NOTE: There’s only one opera performance left. Enter to win by May 9.
Whether you like opera or not, you’ve probably heard of the Met, the Metropolitan Opera. Clever artistic folks that they are, they
“Guilio Cesare”, Photo courtesy Robert Kusel-Lyric Opera Of Chicago-Pascal Victor.
began broadcasting their opera seasons across the country in movie theaters where there’s never a bad seat and opera glasses are not necessary. Neither are tuxes, gowns, opera gloves or snooty attitudes. But you do get eat popcorn and cheesy nachos! How awesome is that?!
Putting full-length operas in movie theaters is brilliant. It makes it accessible to those of us who will never make it to New York to attend a Metropolitan Opera performance in person. And, hopefully, it will encourage those not familiar with opera to give it a try, which will hopefully lead to taking advantage of the top-notch opera performances we have locally with Central City Opera and Opera Colorado!
In Good Taste Denver is proud to offer free tickets to see selections of The Met’s seventh season either live or in encore presentations at local theaters. To enter to win tickets to the performance below, simply email me at: ingoodtastedenver@gmail.com with your name and the name of the opera you want tickets for. Winners will be randomly chosen and contacted on the deadline day.
REMAINING PERFORMANCES:
Handel’s Giulio Cesare - Encore – CONTEST ENDS 5/9.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013 (6:30 PM MST)
Expected Running Time: 4 hours 35 minutes
Tickets are for the following theater: Highlands Ranch 24 with IMAX.
The opera that conquered London in Handel’s time comes to the Met in David McVicar’s lively production. The world’s leading countertenor, David Daniels, sings the title role opposite Natalie Dessay as an irresistibly exotic Cleopatra. Baroque specialist Harry Bicket conducts.
Tickets available for purchase here: http://www.fathomevents.com/#!giulio-cesare-encore
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Having just come off of the seriously proper “Sense and Sensibility the Musical,” I can’t tell you how different that play is from “Blue Man Group,” playing through April 21. One is sedate and one is raucous. However both carry a message about societal and human relationships. The big message? Be kind and accepting to one another and to those who appear to be different from you.
Three guys with shiny, blue heads and no words. Lots of loud music. Vibrant and frantic images. Lots of humor and joyful fun. That’s Blue Man Group in a, oh let’s say hazelnut-size nutshell. Yet it’s also a lot more. It’s commentary on the pervasive role of technology in our lives and the things that make us different and the things that also make us the same.
Blue Man Group performances are pure fun but it can also be a total sensory overload for those prone to that – or for those who happened to have a headache, OMG. Movement, sound, flying things, blue men climbing over your seat…it’s crazy! But it’s also happy, happy, happy, especially the finale. I understand they change this sometimes but the last two times Blue Man Group came to Denver, the finale was the same. So as not to spoil the wonderful surprise, there is big, buoyant interaction between the Men and the audience members. What a culmination!
My only complaint (besides my warning about all the sensory stuff) is that some of the “sketches,” for lack of a better word, are paced just a little too slowly. The gag goes on a tad too long. Or the pauses between moments of action are held just a bit too long, almost making the audience wonder if something might be wrong. The pace does pick up, as does the noise level (that part is intentional), as the show goes on.
See Blue Man Group during their run here, through April 21. Take the kids – they’ll love it! It’s a theater experience unlike any other.
Sense & Sensibility the Musical is like a plate of petit fours – dainty, pretty, proper, confined, tidy and sweet – just as it should be. It’s a fun escape into a world that has a slower pace and is elegant and refined and yet which has many similarities today, namely in the delight people take in gossip and scandal. Whispers and hand-delivered letters of juicy tidbits and drama are replaced by fleeting posts on Twitter today. We can all relate.
Jane Austen fans will either be delighted at how the play captures the prim essence of life at that time or they’ll be frustrated by it. The storyline is an adaptation of Austen’s original version and doesn’t follow the same plot twists or even characters. And they may feel their favorite characters aren’t properly represented by the musical numbers. Some of the costumes appear to be from the wrong era, pretty though they may be. The lesson? Go to Sense & Sensibility with fresh eyes and an open mind in order to enjoy it for what it is. Leave your preconceived notions of the story you love out in the lobby.
