Miracle

When Jared and I completed writing the final chapter, I was almost afraid to voice the question.

“Is it done?” I asked.

Three and a half years ago, I moved up to Utah and began co-authoring a business fable with my brother. It was supposed to be done in 6-9 months. Being a person who finds great delight in checking things off my “to do” list, the constant evolution and re-writing of this book has been pretty rough on me. I’ve thought it was done a dozen of times, only to have my hopes dashed over and over agin.

Now the ball was in my court. My task was to make all the final adjustments and prepare a print-ready version that he could take with him on his January retreat.

“No problem,” I thought. “A few little tweaks here and there and we’re good to go.”

Two weeks later I’d only gotten through 4 of the 18 chapters. Those “little tweaks” were tying me in writing knots. I only had one more week left and knew that finishing was impossible—and that put me in a very bad mood.

That Sunday I was bombarded with messages about how God is a god of miracles who can help us do impossible things—Nephi and the ship, Joseph and the church and on and on. I was listening to a BYU Hawaii devotional that night (random) and the speaker suddenly begins telling this story about how he had an impossible amount of work to get done in a limited time-frame but when he’d exercised his faith and the Lord opened a way to make the impossible possible.

Obviously someone was trying to tell me something.

I wrote up my plan of attack, told everyone I'd be working from home, cancelled everything I had going on for the week and began to pray. Starting Monday, after exercising in the morning, I settled into my big chair with my computer on my lap and wrote. I wrote all day and into the night (generally finishing at around 10 pm)for six days straight.

This really was an exercise of faith because even at my very best, I’ve only been able to write for about 5 hours at a time (after that the quality of work decreases rapidly). But somehow my brain was suddenly able to do marathon sessions without shutting down. I went through each page over and over again and smoothed and fixed and adjusted and kept going. On Saturday at 4 pm, I arrived back at my office to print out a hard copy and go through it one last time. At 11 pm, I arrived at Kinkos to bind the manuscript. At midnight exactly, I drove out of the Kinkos parking lot went and dropped off the books in Jared’s mailbox.

I’m not announcing that it’s completely done (I’ve learned my lesson) but I am awed and grateful that the Lord loved me enough to perform this miracle. I’m not a Nephi or a Joseph Smith, but he did this for me anyway and that is an amazing thing.

The Favorite

Visiting my sister over Thanksgiving, my little niece Rebekah became very attached to me and kept asking for me for a week. Martha called me up and demanded “What did you DO?” I’d only visited for a couple of days and even then, I’d only spent a couple of hours exclusively with her kids, so she just didn’t get it.

The secret, my friend, is very simple. Give a child your full attention for more than a half an hour, and you’ve made a friend for life.

There are two caveats to this general rule, however.

1. There can’t be any other adults with you when you do this because in almost all situations you will end up talking to the other adult. Full attention is essential.

2. You need to do something that you both genuinely enjoy. Children are surprisingly intuitive and can usually sense if you are watching the clock or just humoring them.

When I was given a $70 gift certificate for a bowling alley at a work event, my eyes began to gleam. The bowling alley is kid-friendly, complete with bumpers and ramp to roll the bowling ball down, and seemed an ideal place to reaffirm favorite aunt status with my younger nieces and nephews in one fell swoop.

Their mothers were incredulous, but willing, and after helping me tackle a few things (like lending me a car with enough seats) and commanding their little ones to stick to me like glue, we were on our way. I blithely trooped into Fat Cats hand in hand with my six little charges--who were all six and under--and handed the boy at the counter their shoe sizes and my gift certificate. He proceeded to tell me they weren’t taking the certificates because it was New Year’s, but when he saw my crestfallen expression, he let it slide.

The kids were adorable! They’d watch the ball so anxiously as it barreled down the lane and if they got even one pin down, they’d wriggle in excitement while their cousin cheering section went wild. Stewart (4) told me with big eyes, “I wonder who is going to win. Maybe all of us will win!” They were all pretty good—spares and strikes happening multiple times— and even more incredibly, they stayed in their seats far more than I had any right to expect.

The nearest catastrophe we had came as a consequence of the two free pitchers of soda they gave us. Near the end, Maddi motioned me over and said, “I need to go to the bathroom.” I hadn’t forecasted this possibility, and taking all six of them to the bathroom was not something I wanted to do. When I asked if she could she could hold it, she replied with a pained expression, “But I already have been for a long time!” So, we wrapped things up pretty quickly and hurried to Anna’s to use the facilities. And not a minute too soon because by the end of the short drive, every single one of them needed to use the bathroom!

The Play's the Thing

Wow! That was one of the most intense 5 weeks of my life, but directing Rings of the Tree turned out to be one of the most delightful experiences I've ever had. It was one of those rare times where you get to do something for the sheer joy of doing it (free from feeling the pressure to try to please or impress someone else i.e. boss, coworkers, clients, professors etc.). I had nothing to prove and therefore simply enjoyed it!

One fun side note is that one of the official adjudicators from ACTF (college theater competition) was none other than my directing teacher from Rick's who is now the dean of BYU's theater department. The whole story came full circle!

