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Titled -Lives Of The Gods: Divinity In Maya Art. Having just returned from a few weeks in Mexico where I saw a few important archeological sites, I was very interested in this new show. It’s beautifully arranged gorgeous objects and some large screen videos showing some of the sites.

It looked like a full house at the theater today. According to Playbill it’s played to 92.52%-full houses.

This award winning show is now on Broadway with music by the acclaimed composer Jeanine Tesori who wrote the scores for Fun Home, Caroline, or Change and many others. It’s a quirky sad/funny story about a 15 year old New Jersey high school student with a disease that ages her prematurely. She has the body of a 72 year old woman. Surrounded by a dysfunctional family and high school friends who are all nerds adds to her challenges.

I saw the original production in 1960. I’d never heard of the cast. Richard Burton, Julie Andrews and Robert Goulet. What I remember most was when the scenery changed from the castle to the forest scene right before your eyes and Morgan le Fay flew in on wires and the audience gasped. It was breathtaking.

You can’t take close up photos of Nefertiti but I managed to sneak this shot.

This is one of the truly great museums in the world. You could easily spend days here. The exhibits are breathtaking.

Opening January 19, 3 monumental photos murals, 10 x 35 feet will be on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Possibly one of the most over the top fashion designers Thierry Muglar had lots of fans. Madonna, David Bowie, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé just to name a few. There are a lot of large photos taken by just about every famous fashion photographer. If you’re looking for the perfect New Year’s Eve outfit this exhibit may inspire you.

For me the holidays don’t begin till I’ve seen the Rockettes doing their high kicks. Always great fun to see. Also the camels. https://www.rockettes.com/christmas

Ronald Lauder’s Neue Galerie specializes in Austrian and German art. It’s showpiece is the portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustav Klimt, the Woman in Gold, that Lauder purchased in 2006 for $135 million. At that point it was the highest price ever paid for a painting. That has since been eclipsed by a da Vinci for $450 million. The reason for todays visit however was an exhibit of Lauder’s other collections to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the museum. It’s quite an eclectic mix. Selections of Greek and Roman statues, medieval art, old master drawings and a very large collection of armor which is promised to the Met. Perhaps most surprising was this one gallery set up with his collection of posters and ephemera from the film Casablanca. I was scolded by a guard for taking a photo so it’s a bit blurry. It’s a really interesting exhibit and you still get to look at the Klimts. The Cafe Sabarsky at the museum is really good if you can get in. There’s always a long line. https://www.neuegalerie.org

Saw this afternoon’s matinee which appeared to be sold out. I got a 15th row center orchestra seat on the aisle on tdf for $57. So inexpensive. The show sticks pretty closely to the movie plot so no real surprises there. It tries hard with lots of energetic singing and dancing. Performers are all good. It has quite nice sets and costumes. The music was pretty lively while being performed but forgettable after it ended I think it may do well but it lacks the charisma of the movie’s original stars which just can’t be topped.

Sometimes size matters. The huge installation of Barbara Kruger’s type driven piece is impressive both to look down on and also to wander through. And read it.

I’m sorry to say, despite the good reviews I was disappointed in Cost of Living. The performers are all very good and I appreciate the casting of actors with physical issues. Hard to go into detail without giving away the plot. I hope everyone who sees it thinks it’s great. Just wasn’t me.

Beautiful, fascinating exhibit of art that was produced during the reign of the Tudors in England. Lots of sumptuous portraits of royals wearing astounding clothes. Also rugs, tapestries and some furniture and jewelry. It’s a terrific show.

Edward Hopper is I think the quintessential American painter and perhaps the quintessential New York City painter. So many wonderful cityscapes to see and museum goers were so talkative today. I heard a number of people say they knew where a painting was created and a few times I heard people say “I was born in that neighborhood”. It’s a wonderful show that deserves several viewings. I was especially taken with a display of magazine covers he created. His paintings are like stills from a movie that come with their own screenplay. The emotion from the people he painted comes pouring out from his canvasses.

The architectural development of the Basilica of Aquileia, dedicated to the Virgin Mary started in the years immediately after 313AD. The entire floor is a wonderful colored mosaic of the 4th century. With 760 square meters the floor is the largest Paleo-Christian mosaic of the western world. They’ve installed a glass walkway so you can walk over parts of the floor. The apsidal frescos date back to the first half of the 11th century.

Strictly speaking this is a church and not a museum but I thought deserves a mention. It is one of several churches in Ravenna that house perhaps the most magnificent 5th century mosaics in Europe.

Admission is about 20 euros and it’s best to buy tickets online as they sell out quickly. You get a 2 hour time limit so you have to choose your start time. It’s worth it just for the Bernini statues which are incredible.

Now at the Metropolitan Museum in NYC. The ancient Greeks and Romans lived in a much more colorful world than people realized. Thanks to scientific research on ancient statues we now know that all those white marble statues and even the bronze ones were painted in bright realistic colors.

Happy Birthday Cooper!

How ironic that all the things most of us wish for, beauty, youth, fame and fortune led him to years of depression. Happily he recovered and eventually accepted Wally. Reruns of Leave It To Beaver keep his image alive….ironically.

Somehow I must have missed the coat made of salmon skin.

This afternoon I spent a few hours on the campus of the University of British Columbia to visit the Museum of Anthropology. The big draw is the large hall of totem poles on display. However the hall is being reconstructed to make it earth quake proof. The totem poles are stil on display only horizontally. It was interesting to watch the video of workers wrapping and moving these enormous objects.

I do recommend the Fire Island book in my opening post. The early history and all the famous people who went there is really fascinating. I think sometime this summer/fall I’d love to go back and see what the scene is now .

I also spent time in Cherry Grove usually when I was by myself and didn’t have a house rental. Cherry Grove was a friendlier environment. In the Pines if you were looking for sex you had to have a few things going for you. You had to be young, you had to be beautiful, you had to have a perfect body and with luck a big dick. Without these you would be mostly ignored and invisible. However for me what worked was I didn’t care. Every morning while taking a stroll on the boardwalk, usually to shop at the Pantry, I’d give everyone I passed a big cheery good morning. It was rarely returned. While that would infuriate most people I thought it was funny. Especially after you’ve walked passed the same person several times and they’d begrudgingly say good morning back. I win ha ha. When I was with my husband and friends I didn’t really care about hooking up. Or the lack of it. It was all about the beach. A few times when I was by myself I’d stay at the Belvedere Guest House. It’s still there under new management. It’s about as over the top as you can get and often the guys who stayed there had a sense of humor and were friendlier. Not sure about now.