Saturday, April 16, 2005

Time Marches On

Saw an excellent production tonight of Matthew Bourne's "Play Without Words" at the Ahmanson Theater. Bourne is best known for merging the worlds of theater and dance. I've seen all of his recent productions -- "Swan Lake," "Cinderella" and "The Car Man" at the Ahmanson. And in 2002 I saw his "Nutcracker!" at Sadler's Wells in London.

I really like his shows. "Play Without Words" is about transitions in relationships between a man and his fiancee, a man and his housemaid, a man and his manservant and the fiancee and her old friend. It's set in 1963 -- a transitional year in culture, race and sexual relations. I missed the first 18 days of 1963, but I was around for the rest of it.

I saw Bourne's "Swan Lake" at the Ahmanson Theater in 1998. My friends from Washington, D.C., Bret Limage and Jim Brown, were in town and I talked them into going with me to see the show. They were both reluctant to see a ballet but finally relented. It was one of the finest and most moving performances I've seen in my life. The show has a heart-wrenching ending. After we had regained our composure both Bret and Jim thanked me for making them go. I've been a Bourne fan ever since.

The night we saw "Swan Lake," Scott Ambler danced the young lead role of "The Prince." Well, that was seven years ago and tonight Ambler danced the older lead role of "Prentice," the manservant. How come everyone around me is getting older?

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