Practicing the fine art of giving

Here are two nice stories about philanthropy and the arts:

Mona Webster of Edinburgh, Scotland, who died in August at age 96, left New York City's Metropolitan Opera a bequest of $7.5 million. (The New York Times article notes that 40 percent will go to taxes but it's still a sizable chunk of change.)

Webster recalled listening to the Met's weekly radio broadcasts as far back as 1939. They're aired in the afternoon but because of the time difference she heard them in the evening.

"Saturday nights were sacred,'' said Gail Chesler, director of planned and special gifts.

Those broadcasts, now sponsored by homebuilder Toll Brothers, are still being heard across the United States and around the world. They reach 11 million people in 42 countries, making them one of this country's best cultural exports. The 79th season begins Dec. 12, with Puccini's Il Trittico.

In Massachusetts, a story from the Boston Globe finds that more gay couples are choosing to be recognized as couples when they donate to arts organizations.

Stephen Weiner and Donald Cornuet, who married last March on their 20th anniversary together, began to donate as a couple after joining the Opera Boston board in 2004. This year, they co-chaired the company's annual gala.

“The issue for us has been, when you look at the program books, it’s Sally X and John Y, there’s no reason it shouldn’t be the two of us,’’ said Weiner.

And named gifts, the article notes, are gold because they encourage others to emulate them.

Dan Salera and his longtime partner, Michael McCay, recently gave $50,000 to the New Repertory Theatre in Watertown and sponsored the just-ended production of Speed-the-Plow.

“There is a sense of recognition and I would say some pride when, as a gay man, you’re sitting there before the curtain goes up and you’re flipping through the program and looking at the list of donors and you see a same-sex couple,’’ said Salera.

“Others who see those names might be more inclined to give as a couple when the time comes.’’

My year of living theatrically - 2008

My year of living theatrically - 2008 edition - has drawn to a close. I saw 38 performances this year, eight more than in 2007. Among them were 35 plays and musicals, 1 opera, 1 concert and 1 Christmas spectacular.

There were so many terrific show-related moments, and I'll get to those later. But first, I want to mention some other ways in which this year has been memorable:

Oh, the places you'll go! I attended my very first opera, the poignant and lyrical Madama Butterfly, at the Metropolitan Opera. (And they really, really like me at the Met. They call, they write, they e-mail!) I saw the high-stepping Rockettes in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. I heard the smooth Scottish singer Euan Morton at the Algonquin Hotel's Oak Room. I traveled to the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, where I watched the premiere of the very appealing musical Little House on the Prairie and saw the Mississippi River for the very first time.

Making my list, checking it twice: I checked some more names off the list of Broadway houses I've visited. In a little over 18 months I've been in 25 of the 39 Broadway theatres. By the end of next spring I'll hopefully check off a few more, and I could well be into the single digits. But I still have some long-running shows to see on the Great White Way. That means someday in the not too distant future I could be down to Wicked, Jersey Boys, The Phantom of the Opera, The Little Mermaid, Chicago and Avenue Q if I want to complete the list. (Oops, I wasn't quite clear on this: I've seen Wicked on tour, just not on Broadway, so I'll be seeing it again to cross the Gershwin Theatre off my list!)

Stage door stories: I had many memorable encounters this year, including a delightful conversation with Rondi Reed a month before she won the Tony for August: Osage County. It was the culmination of quite a day. Standing there on the sidewalk for more than a half-hour, laughing and chatting with Ms. Reed until they actually shut off the marquee lights at the Music Box Theatre, was so much fun. What a great actress and what a genuinely warm and friendly person. I hope she's back on Broadway soon.

A TKT with a view: After 18 months of passing by a construction zone whenever I went to Broadway, I finally had a chance last month to see the newly refurbished Times Square TKTS booth. It's so much nicer now. I love the view from the top of the shiny red staircase. It looks like a great place to sit in nice weather and someday, I may even buy a half-price TKT there!

Getting to know you: Becoming a theatre fan has been fun and thrilling and it's been a way for me to start writing again. But it's also enabled me to make some new friends. I'm so glad we got together in March at Angus McIndoe's for our first bloggers brunch. Every time I've gone to New York this year I've had a chance to meet people I'd only known previously through their blogs and e-mail. Getting to know everyone been wonderful. Thank-you for making 2008 such a memorable year for me.

A day on Wall Street, a night at the opera

Yesterday was a jam-packed day! I'll provide more details when I get back, but here are the highlights:

Thanks to the adventurous Sarah, who kindly equipped me with her excellent walking tour of Lower Manhattan, I took the subway to the very southern tip of the island and worked my way north.

And what surpises awaited me!

I expected the financial district to be full of men and women dressed in suits and carrying leather briefcases, with those little cell phones attached to their ears so they could do their deals on the go. Okay, there was some of that, but because it was Veterans Day, probably not as many as normal.

What I didn't expect was that Lower Broadway would be an open-air pedestrian mall, with row after row of stands selling all kinds of ethnic foods and grilled meat, as well as Pashmina scarves. There was a neverending stream of tourists waiting to get their pictures taken in front of the bull statue. It was kind of a mix between an upscale flea market and the New York State Fair. Not at all the dour, serious place I expected.

