A Playwright’s Visit To The Theater District

Posted on 3/17/2013 by Robert S. Robbins

Yesterday I made my 23rd trip to New York City to explore the Theater District. Now that I have revived my old dream of becoming a playwright, these trips to New York City have a new sense of purpose. After spending so much time and money visiting New York City as a tourist it is great to put that knowledge to some practical use.

This trip was a virtual repeat of my last trip to New York City. However I did have a new list of establishments to locate after reading The Back Stage Guide To Broadway by Robert Viagas. That book is a little out-of-date but still useful for finding the hidden gems in the theater district.

I read the play After The Revolution by Amy Herzog on the four hour bus ride to New York City. That should have been enough time to finish reading the play but I had to wait until the sun came up since we left Williamsport at 5:30 a.m. This play was published by Smith and Kraus Inc for Playwrights Horizons, the theater I was planning to visit, which is why I brought it along.

The first thing I did upon arriving in New York City was to photograph the Broadway Theater on the corner of West 53rd Street and Broadway. This theater is interesting because its Art Deco sign actually uses the Broadway font, my favorite font of course. This theater was on my list but I was actually looking for the Carolines comedy club which I found a little later. I also took a photo of the Ed Sullivan Theater with its big Late Show with David Letterman sign. Then I made my way to Times Square and climbed the steps of the TKTS ticket booth to take some obligatory photos.

But then I made one of the more important stops on my pilgrimage and found the birthplace plaque of the playwright Eugene O’Neill.  This is one of the hidden gems I learned about from reading The Back Stage Guide To Broadway. The plaque is actually located on the outside wall of a Starbucks at 1500 Broadway, right under the JVC Globe. It is very hard to spot unless you know it is there. Eugene O’Neill wasn’t born in a Starbucks. There used to be a hotel there.

Eugene O'Neill Plaque

Eugene O’Neill is my favorite American playwright. I have a small collection of books on O’Neill and I’ve read several biographies on his life. I like his work because he wrote many tragedies and he was something of a mystic. He wrote many plays in which a mystic plays out a tragic fate. For example, Dynamo is a strange play in which the main character tries to find god in electricity and the dynamos in a hydro-electric plant. Unfortunately most of O’Neill’s plays on the spiritual quest are forgotten. Anyway, this plaque on Broadway indicates where O’Neill was born but you don’t feel anything special there because Times Square is so different from the Broadway he knew. Everything is buried under giant billboards and massive digital signs that bombard you with advertisements.

After that I located the Shubert Theatre, one of the most famous theaters on Broadway and a landmark that represents the entire Theater District. Of course, I saw this theater on my last trip and took a few photos but it was late at night and my photos did not turn out so well. The Shubert Theatre is currently running Matilda the Musical, based on a children’s book by Roald Dahl. I also took some photos of the posters along Shubert Alley but unfortunately these photos are blurry. One poster caught my eye, the poster for The Nance at the Lyceum Theatre, starring Nathan Lane as a burlesque impresario. That sounds interesting.

I then had breakfast at Café Edison. There is nothing terribly remarkable about Café Edison on West 47th Street but according to The Back Stage Guide To Broadway this is where many theater workers come to eat. I ordered Eggs Benedict which I kind of regretted because it was too much greasy food for me after having my gall bladder removed. Café Edison is sort of a shabby New York City diner but I guess it is more authentic than the Times Square restaurants which overcharge the tourists.

After breakfast I was debating with myself on whether to visit the Empire State Building on this trip. I wondered if I would have enough time before my Playwrights Horizons play began at 2:30 p.m. And I didn’t want to revert back to tourist mode. But in the end I decided to visit the Empire State Building which was fortunate because the viewing conditions were good in the morning but it began to snow in the evening when the play was over. I really rushed downtown and even managed to get to the 86th floor of the Empire State Building in surprisingly short order. I took lots of amazing photos of New York City so it was totally worth it. It was actually very crowded on the observation deck of the Empire State Building. I forgot to mention that there was a St. Patrick’s Day parade going on in New York City so I saw crowds of tourists wearing the green everywhere.

From the Empire State Building I quickly made my way back to the Theater District using the subway. I then proceeded to locate and photograph a few more establishments on my list. For example, I took many photos of Times Scare on 42nd Street near the Port Authority Bus Terminal. However, I was not really interested in Times Scare, an overpriced haunted house. I was interested in the Manhattan Repertory Theatre which occupies a space in the same building. I also located the Second Stage Theatre nearby which is easy to overlook because the first floor has various retail establishments so you don’t notice that the building is a theater. This is why I spend so much time locating theaters and other interesting establishments. There are a lot of places hidden away in the Theater District.

Based on my sales receipt I know I visited the Drama Book Shop at 11:49 a.m. where I spent $54.92 on some books and a magazine. I bought Five Modern No Plays by Yukio Mishima because I’m interested in Japanese theater. I’ve been watching a few Japanese movies based on Kabuki. And I bought New Dramatists Best Plays by the Graduating Class of 2001 because New Dramatists is one of  the more important institutions for playwrights. I located their church building on my previous trip. Another book I bought was A Bright New Boise by Samuel D. Hunter because I liked his play The Whale which I read. The magazine I selected was The Dramatist: The Regional Theatre Issue. I used to be a member of the Dramatist Guild back in the 1990s but I have not applied to rejoin yet because I don’t think there is any need for it at the moment.

After that bit of shopping I remember that I decided to go to a restaurant to kill some time before the Saturday afternoon matinée performance of the play I had selected to see on this trip, The Flick, at Playwrights Horizons. I walked all the way to Kodama Sushi on West 45th Street but they were closed. According to my notes they should have been open by then on Saturday but a sign on the door showed they did not open until 5:00 p.m. So I decided to go to Bourbon Street again, mainly just to use their bathroom. At Bourbon Street they were playing TV footage of the St. Patrick’s Day parade on their huge flatscreen TVs. It must have been live coverage because it was snowing on the parade and I could see it snowing outside the restaurant. The restaurant was all decorated for St. Patrick’s Day. I ordered a glass of white wine and the Alligator In A Blanket which is really tasty.

By the time I was done eating it was snowing really hard but fortunately I had a ski-mask and some small gloves crammed into my coat pocket. Needless to say I did not pull down the ski-mask in New York City! I just wore it as a hat. I arrived at the Playwrights Horizons covered in snow. I was glad to attend a three hour play because it meant three hours without being in the snow.

Attending a play at Playwrights Horizons was the highlight of my trip. I was interested in this theater since it is devoted to the playwright. I’ve bought a few of their books so I know they do good work. For example, I bought their published edition of Samuel D. Hunter’s The Whale which was one of the best plays I’ve read lately. That play required a morbidly obese actor or an actor in a fat suit so you can tell that Playwrights Horizons is willing to do challenging work which requires an investment in stage design and costume. The Flick was also a play which required an elaborate stage design.

I’m glad I selected The Flick as my third play to see in New York City because it was something special, special enough for this special occasion. My ticket cost me $80.00 which seems pretty steep for Off-Broadway and the play ran for three hours but I think it was worth it. The stage design for The Flick was really interesting and kind of magical. You walked into the theater and found a few rows of seats on the stage which almost matched the theater seats. I thought about joking that my ticket was for a seat on the stage where I would be in the play as an actor. This is a brilliant stage design because it is practically a form of self-reference. It would be cool to watch a play about a theater audience, seated onstage so as to mirror the actual theater audience. That would really mess with people’s head.

The Flick by Annie Baker is a great play about the mundane lives of the working poor. I could totally relate to the characters because I used to have a shitty job like that. It is amazing how Annie Baker managed to find the drama in that situation. It is a great example of how to find the dignity and pathos in the lives of people labeled “losers”. I’m not sure if you will ever see this play in a community theater because it requires an expensive set design. Even the lighting design was kind of amazing because the play begins with the blinding light from the film projector and the triumphal music of a big budget film. This was surprisingly effective and exhilarating. One of the actors, Mathew Maher, also played in David Henry Hwang’s Golden Child which I saw on my previous trip. The Signature Theatre is just down the street from Playwrights Horizons.

Now it is time to reflect on my passion for theater. The purpose of this trip was to rekindle my passion for theater. Exploring the Theater District is a great way to experience the physical reality of Broadway, to make it seem real and to see yourself as being there. So far I have written 14 ten minute plays in the last four months so I’m pleased that I have managed to do the writing. But I have not received any real encouragement yet. Maybe I am just wasting my time.

But regardless of my actual involvement with New York theater, which may never happen, I have decided to carry on with my project of making it part of my creative life. My creative life goes on regardless of whether I think about it or plan it. I can’t help but be inspired and I have become addicted to inspiration. I am really enchanted with the fruits of my inspiration and I spend a lot of time and money pursuing that sense of enchantment. It does not matter what object I use for inspiration. It could be theater or it could be something else. New York City itself is a great object for inspiration. So I don’t feel that theater has any power over me. Theater may only offer me discouragement but it will not matter. The important thing is, can I continue to draw inspiration from the theater?

Unfortunately theater has forgotten its duty to create a sense of enchantment. Few people regard theater as being anything sacred because the theater has rejected its role as the sacred space where the sacred will be revealed to you. But fortunately I understand the real potential of theater and I can make it a sacred space in my imagination. Now the question is, should I continue to write plays? I have not considered this to be essential. A theater that is to exist only in your imagination has no need of a script. But I can see how this might be wrong. A fantasy theater has a tendency to be formless and writing a script gives form. So maybe playwriting is not a pointless exercise.

But back to the narrative of my trip to New York City which lasted for a few more hours. After the play was over it was still snowing outside so I decided to return to Kodama Sushi which would be open by then. Kodama Sushi was another restaurant recommended in The Back Stage Guide To Broadway as a popular place for a meal after a show. Kodama Sushi was kind of amazing due to my recent interest in Japanese theater. Kodama Sushi was very Japanese. I was even able to order a glass of sake which is something I’ve been meaning to try. I had to eat my sushi with chopsticks. I was thinking of asking for a fork but I did not see anyone else eating with a fork. I will have to order some chopsticks at home and learn how to eat with them. New Yorkers seem sophisticated enough to know how to eat with chopsticks. It must be one of the skills they learn living in the big city.

