Aww, this is sweet: Tell me you can look at this photo and explanation from Fresno State theater professor J. Daniel Herring and not get just a little choked up:
Herring writes on Facebook:
The end of an era. The last McGee and Oliver siblings to graduate from the Theatre Arts Department at Fresno State. I feel honored to have directed and taught five of them — Carly Oliver, Kelsey Oliver, Dane Oliver, Matthew McGee and Aaron McGee. — with Aaron McGee and Dane Oliver.
OK, maybe part of my choking-up factor is realizing how much I’ve enjoyed the performances of all these siblings over the years. Here’s a salute to two tremendously talented families.
As Stefon on “Saturday Night Live” might say (and, by the way, word came today that Bill Hader is leaving “SNL”), this Bee story by Chief Waterfowl Correspondent George Hostetter has it all: Charming baby creatures in peril. Big bad bureaucracy. Anguished neighbors. The heartstring-tugging motif of sad little wading pools instead of a big, abundant lake. Plus, it’s hot. We all know what it’s like to stew in our Fresno juices.
The one thing this story does not have, as Kyle Lowe correctly points out on Facebook, is Ryan Gosling. Or his immediate relatives. We would not want to be known, after all, as the city that puts the (nearly) Sexiest Man Alive in imminent danger.
This poster advertising Michael Gutierrez’s senior musical recital at Fresno State caught my eye:
Nice!
(The photo and poster design is by Devon Jacoby.)
From local actor Jochebed Smith:
Will there be an opening night party at Sardi’s? We’ll be anxiously waiting for the review tomorrow. (Hat tip to Ashley Taylor.)
In honor of spring break, we can’t resist a Disneyland moment. Matt Sconce, one of the co-founders of the nifty Met Cinemas community membership model in Oakhurst, slipped out of town for a face-squeezing time on Splash Mountain. How’d he get his goatee to go that way?
Via Facebook, Sconce reported this week:
The Met is saved and over 3500 people have been watching movies! We have 2 digital theaters already, one more for Friday, and two last digital theaters coming the following week.
For more information on the Met, here’s the website.
We’ve heard for years about people who grow up in Fresno and then zip out of town as fast as they can. Some return, others stay away. But how about this category:
Are you a NELF? Good for you.
Rely on the Beehive: always first with the news.
Amy Querin, artistic director of the Fresno Dance Collective (NOCO), has started quite a trend …
As you Rogue the next two final days of the festival away, NOCO will perform 7 p.m. today and 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Severance Theatre.
To read The Bee’s stories by Rick Bentley and Ron Orozco in today’s Kids Day coverage, go to our special page.
Kids Day is all over the Internet today. Click here for a Storify compilation.
It’s going to be a dark and stormy night …
Hilarious.
But at least, Leslie, you got to buy a piece of red-velvet cake at intermission, right?
Friendly memo to Fresno comics: When you’re promoting an event the same day as a horrific mass shooting, it’s best to avoid using the murders in your marketing efforts. Not funny at all.
CLARIFICATION: Comedian TK Cookiebaker is not an organizer of the Beat Down Slam, as we you can see in the comments below.
