One week after the controversy of Shakespeare in Woodward Park playing at the same time as a big Mixed Martial Arts match across the way at the amphitheatre, another potentially very loud competitor rolled into the same venue: a Timmy T concert. I'm curious from people who attended last night's "Hamlet": Did it go OK? Or did the noise level interfere?

The shiny new road sign on display Thursday night in the lobby welcomed folks to "William Saroyan Country." I'm not sure what the famously grouchy author would have thought of this. You have to remember that he made it very clear that he didn't want anything named after him. And now there will be signs with his name posted all over a special downtown district.

Then again, his birthday party was being held in the lobby of the William Saroyan Theatre. If he's in a position to care about such things, he's already come to terms with the name thing.

The celebration marking the 100th anniversary of his birth was a festive night: lots of Armenian delicacies, a clown named Scruffy, a memorabilia auction that included a bottle of Marilyn Monroe merlot, a stage flanked by two old-fashioned bicycles just like the one that Saroyan used to tool around on downtown. Lots of glammed-up members of the local Armenian community sipped wine. Larry Balakian, chairman of the William Saroyan Centennial Committee and a devoted disciple to the preservation of the author's memory, was seemingly everywhere in his crisp summer suit, chatting with sponsors and making sure the evening flowed smoothly.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BILL: Yes, the official day of celebration is here: For a year, the city has been celebrating the 100th anniversary of William Saroyan's birth, and now it's time for the party. The William Saroyan Centennial Committee has put together a program tonight at -- where else? -- the Saroyan Theatre celebrating the favorite-son author. The program includes a concert with the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia and performances by Edna Garabedian, Rhonda Grove and the Fresno Choral Artists.

Pre-concert festivities start at 6 pm. The concert starts at 7:30, and birthday cake will be served at 9:30. Tickets are $25-$50.

I talked to organizer Larry Balakian this afternoon, and tickets for tonight's event are still available. (Pictured: A watercolor from Pat Hunter's book ""William Saroyan: Places in Time.")

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LAST WEEKEND: Children's Musical Theaterworks closes out its summer season with "Once Upon a Mattress." There are four performances left: 7:30 p.m. tonight and Friday, and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. I haven't yet had a chance to catch this show, but I'm going to make an effort. Do CMT patrons recommend it? Let me know.

If you need any more encouragement to see Woody Allen's new film "Vicky Christina Barcelona," one of his best in recent years, you can add this to your list of reasons: Fresno's beloved Juan Serrano has two songs featured in the movie. The soundtrack is now available. According to the label:

As might be expected from a collection of Spanish music, instrumental guitar pieces make up the lion's share of the soundtrack. Guitarist Juan Serrano, whose reputation as a flamenco virtuoso spans six decades, delivers the churning and complex "Gorrión" early in the set, followed much later by the equally intricate closer, "Entre Olas."

If you recall, Serrano appeared at the Tower Theatre in July as part of the California State University Summer Arts festival.

I learned all sorts of interesting things in today's Bee:

CONDUCT THIS: As a Tower District resident who is periodically yanked from a deep sleep by the blast of a train horn -- on foggy nights it sounds as if the railroad crossing arm is in my living room -- my heart jumped when I read Denny Boyles' story headlined "Fresno plans to silence trains":

With the current crossings, engineers are required to use their horns as a warning as they approach intersections. The quiet zone project will cost just over $1 million and will make improvements to many of the downtown rail crossings. Work will include new concrete medians and improved crossing signals.

Yes! At last, an attempt to rein in the heavy-handed horn madness! (Have you ever heard the train engineer who replicates the "Jaws" theme?) I excitedly read about the effort to create a railroad quiet zone between Olive Avenue and Ventura Avenue.

Then it hit me. I live north of Olive Avenue. So I'll probably be just in range when the horn-ready engineers, momentarily silenced through downtown and just itching to make some real noise, get to let loose with a blast.

ABOUT THAT CAGE MATCH: Folks continue to express their displeasure with the juxtaposition of a Mixed Martial Arts match and the performance of "Hamlet" on Saturday night at Woodward Park.

