I was immediately drawn into the little world of this slightly run-down manor owned by Giles and Mollie Ralston. Both are on edge about the launch, and with no staff, the guest services and upkeep of the entire place is on their shoulders. They don't know that matters are about to get much worse.

Remembering the devastating losses and world-changing terror of 9/11 doesn't usually inspire joy, or instill hope. But there's a musical about it that does both, focusing on how the destruction in New York City and Washington D.C. affected a little island roughly 1,500 miles northeast.

Director Shelley Cooper, Augustana College's associate professor of theatre arts, and music director and accompanist Rob Elfline, professor of music at Augustana, have engineered another extraordinary production with Ordinary Days.

Seeing and hearing Countryside Community Theatre's production of Hairspray has nearly stolen my words from me.