Last night the Wills Point Theater Department put up Ghetto as their one-act play at Bi-District competition. Ghetto, by Joshua Sobol, focuses on the lives and experiences of Polish Jews in the Vilna ghetto during the Nazi occupation of World War II. It centers on historical figures like Jacob Gens, the chief of the Jewish Police and later Head of the ghetto, as well as many Jewish artists that are living in the ghetto. It is a play that forces us to look at the purpose and power of art, particularly in the most extreme and trying times in our lives.
Good theater speaks truth. It forces us to confront truths about history, about our lives, about society, and the world around us. And these students and their performance did just that.
These students have much to be proud of. Each performance has continually improved on the last, as they have continued to learn and discover more of the truth spoken through this show. They have dug deep to truly grasp the gravity and emotion of one of the most horrific points in our past, to find the humanity, the beauty, and the tragedy that occurred.
Wills Point always has one of the most competitive paths for advancement in One Act Play. Their district alone contains one school that consistently makes the State Competition and often wins, as well as other state competitors. Each subsequent level gets more and more competitive. What that means is that each level is a wonderful day of theater with great performances and great shows.
So, while they may not have advanced out of Bi-District, each student should be commended for the performance that they put forward. They should know they moved many people in the audience (from anecdote, at least a couple to tears). You told this story well and you honored the memory of all that were represented. You cannot ask for more from theater.
Bravo! Good show!
Showing posts with label Wills Point. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wills Point. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 27, 2019
Thursday, August 30, 2018
Small Town Discoveries: Ike Sewell, Pizzeria Uno, and Wills Point, Texas
Jamie and I got to talking the other night about foods that we loved and wanted to have again. And Jamie brought up Chicago-style deep-dish pizza.
If you haven't had it, Chicago-style deep-dish pizza is a treat; a pizza with a deep, deep crust, creating a very thick pizza more resembling a pie than a flatbread. A true pizza pie. Because of the thickness and the cooking time (30-40 minutes), the toppings are often assembled backwards with crust, cheese, toppings, and then sauce on top. When sausage is one of the toppings, it can often be present as a large single patty that covers the pizza, such that each bite has crust, cheese, sausage, and sauce. It's a very filling, heavy meal, with often one slice per person being enough to satisfy hunger.
I know there is much debate regarding styles of pizza, but I'm not one who gets into pizza wars. I'm not going to pick a side between New York-style and Chicago-style (or Detroit-style, etc. etc.). I love all kinds of pizza and will gladly eat it in all its different forms.
My first trip to Chicago, I had one of the classic deep-dish pizzas at Giordano's, a Chicago mainstay. This last trip to Chicago, Jamie and I tried Lou Malnati's. And of the two, Lou Malnati's was a definite favorite.
While Jamie and I were discussing the pizza, I told her a little trivia fact that I knew about deep-dish pizza: the first deep-dish was invented at Pizzeria Uno in Chicago with a Texan instrumental in its development. Jamie wanted to know more, so I pulled up research on Pizzeria Uno. Sure enough, deep-dish pizza was invented at Pizzeria Uno in Chicago in 1943, by Uno's founder Ike Sewell, though later claims suggest that the pizza chef Rudy Malnati (Lou's father) truly developed the recipe. I then looked up Ike Sewell and discovered he was a graduate of the University of Texas and a football player from 1926 to 1929, who worked for American Airlines, but moved to Chicago in 1933. Through this research I then stumbled on to a little factoid that amazed me.
Ike Sewell was born in Wills Point, Texas.
The godfather of deep-dish, Chicago-style pizza was born in Wills Point, Texas!!
Why do we not have a deep-dish pizza restaurant in town in his honor and why is this fact not publicized and celebrated? His birthday of September 9 should at least be celebrated in town with pizza.
Jamie was so excited she shared the information at school the next day. I was just excited to learn of such a connection and wanted to share it here.
I've lived in Wills Point now almost ten years and am still discovering such interesting little bits of information. And I'm sure each town has their own little interesting bits of history. Like the connection Ginger Rogers had to Bessmay, Texas.
What interesting facts and connections about your town do you know?
If you haven't had it, Chicago-style deep-dish pizza is a treat; a pizza with a deep, deep crust, creating a very thick pizza more resembling a pie than a flatbread. A true pizza pie. Because of the thickness and the cooking time (30-40 minutes), the toppings are often assembled backwards with crust, cheese, toppings, and then sauce on top. When sausage is one of the toppings, it can often be present as a large single patty that covers the pizza, such that each bite has crust, cheese, sausage, and sauce. It's a very filling, heavy meal, with often one slice per person being enough to satisfy hunger.
I know there is much debate regarding styles of pizza, but I'm not one who gets into pizza wars. I'm not going to pick a side between New York-style and Chicago-style (or Detroit-style, etc. etc.). I love all kinds of pizza and will gladly eat it in all its different forms.
My first trip to Chicago, I had one of the classic deep-dish pizzas at Giordano's, a Chicago mainstay. This last trip to Chicago, Jamie and I tried Lou Malnati's. And of the two, Lou Malnati's was a definite favorite.
While Jamie and I were discussing the pizza, I told her a little trivia fact that I knew about deep-dish pizza: the first deep-dish was invented at Pizzeria Uno in Chicago with a Texan instrumental in its development. Jamie wanted to know more, so I pulled up research on Pizzeria Uno. Sure enough, deep-dish pizza was invented at Pizzeria Uno in Chicago in 1943, by Uno's founder Ike Sewell, though later claims suggest that the pizza chef Rudy Malnati (Lou's father) truly developed the recipe. I then looked up Ike Sewell and discovered he was a graduate of the University of Texas and a football player from 1926 to 1929, who worked for American Airlines, but moved to Chicago in 1933. Through this research I then stumbled on to a little factoid that amazed me.
Ike Sewell was born in Wills Point, Texas.
The godfather of deep-dish, Chicago-style pizza was born in Wills Point, Texas!!
Why do we not have a deep-dish pizza restaurant in town in his honor and why is this fact not publicized and celebrated? His birthday of September 9 should at least be celebrated in town with pizza.
Jamie was so excited she shared the information at school the next day. I was just excited to learn of such a connection and wanted to share it here.
I've lived in Wills Point now almost ten years and am still discovering such interesting little bits of information. And I'm sure each town has their own little interesting bits of history. Like the connection Ginger Rogers had to Bessmay, Texas.
What interesting facts and connections about your town do you know?
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