Wichita Eagle: Bonnie Bing

Bonnie Bing: Former Wichitan coordinated visual effects for ‘The Great Gatsby’

Bonnie Bing — Sun, 05 May 2013 07:58 CDT

Barry St. John, 32, was the kid at Robinson Middle School making “little videos.” Today he works on blockbuster movies, including “The Great Gatsby.” He was in Santa Monica, Calif., where he lives, when I interviewed him by phone. He was getting ready to go to New York for the “Gatsby” premiere, then on to Wichita for the May 10 premiere.

You won’t see Barry on the screen next to Leonardo DiCaprio, but you’ll see the result of a lot of his work, as he was the visual effects coordinator.

My first question: What’s the difference between visual effects and special effects?

Bonnie Bing: You better take cover; It’s swimsuit-shopping time again

Bonnie Bing — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 08:40 CDT

Ahhh, just when you thought it was safe to come out of hibernation, the stores are filled with tiny garments meant to be worn in the water.

Yes, swimsuits.

We can’t call them bathing suits because bathing suits were made of more than four patches of fabric. Bathing suits had boning and padding and, yes, even zippers at one time. You will find none of that in today’s version of swimwear. That is probably a good thing.

Bonnie Bing: Never take good friends for granted

Bonnie Bing — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 07:52 CDT

The message said, “It’s over.”

With those two words, I knew my friend Karla had died. And as my heart sank to the pit of my stomach, I read, “promises were kept.” Her husband, Joe, kept his promises to her, but Karla, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in October, also kept her promises.

She never caved in and asked, “Why me?” Instead, she found joy and peace and love in every day she had left. She taught us all a lesson in her never-wavering faith.

Bonnie Bing: WSU proves women’s sports have come a long way

Bonnie Bing — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 00:23 CDT

Progress, growth, improvement.

We love to see that, and that’s one reason I was a laughing, crying, jumping-up-and-down mess when Wichita State University won the women’s basketball Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Charles recently.

Part of the happy dance was the joy I felt for Jazimen Gordon. I have been her mentor for four years, which allowed me to witness her progress as she grew into a fantastic young woman who not only is a heck of a basketball player and a good student, but a caring, funny human being. I’ve been lucky to get to know other team members and watch them as they matured under the guidance of coach Jody Adams and her staff and their mentors.

Bonnie Bing: Kids at auditions share one thing: nerves

Bonnie Bing — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 07:07 CDT

I spent a really fun hour recently doing something I’ve wanted to do for a long time: watching kids audition for Music Theatre of Wichita. The young performers ranged from tiny to teenage, but they had one thing in common: nervousness. I swear one little girl didn’t blink once the whole time she was in the rehearsal room in the basement of Century II.

About a dozen were let in the door at a time. With each new group, Music Theatre of Wichita’s producing artistic director Wayne Bryan stood up and welcomed them and told them how happy he was that they were there. And when the wide-eyed wonders sang a solo, he had a personal comment for each and every one of them.

First they stood by a board that measured their height. Each had a folding chair to sit on. Some looked stiff, some folded their legs up under them and some swung their feet at breakneck speed. Some were more self-assured than others, but I liked them all. How Wayne decides on who gets to hit the big stage is beyond me. I got to hear solos of “Castle in the Sky” several times, but the 8-year-old boy who sang “Gary Indiana” about did me in. Each group showed off their dancing ability doing the routine Josh Larson taught them earlier. And Wayne would walk up and down the line as they sang together “Getting to Know You.”

Bonnie Bing: Get the skinny on men’s leggings

Bonnie Bing — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 23:58 CST

We first started hearing about “meggings” late last year. Yes, leggings for men.

Seems some well-known designers thought Robin Hood was on the right track, and because skinny jeans weren’t nearly skinny enough, they narrowed the silhouette until they were officially leggings.

We’re in Kansas, and while I had seen a few men wearing them the last time I was in New York, I decided I wouldn’t write about this trend until I saw a guy wearing meggings right here in River City.

Grandma was right: Staying put for decades has some advantages

Bonnie Bing — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 23:39 CST

My grandma told me more than once that staying put has some real advantages. One of those advantages is long-term friendships.

Several months ago I received an e-mail from someone I knew during my teaching days at Pleasant Valley Junior High. Mike Florio said he and others I taught with were still, since 1971, having Pleasant Valley Literary Society meetings the third Wednesday of the month unless there is a home Shocker game.

Yes, the organization lives on, but it has nothing to do with literature.

