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We received several press releases over the weekend, one of which we're posting here, concerning an important cultural event that's happening in Ogden this coming weekend.
No. This has nothing to do with Chris Peterson or gondolas. What a relief, eh?
The "BIG GONDOLA SALES JOB" will be coming up from the "Cool and Sexy" Barney Fife lookalike guy in about two weeks. We'll also get on to discussion of Comrade Dear Leader Godfrey's secret city council meetings VERY SOON.
And we can hardly wait to tell Our gentle readers about Mayor Peewee's widely rumored plan to sell the Mt. Ogden Golf course to Chris Peterson -- for guess what purpose.
For now though, let's just talk "Culture."
- Who: Universe City, Women’s Emphasis Month
- What: Readers’ Theatre: The Voices, written and directed by Dian Woodhouse
- When: Saturday, March 11 • 6:00 pm
- Where: 2556 Washington Boulevard, Ogden
Universe City, 2556 Washington Blvd., presents a readers’ theatre performance of "The Voices," written and directed by Dian Woodhouse, at 6:00 pm on Saturday, March 11th. The performance is recommended for all ages. The performance is free, although donations will be gladly accepted to support our non-profit art center. The voices indicated by the title are Elizabeth Keckley, a former slave who made a name for herself as the dressmaker of Mary Todd Lincoln; and Mary Todd Lincoln, former first lady and widow of Abraham Lincoln. The two women speak about their lives as the audience hears and compares the two women.
Keckley was an accomplished seamstress and actually purchased her freedom with her dressmaking skills. She eventually established herself as a successful businesswoman, author and faculty member of Wilberforce College. “Lizzie” was Mary Todd Lincoln’s best friend and confidante. She seemed to be the only person who understood and tolerated Mary’s unstable temperament and sharp tongue. Keckley wrote a book, “Behind the Scenes,” about the life of Mary Todd Lincoln, and the happenings in the White House during Lincoln’s tenure.
Many things about Mary Todd Lincoln are well-known today. Born a child of relative privilege, she had her choice of successful men to marry but chose a relatively unknown lawyer. Perhaps she saw in him the way to her dream: to become the first lady of the United States of America. However, gaining her dream did not bring her happiness. The loss of two of her children, the death of relatives in the Civil War and the constant fear that her husband would be assassinated contributed to the failing of her physical and mental health. After the death of her husband, her steady decline was exacerbated by her commitment to an asylum by her own son.
Dian Woodhouse, the author of this work in progress, said she knew immediately that she wanted to dramatize this story after reading a biography of Keckley. She explains, “The story of these two women’s lives, lived simultaneously with such different backgrounds and outcomes, was compelling to me. The opportunity to ‘workshop’ this script in a readers’ theatre situation was a perfect start. My ultimate goal is to develop this script into a fully-staged play, but seeing these characters live through this performance has been a thrill.”
An Ogden native, Dian Woodhouse received a BA in English and Philosophy from Westminster College and an MFA in Theatre, Directing and Playwriting emphasis, from the University of Utah. She is a former winner of the Utah State Fine Arts Short Story Contest and has written news articles, poetry, screenplays, stage plays, and radio news scripts. She has appeared in professional and directed semi-professional theatre, working with Salt Lake’s Theatre 138 and Pioneer Theatre Company among others, and served three terms as President of the Utah Branch of Screen Actors Guild. She is the daughter of Irene Woodhouse, the author of Standard-Examiner newspaper columns and a book about Ogden in the early days, “Ogden Anecdotes.”
Rita Martin is playing the role of Keckley. She has been seen as one of the dynamic emcees for the WSU Gospel Festival for the past three years and has worked in a number of plays presented by her church. This is her first time working in readers’ theatre.
Caril Jennings is playing the role of Mary Lincoln. She has been a promoter of readers’ theatre at Weber State University for several years, including annual productions in conjunction with the WSU Greek Festival.
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The Salt Lake Tribune featured this event in its Coming Up: Theater article.The Deseret News did the same here.
Strangely, The Standard-Examiner, our supposedly "local" newspaper... is totally silent on the subject of this notable Ogden theatrical event. They're probably too busy promoting the "Suits from Sanduskey" neocon agenda, and pleading -- teary-eyed and on bended knees -- for the return of the eminent domain power to the Ogden neoCONS, we guess.
Maybe the story will come out in that dorky Std-Ex special on Friday: "The What's Hap'nin' Edition," a day before the event. If there's anything wrong with Ogden -- besides her tyrannnical mayor -- its our Sanduskey-owned Standard-Examiner. Weber County Forum recommends that ALL gentle Weber County Forum readers attend and contribute to this notable event, notwithstanding the inattention of our local newspaper -- so-called.
We at Weber County Forum plan to attend this performance, support local theatrical culture, and drop some cash into the donation hopper. After that, we can all meet at Brewski's for a few "pops."
And what about our gentle readers about this?
