One great thing about young children is how they bring new meaning to objects which previously seemed mundane. You see how these everyday objects blossom with their new purpose.
For example, here are the new titles we can give to various objects in the house:
Phone: now called "Mobile device for watching YouTube clips of 'Let's Go Fly a Kite.'"
Couch: now called "Viewing location for 'Let's Go Fly a Kite.'"
Laptop: now called 'Alternate device for watching "Let's Go Fly a Kite.'"
Piano: "Live accompaniment device for 'Let's Go Fly a Kite.'"
Floor: "Stage for live performances of 'Let's Go Fly a Kite.'"
Stairs: now titled "Alternate stage for performances of 'Let's Go Fly a Kite,'" although sometimes at bedtimes the words are changed to "Let's go Fly a . . .Vitamin. Let's go Fly a Brush Teeth." (Also fitting into this category: crib, chairs, bathtub, car)
Curiously, it has been impossible to get a good video of Matthew singing it. The second we pull out our phones he runs over and asks "Can I see it?" So, this audio recording is the best we've got. It doesn't quite capture how he just wanders around saying "tuppence, paper, string . . . wings . . . bird, fist holding tight" or other parts of the song. But it's a start.
Oh, and one last title:
Matthew: "Cute kid who really likes songs about kites." So far I think he knows how to fulfill the measure of his creation.
One of my goals before the baby comes was to see a Broadway play. So, back in June Kevin and I decided to buy tickets to Anastasia. We decided to go July 8th since July 1st I was already planning to go to New York for the Mormon Arts Center Festival. (And, as you've read, that didn't end up working out. So it's good I didn't have any more back pain that week because I just don't think pretending to be on Broadway by watching the movie would have cut it. Nor would we have gotten a refund.)
When the day came, we dropped our kids off with some friends in the ward and then we were off to New York City! The last time we drove to New York was in the morning back in April, and this drive was a little bit crazier -- accidents from the get go, different freeways with bigger tolls since we were going to a different part of Manhattan, more pedestrians, etc. But we made it to our parking garage in one piece!
From there we walked to The Melt Shoppe, a fun little restaurant with gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches. I got a fried chicken sandwich and Kevin got a chicken club, and they were both delicious. (In retrospect, I would have not bothered with the cheese covered tater tots.)
Because nothing is more appetizing than a picture of a half-eaten sandwich. I took the picture, so I have to share it. It's one of the unwritten laws of food pictures.
We needed to make room for the tacos we also wanted to try, so we walked around Times Square a bit. To be honest, this part of New York City reminded me of what I didn't like about Paris -- trash on the ground, cigarette smoke, smells coming up from the ground. And it didn't have the absolutely beautiful buildings that redeemed Paris. But it was still cool and a bit exhilarating to be there.
The walls of M&Ms looked really cool, but at the end of the day they are all going to taste the same on the inside.
And M&Ms really aren't that good.
After we had our fill of Times Square, we walked to a taco place and got a few small tacos which were also delicious. From there we went to a cookie shop. They were all awesome!
I'm assuming people usually take pictures before they eat half the food. At least the teeth marks aren't visible, right? By the way, these really were really really really good.
We then patronized a McDonalds, or at least its bathroom (McDonalds shouldn't be surprised by that, right?) and much of the city had the same idea as us so that by the time we finally made it through the line it was time to get in line for Anastasia.
38 weeks pregnant. It's not the biggest bump in the universe, but it's still getting to be a bit to lug around every day.
Growing up, our copy of Anastasia was a self-important VHS with black bars on the top and bottom of the screen to show that it belonged somewhere better than a normal TV. (We weren't used to widescreen.) It also started with a long interview with the producers and directors that was harder to skip than it would have been on a DVD. Each time we watched that special feature, I learned more and more about how this truly was the most important movie of the 20th century.
Most importantly, there was this line:
"Obviously, in the world of animation, you basically can do whatever your imagination tells you to. So obviously having Russian ghosts, hundreds of them, coming out of portraits in this wild dance while we hear this orchestra, obviously not see that in a stage show."
The gauntlet was thrown. Would we see that in a stage show? I had to find out.
We found our seats and soon found ourselves surrounded on all sides by giddy teenage girls taking selfies and giggling. And singing "Tomorrow." (Maybe they thought the show was called Annie-stasia.)
I think every single one of those seats behind us was filled with a young woman under the age of 20.
Waiting for it to start!
And then . . . it began!
Overall, it was really well done. The singing was amazing, the story was good, and the set was incredible.
And what of the ghost dancing scene? Well, they had screens throughout the theater where they projected images of the ghosts dancing in addition to dancers on the stage. So I guess they weren't technically coming out of portraits, but it was close enough. It was awesome.