Bonnie Bing: Some things we’ll just have to continue to wonder about

Bonnie Bing — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 23:32 CST

It all started when I scraped my knuckles on the door jamb while carrying the laundry basket. I said to myself out loud, “I wonder how many times I’ll do that before I realize this basket and my hands don’t fit through most doorways?”

I wonder.

That got me wondering what other people wonder about, so being the crack investigative reporter I am, I starting asking. Just when I was set to hear, “I wonder how I always choose the slow line at the grocery store," a 30-year-old person paused and said, “I wonder what happens when we die. I wonder if we really do see people who died before us."

Bonnie Bing: Let’s just take 2013 one day at a time

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 23:35 CST

Putting together a datebook for the new year is my annual moment of reflection. Actually it takes several moments and it’s kind of fun. And this time, because I’ve retired and I am supposed to have less to do, I’ve downscaled my big book to a much smaller one.

That means I’m going to have to copy my address book. No, I don’t want to put all that information in my iPhone. I like paper and pencil. I’m old, and on that subject, old fashioned. If you’ve been working on your own datebook, checking out your schedule in 2012, you know what I’m talking about when I say, “Good grief, how did I get all that finished?" and, “Holy cow, how my contact list has changed in the last few years."

I’m saddened that my friend Jean Garvey is no longer with us. She was one of the women in Wichita who contributed so much to our city. I got a big kick out of her every single time I was around her. She was without a doubt one of the most joyful people I’ve ever known. We will miss her.

Fifth-grade girls agree: There are too many guns out there

Bonnie Bing — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 00:27 CST

If you’re reading this, it means the Mayans were wrong. The world didn’t end Friday. I figure the Mayans those many years ago decided figuring a calendar to 2012 was plenty long enough.

At any rate, we’re still here. And the ones who aren’t are being mourned. In a way the world did come crashing down for the residents of a tiny town in Connecticut. A horrific event that delivered an excruciating punch in the gut to that community. A jolt that was felt across our entire country. And the pain remains. And certainly not only with adults.

I have lunch with a group of terrific fifth-grade girls every Tuesday. I’ve done this for years, but this is an especially good group. We start each session with "highs" and "lows."

Bonnie Bing: Giving to others is the best gift you can give yourself

Bonnie Bing — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 07:44 CST

It’s true that this is the time of year people go a little nuts.

Some camp outside a store to get in the door first seeking a bargain. Others get impatient when they can’t find a parking place at the mall and infuriated when someone beats them to the last spot.

Fortunately it’s also that time of year we pause to be thankful. It’s a season that highlights our good fortune. When we get in the spirit of the season, the infectious kindness and generosity become the best parts of the holidays.

Bonnie Bing: Don’t tell me Shocker fans have no spirit

Bonnie Bing — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 07:08 CST

We all have that little saying or thought we say or think when we’re sure we didn’t hear something correctly.

Some might just say, “Huh?” or “What?” Mine happens to be, “Wait. Now what?” I say this when I don’t understand something, but also when I am incredulous of something that is said to me.

I have two perfect examples.

Bonnie Bing: Finding our way to what really matters

Bonnie Bing — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 08:02 CST

Even though one friend with a keen sense of direction said my column about developmental topographical disorientation was much ado about nothing, I received a ton of e-mails containing great stories of others like me.

No sense of direction. No internal compass. Lost to the phenom of North and those other directions.

One woman got lost in the gigantic Macy’s store in New York and nearly missed her plane home. A man left with his vacationing family in the car at 4:30 a.m. to avoid the desert heat. Sadly, when the sun came up, it was on the wrong side of the car. One woman took over driving duties so her husband could take a nap. She proceeded to drive in a big circle in the country around the city they were trying to leave, which happened to be Paris.

Bonnie Bing: Living without a sense of direction

Bonnie Bing — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 07:09 CDT

I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve said, “Don’t say ‘north’ or ‘south,’ say ‘left’ or ‘right.’ ”

Many people have told me I have no sense of direction. As if I didn’t already know that.

My dad always found it comical for some reason. He had a great sense of direction and laughed like crazy when I went out the wrong door at the rest stop on the turnpike and was convinced my family had left without me. I was a kid then. But just last week, I was at the same rest stop, went through the drive-through for a little breakfast and headed back to Wichita instead of toward Kansas City.

Bonnie Bing: Wichita bride wins couture gown at fundraising auction

Bonnie Bing — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 07:09 CDT

When Alana Fearey arrived at the 40th anniversary celebration for Music Theatre of Wichita last year, she didn’t know she would leave with the promise of a couture gown.

And not just any gown — her wedding gown.

