KIDS VISIT - SUMMER 2002
July is always the month during which I get the kids each Summer. This year it began a little later than usual. My son came up with me, back to New York, on July 12th. My daughter went on an Outward Bound trip, living the rough life on a boat for two weeks with no creature comforts. Add to this the Survival aspect, roughing it off the boat, all alone, for the better part of three days.
She lived through it, survived it, got very tan. Wrote me a letter during her "solo experience" complaining about the lack of facilities, and how she needed a real shower and real food in the worst way!
Meanwhile, my son, here with just me and the cat for the first two weeks, hung out, played with his new PlayStation II [1] (an eBay [2] special!), played his guitar, got friendlier than ever with the cat (who was scared to death of him until last year), and bought a ton of clothes and stuff.
We went to a Yankee game when our beloved Bronx Bombers faced the Boston Red Sox. You know the Red Sox, that team that hasn't had a World Championship since 1918. That team suffering from the "Curse of The Babe [3]." The Yanks won, of course.
Wednesday afternoon we joined the kids' grandparents and saw Oklahoma [4] on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre [5]. Last time the kids were there it was to see Raffi [6] sing, back in 1993. That was the very day I learned that the ex wanted a divorce. Suffice it to say I have peculiar memories of that concert, that day, and that theatre.
Oklahoma was pleasant, or should it be put this way: Oklahoma was OK! As I recall, the show was originally more focused on the music than in this production. Also, when it first appeared, over 50 years ago, Oklahoma's statehood [7] was a relatively familiar, somewhat recent event. Much of the contemporary, period piece elements, are lost in this production.
The singing is nice, the orchestra good. Technically it is nearly flawless. But the music, that great Rogers & Hammerstein score, seems to take a back seat to the story and the visual effects and technical stagecraft.
Few people are as into Broadway and shows as my daughter. Her goal in life is to work on Broadway or in TV or film, behind the scenes.
She is also very reluctant to have her picture taken. She did, however, agree to have a close-up of her left eye taken by her brother. Permission to include it here was granted. Here she is, watching you!
My son, letting his hair grow out, is a little unhappy that the hair is in that "wings stage," a period through which he must tough it out until it gets long enough to hang down on its own, and not flip up (creating those "wings"). So he, too, prefers no pictures. But we ate at Ocean Empire, a wonderful nearby Chinese Restaurant with friends last week, and they snapped a digital shot of the two of us. Here it is:
A pleasant time has been had by all. We have a little more shopping to do, some rearranging of my living space, some more eBay forays, another Broadway show over the weekend, and then it is back into the car for the long drive to their home.
Too bad they can't be with me all year. Such is life as as divorced Dad. I cherish the times we do get to spend with each other.