NEW YEAR'S DAY

How incongruous is this? It was the first day of a brand new year, and I was feeling time was running out because in two more days I would be starting home from my wonderful vacation. And even though the day was rather grey it was warmer and not windy. In fact, we didn't even need our coats as we made our way to the theatre. I had a sweater and Goo a jacket over our theatre finery for the matinee we were to attend. The neighborhood shuttle wasn't running (holiday, don't you know), so we walked to the Metro station.

A couple of months before as we talked on the phone we had chosen our seats via the internet at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The center has several theaters, and what we chose to see was South Pacific in the Opera House. We chose the top tier, center section, two end seats, FRONT ROW. Thank you, Goo, for buying the tickets. They turned out to be great seats, and we both had our little opera glasses. The acoustics there are fantastic. But we will get to that.

But first: the Kennedy Center has yet another terrace for a variety of views. Here are a couple of views of the Potomac and D.C., the second has Washington National Cathedral way in the background on the right.

Right next door to the center is The Watergate---remember that?

And, of course, nature can provide a show as well.

Inside there is a stage where Goo told me there are performances everyday so that visitors who aren't able to see one of the theatre presentations are able to see a performance at the Kennedy Center, free of charge. Isn't that great? This is a long shot of a band performing as we were leaving, and they weren't bad either.

Here is a view of the hallway outside the Opera House from our lofty viewing point. It was gorgeous.

I wish we could have taken pictures inside the Opera House, but it is forbidden, and I didn't want to risk having my camera confiscated. It is beautiful. And as I said before the sound is wonderful. From the moment the overture began we were captivated as was the packed house.

Neither of us had seen this musical staged, only the movie, so it was spellbinding to see the effects for Bali Hai, the beach and ocean, combat, etc. Carmen Cusack, our Nellie Forbush, is from Texas, and Lt. Joe Cable, Anderson Davis, is from Baton Rouge. We felt very at home.

One thing we thought was a liberty the company had taken with the script was to have Emile, David Pittsinger, do a wonderful parody of Nellie's "Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair." It gave Emile a more likable persona and brought the house down. Just hilarious!

We so enjoyed the afternoon and were still talking about it the next day. Wish you could have been there to enjoy it with us.