I spent the last few hours wandering around Times Square dazzled by the bright lights and all that jazz. I did see a scary drunken fight break out near the Muse Hotel on West 46th Street. This was sort of expected with everyone drinking for St. Patrick’s Day.

In conclusion, this trip was exhilarating and that is what I was really after. It is fuel for the fire. I also made additional observations in the field and advanced my research on the New York City theater scene. I am fortunate to live on the East Coast where I can visit New York City fairly often. Many people may only go to New York City once in their lifetime and don’t have the opportunity to thoroughly explore the Theater District to find its hidden gems. Maybe some day I will have to find my way to a theater because they are doing my play. I shall be well prepared for that day.

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The Whale–Samuel D. Hunter

Posted on 2/17/2013 by Robert S. Robbins

I was going to review this play on Amazon but I bought this book from Playwrights Horizons. The book was published by Productions In Print, a print-on-demand publisher, so it is a book without an ISBN and cannot be found on Amazon.

I should write an essay on this play that begins, “I was very saddened by this book, and I felt many emotions for the characters”. That is an actual line from the play. The main character, Charlie, a morbidly obese man, is trying to reconnect with his angry daughter by forcing her to write essays. So the play is essentially about using writing to form a connection with others. This is a good theme for a playwright who hopes to form a connection with the audience through his writing.

But I did not see this play performed in the theater. I remember seeing a poster for The Whale when I walked past the Playwrights Horizons theater on my trip to New York City.  I took a photo of the Playwrights Horizons theater and perhaps that will be my only connection with the place. Maybe I’ll only ever see the exterior of the place.

The Whale is an important symbol in the play but I’m not sure what the whale is meant to represent. Charlie is obviously the size of a whale. Ellie’s essay is on the book Moby Dick; or, The Whale. And the biblical story of Jonah who was swallowed by a whale while trying to escape the call of God, plays an important part in the play. Maybe Samuel D. Hunter isn’t too clear on the meaning of his symbolism himself or left it deliberately vague to confound the critics. But my guess is that the whale represents something big, like God, and our failure to connect with God destroys us.

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Brooding During “A Chorus Line”

Posted on 2/7/2013 by Robert S. Robbins

I have just returned from seeing “A Chorus Line” at the Community Arts Center. I have been looking forward to this night for a month. Williamsport has a lot of theater for a city its size, but I still only get a chance to see a musical or a play every once in a blue moon. You certainly can’t go to the theater every night in Williamsport.

The Community Arts Center is an impressive theater. It is larger than some Broadway theaters and about as grand as a theater can be. Unfortunately I don’t go there often because they program the worst dreck they can find. Maybe this is actually typical of what is offered in any regional commercial theater, but I can’t see paying $40.00 for something I won’t like. But “A Chorus Line” is definitely worth seeing because I’ve been exploring Broadway on my trips to New York City.

I could barely pay attention to the show because I fell to brooding during the entire performance. All during the show, I thought about the one act play I recently submitted to the Pittsburgh New Works Festival. I can’t tell you too much about that play because it is suppose to be anonymous for the judging process. Therefore I cannot put anything on the Internet to tie me to the script. But my play wrestled with some the same issues that are explored in “A Chorus Line” so I began to brood about that.

I struggled to get into playwriting back in 1995 but eventually got discouraged and gave it up. I decided it wasn’t worth it. But sometimes you avoid one form of tragedy only to suffer another form of tragedy. I did not completely forget the theater. Once I began to travel I always researched the theaters in the cities I planned to visit. I would locate these theaters and take a photo (mostly because theaters neglect to put any decent photos of the building on their web sites). And when possible, I would see a play in a theater in the big city. That really requires an overnight trip so I can’t do that often.

I have stifled my genius because I could not bear to yearn for the theater too deeply. That was too painful for me. But if the theater speaks to your soul it will eat at you to abandon it. This is expressed beautifully in “A Chorus Line” so it made me really sad to watch the drama unfold. Fortunately, I think that if the theater speaks to your soul that powerfully then it is resonating with some greatness within you. At the end of “A Chorus Line” the dancers come out in their dazzling, glittering costumes and the audience goes wild. I thought to myself, “You fools. That is just fake sparkle and a little song and dance. I could show you so much more than that. Give me your stage. Give me your stage and I will astonish you!”.

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A Jungian Approach To Literature

Posted on 2/5/2013 by Robert S. Robbins

I have finally begun to read “A Jungian Approach To Literature” by Bettina L. Knapp. I have owned this book for a long time but I’ve only recently gotten around to reading it. This book includes a few Jungian interpretations of plays. I’ve read the first chapter on Euripides The Bacchants which is a classic example of the shaman archetype. I wanted to read the chapter on William Butler Yeats’ play At The Hawk’s Well but I discovered that my paperback book of Yeats plays did not include that play. So I had to order a book of Yeats’ complete plays. Hmm, I just checked my database and found that I have read At The Hawk’s Well. Maybe it is in one of my many collections of World Drama.

I respect Jungian psychology because you can easily find hundreds of examples of the archetypes expressed in myth, stories, and even popular culture. In other words, the theory seems very sound and genuinely useful for understanding the mysteries of human nature. It is almost frightening to see how consistently certain patterns will play out in the psyche, whether you are aware of it or not. It is no secret that Hollywood uses Jungian psychology to create compelling entertainment. I am also reading “The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, 3rd Edition” by Christopher Vogler. This is a popular book for screenwriters because it gives you a formula for writing a story that will have a definite psychological impact upon the audience.

Today I ordered the book “Way of the Actor: A Path to Knowledge and Power” by Brian Bates. I was looking for a book on the psychology of the actor because actors are the gatekeepers of the theater community. Everyone in a position to make a decision in the theater is an actor. The playwright is expected to write for the actor. You might argue that the playwright should write for the audience but the play will never be seen by an audience if the writing is not in service to the actor. I’m being cynical, but I don’t think theaters are interested in what their audience wants. The theater is all about the actor. So it is very important to know what makes the actor tick. What does the actor secretly want? You may think the answer is simple. The actor is an attention whore and just wants to stand in the spotlight and be adored by the audience. But depth psychology tries to get to the fundamental layer of being, the archetypes. The actor may want to appear godlike, a manifestation of the sacred, and be worshiped by the audience. And the audience will indulge the actor because they feel spiritually empty and need something greater than themselves to worship. Greek hero worship was actually a form of religion which raised man to the gods. But I digress, the “Way of the Actor” book sounds really intriguing based on the book description, “Brian Bates believes that this is still the case today”” that actors and actresses fulfill an important function in our culture as modern-day seers and shamans. He portrays the actor as a creator of visions who transports spectators out of their habitual ways of being and leads them on a journey of self-discovery.”

I don’t want to be an actor, but an actor stands at the threshold I mean to cross and the way to get by the guardian of the threshold is through cunning. I have to write something for the actor that promises to give him what he secretly desires. Maybe a monologue that can be used for an audition. There is even an app for that! I sometimes think plays are only published to give actors monologues for their auditions. I should probably figure out how to write a killer monologue. Maybe the actor wants a piece of dialogue that is as eloquent as poetry. Then it has to be a poem from the soul of an actor. Maybe the actor wants a part that will make him a star. Then you have to write a role that permits the actor to outshine everyone else.

This is a major challenge because you can’t be too obvious in pandering to the actor. Actors spend all day thinking about the motivations of their character so they are versed in pop psychology. They will easily spot an obvious attempt to flatter the actor. Fortunately Jungian psychology excels in suggesting various ways to express an archetype through symbols.

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Two In Italy by Maud Howe–A Book Review

Posted on 1/11/2013 by Robert S. Robbins

I promised myself that I would actually read the expensive book I bought at the Complete Traveler Antiquarian Bookstore during a trip to New York City and write a review. I bought this book for $75.00 on October 27 2012 after visiting the Morgan Library and Museum which gave me a hankering for old books. Two In Italy was published in 1905 by Little, Brown and Company in Boston. The author’s full name was Maud Howe Elliott. More information on her can be found at Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame.

Two-In-Italy

I am perhaps the only person alive to have read this forgotten old book. You won’t find any reviews of this book online. There is no information on its contents to be found anywhere, although you can apparently find some e-book versions because its copyright has expired.

Two In Italy is somewhat similar to the work of Henry James who also wrote about his travels in Italy. The writing style is completely different but Maud Howe Elliott and Henry James were contemporaries and they were both Americans living in Italy. Two In Italy is a collection of travel stories. It is a vexing book to read because it lacks any proper introduction to the characters. Even after reading the entire book I still have no idea who J or Patsy were.

The first chapter is entitled Anacrap’. As far as I can determine, this chapter takes place in Anacapri, a comune on the island of Capri. This chapter contains an amusing story of a monkey holding a furry white rabbit as a muff to keep itself warm.

The second chapter is entitled The Inn of Paradise. A church of St. Agnese is described which must be Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo in Anacapri, Capri, Italy. This church has a mosaic floor of painted majolica tiles featuring animals and an unicorn which is clearly a description of Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo’s tile floor. You can see a photo at http://www.afar.com/highlights/its-all-about-the-floor. Two In Italy is not much of a travel guide but at least it led me to discover that tile floor.

The third chapter is entitled Buona Fortuna and concerns the mystery of some wine by that name. The fourth chapter is entitled The Castello. Castello is the Italian word for castle. A Prince Montefiascone owns the castle. Montefiascone is a town and comune of the province of Viterbo, Italy, located on a hill on the southeast side of Lake Bolsena so the castle must be the Castle of Bolsena. On page 96 there is a clue that this is indeed the castle, “…it’s the Castello in the background; I can even make out the five towers and the lake.“. There are also some clues in this chapter on the era in which this book was written. King Umberto I of Italy is mentioned and he reigned from 1878 to 1900. Pope Leo XIII is also mentioned and his papacy began in 1878 and ended in 1903.

Chapters five and six are both entitled Savonarola Finnerty (What I Heard of Him) and describes the misadventures of an artist who goes to Venice to escape an epidemic of cholera in Naples which threatens to spread to Rome. There is no information on the true identify of this artist to be found online since all references to him point back to the book Two In Italy but he apparently created a colossal sculpture of The Oversoul which he shipped to the United States. This statue was intended for the White City by the Lake, a reference to the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, “…then still a dream, now a glorious memory.”

