Sunday, December 27, 2009

Nutcracker


Dave and I found this bright yellow house while driving the back roads near the town of Spotswood, N.J. You gotta love the color, and check out those Christmas decorations!

Yesterday we went into the city -- despite truly deplorable weather -- to meet up with my friend Arne and his partner Norman, who are visiting from Washington D.C. They generously took us to see a production of The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center, and then to dinner at a Provencal restaurant where Dave briefly interned after his stint at culinary school. We had a great time!

The Nutcracker production was very traditional -- lots of sparkly pink sets and elaborate costumes. Not really to my taste, and not particularly sophisticated, but a great introductory ballet for kids, I suppose. I joked afterwards that someone needs to produce a sort of Martha Graham-like version, with a minimalist stage and severe black leotards. I suppose it's already been done somewhere.

4 comments:

Barbara said...

That yellow house would give me a headache. I wonder if that's the effect they wanted or if they just picked from a color card and didn't realize what they were getting.

The ballet and dinner sound like an excellent way to spend a dreary day. I'd be interested in seeing the The Nutcracker adapted to a modern setting. It is always so dreadfully old-fashioned. But then so much of it is about the music and it's rather stuck in an old time.

e said...

It sound like you've both had a great christmas weekend. I hope the new year is a good one.

I thought of you and dave last night as I was watching a documentary about Edward Espe Brown, a Buddhist priest and chef...

You might want to check out his How to Cook Your Life via Netflix streaming.

Salty Miss Jill said...

I get verklempt during 'The Nutcracker', but don't tell anyone. ;)
Mark Morris choreographed his own version, whcih is worth a re-visit.

Merle Sneed said...

The Nutcracker seems tedious to me.