ST. LOU FRINGE - "BARE" GETS TRIPPY

Times change. They always do, including in schools and on the stage. Two more scenes from the musical Bare. The first was a dance party that I assume was not held under the auspices of the school. (The Jesuits and the Archdiocese of New York would never have tolerated such things when I was young). Boys dancing with boys! Girls dancing with girls! Occasionally girls dancing with boys! 

The second photo represents a dream one of the main characters had. It's the young man in the foreground in yesterday's post. He is conflicted by his desires and guilt. One of the nuns from the school appears as the Virgin Mary to comfort him and guide his decisions. She has two backup singer-dancer angels. The crowd went wild.              

MADELEINE MONDAY

The kid turned 10 Sunday. We arranged a birthday party at a place called Incredible Pizza (spoiler - it's not). There is a big buffet of cheap pizza, pasta, salad and desserts. The big attraction is the adjacent enormous arcade, with every kind of flashing, jangling, shaking electronic game you could imagine. The children wanted to finish eating and get there as fast as possible. Ellie decided that the most efficient and funniest way was to shove her whole ice cream cone in her mouth.       

MADELEINE MONDAY

Ellie came to the office's holiday party because her mother works with us and what else are we going to do with her. She's going through that dental phase common to six year olds. Doesn't stop her from stating her opinion, though.    

Boo! The Horror!

Ellie is a kindergartner at Gateway Science Academy, a charter school in the city, even though we live a bit outside of the municipal limits. On Saturday evening they had a function for the kids I'd never heard of, Trunk Or Treat. Any family that cared to decorated their car trunk for Halloween and passed out treats to the moppets. Ellie had a blast.

I am not in touch with popular culture but I am told that her costume is one of the characters in The Incredibles animated movies. Above, she poses with a classmate who is dressed as, well, I don't actually know. There were games, like tossing a ping pong ball painted like an eye into popcorn bags. And they had a DJ! I didn't know Ellie could dance but she boogied out, even with music only the parents would know.            

Party On

Saturday weddings are most common in the US. There is usually a rehearsal for the ceremony on Friday with the wedding party, followed by a rehearsal dinner sponsored by the groom's parents. Andy and Claire weren't having any of this. There wasn't much to rehearse. The party was Popeye's Fried Chicken, salads and beer in the couple's back yard.

Above, Carolyn's brother Mel, one of the all-around nicest people I know. Down the page:

- Claire and her brother Lou, who I think bears an uncanny resemblance to the young David Byrne. Claire's father, Mike, is behind.

- my brother, John, his daughter Stephanie and my brother-in-law Mel Mark.

- Claire with her cousin Carrie on the left and her mother Ramona on the right. I do not know the woman on the far right. I'm just the photographer.

- second cousins Olivia Kruse and Madeleine face off in baby wrestling. Madeleine, having the weight advantage, goes for the rip-yer-bib-off hold.

This could go on for a while.