Chapter seven is entitled The Hermit of Pietro Anzieri and describes how an Italian American finds a bride in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. The rivalry between Roccaraso and Pescocostanzo gives this chapter a kind of Romeo and Juliet drama. The final chapter eight is entitled In Old Poland so it does not even concern Italy. This chapter reads the most like a pure travel diary and contains amusing descriptions of Germany before the World Wars.

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Philip Goes Forth–The Damned Foolery Of Playwriting

Posted on 12/30/2012 by Robert S. Robbins

While researching the Philadelphia theater community I came across the forgotten playwright, George Kelly, who wrote a play entitled The Torch Bearers to satirize the Little Theatre Movement. The Plays and Players Theater in Philadelphia is supposedly the community theater that play satirizes. But I was more interested in his play about a playwright with no talent, Philip Goes Forth. I managed to find a copy of this play published in 1931 by Samuel French.

Philip Goes Forth is a curious play. It moralizes against dilettantism in the theater and basically argues against pursuing a dream of becoming a playwright, this by a writer who was fairly successful as a playwright. It seems very arrogant for a playwright to lecture dilettantes in this fashion. But this is an old play which reflects an old fashioned view on things. For example, Philip’s father dismisses his son’s ambitions with the line “It’s a lot of damned foolery.” which sounds like something your grandfather would say.

Playwriting is a hobby, not a profession, because you cannot make a living at it. This has been true for decades as this old play illustrates. George Kelly seems determined not to permit you to have any illusions about that. His main character, Philip, has a head for business and a dream of writing plays but George Kelly makes it clear that Philip should stick to business. “You’re a business man, Philip, – gone wrong.” Philip is shown the error of his ways by the example of a discouraged musician who shoots himself at their boarding house. George Kelly does provide an example of the true artist in the figure of Miss Krail, an eccentric poet, who is too mad to care about her future. “Nobody has to worry about her future; it’ll be all the same to La Krail, whether it’s a palace or a park bench. She’s got something to save her against it.”

Every character in this play reveals a secret dream to write plays, a dream they have been wise enough to ignore. I suppose you could account for George Kelly’s peculiar perspective by remembering that the Great Depression forced people to become more hard headed and practical. Nowadays you would not encourage a young person to pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree because it would leave him heavily in debt with no job prospects. But George Kelly seems incredibly harsh and unsympathetic to the dying of a dream.

Personally, I do not question my vision although I may doubt my talent. In other words, my imagination is quite impressive if I do say so myself, and I am only willing to entertain doubts about my mastery of a particular craft. I am easily inspired and my inspiration shows me some incredible things which could only exist if I were to create them. George Kelly was one of those artists who did not understand vision. He strikes me as someone hopelessly fixated on the mastery of the craft. He was the sort of artist for whom genius lies in the brushstrokes and not in the dream of the painting. Philip Goes Forth is a well written play but George Kelly is a forgotten playwright because he was out of sympathy with theater folk.

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Off Broadway Trip

Posted on 12/9/2012 by Robert S. Robbins

Yesterday I made my 22nd trip to New York City. The purpose of this trip was to explore the theater district more thoroughly. I wanted to locate and photograph many theaters, particularly Off Broadway theaters in the Hell’s Kitchen area.

Unfortunately the trip got off to a bad start because after parking in the parking deck I realized I had forgotten my camera. I was really pissed off at myself for forgetting my camera because I needed it for an important aspect of the trip. I usually bring my camera in a small shoulder bag that I use for my small electronics. I was too focused on my iTouch and new cell phone to notice that I’d forgotten to put the damn camera in the bag.

So the first thing I had to do in New York City was spend several hundred dollars on the unnecessary purchase of a new camera. Fortunately there are many stores in New York City selling electronics; cell phones, digital cameras, lap tops, and all the other electronic gear that is so popular now. I only had to cross the street from where the bus dropped me off to find a little store selling digital cameras. I bought a Fujifilm FinePix JX400 for less than $200.00 with a 4 GB SD Card. This is comparable to my regular Canon PowerShot A1300 which I forgot to bring. However, it does have one major drawback. It uses a rechargeable camera battery instead of the AA batteries the Canon PowerShot uses. This meant that later on I had to find another camera store to buy an additional camera battery which was expensive. I have to admit that the Fujifilm FinePix does seem to take better pictures than the Canon PowerShot. The camera store sales person thought I was French and tried to speak French with me which was funny.

The first photo I took was a photo of Ellen’s Stardust Diner and the Iridium Jazz Club next door to it. The Stardust Diner has become a significant landmark to me because the bus always leaves us off in its vicinity so I’ve seen this restaurant on every trip to New York City. I never noticed the small Iridium Jazz Club until I researched the area for this trip. Unfortunately most of their shows start at 8:00 pm which is usually when my bus leaves. At this point I should mention that I have begun to research overnight trips to New York City. I could drive to New Jersey and take public transportation into the city. There are several motels and hotels in New Jersey which are far cheaper than anyplace you will find in Manhattan. But this requires navigating the massive New Jersey highway system which gets quite confusing in the greater metropolitan area and knowing the New Jersey public transportation system; PATH subway, buses, hotel shuttles, etc.

After that I headed to Times Square. Native New Yorkers avoid Times Square like the plague but it becomes more significant if you are interested in Broadway Theater. A lot of the billboards and digital signs are advertising Broadway shows, and Times Square is where you will find the TKTS ticket booth selling discount tickets for Broadway shows. I spent a lot of time here because I wanted to familiarize myself with which street the Broadway theaters were located on in relation to Times Square. For example, I was interested in the Paramount Building because it houses the offices of the Dramatists Guild. The ground floor of the Paramount Building is taken up by a Hard Rock Café and if you don’t do your homework this building will go unnoticed as a commercial establishment. It is important to note that this is on the southern end of Times Square while the TKTS ticket booth is on the north end. Going towards the southern end takes you to 42nd Street where many of the Off Broadway theaters are located. The distinctive Yahoo! sign is gone from the south end of Times Square so don’t look for that.

Paramount Building

One of the more interesting streets I explored was West 45th Street where two of David Mamet’s plays are currently running. His play The Anarchist is a flop at the Golden while just down the street his play Glengarry Glen Ross is a huge hit at the Schoenfeld Theatre because Al Pacino is starring in it. But I also located the home of New Dramatists and the nearby Actor’s Studio. There was a limousine trying to park across the street from the Actor’s Studio which led me to think a movie star was visiting.

New Dramatists

At 12:00 I went to the Theatre Row Diner for lunch. Although located on West 42nd Street it is closer to the many Off Broadway theaters on that street than to the Broadway theaters around Times Square. Fortunately the restaurant was not too crowded and I was able to get a seat. It has a nice interior with photos of Marilyn Monroe. I ordered the Grilled Chicken Louisiana club sandwich which was a little too big for me to eat. Lunch only cost me $15.00 so this is definitely a more affordable option than the fancy restaurants I visited on my last trip.

After lunch I went to the Drama Book Shop for a little shopping. This bookstore is the best place in the city to find books of plays, although I think it mostly caters to actors. I had intended to look for the work of Steven Berkoff, an experimental British playwright famous for playing villains in major movies, but unfortunately I forgot his exact name. Well – I don’t think they had anything by him anyway because I did look in the Bs. Instead I bought the centennial issue of The Dramatist published by the Dramatists Guild of America.  I used to belong to this organization back in 1995 but I stopped paying dues. I also bought Plays From Playwrights Horizons: Volume Two because Playwrights Horizons was one of the Off Broadway theaters I located on 42nd Street. This bookstore even has a small performance space and I think something was going on during my visit because I could hear it.

Playwrights Horizons

Then it was time for the highlight of my trip, a matinée (i.e. afternoon performance), of a play by a playwright I’m familiar with at an Off Broadway theater. I selected the Signature Theatre Company because they have a new and impressive facility, the Pershing Square Signature Center, with three stages, a café, and even a book store. It is rare for a theater to have its own bookstore but I love the concept! The reason for that may lie in the Signature Theatre Company’s unusual practice of devoting an entire season to a single playwright’s work. In other words, they give the playwright a lot of love. I wanted to see The Piano Lesson by August Wilson because that playwright is associated with Pittsburgh PA but unfortunately that play was sold out on that day. Fortunately I did manage to get a seat for Golden Child by David Henry Hwang. I’m not entirely unfamiliar with David Henry Hwang because I must have read some of his shorter plays in some anthology; his name appears in my reading list database. Before the show began I bought a copy of the play at the Signature Theatre Company’s bookstore which was much smaller than it appears from the online photo. The Golden Child was a great play! It was like a trip to Chinatown, only better. I had a center balcony seat so I had a godlike perspective on the human drama being played out. I especially liked the scenes with ghosts so maybe I should write a play with ghosts. I like the supernatural aspect of that. The only complaint I have with the Pershing Square Signature Center is that they don’t have a coat check so everyone had to arrange their winter coats and shopping bags around their seats. I was actually too bundled up for the day because it was extremely warm in New York City for December. I could have been comfortable with a light jacket and I never even put on my winter hat.

After the play my next destination was the Empire State Building. Frankly, it was a big mistake to visit the Empire State Building that day. I feared that it would be bitterly cold that high up but the actual problem was zero visibility. Everyone in the building was warning visitors about the zero visibility but I decided to go up anyway. Unfortunately they weren’t kidding and you couldn’t see anything at all. There was just a solid white wall of fog. Looking straight down you could barely see some traffic. I forgot to mention that coming in to New York City was also disappointing because you could not see the skyline from the New Jersey approach roadway, The Helix. Where the New York City skyline should have been there was just a solid wall of white fog as if the city had disappeared. I did pick up my Empire State Building Official Souvenir Book which I ordered online with my ticket only to get a voucher which I had to present at the ticket counter. I also bought a New York City Digital Postcard at the Empire State Building. I decided to buy this because I was tired of searching online for quality photos of NYC landmarks.

