Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Tuesday’s Doubleheader==>TOTALLY EXCELLENT!!



Wednesday==>The good news is that it is not snowing today in The Big Apple, The Greatest City In The World, and it is bright and sunny.

The bad news==>it is majorly cold. At 10:00am it was 28º, wind chill 18º with winds steady at 18 mph.

Oh well ...

Let’s begin today’s posting with Billi Pod’s report card on yesterday’s entertainment doubleheader, rather unusual for a Tuesday, beginning with ...

25th ANNUAL GYPSY OF THE YEAR, the best singers and dancers in the ensembles of shows, known as ‘gypsies,’ performing original skits, songs and dances in this annual fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS==>TOTALLY ENJOYABLE.

Folks, this was indeed a totally enjoyable afternoon in a full-house Broadway theater loaded with a highly enthusiastic theater-industry related audience. This very successful program has raised more than $52.9 million over the past 24-years.

Sir Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart (Waiting for Godot and No Man's Land) were among the presenters. McKellen was really funny, especially after seeing Brian J. Smith and his Glass Menagerie costars walk off with their honors for fundraising, he told the audience, "I want a Gentleman Caller!" 

Then, after reading that another winner was the cast of Newsies, he said, "Sometimes, your wishes are granted." As the young men walked to center stage he welcomed each with a hug and a kiss.

It was sooooooo funny and the audience roared.

The whole afternoon was a lot of fun and I am so glad I was able to score a ticket, even though my seat was in the next-to-last row in the rear mezzanine. No matter.

When the show was over I braved the cold and walked back to PHC where I had the usual pre-theater snack, a fruit and cheese plate, and then it was time to head back out into the cold for my second entertainment event ...

ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE’S @ Carnegie Hall. The program was two works by 
Mathieu and Mozart’s Symphony No. 36 “Linz.”

This was another EXCELLENT evening of classical music.

My comp. seat was also excellent, row W in the parquet (orchestra). 

A little background info on Andre Mathieu - “The little Canadian Mozart” - who was born in Montreal on February 18, 1929 and died on June 2, 1968:

“Andre Mathieu’s life reads like a bad Hollywood script from the 40s: A prodigiously gifted boy is offered a full scholarship at The Julliard School of Music at age six; he grows into a stunning young man easily able to woo audiences (including multiple appearances at Carnegie Hall), but drinks himself to death at 39.” (Playbill)

I have to say that both of his numbers were amazing and both were very enthusiastically received by the audience.

Another interesting side note==>the Conductor for the evening was JoAnn Falletta and ... both of my grandsons and my great-granddaughter are named Falletta.

When I finally got back to the warm and cozy confines of PHC I have to admit to being a little emotionally drained from seeing two quality performances on a Tuesday in The Big Apple.

Moving on ...

Tonight’s entertainment event is also musically related, but it sounds very different from last night’s concert ...

7:00==>SQUONK: MAYHEM AND MAJESTY - “A spell-binding spectacle of music, performance, and digital artistry; a celebratory symphony of the senses that explores music-making with camera jibs, projection puppets and kinetic machines.” (Off Broadway - complimentary ticket)

This show is playing in Theatre A of the 59E59 Theatre Complex (one of my favorite venues) on East 59th Street, has a running time of 1:35, with intermission, and runs through December 29th.

OK, my loyal and faithful readers and followers, I need to make my weekly run to The Food Emporium. I skipped yesterday because of the weather and because of the doubleheader. 

Despite the bad weather, yesterday was a decent mileage day ...

Yesterday’s Pedometer mileage==>4.02 miles (or, 8,785 steps)

Total mileage since 7/1/13==>546.53 miles (average 3.35 miles per day)

Billi Pod
“Don’t pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he’ll just kill you.”


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