Evita
Ricky Martin and Elena Roger star in Evita. Photo stolen from the Evita website.
Gail and I are in New York for 3 days of theater, starting with the revival of Evita. It’s incredible.
In the Marquis Theater, inside the Marriott Marquis right smack dab in Times Square, they have significantly remade the play with all new sets, costumes and choreography; the music remains the same because it’s perfect.
Pop music idol Ricky Martin plays Che, in a very different portrayal than in years past. Mandy Patinkin was a brooding, angry Che, filled with rage at the oppressive system. Martin, head thrust forward like Dan Ackroyd selling Bass-O-Matics, smirking like Burt Reynolds in Cannonball Run, is a (somewhat) more dispassionate observer. He has sold over 60 million albums; I guess you could say he can sing. Martin dances well, and the production seems to have him onstage most of the time. The audience was clearly his from his first entrance–which would explain all those younger women in swoon, although Martin is open about being gay. A girl can dream.
Eva is played by Elena Roger, the first time an Argentine has played the role. She was cast when the production opened in London 5 years ago, and continues to define the role. Ms. Roger is tiny and not really very pretty, but neither was Eve Peron. She has an enormous voice, however, albeit often quite nasal. She dances wonderfully, much better than Ricky Martin. When she dies at the end, she’ll break your heart.
Colonel Peron is played by Michael Cerveris, who we saw as Sweeney Todd a few years ago, in an impressive performance enhanced by his rich voice.
The best singer in the show, I thought, was Max von Essen, as Augustin Magaldi, the tango singer who brought Evita to Buenos Aires as a young girl.
It’s always interesting to see the attention to detail in a production. Cerveris wears a wig as Juan Peron, and it looks like he needs a haircut. Why? What was behind that artistic choice? Eva Peron’s wigs all have dark roots beneath the blond hair–another way the producers choose to demonstrate her lower class “roots”?
The new sets are impressive, making the show more solid and less impressionistic than I remember. The updated choreography is more free flowing, and has taken out the musical chairs staging of the song “Politics, the art of the possible”
Evita is my favorite of the Andrew Lloyd Weber canon, and this production only increases my appreciation for it. I’m glad we saw it.
In Paris
Legendary performer Mikhail Baryshnikov comes to Berkeley Rep for a special presentation of In Paris.
Photographer:
Maria Baranova
No, we aren’t in Paris. But the play we saw Friday night just about makes up for that fact. The legendary Mikhail Baryshnikov brought a production to Berkeley Rep, and it was not to be missed. Which I probably shouldn’t say, since it closes today. Ah well, quelle fromage. (which is my favorite, and perhaps only, multi-lingual pun)
Here’s what the Berkeley Rep artistic director, Tony Taccone, has to say:
In Paris uses a nuanced, complex theatrical vocabulary of music, mime, video and excerpts of Russian and French to explore the relationship between an older man and a younger woman and its larger theme of profound loneliness.
I don’t know why he says “excerpts of Russian and French”, since the entire play is in those languages, with surtitles becoming part of the stage decor. Maybe most of the stage decor, since the director, Dmitry Krymov, is a leading light of what is called Russian Experimental Theater, and the set consists of a very steeply raked black stage.
The few bits of furniture that appear are surrealistic. The car is just a large poster held up by the actors, moving on a large stage turntable.
There are two characters in the play, based on a short story by Russian Nobel Prize winner Ivan Bunin. Baryshnikov plays the General, while the young woman is brilliantly interpreted by Anna Sinyakina. Four additional performers provide all the music, largely by blowing into bottles and beating boxes as drums.
One might say that there are two schools of thought regarding how to construct a play.
1) Lots of plot. This is the Shakespearian technique. His plays have plots layered over plots, mixed in with subplots and side plots. Many characters, each with his own motivations and machinations. There is always something going on.
2) Not much plot, great exposition. That’s what’s happening In Paris. The play is created from a short story, which can be summarized easily: sad old guy meets needy young woman, relationship happens. Old guy dies. The end.
What makes this play great is how well the handle method 2. Baryshnikov spends 5 minutes onstage getting ready for a date. The Girl spends 5 minutes getting ready. Nothing really happens, but it’s so well done that great theater arises from the artistry of the actors and the imagination of the director.
If you’re going to have the world’s greatest danceur as your star, people expect to see him dance. There is a short dance sequence at the end of the play, but I thought it was more important to realize that every move Baryshnnikov makes is dance–it’s just who/what he is. He has complete control over every tiny muscle in his body, and everything he does is expressed in his every movement.
Clearly, we all loved it. If it hadn’t closed, you’d love it too.
Sunday at the lake
Our friends Harry and Michael live on Green Valley Ranch, one of the last surviving co-operative living groups from the 70’s. 1200 acres of prime Napa grazing land, shared among 15 guys, most of whom have houses on the property.