Here are my Top 5 Moments with the play (I have 100's more)

1. During a dress rehearsal/ faculty review, just as the villain revealed his true identity. . . the power went out. The entire campus and the surrounding neighborhoods were completely black for hours. That’s taking the dramatic moment just a bit to far, don’t you think?

2. The most perfect impression of Mad Hatter from Disney’s Alice in Wonderland that I've ever seen. It came from our leading man, and my stage manager and I were laughing so hard that tears were rolling down our cheeks. I laughed more doing this play than I have in YEARS!

3. The costumes were gorgeous, but it was terribly amusing to watch the girl’s hoop skirts pop up and jerk to the side and rock every which way. They even brought them to their knees on occasion!

4.Talking incessantly with a British accents and saying very cool phrases like “blinding brilliant” and “gobsmacked” and "biting my arm off" etc. and having it all be official rehearsal behavior. Since it was still a work in progress we got to do a lot of shaping of the script---with the playwright's permission of course.

5. Watching the audience get sucked in to all the plot twists night after night and laugh and cry and come out saying “I wasn’t expecting anything like that!”
Also, watching the actors put heart, body and soul (several rehearsals ran until midnight and beyond) into pulling the whole thing together to create something exceptional.

A lovely, lovely experience. I will miss it!




Here are some reviews from a couple of contributors to the "Association of Mormon Letters- List" if you would care to peruse!

Rings of the Tree- a stage play
Reviewed by Nan Parkinson McCulloch

Thoroughly Mormon Mahonri has written a Victorian fantasy/romance premised with thoroughly Mormon theology. The best selling Victorian mystery writer Anne Perry, also a Mormon, unsuccessfully attempted to combine fantasy and Mormon theology in her epic fantasy, Tathea. Fortunately, Stewart's fantasy is less serious, faster moving and highly entertaining. Rings of The Tree has broad appeal. Folks from 8 to 80, especially feminists and young women will enjoy the play.

Who could write fantasy without symbolism and Stewart has served it up in abundance. We find ourselves searching to identify Holy and Heavenly persons holding the keys to our Eternal Life and their own. And we are introduced to those, otherworldly, who would thwart that plan.

The thought provoking plot twists and turns make the play interesting and keep the audience fully engaged. This is a play you can't leave at the theater, you take it home with you. Stewart has a gift for writing dialogue. His conversations are well thought out and go a long way in developing the characters. For an ensemble cast, I found all the characters surprisingly well developed.

This premier production of award winning playwright Mahonri Stewart's senior project, Rings of the Tree, is the first such project approved by UVSC since adding this new four year degree in theater. It was a significant event and a remarkable achievement for Stewart, the talented cast and the university. I was sincerely moved by Mahonri's play, which left it's unique ring around me...

A mini-review from James Goldberg:

I don't know if anyone else on the list got to see Mahonri's play, Rings of the Tree. I still am not over the high production quality...it says in the program his sister hadn't done theatre in ten years and came back to direct it...I wish that after ten years of almost-uninterrupted directing experience I was close to as good as that. Nice sets and costumes, crisp pacing, good work on the accents, excellent emotional connection for moving, realistic performances, nice little touches to accentuate the humor and the drama...it was just very, very good. Is it OK to ask Mahonri through the list if his sister's married? :) If not, you should send me her number off-list. ...just kidding...but only sort-of...:)

Not that we should neglect the talents of Mr. Stewart himself, who not only wrote, but also acted the villain in his own play. And (since this is a writing, not performance list) managed to put together an engaging period / fantasy / sci-fi (it's not really time travel, but seems like it) / romance piece that doubles as a theological thriller. (Mahonri: my favorite part was probably when she's crying on the floor "Forever in my sins...forever in my sins")

So...for those of you who missed out: sorry. It's theatre so you'll never get to see it quite like that again. Still, I thought I'd briefly share one of those experiences where you find out there's a lot more to Provo Theatre than apparent at first glance. <

Shakespearan Festival Speed Through

During one of our last dress rehersals for the play, we had two UVSC professors come in and give me feedback. They told me that we needed to pick up the pace and recommended doing a speed throughs (doing the play as if you were pressing a fast-forward button). It was hilarious and really helped.

During this time, I also went down to Ceder City for the Shakepearan Festival with my friends LauraLee, Kelsey and Deah, and the best way that I can describe that experience is that it was just like a speed through.

We got a late start and so we got down to Ceder City speedily (if not quite legally)and arrived to get a blank stare at will-call when I tried to pick up our tickets for Candida, the Matchmaker and King Lear. They looked and looked and couldn't find the reservation that I'd made. Apparently, the woman who took the reservation booked me for July instead of August. But it had a happy ending because they gave us house seats for all the shows that were much better than what I'd orginally purchased.

The next morning we sped off to Zion and climbed Angel's Landing. Holding on to a chain with sheer drops on either side of me, I started to wonder if it was such a good idea, but Kelsey was the perfect coach and got me to the top and an amazing view. Getting behind some slow moving vehicles on the way out necessitated another speedy return to Ceder City (Kelsey said she just stopped looking at the speedometer) and we ran into our matinee (literally) in all of our hiking glory.

