An Emotional Weekend

It was a weekend of ups and downs - I consider Friday night to be the start of the weekend, btw, so that's where this post begins.  Last August, I got an email from the New York Philharmonic, asking me to subscribe to their upcoming season.  I couldn't quite afford that, but I could afford one of their offerings; in fact, there was no way I was going to pass it up!  I bought a ticket to Bugs Bunny at the Symphony ten months ago - I think that may be the farthest in advance I've ever purchased anything!

When I first lived in NYC, in the early 1990s, I treated myself to a ticket to Bugs Bunny on Broadway, a show at the Gershwin Theater.  It featured a live 50-piece orchestra playing the music to animated shorts, including the amazing "Rabbit of Seville" and "What's Opera, Doc?".  I grew up with those cartoons, and with Bugs Bunny, and I remember having the absolute best time at that show.  So when the sequel went on sale at the Philharmonic, I jumped at the chance.

I received a reminder early in the week, telling me to get to the concert hall pretty early, since there would be heavy security there.  I remembered how long it took my handsome pal and me to get through security when we went to see the Tan Dun concert, so I tried to arrive even earlier.  Plus, the email said that photos with Bugs Bunny would be a possibility!  Oh, how exciting!  I act like a dizzy little girl whenever I see beloved characters from my childhood approach (unless they're in Times Square, then I just get annoyed by them).  So I arrived early-ish, waited in a long line for security, then made it upstairs.  

I couldn't find Bugs, though!  I looked at where I thought he should be, but he wasn't.  So I went and stood in the concession line instead.  I decided I needed the stuffed Bugs, if I couldn't see the 'real' one.  Of course, while I was in that line, Bugs walked past me!  Yay!  After I paid for my stuffed Bugs, I ran to get in line to get a photo with the 'real' one!  Me and every other person my age in the place.  It's funny; most of the audience there was my age and older.  There were some kids, but not really a lot.  Obviously, Bugs means a lot to Baby Boomers, who grew up watching him on Saturday mornings.  But I digress.  Thankfully, they had two lines, so it could be really quick to get people in and out for their photos.  The Bugs was very sweet with everyone, lots of high fives and hugs.  I hope he got paid extra for all the TLC he was handing out.  I'm a little embarrassed about how excited I was to have my picture taken with him.  Only a little, though.

My seat was in the third tier, center section, which was perfectly wonderful for this concert.  I could easily see the screen where the animated shorts would be projected and I had a fine view of the orchestra.  The crowd was well-behaved throughout, though I will say that I was seated near a group of perhaps developmentally disabled adults, who were quite vocal in their enjoyment, and that's all I'll say.  If I was periodically distracted, oh well.  We all had a good time in the end.  The concert was put together by the same gent who put together Bugs Bunny on Broadway, so he has, I guess, a template that he follows.  Now and then, it seemed a little too pat, and there was a bit too much branding, but on the whole, I had a grand time.  I loved hearing the music and watching the cartoons; it was a blast back to my past.  I might have gotten a little teary a couple of times.  The conductor kidded with the children in the audience, telling them their parents ate unfamiliar things like sugar and gluten and watched cartoons on Saturday, which might be foreign to them.  He also provided some fun back stories and context for the work, so it was a lovely evening.

I will say that I feel a little sad that kids today aren't learning an appreciation for classical music like we did.  I learned about opera and classical music (and art and ballet) through Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies - it was cool and a little sophisticated to hear that music.  I thank the producers and musicians who didn't talk down to kids at the time.  Of course, they're not talking down to them now, either, I guess, but what they're saying is completely beyond me.  My especial favorites of the evening were "Baton Bunny," "Rhapsody Rabbit," "Long-Haired Hare," and of course "Rabbit of Seville" and "What's Opera, Doc."  They even showed two new Road Runner cartoons, made with CGI and computers, and they just didn't have the charm or humor to them.  But at least they kept up the excellent practice of underscoring with classical music.  But I'll be one of those ornery older people and talk about how things were better in my day!  And get off my lawn, dagnabbit!



Sunday was the AIDS Walk and it was bittersweet, as usual.  I was happy to be out with dear ones and feeling solidarity and love all around.  But it's also a sad day, when I miss other dear ones who are gone too soon because of AIDS.  My handsome friends and I met at the Boathouse for our special Star Walker breakfast, set up for people who have raised $1000 or more.  It's a very nice spot for breakfast, though there wasn't a place to sit, which was hard on my feet.  After being cheered on by a group of cheerleaders, we went to the Opening Ceremony.  That may have been the first time I've seen the entire Opening Ceremony from start to finish.  It was grand, but standing there for over an hour was also hard on my feet.  Before we even started to walk, my bum foot was aching a lot.  But all of the speakers were terrific, the singers were amazing (hopefully, my video of Brian Stokes Mitchell above will attach), and presidential hopeful Kirsten Gillibrand was just awe-inspiring.  Her speech was fiery and moving and so passionate - I cried through most of it.  She is incredible.

There were lots of musicians and cheerleaders around to get the Walk started, which was great fun.  One of my handsome friends and I had to bow out early, though, because the memorial service of a dear college friend was in the afternoon.  I think she would be proud that we did part of the AIDS Walk first before going to celebrate her.  At least I hope she would be.  I was actually a little glad to stop walking for a bit (due to the dumb subways, we had to grab an Uber to my apartment to change clothes) because of my foot.  We got to my apartment, changed, rested a few minutes, rehydrated, and went out to Woodside to say goodbye to our beautiful friend.  The small chapel was full of people who loved our friend and it was a lovely, uplifting service.  I cried a lot, though.  I guess it was just a day of crying.  I was supposed to go to a third event Sunday night, but I was too emotionally wrung out to make it, besides the fact I could barely walk by the end.  I'm sorry I couldn't do it all, but there's only so much one out-of-shape-with-bad-feet person can do, especially on a day of goodbyes.  I'll just have to do more smiling when I remember - sometimes it takes a while to get there.  I'll keep on walking (or limping) until I do.  

from the AIDS Walk Instagram page

from the AIDS Walk Twitter page