2019 Life Logs, Day 40: Off to See the Wizard
Date: Saturday, February 9, 2019
Weather: Sunny and Windy; High 36, Low 18 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
This afternoon the Goldstones and I were off to the see The Wizard of Oz in Concert, 
presented by the Cape Cod Symphony and the Cotuit Center for the Arts. The tickets were a Christmas present to Jonah from his Grammy Marti, and I am so happy that I was included. Thank you, Marti! The production was absolutely fabulous. The stage was filled with the Cape Cod Symphony with a big screen backdrop where scenery was projected.
The performers and chorus were dressed in costume and performed in front of the Symphony, sometimes weaving in and out of the Symphony performers, and sometimes weaving through the audience. You wouldn’t call it a play, but it wasn’t just a concert. It was the best of both. The projected images on the screen began just as the 1939 movie in sepia-colored scenes of Kansas wheat. Once Dorothy was ‘transported’ from Kansas and woke up in the Land of Oz the color appeared, just as it did in the movie. It is hard for me to decide which performer I favored. Dorothy had a beautiful voice, the Wicked Witch of the West couldn’t have been more wonderfully wicked, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion played their roles masterfully, and the Wizard was a delight. But if forced to have a favorite, mine would be the Scarecrow. Ray Bolger played the Scarecrow in the movie and I think he would have enjoyed today’s performance. There were a couple of lines, unchanged from the original movie, that got updated reactions. Dorothy asked the Scarecrow, “How can you talk if you haven’t got a brain?” The Scarecrow responded, just as he did in 1939, “Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don’t you think?” This brought a robust chuckle from the audience, I think in honor of our President! At another point when Glinda, the good witch, brings snow to subdue the effect the poppies were having on Dorothy and ‘friends’, the Cowardly Lion’s line, “Unusual weather we’re having, ain’t it?”, brought more chuckles. I’m sure all of us have said this more than once in the past few weeks. Cape Cod Symphony Artistic Director and Conductor, Jung-Ho Pak, along with David Kuehn, Executive Director of the Cotuit Center for the Arts and Producer of this production, make an excellent team. I will look forward to seeing more of their combined efforts
My morning was more of the same—exercise at home and then a trip to the gym to put in my daily 30 minutes of biking. The orthopedic surgeon ‘prescribed’ the daily biking leading up to the knee replacement, so I’m following the doctor’s orders. The purpose is to build the muscles, but it also takes the pain away for a short time. And anything that takes pain away is a good thing. Shortly after I got home, Karen and Peter Baranowski came to visit with their 4 grandchildren, all who have inherited the Baranowski height. Previously, I had only met their youngest, Will, who is almost 3 and as tall as Ollie who will be 7 in March. The oldest, Ellen, is 9, and she is as tall as me. Charlie is 5 and Ben is 7, and both of them are also off the height charts for kids their age. But then their father is 6’9 and their mother is 6’2, so they didn’t have much of a chance of being short! But kids are kids, no matter how tall. They were very excited about feeding the fish, checking out the bedroom that the Goldpebbles call their playroom, and heading down to the dock. I’m so glad I finally got to meet them. Delightful kids.
