Sa-tur- day NIGHT

 A truck load of thank-yous to Dahn and David

 for a wonderful night out last night. Dinner at Dinosaur BBQ

 and then a very moving night at the theater. The Rochester area is truly lucky to have a fantastic , very professional theater company in GEVA.

 Really, we have seen some amazing, Broadway quality shows there over the years. Last night was August Wilson's FENCES. 

I am embarrassed to say that this was my very first August Wilson play, ever. I mean, I knew who he was and all about the Pittsburgh plays, and Mr. Wilson's cultural impact. But had no idea of the power of this play. There is very little sugar coating of the African American experience here - no soft fade field of flowers ala Mr Spielberg's The Color Purple.This is real life for the Maxon family, in late 50's America. So much is coming, but they are far from there yet.

I had seen interviews with Mr. Wilson in the past, but had NO IDEA of his immense talent with the English language - the use of slang and the mix of old and new. The actors on the stage last night were very good, again, Broadway caliber, but the star of the show was by far the words on the page. The cadence, the spit-fire prose, the power of certain words.. I said in the ride home, it was close to Shakespearean. Mr. Wilson puts us in the heads of his characters... 2009 Upstate New York is - a long time ago in a galaxy far far away from 1957 Pittsburgh, but were were there for two hours last night. It's not always a nice place to be... but it was very real, very American.

I also love when four people can see the exact same play and walk away with such widely different opinions of what they watched. That does not happen with Mama Mia or Lion King.. not that there is anything wrong with them. I just very much enjoy straight up plays. Mr. Wilson left us way to young and  I hope I get the chance to see more of his work in the future.