Empire State Building

For the rest of the trip I just hung out on Times Square like any other tourist. I saw the famous Naked Cowboy in Times Square. He was still practically naked because it wasn’t too cold. He was banging a bongo drum while a belly dancer danced. There were all sorts of other street performers including Mickey and Minnie Mouse, the Statue of Liberty, Batman, and even the Predator. The Predator tapped me on the shoulder when I was in his way at a crosswalk. I also saw a few camera crews filming a professional entertainment reporter (or so I assume).

To conclude, this trip was certainly very inspirational. I’ve been giving some thought recently on how to sustain my interest in playwriting. I know some powerful techniques to develop and stoke an obsession but it is difficult to maintain my interest in something for long. I’ve been thinking that I really need to dream of a fantasy theater, a theater that would be more profound and mysterious than anything that exists, and then work on creating material for that vision of a theater. This has the advantage of allowing for a mythos. In order to sustain an obsession you really need to satisfy the mythic imagination. You need to be dealing with matters of high significance and commercial entertainment and even literature often can’t touch that.

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The Threepenny Opera For $12.00

Posted on 11/14/2012 by Robert S. Robbins

Tonight I paid twelve dollars for a three penny opera. That is how much prices have been inflated since 1928 when this musical was first written. The Threepenny Opera is the most famous work of the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht. I have read twenty three of Bertolt Brecht’s plays so it was a thrill to finally see one performed live. During my trip to Berlin I could have visited the Berliner Ensemble but unfortunately I did not find time for that. However, it is interesting that The Threepenny Opera is set in SoHo, London and I did visit that neighborhood during my trip to London. That is part of the thrill of travel.

I forgot to mention that I saw this musical at the Mary L. Welch Theatre on the campus of Lycoming College.

The costumes and set design for this production were very elaborate and professional. The entire cast wore Cabaret style makeup which made them look like zombies. I actually found this the most fascinating aspect of the show. I am strangely fascinated by theatrical makeup and the Expressionistic aesthetic of this production was very surreal. It gave the show just the right touch of German decadence. "The Ballad of Mack the Knife" was a catchy tune which sounded very familiar. I may buy a DVD and cast recording CD of The Threepenny Opera later on. Tom Ryersbach played the part of Jonathan Peachum. I recognized him from many Community Theater League performances.

Hopefully the residual inspiration of this musical will encourage me to continue writing ten minute plays. I am working on one now for a playwriting contest which I’m eager to finish. I am also still expanding my travel notes on New York City to include more Off Broadway theaters. My next trip to New York City will probably be a tour of the Off Broadway theaters but I don’t know if I can find an actual show to attend in the afternoon. However I can visit the Drama Book Shop again and have lunch at the Theatre Row Diner. New York City has always been a major theater city.

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Writing Ten Minute Plays

Posted on 11/12/2012 by Robert S. Robbins

I have begun to write ten minute plays. I used to be interested in playwriting but I eventually got discouraged. I have decided to get back into playwriting because there are new opportunities. After I have written enough ten minute plays I can gather them into an ebook and sell it on Amazon. I have to admit, this does not seem very worthwhile because every book of plays I have recently purchased had no reviews on Amazon. Anyway, writing a ten minute play only requires writing ten pages of dialogue so it does not require much effort.

During my research for trips to major cities, I gathered a lot of information on theaters. I know the location of various theaters in New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh. I even include theater in my language learning by buying plays written in French, German or Italian and books about French theater. I recently bought a book on Italian theater. I have been expanding my New York City travel notes to include more Off Broadway theaters and I may visit the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood on my next trip because there are many small theaters there.

I have bought a few books to help me to write and market ten minute plays. I have a fairly large collection of play collections but I did not have a collection of ten minute plays so I bought, 2010 The Best 10-Minute Plays (Contemporary Playwrights Series) edited by Lawrence Harbison. I picked this book because it has fifty one plays and it is fairly contemporary. It should give me a good idea of what subject matter and style are popular for ten minute plays.

I also bought the latest copies of the dramatist market guides. I’m familiar with these market guides from my previous playwriting which must have been way back in 1995 because that is the old editions I have. I bought the Dramatists Sourcebook, 26th Edition and the The Dramatists Guild Resource Directory 2012.

These books should also help me to research all the obscure theaters in the cities that I visit. The Dramatists Guild Resource Directory even includes independent bookstores for some reason. One institution that I’m particularly interested in is the New Dramatists so I bought a book of their best plays.

So far I have written two 10 minute plays. I intend to write my next play based on some of the online drama that I have witnessed on YouTube. YouTube loves drama. Various online communities are an endless source of drama. It would be hysterical to bring some of that online drama to the stage.

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New York City Before Its Destruction

Posted on 10/28/2012 by Robert S. Robbins

Yesterday I made a farewell visit to New York City just before its destruction by Hurricane Sandy. This was my 21st trip to New York City making it my most visited city. I may have spent more time in Philadelphia since I make more overnight trips to that city.

The bus left very early at 5:30 a.m. so we made it to New York City before 10:00 a.m. During the bus ride we watched Mirror Mirror on DVD, a charming movie about Snow White. The bus dropped us off in front of The Manhattan at Times Square Hotel rather than in front of the Times Square Church but it’s the same general area on West 51st Street and 7th Avenue, right across from the Stardust Diner. The bus did not leave until 8:00 p.m. so I had ten hours in the city.

I was pretty relaxed about this trip. It was almost nostalgic. I’m a lot less intimidated by New York City now. My travel notes are pretty extensive for New York City but I did discover two deficiencies. I noticed that my notes lacked a media category for newspapers, magazines, television, and radio. Usually I research a city’s newspapers and lifestyle magazines and try to obtain copies. Also, my notes on the New York City subway system are really inadequate. I don’t have notes on the major subway lines and stations like I’ve created for other cities. Fortunately I managed to get around with surprisingly little difficulty but I need to work on my travel notes.

My first destination was the Morgan Library and Museum. I visited this museum on a previous trip but Pierpont Morgan’s 1906 library was closed then so it was a major disappointment. I got to the Morgan Library by taking the D train from the 53rd Street and 7th Avenue station, a short walk from where the bus left me off. One thing I want to make a note of, is that I wound up buying a $20.00 metro card because I did not have a ten dollar bill. I probably only needed the cheaper metro card for this trip. Anyway, I got off at 42nd Street – Bryant Park which is near the New York Public Library. There was no scaffolding on the New York Public Library so I finally got some decent photos of that building. From there I walked a few blocks along Madison Avenue to reach the Morgan Library and Museum which had just opened for the day.

Pierpont Morgan’s 1906 library is definitely worth visiting if you love books and want to see one of the grandest libraries ever built. The museum began with a mansion but now it is a complicated complex. You can find a model of the museum on the lower floor. I wasn’t sure where to find the library but eventually I found the entrance on the first floor towards the back, pass the collection of objects. The first room I entered was Pierpont Morgan’s Study. This room has some fine examples of Italian art which was interesting to me because I’m planning a trip to Italy next year. I’ve just begun to learn more about Italian art. The study also has a bank vault where Pierpont Morgan kept some of his more valuable books. It’s not every library that has a bank vault! The next room I entered was the Rotunda, an opulent room with mosaic panels and ceiling paintings of the ancient world and the Renaissance. It was based on a Roman Villa. I appreciated this grand room a little more than I would have because I’ve begun to read a textbook on ancient Rome, The Romans: From Village To Empire published by the Oxford University Press. I’ve only read 60 pages of this textbook but I’m finding it a little dry and boring. I prefer A Traveller In Rome by H.V. Morton which is more entertaining. I recently read the chapter on the Vestal Virgins which I found barely mentioned in the textbook.

The East Room is the main room of Pierpont Morgan’ 1906 library. It is a three story library although I could not see how anyone could reach the balconies. According to the web site, “Two staircases, concealed behind bookcases, provide access to the balconies.” So that explains it! Anyway, there were rare manuscripts on display in glass cases. I saw a letter from Napoleon, a letter from Charles Dickens, and a letter from J.D. Salinger. The final room I entered was the Librarian’s Office which has a few pieces of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman sculpture. The only other thing about the Morgan Library and Museum I want to mention is that there is a Portrait of Mrs. J. P. Morgan, Jr. by John Singer Sargent on the lower floor gallery (which doesn’t have much to look at).

After leaving the Morgan Library and Museum I walked a few blocks to the Complete Traveler Antiquarian Bookstore. This is the perfect bookstore to visit after Morgan Library and Museum because after seeing all of Pierpont Morgan’s rare printed books you can actually buy one here. I found the door locked and proceeded to walk down the street but the store manager opened if for me when I turned back. I bought a copy of Two In Italy by Maud Howe for $75.00. It was horribly expensive but a better souvenir than anything you could buy in the Morgan Library and Museum bookstore. This book was published in 1905 making it 107 years old. I plan to actually read the book and write a review online to make its purchase worthwhile. It seems to be a personal account of a trip to Italy by a virtually forgotten American writer, back when a trip to Italy was not commonplace. I was specifically looking for this book because I checked out the bookstore’s stock online and then did a little research on this particular book.

My next destination was Bourbon Street Bar & Grille on West 46th Street, Restaurant Row. To get there, I took the Times Square express from 42 Street – Grand Central station. It was unnecessary to actually enter Grand Central station because the subway entrance was across the street. But I took a few photos of the exterior of Grand Central station.  At Times Square I followed the directions for the 8th Avenue exit. This required a long walk through various tunnels which I’ve never seen before. I emerged at a corner of the Port Authority Bus Terminal which left me confused about which direction to go, but I quickly found the 8th Avenue corner from where you can see the New York Times building. I wanted to visit the Bourbon Street restaurant to get a little taste of New Orleans. It has a New Orleans themed exterior and interior with wrought iron balconies and a stuffed alligator over the bar. I ordered a Vieux Carré cocktail and two appetizers, Alligator in a Blanket and Shrimp Cocktail. I’m in no danger of becoming an alcoholic because I hate the taste of alcohol.  The Vieux Carré cocktail was probably excellent but I found it quite nasty, like most mixed drinks. I was wondering if the Alligator in a Blanket would use real alligator, or chicken to fake out New Yorkers. It must have been real alligator because it was not like chicken. The meat looked like a slice of sausage but it tasted different from pork, chicken, or beef. That was not much of a meal and it cost me around $45.00. The Vieux Carré cocktail did make me feel a little woozie for awhile.