Before King Lear, we had to stop at my favorite store on earth, Maurice's--the Ceder City version. Their clothes fit perfectly and last forever, so I got down to business pretty quickly. They kept the store open an hour late for us and then we ran (again literally) into the theater for the last play.

The plays were really well done--all totally different from each other--and the company was the best. I've always wanted to go on a road trip with Deah and LauraLee together because they are better than a comedy team. All three of them fit the bill perfectly for travelling companions--adventerous, easy-going and great chatters. I came home exhausted but having had a great time.

Blonde Moments

In the past I've been accused of being a bit of a "blonde" (especially when it came to blenders and gas pumps), but just as I was beginning to think those days were over, my air-heady side resurged. I had pulled into my parking space and was hurrying inside when I realized that I'd left something in the trunk. I turned around to see my car rolling out of its stall like a slow motion sequence in a movie. I panicked and tried to jump in to put on the breaks, but while I had neglected to put my car in park, I had locked the doors. It was up to one of the neighbor's cars to stop its get away. Yikes!


But my blonde moment was completely eclipsed by a story my stage manager told me about a girl she works with named Sarah. This Sarah was getting a pedicure and asked the technician where he was from. When he told her he was from Viet Nam, she responded "That's not a place. It's a war!" She proceeded to argue about it and was only convinced when she went home and did a Google search on it!

Dating Scared

Most people who know me know that I've never really enjoyed dating. I always felt it was a truly less effective way for me to get to know someone and for them to get to know me. It wasn't a huge deal. Some people don't like chocolate, some people don't like hot weather--I didn't like to date. I always thought I'd just have to meet my husband some other way.

But then, about a couple of months ago while I was running with one of my oldest friends, telling her about my latest lunch date, she started asking me all kinds of questions. She finally told me, "What you are experiencing is anxiety."

I was shocked. She gave me a booklet to read and it was like reading a collection of inner thoughts I'd never verbalized. VERY strange, but it was also a relief to know that it wasn't just the way I was wired--my tendency of having a headache and wanting to go home an hour into the date--it had a name. And somehow, I felt like if it had a name, I could do something about it. But the solution! To get over anxiety you have to do the thing you are scared of over and over again until you prove to yourself it isn't the monster you think it is.

That was the last thing I wanted to hear, but after a very long and honest talk with my sister-in-law (in which she shot holes through all my excuses) I decided to bite the bullet. I wasn't about to suffer this for the rest of my life, so I did the very scariest thing I could think of. I went online.

I've always said that I would rather be single for the rest of my life than do that. The thought of advertising myself and shopping for men went against every ounce of romance I had. Yuck! But I also didn't want to be a slave to fear, so I just took a deep breath and did it.

I'll be totally honest--it has become pure entertainment. Some of it is so breathtakingly cheesy, like the drop-down menu of smiles under categories of "casual" "flirty" and "pick-up lines." The things people put (or don't put) on their profiles is astonishing, but I just make myself send out about 10 messages a week as my self-assigned "therapy session."

I don't expect anything from it, so maybe that is why it's become so funny to me. I've looked through profiles of people I knew and didn't recognize them. I've had someone track me down on another site because he didn't pay to email on the first one. I've had people ask if they could write me back if the relationship they were persuing didn't work out. It's an adventure in cyberspace. I've also emailed some nice people and maybe someday I'll work up the courage to meet them in the flesh (baby steps! :)) but I'm definiately not scared of it anymore.

So just another evidence of my long held belief that you should never say never--because God loves that kind of a joke!

Rings of the Tree

I recently went to a play with a friend of mine, and she was shocked to find out about my theatrical past. My original plan was for a double major in English and Theater, but by the end of my second year at Ricks I had decided against it. Ironically, that same semester, I was taking a directing class and my professor took me aside and told me that I had a real talent for directing. I was flattered (he was an amazing director himself and never gave out false praise) but still felt like that part of my life had come to a close.

I have been a faithful audience member ever since (except for performing in the Easter Pageant in Arizona) until a couple of weeks ago, when my brother asked me to direct his senior project at UVSC, a play he'd written called Rings of the Tree. At first I was really unsure, work was really hectic and I knew that committing to a play is like taking on a second full-time job. Besides, I hadn't been directly involved in a play for 13 years! But after I read the script, I couldn't resist. A Jane Austen-style romance with a twist? It was just too tempting! The things my brothers get me to do!

I've slipped into it like I'd never been away. The cast is good, the script is good and I have an amazing stage manager who takes care of all the pesky logistics so that I am free to be creative. I've been having a blast with it (although I AM tired) and have laughed until my sides hurt. I'd forgotten how fun drama-people are!

I'd love for everyone to come and see it. It plays from September 6-8 at 7:30 (with an additional 2 pm matinee on Saturday the 8th) at the Black Box at UVSC. You can get tickets by calling the Campus Connection 801-863-8337 or at the door. Other runs of his plays have sold out, so come a little earlier if you want to get them at the door.