March Morpho Mania

One of the hidden treasures of St. Louis is the Butterfly House which is associated with the equally awesome Missouri Botanical Garden. March is the time when the Butterfly House 'floods' the conservatory with tons of Common Blue Morpho butterflies - they are eye-catchingly blue - and one of my favorites for their vivid color. Somehow, I never knew about this or had forgotten, but I finally made it!

A and I traveled to the Butterfly House a day after the early Spring/late Winter snow whomping - so it was interesting to be in 80 degree weather and see the outside white with snow. Of course, with the temperature difference, I had to wait a while for my lens to acclimate to the warmth and humidity. I'd also forgotten that I don't particularly like things flying at my head, even tiny little butterflies, so I spent the first part of the visit ducking a little. There seemed like there were millions (probably just hundreds) of butterflies flitting about.

The only annoying thing about these beautiful common blue morphos is that their color is only seen when they have their wings spread - which means, that the only chance to get to really get a good picture is when they land... and when they land, it's usually like this:

    

But patience and persistence paid off:

             



There were more than just morphos flying about:

     



Also some flower pics for you to enjoy:

    

Madama Butterfly

On the eve of my departure for my next job, I finally sit down and write about my last job, Madama Butterfly. All around, it was a great production.... superb cast, simple but beautiful set and gorgeous, mostly uncomplicated costumes.

The set was unique as in it was raked enough to remind us all that we did indeed have muscles in our legs that we did not use normally. By the time we were well into onstage rehearsals, I had forgotten how extreme the rake was since we'd all gotten our 'rake legs'. The rake grew more and more extreme as it got closer to the curtain. In fact, the lowest platform actually tipped down into the pit. Simple, yet dramatic. Very suiting to the piece, I think.

Here's the view from the balcony, which gives a better idea of the rake:



What you can't see is the 26 stairs leading up to the rear of the mountain. Let's just say that I really got my exercise during tech week.

What was really fun was opening night. Butterfly opened the season, so there was a gala of sorts. We (staff) wore corsages (yes, a la prom)



and ate dessert sushi - which bears an uncanny resemblance to real sushi except its made of fruit, coconut and who knows what else, but it was TASTY!





And lastly, our lobby was adorned with decorated parasols:





Brava tutti! I will certainly miss everyone and look forward to our next show together... wherever it may be.



Still to come: Driving Adventures