In Which I Am In A Professional Play
October 20, 2014
One of the highlights of semester thus far was this week’s rehearsals for “The Events”. A play being put on at the Annenberg Center for Performing Arts. We weren’t told in advance the contents of the play, other than that it revolved around a choirmaster dealing with the aftermath of a mass shooting. We were to play the part of the choir on opening night and sing the backing music for the show.
I really enjoyed learning the music, some of it was really beautiful and also featured a strong baritone line.
The week also featured two midterms that I studied for on Sunday before the play and rehearsals on Monday and Tuesday night.
The play itself on Tuesday night was really enjoyable and interesting, touching on themes of guilty, forgiveness and trauma. It involved the choir in really interesting ways and I think even had I not been a part of it I really would’ve enjoyed going to see it!
In Which I Go Out On the Town
October 13, 2014
The next day was another long sleep in. More board games and relaxing and then a walk back to Chabad fourty-five minutes away. The Friday night service was pleasant but not nearly as wonderful as the Rosh Hashana ones. Dinner however, was even better than the time before. More new friends and a few more exciting occurrences.
The first amusing moment was when the Rebbetzin moved me from my seat to ensure that I wasn’t sitting amongst women other than the one that was ‘mine’, ie; Rocky. This was already a little amusing however, it escalated far more when the Rabbi started to give a speech about welcoming ‘the new couple in town’ and Rocky yelled out “we’re not dating!”. Her face turned bright red as the Rabbi addressed her and informed her that he was in fact speaking of a couple on the other side of the room.
The other great moment of the night was the sing-off, initiated by the Rabbi when he discovered that a number of people in the room were semi-professional musicians. First off we heard a little upbeat pop music, followed by a rap about a guy’s movement towards Judaism. I then sung ‘Fly Me To the Moon’, that was very well received. Following me, the Rabbi’s son sung a song by Jewish RnB artist Matisyahu and Im Eshkachech Yerushalayim, which almost brought Rocky to tears. However, the highlight of the night was the performance by a man into his eighties singing “How Lucky Am I” to his wife, crooning beautifully with the voice left to him at his age.
After many hours hanging out, we helped reset the room for services in the house the next day and then walked back to the apartment, tired again, but happy.
The next day we continued our track record of sleeping in, Rocky missing her Yoga class yet again. When we woke up, we madly prepared for lunch as guests were to be arriving at 1PM. I was excited to meet some of Rocky’s friends and she told me about them as we prepared. Just after the o’clock, there was a knock on the door and a average height, blonde girl walked in the door with a smile. I soon learnt here name was Jeannine and from her accent guessed she was Dutch. I asked her and she seemed pleased that I was able to figure out where she was from correctly without any more guessing.
Next walked in two Norwegians, Erik Ericsson and his girlfriend whose name escapes me. She was a little worried about the lack of meat at our meal but they had both brought beer along so that at least we’d be ‘doing something right’.
The final guests to arrive was an apartments worth of guys with whom Rocky had stayed before she was able to find a room. They were all relatively chilled, though didn’t stay for too long after lunch.
Following the meal, everyone left sat around to play Settlers again, with Rocky narrowly missing out on the victory, which instead passed to Jeannine. I had originally assumed that she was around Rocky’s age, but learned soon after the game that she was in fact only a few months from my age and not yet a PhD student.
After the game, Jeannine was the only one who hang around, and we chatted for a few hours until Shabbat ended. When it did, Rocky suddenly went into overdrive getting dressed up fancily and arranging plans for the evening. We weren’t told exactly where we were going but she pulled Jeannine and I into an Uber and we were off. After a somewhat meandering route, we arrived at a fancy apartment at the party of one of Rocky’s friends. I won’t spill all the details publicly but it was quite exciting and again, we met many new people.
The View from the Apartment
Next destination was a fancy restaurant with a few celebrities on the loose around us. We stayed a while, having drinks of various varieties while I chatted mostly to Jeannine (Rocky was off at the center of attention). From that location we were whisked off again by Rocky, this time to a club with a line that wasn’t moving anywhere fast. After a little maneuver pulled by Rocky and her friends, we were soon inside. Clubs definitely aren’t my normal destination, but I had a fairly good time despite that. After we danced away a few more hours, it was back in a cab home and given the time Jeannine came back too.
From Left: Jeannine, Me, Rocky
Back at the apartment we chilled for a little while and Rocky brought out her guitar. We sang a number of songs to Jeannine, ranging from Missy Higgins to a really nice mashup of ‘Radioactive’ and ‘Pumped Up Kicks’. Finally, after about an hour of music we were all ready to drop our heads and fall fast asleep.
Shabbat/Sunday – 153/154
January 1, 2013
Shabbat was super relaxed and gave me the opportunity to get through a whole stack of books! I consumed four over the weekend of various qualities. All thrillers. For some reason I didn’t quite have it in me to tackle anything more serious.
Sunday on the other hand was pretty exciting for me because I got to hang out with Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston, a good friend from home. First stop of the day was to MoMA, The Museum of Modern Art in midtown Manhattan. We spent a good few hours there, and though it wasn’t the cheapest gallery on offer, it was well worth it in my opinion.
Of particular note in the gallery was ‘The Scream’ by Edvard Munch, around which a thick crowd gathered to take photos. Amongst the pieces I enjoyed most were those of Rousseau and Monet. However, aside from the large collection of paintings, the museum also had varied displays on contemporary art.
From there we went to eat lunch, some yummy Sushi, and then to the Eugene O’Neil Theatre to see if we could get Ariel in for the evening’s production of ‘The Book of Mormon’. Unfortunately we didn’t win the ticket lottery, however, we did manage to secure tickets to a performance of another show, ‘Bare’. The show followed the story of two young gay men in a Catholic high school. One who wanted to ‘come out of the closet’ and the other who was ashamed of his sexuality and feared the repercussions of making his identity public. Overall the show was excellently written barring a few clichés that ultimately spoiled it for me. The music was upbeat and pop-py in the first act, with a number of good tunes, however in the second darker act, the music tended a little to the melodramatic.
Overall, worth going to see, especially with tickets priced at the $30 mark.
After that, did the usual and headed home on the subway for a good nights rest.