Direct mail

Magnet #1311 - New York City Ballet

A while ago, I made a promise to myself to enjoy everything this city has to offer. The problem that I didn't count on is that everything - from Groupons to direct mail to email blasts and Living Social - is determined to help me spend my money.

That means that besides the usual amount of bills in my mail, I get an extraordinary amount of direct mail about various performing arts programs scattered throughout the city.

And they're all these gorgeous 4-color, folded every which way, wafer-sealed, direct mail pieces. That totally get my attention. Add a celebrity component, one that I recognize, I'm almost sure to take the bait.

So that's how I ended up sitting at the New York City Ballet today, watching Paul McCartney's first ballet, Ocean's Kingdom, performed in Stella McCartney's costumes.

While the story didn't quite capture my heart, the music was wonderful and the costumes were simply amazing. You could tell they'd been designed as beautiful works of art, rather than costumes the dancers normally wore, but to see the colors splashed across the stage was something else.

It was a full house, for an afternoon matinee. Not surprising, I suppose. Then again, maybe it's just direct mail proving yet again how effective it is.

Swan Lake

Magnet #1303 - Dance at the MET!

Or, at the David Koch Theatre, as the case may be. Went to see Swan Lake today. I've never seen it, so when I saw it was part of this season of the NYC Ballet, I knew I had to see it.

I had seats way up in the Fifth Ring - so high, that I had a 2-second attack of vertigo when sitting down in my seat. Oops!

The performance itself was amazing, in as much as I know anything about ballet. But, the set design was gorgeous, and each dance number was flawless, and the orchestra was just fantastic.

And, as usual, I had my issues with the story. For some reason, I've managed to never learn the whole story of Swan Lake, so I was totally surprised when I found out it was an unhappy ending. I can't stand unhappy love stories, they make me crazy.

Mind you, it didn't stop me from sniffling a bit at the end, but still, made me crazy.

Larger than life

Magnet #638 - Carnegie Hall

My parents kinda hoped that I'd play Carnegie Hall, probably since watching The Competition, with Amy Irving, all about these competitive pianists who fell in love. I dimly remember going to see that movie. Ironically, competitions ended being one of the things I hated most about my 13 years of piano lessons. Ugh.

Still, one of the best things that piano and band instilled in me is a love of performing arts, and being behind the scenes of famous venues. So, every so often, I take a day off from work, just to play tourist town. A couple of years ago, I ended up packing one day with tours of Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.

Carnegie Hall and the behind the scenes tour is fairly impressive. Designed by William Burnett Tuthill (An architect. And a cellist. Wha?) back in 1891, the interior and exterior architecture's really cool. And while the seats are still rather small, the theatre is daunting and crazy intimidating. You can just feel the history of great performances within those walls.

My favorite part of the tour, though, was the performing arts museum they have there as well. They had Benny Goodman's clarinet! I was so excited, I had to call my dad right afterward to tell him to tell him. I distinctly remember crossing a busy 57th street oblivious to oncoming traffic as I busily yapped about how cool was it that I played the same kind of clarinet that he did. (While my dad basically said, duh, that's why I bought you that Buffet clarinet.)

The other tour that day was Lincoln Center, which sadly didn't have a magnet back then, but I'd bet money they'll start selling them after this current major renovation is complete. But, that tour was supercool as well, split between the actual Lincoln Center complex, but also the Rose Jazz Center at Time Warner Center.

Aside from learning about the architecture and design of all the buildings and venues in both locations, we actually got to see and hear the NY Philharmonic rehearse on one stage, and Placido Domingo rehearse on another.

What a fabulous day! Besides being outside the office on a weekday, I got to see Benny Goodman's clarinet and watch Placido Domingo all in one day! C'mon! How cool is that? Ok, well maybe cool isn't quite the applicable term here, but really, you can't get more New York performing arts cool than that.


* "It has been said that the hall itself is an instrument," said the late Isaac Stern [of Carnegie Hall]. "It takes what you do and makes it larger than life."