14-FEB-19 Happy Dentist Day!!

[DiveMilw]

Happy Valentine's Day!   
I was thinking dentist because I have a dentist appointment in an hour and because of all the candy which is given as gifts.  Then I realized that Halloween is more of a candy holiday and Christmas can be just as "bad" if you include all the days leading up to it.  And Easter baskets often have quite a bit of candy in them.  So, Valentine's Day might actually be one of the least candy filled holidays.  

Although we won't have temps as high as Kathy did yesterday we are supposed to be in the 40s today and tomorrow.  There is a strong possibility of rain tomorrow as well.  That will melt most of the snow and ice that we got on Tuesday and make room for the snow we are supposed to get next week.  

I went to see "A Doll's House Part 2" at Theaterworks last night.  Now I understand why every theater company around the country has been producing this play.  It is really, really good.  Theaterworks is a wonderful company that produces high quality shows.  Since we are close to New York City they often get Broadway actors.  (For instance, when they did The Little Dog Laughed a number of years ago Jeremy Jordan was in the cast.)  The house holds maybe 150 people and the stage is smallish.  It's in the basement of a building so I imagine the scenic design is often challenging.  Alexander Dodge designed the simple, sparse set of outlines of windows, two chairs and one beautiful door focused your attention on the actors and the story.  I've included a photo of the set below.  You can see more photos at their website.   They ran a creative promotion the other day; You could purchase tickets for tonight's performance for only $14.  I guess a story of a woman returning home after 15 years to get a divorce isn't very "Valentinesy".  

[scenicdesign71]

Alex is a fantastic designer -- and I'm not just saying that because we interned at Williamstown together a million years ago.  There's a reason Hartford Stage recently mounted a lobby retrospective of his work there; his name, on any given production, constitutes automatic advance assurance of a gloriously smart, classy and eye-poppingly gorgeous set.

This one is no exception -- and I'm not just saying that because it unavoidably reminds me of rogerandtom.  (Oh, come on, you knew that was coming).  While I liked Miriam Buether's spare, elegant original Broadway design, watching that production gave me a distinct sense that Hnath's script could live equally well in a more sharply abstract environment -- i.e., something a lot like this.

So: bravo, Alex!  And if I ever get a chance to design ADHP2 somewhere, I guess I'll just have to find some other way to go with it...   

[DiveMilw]

This one is no exception -- and I'm not just saying that because it unavoidably reminds me of rogerandtom.  (Oh, come on, you knew that was coming).  

"rogerandtom" came to mind while I was waiting for the show to begin.  

Based on the promo photos I thought this was going to be neon or neon-like lights but they are not.  And I think the at least the side windows are behind a black scrim.  They all might be because they were grayish looking during the preset.  (they weren't on before the show began.)  I also thought they would turn pink at some point because that is the color of the lights on the poster.  Again, I was wrong.  Behind the door is a black "hallway" so you can't see the actors as they get ready to make their (usually) dramatic appearance into the room.