Thoughts Day by Day

I finally got around to seeing "Perfect Crime", a murder mystery that has been running Off-Broadway since 1987 and is now the longest-running play in New York.  Not only that, but the original leading lady, Catherine Russell, has been playing the role of Dr. Margaret Thorne Brent for over 11,000 performances and is now in the Guinness Book of World Records.  She has only missed 4 performances in over 27 years. So, what's all the fuss?  It was just 'okay'.  Not anything to recommend.  I figured out most of the multiple 'mysteries' early on and I'm not much of a detective.  It lacked any suspense.  I thought Miss Russell was now much too old for the part.  It somehow felt like an amateur touring production of a 1930s play.  Miss Russell was at times on auto-pilot saying her lines and emoting as if she were phoning-in her performance.  Sometimes she yelled her lines when raising of her voice seemed totally inappropriate.  She just ...

I would not have expected the Scottish Independence vote would be so close.  But the polls show a dead heat.  We should know the results in a few hours.  All this because the Virgin Queen, Elizabeth I, refused to marry and so her Scottish cousin James VI inherited the English thrown uniting the two countries.  Even if the Independence movement loses by a few votes I am certain the referendum will return in a few short years.  Independence is supported by young Scots overwhelmingly and opposed by those over 65.  Time alone will guarantee secession as the older generation dies out. The implications, however, will be far-reaching.  There will now be no stopping the Catalonians and Basques in Spain, or the Walloons in Belgium from copying this movement.  Are there others in Europe?  A few decades ago the Quebecois almost separated from Canada until the popular (Quebec-born) Mulroney quelled that fire.  Might that moveme...

I haven't blogged in a long time.  But I am inspired to write about a refreshingly light and amusing romantic comedy with a New York Jewish theme I saw last night. Crossing Delancey by Susan Sandler was presented by Theatre Three in Port Jefferson. This is a play about Isabelle, a young Jewish woman who works in an Upper East Side bookstore and who has a big crush on a writer named Tyler.  Tyler often stops by the bookstore to check on how his books are selling.  But the self-absorbed and egotistical Tyler hardly notices Isabelle and usually cannot even remember her name. Regardless Isabelle is enraptured with Tyler and keeps hoping they can begin a more personal relationship.  Meanwhile Isabelle's Bubbie (Jewish grandmother), who lives in the Lower East Side, hires a local matchmaker to find a husband for Isabelle - against Isabelle's wishes. Hannah, the meddlesome matchmaker, selects Sam the local pick...