Happy 4th of July! What a stellar weekend.
In a completely foul mood most of last week, my ill humor was not improved by getting poured on (again!) while waiting in the standby line for Shakespeare in the Park with friends. We got drenched, my new shoes were soaked and dirty, there were line cutters, stinky people, and my mood went from foul to apocalyptic. Then a wondrous thing happened. Shakespeare.
Living at working at Shakespeare & Company in the Berkshires right after college created a lifelong love for outdoor Shakespeare. This production of Twelfth Night was divine and reminded me what an absolute gift it is to witness inspired theater. I was also struck by the power of the live audience. At the end of the play, the fool Feste sings a song which goes a little something like this:
When that I was and a little tiny boy,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
A foolish thing was but a toy,
For the rain it raineth every day.
At the last line, the actor playing Feste subtly cocked a solitary eyebrow and an entire theater of drenched New Yorkers (one of whom I am sure crankily shoved me on the subway that very day) burst out laughing. The goodwill in the air was tangible. And through a combination of hundreds-of-years-old wit and one well timed present day moment, I was part of something larger.
I have a friend, Shakespeare Dave, who once told me, “Where else but New York can you be alone amongst millions of people?” Growing up a solitary person, I often thought about Shakespeare Dave’s words and pondered if I chose New York because I secretly craved lonely. But moments like that burst of shared laughter by hundreds of soggy New Yorkers is the real reason I have made this city my first true home.
I have another friend, Carmelita Tropicana, my cultural ambassador of sorts who was horrified to hear me describe my experience at art museums being one of me wandering around like this:
Picture.
Picture.
Picture.
Oohh, Pretty Picture!
I thus have begun a quest to educate myself in the mystical, and for me, often intimidating land of art and artists. Kicking my horizons up a notch, if you will. Recently I joined 1stfans, a socially networked musuem membership with the Brooklyn Museum, in an attempt to find a network of folks both with a passion for art and a willingness to put up with my infantile (but growing!) knowledge. As my favorite villains on Star Trek: TNG the Pakleds would say, “I’m not smart. Make my ship go.”
As you can see, they are an accepting group. There are monthly 1st Fans events at Target First Saturdays and they are all hip with the Facebook and the Twitter. I spent the 4th of July at this month’s First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum and it was a blast. The 1st Fans enjoyed a special ice cream social on the roof of the museum which was wicked fun. Somehow the whole world turns into a magical place when you view it from a roof. The sugar rush helps too!
Then later that night the entire parking lot turned into a huge dance party. As a massive American Flag spread out over the dancing crowd, I again found myself part of something larger. Only Shakespeare could best describe how I felt dancing this 4th of July:
Oh wonderful, wonderful, and most wonderful, wonderful! And yet again wonderful, and after that, out of all hooping!
And that brings us to Sports Night. Whaaa? Stay with me here. Not the ESPN sports show but one of my favorite television shows of all time that was created by Aaron Sorkin. I often think of the episode where Felicity Huffman/Dana is blown away by the power of theater and rushes back wide eyed to share her experience. I often wish Sorkin had picked another show besides The Lion King but the sentiment is sound. Check it out below, there is a bit about dead bugs but it gets good I promise.
I didn’t know we could do that. Did you know we could do that?
When I forget something usually reminds me.