I stopped at Trinity Church, which I remembered from the Nicholas Cage move, National Treasure; walked down Wall Street to snap some pictures of the giant American flag adorning the front of the New York Stock Exchange; and visited St. Paul's Chapel, the rear of which overlooks Ground Zero. The chapel, which provided a resting place for exhausted workers after the Sept. 11 attacks, has a very moving memorial to the people who lost their lives on that day.

On my way back up Broadway, I walked through Chinatown and Little Italy en route to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. I'll tell you more about my tour of the museum, but it was pretty fascinating to see the inside of a tenement, with the apartments restored to the way they would have looked in the late 19th and early 20th century. They were pretty cramped, dark and gloomy places.

That evening, I met Sarah for some great food and great conversation at O'Neal's, across from Lincoln Center. Then, it was on to the Met for my very first opera, Puccini's Madama Butterfly. And as a special added bonus - I got to meet her very dear friend Noah!

It was wonderful - the staging was very theatrical, with some truly imaginative, breathtaking imagery. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to follow the plot, but the Met provides a translation on a small LED screen in front of you. The language is beautiful - it brings home the sadness of the story in such a lyrical, poetic way. This production, designed by the late film director Anthony Minghella, was a great introdution to the world of opera.

Okay, I'm off to Greenwich Village and then this afternoon, the Public Theater for Stephen Sondheim's Road Show. I'm really looking forward to the Public because as a young actor just starting out in New York, none other than Mr. Kevin Spacey worked in the stockroom, handing out notepads and pencils. I'm hoping they'll let me take a peek.

Then tonight, back to Broadway for Hairspray with Harvey Fierstein.

A noteworthy exhibit

Even though the name of my blog is Gratuitous Violins, I'm not a very musically inclined person. I love music, don't get me wrong. I've just never played an instrument and I'm far from being an audiophile.

But I am interested in the creative process - all of the musty old typewritten sheets and handwritten notes and sketches that writers and musicians and artists probably never realized would someday be considered history.

So today, I'm at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, at Lincoln Center, on a very rainy day in Manhattan. I just finished walking through an exhibit called Writing to Character: Songrwiters and the Tony Awards.

Now, I'm taking advantage of the library's free Internet access. Yes, all I had to do was show my driver's license, and I could stay connected for 45 minutes. Then, because no one was waiting to use the terminal, they gave me another 15 minutes. Truly, one of the best bargains in New York City.

Anyway, I digress. The exhibit is a a really interesting look at what went into creating some of Broadway's most famous musicals, and what changed from the beginning of the writing process to opening night.

(Although I think I went through the exhibit backward. I started at an old black and white photograph of people lined up on the sidewalk in front of the Imperial Theatre waiting to buy tickets to a show - in pre-Internet days. It's a scene that's almost kind of quaint now.)

The displays basically take you through the process of writing a musical - from the initial idea, to the sheet music, to handwritten notes on the margins of typed up lyrics and pages of dialogue, to sketches for sets and costumes, to the posters, to opening-night gifts and invitations to opening-night parties and congratulatory telegrams. (I guess people send each other congratulatory opening night e-mails today).

You can see some of the sketches for costumes for Fiddler on the Roof, some of the late Jonathan Larson's notes on the characters in Rent, and the flier for the musical before it moved to Broadway, instructions for how the dancers should act in the song "One" from A Chorus Line, and sheet music from Sweeney Todd.

There's also a long memo from producer Leland Hayward to Richard Rodgers about The Sound of Music. (He seemed very fixated on Mary Martin's entrance). One thing I want to point out: Parade composer Jason Robert Brown has very tiny handwriting.

You have to wonder whether an exhibit like this will even be possible 25 years from now. I guess some things, like music, will always be written out. But as we move more and more to a paperless society, will there be scripts with notes in the margins to save anymore?

After the exhibit, I walked across the street from Lincoln Center for lunch at Fiorello's, a terrific recommendation from Bill, the theatergoing buddy of Jan, from Broadway & Me. I had an extremely filling and delicious meal of spaghetti with chunks of grilled yellowfin tuna, tomatoes, peppers and mushrooms, cooked with an abundance of olive oil.

Then, since it was still pouring rain, I walked back to Lincoln Center to see if I could take the Metropolitan Opera tour. Normally, you have to reserve in advance, but if they have space, they'll fit you in. Five of us were waiting, and we all got a spot.

Now, I've never actually seen an opera, but I have read a lot about them through Sarah at Adventures in the Endless Pursuit of Entertainment. She makes a night at the opera sound very thrilling.

I think this was the best backstage tour I've taken in New York City. It's $15, lasts 90 minutes, and it's worthwhile, even if you've never seen an opera. The breadth of what they show you is just amazing.

Our guide was a retired New Jersey judge and opera lover named Gerry. We pretty much went everywhere - dressing rooms, rehearsal rooms, costume shop, the carpentry and metalworking shops, walked backstage. We even stood outside one of the rooms where a rehearsal was going on and listened for a few minutes.

Then, at the end, we walked into the auditorium itself. Wow, what a magnificent place, with five balconies, wood paneling, and plush red velour seats. I'd definitely love to come back and see something there.