Hamilton

Ah, Hamilton, the show everyone's been raving about, and one that I managed to see without risk of missing out on if I didn't go pronto.  (Although that's really because of a lucky accident; a friend of a friend had tickets and could no longer make it, so my husband snatched them for us.  Lucky me!)

A few takeaways:

1. Yes, it was as amazing as advertised and totally lived up to the hype.
2. However, I'll admit it was not love at first sight, and it took me halfway through the first act before I fell into the groove.
3. A big part of the appeal is how unique Hamilton is from every other show I've seen.  It may be an old story, but it's put together in a very modern way...part of which is hip hop. That's also why it took me a while to get into it; I'm not a big hip hop person, and so many lyrics were rapped/sung very quickly, which requires great concentration and hearing to be able to catch what they're saying/singing.  I definitely missed a lot of the lyrics.
• Advice -- listen to the soundtrack before going.
4. I would love to go back and see it again.  There were so many witty moments that I'm sure would be better appreciated the second or third or nth time around (and not just because I missed some lyrics either).
5. Because so much of it is rapped and not traditionally melodic, I don't have as many songs stuck in my head like I normally do.  The exception is the funny King George songs.  Not a bad thing; just an observation.  And btw, I quite liked the sarcastic, ironic, British humor in those King George parts.
6. And finally, what a great refresher on history in a fun way!

Miss Saigon

I seem to have developed a bad habit of procrastinating until the last minute to see Broadway shows, barely squeezing them in before they close.  That was the case for Les Mis, American in Paris, and now again for Miss Saigon.  Well, better late than never.

Unlike many of the other musicals I've seen, I was not too familiar with either the music or the story of Miss Saigon initially -- I never played any of the music in high school orchestra, and the story is not widely referenced or known in pop culture.  However, a good friend of mine walked down the aisle to an instrumental version of "Sun and Moon" a few years ago, and I immediately fell in love.  I became even more obsessed when I learned that Queen Lea Salonga was the original Kim.

Here, just listen:

You're welcome.

Anyway, long story short, I was super ecstatic when about a year ago, I saw signs in Times Square announcing the return of Miss Saigon to Broadway.  I foolishly thought I'd have a lot of time to go see it; fast forward a year later...I found out the show's ending in January 2018 and then scrambled to get tickets.

Miss Saigon is one of those shows where there aren't that many songs (rather, many songs are based on just a few of the same melodies/themes), but they're all beautiful and lyrical and touching and emotionally charged, whether it's a sweet love song or an angry fight.  I enjoyed the show just for the experience of listening to the music and didn't even care that the current cast may not all be the strongest singers (then again, who can compare to Lea?).  Some of my friends felt that there wasn't much plot or character development in the first act (there isn't; you just jump in and assume the love story is a given), but the second act makes up for some of the plot holes, and I think you still go on an emotional journey with the characters if you just accept the plot line.

Overall, I'm so glad I managed to see it.  For those in NYC, you have about another month before the show ends here, and then it's going on a national tour for those of you in the rest of the U.S.

Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu Festival 端午節)

Duanwu Festival (端午節), or more commonly known in English as Dragon Boat Festival, commemorates a patriotic Chinese minister name Qu Yuan (屈原).  The holiday is on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, and the most common traditions are eating sticky rice "dumplings" called zongzi (粽子) and racing dragon boats.

Qu Yuan (340-278 B.C.) was a poet and minister who lived during the Warring States period.  He served King Huai of the Chu state (楚懷王), but was slandered by corrupt officials and exiled when he opposed King Huai's decision to ally with the increasingly powerful state of Qin (秦).  During his exile, Qu Yuan wrote some of the greatest poetry in Chinese literature, expressing his concern for his state.  Legend has it that his health deteriorated due to his anxiety, and when Qin captured Chu's capital, Qu Yuan committed suicide.