Every year on the first Sunday in May, they have a picnic and invite all their friends. It’s a huge affair, with hundreds of people hanging out and having fun around their own private lake. Gail and I went up for the afternoon, and I spent much of my time taking photos.
This week, with President Obama speaking publicly in favor of gay marriage the day after North Carolina voted to prohibit it, when Mitt Romney says “‘we should not discard 3000 years of one man-one woman marriage” while ignoring that his great grandfather fled the US so he could have his 12 wives, the gentle pleasant time we had Sunday seems all the poignant.
I think I’ll just show you some of the photos of the day. Are any of these people really threatening anyone else’s marriage?
Fair and Balanced?
Fox Nation in action. They later changed the headline to “Obama Flip Flops On Gay Marriage”
Strange kind of war that wants to allow more people to marry, not fewer.
Shelbys
Gail and I needed to get a quick lunch Sunday before the theater, and headed for Table 24 in Orinda’s Theater Square. They were too crowded to seat us though, so we went across the walk to Shelbys, and ended up very pleased.
Shelbys has been in Theater Square for years, just providing good food in pleasant surroundings. They’ve had the same chef and operating group since 2005, and know how to keep the place running smoothly, offering French/California food and wine.
I had a salad both healthy and delicious–their Chicken and Mango.
What a great looking salad--grilled breast of chicken, organic greens, avocado, mango, red oniom and vinaigrette.
The chicken breast was warm and moist, the mango and avocado were perfectly ripe, it was everything a chicken salad should be.
Gail had the huevos oaxaqueños–a 3 egg omelet with a spicy, tangy red sauce, black beans and a tortilla. She took no prisoners and left no crumbs.
The service was excellent–we told the young man we had time issues, and things ran like a Swiss train.
I like the look of this restaurant.
Shelbys is as pleasant to sit in as any local restaurant–the design is fresh and open, with large floral displays and both indoor and outdoor seating. With its considerable and varied menu, excellent preparation and presentation and top-notch service, I wonder why we haven’t eaten there more often. That’s a mistake we won’t make again.
Mustards Grill
Mustards Grill has been a favorite eatery in the Napa/Rutherford area for 28 years; we’ve eaten there often. Saturday night we went again, with Russ and Sigrid. It helps that the general manager, Patrick Kellaher, is the tenant in a home Sigrid owns. We got very good service.
The owner/chef, Cindy Pawlcyn, has a storybook resume where she started at the Pump Room in Chicago, moved to Napa to be the opening chef at Meadowood, and
has been involved in the creation of over a dozen new restaurants in the Bay Area including, Fog City Diner, Bix, Roti, Betelnut, Buckeye Roadhouse and Tra Vigne. (I stole this part from their website)
The truly hip, slick and cool places don't bother with bread plates--they just plop the bread down right on the table, to signal how earthy and homey they are.
The menu says that the Laotian Quail is “CP’s favorite”. I thought they were talking about me until I realized that those were the owner’s initials, too.
Quail are just tiny chickens, sort of. Tastier, but really small. The sauce they serve this bird with was too hot for a sissy like me, although Gail and Siggy loved it.
Laotian quail with sweet-hot chili dip. Very sweet. Very, very, very hot.
Mustards is famous for its pork chop, which Russ enjoyed. I try to stick to the fish, so I had the halibut, which was splendid.
Halibut with spring vegetables
This is the $9 version of a lemon meringue pie, and worth it.
Lemon-lime tart with ridiculously brown sugar high meringue. That's what it says on the menu.
The wine list comes in a binder labeled “Way too many wines”, but you’d expect that in the Napa Valley. I was pleased to see that I could order iced tea and just get a glass that they kept filled–9 years ago you could only get a fancy bottle of chi-chi tea.
It’s hard to keep up the quality of a place for 28 years, but Mustards Grill has managed the feat. If you’re headed to the wine country, it’s a great place to enjoy the food, the ambiance and the service. And way too many wines, if you like that sort of thing. Be careful with the chili sauce.
Car Crazy
Some museums display a wide variety of items, like the Louvre or the Smithsonian.
Some are more particular, narrowing down to perhaps a single artist, like the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam or the Rodin museum in Paris.
There is a new museum in Napa, though, that takes specificity to an extreme–it is devoted to one particular model of one brand of car: the Mercedes 300 SL. Not just any Benz is good enough, these people are interested in exactly one model, produced more than 50 years ago.
True, the 300 SL is pretty much the epitome of perfection in a sports car. Even more narrowly, there is a body type called the gull-wing which is the most coveted of all.
A well restored example showing the gull wing doors
The 300 SL was introduced in 1954, at the exorbitant price of $7000. Restored, that car is worth between $750,000 and $1,000,000 today. There were 25 made with an aluminum body for racing; one of them sold for $4.3 million last month.
