Should I really quote Rogers & Hammerstein when it should be more A Midsummer's Night Dream? I leave it to you to sort out and decide...
The most unusual thing was that it was my first time EVER to see Shakespeare in the Park. EVER! Really. It wasn't what I did in high school (doing mostly the first word of that phrase) and well....I just didn't. Yes, I grew up on the upper west side, yes near central park, even near enough to the Delacorte theater. *sigh*. My high school friend, Kate, who knew what I was like back then, was even surprised.
She insisted (thank goodness) that we go. The system was more streamlined than before. You only waited online half a day, being handed assigned seats at 1:00pm, the rest of the day was yours. It was a perfect summer day. Really. One of the 10 best weather-wise. Blue skies, no humidity, fluffy clouds, nice breeze, cooling down at night.....nice to think about less than a week later when at 10:30 pm it is 89 degrees. We reconvened at 6ish to have a picnic on the Turtle Bay lawn, across from the Great Lawn. Here's the point of view shot:
We sat on a dense carpet of grass, drank wine, ate cold poached salmon, salad and dark chocolate shortbread. We chatted, reminisced, smiling at memories of people from the past and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was a key New York summer experience. Where was Woody Allen? Or even Marshall McLuhan? That movie did come out when I was in high school. Kate still teases me and calls me Annie Hall, though I am not from the mid-west, just the mid '70s on the west side.
Anyway, it was showtime. We get to our seats and before the ushers came around demanding that we delete any pictures of the theater I snapped a couple. So the top photo is 'illegal'. Considering the headlines today about journalism and legalities, I'll risk it. No one died, phones weren't hacked and the police weren't paid off. This is small potatoes.
At the beginning of the performance the actors come out dressed in lovely turn of the century style costumes. The dresses were beautiful shades of green. They dance in couples to this sweet waltz music. The blue of the sky had deepened, the castle was lurking handsomely behind the stage, it was just so beautiful. It was a truly peak New York experience, you feel so lucky that you are here to witness how fabulous New York can be at this moment and it takes your breath away, or in my case, my eyes welled up with tears. It was so poignant, I was filled with gratitude. New York demands a lot of its citizens, but when it gives you something, it gives it with both hands.
