From the archives - trip to Amsterdam, part two

Just as a reminder, this post is taken from my travel journal that I kept when I went to Europe for the first time in 2000.  Last post, we talked about my first day in Amsterdam, dealing with emotional museums and jet lag.  Today's post will deal with beautiful flowers and motion sickness.  You can probably hardly wait, right?  :) 

April 29, 2000:  The Hotel Ibis had a complimentary breakfast buffet, so before heading out to Keukenhof, aka (in my words) the Disney World of Tulips, we sat down and had a little breakfast of scrambled eggs and homemade bread for toast.  I guess that was my first mistake.  That, and the fact that I was SO excited to see the tulips.

We walked the short distance over to Centraal Station to catch the train to Keukenhof - wow, there were a ton of people in the train station!  It was like Times Square on New Year's Eve!  It took us quite a while to find the correct window to get our tickets, though thankfully they sold combo tickets for the train/bus/park.  At least we only had to go through that line once.  [I've borrowed a few photos from the internet, since I didn't get any non-tulip photos during this portion of the trip.  As always, I'll remove the photos if asked.]

GFFMO decided to read his guidebook the entire train ride, so I was left to my own unwell devices.  Motion sickness reared its ugly head and I started to feel quite unwell on the train.  It took all my powers of concentration to get through the trip without being sick.  Once we arrived, I made a pit stop in the train station's restroom before we got on the bus to head to Keukenhof.  Then the bus that took us to Keukenhof was a bit shaky and wobbly - it did not help with the motion sickness.  I was completely unprepared for feeling so unwell.  I had so looked forward to this trip and all I wanted to do was see and experience everything with a happy heart and happy stomach, but it was not to be.  I'm guessing my unsympathetic travel companion didn't help any.

Finally, after the bumpiest bus ride ever [of course, the Amalfi Coast bus ride in 2007 made this Amsterdam bus ride seem like child's play], we arrived at Keukenhof.  And it is REALLY the Disney World of Tulips!  The entrance, the buses, the tourists!  It's a destination, all right.  But it is the most gloriously beautiful place.  I guess I had it in my head that this was a small tulip farm or something, but it's an enormous garden installation.  Stunning!  And my mother would love it.  First thing - I bought my mom a t-shirt.  Had to do the really important things first. 

 

We were at Keukenhof for over three hours.  Even though the weather was drizzly, it was still just amazingly gorgeous.  There really are no words for the beauty.  I'll just put a couple of photos here and lots more at the end of the post.  If you ever have the opportunity, go.  It's like you stepped into a tulip fairyland.  I made one pit stop during our touring of the tulips and received attitude from my travel companion.  Clearly, this became an issue for the rest of the trip.  Too bad it started on the second day.  Sigh. 

 

Reluctantly, I got back onto the wobbly bus to the train station.  Then we took the train to Haarlem, a cute little town outside of Amsterdam.  GFFMO had to go there, since the da*n guidebook [which is how I referred to the book for the rest of the trip] said we had to stop there.  But it wasn't a hardship.  There was even a little carnival in the middle of town!  I tried to win one of those stuffed animals for my newborn nephew, but didn't.  It felt silly playing goofy state fair games in the Netherlands, but oh well!  I guess it was a good thing I didn't win - can you see me carrying that thing throughout Europe?!  I can't.

 

The da*n guidebook also told GFFMO that trying an Indonesian rice table was something you had to try when in Amsterdam.  So, in Haarlem, we stopped at a recommended spot and tried the food.  I still wasn't all that hungry, but I did try most of the food.  I had my first tofu there!  It was good, especially the fried tofu chips.  But all of the food was good - I just ate sparingly, just in case, since we had to get back on a train to get back to the hotel.  This photo is from the internet.

 

As we walked back through Haarlem to the train station, we started to notice that people were gathering for something - a parade for Queen's Day?  That was the rumor, so we hung around for about a half hour, hoping to see the queen.  We saw motor boats zip through the canals, but no queen.  Since it began to pour the rain, we trudged back to the train to Amsterdam.

