You never know who you might see!

When the Light Opera Works box office recommends one of our Dining Partners it’s not just because they’re donors.

Well, okay, it is because they’re donors. But we went to them in the first place because these are actually our favorite places to eat.

The cast and crew of Camelot have been enjoying a giant bag of fresh organic cherries from Whole Foods Evanston at every rehearsal this month. You never know—you might find some (cherries, that is, but cast and crew as well!) at the Opening Night Reception, because Whole Foods Evanston is providing the food. (To find out how you can attend, go to our Donations page.)

You’ll spot Production Associate Kyle Dougan at Dixie Kitchen. It’s his favorite restaurant; he always takes his out-of-town family and friends there.

If you want to run into General Manager Bridget McDonough, just pop into the Globe Café on Orrington Street—you might see her having lunch with one of our angels.

Everyone on staff still likes to make a Sandwich Wednesday run to Rollin’ To Go, in our old neighborhood on Noyes Street in Evanston. Development consultant Xan Nelson can be seen in there as well, as she is addicted to their White Chicken Chili.

Drop into any of our Dining Partners and don't forget to mention Light Opera Works for discounts and special offers. Evanston is packed with great food, right around the corner from the theater! (And there are more all the time, so keep checking back.)

Where do you like to eat before the show?

She sings, she writes, what *can't* she do?

Turns out our "Yeomen" star Alicia Berneche is quite a poet as well. Alicia was a winner of the City of Evanston's recent poetry competition. Original poems by five Evanston residents were installed in concrete on the sidewalk ramp in front of the Evanston Public Library in downtown Evanston.

Alicia played leading lady Elsie in last June's The Yeomen of the Guard, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance in 2009, as well as Marian in The Music Man and Phyllis in Iolanthe, both in 2008.

Here's Alicia's poem "The Poetic Foot"

Your feet scan these words
And feel the vibration of meaning
through their soles.
Poetry is motion
And the rhythm of bodies
That pound their stories
Into the earth.

You can see the inscription of her words at the Evanston Public Library at Church and Orrington in downtown Evanston

Evanston Chamber Legislative Breakfast

On February 5 Grants Manager Alexandra (Xan) Nelson attended the Evanston Chamber of Commerce Annual Regional Legislative Outlook Breakfast at the Hilton Garden Inn. The event allows Chamber members and guests to listen to and meet with Evanston's county, state and federal legislative team.

This year in addition to frequent panelists Julie Hamos (IL 18th House, pictured, © 2010 Genie Lemieux-Jordan), Larry Suffredin (Cook County Commissioner), and Jan Schakowsky (IL 9th US House of Representatives), Senator Dick Durbin was in attendance. (Probably thrilled to be here instead of Washington, which was getting about 50 inches of snow that day!) Following a panel discussion on federal health care legislation now about to emerge from the U.S. Congress, attendees got the inside scoop on what to expect this year in Springfield and Washington, D.C. and a wrap up of the results of the Illinois primary election.

Mr. Durbin also related his rather chilling first-person account of the initial meeting, in 2008, between congressional leadership and the chairman of the Federal Reserve, regarding the impending financial crisis. These sorts of intimate glimpses into the workings of the government make the legislative breakfast one of the most popular on the Chamber's calendar. (The food's pretty good, too.)

Xan (pictured, far right) attended breakout sessions with Larry Suffredin and Julie Hamos. The session with Mr. Suffredin was also attended by Evanston fourth ward alderman Mark Tendam, with discussions on the difficulties the budget crisis has forced on Evanston residents and not-for-profit organizations. In the session with Representative Hamos, Xan was able to engage Ms. Hamos in a discussion about how the State can help local not-for-profits given the current state of the budget. Light Opera Works volunteer Dana Pearl (center) facilitated the Hamos session.

© 2010 Genie Lemieux-Jordan