Liz and I took a well-deserved three-day weekend trip to Ann Arbor to celebrate our anniversary a little early. It’s hard to believe that six years of marriage have gone rocketing by so quickly!
Friday night we enjoyed a good wander around downtown Ann Arbor, discovered, to the peril of my credit cards, the Vault of Midnight, got a head start on our Christmas shopping, and met up with Kevin Dangoor and Mark Ramm at the Arbor Brewing Company, where a good time was had by all.
Saturday, after a spot of brunch and shopping (and discovering the hypnotic terror that is “Powerpuff Girls Z“), the main attraction began: a series of RSC shows featuring Patrick Stewart. First up was Julius Caesar, not featuring Patrick Stewart, but instead featuring buckets of blood, dogs of war, signs and portents, and all similar manner of treacherous goodness. We paused for a jaunt over to Vinology for dinner, followed by a quick bit of dessert at La Dolce Vita, then it was back to the theatre for Antony and Cleopatra, where I had a bit of a chuckle over Patrick Stewart’s wig–I don’t think I’ve ever seen him have that much hair before, unless you count the space-mullet he sported in Dune. This morning, we brunched again, then took in the third and final round, The Tempest, which had been done up as a rather cinematic affair in a barren land north of the Arctic circle, somewhere between King Kong and Neil Gaiman.
As expected, Patrick Stewart was thoroughly at home on the stage, and did not disappoint, in energy, in subtlety, in getting just the right nuance. And though he chewed a bit of scenery, he should be commended for making sure that his fellow players get chances to shine in their own right. We were especially impressed with Cleopatra, whose performance utterly defied words as it cascaded from girlish delight to bitter jealousy and rage, into despair, and finally, tragic, dignified resolve. Bravo!
And, just like that, the time has gone and now we’re home again, making preparations to do battle with the week ahead. Oh, yes, there are still tickets available for some shows, if you find yourself of a mind to go. Even if your seats aren’t the greatest, you won’t regret it.
- Mood:theatrical
Tags: food friends liz theatre travel weekends wine2 CommentsPrint This Post
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Check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerPuff_Girls_Doujinshi
Think I saw that a while back, it looks awfully familiar.
I think I also liked it more than Powerpuff Girls Z… the anime just didn’t feel like it had the same spirit that made PPG something special. But then again, I only saw about ten minutes of it.