 

We decided to nap a bit before going back out to experience Amsterdam nightlife.  Well, at least to experience a club recommended by the da*n guidebook.  But, oh heavens, walking through Amsterdam at night after the Queen's Day revelries was disgusting!  People were throwing up everywhere.  We just had to really watch where we were stepping.  Note to self - don't go to Amsterdam on Queen's Day next time.  Blech.  After walking around in circles, since navigation is not my or GFFMO's forte, we finally found the disco.  We stood in a very long line and when we got to the front, the doorman wouldn't let us in.  Ha!  I'm embarrassed to admit I laughed.  Bad karma, I know.  I'm thinking they didn't let us in because I looked like death warmed over by this time of night, but who knows.  GFFMO was extremely displeased.  After we wandered around some more, looking for another disco, and seeing more people vomiting into the canals, I decided I had had enough and went back to the hotel by myself.   I'm quite proud that I made it back to the hotel on my own.  And to celebrate the pride in myself, I stopped at a stand and got an Oliebollen (a fried dough ball).  It was as delicious as only fried dough can be.  I mean, hello, when in Amsterdam...

 

So ended my trip to Amsterdam.  The next morning, we took another train to Brussels.  I'll save all that for another post.  I remember loving the warmth of the Dutch people, and the easy accessibility of everything, but I also remember jet lag and motion sickness.  Most everything else is a blur.  I definitely have to go back to make happier memories.  Someday, I swear.  Enjoy the beautiful Keukenhof photos, which I DID take...

 

 

 

ABT 2013 - Onegin

It's time!  It's time!  Ballet season is finally here!  I've been waiting so long, I almost got a little misty, as the chandeliers rose and the lights dimmed before last night's performance of Onegin.  I'm such a softie.  The house was disappointingly empty, which led to a very quiet feel throughout the ballet.  But the hushed atmosphere only enhanced the quiet power of what the dancers were trying to achieve.  At least for me.

I saw Onegin last year with Diana Vishneva and Marcelo Gomes - they were fantastic.  Passionate, fiery.  Last night, I saw my favorite ballerina, Julie Kent, alongside Roberto Bolle, who is becoming one of my favorite danseurs.  They were deep, introspective, mournful.  It was just as glorious.  I love how ballets can have such dramatically different interpretations. 

To start, Julie's Tatiana is a quiet girl, a reader, with a softness that's very magnetic.  But when she first sees Onegin, she's startled and immediately sees a different life for herself.  When they begin to dance together, she has no idea what to do.  He's just sort of entertaining himself, to relieve his boredom, but she's beginning to explore her womanhood.  The choreography reflects this beautifully.  The dream pas de deux was hypnotic - Onegin is behaving as Tatiana sees him, not as he really is.  Bolle captures this duality beautifully, and then to see his cruelty when he tears up her letter, it just breaks your heart. 

 

Roberto Bolle - let's just get it out of the way - is stunningly beautiful.  And he uses his beauty to enhance his characterization of Onegin.  He's an aristocrat, used to getting his way, and uses his charm to get through any situation.  He's also a snob and effete, but his physical charms offset the negative character traits.  His dancing is strong and assured throughout, and he partners Julie gorgeously.

Sarah Lane and Daniil Simkin are charming as the secondary couple.  She's all lightness and bubbly charm, compared to Julie's more reserved beauty, and Simkin is a silky dancer and actor.  His partnering of Sarah was a tad rough in their first pas de deux, but he redeemed himself stunningly in the ballroom scene and in his second act solo before the duel.  It's just a gorgeous solo, underscored by a mournful violin.  Everything comes together wonderfully in the last scene of the second act, from his solo, to his pas de trois with Julie and Sarah, who are trying to stop the duel, to Roberto's remorse at the duel's outcome. 

