• Upcoming Trips and Events

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  • plays and concerts

  • April 24th, 2024. The Worst Cafe in the World' See blog post for details . . . .

  • April 21, 2024. Went to an all-Mozart concert at St.Thomas More Church at 65 East 89th street. It featured the St. Thomas More Church Choir with the Church's organ and a string quartet. A very nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

  • April 27th, 2024 Went to the MSM''s production of Puccini's "La Rondine". In many ways it is my favourite opera. The music still haunts me as it used to do in youthful times. This production, as always at the MSM, was so enjoyable. The cast played their parts with tremendous enthusiasm, the costumes were excellent and the voices quite professional!

  • March 21 2024 - LLOYD Altman concert (See blog post)

  • January 27th - Saw a first-class revival of Tennessee William's "The Night of the Iguana" at the Pershing Square Signature Theater. The set, lighting and acting were all great! The cast, in particular, sustained three hours of dramatic dialogue without fault.

  • January 14, 2024. With the sincerest of thanks to Ally, close friend of Christine, who gave us tickets which she was unable to use herself, we were able to see the Met's latest production of Madama Butterfly. The production requires the high skills of about twenty puppeteers, three of whom are dedicated to manipulating Cio-Cio-San's toddler! This, they do with an amazing degree of reality, including gestures such as tugging at his mother's dress and jumping into her arms! There is a snag, however; puppeteers require near invisibility in order to make their work convincing. Dressed from head to toe in black, they need a very low light to hide in. The set designer's solution was to build a black-painted stage, sloping back and upwards. The producer had his characters enter the stage from the back of this hill in dramatic lighting, while the puppeteers moved at will in the gloom below. But, it was not the Puccini I knew so well and was moved by since I saw the Sadler's Wells production some seventy years ago! The arias were there and the pathos and emotions still evident, but my overall feeling was that the music was playing second fiddle to the visual fireworks!

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  • November12, 2023. Saw the finest revival I have seen in New York for many a year! It was Bernard Shaw's "Arms and the Man" put on by the Gingold Theatrical Group at Theatre Row. It was directed by David Shaller (godson of Hermione Gingold) who had his cast come to the front of the stage at each scene to explain to the audience the action to follow. Shaw's humour never missed a beat--The audience was in stitches from beginning to end!

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Lloyd’s Concert

Posted on March 24, 2024 by Ben Thompson

Chance brings joys as well as sorrows! I was browsing through my facebook posts when I came across Lloyd Altman’s notice that he and his wife Nana were about to perform in a Chamber music concert presented by ‘The Broadway Bach Ensemble’ at the Broadway Presbyterian Church situated at West 114th Street.

They are great friends of mine; I met them and their marvelous family through Ethel. In fact, the last time I saw Lloyd was when he played his cello at Ethel’s memorial service; ten or more years ago!

So, i was determined to make the hour’s bus ride and catch up with them.  It was with mutual delight that we embraced each other after all that time. Lloyd had just been talking about me with Gregory, his violinist friend, as I walked in!

The concert space was the magnificent open floor of the church backed by a towering set of  mighty organ pipes. And the concert consisted of pieces, composed through the ages, featuring discrete sections of the orchestra: woodwind, strings, and brass, etc. But, of course, I couldn’t wait until Lloyd’s trio performed. Gregory, the violinist. Nana on the piano and Lloyd played two pieces, Massenet first followed by Beethoven. Lloyd also played in a piece for four cellos later on in the concert. Christine used her phone to take pictures:

Old friends meet!

 

. . . .

 

The awesome concert space . . .

 

Talking about old times!

 

Violinist and artist, Gregory.

THE END

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