Culture in Austin, December 2015

Austin is known as a hive for youth culture. We were able to take in three cultural activities in Austin.  

A real fun event was the launch of the Naked Feminists, which is a comedy on the web. The writers and performers organized at the The Institution Theatre. An excellent evening of stand up comedy, music and the first episode of the show. 

The cast of the Naked Feminist

We attended a great performance of Dracula from  Different Stages held at Vortex, which is an excellent small theater,  bar and restaurant (OK, a food truck). It was done quite traditionally in terms of the script -- but not the staging. 

And then for something completely different, we attended the Christmas concert of the Texas Early Music Project (TEMP). Which was of the highest standard. 

Into NYC, October 2015

We spent 10 days in NYC, staying at the Liberty Harbor RV park. The park is at the historic port area of Jersey City, in an area that is rapidly developing. The park is expensive, at $85 per night, but also highly convenient. Just a quick ferry ride to Wall Street or a short walk to pick up the light rail and connect with the PATH to the World Trade Center or 34th Street.

We have been to NYC many times over the last couple of decades -- our first trip here was in 1992. This was, however, the longest and perhaps the most intensive. During the 10 days, some of the things we did was:

• A remarkable "5 @ 5" solo piano concert by Lisa Yui put on by the diMenna Center for Classical Music in Hells Kitchen.  This series is monthly at 5pm on a Saturday for $5. What a deal. 
• Two of the three plays in the Honeycomb Trilogy presented at the Gym at Judson (off-off Broadway) by Gideon Productions. The trilogy is an innovative series of science fiction plays which we thoroughly enjoyed. Very, very unfortunately, the final in the trilogy was on Halloween and was cancelled. We'll not get to see the way the events depicted in the Trilogy will pan out. Sigh.
• A performance of new music by Michael Couper, Saxophone and ChoEun Lee, Piano at Carnegie Hall. 
• Tannhauser at the Metropolitan Opera. Four and a half hours of superb Wagner. Conducted by James Levine from his wheelchair and featuring Wagner specialist Johan Botha from South Africa in the title role. A night to remember -- even if the 1977 production is showing its age. 
• A long walk on the High Line at its very best.
• Nearly a full day at the New York Botanical Garden and an exploration by car of the Bronx, particularly of the Grand Concourse.
• Meeting up with very old friends. Friendship is a treasure.
• Exploring Little India in Jersey City. 
• The new Whitney Museum in Chelsea. What a great building. And the exhibition of work by Archibald Motley was an inspiration. I had never heard of this artist and was blown away by this "Jazz Age Modernist."
• A visit to the Museum of Modern Art -- my first since its reconstruction. We made the mistake of being there during the free hours on Friday night -- there were so many visitors that it was just unpleasant and we had to run before we got run down. We spent most of our time at the exhibition of work by Uruguayan artist Joaquín Torres García. Again, I did not know this artist but really enjoyed his work. We spent more than an hour in the exhibition.
• We had expected to spend a full day at the Metropolitan Museum. It is just so overwhelming, the brain cannot take it all in. We gave up after three or four hours -- one would really need two solid weeks to take in the Museum. I had also broken the large toe on my right foot (memo for file: do not drop sway bar on toe) and was getting very sore. We spent quite a bit of time in the impressionists and also was able to see several of the current exhibitions. We particularly loved the Design for Eternity Architectural Models from the Ancient Americas, with grave goods from the pre-Columbian period.
• The highlight of the galleries was the Museum of Art and Design at Columbus Circle. I had not been to this museum previously and it will be on the agenda when we are next in NYC. There were two exhibitions at MAD. The furniture as art from Wendell Castle is stupendous. I was agape at the innovation in this body of work over fifty years. The other exhibition was Japanese Kōgei | Future Forward. The notes to the exhibition was that Kogei is "a genre of traditional art that may be roughly translated as "artisan crafts"—a means of highly skilled artistic expression, both in form and decoration, that is associated with specific regions and peoples in Japan." It is a mix of the ancient and the modern in a way that is not possible in the West. 

Summer Theater, Prince Edward Island, August

Given the population of PEI -- only 140k -- the summer music and theater is amazing. We passed by the old favorites of Ann of Green Gables (in its 51st season) for the 39 Steps at the Harborfront Theater in Summerside and Bittergirl The Musical at the Charlottetown Festival in Charlottetown. The 39 Steps was very innovative -- four actors playing 100+ characters ably assisted by innovative sets and equally innovative lighting. It was an homage to Hitchcock and to noir, more broadly. With some more recent references thrown in. Unfortunately, on the night we went there were less than 20 in the audience for a theater that can seat 300+. It stuck largely to the storyline of the John Buchan book (which I read when I was about 12 I think) but played completely for comedic effect. Not high art but great fun.

If Bittergirl The Musical comes to your town -- and it was the world premiere in the Festival -- rush out and see it. It is all about being dumped by crass boyfriends. The musical draws on the music of Rock and Roll and Motown  with many old favorites. The musical has been selling out each night and you can see why. Universal themes, great acting and singing, innovative staging and music wrapped around a very loose story line. The musical is based on a comedy from the mid-2000s but probably works better in this format. It deserves a wide audience beyond Canada.

Talking of high art, we also went to listen to "Music from the Sistine Chapel" featuring Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal at the Indian River Festival held in the lovely St Mary's Church in (no surprise here) Indian River. Magical church music of the renaissance sung a capella. This is obviously a fine group.

A Comedy of Errors in the park, Ottawa, August

Canada just looves Shakespeare. Every city and town seems to have a Shakespeare festival. Throughout the summer, the Company of Fools performs Shakespeare in neighborhood parks throughout Ottawa. This year was A Comedy of Errors, which is a very silly and slight play. But it is a great play for kids of all ages and I laughed throughout the performance. The Company just set up their stage and away they go -- no amplification at all. The costumes were just brilliant as was the acting. The audience seemed to be all locals with several just walking from their homes. No tickets -- a donation hat was carried around after the show. A tradition that goes back to the magic plays of medieval times and beyond. Highly recommended!!