#51 Boston - A Week of Culture and The Great Outdoors - May 26, 2005
Wow! What a week! A culture wave of sorts - a play, a musical, a concert, an Indie film screening, documentaries on Netflix on the cultural side, supplemented by a wonderful hike in New Hampshire to explore the Great Outdoors.
The weather here in New England has made every effort to keep us inside - it has been raining non-stop, and I mean, NON-STOP! Contributing also has been an extremely vicious wind, so any attempt to open your umbrella is pretty much useless. Might as well just get drenched. I admit to a certain level of insanity when it comes to my refusal to take the subway as opposed to getting in a nice long walk to and from the theater, but when I arrived at my apartment last night, soaked as can be, I myself had to question how far the psychosis has progressed.
The hike this past Sunday led up north to New Hampshire, Pawtuckaway State Park in particular, just east of Manchester (http://www.nhstateparks.org/ParksPages/Pawtuckaway/Pawtuckaway.html). The trail drifted through lusciously green and unspoiled woodlands, past hoards of impressive granite boulders ("glacial erratics" for the geologists among us) and mysterious caves at Devils' Den, to a most rewarding view on the North Mountain. The beaver ponds (again) revealed no beavers, and we encountered only a few souls on this gray, but perfect hiking day. Having done mostly local hikes on flat territory all winter, I definitely rediscovered some muscles, who had been in hiding all this time - pleasantly sore as they say, with a smile though, remembering a lovely day.
The cultural divertissements started off on Friday evening with the play "Shakespeare in Hollywood" at the Lyric Stage Company (http://www.lyricstage.com/). The company is a most charming venue right in the heart of Boston, and this play by Ken Ludwig, a farce featuring a Jewish movie producer who escapes to Hollywood from World War II Europe, captivated, enthralled and tickled a very hopped up audience with its wisecracking and drollery. Said producer is trying to bring a little "cultscha" to Tinseltown, and picks "A Midsummer Night's Dream" as his play of choice, only to have the real Oberon and Puck appear in some sort of time-travel trickery and all kinds of flimflam starts to happen.
Saturday, in a complete change of pace, the cultural locale was the Avalon, according to citysearch.com "the closest thing to a big-time New York Club you'll find in Boston". Excellent concerts there, not too overpriced and even pretty decent beer. The group performing this evening was "Snow Patrol" (MY NEW FAVORITE BAND!!!!!) http://www.snowpatrol.net/ . Their website describes their style as a "heart-crushing mix of distorted British pedal rock and US alternative guitar pop" - absolutely fun music, great band, terrific tunes! Check them out if they come your way!! (You can listen to "Spitting Games", "Run" and "Chocolate" on the web!)
Tuesday night, it was time for the next ushering job/ culture fix, this time at the Huntington Theatre Company for a musical called "Falsettos". Set in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the story centers around a family whose father, Marvin, leaves his wife for a guy named Whizzer and has the lofty goal of keeping everyone "one big happy Jewish family". Again, the Huntington affirmed its reputation for great stage display and original choice of playwright. Energetic performances by a stellar cast, in particular 12-year old Jacob Brandt, who plays Marvin's son Jason and whose vocal performance was quite impressive (very clearly, puberty has not hit this young man yet....).
Rounding out this week of fun, was yesterday's screening of a new movie called "Friends with Money". As volunteers for the Independent Film Festival, we were invited to this exclusive event, and were not told much about the movie beforehand. "Just be there, 7:30 PM, watch the flick, we would like to know what you think" - kind of event. I certainly enjoyed the movie - fits probably into the category "bitter comedy" - Frances McDormand, Jennifer Anniston and Joan Cusack were among a very absorbing cast of characters. Following the film was a discussion with writer and director Nicole Holofcener ( "Lovely and Amazing" is one of her earlier accomplishments) and feedback from the audience. Cool.
So, quite a week, eh? And a short one too, as I am heading to New York City tomorrow to meet up with my friend Lisa Miller for a fun-filled weekend.