My movie buddy George Feist, who loves passionate cinematic discussions, dropped me this note:

Hello: I have a not so friendly argument with a co-worker......He says that he and his wife got to talking and could not come up with ANY ACTRESSES worth their salt in movies today. Nothing, they say, like the Bergmans, Davis', Crawfords, Turners, etc of the 40's to 70's. I disagreed with him and he said no professional critics would have any of the last 20 years in their top ten of actresses.

Some of my faves/opinions.......Helen Mirren, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore......and those come to mind..... What are your thoughts?

My response: First off, George, I hope you've completely ruled out a duel with your coworker. No amount of movie supremacy in an argument is worth a 3/4-inch musket ball embedded in your shin.

I'm on your side on this one. I really do believe that some of today's best actresses are smokin' good.

A pleasant man left a message saying nice things about my Sunday Spotlight "Producers" column, but he had a bone to pick with one of my "facts." I had written:

The last show I performed in was in high school (I was the second sharecropper in "Finian's Rainbow"), and that was so many years ago that I'm pretty sure there was a glacier where Roger Rocka's Dinner Theater stands today.

My caller chided me, saying: "I want to correct something. That used to be an old Sprouse-Reitz department store."

OK, so just to be clear here: First an ice age back in Donald's distant past, THEN the Sprouse-Reitz. Gotta get the chronology correct.

Back in July, I wrote a column about a terrific art exhibition at Gallery 25 titled "Assemblage." One of the pieces in that show was by noted Fresno artist Nancy Youdelman, who likes to use found objects in her art. She had stumbled upon a fascinating cache of old letters that she ended up using as the basis for the piece, which she titled "Letters to Allen," pictured above.

Youdelman found the letters on eBay, which is a common place these days for people to unload old family heirlooms. (What to do with a stash of letters found in an attic? Put them on eBay.) The man had passed away at an advanced age. When Youdelman stumbled upon the letters and plowed through their beautiful calligraphy, she discovered an intriguing, if one-sided, view of a charismatic young man named Allen H. Watkins living in Greensboro, N.C., in the 1930s. From the letters that he had saved, which came from a number of women, a portrait emerges of an engaging young man with a country-club lifestyle and a bevy of lady friends who were obviously interested in him as romantic material.

After that story ran, I got an email from a local gentleman named Howard Watkins who was interested in the last name of the subject for obvious reasons. He put a link to the column on a Watkins family genealogy site. And, lo and behold, he got a call from none other than the son of Allen H. Watkins. Could he put her in touch with the artist?

I immediately called Youdelman. You can't blame her for being a little nervous for hearing that the son of the man whose intimate correspondence wound up in her assemblage piece wanted to talk with her.

Sounds like Woodward Park was a pretty lively place on Saturday night, what with a capacity crowd of 4,000 fans jamming the amphitheatre for "Rumble in the Park" and a smaller group of devoted Shakespeare fans gathering across the street at the Theater in the Glen for a performance of "Hamlet." Fans started lining up 90 minutes in advance for the "Rumble," an evening of mixed-martial arts that had a starting ticket price of $30. More than 1,500 people were turned away, Bee writer Denny Boyles reported. It's safe to assume that the audience for Shakespeare, which was free, was significantly smaller. Wonder how many of those disappointed 1,500 fight fans walked across the street for "Hamlet" instead?

You can be lighthearted about the contrast between the two events -- whatever makes folks happy, right? -- and can actually get historical about it. Bear baiting was a big deal in Shakespeare's time, of course, and the Bard was keenly aware of his competition. But I did hear from some "Hamlet" fans about the noise from the fights and how it bled into the play.

And on this weekend's Mindhub, Craig Scharton weighed in:

The people who put on Shakespeare in the park seem to be a good natured group, a group who obviously receives little support from anyone with the keys to the treasury to bring entertainment to our community. Tonight's play was their 100th. It should have been a celebration. Instead it was bombarded by AC/DC, Ozzie Osbourne and System of a Down. All good bands, but not in a bird sanctuary and not on a night when the local Shakespeare company was putting their collective hearts into a performance.

You could walk right past this storefront studio and never realize what's inside. The space is tucked in the corner of an innocuous strip mall that sits on the curvy part of Wishon Avenue, just south of Olive in the Tower District. (Babylon is at the other end of the building.) The unmarked rehearsal hall is almost invisible from the street. A screen blocks the view from the door. To a shopper walking by on the way to the thrift store a few storefronts down, it's impossible to tell that on the other side of the screen, 25 people are singing and dancing like mad.