The local people greatly admired Qu Yuan and raced out in their boats to save him, but when they could not find him, they dropped balls of sticky rice into the river so that the fish would eat the rice instead of Qu Yuan's body.  That is said to be the origin of dragon boat racing and zongzi.

A quick note on zongzi because surprise, surprise, I love food -- zongzi are sticky rice with different fillings wrapped in bamboo leaves (or other leaves such as lotus, banana, reed) and then steamed.  The types of fillings vary from region to region.  For example, northern China zongzi tend to be sweet and dessert-like, while southern-style zongzi tend to be more savory.  Popular savory fillings include pork belly, salted fish, mushrooms, peanuts.  Red bean paste is a common sweet filling.  Jianshui zong (碱水粽), meaning "alkaline water zong," is a special type of dessert zongzi that is typically smaller with no filling; the sticky rice is treated with lye water or potassium carbonate to give it a distinct yellow color, and they are often enjoyed with sugar or a light syrup.

As for Dragon Boat racing, there's an annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New  York, and the race this year takes place on August 12 and August 13, 2017 in Flushing Meadows Park.  Not sure why they don't do the race on or closer to the actual holiday, other than perhaps it's still too chilly right now.

But anyway, happy Duanwu Jie, and hope you enjoy some zongzi! 端午節快樂!

Current Exhibits at The Met -- the Old, the New, the In Between

The Met always has an expansive collection worth seeing, but two in particular, both currently on display, piqued my interest.  The first is "Age of Empires: Chinese Art of the Qin and Han Dynasties," and the second is "Rei Kawakubo / Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between."  To make our lives even easier, they are located right next to each other on the same floor (2nd floor, Tisch Galleries).

Age of Empires: Chinese Art of the Qin and Han Dynasties (221 B.C. - A.D. 220)
At The Met Fifth Avenue, April 3 - July 16, 2017

This exhibit features nearly 170 objects from ancient China, including rare ceramics, sculptures, paintings, and textiles, but perhaps the most exciting (at least to me) are the terracotta warriors.  The Terracotta Army (兵馬俑) is a large collection of unique terracotta sculptures depicting the armies and palace attendants and performers of Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇), the first emperor of China.  These life-sized clay sculptures were created with the intent to be buried with the emperor and to protect him in his afterlife.

The Terracotta Army was discovered in 1974 by workers digging a well outside of Xi'an and is one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in the world.  The workers found thousands of clay soldiers, each with unique facial expressions and positioned according to rank, lined up in trenchlike, underground corridors.  There are soldiers with different types of weaponry as well as horses and chariots -- in a nutshell, it was a replica of Qin's actual army.  There are three main pits with the Terracotta Army, and in other nearby trenches, there are non-military figures, such as court officials, acrobats, and musicians.  Most of the site remains unexcavated, including Qin Shi Huang's actual tomb, as workers soon discovered that the terracotta sculptures lost their color and turned gray after being exposed to the air.

The Met dedicates one room of the Age of Empires exhibit to the terracotta warriors, which include actual items from the site as well as replicas.  It's not quite the same experience as being in the actual trenches in Xi'an, but this is much more geographically friendly and still quite enjoyable.

    

One other interesting item on exhibit is the burial ensemble of Dou Wan, who was the wife of Prince Liu Sheng of Zhongshan during the Western Han dynasty.  The burial suit is comprised of small jade plaques, each shaped, fitted, and strung together with gold wire.  It represents the completion of a magical transformation of a deceased's body, as the jade suit protects the body and soul, enabling the deceased to attain immortality.




Rei Kawakubo / Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between
At The Met Fifth Avenue, May 4 - September 4, 2017

The opposite of ancient is modern...very modern...Kawakubo.  Rei Kawakubo is a Tokyo-based designer known for her avant-garde designs and extremely unconventional (perhaps unwearable) clothing that challenge our notions of beauty, taste, and fashion.  Since founding Comme des Garçons in 1969, Kawakubo has consistently redefined and challenged fashion and aesthetics.  This spring 2017 exhibit is the Costume Institute's first exhibit dedicated to a living designer.

