To say that there was a palpable sense of excitement in the Herons today would be a gross understatement. This was a very big day — our trip to the Guthrie. We had prepared by reading several versions of "A Christmas Carol," We compared them and talked about the decisions a re-teller has to make. The Herons seemed dissatisfied with any version that gave short shrift to the opening "Marley was dead" paragraph many of them memorized. Generally, they liked the scary parts and were as shocked as they were supposed to be by Scrooge's pronouncements about "surplus population" We also talked about Dickensian England, debtors prisons and the apprentice system as well as a bit about the life of Charles Dickens himself.
When we arrived today, the students were awed by the Guthrie building and, after lunch, I gave them a brief tour, sharing what I had learned from the Guthrie's website and audio tour. Many were hungry for more and would love to go on a backstage tour some Saturday morning (details here). Highights were the glass floor outside the black box theater and the never ending bridge, cantilevered out toward the Mississippi River. Oh, and the bathrooms. The bathrooms were very exciting. In fact, the girls wanted me to video tape the sinks — a video clip that I decided not to include in the montage below.
The show was wonderful — with a lot more humor than the novella. The students were especially struck by the staging, choreography and special effects. Afterwards, we got to come down to the front of the auditorium and ask questions of some actors — including the entire entourage of student actors.
Many thanks to the Petersons for subsidizing the trip (and driving) and to Jenn Hanlon and Cindy Miller for driving. Here are some video clips:
The Rookery 
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