I retraced my steps to the Times Square subway entrance to head downtown for my next destination, the Strand Bookstore. Ordinarily I would not make a special trip just to visit a bookstore, but I know the Strand Bookstore carries a few books in foreign languages and I wanted some books in Italian. I am in the process of learning Italian for my trip to Italy in the near future. I need to mention that I took the Q train downtown to 14th Street – Union Square. The Strand Bookstore is still under its permanent sidewalk shed but I did take a few photos of it anyway because I could not find a photo from my previous trips. I bought a Strand postcard just for the professional photograph on the front. Anyway, at the Strand Bookstore I bought Amberville by Tim Davys. This novel seems to be a crime novel set in an alternative universe where everyone is a stuffed animal. The cover is Edward Hopper’s classic painting Nighthawks, with the diner patrons replaced by stuffed animals. That painting is one of the most spoofed paintings in the world. The copy of the book I bought is in Italian. Since it was translated from English, I can just buy the English language version for comparison. I also bought John Kent’s Venice: A Color Guide To The City because I still plan to only visit Venice on my first trip to Italy.

After that little bit of shopping my initial trip goals were met so I needed some unplanned activities. I decided to visit the French restaurant, L’Absinthe, on the Upper East Side because that was the other restaurant I’ve been meaning to visit. It took about an hour to reach the restaurant. I retraced my steps to the 14th Street – Union Square subway entrance and took the R train uptown to 59th Street. From there I had to walk east to Lexington Avenue to find a subway station for the 6 train. Along the way I walked pass the Rizzoli Bookstore associated with an Italian publishing company. I would have stopped in there but I was already weighted down by books. I think I found the East 59th Street & Lexington Avenue subway station because I only had to go one stop to 68th Street – Hunter College. The restaurant was on East 67th Street. I arrived at L’Absinthe just before 3:00 p.m. when the kitchen closed for lunch but I was able to order the Duck Leg Confit. However, my main reason for visiting L’Absinthe was to try absinthe, of course, the infamous Green Fairy drink from France that was banned last century. I ordered a glass of Vieux Carré absinthe. The fact of the matter is, I actually own a bottle of Vieux Carré absinthe which is brewed by Philadelphia Distilling. I came across this while researching New Orleans and bought a bottle at a local liquor store. I also bought an absinthe glass, an absinthe spoon, and some sugar cubes. The waiter asked if I knew how to prepare it. I played dumb because I wanted to see if there was anything I was missing. He brought an absinthe fountain over to my table to slowly drip ice water over the sugar cube. But other than that little detail there was no difference in how I can prepare the drink at home. The drink tasted just like it does at home and cost me $15.00 which is outrageous. It was the same stuff I have at home. I recognized the bottle. Still, it was nice to drink an absinthe in the proper atmosphere because L’Absinthe is a beautiful brasserie. And the Duck Leg Confit was excellent. I’ve been meaning to try that classic French dish. That meal also cost me around $45.00.

From there I walked west to Central Park and then north to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. At that point, this trip to New York City became exactly like my previous trips because the Metropolitan Museum of Art is open until 9:00 p.m. making it one of the few things you can do late in the evening. During this visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art I concentrated on the Greek and Roman Art on the first floor because as I mentioned before, I was reading a textbook on Ancient Rome. I took lots of photos of Roman statues which I may be able to appreciate later. The Met Store was much larger than I expected. I don’t think I ever went to the large store on the first floor. They had a lot of books but I only bought Museum: Behind The Scenes At The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Danny Danziger.

When I left the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I walked east to Lexington Avenue and then a few blocks south until I found a subway station for the 6 train which I took downtown. I arrived on West 51st Street in plenty of time so I walked over to Times Square to take a few photos until 7:45 p.m. This is what I do on every trip. I’ll have to find something else around West 51st Street for the last hour.

Worrying about Hurricane Sandy did put a damper on my trip. Everyone in Central Pennsylvania is worried about serious flooding like we experienced last year with Hurricane Irene. I’m going to seriously consider moving if we are going to have a major storm every year. There is nothing a bibliomaniac hates more than a flood. If I do move, I would like to move to an East Coast city that is closer to New York City. Maybe someplace on the outskirts of Philadelphia.

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Washington DC Tour

Posted on 10/14/2012 by Robert S. Robbins

Yesterday I made my fifth trip to Washington DC. This was a AAA Travel trip which I discovered by accident while searching the Internet. However, the bus was a Susquehanna Trailways bus as usual. So far I have not seen any local bus tour use any other sort of bus, although I see Martz buses from Wilkes-Barre at New York City and Washington DC. Skipping ahead, while at Union Station I saw Louisiana Trailways buses from New Orleans in the bus parking deck. I found this interesting because I’m planning a trip to New Orleans and I wondered how they made a trip so far north. It must require an overnight stay in a hotel.

The bus left us off near the Lincoln Memorial so I had to walk to the National Museum of American History. Fortunately the work on the reflecting pool was completed so I finally got some classic photos of the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. I came across the Vietnam War Memorial on my way to the National Museum of American History so I took a few photos of that too. When I got to the National Museum of American History I saw the Susquehanna Trailways bus parked right in front of it so I could of stayed on the bus to get there.

The National Museum of American History isn’t a particularly interesting museum but I’ve been to most of the other major Smithsonian museums on the National Mall. I also only had about two hours before the bus took us to Union Station for lunch. I went through the museum in kind of a rush but I did see the original Star-Spangled Banner and Archie Bunker’s chair. I also saw the grand George Washington statue which makes him look Roman, and the “America on the Move” exhibit which was very impressive. I think this transportation exhibit alone is worth a visit to the National Museum of American History. In the museum gift shop, I bought The Gardner Heist by Ulrich Boser, a non-fiction account of a famous art theft from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. This book was published by Harper Collins but has an Smithsonian Books imprint. I chose this book because I am somewhat familiar with Isabella Stewart Gardner from my research on Venice. She designed her art museum to look like a Venetian palazzo. Unfortunately, Boston is too far away for a day trip but I may visit that city someday.The other book I bought was A New Orleans Voudou Priestess: The Legend and Reality of Marie Laveau by Carolyn Morrow Long which of course has to do with my plans to visit New Orleans. I really can’t afford a major trip right now but I’ve done enough research on New Orleans.

As I mentioned, the bus took us to Union Station at noon for lunch. I found this interesting because I got to see the Amtrak station. I didn’t get a good look at Union Station because the interior was covered in black netting for remodeling and I did not see the exterior at all. Really the bus just took us there for lunch because Union Station is renowned for its restaurants. I found the Barnes & Noble bookstore where I bought two more books; Fodor’s Italian for Travelers which I bought because it has extensive pronunciation notes and a small New Orleans Encounter guidebook by Lonely Planet. This book store was well stocked with travel guides because it is in a train station used by travelers and tourists. I had lunch at Cajun & Grill which I hoped would offer New Orleans cuisine but instead I found your typical Asian buffet.

After lunch a local tour guide got on the bus and we used the Susquehanna Trailways bus as a hop on / hop off tour bus. This was kind of unusual because ordinarily the Susquehanna Trailways bus isn’t used for touring the city. But I liked it because I got to see many more of the sights without doing a lot of walking. First we went to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial for a rather lengthy lecture on his presidency during the Great Depression and World World Two. The tour guide was a retired history teacher so he really knew his stuff. Then we got back on the bus and went to Capitol Hill which I’ve seen before. There was some construction going on for the Presidential Inauguration which will take place after the election. After that we drove along Embassy Row without getting off the bus at all. This was particularly interesting to me because some of the embassies offer cultural programs. I suspect Washington DC is a great city for anyone fond of international travel. It is a very international city with a lot of resources for learning a foreign language. For example, there is Alliance Française de Washington, The French Embassy’s La Maison Française cultural facility, and the Italian Cultural Institute in Washington.

We also drove around the Washington National Cathedral which is still being repaired from when it was damaged by the earthquake last year. And finally we were left off at Lafayette Park, directly across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, so we could get close to the White House. It was very thrilling to be so close to the White House. I saw security patrolling the roof and the corner where television reporters are filmed for the nightly news. This reminded me of my visit to London earlier this year when I walked pass No. 10 Downing Street and saw the Houses of Parliament. I felt less like a tourist being in my own country.

Unfortunately the bus driver got lost so we were left waiting for an entire hour after visiting the White House. I did not bring my jacket so I was a little cold. The tour guide left us and walked to a nearby subway station. I took careful note of that because I’m just about finished visiting the Smithsonian Museums along the National Mall and the monuments. On future trips to Washington DC I will want to visit some of the more residential areas which requires using the subway system. Dupont Circle and the Adams Morgan neighborhood seem to be good places to catch some international cuisine and culture. Then there is the Georgetown area which I have not seen.

In two weeks I am going on another bus trip, to New York City. I have not been to New York City in a long time. Although I’ve read most of my NYC travel guides, I have not read any of the books I’ve bought on previous trips to NYC so I really should read them for inspiration. I still think New York City is the greatest city in the world and the most exciting city to visit.

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Scranton–A Visit To The Electric City

Posted on 9/30/2012 by Robert S. Robbins

Yesterday I made my long overdue trip to Scranton Pennsylvania. I’ve been thinking about exploring this city ever since I began my exploration of Pennsylvania. Although Williamsport is in the NEPA television coverage area, the drive to Scranton takes over two hours which is too far for a casual trip. During the long drive I listened to the CD from The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Learning Italian because I would much rather travel to Italy. Scranton does have an American Italian festival, La Festa Italiana. Fortunately, the drive to Scranton is fairly straightforward with only three exits to make. Scranton has plenty of parking garages so you don’t need to hunt for a parking space.

Scranton has a bad reputation as an economically depressed city. The city has recently been in the news when the mayor tried to pay all the city employees minimum wage, even the police and firemen, because the city has run out of money. But if I ever need to look for a new job I may need to travel to Scranton for a job interview. This has been my justification for local travel. I figure it is a good idea to travel around the state while you still have a job and not wait until you are unemployed. I also plan to explore Wilkes-Barre after doing more research on that city.

