Los Otros

The theme of this play is described as being about immigration and I thought, "Oh great". Something that will be about the poor Mexican immigrants from the biased bleeding hearts liberal point of view. But it wasn't. It is about a man and woman (no names, just Man and Woman) who separately tell/sing about their experiences. Their experiences and stories were touched by immigrants.

It started off a bit strange.  A woman in her mid-forties dressed only in a slip, starts her story as a little girl back in 1952 in a small town near San Diego. She and her girlfriends would always go to a train tunnel to watch the trains trundle past. One day, a man and his wife with their baby strapped to her, jump from the slow moving train.  The girls watch from the shadows as the family leave the tracks and find a cave to hide. Claiming the family as theirs, the girls bring sacks of food for them.  This goes on for 3 days until they see a produce truck with people in the bed of the truck. Amongst the huddled people is their family.  Broken hearted, the girls watch the truck drive away.

She tells stories of her life as she gets older, including the time her ex-husband George helps her get a maid in Tijuana. Another story is when she seduces a young field laborer while they were eating at a late night taco stand while she was in a drunken stupor. I didn't enjoy this part, thinking she was going to be hurt or worse.

Then a Hispanic man comes out to sing/tell his story. First he clarified that he is a US citizen, thank you very much. His mother left Mexico after a terrible hurricane leveled her village. He is now a gay, 70 year old accountant. He tells the story of when he was a young boy, his family would drive north every summer to pick plums for a bitter, crippled landowner who is waiting for his son to return from the war in the Pacific during WWII. During that summer, as the war was ending, the Man discovers his sexuality.

In his later years, his partner of 15 years brings his ex-wife into their home.  The Man is okay with the wife coming into their lives.  In fact, she becomes the "wife" for both men. The Man's partner collects art, but it was too much. The Man was going to leave his partner due to "elegant hoarding". But, he doesn't. More years go by and the Man is showing signs of Alzheimer's. His partner of now 30 years is helping him and his ex-wife comes on stage. It is the Woman from the earlier part of the play.  The Man's partner is George, the ex-husband of the Woman.

It was a very different delivery of their stories through singing and talking. But I got into it because the stories were compelling. Max said he liked the Man better than the Woman. He gave the play B-. 

Opera-La Boheme

Ah, another performance of La Boheme.  We will never tire of Puccini’s famous classic.  Boy meets girl, Boy loses girl, girl dies story line.

Mimi and Rodolfo meet when Mimi, his neighbor, knocks at his door.  Her candle is blown out by the wind and as they look for her dropped key, they fall in love.  The aria at this point is one of the the most beautiful.

In the second act we meet the incomparable Musetta.  I think Musetta is a much more dynamic role and if I were an opera singer, I would rather play her.  Rudolfo, Mimi and their friends go to a café to celebrate the holidays. The other part of this act that I love is the townspeople, vendors and toy sellers’ gaiety around them.  It is one of the lighter moments as Musetta and Marcello ignore one another but at the end of the second act, they fall into each other’s arms.

In the 3^rd and 4^th acts, Mimi’s health is deteriorating.  She wants to break up with Rudolfo because of her health and he is also jealous.  She confides with Marcello and Rudolfo comes onto the scene, overhearing her distress.  They are torn, but they get back together.  At the end of the 4^th act, Mimi returns to Rudolfo and passes away quietly.  It is always a tear jerker when Rudolfo discovers Mimi’s death and he wails in grief.  Argh.  It always gets me.

Beautiful and memorable and I know this won’t be our last La Boheme.  This would definitely be one of the plays I would recommend to a first-timer to become oriented with Opera by starting with one of the best. 

Follies

The staging was a dilapidated theatre.  The staging branched out to the audience as the box seats had drab canvas draped over the sides.  

Our seats were in the front row and it seemed a tight squeeze considering there is a 23 piece orchestra below the stage. Also, our seats were right in the middle, so close that Max could reach out and tap the back of the conductor's head. 

It wasn't what I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be about the Follies years ago. In a way it is, but it takes place in the 70's when the Follies girls are in their older years. They return to the last night of the theatre that is going to be demolished to be turned into a parking lot. The older Follies women reminisce as their younger selves dance and sing about them.  There are some regrets and disappointments on how their life's choices turned out. 

Being the old broad that I am, I related to the ladies, but I don't have any regrets.  I love the man and life I chose and he still loves me. 

It was interesting that throughout the show, in the background Follies girls with elaborate gowns and headdresses wandered through the dilapidated theatre as ghosts of the past.  During intermission, they continued to haunt the stage. We could also hear wind blowing through the abandoned theatre. Wonderful costumes and staging. 

I enjoyed it, but Max tolerated it, giving the show a C+, not willing to pay another $200 to see it.