A Play

by Posted in Theatre Leave a comment
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A couple of weeks ago I went to see a play at the Westchester Collaborative Theater. The theater is tiny and located at the end of a narrow alley between two buildings. It’s down by the Ossining Metro North station and it’s easy to miss.

As you can see from the first picture it’s called “Hello, I must be going”. I’m not going to attempt to describe it. If anyone is interested there’s a short review (not of this particular production) here.

Did I enjoy it? I’m not sure. It’s billed as “A Comedic Drama in the Key of Life”, but it seemed to me to be much more drama than comedy although it did have comedic moments. The performers did a good job, and all things considered it was a decent production. I guess I just wasn’t in the mood for something as gloomy as this was a lot of o the time.

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Taken with a Sony RX100 M3

A Visit to Boston – Day Two – A Street Entertainer

by Posted in People, Theatre Leave a comment
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I must say that he was very entertaining. And I don’t think that I’ve ever seen anyone juggling two (I think it was two. Might have been three) knives while riding a 10-foot-tall unicycle and playing bagpipes. He could probably do it in his sleep, but managed to give the impression that he might fall off at any moment.

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Taken with a Sony A6000 and 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 OSS

The Trial of Major John André

by Posted in History, People, Theatre Leave a comment
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Yesterday I attended an interesting (for those who are interested in US Revolutionary War History, of course) presentation (actually more of a re-enactment) of The Trial of Major John André. It was organized by Revolutionary Westchester 250 as one of the many events and programs commemorating the American Revolution in Westchester County, in the run up to the 250 Anniversary in 2026. The two excellent performers were from “Drama From the Past, LLC. First Person Historical Performances”. The re-enactment was hosted by the Briarcliff Manor Public Library.

For those (particularly my friends in the UK) who may not be familiar with the story I’ll include this short quote from a recent article:

“It is September 29, 1780, the start of André’s trial. General George Washington has just learned the devastating news that American General Benedict Arnold has betrayed his Country and was about to surrender Fortress West Point to the British. Arnold’s accomplice, British Major John André, was captured in Tarrytown, by militiamen John Paulding, David Williams and Isaac Van Wart. André now faces a military tribunal at the Old Dutch Church in Tappan, NY. A Board of Officers has been appointed to decide whether or not he is an officer of the British Army or a spy. Having been captured behind enemy lines, out of uniform and carrying incriminating documents, André is faced with a monumental task of wriggling free from the grim fate that awaits.”

Great fun. I really enjoyed it.

Above: Gary Petagine plays Judge Advocate John Laurence, who prosecuted.

Below: Sean Grady (who portrays Major André). I was sorely tempted to ask him if I could try on his jacket.😀He did a great British accent too.

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Taken with an iPhone SE II.

Wedding Anniversary

by Posted in Buildings/Structures, Theatre Leave a comment
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We generally celebrate our Wedding Anniversary by going into New York City for dinner and a show, and this year was no exception.

We started a little early this year (actually the day before) by going to see a movie: “The Favourite” starring Olivia Coleman; Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone. Great Movie! With a particularly memorable performance from Olivia Coleman as Queen Anne.

The following day we went down to “The Big Apple”. First we had a very nice dinner at “The Haven Rooftop“, high up over Broadway on top of “The Sanctuary” hotel.

Then on to the play: Waitress, perhaps not the greatest play I’ve ever seen, but still thoroughly entertaining in a lightweight kind of way. As you can see from the marquee, the show starred Sarah Bareilles who also wrote the music and lyrics. Clearly a talented person.

Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3.

Hello Dolly

by Posted in Events, Theatre, Things Leave a comment
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My wife had wanted to see ‘Hello Dolly‘ for quite some time, but for a variety of reasons (e.g. the tickets were expensive and/or extremely difficult to get and we didn’t really put as much effort into looking as we should have) we hadn’t gone.

Eventually my wife decided to ‘take the bull by the horns’ and invited some friends to join us. She had really wanted to see Bette Midler in it, but by the time we got tickets she had moved on.

Some shows I can’t wait to see. Others I have no strong opinion about. And still others (relatively few) I just don’t want to see at all. ‘Hello Dolly’ falls in to this last category. I don’t know why but I didn’t want to see it. I didn’t even know anything about the show. Possibly it’s because I associate the show with Carol Channing, whose voice and overall personality I can’t stand. Maybe it’s because I tend to prefer musicals like those by Stephen Sondheim to those by Jerry Herman. I’m not that fond of Bette Midler either so that might have been a contributing factor.

Anyway my wife wanted to go so off we went into New York City.

I have to say that I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would: great sets, spectacular costumes, ‘feel-good’ tone, and the wonderful Bernadette Peters of whom I’m a big fan having seen her in Annie Get Your Gun; Gypsy; Into the Woods; and Sunday in the Park with George (possibly my favorite musical). I didn’t regret missing Bette Midler at all. Now I feel like seeing the movie with Barbra Streisand (whose voice I love), parts of which were filmed near where we live (see: Garrison Landing).

After the show we went back to our friend’s house for Peruvian Food (and Peruvian beer!) – Scrumptious! A great day.