I parked in the Casey Garage downtown, not far from Courthouse Square. The first thing I did was to walk around Courthouse Square to take lots of photos because most of the city landmarks are in that area. The most interesting discovery was a small statue of Jason Miller in the Plazza dell’Arte section of Courthouse Square. As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I met Jason Miller when he visited the James V. Brown library here in Williamsport. I also saw him in his one-man play Barrymore’s Ghost which he performed at our community college theater. Unfortunately, he died in 2001 of a heart attack. According to Wikipedia, the bronze bust of Jason Miller was actually sculpted by the actor Paul Sorvino.

The Steamtown Mall did not open until 10:00 a.m. so I spent an hour taking photos of various Scranton landmarks. I often could not find any decent photos of Scranton online while researching the city. So I made sure to photograph the following; the Brooks Building, City Hall, the Scranton Electric Building, the Scranton Cultural Center, the Albright Memorial Library, the Mears Building, Lackawanna College, Saint Peter’s Cathedral, Hotel Jermyn, and the Scranton Times building.

I found copies of two free papers; the Weekender and Electric City published by the570.com. It is kind of impressive that Scranton and North East PA can support two entertainment weeklies. Williamsport does not have enough happening to even fill a two column event listing. I shall study these papers to see what entertainment resources the area has to offer. Later on, after I had some change in my pocket, I also bought a copy of The Times Leader. Hmm, it looks like I neglected to buy a copy of The Times-Tribune because I did not realize that Scranton has two newspapers.

After the Mall at Steamtown opened, I searched for The Dunder Mifflin Store where you can buy merchandise based on the television comedy The Office but I was unable to find it. That store may have closed because the show has been cancelled. But I did buy Season Two and Season Three on DVD at fye. I only watched Season One in preparation for my trip. I also bought a DVD of Interview With A Vampire, one of my favorite movies. I have this movie on laserdisc but it was worth buying the DVD for some extras. I watched this movie last night. I plan to visit New Orleans next year so this film was interesting for that reason. While at the Steamtown Mall I found the connecting walkway to Steamtown so I managed to get more photos and video of the trains from the walkway.

Then it was time for lunch. I could have eaten at the mall but I wanted to try someplace with more local character so I went to Coney Island Lunch where I ordered both the Texas Wiener and the Texas Hamburger.

After lunch my next goal was to visit the Everhart Museum in Nay Aug Park. I probably should have driven over there but instead I walked all the way from downtown to Nay Aug Park, passing the University of Scranton along the way. It was a long walk with much of it uphill but I need more exercise anyway.

The Everhart Museum is a small museum but it only costs $5.00 for admission and it has some neat things to see. There are a few dinosaur fossils including a complete mounted skeleton of a Stegosaurus. The stuffed bird collection was excellent and pretty comprehensive. In addition to a Natural History wing, the museum has a Folk Art wing, an African Art collection, and a gallery of American paintings.

Since I was already in the Nay Aug Park I spent some time at the park. I saw the David Wenzel Tree House but the gate was closed and padlocked so I did not get to go into the tree house.

I also found the old Nay Aug Zoo which was closed due to the poor conditions under which the animals were kept. I took some photos of the abandoned cages because it looks kind of creepy.

When I found the Davis Trail at Nay Aug Park I followed that to find the observation decks for the Nay Aug Gorge where you can view a waterfall. It is sort of like a Ricketts Glen waterfall right in the middle of a Scranton city park!

The long walk back to downtown Scranton was a little easier because it was all downhill. I had something to eat at the Eden Vegan Café. I ordered a fruit smoothie and a chiliburger which came with a meat patty that was not made from real beef. After eating I went next door to Embassy Vinyl were I made a token purchase of a jazz CD, Heart Of Gold by Ellis Marsalis. I vaguely recalled that this jazz musician was associated with New Orleans.

The last thing I did in Scranton was visit the Trolley Museum. I tried to walk to the museum but I should have gone through the Mall at Steamtown and then use the crosswalk which is what I eventually did after going through the Steamtown Mall parking garage. Unfortunately the last trolley ride was at 3:00 p.m. so I only got to see the museum exhibits. My final purchase was the book If You Can Play Scranton: A Theatrical History: 1871-2010 by Nancy McDonald which I bought at the Steamtown bookstore. This book turned out to be autographed by the author although I did not realize that when I bought it.

In October I am going on bus trips to Washington DC and New York City so I have something to look forward to.

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Steamtown and Poconos Trip

Posted on 9/27/2012 by Robert S. Robbins

Today I went on a bus trip to Scranton and the Poconos. I went on this trip mainly for the sake of visiting Scranton which is one of the major Pennsylvania cities I’ve been planning to explore. I plan to drive to Scranton this Saturday for a more extensive visit. Currently I still have the following major cities to explore in my state; Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Reading, Allentown, and Pittsburgh.

Williamsport is in the viewing area of Scranton / Wilkes-Barre television stations which cover local news in Lycoming County. So I’m very familiar with places names in Luzerne and Wyoming Counties even though I’ve never been there. Scranton is a two drive from Williamsport but it still seems local because television lumps us together. For example, I saw the WBRE office in downtown Williamsport when I was taking photos this Sunday.

Besides local television news, Scranton is known to me as the home town of playwright and actor Jason Miller. Jason Miller is famous for his role as a priest in The Exorcist movie. Jason Miller once visited the James V. Brown library here in Williamsport where I met him. I also saw him in his one-man play Barrymore’s Ghost which he performed at our community college theater.

But now Scranton is famous due to the television comedy, The Office, because the fictional company Dunder Mifflin is supposed to have a Scranton branch. I’ve never watched that show because I’m too poor for cable television but I did buy the first season on DVD. Scranton has also been in the news lately because the city is practically bankrupt and tried to pay its police officers minimum wage.

But on this trip I did not get to see much of Scranton except for Steamtown, the national historic site which is run by the National Park Service. At Steamtown I saw a steam locomotive on the turntable. I shot some video of that which I will try to upload to YouTube. Later on I got to go for a short ride on the steam locomotive which was pretty cool. At the Steamtown bookstore I bought a book on the history of Scranton and I managed to snag a copy of the official Scranton visitor’s guide which will be useful in completing my custom travel guide for Scranton.

After Steamtown, the bus took us into the Poconos for dinner and a variety show at a lake resort. This part of the trip was like going back in time to some bygone era with the very elderly. We went to Ehrhardt’s Waterfront Resort on Lake Wallenpaupack. It was the typical sort of resort you find on a lake although I don’t really understand the attraction. There isn’t that much to do on a lake except go boating. The resort had a dock. But their main business seemed to be banquet dining and variety shows for a very old clientele. The variety show was a one-man show featuring music from way back. I couldn’t believe it but Big Band and Swing music is still popular with the elderly. When will we ever be rid of that decrepit music? I thought punk rock was the music of the elderly now. Original punk rock is pretty old. Kids today don’t know Johnny Rotten or Siouxsie Sioux.

On the bus ride to Scranton, I took careful note of the road signs along the way so I’ll know how to find my way there on Saturday. I plan to spend an entire day in Scranton to familiarize myself with the city. Scranton is not a very exciting city, but I may get a job interview there some day. I may also want to use Martz Trailways or the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.

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Susquehanna River Walk

Posted on 9/23/2012 by Robert S. Robbins

This morning I drove downtown and took lots of photos for a Williamsport travel guide I plan to create. I don’t really need a travel guide for Williamsport but I thought it might be interesting to compile one to publish as an e-book. Downtown is really deserted on a Sunday morning so I was able to take lots of photos without getting people in my shots. There was nobody around to bug me.

I also explored the Susquehanna Riverwalk because I thought it may be a good place to get some photos of downtown. The Susquehanna River Walk is a fairly new bit of urban development. It is a four-mile paved pedestrian loop on the levee along both sides of the river between the Market Street and Maynard Street bridge. Apparently this was created way back in 2009 and I’ve only just discovered it. There were probably some articles about it in the Sun Gazette but I don’t read the Sun Gazette due to their hostility towards the working poor. Basically I don’t want to read my class enemy’s propaganda against my community. Anyway, I walked practically the entire length of the Susquehanna Riverwalk. I crossed the Market Street Bridge over to South Williamsport and then I crossed the Maynard Street Bridge back to the Williamsport side of the river. I took lots of photos of the Susquehanna River, the mountains, and downtown Williamsport. It is a pretty good trail for photography.

I must say that the Susquehanna Riverwalk is too difficult to reach from downtown. On Route 180, aka the Susquehanna Beltway, you need to take the Hepburn Street exit and then cross the railroad tracks to reach the levee where there is a small parking area. That was the only way I could see to reach the Susquehanna Riverwalk. You can’t get there on foot after parking in the Basin Street stripmall. Of course, you can reach it from Market Street by crossing over the Market Street Bridge but that seems a little dangerous.

However, if you do manage to find the Susquehanna Riverwalk you will enjoy some great views of the mountains behind South Williamsport. The levee blocks the view at times on the South Williamsport side but it is still a great way to get close to those mountains. You also get a river view of Williamsport and plenty of great spots to see the Susquehanna River, especially from the bridges. On the Williamsport side of the river, you can see South Williamsport as seen from the Susquehanna Beltway but with the opportunity to take some photos of the mountain gorges and the houses nestled below the mountains.

The Susquehanna River Walk is very scenic. If Williamsport were a more prosperous metropolis there would probably be condominiums built all along the river for the view. Now that I’ve been traveling more, I’ve developed an eye for the special qualities of a tourist destination and the Susquehanna River Walk reminds me of places like the Manayunk Canal Towpath part of the Schuylkill River Trail which is lined with condominiums.

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Steel Magnolias–Theater Review

Posted on 9/23/2012 by Robert S. Robbins

Last night I saw the play Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling at the Community Theatre League. It has been a long time since I saw a play at the Community Theatre League. The last play I saw was Long Day’s Journey Into Night by Eugene O’Neill in London. I consider that to have been the best cultural experience of my life. After all, that is my very favorite play and I got to see it in London, a city I never dreamed I would visit.

