I can hear the sounds of utter joy in his voice every time we speak on the phone, and it makes me smile. Heck, the exuberance echoes off the screen in every e-mail we exchange just like a 76 trombone marching band passing by. Mark Fillipitch and his whole family, wife, son and daughter, performed in a Peoria production of THE MUSIC MAN last month. He says he had, "more fun than you can imagine."
As Mark tells it, the experience was 10 weeks of rehersals, running lines, practicing dances and learning songs --- together. Mark's beautiful wife Rebecca stared as Marion the librarian. Their 9-year-old Alec had a feature role playing her lisping brother Winthrop. Daughter Lauren was one of the townsfolk of River City Iowa and Mark even got to share a lusty on stage kiss with Rebecca while mugging it up as Charlie, a conniving anvil salesman. Click through our story here and you'll see some of the pictures they're sharing with us.
With the nation's economy falling flat, the Fillipitches found simple pleasures in the moments they spent together on the stage of a small town theater that are truly priceless.
They are not alone. WGN Radio's John Williams has been asking listeners to call in and quickly share their "Bright Side" for more than 8 years. He plays a Monty Pyton ditty in the background encouraging us to look for the positive, "when life seems jolly rotten, " as the song goes. He told me the segment never ceases to put him in a good mood.
We dropped in on John's show a few weeks ago to listen for ourselves. It's how we tracked down Mark and a few other people who called in with the stories of how accentuating the positive in their lives is helping them navigate uncertain times. What they all had in common, from the woman who lost her job but was happy to watch her grandson with her newfound spare time, to the teacher who was all smiles when her car broke down and the repair bill was negligable, was an innate ability to see the good surface in a bad situation. We hope you enjoy their stories.
Stumble It!