Have a wonderful holiday weekend and stay dry!
pet:)
The weather here in New England has made every effort to keep us inside - it has been raining non-stop, and I mean, NON-STOP! Contributing also has been an extremely vicious wind, so any attempt to open your umbrella is pretty much useless. Might as well just get drenched. I admit to a certain level of insanity when it comes to my refusal to take the subway as opposed to getting in a nice long walk to and from the theater, but when I arrived at my apartment last night, soaked as can be, I myself had to question how far the psychosis has progressed.
The hike this past Sunday led up north to New Hampshire, Pawtuckaway State Park in particular, just east of Manchester (http://www.nhstateparks.org/ParksPages/Pawtuckaway/Pawtuckaway.html). The trail drifted through lusciously green and unspoiled woodlands, past hoards of impressive granite boulders ("glacial erratics" for the geologists among us) and mysterious caves at Devils' Den, to a most rewarding view on the North Mountain. The beaver ponds (again) revealed no beavers, and we encountered only a few souls on this gray, but perfect hiking day. Having done mostly local hikes on flat territory all winter, I definitely rediscovered some muscles, who had been in hiding all this time - pleasantly sore as they say, with a smile though, remembering a lovely day.
The cultural divertissements started off on Friday evening with the play "Shakespeare in Hollywood" at the Lyric Stage Company (http://www.lyricstage.com/). The company is a most charming venue right in the heart of Boston, and this play by Ken Ludwig, a farce featuring a Jewish movie producer who escapes to Hollywood from World War II Europe, captivated, enthralled and tickled a very hopped up audience with its wisecracking and drollery. Said producer is trying to bring a little "cultscha" to Tinseltown, and picks "A Midsummer Night's Dream" as his play of choice, only to have the real Oberon and Puck appear in some sort of time-travel trickery and all kinds of flimflam starts to happen.
Saturday, in a complete change of pace, the cultural locale was the Avalon, according to citysearch.com "the closest thing to a big-time New York Club you'll find in Boston". Excellent concerts there, not too overpriced and even pretty decent beer. The group performing this evening was "Snow Patrol" (MY NEW FAVORITE BAND!!!!!) http://www.snowpatrol.net/ . Their website describes their style as a "heart-crushing mix of distorted British pedal rock and US alternative guitar pop" - absolutely fun music, great band, terrific tunes! Check them out if they come your way!! (You can listen to "Spitting Games", "Run" and "Chocolate" on the web!)
Tuesday night, it was time for the next ushering job/ culture fix, this time at the Huntington Theatre Company for a musical called "Falsettos". Set in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the story centers around a family whose father, Marvin, leaves his wife for a guy named Whizzer and has the lofty goal of keeping everyone "one big happy Jewish family". Again, the Huntington affirmed its reputation for great stage display and original choice of playwright. Energetic performances by a stellar cast, in particular 12-year old Jacob Brandt, who plays Marvin's son Jason and whose vocal performance was quite impressive (very clearly, puberty has not hit this young man yet....).
Rounding out this week of fun, was yesterday's screening of a new movie called "Friends with Money". As volunteers for the Independent Film Festival, we were invited to this exclusive event, and were not told much about the movie beforehand. "Just be there, 7:30 PM, watch the flick, we would like to know what you think" - kind of event. I certainly enjoyed the movie - fits probably into the category "bitter comedy" - Frances McDormand, Jennifer Anniston and Joan Cusack were among a very absorbing cast of characters. Following the film was a discussion with writer and director Nicole Holofcener ( "Lovely and Amazing" is one of her earlier accomplishments) and feedback from the audience. Cool.
So, quite a week, eh? And a short one too, as I am heading to New York City tomorrow to meet up with my friend Lisa Miller for a fun-filled weekend.
Have a wonderful holiday weekend and stay dry!
pet:)
posted by My Boston at
3:17 PM
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