Speak Out 11/28/05

Broadway quality

IN RESPONSE to the caller who said that area high schools should stick to doing musicals and plays that are "high school caliber" and who also said that the River City Players are low on talent and perform "amateurish" shows: You couldn't be more wrong on so many levels. First of all, area high schools put on big productions because they can. They have some great talents, and these shows are often a huge draw. One area high school in particular is known for its ability to draw huge crowds every year with its musicals. These are also financial boosters for the schools as well. You obviously haven't seen a local production. Or if you have, you haven't looked or listened very closely. The schools here are full of talent. They should be "reaching for Broadway." That's what artistic abilities and dreams thrive on. As for the River City Players, they are one of the rare charms of Cape Girardeau. News flash: Not all shows in New York are performed with huge casts, in huge theaters. Part of the intimacy and charm of the River City Players is the fact that they perform on a tiny stage in the small, cabaret-style Yacht Club above Port Cape. It's a chance for our talented community members to be involved and do something they love. Shame on you for putting down area theater and the talented people who work so hard striving for Broadway quality and succeed almost every time.

Focus on the brightest

HERE IS what often happens to above-average students: Day after day, year after year, students whose intelligence is being ignored and underused become more bored and less interested in sitting through classes where they are learning nothing new. Despite whatever studies or flawed statistical information we may have, a large percentage of these students give up to go with the flow or drop out completely. Without the challenges and excitement these students need, we are losing them, and have been for decades even before the utopian idea of No Child Left Behind. We are so busy concentrating on children who cannot or will not keep up that we are losing many of our brightest.

Popular music

I WOULD like to commend the theater and dance department at Southeast Missouri State University for its fine selection of events for next year. It is so nice to see more contemporary, entertaining productions coming to Cape Girardeau. Now only if the music department would follow suit. While classical music is fine and obviously essential to the education of music students, the typical person in Cape would enjoy more variety of popular types of music. A show choir would be a great start. I hope this will be considered in the future.

Other attacks

WHILE I agree with the sentiment of a recent comment that if we do not fight the terrorists over there, we will fight them here, I must not allow an inaccurate statement to go without challenge. The 9-11 attack was not the first on American soil since the Revolutionary War. Washington, D.C., was attacked by the British during the War of 1812, and the White House was burned. I am sure the World War II veterans would consider the attack on Pearl Harbor to be an attack on American soil, even though Hawaii at the time was a territory, not a state. Even the continental United States was attacked by Japan during World War II. The Japanese military constructed paper balloons with bombs attached that were launched into the jet stream and which exploded when they reached the United States. One family was killed in Oregon by a bomb-carrying balloon. Yes, attacks on U.S. soil are, fortunately, rare, but they have occurred and should be remembered along with 9-11.

Messy party

IF I were a Republican, I do not think I would talk about a party of solutions. My first objective would be to clean up my own party's messes, and there are many.