So, so busy lately. I feel as if I'm playing a Survivor immunity challenge, moving from one from one part of the compeition station to another, struggling to keep up and not just flame out while Jeff Probst laughs at every move I make. Damn you Probst and your camp counselor shirts.
The last few days have just been really really long and I'm finding that it's time to really and truly get serious about the thesis because my advisor wants 20 more pages yesterday (OK, in two weeks) and it took me three hours tonight to hammer out five and a half and at that rate we're in deep shit folks.
Not that everything's been bad. Yesterday Cory & I traipsed down to the city for some shopping and last Friday we attended another performanceo of The Black Rider. And although we didn't get to meet Marianne Faithfull backstage this time around, we did have front row seats and that pretty much ruled. Indeed, I think I've become a "Black Rider" junkie and if I had the money and if all the seats at all the shows weren't sold out I'd check out a few more shows.
It's really just that cool.
Obviously the Black Rider spotlight is really on Marianne Faithfull as the devil --and she is fabulous. Still, I think that even those who aren't familiar with her work find Mary Margaret O'Hara to be outstanding. She got giant cheers and whistles after both shows we attended. It wasn't of course, but it almost seems as if the part was written for her peculiar stage presence and her kooky songbird voice. In addition to occasionally letting out some of those crazy trills and screams, she also sings in a really lovely jazzy style for many of the numbers including one solo song, a rendition of "I'll Shoot the Moon" --for which I would die to get a copy of her performing.It's just so perfectly matched for her voice --melancholy and a little crazy. As for her acting, she embodies a marionette/mechanical ballerina figurine sort of persona that's at once sad and creepy.
Overall "The Black Rider" is odd, fascinating and very engaging and I would have enjoyed it even without Mary Margaret O'Hara or Marianne Faithfull. Although some of the theater's subscriber members were clearly put off, bored or confused by its experimental nature (a woman two seats down from us slept through most of the first act), I found it to be this oddly charming, somewhat unsettling blend of Kabuki theater, a German opera, a Warner Bros. cartoon, ballet and a circus sideshow. Seeing it twice was definitely a plus because I was able to pick up on a lot of the nuances that sailed over my head the first time through. Oh, and the show's male lead, Matt McGrath is absolutely astounding. He's been on Broadway and in numerous films and I now want to check out everything he's done.
Oh, and we caught a glimpse of Francis Ford Coppola in the audience last Friday and Phil Lesh from the Grateful Dead nearly bowled Cory over in the bathroom. We'll take our version of Gawker stalker where we can get it I suppose.
P.S. A belated happy birthday shout-out to Bobby J. Hope the day treated you well and that the year has many good things waiting.
The last few days have just been really really long and I'm finding that it's time to really and truly get serious about the thesis because my advisor wants 20 more pages yesterday (OK, in two weeks) and it took me three hours tonight to hammer out five and a half and at that rate we're in deep shit folks.
Not that everything's been bad. Yesterday Cory & I traipsed down to the city for some shopping and last Friday we attended another performanceo of The Black Rider. And although we didn't get to meet Marianne Faithfull backstage this time around, we did have front row seats and that pretty much ruled. Indeed, I think I've become a "Black Rider" junkie and if I had the money and if all the seats at all the shows weren't sold out I'd check out a few more shows.
It's really just that cool.
Obviously the Black Rider spotlight is really on Marianne Faithfull as the devil --and she is fabulous. Still, I think that even those who aren't familiar with her work find Mary Margaret O'Hara to be outstanding. She got giant cheers and whistles after both shows we attended. It wasn't of course, but it almost seems as if the part was written for her peculiar stage presence and her kooky songbird voice. In addition to occasionally letting out some of those crazy trills and screams, she also sings in a really lovely jazzy style for many of the numbers including one solo song, a rendition of "I'll Shoot the Moon" --for which I would die to get a copy of her performing.It's just so perfectly matched for her voice --melancholy and a little crazy. As for her acting, she embodies a marionette/mechanical ballerina figurine sort of persona that's at once sad and creepy.
Overall "The Black Rider" is odd, fascinating and very engaging and I would have enjoyed it even without Mary Margaret O'Hara or Marianne Faithfull. Although some of the theater's subscriber members were clearly put off, bored or confused by its experimental nature (a woman two seats down from us slept through most of the first act), I found it to be this oddly charming, somewhat unsettling blend of Kabuki theater, a German opera, a Warner Bros. cartoon, ballet and a circus sideshow. Seeing it twice was definitely a plus because I was able to pick up on a lot of the nuances that sailed over my head the first time through. Oh, and the show's male lead, Matt McGrath is absolutely astounding. He's been on Broadway and in numerous films and I now want to check out everything he's done.
Oh, and we caught a glimpse of Francis Ford Coppola in the audience last Friday and Phil Lesh from the Grateful Dead nearly bowled Cory over in the bathroom. We'll take our version of Gawker stalker where we can get it I suppose.
P.S. A belated happy birthday shout-out to Bobby J. Hope the day treated you well and that the year has many good things waiting.
posted by writegrrrl at
10:50:00 PM
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