Nick Verina (Mr. Edward Ferrars) and Stephanie Rothenberg (Miss Elinor Dashwood) in the Denver Center Theatre Company’s world premiere production of Sense & Sensibility The Musical. Photo by Jennifer M Koskinen
The sets
As usual, Denver Center creates clever but minimal sets that suggest different locations, times of day and season. A writing table, chair and window rise from below the stage for one scene, suggesting the house in the country, then disappears as a massive, framed painting of London slides in with a grand staircase to show that the action has now moved to London – the big city. Of particular note are the park statues, brilliantly crafted to look like stone but that come alive and sing.
The costumes
Despite the odd mix of era, the costumes did an excellent job of capturing the personality of its wearer. Staid and simple for Elinor; pink and sweet for Marianne and heavily detailed and fanciful for the energetic and comical Mrs. Jennings.
Ruth Gottschall (Mrs. Jennings) in the Denver Center Theatre Company’s world premiere production of Sense & Sensibility The Musical. Photo by Jennifer M Koskinen
The music
The music was sweet and sentimental, reminiscent of a 1950’s musical. Thankfully, the words were all understandable and were clever. However, they all sounded a lot alike with several reprisals. Still, their tone fit the play.
Highlights were “A Quiet Life” between Elinor and Edward in which Edward reveals the kind of life he’d prefer to lead. This is sung at the top of a hill that is an integral part of the set. I heard director/choreographer Marcia Milgrom Dodge say in a Colorado Public Radio interview that she purposely puts the couple there because, at that point, their relationship is on something of a precarious cliff. Marianne and Colonel Brandon sing a beautiful duet in “A Second Chance.” “In Society” sung by all the busybodies is clever, talking about the “anxiety” of maintaining ones’ place in “high society.”
The performances
The actors were an impressive lot, most of whom were previously on Broadway. Their acting came as naturally as their singing – sweet and soprano for the women, rich and baritone for the men. Stephanie Rothenberg, who played Elinor Dashwood was beautiful with her dark hair, creamy skin and controlled, always-do-the-right-thing persona. Mary Michael Patterson, as her younger, more passionate-about-everything sister, Marianne, was high energy and suited her role perfectly. Ruth Gottschall (Mrs. Jennings), was the kind-hearted, meddling comic relief throughout the play.
Center: Nick Verina (Mr. Edward Ferrars) and Stephanie Rothenberg (Miss Elinor Dashwood) in the Denver Center Theatre Company’s world premiere production of Sense & Sensibility The Musical. Photo by Jennifer M Koskinen
Denver Center is promoting this show heavily in radio, print and TV. It is a big production that must have cost a pretty penny so they’ll need the push. The audience on opening night was mostly over age 55, well-dressed, proper and enjoyed the play thoroughly. I hope a more varied crowd will take it in throughout its run through May 26 for several reasons: It’s fun; is a good view of life in the 1800’s; is a lovely dose of propriety in this day and age (oh, I sound so old!) and it’s a charming little confection of a thing for Jane Austen fans. Now excuse me while I pour myself another cup of tea, with two sugars and a bit of lemon, of course.
First, think “snow” at Colorado Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker, playing at the Ellie through December 24. Set in Victorian times, the women are in gowns, the men wear long capes and top hats as outerwear and children who get a tad too rambunctious get hauled away by the ear, the little dickens’. The sets are grand and detailed and the dancing is lovely and innocent (except for the guys who get a little handsy with the women during those big lifts, I must say!).
The snow’s still flying next door (hmmm, it’s only snowing inside – what’s up with that?) at The Buell Theatre with Irving Berlin’s White Christmas playing through December 24. Did you know that song-writer extraordinaire, Irving Berlin, wrote about visions of white Christmases, just like the ones he used to know, while sitting poolside at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel? Well, I did, cuz I’ve been there and heard the tale. “White Christmas” is fun and wholesome and brings the best of your favorite Hollywood musicals from back in the day to the stage. I’m so glad to see this 1950’s era show return with Broadway-ilk performers and Broadway-worthy locals including the wonderful Mike Hartman (who plays bah-humbugged General Waverly), Randy Moore and Jordan Leigh, all familiar faces from the Denver Center. Special mention to Tom Galantich, a Broadway veteran who plays Bob Wallace, who had a voice like rich, silken caramel!
The sets are huge, the dance numbers showy, the plot silly (including the requisite big misunderstanding that takes forever to resolve), romance and glorious costumes. The last scene, in the cheeriest shade of red, will wow you. As with all old-fashioned movie musical plot-lines, everything gets tied up in a big, shiny bow. Yea!
