Riding the Cyclone twice

I made my way to Vashon High School to see “Ride the Cyclone” on its opening weekend. The production so impressed me that I went to see it again last weekend, and I was moved to joyous tears and disbelief at what a bunch of teenagers could accomplish.

There have been no theatrical, musical, dance or other type of stage production that I have seen on this island in 30 years that was any better. “Ride the Cyclone” actually outshone most of the shows I have attended. Only after seeing a few Broadway productions have I ever been as impressed with a live stage performance.

When I read Elizabeth Shepherd’s review of the show in The Beachcomber I felt she somehow masterfully grabbed the “Cyclone” magic in words and recreated the extraordinary feeling this production exudes. Besides drawing audience members to the show, the review was a gift to each and every member of Cyclone’s cast and crew. I hope they all tuck a copy away in a scrapbook and read it at least once a decade as they age so they can reexperience the thrill of what they created together as Vashon High School students.

Ellen Call

Modern day fascists

The Israelis are violating the ceasefire, bombing Gaza, killing hundreds of people, 170 children. Welcome to Holocaust 2. Trump is bombing Yemen, with no declaration of war from Congress. That’s an irrelevant detail, since the current administration, like those before it, think the Constitution a nuisance.

Many individuals in public life have said that Trump should not be president. He is incompetent, childish, self-centered, a habitual liar, crazy, a sociopath, and the most dangerous man since Joe McCarthy. In my life I’ve not heard comments like this about the President.

Statements applying to WWII history apply today. Let’s update the names. For Hitler, Goebbels, and Mussolini, we’ve got Trump, Musk, and Netanyahu. For Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy we’ve got the U. S. and Israel. For the SS we’ve got ICE. For Auschwitz we’ve got ICE detention facilities and Guantanamo. For the Jews we’ve got Palestinians and immigrants.

Some Germans in the thirties realized what Hitler was, but failed to stop him. Will we stop Trump or let him gut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid? Will we let him trash the Constitution while we act as good Germans — er, ah, I mean good Americans, heads in the sand? If you’re not alarmed, you’re a fool.

Shelley Simon