One of the live auction items was a made-to-order, one-of-a-kind gown by designer George Mitchell. He designed the costumes for Music Theatre’s “Sunset Boulevard” and “Honk.” He has been designing for many years and has become well-known for his work. He takes time off from his job with the Craig Ferguson show in California to come to Wichita from time to time to design a show.

Woolwine scholarship will help musical ‘rising stars’

Bonnie Bing — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 06:41 CDT

In the not-too-distant future, a young person is going to have a special violin loaned to him or her, and perhaps some scholarship dollars to further his or her musical education. The benefactor, the late Paul Conrad “Con” Woolwine, made sure of it before he passed away July 5.

He started to play the violin at a very young age, encouraged by his aunt, who was a music teacher. She started him on a small violin. As she realized what an extraordinary talent he had, she bought him a very good violin – one he had for the rest of his life. One he played in the Wichita Youth Orchestra as a teenager. And the one he played for his wife, Priscilla, who now lives in Sun City, Ariz.

“He would play for me, and it was so beautiful,” she said. “He never forgot how much he enjoyed playing in the youth orchestra in Wichita. And his mother had to drive him to Wichita from their home in Pratt for every rehearsal and performance.”

Bonnie Bing: Music Theatre production leaves amazement in its wake

Bonnie Bing — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 08:55 CDT

I have spent the last few weeks in amazement.

Bless Wayne Bryan, Music Theatre of Wichita’s producing artistic director, for letting me be in “Singin’ in the Rain” last month. First, I was amazed how he assembled a group of 35 young people who were so talented that watching them rehearse brought tears to my eyes a number of times.

Their ability — and I mean all of them — to quickly learn lines, song lyrics, dance numbers and sing with voices that were great amazed me every day. When Sean Ronayne opened his mouth to sing “Beautiful Girls,” I thought I would melt. Dani Young’s voice is so beautiful that I told her to stand close to me at curtain call so people would think her voice was mine. It was fun to hear the hopes and dreams of these outstanding young people. I know, without a doubt, that I’ll see many of them on Broadway in New York someday. Adam Kaplan and Dani are two who are off to the Big Apple.

Bonnie Bing: Retirement takes some getting used to

By Bonnie Bing — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 09:58 CDT

When people asked me if I thought I’d enjoy retirement, I thought it was kind of a strange question. Now I know why they were asking. This is very different.

The first week, I decided it was a vacation week — so I’d just do whatever I wanted to do. I went to a movie, had lunch with friends, had friends over for dinner, had a party for the Gridiron cast, read a book, spent time with a Wichita State University basketball mentee, did water aerobics, had lunch with my mom and cooked real meals for my husband.

But on Monday of the second week, all I did was start one thing, not finish it, start another, then another. I was side-tracked the entire day. Where did my ability to concentrate go? I think the more I do the more I do, and the less I do the less I do. I’ve been told more than once that I have two speeds: high and off. But retirement puts you somewhere in the middle. Second gear takes some getting used to.

Farewell, for now

By Bonnie Bing — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 21:46 CDT

True to form, I’ve put off writing this column until I’m on what I call “serious deadline.” My editor probably has another name for it.

The past week, my last week in this newsroom, has been difficult. After all, I’ve been working here for nearly half my life. And, quite frankly, I’m sure there is no place like it, except maybe other newspaper newsrooms.

Several months ago, I started talking to the editor, Sherry Chisenhall, about retiring. She always told me I was not to retire “on her watch.” Well, she stayed too long is all I can say. But we have agreed on something: You can take the girl out of the newspaper, but you can’t take the newspaper out of the girl.

Advice to Chris Mann: Don’t change

Bonnie Bing — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 10:56 CDT

Like many Wichitans, I watched “The Voice” and continued to be amazed at the talent Chris Mann demonstrated week after week. And I was one of the people who thought he was “robbed” and should have won. That’s OK, though. The young man with the killer blue eyes is doing just fine. His rising star looks more like a rocket.

His hometown loves him and proved it at his June 16 concert at the Orpheum Theatre. And he loves his hometown right back. He said so when I got to talk with him briefly after the show. “No one on ‘The Voice’ could believe the support I got from Wichita. They were jealous,” he said.

As he grew more and more famous on “The Voice,” I kept thinking I had met him or knew him from somewhere. I thought maybe he’d been part of a fashion shoot, then I wondered if he had worked somewhere I frequent – Larkspur, perhaps? But the first thing he said to me was, “We were in a Music Theatre show one summer.” Ah, there it is. I wasn’t imagining it! He was in “Singin’ in the Rain” in 2000 when he was in high school. Now I can say I’ve shared the stage with Chris Mann.