The third act was wonderful - Julie danced in a more careful, dignified manner, showing how she's aged and settled for her life.  Roman Zhurbin played her husband and he was very attentive and affectionate in his dancing with her.  You could see a long-term respectful relationship there.  But when Onegin comes back, you see how torn she is, deciding between her deep love for him and her respect for her husband and her marriage.  The last pas de deux was thrilling - I hardly breathed throughout.  Onegin is fighting for her, and she's fighting against herself.  At one point in the choreography, Onegin is on the ground, grasping at her skirts, and Julie just rises up, with her back to him, and freefalls onto him, turning over to kiss him, momentarily succumbling.  It's beautiful and crystal-clear about how hard she has to fight to reject him.  And the final image of Julie standing there, completely bereft and empty, WOW.  There was so much expressed and unexpressed emotion - I loved it.  Of course, I was predisposed to love it, so there's that...

My pictures are not great; I have to get back into the curtain-call-photo-sneaking rhythm.  At least I remembered my camera.  I couldn't believe that I missed the first curtain call by Julie and Roberto, thanks to audience doofuses who couldn't wait one minute to leave the theater.  Plus, they were sitting on the right aisle, but chose to walk all the way left across the aisle to exit on the left, thereby blocking my view of the first curtain call.  Grrrrr.  But the young ballet girls behind me cheered me when they said they were going to find the original Pushkin source material to read becauise they liked the story so much.  That's always a good thing.  Other house notes:  in the bedroom scene in the first act, something happened with some of the percussion instuments and you heard some crashing in the orchestra pit.  That was odd.  And the second intermission seemed to last overly long - I began to fear that someone got injured and would be replaced for the third act.  Thank heavens that didn't happen.  I think I enjoyed Onegin as a whole better this year, but maybe that's just because I knew what I was going to enjoy.  I'm thrilled that I won tickets to Saturday night's performance and I'll be curious to see yet another interpretation of this very powerfully dramatic ballet.  My ABT season is off to a terrific start...

From the archives - trip to Amsterdam, part one

I finally found my old journals from my first trip to Europe!  They're pretty rough, and apparently I was pretty unhappy for a lot of the trip, but I thought I'd maybe re-edit them, with perspective from today, and include some of the photos I scanned.  I didn't take nearly as many photos as I should've.  I can only assume that my picture-taking annoyed my travel companion.  :)  Plus, this was before my passion for digital cameras began, so maybe I was thinking of all the money I'd have to spend developing film.  Anyway, I'm dying for a vacation, so I thought I'd relive this one for a bit.

Some context:  my nephew was born in the spring of 2000 and I knew that I would want to spend every vacation with him moving forward.  So I figured - if I ever wanted to go to Europe, I should go right after he was born.  I could buy him some baby stuff and see Europe, since I probably wouldn't get another chance anytime soon.  How bad could it be?  Well...

 

For some unknown reason, I went with a former co-worker.  Looking back, I just don't know what I was thinking.  I guess because he had been to Europe and was looking to go back, he'd be a good person to travel with.  If I had it to do all over again, I'd do more research on my own and be braver about speaking up and doing things by myself.  But I relied on his travel experience and his research, not realizing he would be totally rigid about following only one travel guidebook's advice and recommendations.  I will not make that mistake again.  It's hard to know if you'll be good travel companions until you actually travel together, so I guess it's not entirely his fault that we didn't mesh.  Though I did learn a few things about planning a trip that I put to good use when I went to Italy.  Anyway, I'm dying to go back to Amsterdam, Bruges and Paris again, either by myself, or with friends with whom I've already successfully traveled.  Someday...

 

Anyway, with a few edits and not-as-many-photos-as-I'd-like, I present Part One of my trip to Amsterdam in April 2000.  Part Two, Bruges and Paris will have to come later (it took FOREVER to scan these photos!)...

