Gena Lea Smith

Upcoming Leopard Players Theatrical Season

2007-09-06T18:10:00.001-07:00

The Leopard Players will open their season on October 12th at the Van Vleck High School Auditorium with a children's show entitled, Bedbugs! This show is for the young and the young-at-heart. Marie is a little girl who likes to jump on her bed, but to the bedbugs being squished underfoot, she is the wicked witch who causes earthquakes, among other natural disasters. The microscopic citizens of her bed are up in arms (and legs!) over the rhyme her mother says to her every night before bed. In a fun way, it reminds us there are always two sides to every story and that conflict is best resolved peacefully.There will be performances at 7:00 PM on Friday and Saturday evenings, and on Sunday afternoon there will be a dessert matinee at 2:30 PM. Tickets are available at the door for all performances, but can be purchased ahead of time at a discounted price by contacting Gena Lea Smith via phone (323-5080) or email (gsmith@vvisd.org).

Our second show of the season will be our yearly musical opening on December 13th and running through the 15th with nightly performances at 7:00 PM with a dinner theatre performance on Saturday evening. Dr. Jekyll, Please Don't Hyde is a hilarious one act musical farce that spoofs Robert Louis Stevenson's classic! Dr. Henry Jekyll, a well-bred English doctor, probes the diabolic side of human nature and turns himself into the villainous Mr. Hyde... the terror of London! The setting is Jekyll's laboratory, which doubles nicely for Hyde's apartment. Jekyll has forced his attorney to make out a new will naming Hyde as his sole heir. Trouble escalates as we meet wacky characters: Lady Bugg and her icky daughter Alice; Mrs. Gush, whose little boy swallowed some coins and there's been no change; and Mildred Kidneystone, who mistakes a hat rack for the doctor. Eventually, Jekyll must pay for his dangerous experiment. A zany taste of tunes add to the spirited dialogue: "An Extraordinary Scene," "What A Fortunate Girl Am I!" and the show-stopping "Don't Let Him Get Away.

Tickets are of course available at the door for all regular performances, but can be purchased ahead of time for a discounted price by contacting Gena Lea Smith via phone (323-5080) or email (gsmith@vvisd.org).
Dinner theatre tickets can be purchased from Mrs. Smith or any Leopard Player cast or crew member after Thanksgiving.

Spring will be devoted to our one act play competition play which will be named at a later date. Our public performance of that show will be on March 10th at 7:00 PM with district competition at WCJC on March 29th.

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Gena Lea Smith

18 Years!!!!

2006-07-09T14:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband!

Today marks 18 years since we first said, "I do," and I would gladly do it all again. We have had a day typical of our lives together...ups and downs but filled with laughter and love!!! Darve drove into town to church first as he usually does because he has to warmup with the Praise Team, the kids and I met him there for the service which was a really good one with a sermon about making Christ the center of your life, and then afterwards we all left together to have lunch.
As we approached the vehicles, we were greeted with a flat tire on the right front side of Darve's truck. (Tires are the bane of our driving lately.) Anyway, we decided to go eat before changing the tire, and so we went to Esperanza's. After eating, Jordan and I dropped the boys off at the church to fix the truck tire while we went to run some errands at Wally World. Just as we were checking out my cell phone rang and it was Darve telling me to come back to him because his spare would not fit. At this point I was getting very concerned about the state of Darve's temper, but he kept it all in check. Turns out that the people at Discount Tire had put my spare on the undercarraige of his truck and sent me home with his on my Tahoe. I guess that it was not a big deal when he had to use my spare on a rear tire during the double blow out, but it wouldn't fit on the front today!!! Crazy crazy!!!
Anyway, we took the Tahoe back to the boys, and then we all came home. Trevor and Darve rescued another turtle on the way home as is their habit to do, and since they were already sweaty, they decided to work out in the yard for a bit when they got home. Jordan and I vacuumed and did some laundry, and now Darve and I are going to get ready to go to Houston for our anniversary night out. So, we have had an eventful day and it is only 4 PM.
Darve and I are planning to drive into town, eat a nice dinner, and see "Wait Until Dark" at the Alley Theatre. I should go get dressed now, but I just wanted to share the hilarity of today while it was still fresh on my brain.

Once again, happy 18th anniversary to my hunny bunny!!! I'd choose you again!!!! I love you bunches and bunches. Nannas and grapes!!!

Always yours, Gena Lea
Forever and ever, Amen

It's soooo quiet!