The Art of the In-Between features nine expressions of "in-betweenness" in Kawakubo's collections: Absence/Presence, Design/Not Design, Fashion/Antifashion, Model/Multiple, High/Low, Then/Now, Self/Other, Object/Subject, and Clothes/Not Clothes.  Kawakubo's designs explore and reveal the spaces between these dualities, questioning our arbitrary definitions and offering possibilities for innovation.

But all that said, I'll still be the first to admit that I don't always understand modern art.  The backdrop and explanations certainly help provide more context, and I can appreciate the intent, creativity, and art behind the designs; however, conservative, boring me had a hard time seeing the designs as wearable clothes.  (Would you wear any of these??)  Then again, I feel that way about a lot of runway, couture designs.  I guess that's why I don't work in fashion.

              

Ali Wong Show

Anyone who knows me knows I've watched Baby Cobra five times and have pretty much memorized all the punch lines.  Obviously comedy is best fresh the first time around, but I love(d) Ali and the show so much, I had to spread the love and make all my friends watch it too.

Long story short, my friends and I were all over the ticket game last fall and hopped on a conference call 10am the first morning of the first pre-sale so that we could coordinate our tickets and seats.  Turns out we couldn't pick seats, but it didn't matter, because we all got tickets and have been eagerly waiting for April 29 to come for months.  Well, April 29 came, and I laughed so hard I cried.  Good thing I don't normally wear make-up.

Someone recently commented to me that being a big Ali Wong fan is an Asian thing, which I had honestly not thought about at all.  I assumed there would be a big Asian following and a lot of Asian pride that there's an Asian comic, but I thought many of her jokes were universally funny.  Perhaps not everyone would agree though.  Yes, she has a number of race, particularly Asian, jokes that someone who shares the culture would identify with and appreciate more, but I enjoy and laugh at non-Asian comics' jokes about other cultures, so what's the big deal?  Anyway, I guess it's a bigger truth than I realized, as so many audience members were Asian.  So much so that her opening line was about all the Asians in New York being at her show last night.

But that's okay; not everyone has to have the same taste.  I had a great time regardless, and judging by the audience reception, I was not the only one.  Two thumbs up for Ali Wong!

Dough: Chocolate Doughnut Takeover April 1-2

Attention chocolate and doughnut lovers:

Dough is partnering with Callebaut and offering 15 special Belgian chocolate doughnuts in lieu of their regular menu.

Personally, I find the doughnut flavors at Dough to be the most exciting part of Dough, but recently I feel like the texture of the doughnuts is more dense than I remembered...not sure if the quality has deteriorated, if I over-hyped it in my head and mis-remembered the texture, or if trying Sidecar in L.A. has not ruined every other doughnut for me.

Anyway, still more than ready to run over and try any new flavors!

  

Downtown Happenings

I rarely make a trip to FiDi and still don't know my way around down there, despite having lived on Water St. for two semesters during the good ol' college days, but now that I'm there every work day, I'll have to admit there are some pretty cool things happening at Brookfield Place and the Oculus.  And there are so many pretty shops that make me want to drool, except none are open on my way to work, and most seem closed by around 7pm...and who has time to shop during the middle of the day?  *sigh...at least I'm enjoying Hudson Eats so far, but I'm sure I'll just default to the same three lunch places over and over in another week.

Anyway, for those of you who don't live or work downtown, here are a few fun things that you might be interested in checking out.

 1. Ice Skating (sign up for free lessons Sat-Sun 9-9:45am) 
Pay a visit to the rink soon before it goes away, you know, because now it's officially spring (in case you can't tell from the snow...ha).  If you're an early riser, live downtown, and/or really want to cash in on free benefits, sign up for a free skating class too!  Extra perk: the rink seems pretty empty, although I don't know if it gets more crowded on weekends.


 2. Hot Shots Basketball Competition (until Friday, March 24, 11am - 7pm)
Okay, maybe it's not really a competition, but you get to shoot hoops and enter a lottery to win a $250 gift certificate to Brookfield Place.

