Page 11 - Sanger Herald 3-15-18 E-edition

Lifestyles
SANGER HERALD • 3B • THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 2018
Folk tales of old Japan highlight 37th annual John Wash author fair
Sanger
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
A toymaker finds and cares for an injured cat.
But despite his efforts, the cat is too far gone and dies. Later, however, the toymaker is rewarded and his life saved when the cat appears and beckons, saving him from a lightning strike.
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
Kendyl Lassley tackled how to channel silver screen legend Marilyn Monroe and strut her feminine wiles while belting out lyrics like, “How the stars can spin; From that bathtub gin; Kicks you can’t get in; Old St. Lou or Kansas City.”
Joseph Long discovered the key to owning the stage in a leading role a lot like Sanger High drama alum and standout Greg Guerra, gaining audience familiarity with a simple gesture sprinkled thoughout his performance.
And Chase Martinez mastered a Chicago accent for the first time in a scene- stealing role sure resonate with audiences.
The trio, all seniors, headline “Sugar,” the 1972 cross-dressing musical based on the 1959 Billy Wilder film “Some Like It Hot,” starring Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. Sanger High’s drama department, under the direction of Erica Mardirosian, opens its production at 7:30 p.m. March 15 at the high school’s multipurpose room. Subsequent showings are at the same time and location on March 16, 17, 22, 23 and 24. Tickets are $10 or $7 for students.
Mardirosian said her three leads showed tremendous work ethic in preparing for their roles. Lassley plays Sugar, Martinez plays Jerry and Daphne (the Lemmon role in the movie) and Long plays Joe, Shell Oil Junior and Josephine, which Curtis playedinthefilm.“They got together on their own,” Mardirosian said, meeting
How to Understand the Bible
Over the last few weeks, we have been focusing on God’s word — the Bible.
We have discovered why the Bible can be trusted, how the Bible changes our lives and how to study and get the most out of the Bible. Today, I want us to explore “how do you maintain a heart for God’s word, and how do you integrate God’s word into every area of your life?”
The opposite of integrate is segregate. Many people do just that. They say, “This
known as Maneki Neko. “Where did the cat go after the thunder?” Seki asked his audience at one point. “The answer — maybe the cat didn’t just die. It remains in
everybody’s hearts.”
The whimsey and lessons
of the story, which reflect upon the positive values of love and kindness, likely captured the imagination of those in the audience. The event, the John Wash Young Authors’ Fair, drew a record crowd of about 940 students from most of the schools in the Sanger Unified School District.
John Wash librarian and chief organizer.
A line of buses delivered class after class, and all the students gathered with almost militaristic precision on school grounds prior to the event as Christiansen acted as gatekeeper, making sure teachers directed their students to the exact activity stations they were scheduled to go.
trees.
“We need some silent
Tigers,” Shahbazian said, referring to the John Wash mascot. Students didn’t utter a peep. “We’re looking forward to an exciting morning.”
She listed all the schools attending, which amounted to nearly every one in the district besides Sanger High and the alternative high schools. Then Shahbazian set everything into motion, and the buzz of nearly a thousand voices resumed.
“Oh boy,” said a small bespectacled youngster,
Children’s book author and illustrator Sunny Seki acted out the narrative at John Wash Elementary School on March 6 while his wife, Judy, read the book, accompanied by the actual pages of the book projected on a giant screen in the
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Sunny Seki, children's book author, acts out the story of the lucky cat to a more than 100 strudents at John Wash.
And once principal Yolanda Shahbazian commanded their attention to start the program, they snapped to order. Talk all but stopped. Birds could be heard making their morning rounds in nearby
school’s multipurpose room. The hundreds of gathered students remained silent,
drinking in every detail of the Japanese folk tale about the lucky cat, who is also
“It’s the biggest ever,” said Jeaneen Christiansen,
See Author, Page 4B Sanger High drama department stages 'Sugar'
Joseph Long as Josephine, left, and Chase Martinez as Daphne star with Kendyl Lassley, as Sugar, in the musical that opens today at Sanger High.
on weekends and whenever they could to run lines and develop their characters.
The extra effort showed. The cast performed its first dress rehearsal Monday evening, with every actor hitting his or her mark and belting out each line of dialogue with ease. The musical numbers resonated, starting with “When You Meet a Man in Chicago,” which feature the lyrics attributed to Lassley at the start of this story.