 

April 27, 2000:  I was beginning to feel as if I was NEVER going to get out of the office!  But finally, we took off from Newark Airport!  I sat between [co-worker's name excised for privacy - from now on, he'll be referred to as GFFMO] and a hygenically challenged person.  Great.  Oh well.  We're going to Amsterdam...  No sleep, but a pretty good dinner - vegetable lasagna.  It was relatively tasty, for airplane food.  I watched the in-flight Music of the Heart with Meryl Streep.  She was fab, as always, but the movie was rather lightweight.  Oh well.  It did keep my brain occupied for two hours.  I still couldn't believe I was headed to Europe for the VERY FIRST TIME!!! 

 

Early, April 28:  We got into Amsterdam early and took the very convenient train into Centraal Station and then walked over to the even-more convenient Hotel Ibis.  Oh, well, it wasn't so convenient after all, since we couldn't check in until 2pm and it was only 8:30 am.  So, we put our bags in the hold room and headed out to explore.  What a beautiful day!  And Amsterdam is a really beautiful city! 

Luckily for us, we ran into a very nice local woman who told us everything would be closed the next day for Queen's Day.  OK, well, there was the first instance of not-so-great planning on GFFMO's part.  I mean, hello.  Queen's Day is a big deal!  Anyway, we immediately decided to switch up all our plans and go to the museums on our list that had been on tomorrow's itinerary (even though we'd been awake for over 24 hours already).  First up, the Anne Frank Museum.

 

The line wasn't too long, and since it was a sunshiny day, the wait wasn't too bad.  There is a museum and exhibit downstairs before you walk upstairs into the house.  I was definitely on the verge of tears throughout the tour.  I did a production of The Diary of Anne Frank in college [that is worth a blog post in and of itself, actually], and, naturally I'd been reading the diary ever since I was very little.  But, even knowing all that, I still wasn't ready for the magnitude of feeling inside that house.  You could touch the walls and be right up close to all of those things.  It brings horror and triumph into a close-up and I remember feeling so grateful that I hadn't experienced anything like this in my lifetime [this was before 9/11, remember].  Grown men were crying and it was truly a beautifully moving experience.  The original diary is displayed there, as well, which brought more tears.  They also run a documentary throughout, so you're immersed the whole time you're there.  It was a very draining, but beautiful opening experience to Amsterdam.

 

Walking through the city, I enjoyed all the bells and whistles of public transportation.  Though, at times, walking through town is like walking through an obstacle course!  Buses, trams, shuttles - you really have to pay attention or you'll get squashed.  Our first stop was at the Begijnhof - a 14th century religious retreat.  It was originally built as a sanctuary for an order of nuns, but now is merely a residence for single women.  It's a lovely, quiet and contemplative place and a nice respite from the noise and bustle of the city.

 

Next, we went to the Rijksmuseum and stood in line forever.  It's a beautiful building, but there was a special exhibit of Rembrandt's work, so it was packed.  It was still a thrill to look through, though it was annoying to only follow one particular guidebook's idea of the 'highlights' of the museum.  I was happy to see amazing dollhouses there, though.  They are replicas of actual mansions and are built to scale.  You can climb up a ladder to look at the incredible furnishings on the top floors.  Truly amazing [and I still dream about seeing them sometimes, but in my dreams, they're at the Met].  And what can you say about Rembrandt?  Glorious.  It was just so crowded, and I was getting so sleepy, that I couldn't quite get as close a look as I would've wanted. 

 

Back out into the humid sunshine and onwards to the Van Gogh Museum.  The layout is very similar to the Guggenheim.  Jet lag, though, really started to overtake me and I couldn't experience this museum at all.  I have next to no memory of seeing anything here, except that I have a vague memory that it was much less crowded, and more airy than the Rijksmuseum.  Yet another reason to go back to Amsterdam.  Since we were both approaching exhaustion, we decided to stop for lunch and get a sandwich before trying again to check into the hotel.  I had my first of many ham sandwiches.  Why is European ham so much better?  And why didn't I know before this trip that ham sandwiches with butter instead of mustard were so yum yummy?  The world may never know...