Well, that shopper might hear something out of the ordinary.The walls are thin. Next door to the rehearsal hall is a church. At 7 p.m. on Thursdays, the worship service lumbers into gear. On one side of the wall there's the rumble of an organ and the bark of the minister. On the other, a line of actors hunched over like little old ladies singing a song from "The Producers." It's quite a combination.

I've been in this rehearsal space before conducting interviews for advance stories on GCP productions, but on this night, it's in a slightly different capacity. I am in a number from "The Producers" -- at least through the final dress rehearsal.

I AM one of those little old ladies.

As I write in my Sunday Spotlight column introducing this blog series, all those Fresno theater fans out there who are used to me as the dignified critic slouching in the dark may now pop their eyeballs back into their heads.

Proving once again that there is a blog for absolutely everything under the sun, this baby-shower dessert is featured on Cake Wrecks, a site devoted to "when professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong."

On the jump: three more of my faves. (Warning: Avoid if you're eating lunch, especially McDonald's french fries.)

OPENINGS: The last Children's Musical Theaterworks production of the summer, "Once Upon a Mattress," pictured above, opens Friday at the Fresno Memorial Auditorium and runs for two weekends. This production is for the 11-to-14 year old crop of actors, and unlike "Sweeney Todd," it's appropriate for all ages. So many kids in that age range wanted to be in the show that CMT has two completely separate casts, 35 each, alternating the show. Normally in a CMT show, the principal roles are alternated, but the ensembles remain the same. I'm curious to hear what audience members (which includes parents, of course) think of the arrangement.

SECOND WEEKEND: "Hamlet" and "Doubt" continue their runs at Woodward Shakespeare Festival and 2nd Space Theatre, respectively. The "Hamlet" review, which is capsulized in Friday's 7 section, is here. (It's generated quite a volume of comments already, including a fascinating one Thursday from the cast member playing Ophelia talking about her character.) The "Doubt" review is here.

As long as we're being wacky with vice-presidential prospects, you won't want to miss this IM "transcript" of four Democratic vice presidential hopefuls chatting. A sample:

SebeliusBizness: guess that leaves u and me

KaineDeeMan: do you really think I have a gopher face?

SebeliusBizness: yup. do u really think I look like John kerry?

KaineDeeMan: ur his clone. but john kerry never got me as hot as I am right now.

(From 236.com via andrewsullivan.com. Warning: NSFW because of language.)

Also featured: an IM chat between Cindy McCain and her "secret half-sister."

And speaking of made-up funny stuff: Maureen Dowd's latest column about John McCain and Hillary Clinton plotting against Obama -- which is getting a lot of play online -- is immensely clickworthy.

Sam Delaney of the UK's Telegraph has a fascinating story about the increasing pressures that photographers -- even amateur ones -- are under when attempting to take pictures in public spaces. The reason: hyped-up police trying to ferret out terrorists and pedophiles. Even the general public, egged on by the authorities, are quick to turn on citizen photographers. Among the biggest offenders: private security guards, who have very little official authority but who have been known to use their uniforms to bully folks just wanting to take snapshots. Delaney writes:

Across the globe, casual snappers are experiencing similar problems. There's the amateur photographer confronted at a subway station in LA after being told by a misinformed station guard that he was 'breaking the 9/11 Law.' There's the protests taking place in New York against the proposed ban on photography in train stations. There's the Melbourne shopping centre and tourist attraction that banned photography in order to "stop terrorism." There's even a story about a man who was visited at home and interrogated by FBI agents after being spotted taking photographs at the Port of Los Angeles. The Internet is home to a fast-growing, worldwide community of photographers who feel their hobby is being gradually outlawed by an increasingly paranoid society.

Scary stuff. So far, in Fresno, I haven't felt any weirdness when I'm out and about taking photos. Then again, I haven't tried to get any shots of the Friant Dam lately, either.

[Illustration: London Telegraph]

OK, we'll turn down the Paranoia Meter here and focus on something a lot more fun: like taking photos. Steve Dzerigian of Spectrum Art Gallery writes to tell me that Fresno will be a part of the first "Worldwide Photo Walk," a free event held Saturday Aug. 23 in conjunction with the release of the update of Scott Kelby's "Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers." Photographers from around the world will gather for a two-hour time slot to take pictures in and around their communities. Fresno's designated area is the Tower District. Because of the heat, local organizers picked a 6-8 a.m. time slot.