Just a stone’s throw down the Galleria (I don’t mean that literally so don’t try it!) it’s turn-of-the-century mayhem in “When We Are Married,” playing through December 16 at the Stage Theatre. Corseted dresses, men in bowler hats smoking cigars and lots or Port-sipping. Pip-pip and all that rot!
The fine folks in “When We Are Married,” are all about propriety and purpose. Three couples who were all married on the same day and have stayed friends, gather on their 25th wedding anniversary for an evening of dining, reminiscing and declarations of the utility of marriage. But what’s that? They aren’t really married? There was a slight snafu 25 years ago? Oh my, oh my, oh my! What does this mean? They have been living in sin and fornicating illegally for more than two decades! (Gasp!) What will the community think? What will the servants think? What do they think? Is this the “out” they’ve been wishing for from their boring, oppressive, wimpy, philandering spouses? They don’t really mention children but that would be the scandal to end all scandals!
Performed in three acts with two brief intermissions, the play takes a while to get started. The first act, while amusing, sets the stage (on the stage) with very detailed sets, strong characters and beautiful costumes. (A tip of the top hat to The Denver Center Theatre Company’s costume and crafts departments who make costumes to last with beautiful detailing including sumptuous linings and trims the audience might never notice or even see.)
Things really get going and get funny in the last two acts although the whole thing could have really been tightened up – sorry J.B. Priestley, I know you were a prolific playwright and all, but it’s true. I was expecting knee-slapping, rocking back and forth in my seat British comedy here but didn’t quite get it. Yes, it’s funny and terribly clever and enjoyable and inevitably gets you thinking “what if” about your sweetheart. It’s not “Faulty Towers” but “When We Are Married” is fun.
Dixie, can’t really be called proper but there is a touch of old-fashioned, southern hospitality, sweet and tart as a sour cherry pie for which there is a wonderful Tupperware storage and carrying device, I might add.
Downtown Denver is aglow and wonderfully sparkly this season. Stroll around before or after theater but make sure you take in all that the DCPA has to offer.
It’s all jolly good!
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If you love classical music, read on. If you don’t, read on. While classical music plays a critical part in “A Late Quartet,” it is about so much more and will appeal to a wide range of people – regardless of musical taste.
(L) Mark Ivanir, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken and Catherine Keener in “A Late Quartet”
Beethoven’s “Opus 131 String Quartet in C-sharp minor” provides the undercurrent for “A Late Quartet,” opening November 16. The piece was chosen because it has seven uninterrupted movements instead of the typical four movements with breaks in between. So it’s one long piece. In that time, the instruments invariably start to go out of tune. In a piece with breaks, the performers can take a moment to tune their instruments before continuing. But in this piece, they have to continue on, knowing that over time, the players will go in and out of tune with each other and will have to adjust. What does this have to do with the movie? Everything.
As one of the movie’s stars, Mark Ivanir, told me when I interviewed him recently, “You have to keep playing and it makes it more difficult to stay in tune with your comrades. It’s the same thing that is happening in the quartet. The Fugue (their quartet) goes 24 years nonstop and you start getting out of tune so how do you manage that while still keeping this whole thing going?”
Mark Ivanir, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener and Christopher Walken play the members of The Fugue string quartet which is about to commence its 25th year performing together. There are weird dynamics between the four anyway but things are thrown all out of whack by Christopher Walken’s character’s medical diagnosis. Emotions and issues emerge that had been kept muffled until this point.
One of the most interesting aspects of the movie is the way these four function like a family even though they are not. Walken is the patriarch. Catherine Keener is the loyal and loving daughter. Hoffman is her difficult husband (figuratively and in the movie) and Ivanir provides sibling rivalry to Hoffman’s character while also being a threat because of his past relationship with Keener. Throw in Hoffman and Keener’s daughter and it’s a very tangled web.
Imogen Poots plays Hoffman and Keener’s daughter. She is waif-like and pouty with insights and vocabulary that don’t jive with her years or appearance. She is, however an electric buzz in the movie, adding an interesting element. A music student, she plays the violin but also “plays” her parents and Mark Ivanir’s character pitting them against each other. She buddies up with her father while berating her mother for not being present enough in her life. For her part, Keener is apologetic for her parental failings, angry with her daughter for her lack of understanding and resigned at trying so hard but always coming up short in her family’s eyes. And finally Alexandra sticks it to her parents punishing them by taking up with Ivanir’s character, their peer. She’s a witchy little woman!
