Hi all…

According to my manufacturer in Minneapolis the first batch of our revised DVD will be shipped to the Wilder Homestead tomorrow for delivery early next week. The Wilder Homestead will be able to begin fulfilling DVD orders at that time.  I thank all of you for your patience and look forward to hearing that you are receiving your DVDs and enjoying them.

The wait is almost over…

Dean

I wrote on this blog the other day that we  were re-manufacturing the Almanzo Wilder DVDs because they had been delivered to the Wilder Homestead in late September with a flaw…a small flaw…an inadvertent  flaw, but none the less a flaw that I didn’t want  buyers of the DVD to see.

We only discovered the flaw on October 1 after 150 DVDs were either sold in person or purchased for delivery  during the final days of the Homestead’s annual season at the end of September.  Some were shipped before we discovered the  flaw…but most were not.

We made a decision at that time to stop further shipping and recall all the Homestead’s remaining 850 discs for repair. The process has taken longer than expected and has caused some frustrations among individuals who either purchased the DVD in advance or who want to purchase it  now.  

I asked The Wilder Homestead to not reveal the flaw, but rather  to simply promise delivery as soon as possible.  After I revealed the flaw myself the other day, the Wilder Homestead has been overwhelmed with  calls and emails seeking clarification on purchase and delivery.  We ask for your patience and understanding.  None of this is the  fault of the Wilder Homestead. The DVDs are coming. They  are beautiful and I know you will enjoy them.

As soon as the new discs are  available I will communicate with you on this blog. The good news is that Almanzo’s wonderful story  is timeless and will never go out of date.  I can say with all sincerity that the repairs we’ve made, while causing some delays in delivery, will truly enhance your long term enjoyment of ALMANZO WILDER: LIFE BEFORE LAURA.

Thank you for your support of our program and the Wilder Homestead. 

This weekend Katherine and I traveled to Minneapolis to see the LHOP musical twice at the magnificent Guthrie Theater. We were knocked out.  The show builds its plot around the premise that Laura is a willful “wild child” who embraces self sacrifice and learns the important lesson that love and connectedness is the source of life’s greatest happiness and freedom.

It was great to see my Laura on stage as Caroline. While Melissa is a newcomer to the musical theater she came through huge, creating the show’s seminal emotional moment in the closing measures of “Wild Child”. There were tears all around. My old West Side Story buddy, Steve Blanchard as “Pa”, captured the wandering spirit of Charles and sang beautifully as the leader of the Ingalls family. But the show belongs to Laura, Mary, Nellie Oleson, and Almanzo…with very strong support from a very spunky and funny Carrie. The character focus of the musical is just as Laura Ingalls Wilder intended it…on the children. The show’s most memorable song — I’ll Be Your Eyes — is sung by Laura and Mary after Mary goes blind.  Its terrific. 

As in the series, the tension between Laura and Nellie in the musical is pivotal and its set up very effectively as the Ingalls girls prepare to enter school for the first time. Nellie is a worthy antagonist…funny and self absorbed but ultimately resigned when Laura and Almanzo become husband and wife.

Ah yes…Almanzo. At the Guthrie Kevin Massey plays Almanzo with a quiet confidence and focus that is heroic and compelling. His songs reveal his character in a way that Little House readers will love.  The dynamic between the Laura and Almanzo absolutely works and that’s why the show pays off in such a satisfying way in the end.

Those who saw it know…those who haven’t will definitely want to beginning in the summer of 2009. All comments are most welcome.

Dean

Our long awaited DVD is now out for review to a number of Little House bloggers and other relevant organizations who will hopefully view the program favorably. It’s a bit disconcerting to put your work in other people’s hands for criticism but there is no other way to be in the game. At some point all creative people have to be willing to share their efforts with others or its just private dabbling. 

On a related matter, our first release of the program had an undetected problem, which is now being fixed. Unfortunately we’ve had to pull back all the manufactured discs that had been delivered to Burke, NY in order to make the fix.  This has caused a delay in shipment of purchased discs, but I couldn’t have something go out to viewers that wasn’t the best I could make it. People who have ordered the DVD should expect to receive it within the next 14 days.  Thanks for your patience.   Dean