Leaving the Red Rooster, I headed uptown toward City College, which is a gorgeous campus.
The architecture in Harlem is really incredible. It looks like it's gentrifying - lots of the brownstones are being gut renovated, by the look of them - so I'll be curious to see what happens in that neighborhood in the coming years. I saw some beautiful 1880s mansions in Hamilton Heights that, if memory serves, were designed by a guy named Adolph Hoak.
And I stopped by the Grange, former home of Alexander Hamilton (City College in the background)
A lot more wandering around occurred as well, but the photos aren't that good. :) The walk is 2.3 miles (3.7K) and entertained me for several hours on a beautiful spring day.
Random shot of a multi-tasker in the subway. Yep, that's a hula hoop she's got going on.
(I love New York!)
Wednesday, my friend Ken invited me to an open rehearsal of the New York Philharmonic. We spent 2.5 hours listening to the musicians rehearse de Falla and Massenet and take notes from the conductor for that evening's performance. It was great to see them at work, and in their civilian clothes.
Afterward, I sped down to the Village to see Bedlam Theatre's production of Sense and Sensibility in the Gym at Judson. It's a total romp, and I loved it. You can see behind the scenes as they're getting ready for the show.
The actors play multiple characters, scenery spins around, sometimes with the actors in tow, and if you're in the first row, be prepared: You're going to be part of the action. Ed and I had recently seen Jason O'Connell, the actor who plays Edward and Robert Ferrars, in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Pearl. He is unbelievable. And the transition of Samantha Steinmetz and Laura Baranik between the two characters each portray was a masterclass in the use of body language. They just extended the run through the beginning of October, so there's still time to get tickets. One odd thing: This is the only show I've ever seen where you get your Playbill on the way out, rather than on your way in.
After seeing Sense and Sensibility, I spent the afternoon and evening with a college friend and her college-hunting daughter.
We toured the High Line, ate dinner at Malatesta in the Village, walked over to Washington Square Park then up to Union Square (with a stop at Baked by Melissa cupcakes, of course), on to Madison Square Park and finally, to Eataly. I think I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
The next night, Ed and I met up with Nicole on her own.
On Tuesday, I headed up to Lincoln Center to buy a ticket to see the King and I. While I was up there, I stopped by the NY Public Library for the Performing Arts to see a Shakespeare exhibition I'd read about. This year marks the 400th year of his death, so he's all over New York. But first, I discovered an exhibition about Mozart's The Magic Flute, complete with costumes from the last 200 years.
An early costume for the Queen of the Night (I wish I'd noted by whom and from when)
Here are a couple by Julie Taymor (of Lion King fame):
The Queen of the Night with Papageno and Papagena
Pamina, Sarastro, and Tamino
Here's Marc Chagall's take
Maurice Sendak's 1981 set design for the Houston Grand Opera
And Sir Gerald Scarfe (I've never heard of him, but I liked the giraffe and the baboon mask)
These greet you as you enter the exhibition (also Sir Gerald Scarfe). I love the lion heads.
There's so much more to see, so be sure to stop by if you're interested in opera, set design, costumes, the Masons, or just The Magic Flute in general.
Once through that, I headed to the lower level to see Shakespeare's Star Turn in America.
Playbills from the 1700s, costumes from the early 20th century, handwritten script notes by Katherine Hepburn and Edwin Booth, as well as sets, props, scenes, videos are all available for you to examine. Three Beatrice costumes from Shakespeare in Central Park
(L: Blythe Danner's, C: Lily Rabe's, R: Can't remember, but so pretty!)
Here's Ming Cho Lee's set design for Much Ado About Nothing from 1972.
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