Christopher Walken is wonderful in this movie. He is gentle, kind, introspective yet also sick and tired of his “children’s” constant bickering. When Hoffman and Ivanir break out into a fist fight during rehearsal in Walken’s home, he is less concerned about the reasons behind their argument and is more concerned with not letting such negativity invade his dwelling and his consciousness. He yells out “Not in my house! Go!” and storms upstairs to his room. It was great, like “enough of your crap people, I’m dealing with something life-changing here. Take your egos and go home.” Loved it!
Hoffman is an excellent actor but I wanted to smack him so many times during the movie. But that’s probably the point. He was a bad husband and a brat of a quartet member. Hmph!
Ivanir was the most interesting character to me. And I’m not just saying that because I interviewed him. He was an appealing, broody man of mystery. The movie didn’t address why he was the way he was which bothered me throughout. Turns out, that bit of information was left on the cutting room floor. Ivanir cleared up that mystery during our interview. He did a great job of showing his emergence from under his heavy, gray cloud once he finally dared to allow himself some happiness.
The four actors really did learn to play their instruments for this role, or at least passages to make it look believable. I’ve heard from a couple of classical musicians who didn’t believe they were playing based on the way they moved their fingers. True musicians might obsess over those details in the movie but that would be a shame. Although the movie dragged at times and was heavy in tone, it is uplifted by beautiful music and an interesting storyline that goes way beyond musical notes on a page.
Mark Ivanir stars with Catherine Keener in “A Late Quartet”
Mark Ivanir’s intelligent and intense looks may be familiar from his roles in Schindler’s List, The Good Shepard, Big Miracle and Terminal. But In “A Late Quartet,” which opens Nov. 16, Ivanir pulls at the heart strings while bowing violin strings. Along with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener and Christopher Walken, Ivanir is a member of the fictitious “Fugue” string quartet about to start its 25th year together. When its senior member Peter (played by Walken), gets a diagnosis that affects the future of the quartet, it brings out issues and actions that send the group into a tailspin. Classical music fans will enjoy the movie but it is certainly about a whole lot more than Beethoven and stringed instruments. It’s about family dynamics, egos, drama and sex. Did that get your attention? Watch for my review on November 16.
Meanwhile, when Ivanir was in Denver for the opening of the Starz Denver Film Festival, I had the opportunity sit down with him at the Four Seasons Denver to ask him about the movie, the role and violin lessons. At the end of the interview, find out how you can receive two tickets to see the advance screening of “A Late Quartet” on November 13 at Chez Artiste.
In Good Taste Denver: Why did you want to be involved in this particular movie? Mark Ivanir: I had no choice! When they offered me the film, it was 10 days before principle shooting started. I had to make a decision in half a day and, to be honest, as soon as I heard who the cast I figured it can’t be too bad if it has Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener and Christopher Walken in it. Then I read the script and liked it so usually when it comes to that, I pick the part. I just had to believe it had to be good and pull it off.
IGTD: Were all of you actually playing the instruments? MI: Oh yes, all of us learned to play the instruments. I already played some piano and guitar so I think it helped me with the experience of rhythm, timing and other musical aspects. On one hand it was very, very stressful but on the other hand the fact that it was stressful, the fact that we were in survival mode, helped the intensity.
IGTD: How much prep time did you have before shooting started? MI: I was shooting something in Canada. I came for 6 hours for a table read of the script and then went back to Canada, where I would rehearse between takes and at night I’d get in at 11pm and work on violin and then at 1am start learning lines and then go to bed at 2:30. So my prep was very short and most of it was done while filming the other movie.
IGTD: Do you think you’ll continue to play the violin in your real life? MI: No! I look at it this way: I kill people in my many of my movie parts but I don’t kill people in my real life.
Mark Ivanir plays around with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken and Catherine Keener in “A Late Quartet”
IGTD: In “A Late Quartet,” your character, Daniel, was very intense and brooding. What was his back-story? MI: Interestingly enough, there was a scene that was cut that was the character’s background that talked about his childhood and how the father didn’t like him and was making fun of him especially because of the whole music thing and a mother who was very devoted to him. So the background story was written of someone who found a refuge in music. Often we have these situations when you run away to something from something. In the beginning he was running way from his father to play the violin. Then running away from himself into perfecting the violin.