Lassley talked about her role. She juggled that while she helped Long out of his costume to turn back into a manduringthe10-minute break Mardirosian enforced after the first act.
is my personal life, this is my church life, this is my business life, this is my home life and this is my social life.”
The word integrity and integrated come from the same root word. To have integrity means to live your life integrated, as a whole, which means you don’t act one way with a group of people over here and another way with a group over there. You don’t act differently at home than you do at church or the way you act at church is different from the way you act at work.
To act the same in all areas as a whole life means
Long had to dismantle his extensive bosom padding and remove his slip and dress.
Lassley said she did indeed work to mimic some of Monroe’s signature traits. “Kind of,” she said. “Like very dreamy eyed.”
This is the same Lassley who served as an enforcer on coach Hillary Boos’ champion water polo team. The role represents a tremendous reversal of character.
“In rehearsals, they had to teach me how to walk,” Lassley said. “I didn’t walk very feminine.
“We spent a lot of time outside rehearsal (practicing lines and
spending time with one another). Our chemistry and friendship is strong.”
That chemistry, which extended to the entire cast, was evident on stage.
“It’s a super fun role,” Long said of Joe/Josephine. “I’m a little bit of a snake. I’manimperfectcharacter. But, as you’ll see, I’ll find
my way in the second act.” Martinez said he broke new ground with Jerry/ Daphne. “I pushed myself to the limit to do the accent,” he said. “It’s something I’ve never done. It’s a wonderful character.” He said he loved the movie,
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
musical brings it to life. It’s the type of comedy that never really gets (old).”
Martinez gave the role of lipstick-wearing, perturbed Daphne the kind of indignant wackiness Lemmon originated, offering his own spin. He and Long offered up priceless expressions throughout the performance. Monday’s rehearsal regularly elicited laughter from the few in the audience that night.
Another standout performance came from Megan Vasquez, who plays Sweet Sue, the not-so-sweet leader of the women’s band that Daphne and Josephine join to hide from Chicago mobster Spats Colombo.
Bumbling musicians Joe and Jerry inadvertently witness Spats’ crew murder rivals and barely escape with their lives. They disguise themselves as women and take a job with Sweet Sue and her Society Syncopators who are headed to a gig in Miami.
Vasquez, who said she’s hardly like Sue in real life, belted out her lines fearlessly, engaging her fellow cast members with Sue’s near constant criticisms and threats. “I really like her,” she said of Sue. “It’s easier to play those roles — the over-the- top ones.”
Just before that nights’ dress rehearsal, Mardirosian gave her cast and crew last-minute instructions about the big costume changes and advice like, “You have to think about the big picture. Not just yourself.”
She also added, “This is a great show.”
PASTOR’S CORNER
slapstick comedy. The
And finally, emotions. If it feels good, do it. The problem here is feelings often lie. If you live your life being controlled by your feelings, your life will be manipulated by your moods. After you decide to build your life on the word of God, you have to start feeding on it.
Here are five ways to do this: 1) receive it with my ears, 2) read it with my eyes, 3) research it with my hands and mouth by studying in a small group, 4) reflect on the Word with my mind — meditation and 5) remember it with my heart by memorizing scripture.
See Sugar, Page 4B
Keep growing in God’s word and act on what God is showing you. James 1:22 declares, “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” Recap: I build onit,Ifeedonit,Iliveby it, I grow through it, I act onitandIthenliveitout by trusting God to speak through it.
Pastor Sam Estes is city advance director and facilitates the Sanger Community Task Force that meets the first and third Tuesdays every month. He can be reached at pastorsam51@gmail.com.
you have an integrated life or
a life of integrity.
This only happens
when you are intentional about
the way you live.
Psalm 119:20
states, “What I
want most of all
and at all times is to honor your laws.”
The Psalmist David is saying here, my No. 1 priority, at all times, which means integrated, at all places is to be a man/ woman of God and his word. That my life be led, guided and directed by the word of God.
To do this you need to
have the Word of God as your foundation. You simply build your life on God’s word. This is different from some of the ways people build their lives. For instance, popular
Pastor Sam Estes
culture says if everybody is doing it, it must be OK.
Problem. What’s cool today is not cool tomorrow. No tradition lasts forever. They become obsolete. Reason is a good thing, but it’s not infallible. Proverbs 16:25 says “There’s a way that seems right to man, but in the end it leads to
death.”
whichhecalleda“very During the break