Melinda Downing of Spectrum is Fresno's Photo Walk leader. She'll pick a winner out of the group who will receive a free copy of the Kelby book, and local photos will be featured online. A grand-prize winner from the day also will be selected. Mostly the event is just a chance to socialize with other photographers and perhaps learn something from each other. (And be part of a plug for a book, but, hey, it's smart marketing, right?) Participation is free, but registration online is required. The event is limited to 50 photographers.

Oh, and by the way, if you aren't a photographer and are up early Saturday in the Tower and a horde of folks with cameras wanders by your house, don't worry. A tour bus didn't get lost on the way to Yosemite.

I don't normally have a chance to see Fresno plays more than one time, especially if they're short runs. But I made an exception for the Children's Musical Theaterworks production of "Sweeney Todd," which closed Saturday night. Why? Because the company uses two different sets of performers in leading roles. I wanted to see the last performances of a couple of cast members I'd missed the first time around.

And when I say last performances, I'm talking about more than just the last "Sweeney Todd." Every summer, a new group of longtime CMT performers "age out" of the program. It's like graduation. To perform in the youth shows, you have be 20 years old or younger.

Were there tears backstage at the last performances? You bet. A graduation wouldn't be complete without them. It's a time when close friends often have to say good-bye as they head off in different directions.

At the end of the Good Company Players production of John Patrick Shanley's "Doubt, a parable," the characters we've just seen come to life on stage -- including the sternly righteous, tree-trunk-solid Sister Aloysius and the charismatic but hard-to-pin-down Father Flynn, who butt up against each other in the mesmerizing face-off that makes this acclaimed play so indelible -- vanish. They're replaced by the actors themselves, who arrange themselves in chairs to chat with the audience members who have chosen to remain for a short talk-back session.

This casual discussion is a fine way to end this intriguing theater experience. The question everyone in the audience has, of course, is a simple one: Did he do it? Is Father Flynn guilty of the sexual abuse that Sister Aloysius is so confident he committed? As the comments flow and the actors muse, it's clear that talking about the show afterward is an essential part of the process. (It's been said that the second act of the play is the discussion that takes place between audience members when they get home.)

But something else emerges from the look back at at the brisk and streamlined "Doubt," which is performed without an intermission. It is more than just a detective story. Sitting there, still reeling, at the end of the play, what we've just witnessed is a moral guessing game.

The setting: Late-night Saturday at BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse restaurant at Fashion Fair, where the TV sets never rest and the enormous, piping-hot chocolate-chunk "Pizookies" served in mini-pizza pans are so addictive that they've been known to entice secret agents into changing sides. (This BJ's must be distinguished from Fresno's own BJ's Kountry Kitchen, the decadent breakfast establishment -- motto: "would you like six or 15 pieces of bacon with your eggs?" -- that might as well set up intravenous feeds at the tables and inject lard directly into its patrons' veins.)

The scene: Michael Phelps' historic attempt at an eighth Olympic gold medal at the Beijing games.

The logistics: One of the amazing things about BJ's is the fact that big-screen TV sets are visible on all sides of the restaurant. This means that each member of a party of four sitting at a square table, say, can gaze directly ahead to see the wall-mounted TV without having to shift his or her head. It also sets up the somewhat disconcerting situation that people tend to stare past those sitting across from them, creating the sensation that folks are eating in a daze. It's like mealtime at a psychiatric facility after everyone's taken their meds.

The moment: Phelps and his American team competing in the 4x100-meter medley relay team . Even though the sound is down, every eye in the place seems glued to the various screens.

The win: The Americans get the gold, and the whole place erupts in a cheer. Phelps smiles. Pizookie eaters smile. It's a smiling moment, yes, that brings a whole bunch of people together. Yet we don't really smile at one another, because we're all looking different ways. Then, finally, as what Phelps has accomplished sinks in, we wrench our collectives eyes from those collective screens on the wall and do the holler-whoop thing. He did it. Michael Phelps got us to look away from the TV.