 

Once we got back to the Hotel Ibis, we could check in, though we had to stand in line for awhile since everybody was checking in.  When we finally got up to our room, we had our first thrown gasket by GFFMO - there was only one bed!  He threw a fit and stormed downstairs to get us another room.  I thought, seriously, if there are no rooms with two beds, I'm staying here and sleeping in the chair.  Get over it!  Fortunately, there was another room immediately available (you can see the view from our room at right), and we settled in for a nap - in our separate beds.  Hello.  Well, first I had to call my mother to check in.  THEN, it was time for a nap. 

 

After a two-hour nap, then a shower, GFFMO and I head out for dinner.  He had decided we should eat at a traditional pancake house, which was fine with me.  I love pancakes!  We go to the aptly named Pancake Bakery.  There were so many choices!  It was hard to decide, but I finally opted for a pancake with jam - they brought several choices of jarred jams to the table.  I have to admit I pocketed one jar.  It was a delicious souvenir when I got back home.  :)   The pancake was different than American pancakes - it was huge, the size of a dinner plate, and much thinner than you'd expect.  Not as thin as a crepe, but thin.  It was seriously yummy.  [I stole the pancake photo off their website and will happily remove it if so asked.]

 

After pancakes, it was off to our canal cruise.  It was a lovely evening and our driver was very informative and charming.  Of course, I took no notes and remember nothing about what he said.  Sorry.  But I remember enjoying myself and wishing I were a little more awake.  After the cruise, we headed off to a brown bar - we walked through the Red Light District on our way to one recommended by the guidebook.  I thought the District would depress me, but it didn't.  It was clear these women could take care of themselves, and they were much older than I expected.  It was mainly filled with tourists, though, which WAS kind of sad to me. 

 

The brown bars were all packed, but we stopped at one and GFFMO had a beer [I never did develop a taste for beer, which GFFMO found annoying, especially in Brussels] and we chatted with some college kids.  It was nice, but we didn't stay long.  We were beat and finally decided to head back to the hotel, since tomorrow would be a big day - the Disney World of Tulips!  SOOOOO  exciting!  There will be TONS of photos of tulips, so be prepared.  Oh, and this was also the beginning of the end of our enjoying each other's company - apparently, motion sickness is not allowed in GFFMO's travel itinerary...

 

 

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...

 

 

Review - A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney

Wow, that's quite a mouthful of a title, isn't it?  A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney.  But very intriguing, yes?  I thought so.  This play, by Lucas Hnath, is now running at Soho Rep.  I've seen a couple of things by Hnath and I like his work very much.  Plus, this production stars two of my favorites, Larry Pine and Frank Wood, AND it's about Walt Disney, so, hello, clearly I wasn't going to miss this one.

A Public Reading... is dark and funny and disturbing and enlightening and a ton of fun.  All in 75 minutes!  That's quite a feat, if you ask me.  The four-person cast is terrific, handling Hnath's sometimes-fragmented dialogue very well.  For a play that takes place around a conference room table, there's still a lot to see (and hear).  Soho Rep has put together a razor-sharp physical production, directed beautifully by Sarah Benson. 

Larry Pine, who doesn't really look like Walt Disney, yet does, plays the famed father of family entertainment as a chain-smoking, vodka-guzzling megalomaniac, who directs and performs this screenplay of his life in as controlling a manner as he controlled his business.  It's actually a cool juxtaposition - you think of warmth and happy family when you think of "Disney," and here, you see no warmth and no happy family.  In his attempts to control the world and make things perfectly in his own vision, Walt Disney has lost sight of his family, his humanity and his own mortality.  He doesn't care what he says or what he does, he just has to get his own way.  I think the play is using the familiar, well-known figure to explore man's desire to have total control over everything.

