Remembering

Again, another big thank you to Cayli for the beautiful yarn. I can't help but smile when I just look at it - she really did a wonderful job. Visit Cayli here.

Last night was spent at the local Council of the Arts, which is housed in a former high school building here in town. The theatre of the high school was refurbished several years ago, and has been a very active performing arts venue. Last year, the technical director of the theatre was tragically killed in a freak accident, and so in honor of Martin, the Council of the Arts theatre was renamed for him, The Martin W. Kappel Theater. It was a wonderful catered event. Cocktails and hors d'oeurves in the arts gallery, then a formal presentation in the theatre itself. Several colleagues of Martin's spoke about his work in the theatre, and then, to top it off, his two sons had put together a video presentation about their father (narrated by his wife, Victoria, who is the director of the local Council of the Arts), including clips of his own performences as an actor and mime. It was touching to see Martin as a young man performing in the theatre. He was mesmerizing.

I was fortunate to have worked with Martin on a couple of projects - one a reading of one of his original plays, and in another I was his music director for a production of The Fantasticks. I learned a lot from Martin, and his presence is sorely missed here in out little rural community. He also worked with my high school kids on several productions as a lighting designer. I'll never forget the reaction of my kids when he had designed the most beautiful lighting using many different colors, and as they were on stage acting, they would also look around then to see all the different colors and how it made them look. That was a most memorable dress rehearsal. I was so proud of my kids for noticing the work that Martin had done for them. He really had amazing talents. He was also a wonderful friend.

I miss hm.