New York City: Art & Theater

 

Just my luck the day  we had theater tickets in New York City the temperatures climbed to the mid- 90’s—a record for October. I’d planned to stop in to a couple exhibits before dinner and wasn’t going to let the heat deter me.

First, I visited the Hauser & Wirth gallery in Chelsea to see the Amy Sherald: The Heart of the Matter exhibit.  Her portrait of Michelle Obama made her famous; and her star continues to rise. This eight -portrait exhibit is her first New York show. The space is enormous and her portraits are huge—and powerful. I love her titles. This one is “If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.”

  

This one is “Sometimes the king is a woman.”

I walked back uptown on the High Line—a lovely respite from the traffic- clogged streets. There artist Ryan Sullivan’s four abstract paintings adorn and complement the scenery.

 

I took the subway to 49^th street to pop into Lucy Sparrow’s Delicatessen on 6^th. This was a very low-calorie experience as everything is made from felt. Whimsical, fun and everything’s for sale.

By then I was really hot so I splurged on a taxi to Lincoln Center. I had time before dinner so cooled off in the NY Public Library branch based on the plaza and enjoyed the exhibit celebrating the late director Hal Prince.  Much of the show including letters – that lost art—and revealed so much about how he came to be and the history of musical theater.

We saw Robert Schenkkan’s The Great Society. It’s the sequel to his first play, All the Way. Both chronicle President Lyndon Johnson’s presidency. The first ends with the passage of the Voting Rights Act and the second begins with the creation of the Great Society programs. We’d seen the first one in New York years ago. Cast with 22 actors, some playing multiple roles, the play spans 1965-1968. Johnson had dreams for so many initiatives to help people—and many were foiled as funds were diverted to the Vietnam War. It’s history; it’s worth seeing.

 

 

 

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