I thought that “Blue” was a very recent opera – it sounded like it emerged from the Black Lives matter movement, but when I looked it up, it turned out that it was written almost ten years ago. That means that nothing changed in these last ten years – nothing!
What you hear from the stage is extremely painful and way closer to reality than any opera should be. The Father focused on keeping his black son alive, not knowing how to protect him:
run/do not run/look at their faces/do not look straight at their faces/keep your hands out of your pockets/take off this hoody/pull up your pants…
Each word is a pain. Each word strikes home.
And it’s just opera. People will clap and go home. And will look suspiciously at the black teen on the train.
I never know what to write about Thanksgiving. We made it :). Actually, the cooking time was the least effort I remember. It took me more time cleaning up, doing the dishes, and packing the food to go, but I am done with that, or with most of that. Boris helped me a lot (probably more than ever), and I am also very thankful for that. I am tired, but also, since Boris and I were chatting all the time while I was cooking and he was helping, I got a lot of new Postgres ideas that I want to try 🙂
I know I am hopeless:)
My son-in-law said I have a secret extra day of the week – I wish!!!
One thing we always have for Thanksgiving are pies from Vanille:)
That’s a very long opera!!! Even though we took an Uber back home, it was 11-30 PM when I entered my apartment, and I went to bed after midnight. This morning, I thought I wouldn’t survive the workday and a meetup afterward, but somehow I am alive :).
The performance was perfect!!! Totally worth some sleep deprivation :).
Beautiful voices, great acting, and each performer was a perfect fit for their role. The whole production was put together exactly how Mozart should be performed: joyful, a little bit silly, funny, a little bit naughty, but just a little bit, without being vulgar.
I can’t recall the last time I visited Lincoln Zoo! It was never convenient, and the funny story is that even after I moved way closer to it than we used to live, it continued to be inconvenient to get there. My friend suggested we go to the Zoolights on Saturday, and I immediately said it was a great idea and asked Igor whether he was interested. My friend ended up not going, but Igor and I still went, and it was great! I took tons of pictures and videos, and here are some – also, showcasing the works of my new iPhone 16 Pro!
On Sunday, I went to see The Secret Garden at Theo Ubique. I love their Sunday scheduling – they start at 6 PM, so it’s not a matinerr which completely breaks your day, but also not too late (for me, all days of the week are the same in term of bedtime, so I always prefer the earlier start).
My friend with whom I went told me earlier that that was the only show she wanted to attend this season. I liked others as well, but I understand why she said so – it’s a lovely music and a beautiful story. And the production is perfect! As usual, I hope that they will post some videos from the show later, and I will be happy to share them!
This musical was on stage for only two weeks, and it was a primary reason I returned to Chicago one day earlier: it was part of our subscription and the only chance to see it!
The musical significantly differs from the 1959 movie, and the most important difference is the image of Daphne. The ending of the movie (“Nobody is perfect”) leaves the question of “what happened next” open-ended. In the 2022 musical, everything is more logical and there is no room for doubt, which makes the ending really perfect!
Going to see a ballet the night before my departure was a little bit tight, even if I wasn’t as busy as I ended up, but having all I had this week, it was a crazy idea. I think that if I wasn’t going with my neighbor, I would just stay at home and pack, but I didn’t want to let her down. And OMG, how glad I am that I went! The batter is brilliant! The more Joffrey performances I attend, the more I like them!
I didn’t know that this ballet was based on a novel; I only learned about it from the program notes. I still had the right days to read it, so I got an audiobook and listened nonstop, even when I usually listened to the news. I listened to it almost to the end by Thursday evening so I could follow the plot (and I shared it with my neighbor because otherwise, it would be almost impossible to figure out what was going on on stage).
The epilogue was quite unexpected, and I was eager to find out how the book ended. It turned out that the book ends… well, unexpectedly, but I am not going to put any spoilers here. I loved it! Some comments on Goodreads say that Part One is too slow and not engaging, but I can’t imagine it to be different. I loved the novel, the ballet, and the endings of both.
Hettie's Reflections 