Steel Magnolias was a mildly interesting play for me because I’m planning a trip to New Orleans. The play was set in the same state, Louisiana, but the city was Natchitoches in the northern part of the state. I’m interested in the state of Louisiana because it is part of the Francophone world according to my French textbooks. The Creoles and the Cajuns used to speak French but my research has already revealed that the language is dying out. I’ve recently read two plays as part of my research on New Orleans, Vieux Carré by Tennessee Williams and Toys In The Attic by Lillian Hellman. Vieux Carré is French for Old Square so I’m improving my French already by researching New Orleans. Toys In The Attic was a hard play to find. It has not been reprinted in decades, probably because it uses the forbidden N word.

The stage set for Steel Magnolias was very impressive with an elaborate recreation of a beauty salon. It reminded me of an old beauty salon in a private house where I used to get my hair cut. The actresses used fake Southern accents which probably weren’t very good but they sounded alright to me. I’ve never read this play or saw the movie version so I was not expecting anything, although it became pretty obvious early on that the diabetic character was going to die.

Well I don’t have much to say about this play so maybe it would be better to reveal what was going through my mind while watching the play. I was thinking about pursuing my old dream to become a playwright. The changes in the publishing world make it more tempting. Publishing a play would be ridiculously easy now because anyone can self-publish anything for e-readers and get it listed on Amazon. I don’t think too many plays are published as e-books so there may be a golden opportunity there. In any event, I plan to write a few short stories based on the theater.

That reminds me, there is a new theater venue in Williamsport. Plays are being staged at the Pajama Factory. Unfortunately, I missed their first play because they don’t keep their web site updated, but there will be another play next month, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. That should be pretty interesting. I did see the stage version once at Lycoming College.

On Thursday I’m going on a bus trip to Scranton and the Poconos. We are only going to Steamtown in Scranton and then to a Poconos resort for a variety show. Frankly, the bus trip does not seem to be very interesting but I’ve been thinking about exploring the Scranton / Wilkes-Barre area for a long time. Scranton has been economically depressed for decades so it is not much of a travel destination but the area has a few resources that are worth investigating. Martz Trailways offers regular bus service to New York City and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport may be a better airport to leave from than Philadelphia International Airport. The bus trip won’t give me much time in Scranton so I plan to drive there on Saturday for a lengthier visit. I’m already working on a custom travel guide to Scranton for my iPhone.

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Third Trip To Charm City

Posted on 8/19/2012 by Robert S. Robbins

Yesterday I made my third trip to Charm City, aka Baltimore Maryland. Baltimore is often overlooked by East Coast tourists but it has so much to offer that I have not exhausted its potential after three visits. On this trip my goal was to explore the neighborhoods of Little Italy and Fell’s Point.

But before going to Little Italy I visited each of the four historic ships docked at the Inner Harbor. First I visited the the USS Torsk, a WWII-era submarine. This is the third submarine I’ve been in. The other two submarines were the USS Growler at New York City’s Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum and the submarine Becuna at Philadelphia’s Independence Seaport Museum. There is one more submarine I could visit in Pittsburgh. Then I went aboard the Lightship Chesapeake which was a very short self-guided tour. I remember their exhibit on all the dogs they had as mascots. After that I went to the USS Constellation, a sloop of war that saw action in the Civil War. This was the best historic ship of the lot in my opinion. It was the oldest ship and had sails. Finally, I visited the U.S. Coast Guard cutter the USCGC Taney which is somewhat hidden behind the National Aquarium on Pier 5. It cost me $18.00 to visit all four ships and only took about an hour. I’m glad I got that out of the way so I can concentrate on other things during future trips to Baltimore.

After leaving the USCGC Taney it was a short walk east to reach Little Italy. Since Venice will be my next major vacation, I was very interested in this ethnic neighborhood. I had lunch at Amiccis. There are many fancy Italian restaurants in Little Italy with genuine Italian cuisine but I choose Amiccis because it has a reputation for being less formal. I ordered the Donna, shrimp sautéed with sweet bell peppers and fresh mushrooms in a garlic butter white wine sauce. Served over a  bed of fettuccini. I also had an alcoholic drink, some kind of grape cocktail which I don’t find listed on their web site. There was a Little League game on the television which amused me because I totally blew off the games to come here. But if it had been the last game of the Little League Baseball World Series the bus trip probably would have been canceled since nobody in Williamsport would want to miss that.

As luck would have it, there was an Italian street festival taking place that day, Feast of St. Gabriel Festival, so I paid the $1.00 donation to walk through the street festival. It was a fairly small street festival featuring various vendors in sidewalk booths and a live band. I did buy a 8×10 photo print of the Grand Canal in Venice to serve as inspiration for my dream vacation. I also found an ATM where I withdrew $60.00 because I had already spent half my money. The ATM was a bit unusual because it was a portable model set up in the street for the street festival.

After leaving the Little Italy street festival it was a long walk to reach Fell’s Point, the main goal for my trip. Fell’s Point is a quaint waterfront neighborhood of boutiques, bars, and fine restaurants. There seems to be an urban trend to convert old neighborhoods into boutique villages for the tourists. Philadelphia has its Old City district and Washington DC has its Old Town Alexandria. The first establishment I visited was Sound Garden, an independent music store which also sells DVDs. Unfortunately, digital media has ruined shopping for me because virtually every music store, book store, and video store has gone out of business. But I still like to buy something physical like a book, a DVD, or a CD. At Sound Garden I bought a DVD of the movie Angel Heart, a horror movie set in New Orleans and a jazz CD by Preservation Hall, a famous jazz performance hall in New Orleans. Unfortunately, I read the Wikipedia article on the movie Angel Heart which ruined the surprise ending. They need a spoiler alert warning on that article!

I also had some Crema gelato at Pitango Gelato which was very good. It was very expensive but high quality exactly as described on their web site. While in Fell’s Point I managed to buy a copy of the Baltimore Sun newspaper. Obtaining a copy of the local newspaper is one of the more serious aspects of my regional trips because it could be useful if I ever need to relocate to find work. After inserting four quarters into the newspaper vending machine I opened the box only to find it empty so I returned the “fuck you” by taking the display copy. At least everyone else could see it was empty then.

I still had many hours left in Baltimore before my bus left so I walked along the piers and took photos of many yachts. I really like yachts. They are like the sports cars of the sea. A yacht is a potent symbol of wealth and leisure and travel. Off in the distance I could see the famous Domino Sugar sign so I tried to take photos of yachts with the sign in the background. Unfortunately, the sign is barely visible in my photos because it was too far away. Eventually I walked clear around the Inner Harbor to visit the American Visionary Art Museum yet again. I’ve visited this museum every time I’ve been to Baltimore and they hadn’t even changed the exhibits since my last trip. But since I have a membership card it did not cost me anything to see everything again. I took my time and tried to absorb more details. My favorite artwork was sculptures made out of old vacuum tubes and a rocket ship made out of an Electrolux vacuum cleaner.

There have been enough books published about mysticism, visionaries, visionary art, and mythology to fill a bookstore. Unfortunately the Sideshow bookstore at the American Visionary Art Museum chooses not to stock any of them. But I did manage to find two books that I thought worth buying, a Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse graphic novel which is gothic enough to appeal to my tastes, and a cult cinema book on the films of Italian director Mario Monicelli which will help me to explore obscure aspects of Italian pop culture. To be fair, I did see Carl Jung’s Red Book on display at the American Visionary Art Museum which is very cool indeed.

After leaving the American Visionary Art Museum I still had time to do one last bit of sightseeing before leaving Baltimore. I walked uptown and found the grave of Edgar Allan Poe. I have to admit that I’m not as interested in Edgar Allan Poe as I should be. He was a major inspiration for the French poet Charles Baudelaire and the gothic subculture adores Edgar Allan Poe. Some of his metaphysical ideas are interesting. But for some reason he just doesn’t grab me. I wanted to at least finish reading my Edgar Allan Poe biography after visiting the Edgar Allan Poe National Historical Site in Philadelphia but I don’t have any enthusiasm for that. It seems too much like a literary chore, doing one’s literary duty. The most interesting thing I found at Edgar Allan Poe’s grave was a memorial from a French literary society, a testament to how much the French love this poet associated with Charles Baudelaire.

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Montreal Vacation – Friday

Posted on 7/27/2012 by Robert S. Robbins

Today I had my final breakfast at La Brioche Lyonnaise. This time I ordered the Pain Doré, French Toast sticks with maple syrup and fresh fruit. I walked pass Place Émilie-Gamelin to take photos of Librairie Marché du Livre although I did not visit this bookstore.

Then I went to the Redpath Museum which was nearly deserted. It did not cost anything to go in and there were no staff around. The Redpath Museum is a small natural history museum on the campus of McGill University. I took my time to examine their collection of mineral rocks, seashells, dinosaur fossils, stuffed animals, and various other oddities. I felt free to take lots of photos without using my flash because the place was practically empty.

I stopped in at Paragraphe where I bought Balconville by David Fennario and Cockroach by Rawi Hage, two books on my want list. The sales girl spoke English but she must have been new because she made many mistakes and her manager wanted to see her in the breakroom or have her shadowed.

After that I found the Bell Centre although some construction prevented me from getting good photos. I also found Gare Windsor and then took more photos of Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral.

I took the metro back to Sherbrooke Station and had a cheeseburger and large Pepsi at La Belle Province on Boulevard Saint-Laurent, at the end of Prince-Arthur Street.

Once back in my room I planned another outing to visit Crescent Street and La Louisiane restaurant. I almost skipped La Louisiane because it was very far from any metro station in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighborhood.

Crescent Street wasn’t very long so I walked along both sides of the street taking photos for probably less than half an hour. Then I took the Orange Line of the metro all the way to the Vendôme Station in the direction of Côte Vertu. I walked up Avenue de Marlowe to Rue Sherbrooke and walked several blocks to find the La Louisiane restaurant. They did not open until 5:30 p.m. so I had to sit in a park for an hour. When La Louisiane finally opened I ordered a Mint Julip and BBQ shrimp plus Bananas Foster for desert. This was definitely the best meal I had in Montreal. I really liked the atmosphere too.

That was the last thing I did in Montreal. Seven days was perhaps too long for a visit to this city but I wanted to do an extensive exploration of this major French metropolis. I’m not sure what I would find to do on a subsequent trip but I would definitely return to Montreal on a bus trip. I did manage to return with quite a haul of French books, Quebec literature, and French newspapers to continue my language learning.

