One day after saying goodbye to winter at Harriman State Park, I awoke to a paradise of flowering trees and bushes. And this is just the beginning! The maples, dogwood, and azaleas are right behind. Too bad there were so many telephone and electric wires spoiling some of these views, but we’re still lucky to have so much beauty lining our city streets.
Forsythia flanking the golf course
Those gorgeous magnolias! Here today, gone tomorrow….
As we move into a new season, here is a theater update for all my like-minded addicts around the world.
To celebrate this season of renewal, I enjoyed a stunning production of Hamlet at the Met, an opera by Ambroise Thomas, the 19th century French composer. Outstanding performances were given by the English baritone, Simon Keenlyside, and the Canadian soprano, Jane Archibald.
At the end of February I played in an all-Russian concert with The Plainfield Symphony, featuring music by Prokofiev and Shostakovich, playing his 5th symphony, my favorite.
Yes, I was able to get tickets for the last two segments of Horton Foote’s The Orphans’ Cycle at the Signature Theater. This was theater at its very best and I hated to see it end. After the first segment I had an interesting exchange with the actress, Sarah Jessica Parker, who stopped me as I was leaving, having mistaken me for one of the actors (surely not the ingénue, I quipped).
Another fine play by Susan -Lori Parks was The Book of Grace at the Public Theater. We were treated to an hour-long discussion with her and several cast members after the performance. I had been lucky enough to see her Pulitzer price winning hit, Topdog/ Underdog several years ago.
The Pearl Theater at the City Center presented a fabulous adaptation of Hard Times by Charles Dickens. It always amazes me when six people can play a plethora of characters, changing on a dime right in front of you.
Another excellelnt production at the Minetta Lane Theatre was 4Play, The Flying Karamazov Brothers, doing their usual hilarious, off-the-wall juggling, dancing, miming, and singing. I don’t know when I’ve laughed so much.
And finally, I was blown away by the richness and versatility of the Broadway musical, Fela!, conceived and choreographed by Bill T. Jones, and based on the life of the Nigerian singer from the late ‘70’s, Fela Kuti.
Keep tuned. There’s more just around the corner and yes, there are those travel rules. I haven’t forgotten. They’re compounding!
One final note: People ask me how I keep climbing and traveling without the usual aches and pains of age. I’ll tell you how. First of all, it’s that three-mile walk everyday, but more than that, I do Hanna Somatic exercises, taught to me by several practitioners, including my daughter, Martha Peterson. I’m so lucky to have her close by for sessions and classes. For those who are having knee, back, neck, or shoulder problems (too much computer?), I suggest that you visit her blog, which is full of great tips, videos, and photos to help keep you strong, playful, and on-the-go. What more can you ask? Just go to the website and see for yourself. www.essentialsomatics.com
And while you’re at it, do sign up for my RSS feed at the top of the page. Then you’ll automatically get my blog.
Trees
Wauw! These beautiful pictures of spring! You can smell spring from them! Here spring is in the air also, with blossom, but also newborn little stuff like lambs, little goats in the park nearby, jumping over one another! Trees from Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Jon Pollack
Beautiful pictures! We have had a late blast of winter in Seattle, hoping it will warm up soon.