily did and passed the 20 minutes with lots of hums and even more giggling.

After the show was over,  I enjoyed our walk back to the car through festively-lit Old Town Temecula.  Every lamppost, every building, every sign was covered in lights and greenery and cheer.  I took a bunch of photos and not one of them turned out, so you'll have to enjoy this one of a car.

When our evening came to a close, we were tired but happy.  No traffic, no icy roads- just good fun with good people in a great town.

For more info on this and other productions at the Temecula Community Theater:

www.temeculatheater.org

42051 Main St.
Temecula, CA 92590
 1-(866)-OLD-TOWN

4 comments:

seansan said...

Hello,

I am new to the blogging world and I came across your blog as a link from another. With that said, I have enjoyed reading about Temecula from the view of a family. I have two little girls (9, and 12)and I can relate to alot of your postings like this one. My family and I are hoping to move to Temecula this summer and and would love an insiders opinion of life there. How are the schools? Which neighborhoods are best? How open and welcoming is the community? We are moving from Seattle, and while Seattle has a very liberal enviromental slant, I don't need that, but would like a community that is inviting and open minded. Why I say that is because we are a multi-racial family that enjoys meeting new people. Sorry for the long blog, and I really hope to converse in the future.

Sincerely- Leaving Seattle

dwija said...

TVUSD is one of the highest rated school districts in SoCal, so we've had good luck with schools :). There are so many different races living here together, many multi-racial families, people from all over the U.S. No one will even consider that your family is 'different' in any way. They'll not even bat an eye!

Anonymous said...

Hi, Similar to the seattle gal, we too are considering moving to temecula. I have read lots of posts from you and others on the city data website but wondering about some updated info. As of Jan 09, what is Temecula like in terms of economy, foreclosures, etc? My OC pals (where I am from, but currently in Lake arrowhead) are warning me that the city's infrastructure is crumbling due to the enormous growth there. Someone told me one of the big golf courses went bankrupt and left homeowners with some high fees....We have been there two times and I LOVE the old town, LOVE the neighborhoods we drove thru and the school scores - api scores - are very high. the prices are really what is drive us to move there. I figure if the schools are good we can't go wrong but if everyone is leaving will they deteriorate? Also, has the new renovations/main street addition been completed at the mall? Thanks for any insight you can provide!

dwija said...

Hi Kelly!

I'll try to touch each of your questions:
1) Foreclosures are in abundance. You will be hard pressed to find a home for sale that isn't a foreclosure or short sale, simply because it makes no sense for a homeowner to try and sell their home the traditional way at this time. Either they rent it out or stick it out (if they need to move for some reason) :)

2) I've noticed no problems in infrastructure whatsoever...the city government is well run, with a good eye to a balanced budget while still maintaining services and parks/rec activities. If a golf course is part of an HOA and many of the homes in that neighborhood have foreclosed, I can see the association being very strapped for cash. I would focus my search on neighborhoods without much overhead/few amenities and make use of the incredible stuff in the city itself!

3) The scores are high because the majority of folk choosing Temecula are families who are looking for a nice family experience, therefore whomever is left will still maintain those education goals...it just might mean the classes are smaller (not objectively a bad thing!)

4) The construction at the mall is ongoing, but progressing. My kids love it when I park at the very top of the new parking structure (soon to be more than one!)so they can look out over the town. It's neat to see the growth :).

Hope this helps and have a great week!