Highland High Honks

I went more than fifty years without ever having a sister-in-law. I had been blessed with three brothers-in-law named Hartsell and one named Green, but nary a sister-in-law could be found. But my uncommonly wise decision to marry Sheryl in 2002 let me have that experience for the first time. My sister-in-law is a pretty good kid.

Teresa

Her name is Teresa Bosen. She and her husband, Doug, both teach at Highland High in Pocatello. He teaches economics and golf. He's even a semi-pro golfer and bought a house which backs onto a golf course. That's devotion! Teresa teaches drama and theater and all that good stuff. Tonight we got to attend her new production called HONK!

It is a musical retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen classic about the ugly duckling who was mistreated because of his appearance, only to become one of the most beautiful creatures in nature in the fulness of time. The writing is clever. Ida, the mama duck, reproaches her lackluster husband, Drake, with the comment, "A duck shouldn't look sheepish. It confuses the other animals."

The music is good, too, especially a couple of numbers like Warts and All and Look at Him. In the former, a frog tries to cheer up the ugly duckling by convincing him that , some day, someone will love him, "warts and all." Look at Him is a song to stir the audience's empathy with someone who is persecuted for being different. Another song on the same theme is called Different.

All the major parts are well played in the Highland cast. The voice of Ida, the duckling's mother, is a powerful instrument which seems to find the right notes and hold them as long as necessary. I suspect some professional training there. The duckling is also played by a good singer who also plays his part to the hilt.

A boy named James Carter so captivated the audience as the villainous cat which is constantly plotting to eat the duckling, that he received excited applause and cheers when he came out for his curtain call. Honestly, I don't know how a professional actor could have improved on his performance. A female cat and a hen, who inexplicably cohabitate in a farmhouse together, are also very well done.

Costumes were cleverly done. The barnyard's tom turkey was wearing a black top hat and a gorgeous red tailcoat. The male swans wore white tuxedos. Their female counterparts wore eighteenth century French dresses and wigs. A blue jay who worked as a TV reporter, was all ready for a role in Mark Twain's Jim Baker's Bluejay Yarn, sporting an all blue tuxedo and top hat.

Now it's time for a little nepotism. We have a niece by marriage named Sidnie who was a cute kid when we first met her but has since become one of the most naturally beautiful young women one could imagine. Her face is of world class loveliness. Her skin complements perfectly her lush, red hair. She played one of the duckling's siblings, and, as always, charmed me half to death.

Vickie Wilde with her daughter, Sidnie.

I wish I could encourage you to see the play, but, alas, tonight was the last performance. But, the next time Highland High produces a play, you might seriously consider a trip to Pocatello. That sister-in law knows what she's doing.