Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

Wednesday evening, cattitude and I went (with L, and a bunch of other people who I don't think are on LJ) to the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Company. We had fun, and I was reminded that I haven't been getting out enough. (I may never be satisfied with my balancing between getting out and not running myself ragged.)

Most of our group were familiar with the show; I have the original cast album, and have played it fairly often. I also went to an amateur production some years ago (I think at St. Bartholemew's church), but don't remember much about it. Being a lot more familiar with the music than with the non-sung conversations and staging can be odd: I was surprised by some of the interactions between the characters, and know many of the lyrics well enough to have spotted a changed half-line in "You Could Drive a Person Crazy." There was one significant change from the 1970 version: "Marry Me a Little" was added to the show in the 1990s.

Either the performers need to enunciate better, or the instruments were played (or miked) too loud, maybe a bit of both. I suspect someone who didn't already know the music would have missed quite a bit, especially in the opening number (also called "Company"), where a lot of singing was covered by instrumental music. The woman playing Marta did a very good job with "Another Hundred People," one of my favorite Sondheim songs. [I didn't keep the Playbill, trying to avoid clutter, and now I'm wishing I had; that's one reason this isn't really a review.] Raul Esparza is a good Bobby (not an easy role to act)and Barbara Walsh is a good Joanne, a difficult role because Elaine Strich made it, and especially the song "Ladies Who Lunch," so much her own in the original production and afterwards. Unfortunately, the woman playing Amy couldn't quite handle the patter-song speed of "Not Getting Married." (There were a couple of substitutions the night we saw the show, and I don't remember whether this was one of them.)

nnaloh was in New York for a few days after the SF Research Association shindig in White Plains, and got a few people together for dinner last night. I'm glad to have been one of them. I could have felt out of place, the other five being two professional editors (sdn and Ellen Datlow) and three fiction writers (Nalo, Ama Peterson, and Andrea Hairston), but that didn't really occur to me until I was on my way home. There was some science-fiction-related conversation (writing, fine points of reprint rights, the shapes of awards, Wiscon), along with stuff about dolls (Nalo showed off a couple of statuettes she'd just picked up), quite a bit about gender and transgender stuff, and a moment where Ellen joked "What's exercise?" and I said "it's how I get endorphins between tattoo sessions."

We were at Shun Lee Cafe, which I'm guessing Nalo picked either for location or because her hosts recommended it; the food made me miss Chinatown (where I'd have been fed better dim sum for significantly less money, and where Hunan anything, after the waiter asked if we wanted it spicy, would have had noticeable spiciness. But they let us sit for three and a half hours, talking and nibbling and drinking (mostly water and tea).

I dealt with last night's missing Chinatown by hopping down there after working out this morning, getting one of my usual things at Excellent Dumpling, and picking up a roast pork bun at a random bakery and eating it as I strolled back to the subway.

( gym numbers )