2006-06-26T08:57:00.000-07:00

Wow! I have a million things to do here at home and about two million at school, but right now I am just sitting here amazed by the silence in my home. Darve is at work, Jordan is still in Corpus Christi at theatre camp, and Trevor went to Louisiana yesterday to visit Grandmother and Papa for the week. I know I should relish these moments that I have to myself, but I have come to thrive on the chaos that my wonderful family produces and it just seems strange without them all in the house. I guess it forbodes of next year when my baby girl will leave home for college...Pat has warned me of how she felt when Kelly left and I am sure she understands my emotions because she and Kelly share a relationship very similar to the one I have with Jordan Lea. Trevor will keep us hopping I am sure, and knowing Jo as I do, I suspect that she will always be a vital part of our home no matter where she is living.

Saturday morning Trevor, Darve and I left home at 6:20 AM, drove to Vanderbilt to pick up Jason, and then proceeded to Corpus to attend Jordan's official college visit of A&M Corpus that was scheduled for 10 AM. It was a quick tour followed by a relaxing lunch at Olive Garden, but all too soon we had to have Jordan back at the camp. While we were in Corpus, Darve, Trevor, Jason and I decided to visit the USS Lexington (aircraft carrier that has been converted into a floating museum) . Although it was a very hot day, we survived the heat and had a great experience.

We left Corpus about 5:30 PM, dropped Jason off at his home, stopped in BC to grab a pizza to take home, and arrived home about 8:30. Danial brought over his girlfriend Madison who is here visiting from California so that she could meet us and vice versa. She is a nice girl and Danial seems very happy with her. We played Scene It Movie Edition and had tons of fun. It was the young couple versus the older couple, and Trevor was the master of the gameboard taking care of all the needed tasks like rolling the dice, asking the questions and moving the pieces. He also kept a running commentary of the game that illustrated his wry sense of humor. If you have never played Scene It, it will be necessary for me to explain that the game pieces are shaped like movie-related items, ie. a video tape, a box of popcorn, a movie camera, etc. Dan and Madison chose the videotape, and Darve and I were the box of popcorn. Trevor affectionately called our team "The Stale Popcorn." He giggled convulsively as he explained that we were stale because we were soooo old.

On Sunday after church, we stopped by Memaw and Papaw's house for a quick lunch on our way to Beaumont to meet Grandmother. We met Grandmother at about 4:15, walked around the mall a bit, and then bid her and Trevor a fond farewell. Darve and I ate supper at Fuddrucker's in Beaumont, drove to south Houston to the AMC just off the Beltway, and then went to see "Click." It was funny in the Adam Sandler way, but it was also very touching and thought-provoking. It was reminiscent of "It's a Wonderful Life," and I enjoyed it.

After the movie we drove on home. As soon as we got home Darve turned on the TV to catch the Astro's highlights only to discover that the game was still going on! It was the 13th inning...Willy T got a base hit to bring Adam Everett home and the good guys went on to win 10 to 9 over the White Sox. We were very tired by this point and went to bed which brings us to this morning. After Darve left for work I put on some laundry, fixed some breakfast, and sat down to check my email. That was when I noticed the silence for which this blog is named!!!

Van Vleck High School's Award-Winning One-Act Play

2006-03-26T19:03:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday in Gonzales the Leopard Players competed in the District 30AA One-Act play competition and were chosen as one of the two advancing plays, along with Schulenburg, that will be moving on to Area Competition on April 8th at Industrial High School. The 15 cast members and 4 crew members all performed exceptionally well; in fact, Dr. Lucien Douglas, University of Texas Theatre Professor and District 30AA critic judge said there were no weak actors on the stage and called the production classy and full of artistic integrity.

Kevin McRorey and Kristin Donaldson were named to the District All-Star Cast, Adam Rodriguez was named to the District Honorable Mention All-Star Cast, and Sarah Butler, VVHS Stage Manager, made the District All-Star Tech Crew.

Van Vleck's production of "The Girl in the Mirror" can be seen Monday night in the newly curtained VVHS auditorium following the JV one-act productions which have been student directed. The plays will begin at 7:00 PM, and admission will be $2 for adults and $1 for students.

Gena Lea Smith

Van Vleck High School

Director of Theatre Arts

Nice Weekend

2006-01-08T16:11:00.000-08:00

We have had a very enjoyable weekend.

On Friday evening, Darve and I went bowling with Randy and Jennifer, Bret and Leslie, and Todd and Tif. Lots of gutter balls, a few really cool strikes, and tons of laughs later we moved the party down the street to Michael's. I had avoided this establishment due to the fact that I teach here and was hesitant to be seen at a sports bar in BC. Although we did see many former students, we had a blast. We danced, played a little shuffleboard, and laughed until our sides split.

