my unintentional overbooking for Sunday
Olea
I started the day by heading out to Brooklyn to meet my friend. We had brunch at Olea at 171 Lafayette. It was great seeing my friend and the neighborhood was fun, eclectic and artsy. Now I know where all the hip youngsters live. At 40, I think I was the oldest person in the restaurant. My bloody mary had a nice horseradish kick but they were out of lamb and eggs so I opted for the Mediterranean scramble. Unfortunately the food was disappointing. The scramble was not only surprisingly bland but small in portion size, looking like they only used one egg. The only flavor hitting the palate were whole olives thrown in without regard to flavor balance. The cubed home fries were golden but lacked any crunch likely due to prolonged exposure to the cool air and some reheating element. In fact, the whole plate was barely warm, definitely not right out of the kitchen. The saving grace was the fabulous rustic flat bread with its crunchy crust topped with luscious jam.
Thekla Trio
After brunch I headed up to the Upper West Side for chamber music. My friend Gwen plays clarinet in a trio along with Jordan on violin/viola and Cathy on piano. I love their sound and they play well together. They played four selection: Suite, Opus 157b by Darius Milhaud, Trio in A Major, Opus 264 by Carl Reinecke, Rapsodie (1917) by Arthur Honegger (with FLute addition by Monica), and part of Eight Pieces, Opus 83 by Max Bruch. My favorite was the Milhaud. I liked the complexity and modern jazz influence, even some five beat pieces. Wow, that is some tough counting! But they all played so well and I love strings mixing with woodwind mixing with piano.
Things We Want
To complete the evening, I went to The Acorn theater to see The New Group's new play. The play is literally split in two, Act I introducing us to three brothers, their problems and a girl named Stella. Act II, one year later, brings every character except Charlie (Paul Dano) into a 180 degree turnabout. Sty (Peter Dinklage) gets
sober, Teddy (Josh Hamilton) gets pessimisticly pervy and Stella (Zoe Kazan), well, trades in her school tartan skirt. I enjoyed the performances, particularly that of Dinklage who made an amazingly believable drunk and transitions to a clean-and-sober suit nicely. My first reaction was that I didn't learn much from these characters or the story and, more perturbing, the female role I found rather degrading, as if she were just an object or thing to be used and played with. But on reflection, I believe all the character suffer under the weight of expectations and additions, to alcohol, love, pain or whatever. And the intimate space lends itself well to the material and acting, as if you are in the brother's living room with them, plush beige rug and all. But even upon digestion, I still really never found the heart of the story. I didn't even feel the longings or desire for the 'things we want'. Perhaps those pangs will come later, when I'm deprived of live theater for awhile.
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