IGTD: Are you much like Daniel? MI: Yes and no. I think it’s an amplified facet of me. In all of the parts I do, I’m always trying to get one facet of myself to lean on to do it in true form. The seriousness of what you are doing is a Daniel thing. I don’t think I’m as screwed up emotionally as he is. I have my problems so I can relate.
IGTD: In the movie, one of your quartet members tells you to follow your passion, which you do in a rather shocking way. What are your passions and do you follow them? MI: I’m an extremely lucky man because I get to act which is a very guarded, safe way of unleashing my passions because if I get to play bad guys, I unleash urges that might be laying inside me and I’m pretty good at playing bad guys. So maybe if I wasn’t acting out the urges, then I might be getting them out in a less safe way. So I guess my passion is my profession and it gives me an outlet for letting out things inside me good and bad and I can do things like killing versus playing violin. Then, I don’t have to do it in my personal life.
IGTD: In what ways is being a musician like acting to you? MI: Well, you know in Russian, the word “play” is the same word as “acting” and in English as well. Shakespeare called actors “players.” I think it’s very similar. I have a lot of friends who are in music (producers and players) and we have conversations about what we do. And we find a lot of parallels because we are dealing with the same things – something written, with tempo, connection with emotion and text. How we connect as a musician to the song with a piece of music is how I connect emotionally to a play or screenplay. The substance is the same. We are actors. I use my body and emotions as instruments so I’m my own violin. It was very similar – I study my script, make notes – yes, it’s like music.
IGTD: You have a very interesting and varied history including having been born in the Ukraine, serving in the Israeli Army, and later performing with a travelling Parisian Circus! What would you like to be doing five years from now? MI: I don’t know. First of all I like my life the way it is. I like the fact that the phone can ring or my email can, in any given moment, say “hey, there’s this project and tomorrow you’re going to be a bar-man in this one or a woman in another one.” And that’s the exciting thing about not knowing what’s going to happen. I feel that balance with family is overall the most important thing in my life. Career is very important, of course, but family is more important to me. So my wish for myself in five years, it would be more than anything else to keep my family life as it is now. To keep the balance between interesting projects and healthy family. (Ivanir is married with 7 and 11-year-old daughters.)
IGTD: The movie is structured around Beethoven’s “Opus 131 String Quartet in C-sharp minor.” Why was that piece chosen? MI: 131 is not a regular piece. Usually there were 4 movements but this is 7 movements. It is a very, very long piece that is supposed to be played without stop. When you do that, at a certain point that long of playing without a stop, you get into danger of instruments getting out of tune. So you have to keep playing and it makes it more difficult to stay in tune with your comrades. It’s the same thing that is happening in the quartet. The Fugue goes 24 years nonstop and you start getting out of tune so how do you manage that while still keeping this whole thing going?
IGTD: Who do you feel is your audience for this movie? MI: The audience isn’t musicians really but regular people who like to go to concerts who aren’t going to (pay too much attention to the way we are playing) because you can see that there are problems. Hopefully it’s not about playing the violin.
Those raucous STOMP-ers are back in town with another stretch of amazing shows running only through this Sunday. I will never again think the same way about work boots…matchboxes…push brooms…sand…trash cans…dust pans…folding chairs…and, literally, the kitchen sink.
Photo by Junichi Takahashi.
I’d been lucky enough to see STOMP the first time it came to Denver and thought, “I’ve seen it once, do I really need to see it again?” “Yes. Yes, you do!” said my internal voice, slapping me around a bit for even having such a ridiculous thought. Why? Because STOMP is a consuming, whole-body experience that needs to be had. It’s funny, with likeable characters developed solely through body language since not a word is spoken.
Eight performers, working in an ensemble and also small groupings, use everyday objects to make music and rhythm. When the show needs new supplies, it must be easy and cheap to re-stock. Just hit alleys, junk yards and hardware stores. The group is so cohesive that, although being responsible for individual parts, they create a whole that is pulsating and mesmerizing. They toss sticks and cans at each other with such ease and confidence, it’s like everything is connected by invisible wires. However, if you have front row seats, I’d make sure your life insurance is paid up since errant items can and do go flying. And you might want to wear a rain poncho since you’ll get splashed with water and sweat. But it’s all part of the thrill so enjoy it.
Some of the numbers are quiet and mellow with newspaper and plastic bags creating the extent of the noise. But it does build too with giant oil drums, trash can lids, fire extinguishers, railroad signs and pots and pans being clanged and banged so that you literally feel it in your bones! I’m positive my heartbeat changed with the beat.