[Photo: New York Times]

Arlene Schulman, the articulate and industrious director of Woodward Shakespeare Festival's vibrant new production of "Hamlet," has compared the play to a "caged leopard" that paces and searches, ready to leap given the slightest opportunity. That's a perfect way to describe Hamlet himself. The title character is portrayed with a prowling, lithe, snarling obsessiveness by Adam Meredith.

This is not Hamlet as grand protagonist. He is not the embodiment of all that is noble. He does not exude the stage-dominating gravitas that we often associate with the great men who tackle this great role. This Hamlet is brash, petulant and a bit of a whiner. He is tousled and desperate, grasping at straws, fidgeting with excess energy. He is a man bent upon seeking revenge, yes, but he is also a showman -- preoccupied with the artifice and allure of the stage -- who relishes the thrill of the chase. I can imagine that he's always been a little "off" socially, even before he learned of the death of his father. He might be in line to be king, but I don't think he'd ever get elected student body president at Clovis West High School.

Meredith is fierce and compelling. He's just one of the reasons that I really, really like this "Hamlet."

In Friday's 7 section I have an interview with Arlene Schulman, director of the new Woodward Shakespeare Festival production of "Hamlet." Here's a continuation of the interview:

How did you hook up with Woodward Shakespeare Festival?

I love Shakespeare and directing his plays is always a first priority for me. As a professional director living and working in the NJ/NYC area, I regularly check the casting calls online for potential job opportunities. I saw Woodward Shakespeare Festival's notice on Playbill Online looking for directors for their upcoming 2008 season. Since they were looking for a director for "Hamlet" and I was looking for a company that would be open to exploring the somewhat innovative directorial concept for "Hamlet" that is the basis of my MA dissertation I responded to their ad and sent in a precis for my concept. They were intrigued and enthusiastic, and thus it began ...

You've gotta love the New York Times: upright institution of high culture, but just dying to get down into the trenches and scream about sex and salaciousness. How does the Times manage to cover the hot topic of hot bodies in the Olympics? By combining a prurient "I like to watch" theme with a scholarly, measured, academic appraisal of just why it is that humans love to gaze longingly at lithe, toned bodies. Writer Guy Trebay manages to work in references as disparate as the ancient Greeks, 4th Century Sicily, a young Cassius Clay and Madonna. He notes that the infatuation with Michael Phelps-style bodies (shown above, ahem, from below) is nothing new:

What the Games also frankly accommodate is a taste for the spectacle of straining young bodies, an appeal that was not lost on the ancients. The crowds at the early Games, according to the historian Nigel Spivey, were as excited by the "boys with slim waists, broad shoulders, neatly proud buttocks and springy thighs" as they were by the lofty ideal of the Games.

And, yes, I'm also sucking up just a little to new editor Kathy, who was just waiting for another pic of Phelps.

[Photo: New York Times]

OPENINGS: Two Fresno-area plays open Thursday night:

• Woodward Shakespeare Festival's "Hamlet" kicks off a four-weekend run with a new production directed by Arlene Schulman. I have an interview with Schulman in Friday's 7 section. The New Jersey-based director has a fresh take on this classic play: She's particularly interested in the depiction of the major women characters, Gertrude and Ophelia, and their relationship to the story.
• Good Company Players opens "Doubt," which continues through Oct. 12 at the 2nd Space Theatre. John Patrick Shanley's play about the collision between a formidale nun and a new priest sent to her parish parochial school was a recent favorite on Broadway. (Mike Oldham, who plays Father Flynn, is pictured at right.)

DON'T FORGET: Children's Musical Theaterworks' accomplished production of "Sweeney Todd" at the Fresno Memorial Auditorium continues for just four more performances. From what I understand, the "Fleet Street cast" (with Joey Giudici, Terra Greer and Kelly Sanchez in the leading roles) performs 7:30 p.m. Thursday and 2 p.m. Saturday. The "Pie Shop cast" (with Chase Stubblefield, Caitlin Stevenson and Daniel Rodriguez) performs 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

AND: You only have a few days left to see GCP alum Andrea Chamberlain star in "The Drowsy Chaperone" at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco. You can read my interview with her here.

I still run into people who aren't all that interested in Good Company Players productions " 'cause it's just dinner theater." You'd think that with all the ink (and air time!) devoted over the years to the success of Audra McDonald, Sharon Leal, Heidi Blickenstaff and the dozens of other GCP alums who have gone on to distinguished theater careers that folks would be a little more cognizant of what a great training ground this local company is.

