Better Late than Never

And boom, it is September!

It has been a crazy summer and fall is appearing to continue at as rapid of a pace.  So, here's a brief summary of it all.  Hold onto your hats!

April brought big changes in my life with the addition of a loving partner.  Nate and I continue to make the transition from being single guys to being in a relationship.  You've also got to work through big life transitions and I am happy to report that we're doing very well.  It's been fun to have someone in my life like this again.  It has been a while.

Which brings me to say thank you for welcoming him into the family.  He's been truly overwhelmed by our love and compassion for him.  It always serves as a good reminder of how awesome our family is when you have a new perspective in life telling you.  So, bravo to all of us and all of you for being such great people.

May and June brought Hutchinson Municipal Band to my Tuesday evenings.  It was a lot of fun this year as I had taken the time to get my lips in shape so it actually ended up being fairly low stress.  As many of you know, our personnel manager has made the experience a challenging one and often miserable.  But it is always nice to be congratulated for your quality playing and I often walked away from concerts feeling on top of the musical world.

July put me back in the saddle at Stage 9.  Our production of Time Stands Still was postponed to the 2017 season which means I got most of June off, at least in the evenings. Nunsense (which opens in a little over a week) auditioned on July 9th and we started rehearsals shortly after that.  It has been a lot of fun revisiting this production (and I am in a much better place than the last time I did it).  Hopefully you all will make time to see it.

At the end of July, I experienced my first Cosmosphere event (one of two this summer).  I had the awesome opportunity to host Michael Collins and his family.  Kate Collins (who was on a soap opera) and I connected over theatre as her husband runs the Court Theatre in Chicago.  Talk about a small world.  It was fun to be so appreciated by the Collins family.

In August, our fundraiser at Stage 9, Greater Tuna, was sold out 3 of the 4 nights which it was performed.  And the success continues here as Truckstop Honeymoon (one of our Stage 9 Live! series) sold out as well.  But the majority of my time was spent at the Cosmosphere preparing for our first big fundraising event.  The evening was called Everything Under the Stars.  And boy was it ever.  I helped arrange live music in a Jazz and Coffee bar as well as getting an awesome dance floor and DJ for our Studio 62.  And the evening was a gigantic success to the tune of $150,000 raised for the Cosmosphere.

So, now we are in September and it is State Fair time.  Nate and I are enjoying the opportunity to spend time together at the Fair both alone and with family (Auntie, Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Sarah, the girls, etc.).  And of course, I'm taking advantage of the State Fair Railroad.

And the rest of the fall promises to be a lot of fun and challenging.  Nunsense opens September 22nd.  I attend a Fundraising Workshop from October 10 to 14, Talking Tombstones happens on October 15th and away we go into the late fall and early winter.

Hope all is well in your worlds.

With love,

Charles & Nate