Day 55 Theater Day

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We had an important date at noon today.  Our new friend Joris, 3 year old son of Audrone, was our ticket into the children's puppet show.  He is so cute.  His mom says he does not speak well and has an appointment with the logopedist, but he certainly talked a mile a minute to us.  She said he uses word fragments rather than whole words, but we wouldn't be able to tell that, of course.  We were both surprised that he spontaneously tried to imitate what I said to him in English and did it quite well.   Of course I was saying things like nice boots, ha, ha very funny, etc. and gesturing wildly, so he probably understood what I meant. His mom said he does not do that in Lithuanian.  She laughed and said maybe he was meant to speak English.  The puppet show was cute, and the children loved it.  Joris was entranced.  We enjoyed watching him watch the show.

After the  show we gave him the Richard Scarey book, which he seemed to like, and he gave us a special LIthuanian treat.  I took pictures, because I've never seen cupcakes shaped like mushrooms before.  I would love to see the pan they were baked in.  They had a slight lemon flavor.

Tonight we went to see A Fiddler On the Roof, performed in LIthuanian.  Del and I remember going to a touring company a hundred years ago, and we saw the movie, so I remembered the music, but had forgotten some of the story.  We both thought it was a darker version than the one we had seen, which makes sense in view of the relationship these people have had with the Russian government in quite recent times.  Del probably got it right when he said that Tevia seemed more resigned in the production we saw.  In this one his anger seemed more raw and active.

Of course, this show was also more technically complicated than the one we saw.  The dream scene Tevia made up to persuade his wife to stop the wedding with the butcher involved the butcher's  dead wife descending from the ceiling, and someone we think was the daughter on the shoulders of a very tall man.  Her dress covered them both, so it almost appeared she was on stilts.  There was a little rectangular opening in the skirt so he could see to move around the stage.  We were on the 3rd row so we did not miss a trick.  Hard to imagine seeing a Broadway type touring company from the 3rd row for under $13 per ticket.

One scene I had completely forgotten was the arrival of Motel's sewing machine.  The village was so excited to see the treadle machine, and the rabbi blessed it.  I still remember the day the Singer man delivered Mother's electric machine.  I think I was about 4, and it was a big day for us.  Mother made just about everything I wore through college.

A food note - Ohio people, the brownie in the picture would give West Point's Killers a run for their money for taste and richness.  We brought home more than half of it and shared it when we got home from the theater. I don't know that I would need to have another one, but it was good.  Del's blueberry tart was better.  The berries were the like the little huckleberries we used to pick in the woods when I was a child.  We used to wrap ourselves up within an inch of our lives and it still felt like we got at least one redbug (chigger) per berry.   We would come home, wash with strong soap and eventually paint the spots with clear nail polish.  We believed it would smother the redbug which had burrowed into the skin.  Who knows if that was the case.

I already told my Facebook friends that I now know how to crop a picture.  I made an unfortunate fashion mistake when I went to the children's library yesterday.  I was taking some pictures, and the librarian wanted one of Del and me.  I promised I would send it to her, but when I saw it, I knew that it just would not do.  The sweater does not show all my underpinnings when I'm just wearing it, but it certainly did in that picture.  It was either learn to crop, look like a floozy or not keep my promise.  I was able to achieve decency, but could not find the button that erases wrinkles or double chins.