Some things never change.

But that's an even better excuse to celebrate Andrea Chamberlain, a Roosevelt grad and GCP standout. Not only did she understudy the lead role of "The Drowsy Chaperone" on Broadway, she nabbed the part for herself on the national tour. She's appearing in the show in San Francisco at the Orpheum Theatre through Sunday Aug. 17. We caught up with her for an email interview.

Question: What's the most challenging part of playing this role on a daily basis?

Stamina. Both vocal and physical. It is pretty demanding on both fronts. I am doing splits, cartwheels and high kicks in SHOW OFF as well as holding long high notes =). Over time, you build up those muscles(both vocally and physically) but there are definitely days where my body hurts or my voice is a little tired. Especially with all of the travelling that we do.

I cheerfully admit that I know next to nothing about the MTV series "The Hills" other than it is the most gawdawful acted show on TV -- I tried to watch an episode once and thought I'd stumbled into someone reading the minutes from a planning commission meeting -- but I do have a tiny local angle to pass on. Jervy Smith, my optometrist, reports that his son, Alex Smith, Clovis West '03, is in the season 4 trailer for "The Hills" and has a bit part in the show. Jervy writes:

Alex is supposed to cuddle up to Whitney Port, although she may have found another flame in which case his appearances will be short lived. But at least Alex made the first 20 seconds of the nationally televised trailer.

Infrared photography is very cool, very hip, these days. Lots of photographers are experimenting with the genre. Tim A. Fleming's new show at Spectrum Gallery is a good way to get a grip on the technique.

When you shoot in an infrared format, scenes can turn out weird and otherworldly. Foliage appears white and water looks black. The whole scene is infused with an ethereal glow.

For August ArtHop, I started off with Fleming's exhibition at Spectrum. It's an impressive show. Fleming is more of a "purist" when it comes to infrared photography than those shooters who merely try to act the effect with the help of Photoshop. Fleming, who uses a specialized 4x5 digital camera designed for such work, uses a special filter. It's a complicated process that actually involves using the camera like a "scanner" -- rapidly photographing one "line" at a time of a scene -- that necessitates a lengthy exposure.

Those who were worried that Children's Musical Theaterworks would somehow candy-coat Stephen Sondheim's wonderfully doleful "Sweeney Todd" needn't have had any cause for concern. Granted, this stage production -- featuring CMT's actors ages 15-20 -- is nowhere near as bloody as the recent Tim Burton movie. And thank goodness for that. There are still a couple of scenes from that film -- most notably a certain, um, hacking motion from Johnny Depp's straight-edge razor followed by what can only be called a waterfall of red -- that still stand out unpleasantly in my mind. I estimate there are at least 45 seconds of the film I've never seen, thanks to my eyes being tightly screwed shut.

Stage productions have a lot more latitude when it comes to symbolizing violence rather than depicting it graphically, of course. And while it's true that this "Sweeney Todd" (which plays through Aug. 16 at Fresno Memorial Auditorium, 2425 Fresno St.) is not as bloody as other stage productions of the show I've seen, director Elizabeth Fiester does deliver what's arguably far more important: a giddy yet macabre sense of itself.

Sure, the actors are a little younger than we're used to seeing in these iconic parts, from the grim and embittered Sweeney to the shrilly middle-aged Mrs. Lovett (who's certainly been around a London block more than a few times). But thanks to some impressively mature voices from these young performers -- and strong makeup and hair design by Steve Souza -- it's easy to be drawn into the play.

So it's settled: Joshua is the big winner on "So You Think You Can Dance." It came down to him and Twitch in the final two Thursday night, with the men on the show pushing aside the women for the top spots.

I have to admit that I rolled my eyes the first time I watched an installment of this show, thinking that it was just another forgettable, hacked-up attempt to cash in on the "American Idol" craze. Even the insistence on referring to the dancers by first names seemed to take away a little of their legitimacy.

