Tag Archives: Last Sunday of the Month Shakespeare Reading at Maxwells

I’ve Seen That Movie Too

This the second attempt at writing is underway. It’s been a day where things are a bit off. Bill rented a Zip Car since it’s the last day of the play Pecong and couldn’t find the key card which is usually in his wallet. I have have to confess my relief at not having anything to do with the missing card.

I did see the play last night, Pecong and it was an enjoyable show. Based on Medea and set in the West Indies. A few members of the audience did not know about Medea and so were surprised by the way things turned out.

A very good cast, wonderful lighting and an amusing and sometimes funny script kept the tragic events unfolding hidden from the eyes of the audience. Bill was a most able stage manager and from what I gathered was well regarded by the cast and crew. And it was a good turnout as well, nearly all the seats were filled.

Bill being the stage manager had to make sure everyone was out of the theater space since it gets used as a church on Sunday mornings. I mingled with the cast and crew and soon Bill and I were on a local 3 train downtown to 34th Street.

We walked through Penn Station and up to the street level. As we headed down the stairs to the Path train I spied some guy checking Bill out. When Bill tells me some guy is checking me out I continue on with my usual obliviousness. When I tell Bill the same thing, Bill scans the area.

It turns out he knew the other guy, a bloke named Richie from Bill’s old church. The stood and started chatting to each other as I turned and saw the 12:30 train about to leave the station. Of course by the time Bill was done the train had left the station and I didn’t have many kind words at all to say about Richie, though it wasn’t his fault.

I dreaded having to wait another hour for the next train but as we stood on the platform another train arrived about 15 minutes later. Not a comfortable ride though. For Bill and myself it was but a smallish woman and her oafish boyfriend sat next to Bill.

The smallish woman kept making faces at the size of Bill. I pointed it out to Bill and he didn’t care. As we left the train in Hoboken the woman was throwing knives with her eyes. Bill turned and started to say something but I advised him not to since the moment had passed.

And it was chilly as we walked home, Bill went to bed almost immediately and I followed soon thereafter. Finally I slept really well and probably would have continued sleeping if it weren’t for the fact that today was the Last Sunday of the Month Shakespeare Reading at McSwells.

And today the play scheduled was Macbeth, which happens to be my favorite Shakespeare play. I was up and out to get bagels and the paper and a little while after that I was walking up to McSwells. Bill had left and came back when he realized he couldn’t find his Zip Car key.

I would have helped him look for it but I was pressed for time and not one to favor being late.

On the way there I got a phone call from Lois who was wondering if I was coming. Most of the participants usually have brunch at McSwells, I eat at home. As I walked in there were Lois and five others eating brunch, not even close to being finished.

I sat in the fishbowl in the front room of McSwells and pulled out my notebook, waiting for the others to finish. They eventually joined in the fishbowl, Lois filling a bag with roles for the Scottish play.

As luck would have it, I pulled out the plum role of Macbeth. 685 lines. I also pulled out a few other roles since we only had five other readers and multiple parts are needed. I opted to read Macbeth in what I approximated to be a Scottish burr. By the end my throat was shot.

Still it was a fun time and once again I was glad that I did it. Next month I believe is The Tempest. Lois would love to have other readers to join in, no skills beside a reading comprehension is needed.

So if you find yourself in Hoboken on the last Sunday of the month and it’s around noon and you’re around McSwells, do stop in and join us. Extra copies are generally handy and you never know, you could be Prospero next month.

I just watched the BBC production of Macbeth by the Royal Shakespeare Company starring Ian McKellan and Judi Dench, and not for nothing, we had a better time this afternoon at McSwells.

The National Black Theater

The National Black Theater


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Bill and some cast members and a fan

Bill and some cast members and a fan


Today's Shakespeare readers

Today's Shakespeare readers


A nonplussed Macbeth

A nonplussed Macbeth

Oh and the head of the RC crutch feels that any connection of him to child rape is merely gossip.

He Ain’t Give You None

Today has turned out to be quite a nice day. 62 degrees said the thermometer on Washington Street. A bit windy but that was OK by me. Had a nice walk around Hoboken, visited that socialist institution and dropped off some DVD’s.

One of the DVD’s, Sleeper- turned out to be unplayable thanks to some cracks in the center of the disc. I seem to be the one who discovers things wrong with the DVD’s at the bibliothèque. No one else seems to even after they return them.

Maybe they’re the ones who break the discs and don’t say anything for fear of having to buy a new one. I’ve never been accused and then again I’ve never broken a CD or DVD from the library.

Yesterday I took out Taking Woodstock and Hippie, a book by Barry Miles. I watched Taking Woodstock last night. It was cute, it was fun. Wasn’t the worst movie I saw and not the greatest Ang Lee movie but it wasn’t as bad as the critics made it out to be.

No footage from the Woodstock movie, but some of the same techniques were used. No music from the movie either, probably kept costs down. A version of Going Out to the Country which may or may not have been by Canned Heat was the only song I can remember being in the both movies.

I enjoyed it. Demitri Martin was good and I could have sworn Andy Samberg was in it, but it turned out to be Jonathan Groff. So it wasn’t by the book as some Woodstock memoirs would have it, but it was still enjoyable.

I didn’t watch the extras since I have quite an extensive waiting list at the bibliothèque and I needed a copy of The Scottish Play for this Sunday’s Open Reading of Shakespeare at McSwells this Sunday. I do like the Scottish Play, having read it in high school.

After the library I wandered over to the river and read the January 25 issue of the New Yorker. Man I am behind. Since I’m not commuting anymore I don’t read it as often as I did, I’ve fallen behind. And my behind might have gotten a bit bigger since I’m not walking all over Manhattan like I used to.

Been a gray and wet couple of months so I’ve mainly been inside. I hope to change that soon enough now that the weather is getting better.

Stopped by the local record store, Tunes just to see if there was anything special about the latest album by The Bird & the Bee, their tribute to Hall & Oates. They didn’t have it in stock, claiming they sold it out. I doubt if they even ordered it since it came out yesterday. They said it should be in on Friday.

Instead I was able to snag Bang Masters by Van Morrison. A collection of his tracks for Bang Records from 1967. It was a used copy at $2.99 and since it had T.B. Sheets on it, a song that I’ve been playing once a day lately I had to have it. It should make for a nice burned CD for someone in August.

I’ve also become friends with Chris Frantz and Pat Irwin on Facebook. Chris Frantz was the drummer for Talking Heads, as well as for the Tom Tom Club and married to one of my favorite bass players, Tina Weymouth.

And Pat Irwin was in the Raybeats on guitar, keys and saxophone and also played guitar and keys for the B-52’s. A nice guy, I met him by the rock outside of Summerstage a few years ago. Answered my questions about the Raybeats and the B-52’s.

Chris Frantz is supposed to be a nice guy as well. I saw him at a Television show at the Academy theater in the 1990’s but was too nervous to go up to him and say anything.

I guess Facebook is the way to go then.
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