I have rarely felt as awed as I was on Saturday night last (October 27) sitting in the Fred Kavli Theatre and watching Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. To say that the show is magnificent seems a bit of an understatement, even coming from me - someone who has not seen much musical theatre.The Cabrillo Music Theatre certainly picked a winner in Seven Brides and then choreographer John Charron and director Lewis Wilkenfeld kicked it up a notch demanding and receiving top quality performances from Stuart Ambrose, Shannon Warne and the other actors. What is amazing is that they not only had to learn their lines, but the dances and songs as well and they pulled it all off so flawlessly. The set, lighting and costumes all worked to transport me - a girl from Guyana, South America - to 1850s Oregon where Seven Brides is set.Icing on the cake for me was meeting and being photographed with Ms Donna Summer, one of my absolute favorite artists and meeting the legendary and multi-talented composer, songwriter and arranger Al Kasha and having him autograph my program.

To learn more about Cabrillo's upcoming shows"Ain't Misbehaving," "Singin' in the Rain" and more,visit its Web site at www.cabrillomusictheatre.org.Little did I know when I left my newspaper, the Stabroek News in Guyana on October 6 to begin the International Journalism Exchange in the US, that I would have come this far. I was fortunate to have been selected as one of 12 editors on this program for which some 300 editors from 77 countries had applied. The program lasts five weeks and allows us to learn from the best editors/newspapers in the US. After one week's orientation in Washington, during which time we were able to visit the renowned Washington Post and USAToday, I was placed at the Ventura County Star for three weeks, while the other 11 editors went to other newspapers around the US. The program ends next week in New York, when we will all come together again before travelling back to our respective countries. While I do miss my family, I am certainly grateful that I was able to be here.Guyana is officially named the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, and is the only nation state of the Commonwealth of Nations on the mainland of South America. Guyana lies north of the equator in the tropics and is located on the Atlantic Ocean. Guyana is bordered to the east by Suriname, to the south and southwest by Brazil and to the west by Venezuela. It is the third smallest country on the mainland of South America - 83,000 square miles (about the size of Idaho) with a population of some 765,000. Culturally it is more associated with the Caribbean than with Latin America as it is the only English-speaking country in South America. Stabroek News is one of three daily national newspapers in the country and is independently owned.