There were a few things I preferred about the movie. I thought the banter between Anya and Dmitri was better in the movie, and I liked the scene where the grandma and Anastasia reunite better in the movie than the play. There were a few things that they alluded to rather than showed (such as Dmitri refusing the money) that weren't as impactful. But maybe they would have interrupted the flow if they had been shown outright. Hard to say . . . telling a story is hard! I was fine without decomposing Rasputin, and I think the villain that replaced him was almost compelling enough. Again, I'm not sure what would have made him more compelling. Or Anastasia more compelling, for that matter. Or the new songs more compelling. What makes a play compelling? What is it about Les Mis and Fiddler on the Roof that make them Kevin's favorites? What is it about Hamilton music that is so compelling even with Lin Manuel Miranda singing it? Can that translate over to a completely historically inaccurate story? (They did add more historical context to this, which I appreciated.)
Anyway, despite my later quibbles, it was still incredible to watch. When it was done we walked through Times Square which had only gotten weirder and more crowded as it approached midnight. For that matter, driving in New York around midnight was not any better, even on the freeways. Thankfully, we crossed into Connecticut and enjoyed a peaceful ride home there on out.
The Mormon Arts Center Festival was this weekend, and it was absolutely incredible. Riverside Church was replete with gorgeous architecture and stained glass windows, the speakers were riveting (with many people considering the talk about Francisco Estevez the best of them all), the art exhibit was astounding, and the sing-in led by Craig Jessop was an unforgettable experience.
Unfortunately, I didn't end up making it. As I mentioned, I had pretty horrendous back pain this weekend and I could barely move even after (or even thanks to) my ER visit. The train would have been awful, the subway would have been rough, and I wouldn't have even been able to sing at the sing-in if it required more than a little breathing.
So I stayed home and imagined what it would have been like seeing the art and singing with everyone. Although I knew this probably wouldn't have happened had I gone, I imagined scenarios where some accomplished composer pulled me aside, found a piano, and helped me with a few measures here and there on some arrangements I've been working on. And then President Uchtdorf shook my hand and told me to name my baby Dieter.
In good news, all the talks will be available online over the next few days, so I will gradually be able to catch up on what I missed. I'm still disappointed that I didn't get to interact with people, but my kids provided a pretty good consolation prize for me . . .
They made their own arts festival! There were costumes, there were original compositions (well, based on the Batman theme song but they made new words), and there were plenty of art exhibits!
Allow me to take you through this highly erudite, avant-garde festival.
"Bat-Tigger," designed by Joseph -- this costume explores the wide ranges of emotions in a child. The slinky sticking out of his shorts represents the playfulness embodied by Tigger, while the Batman T-shirt and "Bat-sword" sheathed in his self-constructed utility belt represent the brooding introspection that even children can't entirely escape.
"The Tree of Life," built by Joseph -- because what Mormon art exhibit is complete without a representation of Lehi's vision?
"The Great and Spacious Building," built and photographed by Joseph -- this Lego sculpture depicts a building founded on crony capitalism, untamed opulence, and an overconfidence in science and secularism as represented by all the dinosaur references. This picture is intentionally blurry to represent how the philosophies of men obscure true vision.
"The Inferno," crafted by Joseph -- this top-down look at Dante's Inferno reminds us that the center of hell is ice cold, as are yellow, red, and green popsicles symbolized by these foam quarter circles.
"Farmer Trance" (titled by Matthew) -- this plastic sculpture embodies the daydreams of a farmer who wants to reject an agrarian, Wendell Berry-esque existence and see a world run by robots. Either that or Matthew's just saying Transformer wrong.
"Moroni 8" -- this photograph depicts the fears of little children being sprinkled with cold water.
"The Of Book Of Mormon" (black construction paper, white crayon) -- this first piece in Joseph's triptych does a slight play on words of "The Book of Mormon," reminding us of the ownership we can feel of The Book of Mormon, as well as other gospel topics in the triptych.
"Hartford Temple at Night" (black construction paper, white crayon, yellow crayon) -- this neo-cubist look at the Hartford Temple continues the theme of ownership. A series of lines, rectangles, and triangles work together to create a representation of the temple, just as we can all work together to build a Zion community.
"Man in House at Nighttime" (black construction paper, white crayon) -- this sketch represents Mormon pioneers looking out the windows of their homes in various locations across the American Midwest. Although they were not able to achieve long term ownership of those dwellings, they had ownership in the Zion community that led them west.
"After the Language of my Fathers" (black construction paper, crayon) -- this standalone piece by Matthew tells the dramatic story of Lehi's family crossing the ocean. I think.
And finally, there was a performance of an original composition by Joseph and Matthew, entitled "Poulets."
This piece also proves that modern music doesn't just sound like toddlers pecking at the piano any more than Jackson Pollock paintings just look like toddler scribbles.
Although there were also a series of lectures given over the course of several days (the most memorable being "The color of my spoon needs to match the color of my shirt," "Hi fingers, how are you?" and "Na na na na na na na na na CHANGE DIAPER"), these will not be available on YouTube because they stop doing whatever they were doing when I pull out the camera.
We hope to attend future Mormon Arts Center events in New York City. In the meantime, at least we've got budding artists in New Haven.
