three weeks - three plays

Well the "best laid plans" - LOL- I realize that there is a weird kind of connection in that quote because we are about to spend three successive Wednesdays at the theater and this week our play is Grapes of Wrath... and if I am not mistaken the remainder of that quote was also used by Steinbeck as a title to one of his seminal works Of Mice and Men... so it was kind of strange that I started the post with that, but it fits our situation.

we had originally gotten tickets for the Asolo Theater for roughly a play a month- since we also had a concert series at the Van Wezel and miscellaneous other events (Forks & Corks, the Wine Walk, wine dinners etc...)

we would be starting the "season" in November with School for Scoundrels and then in early January - Loot and late January - Philadelphia Here I Come and February - Other Desert Cities, then March would be a double duty month with Vanya & Sonya followed by Grapes of Wrath.  Then we would end the season in April with 4000 Miles (in a compare and contrast exercise with the Northlight production from last September.

BUT- things we awry when the director of Philadelphia Here I Come canceled all the shows for two weeks near the beginning of the run... this left the Asolo folks scrambling and they rearranged the schedule (yes they called more than 2000 people to rework tickets... so how this boiled down for us is that it left us with three plays in three weeks right at the end of the "season"...

this week Grapes of Wrath and next week (finally) Philadelphia Here I Come and then in two weeks 4000 Miles (which will be performed in the Historic Asolo Theater rather than the Mertz Theater where most Asolo productions take place.)

so get ready for some reviews of the three plays and photos of the Wine Walk to Ca d'Zan and then four films I am scheduled to see at the Sarasota Film Festival....

so, a few illustrative photos- to entice you to come back for the reviews and other thoughts I might have along the way...

here is a link to my review of the Northlight Production of 4000 Miles from last September-

http://semifreelife.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-curtain-rises.html
http://semifreelife.blogspot.com/2013/09/we-are-almost-off.html

this Friday evening - CBGB and the two of us will be headed to the Ringling Estate - Ca d'Zan for the Wine Walk- and event we loved last year!

here is a link to the walk last year- which was held basically the same night we bought our winter place here in Florida (and boy are we grateful for the timing of that as our Chicago home has been inundated with nearly 70 inches of snow and record cold this winter!)

http://semifreelife.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-house-of-john.html

so heading into the home stretch for the "season" with lots of cultural engagements and a visit from Cousin Michele as well as CBGB (mentioned above for the wine walk)... the hits just keep on coming!!!

just in time

I finished my China blog posts just in time to start the "critic's corner" LOL- where I spend the time reviewing trips to the theater and concerts etc... well, actually I have already started that with the Haifa Symphony last week and the whole Forks & Corks weekend thing but we are scheduled for at least four more concerts and five plays before I return to Chicago - so there will be plenty to talk about...

but here is the start- last nigh we saw Vanya & Sonia & Masha and Spike at the Asolo - and roared... yes seriously - there were parts I thought I might lose it and others where I made an effort to tone down my response because I thought this play was waaay funnier than some of the audience did-

I have criticisms - but they are nit picky and few- the script could be tighter and shorter - a good editor will solve its issues.  It needs to be paced a bit more quickly for the full element of farce to play to perfection but hey- I got more than tow hours of laughs out of it so who is going to quibble. I thought the casting was just a tad off - Masha wasn't quite STAR enough and Spike wasn't quite handsome enough (despite having a smokin body) but overall - I would give it a positive review.

so next up is a concert on Saturday night in Tampa- for those of you who couldn't tell me frequently enough what a mistake I had made in not seeing the Carolina Chocolate Drops last year at City Winery- well you can stop harping on me about it, because I agreed to go see them this weekend with Phil....

death defying

a bunch of years ago I read a really good book called "Carter Beats the Devil" about a magician in the early 20th century.  I was reminded of the book (and how much I liked it) last night when we went with Sheila & Mary to a performance of Death & Harry Houdini a production of the House Theater Company. the play, a revival, was staged in honor of the ten year anniversary of the company and had been their first production a decade ago.

the evening's entertainment was broadly staged (in the style of the era) with a lot of hyperbole in introductions of the characters and the various feats of prestidigitation and other acts of "escapologist"  Harry Houdini.

basically it gave a bare bones overview of Houdini's life and career intermixed with magic tricks and escape-artist acts. I personally would have like to have seen more tricks and spent less time with Houdini's horror of a mother but everyone else seemed enchanted with the mix as it was.

however, in general- an excellent evening of entertainment- and recommended (but go now as the show has been held over and won't last forever)