Yet the show became one of my guilty pleasures over the season. I've talked to other people who admit the same thing. Sure, there are times when I thought the producers took the "everyone should be able to dance all styles" thing too far. It'd be like forcing pro athletes to compete on day in baseball, the next in basketball, then on to football. At some point I think you have to specialize when it comes to dance genres. But, that said, I found this season thoroughly engrossing. Even the ultra-annoying judge, Mary "Tamale Train" Murphy, whose shriek-song voice could dissolve hard-water deposits, grew on me. I was also jazzed that the group dance numbers were almost always impeccably rehearsed and beautifully performed, compared to the sloppy, mediocre efforts by the "American Idol" singers in their own group numbers.

And I loved the way that producer/judge Nigel Lythgoe insisted on exposing the audience to top-notch dance companies and choreographers. When was the last time Alvin Ailey was featured on Fox TV?

The New York Times has a fascinating piece on Zhang Yimou, the creative wizard responsible for today's dazzling Opening Ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics. Zhang is one of my all-time favorite movie directors. His films "Raise the Red Lantern" and "To Live" are definitely in my Top 20 list of all-time films. Though he's now riding high in the eyes of the Chinese government, the Times notes that it wasn't always that way:

Time and again, Mr. Zhang's terse, gritty epics were banned by government censors for portraying China's ugly side. When he won an award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1994, the authorities stopped him from attending. Up for an Oscar one year, officials lobbied to have his film withdrawn from the competition.

Zhang's evolution from social critic to establishment star has in some ways been incremental. He embraced the big-budget martial-arts genre with his big hit "Hero," and even then some critics were calling him a sell-out. I guess you could argue that China is a different place than when Zhang first started making his searing, beautiful films. Or is it that he's become a different director?

On the jump: More Olympics stuff.

In Friday's 7 section I have an interview with Elizabeth Fiester, director of the new Children's Musical Theaterworks production of "Sweeney Todd." Here's a continuation of the interview:

Did you see the recent film version? If so, what did you think?

Yes, I went to the midnight showing on it's opening weekend. I liked the movie, I thought Tim Burton adapted it to the screen wonderfully and I really enjoyed the performances.

And not just because your very cranky steering wheel tried to burn your hands. There's an interesting array of ArtHop shows to see tonight. Beehiver Felicia Matlosz gave us a rundown in Sunday's Spotlight section.

There's some other ArtHop news to report. Stalwart participant Glen Delpit, who has been on the ArtHop tour for the last six years in the Fresno High/Tower area (and whose work "Autumn" is shown above), has moved downtown to the heart of the Cultural Arts District at 1753 Van Ness (Van Ness and Amador), directly across from Bill Bruce's studio and one block north of Arte Americas. He writes:

Next door to me is the Roger Perry Studio, and although it is a recording studio it will be showing art work every Arthop (this month Shannon Johnson will have work there) and also presenting live music.

The Cultural Arts District is starting to come alive (we're working on banners for the streetlights) . There's Arte Americas one block south, and 1 block behind us on Fulton is the Pearl Building, and 3 blocks southwest is the Broadway studios -- all within a very short walking distance, and of course the Met when it gets underway is just a block away. away. No longer is Bill Bruce an oasis on the north end of Van Ness. So, while there is a great deal at the other end of Van Ness with Fig Tree Gallery (which Bill and I are both members of) and Gallery 25 and Corridor 2122, there is now something happening at the north end too. We hope you'll take the opportunity on Arthop to stop in and say hello and see what's taking place in the Cultural Arts District.

Sounds great, Glen. The more bustle, the better. You're definitely on my list.

This summer has been a transitional challenge for Woodward Shakespeare Festival, no question about it. Though the move from the park's amphitheater to the smaller group activity area gave lots of room for positive spin -- the intimacy of the space, the additional greenery, the potential for a permanent stage -- festival organizers had some big challenges as well, especially the lighting situation. As the second production of the summer, "Hamlet," gears up for an Aug. 14 opening, spokesperson Chris Campbell looks back at "Twelfth Night," addresses what's up with the lights and talks about "Hamlet":

Well, 12th Night is concluded. I think the show really strengthened in all aspects over the 5 week run as we learned a lot -- and monitored the feed back on your blog. I don't know if you were able to get back out there but we have heard excellent things from the audience and we had over 1500 total audience for the three shows last weekend.

Now we are on to Hamlet opening August 14. We are on the way to transform the set into a Danish Castle and rehearsals seem to be going very well.

There are two things I want to emphasize about Hamlet: the interesting director and the less interesting lights.

