Illyria * * * *

This weekend we went to our favorite local stage in Emerson College to see musical "Illyria", an adaptation of Shakespeare's " Twelth Night". A funny, well done musical with lovely signing, costumes and actors with the familiar entangled plot based on misunderstandings and mistaken identity. And, of course romance!

It was one of the musicals that both Gwyneth and I thoroughly enjoyed. And thought I tried to explain from memory the story and succeeded to a degree, the program didn't provide the explanation -- so dust up on "Twelfth Night" plot before coming to the musical.

Esperanza Rising * *

Play-musical based on the book by Pam Munoz Ryan about a young Mexican girl, Esperanza, who immigrates for a better life to the US during the Great depression.

It was a little bit too grown up for a 6 year old as it tackled death, race discrimination and labor issues (picket lines were hard to explain)

However, all together it wasn't that bad: colorful production with nice costumes and decorations, beautiful songs by "mariachi band" and a relatively simple story to follow. Strange mixture of English and Spanish -- sort of Spanglish though was a turn off.

Fall season

Now that the summer is over, I am trying to organize the "cultural calendar" for the year. Our rule of thumb -- at least one cultural event a month, but these tend to cluster. So far on our list:

Boston Ballet (Giselle, World Passions, Coppelia)

Emerson Stage (Into the Woods)

and I am looking for Boston Lyric Opera

Anyone knows anything else that is happening?

Movies at the Esplanade * * *

Summer this year overdid the rain so far, so the first time that we were able to go for the Friday Free Flicks on Charles River was yesterday.

It turned out to be "Madagascar 2" -- a slightly annoying cartoon about a dancing lion, though the kids all around, including Gwenchik, loved it. I remember walking along the water, sprawling on the blanket with a few snacks in anticipation of the movie, then, after sundown, the large screen and the loud speakers transforming the Esplanade into a bit of magic.

Then, after the movie, walking across the bridge to the MIT side to find our car, watching our beautiful city lights reflected in the river and counting "how many smoots are in that bridge" -- priceless.

Cambridge River Festival * * *

Yet another family friendly festival in the vicinity. Again, we grabbed a friend and spend several hours perusing the small stalls, and running from one activity to another. This year a lot more kids activities (face paining, balloon animals) were for a fee than last year. But we found enough to entertain ourselves free of charge. The girls made puppets out of cups, watched a funny jungle performer, created elaborate masks, and made pretty sophisticated necklaces out of wires and beads.

On the way back Gwyneth said, that today they got to do so many things!

Earth Day on the Charles River * * *

We used to love to spend time on the Charles River -- rollerblading, listening to concerts, watching Friday flicks... and the last two years skipped our traditional outings in favor of spending time on the Cape.

However, this summer, Gwyneth is in Boston for most of June, so we headed to the Esplanade for the Earth Day celebrations with her friend. It turned out a lot of fun. Yes, you get the usual crowds in line for free food or samples, but you also get a separate stage for kid concert, face painting and planting seeds in yogurt cups to help the environment.

The girls actually spent a lot of time on the large playground a bit a way from the crowds, once all the activities were tried out. It was hard to persuade them to go home!

Magic Flute * * * *

We just got back from a delightful production by Boston Lyric Opera -- "Magic Flute". This was a family version, fully staged in one hour, with English subtitles scrolling on two small screens and a live orchestra. The hall was full of kids, who clapped and yelled, sometimes, over enthusiastically, bravo!

The decorations and the costumes we really great, and the dragon head was just spectacular. Mozart music is always nice, and the singing was good too. Gwyneth actually was able to follow along reading the subtitles for the most part, though, as usual, she knew the story by heart by the time we entered the concert hall.

Gwyneth liked Papageno character and signing, and I --- the Queen of the Night.

Jewels *

When I was buying the Boston Ballet subscription, the girl at the counter highly recommended "Jewels" ballet with lavish costumes and wonderful music. Well, never listen to the girl at the counter!

Even though it is a George Balanchine’s ballet, it was too long, too boring and the costumes were not that great. "Jewels" -- a full length ballet with three parts: Emeralds, Rubies and Diamonds. I normally really enjoy Balanchine but, I think, many aspects of Balanchine style were missing.

First, the “Emeralds” were listless and it was hard to tell what musical point the pas de trois was even trying to make. My daughter had a hard time staying focused and considering the uninspiring costumes, I am surprised she was able to sit through it.

Last ones, "Diamonds" had a little bit more life in them, and the solo's kept some of Gwyneth's attention. A friend of Gwyneth, another 5 year old, just fell asleep...

And the only part that stood out was the middle "Rubies" -- snapper music, bright red costumes; a lot more contrasting movements so the choreography stood out more. That was the one part that Gwyneth's remembered and liked.

All in all, this is not a ballet for a 5 year old, or for a 35 for that matter.

Much I do about nothing *

This was our second foray to Emerson Stage to see "Much I do about nothing" play and considering the overwhelming success of "Little Women" we were both really looking forward to this play. As usual, I explained this classic Shakespeare’s comedic play of love, misunderstanding and obstacles.

However, to my surprise and disappointment, Emerson College modernized the play by placing in in the middle of 1960, with main characters as sports jocks! There were too much of constant movement of scene decorations that left you dizzy, and while the furniture was moved, two hippie characters proclaimed strange, monologues about growing feminist and civil rights movement. Talk about confusing!!!

Gwyneth insisted on sitting through the entire play, just to make sure that Claudio and Hero would get together, but later admitted that musicals are better than some famous Shakespearean play.

Little Women * * * * *

Our first foray into the musical was "Little Women" based on Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel, on a small, cozy stage at Emerson College. This was the first time we have come to this small stage and because we were a bit late, we ended up sitting right in the front row! There is no "stage" per say and all the actors were signing just in front of us.

It was phenomenal! I had low expectations for a college musical and thought that we might need to sneak out earlier. The singing was wonderful, the costumes very detailed and the actress that played Jo was Gwyneth's favorite. As always I tried to explain the story to Gwyneth before hand, and surprisingly, she was able to follow most of it and emotionally connect to major characters. When one of the sisters dies, Gwyneth was ready to cry.

It was a pretty long production of about 2 hours, but Gwyneth didn't even want to get up during the intermission, as she was afraid she would miss something.

I would highly recommend this musical for a 5year old! Gwyneth keeps asking when can we go again to see Jo.

Museum of Fine Arts * * * *

For the New Year Santa gave Gwyneth a long awaited camera and the second day of the year we decided to go and check out a photography exhibit at MFA to see what camera can capture and bring to life.

There was an exhibit of renowned photographer Yousuf Karsh who photographed a lot of famous people like Winston Churchill (1941), Albert Einstein (1948), Pablo Picasso (1954), Georgia O’Keeffe (1956), Ernest Hemingway (1957), Jacqueline and John F. Kennedy (1960) and Sophia Loren (1981). Gwyneth couldn't relate much to most of these people, however, she did pause and appreciate a photograph of young Queen Elizabeth II and couldn't believe the queens exist in real life and not just fairy tales. On the way home I had to try and unearth anything I could remember on history of England and the country's kings and queens. Thank God, I remembered enough about Henry XIII...

So we wondered around these famous photographs, and on the way out of the exhibit stumbled upon another, contemporary photographic exhibit, which left a much deeper impression on my daughter. The most fascinating and memorable turned out to be about thirty snapshot collage of a person aging one shot at a time. We spent about twenty minutes looking, discussing and guessing on how and why of these pictures.