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Montreal Vacation – Thursday

Posted on 7/26/2012 by Robert S. Robbins

On Thursday I visited the Westmount neighborhood and the Olympic Stadium. First I went to Place Alexis Nihon where I bought some shoes at Zellers. I was going to buy shoes at Payless ShoeSource but they had not opened yet. Then I walked around Westmount taking photos of various landmarks; Cabot Square, Dawson College, Westmount Square, Westmount High School, Westmount Park, Westmount Conservatory, Victoria Hall, Clock Flower, City Hall, the Cenotaph, and a catholic church. Westmount Park was especially lovely and had a restroom which I used. Westmount Conservatory was like a small scale Longwood Gardens.

When I got back to Saint-Louis Square yet another television crew were pulling a prank. Some actors dressed like cops where pulling cars over and measuring the distance between the cruiser and the car. At first I thought the cops were real and being total dicks. I was drinking a root beer while watching them and had to unfurl my umbrella briefly due to a rain shower.

Then I returned to my room and put on my new shoes. I discovered the insoles were for "Dames". I went out again and ate at a La Belle Province I found on Boulevard Saint-Laurent, at the end of Prince-Arthur Street. When I  tried to cross Saint-Louis Square some film guy stopped me in French so I walked around the block. They were still filming their cop prank.

I then rode the Green Line of the metro to Pie IX to visit the Olympic Stadium. I was not planning on going to the Olympic Stadium but I had run out of things to do. I followed other tourists from the Pie XI metro station to the tourist hall which would have been hard to find on my own. I bought tickets for the Observation Deck and the Guided Tour of the Stadium. I almost didn’t get back in time from the Observation Deck for the guided tour. The tour guide spoke heavily accented English but he was charming and funny. First he showed us some scale models of the stadium, then he led us into the stadium, and finally he led us outside the stadium to see a memorial. I remember there was a group from Belgium on our tour who didn’t take the French tour for some reason.

After that I went to the Biodome and walked through various ecosystems. It was very crowded in the Biodome. I had to go to the Biodome to buy my ticket because the tourist hall did not sell them for just the Biodome.

When I returned to Saint-Louis Square yet another film crew were set up to film some a reporter, or so I assume. I ate at a Polish restaurant on Prince-Arthur Street, Mazurka, where I had undercooked pork chops (although I asked for well-done). But the Polish coffee was pretty good, similar to an Irish coffee.

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Montreal Vacation – Wednesday

Posted on 7/25/2012 by Robert S. Robbins

On Wednesday I went to the Marché Jean-Talon and explored Little Italy. Marché Jean-Talon is a farmer’s market in Montreal. I didn’t buy anything there because I couldn’t do anything with fruits and vegetables but I did take a few photos of food stalls because their signs are useful for learning French. I did have something to eat at Au Pain Doré, a bakery outside Marché Jean-Talon. I had a peach smoothie which was very thick and a baguette sandwich containing ham and cheese. In Little Italy I visited a few parks and photographed some famous establishments and the Church of the Madonna della Difesa. There was an Italian bookstore but I thought I had enough books by then and didn’t want another awkward exchange with a cashier. I did come across a Maison de la Presse Internationale where I finally found a copy of Le Journal de Montreal and a GEO magazine on Venice which is quite interesting because it provides a French perspective on Venice.

This did not take all day so I visited Old Montreal. I had a large Orange Julius to slake my thirst on Place Jacques-Cartier. I paid $5.00 to enter the Notre-Dame Basilica but it was worth it to get some photos of this major tourist attraction. I had lunch at Five Guys. Five Guys is a fast food chain based in the United States which has expanded into Canada. All of their signs were bilingual so it was Five Guys in French! I ordered a cheeseburger with everything on it which was a huge gooey mess so I had to use the men’s room to clean up.

I continued to wander around Old Montreal until I found Victoria Square where I photographed the famous Paris metro entrance. I also found the Palais des congrès de Montréal and got some photos of its multicolored windows. I found a segment of the Berlin Wall in the Centre de Commerce mondial de Montréal. And I also managed to locate Centaur Theatre after consulting my custom travel guide and its maps. Just before I found the theater, I was stopped by a crazy woman who spoke very posh English. She told me a story about finding a body in a dumpster and begged some money off me. I encountered quite a few beggars in Montreal but to be fair I also had one last encounter with a beggar at the Philadelphia International Airport right where the bus picks you up for the Economy Parking Lot.

Eventually I walked all the way to Place Viger. It was at this point that I decided to buy new shoes and insoles because my feet were killing me. I only got two blisters on the whole trip which I blame on my sneakers which began to get worn down and out of shape.

On the way back to my hotel room I saw the Octave Crémazie statue in Saint-Louis Square with an Anonymous mask on it so I took a picture of it. I went back out to the nearest Jean Coutu to buy shoe insoles and walked pass the Théâtre de Quat’Sous. I also came across a cool mural which I photographed. Then I returned to Complexe Desjardins looking to buy some shoes but they were closed. I bought two DVDs on Sainte Catherine Street to make up for my disappointment.

That evening I had supper at Les Deux Gamins on Prince Arthur Street. I ordered escargot and a glass of Chardonnay. Service was extremely slow. A musician was playing a guitar in front of the restaurant and passed around his hat for tips.

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Montreal Vacation – Tuesday

Posted on 7/24/2012 by Robert S. Robbins

First I went to the Complexe Desjardins where I found the Renaud-Bray bookstore on Level 2. Complexe Desjardins is an interesting part of the underground city. It reminds me of the City of Domes in Logan’s Run because it has a large wall clock. At Renaud-Bray I bought three books; the elusive L’avalée des avalés by Réjean Ducharme, Enfirouapé by Yves Beauchemin, and a book on Robert Lepage. I managed to conduct this transaction entirely in French since I only had to say “Bonjour” and “Merci”. I consider L’avalée des avalés by Réjean Ducharme to be an elusive novel because I ordered it twice on Amazon and received L’hiver de force by Réjean Ducharme both times. Maybe Amazon has the wrong ISBN for this book.

There is an Archambault store between the Metro and Complexe Desjardins but it was closed. It was hard to find an ATM in the Complexe Desjardins. I tried one at the Place des Arts which did not work. Eventually had to return to the metro to find one.

They were still filming that TV series when I crossed Saint-Louis Square to place my purchase in my room. Later I determined that it was for the TV series Destinées. As I was walking past the film crew, I saw a sign warning you that you give permission to have your image used if you cross the park. Just at that moment I heard them announce, “Un deux trois action!” So I may appear walking in the background of a scene!

I then returned to Place des Arts to take some more photos and to visit the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal. At the Museum of Contemporary Art I saw an exhibit on abstraction and an exhibit entitled Zoo. I saw a short film by Swedish artist Nathalie Djurberg, A World of Glass, which was bizarre and disturbing. There was also a tree from which were hanging the corpses of various animals painted black; a cat, several rats, a dog, and some birds. I also saw a whole collection of black metal insects on the floor of a gallery. They looked like metal sculpture ants. I didn’t spend much time at this museum because it was rather small. I had a cheeseburger and a Pepsi at La Belle Province on the corner of Boulevard Saint-Laurent and Rue Sainte-Catherine Est. I ate at this fast food place three times because it was very convenient and not too much bother to get a bite there in a hurry.

I can tell by my photos that I returned to my hotel room before heading out again. I then visited the Musée des Beaux-Arts. I took lots of photos of a really neat sculpture installed in front of a church. I remember seeing this angel sculpture online while doing research for my trip. It is David Altmejd’s The Eye.

Nobody was around to give me a ticket so I left my umbrella at the coat check. Eventually I found the Beyond Pop Art: Tom Wesselmann exhibit where I was able to get a ticket. I had my Montreal Museum card so it did not cost me anything. Tom Wesselmann’s work really impressed me because he went on to create art in various styles using various materials after his famous pop art work. I especially liked the retro kitchen sculptures. I liked this exhibit so much that I bought an expensive souvenir book, Pictures On The Wall Of Your Heart: Tom Wesselmann Und Die Pop Art. You can tell by the title that this is a German book so the cashier asked me if I realized that. I should have replied, Ja, das ist sehr gut.

I saw the galleries devoted to Napoleon and to the First Empire. I saw Napoleon’s famous chapeau and a large bust of Napoleon in a window bay which sorely tempted me to take a photo. I only snuck one photo of an amusing sculpture of skinny chimps choking a fat chimp. This was Tony Matelli’s “Old Enemy, New Victim”.

I ate at the self-serve cafeteria. I like museum cafeterias but it was still awkward to deal with the staff since there were no silverware left out. I have my receipt so I know I had; chocolate milk, a sandwich (bagel with smoked salmon), a fruit juice, and a panna cotta (yet another Italian dessert I’ll have to learn about). I plan to study Italian cuisine carefully before my trip to Italy.

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is like several museums in one. Besides modern art and classical art, they also have decorative art, design art, and archaeology exhibits. I went through an underground passage to the other building, the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion, where I saw Egyptian artifacts, decorative and design art, African artifacts, Greco-Roman artifacts, Pre-Columbian Art, etc. I spent several hours at this museum and only left at 4:30 p.m. when I realized they closed at 5:00 p.m. I had to rush to collect my umbrella from the coat check.

That evening I saw Jim Breuer at Theatre Sainte Catherine. His show was about attending Heavy Metal concerts as a middle aged man. He also talked about his family. He has three daughters. He said he took his family to Europe and claimed to be a Canadian because they hate Americans. This got big laughs. This show was part of the Just For Laughs festival which was going on in Montreal at the time. I didn’t particularly plan on seeing a comedy show but it was the best English language event I could find taking place during my visit. I sat a few rows back from the stage so I was fairly close to Jim Breuer. It is always a thrill to be near a celebrity. I picked up a program guide to the Just For Laughs festival which is like a paperback book packed with a wealth of interesting material on local culture and obscure artists.

At this point I should mention the real goal of this trip. The purpose of this trip was to gather French language materials and to explore Montreal so I would better understand culture references to Quebec while learning French. I tried to visit various neighborhoods rather than minor museums so I would have some experience of these neighborhoods which I will find mentioned in Quebec literature and film.

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