I'm still settling in after returning from a vacation, but I didn't want to let my July 27 Spotlight column get away without mentioning it here. I wrote about a longtime Fresno piano teacher named Velda V. Boutte, who died last year and is now being honored by piano scholarships in her name through the Fresno County Branch of the Music Teachers Association of California.

My column was appreciated by several readers. One named Donna writes:

Just wanted to thank you for your wonderful article on Ms. Boutte. I never had the privilege of knowing Ms. Boutte, but it 'touched a chord' in my heart, perhaps more than some readers, as my mom was another of those one-in-a-million, unbelievabley gifted, musicians (pianist/organist) whose great joy, like Ms. Butte, was helping others be their best, whether through teaching, rehearsing, arranging, or providing the perfect accompaniment to beginners and celebrities alike. Too infrequently, I think, are these treasured people honored beyond the circles of those who knew and loved them. Your lovely article shined a deserving and sweet light on Ms. Butte's generous life. By bringing attention to the MTAC Foundation, I'm grateful, too, that you've given those of us who wish we had known her a way to perpetuate her passion.

On the jump: my own piano teacher memories, plus more reader comments.

UPDATE 8/5: Well, there's a winner. I hesitate to share his name because it will just make people even more likely to project themselves into the winner's circle -- there's nothing like personalizing the fantasy -- but here it is: Jeffery Carl of Visalia. Let the phone calls from old friends and distant family members begin.

8/4: A pet peeve of mine: news stories about lottery jackpots. This morning Channel 30 was whooping it up about the $47 million SuperLotto winning ticket sold at a Goshen convenience store, pictured. The Bee popped the story on top of Monday's front page. It's a time-honored tradition for news outlets to frenzy it up when there's a local winner.

Of course, we never seem to read about the people who waste thousands of dollars a year on what essentially is a sucker bet. As long as there's that teensy 1-in-25-million-chance of a big win, people can dream. That's what these stories are meant to be: little fantasies. People dive in for a few paragraphs, think to themselves, "Ah, if that only were me," and then go out and hand over more of their hard-earned dough in pursuit of the near impossible. Never mind that someone is ALWAYS going to win the lottery. It's not like it's some astonishing event. What the state basically did in this case is collect a whole lot of money from a bunch of people, give $47 million to one person and then hang on to the rest. Repeat cycle, forever.

I suppose if people want to throw away their money, fine, but why does the media so blithely play along by donating all that free advertising?

[Bee photo: Craig Kohlruss]

The Associated Press is reporting that actor Morgan Freeman has been in a fairly major car accident in rural Mississippi. Rescuers had to use the Jaws of Life to get him out of the car. He's hospitalized Monday afternoon in serious condition with a broken arm, broken elbow and minor shoulder damage, according to his publicist.

So what does a small town do when a celebrity is involved in a potentially life-threatening accident? Rush out to get a good rubbernecking view, of course:

Bystanders converged on the accident scene trying to get a glimpse of the actor. When one person tried to snap a photo with a cell phone camera, Freeman joked, ''no freebies, no freebies," a local journalist reported.

I guess the old adage about always wearing clean underwear is true if you're a box-office star.

UPDATE 8/6: Photos removed at request of photographer Brad Polzin.

ORIGINAL POST 8/4: You've got to hand it to Edna Garabedian and her plucky California Opera Arts and Educational Festival: Not only does she persevere, but each year the event gets a little closer to her vision of a world-class training festival in Fresno.

The festival ended Sunday afternoon with a fully-staged performance of Puccini's one-act "Il Tabarro" at the Tower Theatre. The venue itself is a notable upgrade from past years. Previously, the festival made a home at San Joaquin Gardens retirement complex. (Construction work at the facility meant that the festival had to find new lodgings, and there was a little bit of scrambling by Garabedian to find suitable alternatives, which ended up including the Fresno Art Museum and St. Therese Catholic Church.) The move to the Tower is a good one. Though Garabedian always made a valiant effort each year to transform the big hall at San Joaquin Gardens into a space for opera, the Tower stage is on a whole different level of performance.

And it can fit a lot more people as well. The audience for "Il Tabarro" was robust indeed. No doubt the draw of free opera -- and the reputation of the festival -- is clicking with more people in the Fresno area than ever. [Photos: California Opera]