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Feb. 21st, 2004 11:27 pmCulture
Saw Our Lady of 121st Street at Steppenwolf on Wednesday. It's by Stephen Adly Guirgis who wrote "Jesus Hopped the A-Train", which was awesome! I'm not as excited by this one, though it has potential, and some interesting ideas. People have gathered for the funeral of Sister Rose, a Catholic school teacher in East Harlem. It's their histories and interactions that form the play. And that's part of the problem - the play is more like a series of vignettes connected only by the relation of the characters to Sister Rose rather than having an overarching plot. Which would be okay if it didn't try to have a plot - an odd mystery which is never actually solved. Because there are so many characters, we didn't really get to know any of them in a fully-realized way, to understand how they arrived where they are in their lives, and why some of them are making choices at this moment that are a major shift in how they see themselves and their lives. (I.E. one character deciding to leave his lover, another suddenly after 30 years going to confession because he's seen his ex-wife).
There are a couple of really good performances, though, one being Rooftop, played by E. MIlton Wheeler, the womanizing L.A. radio disk-jockey who's still a bit hung up on his ex. He is for real in this part - I've met this guy, or people who wanna-be him. Also really fine was Sammy Publes as Edwin, the super who is caring for his mentally-disabled younger brother. You can just see the love, and the strain. Good job, guys, hope you get a better play next time!
Food, glorious food
My, I've eaten well the last couple of days.
Soul food lunch at the office yesterday, in honor of Black History Month. Ham, rib tips, barbecued chicken, cole slaw, collard greens, mac and cheese, broccoli salad, candied yams (made by me!), corn on the cob, red beans and rice, corn bread, a couple of kinds of cake, and I'm probably forgetting something. And all delicious, of course.
Last night I made crema catalan to take to dinner at Fran's tonight. (Yago posted a link to the recipe in his journal a short while ago. It sounded yummy - and no flour - so I knew Margaret could have it.). Very easy to do. And everyone loved it! Thank you, Yago!! Of course, because it calls for egg yolks, I had a lot of egg whites left over, so this morning I made some insane number of chocolate meringues, as I'd promised Margaret I'd make her some. Brought some to the girls to have with the dessert. Fran made a lovely rare roast beef with porcini gravy, we had baby carrots in brown sugar and butter, butter beans in a light tomato sauce, cheesy hash brown potatoes, another broccoli salad(!), garlic bread.
Delish.
Cheryl brought the girls (yay!). We saw Jennie Len carrying in a big decorated box - it turned out to be a Mardi Gras "float" the girls had made. They are so cool. Cheryl turns 50 in March; Leonard is throwing a surprise party for her. Should be fun.
I was going to register some more books on BC when I got home, but fortunately, before I did so, I checked the forums. Turns out there's a major glitch that occurs when registering, so I will wait until it's resolved.
Saw Our Lady of 121st Street at Steppenwolf on Wednesday. It's by Stephen Adly Guirgis who wrote "Jesus Hopped the A-Train", which was awesome! I'm not as excited by this one, though it has potential, and some interesting ideas. People have gathered for the funeral of Sister Rose, a Catholic school teacher in East Harlem. It's their histories and interactions that form the play. And that's part of the problem - the play is more like a series of vignettes connected only by the relation of the characters to Sister Rose rather than having an overarching plot. Which would be okay if it didn't try to have a plot - an odd mystery which is never actually solved. Because there are so many characters, we didn't really get to know any of them in a fully-realized way, to understand how they arrived where they are in their lives, and why some of them are making choices at this moment that are a major shift in how they see themselves and their lives. (I.E. one character deciding to leave his lover, another suddenly after 30 years going to confession because he's seen his ex-wife).
There are a couple of really good performances, though, one being Rooftop, played by E. MIlton Wheeler, the womanizing L.A. radio disk-jockey who's still a bit hung up on his ex. He is for real in this part - I've met this guy, or people who wanna-be him. Also really fine was Sammy Publes as Edwin, the super who is caring for his mentally-disabled younger brother. You can just see the love, and the strain. Good job, guys, hope you get a better play next time!
Food, glorious food
My, I've eaten well the last couple of days.
Soul food lunch at the office yesterday, in honor of Black History Month. Ham, rib tips, barbecued chicken, cole slaw, collard greens, mac and cheese, broccoli salad, candied yams (made by me!), corn on the cob, red beans and rice, corn bread, a couple of kinds of cake, and I'm probably forgetting something. And all delicious, of course.
Last night I made crema catalan to take to dinner at Fran's tonight. (Yago posted a link to the recipe in his journal a short while ago. It sounded yummy - and no flour - so I knew Margaret could have it.). Very easy to do. And everyone loved it! Thank you, Yago!! Of course, because it calls for egg yolks, I had a lot of egg whites left over, so this morning I made some insane number of chocolate meringues, as I'd promised Margaret I'd make her some. Brought some to the girls to have with the dessert. Fran made a lovely rare roast beef with porcini gravy, we had baby carrots in brown sugar and butter, butter beans in a light tomato sauce, cheesy hash brown potatoes, another broccoli salad(!), garlic bread.
Delish.
Cheryl brought the girls (yay!). We saw Jennie Len carrying in a big decorated box - it turned out to be a Mardi Gras "float" the girls had made. They are so cool. Cheryl turns 50 in March; Leonard is throwing a surprise party for her. Should be fun.
I was going to register some more books on BC when I got home, but fortunately, before I did so, I checked the forums. Turns out there's a major glitch that occurs when registering, so I will wait until it's resolved.