I winced the first time Walt Disney said 'f*ck.'  I admit it.  And then I got over it.  This profane, driven man, who is so superbly embodied by Pine, is so relentless and so charismatic, that you're along for whatever ride he takes you on.  Whether he's endorsing liberal editing in his nature documentaries, or figuring out a way to avoid looking bad during a strike, or telling his son-in-law to blame everything on the long-suffering Roy (Disney's brother and business guru), this incarnation of Walt Disney is endlessly fascinating.

Frank Wood is fantastic as Roy Disney.  Of course, I always think Frank Wood is fantastic.  I love him.  Moving on.  The more Walt puts him down, the quieter Roy gets, but he still comes up with the ideas and the methodology that will put Walt's flights of fancy into reality.  Loyalty and family mean everything to Roy.  The two actors (Pine and Wood, ha!) have a wonderful rapport and play off each other beautifully.  Amanda Quaid and Brian Sgambati play Disney's daughter and son-in-law.  Even with Walt doing the editing and cutting of their dialogue, even as they're speaking it, you still get the sense of pain and disappointment the two young people had to go through as the offspring of a business giant.  Watching Walt denigrate his son-in-law, then later exalt the same son-in-law for the personal qualities he previously found worthy of denigration, was really interesting. 

Having Walt read all the 'stage directions' of the screenplay (Exterior; Close-Up; Cut To) was a terrfic conceit.  Whenever Walt spoke directly into the microphone on the conference table, he was giving us those directions.  As the evening progressed, the Cut To interjections came faster and faster, as Walt tried to continually shape the end of his life.  I'm not describing it very well, but I thought it was terrific.  There were some cool and surreal special effects (one I absolutely cannot figure out how it worked), as well.

I guess I just really like Hnath's world view, how he shapes his plays, and the way he handles dialogue.  Using overlapping dialogue can get to be a cliche, but he uses it very specifically and it's important in the construction of these fascinating characters.  It's both distancing and humanizing, at the same time, which I greatly admire.  This script really worked for me.

Pre-show notes:  the house didn't open until very close to curtain.  The usher told us we'd be getting programs on our way out (I didn't, btw).  The guy behind me in line said, "That's apparently the new thing."  I thought, really?  I haven't been to any shows this season where that happened.  Then I knew someone in the audience.  He asked if I had gotten a program and I said, no, they told me we'd get them after.  And HE said, "that's apparently the new thing."  Clearly I haven't been seeing shows at the right "new thing" theaters.  Oh, and the temperature of the theater pre-show was sub-arctic.  Happily, it warmed up as the show got started.  Good thing - I hate wearing my coat inside the theater.

This play is so different and unique, I don't think I'm summarizing it very well.  I just have to say I found it fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable.  The acting is fantastic and it's fun seeing popular culture mythology turned on its ear.  Do yourself a favor and get familiar with Lucas Hnath's work for yourself.  You'll be glad you did.

Thoughts on On Your Toes

I was EXTREMELY fortunate to have a former colleague ask me if I'd like to attend the final dress rehearsal of Encores! latest production, Rodgers and Hart's On Your Toes.  I've never seen On Your Toes and I've never listened to the cast album.  I did, however, already know that ballet figures prominently in the plot, and that the revered George Balanchine had done the original choreography.  I've also seen clips of the famous ballet from the show, "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue," so I was pretty excited walking into City Center.  Seriously.  Ballet and theater, in the same piece.  Much happiness in my world.

And I was NOT disappointed!  I had a smile on my face the entire evening - the show is just a dainty little confection of fun and the dancing is straight-up fantastic.  Before the show started, Jack Viertel, the artistic director of Encores!, came out for a little curtain speech, thanking all the artists who made the production possible.  He also said that he always warns the dress rehearsal audience that they may have to stop at some point during the evening, but for this show, he was SURE they'd probably have to stop!  He said it was the biggest production they've done, because of all the dance, and they had only stopped rehearsing a few hours before curtain.  So we were prepared for anything.  In the end, they only had to stop once, during a particularly involved dance number.  But no one in the audience was disappointed - that only meant we got to see that amazing number TWICE!  Bonus!  : )

 

On Your Toes is a mix of vaudeville and ballet, with plenty of clever Rodgers and Hart songs, and it tells the story of Junior, once part of a family vaudeville dance team, now a music instructor, who gets involved with a Russian ballet company.  When the company agrees to do a 'jazz ballet' that one of Junior's students composed, Junior gets mixed up with Vera, the Russian prima ballerina star of the ballet company.  Of course, all sorts of mayhem ensues and then we get "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue."  The End.  Whew.  What a silly synopsis.  Sorry.