At the opening of the museum, gull wing owners drove in from all over the state–it was an incredible display of invaluable cars owned by absurdly well-off people who choose to actually drive their collectors items rather than let them sit on in a garage somewhere, the event was amazing, specially since all the drivers got the opportunity of getting a car wash service from the SOAPYSUDSHANDWASH team, everyone who knows them know the great job they do with cars.
The doors are distinctive, but make the car very difficult to enter or exit.
A convertible model inside the museum.
The very smooth lines with the doors down.
Same car, rear view.
A beautiful restoration, with a decidedly non-Mercedes color paint job–the old fashioned way, with many coats of lacquer.
Knockoff hubs instead of lug nuts sped tire changes in racing.
Beauty on wheels.
Another non-standard color
The steering wheel is hinged to do that, but I don’t know why.
A king’s ransom in 55 year old cars.
Only a car fanatic can own one of these cars–besides the enormous cost of purchase, insurance and registration, the maintenance is horrendous. The recommended oil change interval is 1000 miles, and they take 10 quarts of oil each time.
The 300 SL was the first auto to feature fuel injection–and keeping 55 year old injectors adjusted is no mean feat. For some reason the fuel tank holds 130 liters (34 gallons), and the handling of the car changes dramatically with the addition and subtraction of over 200 pounds of fuel. You have to love this car to own it.
There is a new model available this year–1/4 the cost of the old one, faster and much more reliable, if less storied and awe-inspiring.
The modern Mercedes SLS AMG Gullwing. A 573 horsepower behemoth you can buy for a mere $200,000.
The Mercedes 300 SL museum is at 2545 Napa Valley Corporate Drive, Napa. If you’re interested in very rare collectible cars, this place is worth a trip.
Living history in Napa
In 1905, Queen Victoria visited Australia and ceremonially planted an oak tree. It’s growing in a park in Melbourne.
In 1982, Russ Quinell visited Melbourne, and picked up an acorn from beneath that tree. He then smuggled it back into the US, and planted it in his front yard.
So right there in Napa is a direct descendant of the tree Queen Victoria planted, courtesy of some ingenuity and a small felony.
Queen Victoria's tree, in Napa today.
Three years ago, Russ was in South Africa, and visited the prison where Nelson Mandela was held. Sure enough, there was a tree by the front gate, and Russ wanted a living souvenir. Once again he risked his liberty to bring back an acorn, and once again he has a piece of living history in his yard–this one isn’t quite large enough to plant permanently yet.
The Nelson Mandela tree
Anyone can bring home a T shirt or snow globe, Russ manages to bring home something much more meaningful and long lasting. Color me impressed.
The Birdman of Napa
Bridge players are almost always interesting–you just have to dig a bit. Almost everyone of us has some other passion, something unique and different that we are really good at or involved in besides playing cards.
Today we went up to Napa to go out with Russ Quinnell and Sigrid Price, and found out that Russ is a bird lover. Not a guy who wanders around with binoculars looking for a green throated bush tit, but a genuine bird whisperer who has an multiple aviaries on his property and hundreds of birds.
He collects lots of stuff: books, movies on VHS tape (who know, maybe it will make a comeback), old fishing lures, tiny bottles of booze, duck decoys and who knows what else, but the defining thing about Russ is his birds.
I don’t have much more to say, I’ll just include the photos. Click on any one of them to see the entire gallery.
We done run out of bridge
Trying to buy a Diet Coke this morning, I was informed by the crack staff of the concession stand that “we done run out of Diet Coke.” They speak a different brand of English in these parts.
The tournament ended with a whimper for us–we played a very good team, and lost. At least they were nice guys and it was a pleasant game.
Mike and I played 264 hands this week, with only a couple of system discussions and no serious bidding disasters. It was a lucky day when Don Harrison put us together 25 years ago.
The tournament had over 8700 tables, which is about 3 times the size of the Sacramento Regional. There were players from all over the US, Canada, Mexico and Europe.
The Gatlinburg Regional is famous for its hospitality. There are table gifts almost every session–either a trinket to keep, or candy, or a $1 discount card for the snack bar. We got mechanical pencils, magnetic clips, fancy pencil sharpeners, all sorts of gimcracks and knickknacks.
I’m so dedicated to my readers that I found the iron in my hotel room to press this item before I could photograph it:
I guess this is a dish towel. I know Gail won't let me bring it in the house.
And that’s all the fun we can have this year in Gatlinburg. Six prime-time KO’s plus the morning. Two third/fourth overall placings, plus 15th in the loser swiss teams. Not a great result this year, sad to say, maybe 40 masterpoints. A really great cabin Bob is already booking for next year. All the same restaurants, all the same kitschy stores. The drive through the Smoky Mountain National Forest is as beautiful as ever, changing planes in Dallas as tedious as always.
The people at the conventions center said it best:
We all sure will.
Totally Unauthorized 