3 posts tagged “central park”
This weekend seemed even shorter than usual. Much of Saturday was taken up with Shakespeare in the Park. We had missed the first production of the season (Romeo and Juliet), so were determined to take in A Midsummer Night's Dream. I had some hopes that this might prove to be a good production since the director and several of the actors had extensive stage credits (rather than it being the usual cavalcade of inexperienced and/or slumming film and television "stars"). But alas, it was not to be.
Starting with the Pepto-Bismol-invoking "Free Love" ad campaign, everything about this production seemed a bit off. It just appeared a real hodge-podge that revealed no coherent perspective. Truly uninspired costume and scenic design right off the bat. In the opening scene what little there was of the Athenian court were dressed like Zoroastrians. Hippolyta seemed to be in a nightclub belly dancer's costume, while Theseus and the lovers were in a sort of late Victorian or Edwardian get-up. The women with huge bustles, which, of course, got torn off at moments of high hilarity. The fairy kingdom was centered around one huge tree (the Whomping Willow?). Oberon, Titania, and Puck also were in the pseudo Edwardian music hall gear (black to the humans' white), while Fairy No. 1 was a displaced Cirque du Soleil aerialist who wore a maid's uniform and recited most of her lines upside down--an allusion to the Peter Brook production? And the other fairies...were children. Ugh. Bottom was played by Jay O. Sanders, whose most memorable performance for me was as the control freak dad in the Tabula Rasa episode of Law and Order (ah, the Angie Harmon years). He was just as overbearing here, but not as funny. Disappointing donkey head (as in just the ears, ma'am) and the mechanicals' performance of Pyramus and Thisbe was just about unendurable. And the closing speeches were all sung. Definitely a most unsexy affair, which is just wrong. It's getting to the point where waiting on the line for tickets is the most entertaining part of the day.
But we were off in our preparations as well, usually managing to improvise a picnic from Fairway with at least one good bottle of wine thrown in the mix. This year we lingered in the Metropolitan Museum of Art longer than perhaps we should have. There was a weird special exhibit on the Clark brothers' competing collections of Impressionist and other paintings. We then drank $11 martinis on the rooftop terrace (the only smoking section), while dodging the sun. When you've invested that much in a drink, it's hard to leave. And there was some pretty prime people watching opportunities as well. Still, the show itself was free and we probably managed to choose one of the best weather days we're likely to get in August to go. Also, I'm glad to report that the foul-smelling dude who was waiting ahead of us on line with his buddy did shower and put on some deodorant for his date that evening.
Trying to make the best of having to make another early start (yet another wash day), we treated ourselves to breakfast at the Eastside Alice's Tea Cup (which now seems to open at 8:00 on weekends--yay!). It was still uncrowded and we had the second floor front room to ourselves for much of the time. Almost like dining in your own townhouse--how Edith Whartonesque.
Then caught a bus up to the Museum of the City of New York, which turned out to have three really interesting shows: Robert Moses and the Modern City (the show we came to see), Facing Facism: New York and the Spanish Civil War, and The Jewish Daily Forward. All three drew extensively from archival materials. The Facing Facism exhibit was the most inspiring, yet also made me feel the most ashamed (for being so apathetic in the face of comparable, current atrocities).
The Moses show provided an interesting re-evaluation of his career. On balance, I guess it could be said he did a lot of both good and bad (as epitomized by the development of Lincoln Center). It will be interesting to think about that in the light of the Lincoln Kirstein centennial (it could be argued that he was both a good and bad force in the development of dance in the United States); but more about that after I've taken in a few of the scheduled events (exhibits, seminars, etc.) in the upcoming weeks. I also want to catch the corollary Moses show at the Queens Museum before it closes.
We took a quick stroll through the Conservatory Garden (I would rate it as one of Moses' good contributions). The cherry trees and most of the flowers were just past their peak, but it still was very pleasant. Followed it up with a really good coffee at Sicaffé. All in all, the sort of day that makes living in New York just a little more bearable. (And the Yankees finally won another game.)
The abundance of sun has dispelled the gloom somewhat (though frankly it has become the more usual segue into summer, skipping spring altogether). Did much walking yesterday in bad shoes and am suffering a bit today as a result. While I did not trek the entire expanse of Central Park, I did walk cross town twice and ambled around the southern end, as well as the northern reaches (which were a little quieter).
The NYCB season starts this week. I didn't think I was feeling as stoked as usual, but now that it's here I'm a bit more eager to go. I guess the focus on the new production of Romeo and Juliet, which doesn't really interest me, had been getting me down. I still feel pretty dubious, but now that casting has gone up, I'm pretty excited that Sean Suozzi will be doing Romeo at a performance I'm supposed to be attending. Of course I will go (as a friend remarked) mainly out of curiosity, but I am not expecting much. If ever a production smacked more of focus groups and marketing meetings than artistic conviction, it is this one. Well, maybe it is not the most egregious example one can think of, but if a girl can't indulge in hyperbole in a blog, where can she?
I checked out the revamped Greek and Roman art galleries at the Met
this morning. We took advantage of being up early (wash day) and
got there before it was too crowded. A new space is always
exciting, but I wasn't totally blown away by it. Still it was
nice to see some old friends again after a while. There was also
a small exhibit on the displays of ancient art at the museum. One
of the early photographs showed the old Parthenon model, which I
remember being in the education area for many years, in the main
gallery. I wonder where it is now? Another thing that
puzzled me, isn't all that frigging sunlight bad for the art
(especially the wall paintings)?