 

The first number, "Two-a-Day for Keith" is a prologue of sorts, with Junior as a youngster, dancing in vaudeville with his parents.  And who play his parents, you ask?  Only Karen Ziemba and Randy Skinner, two of the best dancers EVER!  With young Dalton Harrod as young Junior, they start the show off with a bang.  I believe I've mentioned before how much I love me some tap dancing, and these three were fantastic.  Loved loved loved it.  It was a wonderful way to begin the show.

 

Fast-forward fifteen years, and now we see Junior as a university instructor.  He flirts with a cute co-ed songwriter and tries to hide that he was once a hoofer.  But, of course, he can't hide it forever.  So the hoofing and the ballet and the singing all mish mash together into a really adorable piece of theater.

 

The number they had to do twice was the title song - oh.my.god., it was AMAZING!!!  It was tap AND ballet!  TOGETHER!  If there had been puppets involved, I may have spontaneously combusted with happiness!!  Really, Warren Carlyle has choreographed this number brilliantly.  The audience was screaming with delight throughout - even the school kids upstairs were excited by the dancing!  That is always a good thing.  I was in raptures.

 

Irina Dvorovenko, from ABT (thank you very much), played Vera and she was delightful.  She had terrific comic timing and was just enchanting.  Naturally, her ballet dancing was exquisite.  She has gorgeous arms.  Joaquin De Luz, who used to perform with ABT but is now with New York City Ballet, was also really fun.  He had great timing, too, though he occasionally forgot to pause for his laughs.  And his dancing was sublime.  Walter Bobbie was a hoot as the Russian impresario and Christine Baranski was solid as the doyenne of the ballet company.  Though, I must admit, her diction when she sang her solos was off and I found it hard to understand her lyrics.  But, of course, her comic timing in the book scenes is sublime and she had quite a few humdingers.

 

Our ingenues were, of course, adorable, and Shonn Wiley as Junior was quite a hoofer.  He reminded me of Bobby Van, which is a compliment, if you didn't know.  The ladies in front of us thought he was like Danny Kaye.  I don't know if I'd go THAT far, but he was charming and adorable.  His comic dancing in the "Princesse Zenobia Ballet" was a riot and his jazz ballet in "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" was also terrific.

 

Hearing all that glorious Richard Rodgers music played by the fantastic Encores! orchestra was such a treat, especially hearing "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue."  I will say that "Slaughter" seemed a bit tentative, but it was still quite fine.  The extension that Irina gets - wow!  I'm sure that as they run the show more and more, it will play like gangbusters.  You could just kind of tell they were still trying to get up to speed.

 

Clearly, I LOVED On Your Toes.  I wish I could go see it again - the dancing was so amazing and it was just so fun.  I was telling the gent sitting next to me that it was lovely to get to see (and hear) a 30s musical presented as is.  No snarky self-aware nonsense, just the musical as it was meant to be seen.  Bravo.

 

Seat neighbor-wise, I was sitting amongst a group of my former colleague's pals.  They were very interested in "who" was in attendance (as in STARS).  I think they were a little disappointed in the star quotient.  Of course, I started squealing as ABT company members strolled in to watch their chum, Irina.  The ladies were very impressed with my rattling off the dancers' names.  I was so glad to have come in handy for once.  :)

 

Seriously.  Do yourself a favor - go buy a ticket for On Your Toes right now.  You'll be ever so glad you did. 