 3. Dancers Among Us Gallery (until Sunday, May 14, 12-6pm daily)
13 awesome photographs by Jordan  Matter of dancers doing extraordinary things in ordinary, everyday settings.  The best part is there's a story behind each of the photographs -- the inspiration for the shot, the difficult process it took to capture the moment -- as well as a "behind the scenes" video in the gallery to make you really appreciate the art.

He's not levitating...he's just mid-backflip

Rainbow!

That was a random dog...what a naturally talented actor

Mind blown.  They're all "lining up" to donate to Salvation Army.  The lady in the background could not care less though.

 4. "The Water Clouds" by Stella Artois
I've been wondering what people were doing with all those balloons in the Oculus the past couple of days, but now I know -- today is (UN) World Water Day.  As part of this year's campaign, Stella Artois is selling limited edition chalices for $6.50, and each purchase will fund 5 years of clean water for one person in the developing world.


P.S. In case anyone's wondering, I still don't know my way around downtown, but I do know how to get from the subway station to my office via the underground transport hub.  Shops I look at everyday but have not gone in: Grom, Bottega Venetta, Ferragamo, Hermes.  It's probably better this way.

Lady Gaga Concert

 Having just enjoyed Lady Gaga's Superbowl halftime performance this past Sunday, I'm thrilled to hear she'll be going on a world tour.  Coincidence?  I think not.

The tour, "Joanne," takes its name from her most recent album.  She'll be in NYC on August 28, 2017.  That's more than half a year away, and I don't think I've ever planned or committed to a concert that far in advance, but how could I not be excited when so many of my karaoke favorites are fresh in my head?  Yeah...the timing of that announcement was definitely not a coincidence.  Go ahead, Lady Gaga, take my money.

The pre-sale is happening now (for Citi card holders), and the sale opens to the public tomorrow.

Time to listen to "Joanne" now.

The Nutcracker

I've been meaning to go watch The Nutcracker at the NYC Ballet for years but have not been in town or had the time to go during the holiday season, so I'm glad I finally made it this year.  I haven't seen this ballet since I was a kid, but I love the music (who doesn't??  it's Tchaikovsky!), and it's such a classic, that adult me had to go at some point.

And...now that I have, I can say that it was fun and festive, and I can see how it's a great production for kids, but adult me prefers Swan Lake.  The first act of The Nutcracker actually had relatively little ballet, and it seemed like more of a play and acting.  There are also a lot more children in the ballet than I remember (not good or bad, just an observation, but perhaps that's also why there's not as much dancing).  The second act has most of the "popular" songs, and the Sugar Plum Fairy was a lovely dancer.  As a side note, the Playbill notes definitely made me appreciate some of the dances more.

Overall, it was enjoyable and lighthearted, but it wasn't as amazing as I had remembered.  That said, for those who have never seen it, I'd still recommend going one of these years, unless you're Scrooge and hate the holidays.

Canstruction

I had some extra time to kill today after my calligraphy class downtown, so I went for a stroll at Brookfield Place and was pleasantly surprised by a fun exhibit, Canstruction.  Canstruction is an annual design competition and food charity.  As the name suggests, teams have to create their designs out of unopened canned goods, and at the end of the exhibit, the cans will be donated to City Harvest.  There are currently 25 "cansculptures" on display at Brookfield Place until November 16.

My favorite one is probably the carousel (I love horses!), but they were all pretty cool and definitely unique.  The titles of the projects were just as interesting as the sculptures themselves.  I'd highly recommend stopping by if you're in the area, and bring a can of food to donate too!

Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1

My earliest memory of Bruch's Violin Concerto is of my friend performing it beautifully and virtuosically with the Clear Lake Symphony Orchestra.  I was eleven at the time; she was ten.  I remember getting lost in the melodies (and wishing I could play as well as she), and then walking away with the very colorful third movement stuck in my head for days.  Later at home, I would listen to the CD over and over -- it was a David Oistrakh recording, and to this day, that's still my favorite rendition.  I suppose we're all more or less influenced by, if not partial to, the first recording of a song we hear.  Keep in mind this was before the days of YouTube and even Napster; it wasn't nearly as easy to find different recordings and compare and contrast before forming a view!

Bruch composed three violin concertos, or four if you count Scottish Fantasy, which I also love, but his other two concertos are rarely performed and never reached the same level of popularity as the first (hence people often just refer to Bruch's first violin concerto as the Bruch violin concerto).  The first movement is dramatic, passionate, and emotional, yet it is probably the most easily forgotten movement and is sometimes described as a long prelude into the second.  I'm not sure I agree with that statement though, as the piece has its own distinct character and has darker undertones than the second or third movements.  The second movement is actually a rondo and the heart of the concerto; the melody is beautifully sung and becomes more spirited, uplifting, and powerful as the piece progresses, before quieting down again at the end.  The third movement is an energetic dance, and perhaps the most impressive (and memorable) with all its double stops and fireworks ending.

Anyway, why am I talking about all of this now?  Because the New York Philharmonic will be performing this from October 27 - November 1, with concertmaster Frank Huang as the soloist.  So obviously I have to go 1) relive some good memories (I've actually never heard Bruch's violin concerto performed live after my 10-year-old friend's amazing concert), 2) support my fellow Houstonian (no, I don't know Frank Huang, but less than 6 degrees of separation...a few of my other music friends either studied violin with his mom or are friends with his younger sister), and 3) just enjoy one of my favorite violin pieces.

*UPDATE: Glowing review from NY Times here.


Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 (David Oistrakh, of course...that EMI Studio CD cover is the exact CD I had!):

Movement 1:

Movement 2:

Movement 3:

Ali Wong

For anyone who hasn't seen Ali Wong's stand-up comedy show Baby Cobra, you should watch it (available on Netflix).  For everyone who has, she needs no further introduction.

I think Ali Wong has left such a lasting impression on so many of us for a number of reasons.  For starters, obviously her performance was solid -- the material was hilarious, the delivery was on point, and her facial expressions (and graphic mimes) were the perfect complement to every joke.  But a good, funny show is just the prerequisite; I've certainly watched and laughed my way through a number of comedy shows (both live and recorded), yet unfortunately I can't name most of those comedians, nor can I remember what they said that was so funny at the time.  Ali was (is) different though.  Whether it's "right" or not, her identity alone was (is) a statement in and of itself.  She's Asian, female, and at the time of Baby Cobra, pregnant.  Asian comic?  Rare.  Female comic?  Also relatively rare.  Pregnant?  Even rarer.  Asian, female, and pregnant?  Ali Wong.

Now, having a unique identity can be a double-edged sword.  Had she delivered a less than stellar show, it's quite likely the story would have been "Asians aren't that funny," or "she was trying too hard."  Thankfully, that's not the case though, and she came out with pretty powerful (and also sensitive) content that was raw and real, touching on everything from cultural stereotypes (e.g., fancy Asian vs. jungle Asian) to women in the workplace (e.g., "lean in" vs. lie down) to poop (c'mon, just admit it...poop is funny...why else would there be a poop emoji?).  As a result, what I hear is "Ali Wong (Baby Cobra) is amazing!  I hope she comes out with more stuff.  I hope she's not a one hit wonder."  But why the last comment if we all agree with the first two?  Is it because we lack faith in her because she's Asian, female, and a new mother?  Or is it because we want her to succeed so badly that we're nervous for her, the way we might be anxious when rooting for a favorite sports team?

Regardless, I'm thrilled our wish has come true -- she's going on tour and is getting such a great reception.  And yes, of course I got my New York tickets already.  Originally there was only one NY show, and all tickets sold out during the presale, then she added a second show and sold out again, and now she's added a third.  Good for her!  Go buy tickets soon before the third show sells out too!