04/09/2025
Creatures of Habit successfully completed another theatrical production, enhancing with costumes the Cedarhurst Center for the Arts Trivia Night fundraiser in Mount Vernon, Illinois this past Saturday. Despite the 5-day Midwest monsoon, the cavalcade of stars (21 local thespians and visual artists) volunteered to take the stage. They performed flawlessly, capturing the spirit of the arts with great aplomb to a crowd of 100 trivia devotees.
The stunning Bauhaus inspired architectural style of the Mitchell Museum and manicured lawns duly inspired by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted provided an excellent setting for the event. The Center for the Arts provided our transcendentally resplendent lodging in the Schweinfurth House overlooking the 80-acre Goldman-Kreunz Sculpture Park. As Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb) states in the film Laura, “It’s lavish, but I call it home.”
Carrie Stover, Director of the museum’s Shrode Art Center, revisited an idea that we suggested and collaborated on 10 years ago at a previous Cedarhurst Trivia Night fundraiser. It was well received then and even more so this past weekend, judging by the din of the crowd that arose above the staccato of the driving rain outside. Each volunteer modeled a minimum of 4-5 costumes assigned in 5 categories and 4 specific genres: (History): British Royalty, Roaring 20’s, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece (Music): David Bowie, The Beatles, Country Music, The 60’s (Film): Beauty & the Beast, Dumb and Dumber, The Wizard of Oz, Cinderella (Art): Van Gogh, Warhol & Monroe, Kahlo & Rivera, John and Eleanor Mitchell (Superheroes): Wonder Woman, Batman & Robin, Black Panther, Thor, Iron Man & Spiderman.
A very special thank you to the directors, staff and patrons of the Cedarhurst Center for the Arts for their creative vision and desire to enlighten worldwide visitors and those who have the good fortune to live in Southern Illinois.
