Around New York

One of the things I love about living in New York is that there are so many experiences available to me.  I'm sure it's like that in most cities, but still.  It's always fun to try new things, see (and hear) new professional companies, and enjoy what the city has to offer.  Over the past couple of months, in between my theater visits, I've done just that.  Enjoy some random photos and descriptions of random experiences I've enjoyed lately...

The Little Orchestra Society presented a "Fantasia in Concert" evening awhile back.  I love Fantasia.  I think seeing the movie as a youth got my love of classical music off to a rousing start.  I will say they didn't make it easy to get tickets to this concert - I received an e-blast stating tickets were available, yet, when I went to buy some on the website, I was told they were sold out.  A friend said he called the box office and they told him to try again a little bit closer to the date.  I did try again and was happy to get tickets in the first tier.  Disappointingly though, at show time, there were A LOT of empty seats in the orchestra, so I'm guessing they didn't quite handle the supply and demand of the concert very well.

The society was not only presenting Fantasia (or so I thought, more on that later), with live orchestral accompaniment, but they were also honoring the Big Apple Circus with an award.  Unfortunately, the gentleman from Big Apple Circus accepting the award went on and on and on with his acceptance speech.  The kids in the audience were getting restless.  Finally, some people in the orchestra just started clapping and hooting and hollering.  It was a tad embarrassing, but the guy finally finished his speech so we could get the actual concert started.  I've never seen a benefit recipient applauded off the stage before...

Again, not really researching before arrival led to some misconceptions on my part.  I thought we would be seeing the film Fantasia, with a live orchestra accompanying.  We actually saw three of the pieces from Fantasia and two from the sequel, Fantasia 2000.  Not a big deal, but I had been looking forward to hearing "Night on Bald Mountain" played by a live orchestra.  Oh well.  Hearing "Rhapsody in Blue," and seeing the ingenious animation was thrilling enough.  The kids really got a kick out of the elephants and hippos in "Dance of the Hours."  The video malfunctioned during Beethoven's "Symphony No. 6," so we saw the beginning of the piece three times while the orchestra kept playing.  I don't think the conductor was keeping his eye on the video.  The "Firebird" suite was lovely and the encore piece was "Carnival of the Flowers."  The orchestra was terrific and it was fun to see the animated shorts, but I lost a little context with their being shown out of sequence.  And the kid next to me was NOT into the concert at all, though, to her parents' credit, they did take her to the lobby a couple of times when she got especially restless.  But, really, they couldn't have eaten dinner before they arrived?  They had to bring a backpack full of bagged snacks into Avery Fisher Hall?  Sigh...

 

A co-worker has started working with a new opera company, NY Opera Exchange.  It's a group of young performers and administrators, interested in presenting full-length operas.  I caught their production of Don Giovanni.  The singers were all excellent, as was the orchestra.  It was interesting, seeing the opera in such a small space (it was in a church on the East Side).  I know next to nothing about opera, but I very much enjoyed listening to the singers - the direction could've been stronger, but hey, they're a new company.  I definitely look forward to what they bring us next.  New companies are ALWAYS worth supporting.  And I definitely could stand to learn something about opera.

A handsome friend is friends with a wonderful composer, Richard Pearson Thomas.  Richard was commissioned by the Mirror Visions Ensemble to compose a piece about, oddly enough, sustainable food.  The Ensemble presented that cantata, Clean Plates Don't Lie, at the Weill Recital Hall last weekend, and my handsome friend invited me to join him.  There were other various pieces about food on the program as well.  The concert was a lot of fun.  The singers were great, though a tad lacking in the 'sense of humor' department, and Richard is a spectacular composer and musician.  His cantata is so intriguing.  If I know nothing about opera, I know even less about music composition, but I do know what I like and what I respond to.  I thought it was just amazing how Richard's music sounded like the food the singers were describing.  In the "foraging" section, I thought, "yes, that DOES sound like mushrooms!"  And the ocean section sounded like the ocean!  Genius!  I can't really describe the concert very well, I just know I liked it a lot and I hope they record it so I can listen to it again.  Oh, and I also liked Weill Recital Hall - I can't believe I've never been there before!  It's gorgeous!  Almost like being on a set in Amadeus!  :)

 

There was also the afternoon I spent with Barry Manilow!  Squee!  Well, not alone, of course.  He was giving a master class on songwriting and I was invited to tagalong with some co-workers.  It was fantastic!  First, of course, he IS charming and delightful.  He was also quite humble and so interested in helping the next generation.  I thought it was fascinating that the one musical theater song he presented as an example was from Most Happy Fella.  It was great to watch him enjoy listening to the song, too!  He performed a song from his first score, The Drunkard, and the song was adorable.  He also did a Q & A with his songwriting collaborator, Bruce Sussman.  It was a terrific afternoon and it did nothing in the least to dim my Barry-love.


OK, this post has gotten way too long, sorry.  I don't think about how busy I am until after the fact!  I'll put some fun photos below, and to close, I'll just say that last night I did stage directions for a new musical and it was a blast.  It's great to see old favorites, but hearing new things is such a treat, which is yet another reason to love living in this city...