Sounds of America

More from the St. Louis Theatre Crawl. This company is called TLT Productions and they were hot, bursting with energy and vocal style. Their show, Sounds of America, was based on conversations with St. Louis youth. Each of the companies performed six 20 minute shows in the course of the evening. For these artists, it was like six hard aerobic workouts. Looked exhausting but they never slowed down.          

I''m A Yankee Doodle Dandy

I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy
A Yankee Doodle, do or die
A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam
Born on the Fourth of July

I wasn't born on the Fourth of July, although I do share a birthday with Ansel Adams and Kurt Cobain. (Must mean something.) I couldn't keep the song, written by Jewish immigrant George M. Cohan, out of my head as I photographed the New York fireworks Wednesday night. The hotel where we stay in Long Island City has a rooftop deck with a pretty good view.

We have big fireworks in The Lou Friday and Saturday night. Hope to get to one of them. The Arch is a perfect backdrop.

          

Rosenkrantz And Guildenstern Aren't Dead Yet

Another show from the St. Louis Theatre Crawl, this one a brief scene from Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. I remember seeing this on Broadway shortly after I finished high school. Two of Shakespeare's most minor characters are left adrift on the seas of absurdity. In Hamlet, they eventually reach their demise. 

The Theatre Crawl uses every possible venue in the Grand Centre arts district. This was performed in a candy store. I wonder if the gaudy mannequin in the corner is meant to represent Queen Gertrude.   

New York Jedi

So many pictures, so little time to edit, so just a quickie. Found on W. 8th Street in Greenwich Village. 

Maybe I can edit some Theatre Crawl photos at my sister's home in NJ this afternoon.        

Live From New York, It's Monday Afternoon

I have so much material between the STL Theatre Crawl and this week in NYC that I don't know what to do. Go back and forth, I guess.

There are several interesting shows going on at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The blockbuster is Heavenly Bodies, couture from top French and Italian designers based on historical garments of the Catholic Church. Some large number of popes and cardinals are rolling over in their graves as I write this.  And so many more images from the show to edit whenever I find time.

Another is called Visitors To Versailles, about the vast numbers of common people, diplomats and nobility who came to the royal court during the reigns of Louis XIV, XV and XVI, along with what they found there. One of them, below, was Thomas Jefferson. At the bottom, Le Roi Soleil himself, Louis XIV.

Got to edit more Crawl stuff. A bit more in Manhattan Tuesday morning and then out to my sister's home in NJ in the afternoon.

   

What Fools These Mortals Be

Words to live by, whether watching A Midsummer Night's Dream or observing what's going on in Washington. This was a very abbreviated version of the Shakespeare play called Midsummer Madness by Prison Performing Arts. The company is made up of men and women who have been incarcerated. They somehow maintain a sense of humor.

To experience midsummer madness in St. Louis, you need only step outdoors.  

Her Voice Must Be Heard

Posted from AA 4416 heading to La Guardia. Busy.   

A more detailed look at one of the Theatre Crawl shows, Her Voice Must Be Heard. A black #MeToo perspective about being a woman of color and the object of sexual abuse. The cast was brilliant. I'll add more detail about the company when we're at the hotel. 

Okay, now we're at our favorite hotel, the LIC. It's in Queens, my home turf, one subway stop from midtown and we will not pay Manhattan hotel prices. However, it's even hotter here than it St. Louis. We think we'll hang out until dinner.

So anyway, this is a sample of a show that will appear in the St. Louis Fringe Festival (yours truly, house photographer), the title the same as the caption of this post. The cast, Sieglinda Fox (in blue), Sharon Reed-Ussery (in white) and Joel Anthony were brilliant. The women have stage presence and vocal power that's hard to describe. Looking forward to seeing the full show in August.