First, Victor B. came down from NYC for a weekend and we had a great time. We went for a walk in the Duke Gardens(which was in full bloom), had a nice meal at a Mexican Restaurant downtown, and went to a concert. The concert featured a group named Avante, which is directed by the choral director of the Eno River Singers. We had seen a prior concert given by them several years ago and I'm happy to say they've grown. The a cappella double quartet performed a wide variety of material - everything from a choreographed "Bollywood" song to traditional American Standards. They did a great job.
In addition to Victor, our friends Helen and Larry stopped off for an afternoon as they were driving through to their new home in Florida. We had a nice lunch, a Mexican Restaurant(do I see a theme here), and took a walk around East Campus. It was good to see them and talk as they transition to Floridians.
As I mentioned above, the Eno River Singers had a busy month as well. We sang at church, were part of a UUC choir festival in Chapel Hill, and sang at the Eno River UUC fund-raising gala. The last gig featured a number of outstanding musicians. Kate Lewis, who usually accompanies the Eno River Singers, played pieces by Liszt and Chopin. She is an excellent musician and fun to be around. William Adams. who is a member of Avante, played the sax for one set and then sang for another. The show closed with two arias song by tenor Jason Karn. who blew the roof off the place.
On campus we got to see the Duke Symphony Orchestra, which continued their celebration of the works of Verdi, Brittom, and Wagner. Conductor Harry Davidson had invited two sopranos to join the orchestra and sing Verdi arias. He had worked with both of them at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Catheryne Shuman sang an aria from Othello and Heather Engebretson sang from La Traviata. Both were excellent, with Ms. Engebretson winning kudos for acting as well as singing.
Speaking of acting, we managed to get to a few plays during the month, both on campus and off.
On campus we went to a Duke Theater Department's presentation of Jen Lee's Lear. Set in the palace after the children have banished Lear, it explores humorously the insecurity of Lear's children. Ms. Lee is the author of the play The Shipment, which we saw in Chapel Hill a year or two ago. That play was a well-crafted, jarring stunner. Lear wasn't. The other play we saw which did not live up to our expectations was Walt, a look at the life of Walt Whitman. We visited the Carrboro Arts Center for the first time to see this play. The facility is great, but the play was a bit of a jumble. When the high-point of the evening was the presentation by two Whitman scholars prior to the show, you can guess how we felt about the play. We had a better time seeing The Homosexuals a play by Philip Dawkins at Manbites Dog Theater in Durham. The play takes a backwards look the relationships of a group of homosexuals in NYC from 2010 to 2000. Witty and well-acted(several of the cast had worked with Nan when she did Titus last year). It was worth the price of admission.
