Thursday, October 22, 2009

Ol' Will had it all Wrong...

"First thing we do is kill all the lawyers."
Henry VI (Part 2)
William Shakespeare

Last week I had the opportunity to do some photography of a stage production called "Misbehavin' at the Menger" at the Empire Theater in San Antonio, Texas. I was curious about this production...so much so that I volunteered my services a year in advance! There were several reasons for my fascination.


You see, this is a production, going under the umbrella name of "The Ethics Follies", that has been set up as an alternative means of conveying continuous education credits for Ethics Training to legal, accounting and medical professionals seeking to earn credits toward renewing their professional certifications/licenses. I have had to attend my fair share of ethics training seminars conducted in the classic download method, and I have managed to catch up on a lot of sleep while doing so, while retaining little information that might be used to keep me out of the clutches of these legal eagles. So, the attempt at making the topic fun and enjoyable is, by itself, a noble undertaking.


If that isn't enough nobility to peak your interest, try this one on.  It was brought to my attention that this group of folks donates their time to support a very deserving charity. According to Lee Cusenbary (the shows Director and creative force), the charity which benefits from The Follies is The Community Justice Program. It is a group of volunteer judges and attorneys who provide free legal services to those who can’t afford to hire attorneys. This not only helps people who need it, but it keeps the Bexar County Courts free from time consuming pro se litigants who don’t know enough to represent themselves and cost tax payers lots of money.



I was introduced to this show and its cast the old fashioned way. My significant other, Ms. C, has a sister who is deeply involved with this production (she plays one of the leads). After watching and listening to her talk about the performance from last year, I knew that I wanted to try and give them the benefit of a different point of view than what I saw in the images taken during that earlier show.


I have to admit - I had set a pretty low bar with regards to expectations of performance and production values. I figured they scored the cool theater through social connections. I also was expecting production quality that was probably only a notch or so above your basic high school musical. After all, the show was being put on by a group of lawyers and judges affiliated with the San Antonio Bar Association!!! As Lee Cusenbary correctly states: "It's hard to imagine a bunch of lawyers singing and dancing until you are there".

After seeing the show, I think that they need to stop thinking of themselves as just a bunch of lawyers and judges. They are a quality group of performers who also happen to be lawyers, judges, accountants and medical professionals. I was also told that there are some local performers who asked to participate in this years production because of the quality of the group. They made the right call!!!

Maybe in Shakespeare's time the right solution would have been to remove all of those who might hold society accountable to the rule of law. But in our time, our world is a better place because of the talents and services provided by Lee and his talented cast.



Will - ya' got it all wrong...

Keep the faith.

P.S. Thanks, Guys. I had a blast.

4 comments:

  1. We love the photos, Howard, and we're so glad you and Ms. C enjoyed the show! Thank you so much!

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  2. Great photos! Hope to see more soon! Thanks for the kind words. The show seems to bring out the hidden talents (and not so hidden) of a great group of San Antonians! And all to help make San Antonio a better place.

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