Saturday morning we did a few cleaning chores, and then I asked if we could go to the Houston Garden Center to look around since we have been planning on building our kitchen garden plot this year. Darve said sure, but he suggested that we make sketches and lists of what we wanted prior to going. Well......we made lists! Then....Darve suggested that we go outside and measure off the spot. This of course took nearly 2 hours because it was not a matter of simply measuring. No, no, no!!! For those of you that know my husband and his affinity for precision this will come as no surprise! We measured, staked, ran string lines to mark the borders, spray painted those same lines onto the grass in case of string breakage, and finally surveyed the results. We saw that it was good, however we also saw that it was too late to go to Houston!!!! I knew he had an ulterior motive! Anyway, Travis and Stephanie came over shortly after we finished working in the yard and the four of us went into Lake Jackson to catch a movie. The movie, Grandma's Boy, had some very funny moments, but man oh man, it proved that entertainment is really pushing the limits and I am getting old! I was in Teenager Hell for much of the show, but like I said earlier, it did have humor even if it was way off color.
We ended our evening by eating at Shanghi, walking around Lowe's (Darve's attempt to cover for Houston Garden Center), and playing Shout about... at home.

Sunday of course found us back at church. We were glad to be back since we had missed the past two weeks due to Christmas festivities and gatherings. Darve sang Voice of Truth during the praise time, and he did an awesome job. Randy is home on R & R right now, and so we went to lunch with that Smith family after church. I had OES practice this afternoon and now we are on our way over to Karen and Ed's house for soup for supper.

Trevor visited the Brazoria Smiths and played outside here at home; Jordan hung out with friends and cousins too.
--
Gena Lea Smith

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho Back to Work I Go

2006-01-02T20:25:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been a fun, although extremely fast-paced, holiday, and tomorrow is the designated day for returning to work. I am very excited about getting going with OAP, but I have lots to do on my desk just to get organized and set up for the new semester. I am going to head off to bed quickly tonight since I have to be up and out early. Darve and I are starting our new diet tomorrow as well, so I am going to try to get up and fix a good breakfast for us both. Goodnight all!

Okay, Okay...I'll blog already!!!

2005-12-30T22:33:00.000-08:00

Darve and Jordan blog almost daily, and they are always yelling at me about not keeping up with my space, so...here goes. My new year's resolution #1 is to make use of this blog space as my daily journal entry. They may wish they had never asked me to write!!! hahahaha (evil English teacher laugh) Okay so resolutions # 2, 3 & 4 are the traditional lose weight, exercise more, and organize everything in my dominion. I have others of course, but these 4 will keep me hoppin'. Let's hope I will be successful in several of them. Oh, and one more that I must mention because maybe committing it to paper (or screen) will make it more likely to stick. I resolve to control my temper a bit more especially where my kids are concerned and to control my use of profane words. I don't curse like a sailor or anything, but I do catch myself using phrases that I would prefer were not part of my repertoire.
Today we worked in the house, continuing in the organization quest, and then after lunch we traveled to Katy to Times Square Entertainment where we bowled and played laser tag with 7 of Jordan's friends and Darve's 2 coworkers and their families. There was a total of 16 of us. We had a blast! I was very worried about being too fat and too old to play laser tag, but not to fear...the vest fit just fine and the games were sooo fun that I didn't worry about the energy I was expending. I am sure Darve and Jo are both blogging about this so I will refrain from telling anymore.
Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and we are just having a few friends over for the evening. However, we are going to spend the day completing the cleaning that I want done before heading back to work on Tuesday. Sunday we will be at Ma and Pappy's house for the Parker Christimas, and Monday we will be in Normangee at Eugene and Jenna's house for the Reynolds Christmas so Saturday morning is really my last opportunity to do anything around the house.
Well...I hope this qualifies as a decent blog. I have to go get clothes out of the washer and dryer and then I have to get ready for bed. It is nearly 1 AM and I am not as young as I used to be.

Monsters Under the Bed

2005-10-05T20:30:00.000-07:00

Well, my life has been consumed lately with “Monsters.” The kids have done an excellent job on this play, and it has received great praise from our audiences. I am so proud of their efforts, but I am glad that tomorrow is the final performance of this show because I am ready to get started on “Pompadours and Poodle Skirts” which will be our fall musical. Gotta run now ‘cause life is rushing on.

Gena Lea Smith

Mark in uniform

2005-10-04T18:45:00.001-07:00

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