Shakespeare in the Park: Midsummer

We had the delight of seeing A Midsummer Night's Dream last night in Central Park. This is the first time in a long while that I came home as happy as I did with one of these productions. The cast was uniformly excellent (Keith David as Oberon was as good as expected, but he was aided and abetted by an ensemble up to the task). The approach was light and light-hearted, steering clear of the sort of innovation I rarely enjoy in Shakespeare plays but never feeling stodgy. The set was the usual "doing more with less" that distinguishes most of the productions in the Park. There were a few small missteps, but nothing diminished my joy.

The play itself, despite being a little unwieldly at times - the main plots are resolved a while before the show ends, and the Rude Mechanicals come very close to overstaying theri welcome, and the young lovers are underdeveloped - is a pleasure to hear. The poetry of this works is hard to miss, as is the comedy and the power of the difficult but loving realtionship between Oberon and Titiana. And Bottom can hold his own in the pantheon (pandemonium?) of Shakespeare's legendary comic roles.

If you get the chance, get up early and head to Central Park for tickets. It runs through the Sunday of Labor Day weekend.

RIP Mike Wieringo

Mike Wieringo, whose art graced two of my favorite comics, Mark Waid's runs on Flash and Fantastic Four, <href="http://www.newsarama.com/chicago_07/ringo.html">has died of an apparent heart attack. He was 44.

I never met him. I was just a fan. But he was one of the best comic artists in the field, who borugh joy to his work and who made you believe that a man could run a the speed of light and that Ben Grimm really could walk the streets of New York.

I don't usually get that sad about such deaths. The world can suck, and we all know that, and it's not like he was part of my life in the way he was to those who knew him. But boy is this a downer.

My condolences to his family and friends.

RIP Brooke Astor

New York socialite and philanthropist Brooke Astor has <href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/us/08/13/astor.obit.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories"> passed away. At the age of 105 (though she was ill for some time).

We in New York are much richer for having had her presence here, as she donated millions to charities large and small, most notably the New York Public Library. Any time I can take a book out of the library, she had something to do with it.