It has been a week of cultural activities for us. Thursday night we attended the Center Stage production of Next to Normal, the rock musical. This Tony winning and Pultizer Prize musical tackles the family dynamics of a bipolar mother and wife. The two-story set is amazing and worth the price of admission. This was the second of the Center Stage season for us. We signed up for season tickets in September. The Amadeus production in the larger Pearlstone Theater was also very good.
Friday night we saw the Polish film, Ida, about a novice nun directed to meet her only relative, an alcoholic aunt, who informs her that she is Jewish. Saturday, we watched Draft Day, another movie in the Charlestown auditorium. I was surprised how good it was. Kevin Costner plays the general manager of the Cleveland Browns who has to make decisions about who he will draft for the season. Don’t let the sports theme keep you from seeing the movie. It was good.
Sunday, was another Chapel Concert with the LiveArts Maryland Annapolis Chorale directed by J. Ernest Green. Although we didnt have the full 180 chorus, we had more than the previous year. ‘t was a goose bump concert with selections from Carmina Burana. Director Green does a great job explaining the music. We discovered that Carmina Burana is the name given to a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century. Twenty-four poems in Carmina Burana were set to music by Carl Orff in 1936.
It is wonderful that we have these opportunities to enjoy music and film without leaving the campus.