3 good shows

this weeks fine arts event was a musical: Caroline, or Change. about a black woman, a maid for a Jewish family, in 1963. she has to deal with the changing time; being poor; relationships with her kids, employers, friends, and herself. here's my response for class:

I LOVED Caroline, or Change! Probably my favorite event so far. it was beautifully done. stunning. i cried. from the moment caroline started humming, i was hooked. and then she started singing! such a voice- so deep and longing, strong and real and full of pain. all of the actors sounded good, but caroline blew me away. noah was adorable, though, when he was dancing, getting femmy. he was funny and sweet- he stole my heart. all three off the kids we saw were great. and the young woman playing emmy was just as good as caroline. each character was so believable, even if they were a bit cliché. the one charatcer i didn'tt like was the father, Stuart. he was acted wonderfully, but i just wanted to hit him! make him take care of his son and new wife.
i really liked the personification of inanimate objects (i.e. the washer/dryer, the bus). it's like, for caroline, they are what she associates with most. not people: her kids or friends. so she gives her radio and her dryer personalities. it's sad, but that's where her time is spent, where she's most herself. she has to be strong and tough for her children, obedient to her employers. but on her own in that basement, she is free to remember, free to feel and hope. in that lonely space, the dryer and washer and radio become her friends.
the set was great, sunken in for the basement, the stairs going up to the orchestra. having the orchestra on stage is always good. and this one sounded great- not overpowering. lighting was so good- adding mood, temperature, drama. beautiful. not just functional. and when they made it rain on stage- *nerdgasm* -that blew my mind. i can only imagine the work that went into setting that up. the visual it created, the sound. so refreshing, cleansing, but also sad. and it mirrored the repeated line of being underwater. that imagery was so powerful. being underwater, drowning, not being able to breathe. but at the end, it becomes a comfort.
the story was so moving, so sad. the way caroline was so trapped in her life, but fearing change. it was hard to see the end as happy when caroline ended up back where she was so miserable. but the hope comes with emmy- her mother's strength and resilience lives in her, plus the spunk of youth and the daring of her generation. this handling of change by caroline and emmy is paralleled with the more tactile plot of noah's bad habit of leaving change in his pockets. they tie together so well. one is what creates and enhances the problem of the other.

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on tuesday, i went on my own to see Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train. it was about a young latino man, angel, who shot and killed a religious cult leader. in jail he meets lucius, a murderer who found God while in prison, but still has a temper. then there's angel's lawyer, risking her job to keep angel out of prison b/c she believes his motives were honorable.
it's a great story- trying to figure out if bad actions are acceptable if done for good reasons; if wrongs are canceled out by the Ultimate Right.
it was really well acted. it was only a preview so they had a few mistakes, but the emotion was there, the power. it was a good story w/o being preachy. it was angry, loud, moving. the ending wasn't exactly happy, but it was hopeful for angel's inner piece.

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opened our new show at the gallery today. Objects of Desire. there are a lot of good pieces in it. lots of people came to the opening. spent a lot of time talking to other interns, a couple of the artists and visitors. still not good at mingling with strangers. plus i've got this stupid cold! my voice is much better, but not completely normal.
my feet really hurt- worked 12-8:30 in heels, running around all day, going up and down the stairs. should go to bed...