Review - The Rascals: Once Upon a Dream

Purely by chance, I got two comps to last night's performance of The Rascals: Once Upon a Dream.  I had heard nearly nothing about this show - I saw the marquee and didn't really think anything of it.  It said Fifteen Performances Only, so it slipped my mind.  The name The Rascals meant nothing to me (sorry!), but hey, free tickets are never to be sneezed at.  Free tickets in the fifth row center are great, (almost) regardless of the show!  And, I have to say, after last night, I'm now a big fan of The Rascals!

 

Apparently, Steven Van Zandt, of the E Street Band (who I HAVE heard of, thank you very much) grew up a huge fan of The Rascals and it has been his dream to reunite them.  It took this hybrid concert/Broadway show concept to get them together, or so I've read.  The show features projections by Marc Brickman, who has worked with Pink Floyd in the past.  Not only were there psychadelic projections, but there was also archival footage of the band, video testimonies from the band members about their story, and re-enactments by actors portraying the band in their youth.  It was an interesting mix, though, to be honest, sometimes the video segments just got in the way of the best part of the concert - the live performances by the original band.  Steven Van Zandt did the pre-show announcement, telling us to leave our phones ON, to take pictures, video, post on Facebook or Twitter, and to do 'whatever the f*ck we wanted.'  Well, OK THEN!  You don't have to tell me twice to take photos during a show!  Enjoy some of the shots I got throughout. 

 

My handsome friend and I were clearly the youngest people in the room.  We were surrounded by baby boomers who were SO excited to see The Rascals again!  The gal to my right told me, "The last time I saw them, 40 years ago, I was so stoned, I don't remember the concert!  I can't believe I get to see them again!"  She was a VERY enthusiastic audience member and was, I believe, the first person to rock out on her feet, her cane be damned.  If she had been in the front row, her panties would've been thrown, I just know it.  This photo was taken by my handsome friend - his perspective was much better (he also got the "Good Lovin'" photo further down the page). 

 

It does not matter in the least that these guys are in their late 60s/early 70s.  They were ROCKING!  The Rascals had a lot of hit songs in the 1960s - "Good Lovin'," "Groovin'," "People Everywhere Just Got To Be Free," "Beautiful Mornin'," and, the very haunting "How Can I Be Sure," which I have now downloaded from iTunes.  I knew a lot of the songs, but didn't know they were by The Rascals.  It was interesting to hear their story, in their own words, and it was fun to see how jazzed they were in concert.  Guitarist Gene Cornish was flirting with all the ladies and throwing guitar picks into the crowd; Felix Cavaliere was on keyboards and did most of the main vocals - he sounded powerful and passionate throughout; Dino Danelli was on drums and was so focused and fierce (though, he looked strangely like someone who just took off their drag persona and sat down at the drums); and vocalist/tambourine master Eddie Briagti was out front and prancing as fast as his feet would take him.  There were also three excellent backup singers and couple of extra musicians.  Fifth row center may have been a tad close for my tastes, though the sound was mixed very well, but it was great to see their interactions with the crowd.

 

The show is two hours of rock and roll, no intermission, and the audience was going crazy throughout.  The theater was packed - I told my handsome friend that this is the way I behave at a Barry Manilow concert, but not really.  I'm a tad more sedate than these people.  But not much.  I guess when you love a band, you LOVE A BAND!  Gals were screaming "We love you, Eddie!" and he was eating it up.  There were a couple of spontaneous standing ovations throughout the show (the uber-fan on my right started at least one of them).  I've read that The Rascals now plan to do a tour of this show around the country - if it comes to your area, go see it!  It's a lot of fun!  I wish I had been more aware of it before it opened - it closes this Sunday, so there aren't many more chances to catch them in the beautiful Richard Rodgers Theater.  I took a ton of photos, so I'll put more at the bottom.  I also got one sound clip, so I'll try to attach it as well.  Fingers crossed I can make it work [updated update, I think the soundclip WORKS!  woo hoo!]

 

 

 

 sound clip from The Rascals