Ring in the new!
It seems impossible to enter a new decade without recognizing the unprecedented advances in technology that have propelled information sharing to boggling dimensions in this one. On your computer, or now, via a menu of applications, or apps, on your new cell phone, you can buy theater tickets (many deeply discounted), book a restaurant and locate parking. You can Google oodles of reviews before you go. Then turn to the blogosphere to add your own critique once you’ve been.
The most fearsome thing about this ever-expanding mega-access is that it puts us at a remove from human contact and shared experiences. We need, more than ever, to reclaim both—and what better way than by seeking out soul-stretching pleasures to be found at live theater, concerts, dance and special events in all the arts. I hope you’ll resolve to ring in the New Year by going — or planning to go — “live“ to any of the above. These suggestions are a sure jump-start to enrich your quality of life in 2010:
Celebrate with Gilbert and Sullivan
The most welcoming, joyous and tuneful celebration to usher in the new decade is something classic and classy. At Peter Norton Symphony Space (Broadway and 95th St.), away from the mid-town melee, the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players will be hosting their annual Gala Champagne Performance. A 25-piece orchestra will back this merry company as they perform sing-a-long favorites from such as “H.M.S. Pinafore,” “Pirates of Penzance” and “The Mikado.” Expect comic parodies, bring your favorite requests — and the bubbly is courtesy of the venerable Artistic Director Albert Bergeret. (Tickets and info at 212-864-5400 or www.symphonyspace.org.)