Oh, and a little theater etiquette lesson directed to the two ladies down in front who gave running commentary the whole night, please remember that you are not at home in your living room. You’re there to enjoy yourself but, like the cast of STOMP, you are a part of a whole – a whole that doesn’t want to hear from you. Thank you.
One of the aspects of the show that I enjoyed most was the subtle integration of other cultures and interests. Even in heavy-duty work boots, there was tap dancing, tribal dances and South American music – again, without a single, standard musical instrument. All sounds were made with these everyday objects and human bodies.
As I watched the show, many questions swirled around my pounding head including:
Is every move you make choreographed or is some of it a free-for-all?
Do you like the softer pieces or the loud ones best?
If you are this good at playing a kitchen sink strapped around your neck, are you totally awesome at playing a regular drum set?
Do you ever wish you could talk during a performance?
Are some audiences better than others at mimicking the clapping patterns you try to teach us?
How did Denver rate?
Are you losing your hearing yet?
Perhaps the best part about STOMP is that it is about seeing things outside the box, looking at ordinary things in extraordinary ways and just having fun! It’s a fantastic show for kids, reigniting the imaginations that worked beautifully before electronics told them how to express their imaginations.
Open those kitchen cabinets and raid the garage, people! Make some noise and have free-form fun! Let STOMP inspire you.
STOMP plays through September 30 at the Buell Theatre. Hurry and buy tickets by calling 303-893-4100 or visit www.denvercenter.org.
On a spur of the moment road trip, I hit the motherload of festival towns. Winter Park loves its festivals and has been having them just about every weekend this summer and there’s still plenty
left.
An early rain cooled things off nicely after it worried vendors at the Arts &Crafts Fair but all was well.
The Beer Festival is brewsky heaven. Sample a large variety of beers, listen to live music, eat lots and enjoy the heck out if it. Visit http://www.playwinterpark.com for all of the details. Go for the VIP level for treats from Billie Keithley, Liquid Chef with Breckenridge Distillery
Thousands of instruments from all over the world make beautiful music together at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix. Unlike many museums, there is not a specific audience or age group for this museum because music transcends age groups, gender, ethnicities and social status. It’s wonderfully universal which is the very nature of the MIM – a collection of musical instruments from all over the world, presented in five Geographical Galleries.
The interior of The Musical Instrument Museum. Photos courtesy CDM Communications unless otherwise noted.
Although all of the instruments are very interesting, the experience comes alive when you use the wireless headsets. As you approach exhibit stations, all clearly divided by country, you hear selections of music played by those instruments along with video accompaniment. Some exhibits include clothing and other props that go along with that type of music such as the Scissors Dance of Peru. This is something that makes the MIM a perfect place for kids: It’s colorful, about making noise, banging on things and in the case of the Scissors Dance, is about running around with scissors! It’s every parent’s nightmare, set to music, with a costume. What fun! As it turns out, the “scissors” are actually tuned steel clappers that resemble scissors but actually make rhythmic sounds.
An exhibit displaying the “Scissors Dance”, because running with scissors CAN be fun.
Wireless headsets let you hear what the instruments and music of each geographical area sound like.
When it gets to be too much to look-but-don’t-touch all those wonderful noise-making things, there is the Experience Gallery where you get to actually play some of the instruments you’ve been seeing in the galleries. The giant gong is a favorite, as is the totally tubular Theremin which seems like a modern techno-instrument but has actually been around since the 1920’s.
And when even that is too much, there’s a room with tables and chairs and an additional, private room for nursing that lets everyone take a little break.
The Olympic Drum, on display at The MIM. Photo courtesy MIM.
All that instrument-gandering and virtual travel around the world works up an appetite. Fortunately, the Café at MIM offers top-notch food from a menu that Chef Edward Farrow changes every few days as inspired by one of the exhibits such as Ethiopian food for the African exhibit or New Orleans fare for the new Jazz exhibit.
Walking around The MIM, you realize that every country, and all its people, have the drive to make music, whether it’s strummed, struck or blown into. Despite differences, and accounting for uniqueness, we are all the same. It’s a wonderful lesson.
Upcoming events at the MIM: Currently – The new Jazz Exhibit
June 30 – Country Music Day
July 14 – Bastille Day
August – Unveiling new items in the Elvis exhibit (the exhibit itself is permanent but the objects change every 12-18 months).
A new Jazz exhibit is currently showing at The MIM. Photo courtesy MIM.
