Nutcracker Ballet in Brrrrrly, Idaho

Kim and I made the long pilgrimage by car to/from Burley, Idaho this past week to watch Zach perform as the lead male dancer (Cavalier) in the Nutcracker Ballet. He and and fellow BYU student and prima ballerina Megan Conway were the invited guest artists. They each got their own private dressing rooms labeled "Star I" and "Star II". Megan is a very good ballerina and in his first role as the male lead ballet dancer, Zachary also did well. Between his starving student diet and his time in the weight room, Zach has gotten himself into good shape, which helped with the overhead lifting of the female dancers he had to do. Megan is a very talented repeat guest artist from last year. Zach was was introduced during the dress rehearsal as a 6' 3" "hunk". Kim and I were glad we made the effort to attend several of the the performances. After watching Zach perform so many of the younger male parts in the Nutcracker over the years, it was gratifying to watch him now perform the lead role and do it so well.

Here is a "then" and "now" photo of two of Zach's Nutcracker performances. Click on thumbnail photos to view full size versions.

Here is a link to some additional photos I took of the trip.
http://tinyurl.com/ydlsko7

This is a URL link to a video of Megan and Zach dancing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM0JDQf4oTg

While in Burley, the overnight temperature dipped to a face stinging 10 degrees below zero. No wonder the nearby Snake River was frozen solid! I took no chances and started and warmed up the car several times during the night to ensure that our Southern California grade engine coolant didn't freeze and crack the engine block. Unfortunately, our So. Cal grade windshield washer fluid froze in the lines during the drive up before I thought to add the -25 below zero grade stuff solid in cold country (but hard to come by in So. Cal). Fortunately it eventually thawed out when we returned to warmer latitudes with no apparent permanent damage. I think they should consider changing the spelling of the town from Burley to Brrrrley. On a positive weather related note, both Zach and I did get to walk on water. ;)

"Anything Goes", apparently.

For most of August, Zachary has been rehearsing for this year's City of Tustin Broadway-in-the-Park play "Anything Goes". The play is a romantic comedy that takes place on a ship crossing the Atlantic in the 1930's.

Its not a family friendly play like those which have been performed the past several years, which included the likes of 'The Music Man', 'The King and I', 'Oklahoma' , and 'Fiddler on the Roof'. Although the play does have some funny moments, many of the attempts at humor are related to blatant or subtle references to immorality, alcoholism, drugs, criminals, and immoral or illegal behavior.

Zach did very well as one of dancers. (See photo #1 in the article referenced below) Today (Saturday) is their final performance.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/tustin-tickets-cost-2535633-anything-selling

BYU Young Ambassador 2009 Nordic Tour nearly over

This is just a reminder to those of you who follow this blog and who wish to follow Zach's adventures with the BYU Young Ambassadors 2009 Nordic Tour that I have been updating the blog entry I made several weeks ago with new information and links to photos, videos, and reports on their tour. Here is the link to that blog posting.

http://camswebpage.blogspot.com/2009/04/2009-byu-young-ambassador-tour-of.html

P.S. The YAs fly from Helsinki, Finland to SLC on Saturday.