2017 roundup

My hardworking dedicated French teacher Fatiha

The most positive change of 2017 without a doubt was getting serious about French and taking classes at FIAF on the UES. Which was part of my brand new interest in Canada although that technically began in 2016 with the election of Trump. Along with my fascination for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. I made a few Canadian connections thanks to Brooke Johnson and now I'm continuing with Canada in a couple of weeks with my trip to participate in the Montreal Language Exchange.

I became interested in French politics too, obviously because of the language thing but also through my fascination with Emmanuel Macron. One of my favorite blog posts of 2017 was 21st Century Men: Macron, Obama, Trudeau.

I did manage to do a theater production too, and while the experience was not great in terms of money and the hassle of participating in a theater festival (never again!) I felt the show was pretty good and got a positive, if not very in-depth review.

Jenna Sander & Matt DeCapua in NORMA JEANE AT THE PAYNE WHITNEY PSYCHIATRIC CLINIC

I also discovered in 2017 that James Maguire, one of my great-great grandfathers was a captain of industry in the gilded age, although his whisky distilling empire in Eddington PA was long gone before I was grew up just five miles away in Cornwells Heights PA.

So what's ahead for 2018 assuming we continue to survive the Trump presidency? Well of course there is the trip to Montreal, and then a reading of my play Bete Noire, about Trump's obsession with Obama, and then maybe I'll work on my two English-French plays. On sait jamais.

Nova Scotia wines are amazing

At the Stubborn Goat

Before I saw Brooke Johnson's TRUDEAU STORIES in Wolfville Nova Scotia I stopped to have dinner at The Library Pub & Wine bar. I ordered the Nova Scotia wine in order to be polite - I had no idea it would be so amazing. I asked my server for a recommendation and she brought me this (I think) and no wonder it's a favo(u)rite - it was really great.
L’Acadie Blanc, Domaine de Grand Prè A local full-bodied favourite of complex character with pleasant aromas of fresh cut hay and herbal notes that is complemented by a rich, lively grapefruit acidity. By the glass 7 

But I might have had this instead:

Ortega, Domaine de Grand Prè This is a brilliant wine with intense aromas of pear, dried apricot and honey, layered with delicate floral notes and rose petal. Produced in an off-dry style, the pronounced nose leads to an elegant, balanced and complex palate. By the glass 9

And notice the prices - those are in Canadian dollars which means the L'Acadie Blanc was actually $5.60 and the Ortega was 7.20. Wow, what a contrast to New York prices for top-quality wine - or really any wine.

The next day when I was in Halifax at the Stubborn Goat Gastropub, just off the Halifax waterfront for lunch I ordered some more Nova Scotia wine. Also great. I liked the white better than the red but both were great. Once again I asked the server for a suggestion and forget what she brought me, but I'm pretty sure it was Nelly's Goat Nova Scotia White which is their house blend. Truly delicious.

I've been trying to find Nova Scotia wine in the US and so far no luck. It looks like I will have to order direct from the winery if I want it. Which I plan to do ASAP from Domaine de Grand Pre.

Dude in London discovered Nova Scotia wine too.

Trudeau Stories

So the reason I went to Nova Scotia was to see Brooke Johnson perform her TRUDEAU STORIES - Brooke began a friendship with Pierre Trudeau (father of Justin) when she was in college and she turned it into a one-woman show.

It was very good - if I have one critique I would say it was too short - Brooke referred to hiking and canoeing with Trudeau but didn't provide any details.

She should also add more about Justin Trudeau, I think, to make the story more relatable to people under 50. 

But overall a fascinating piece.

I took Brooke out for drinks afterwards, hence the very Canadian photo below.

A very Canadian photo

Canadian road trip, take 2

On consideration I realized that my original Canadian road trip plan had far too much driving involved and so decided to prune the trip down to only Nova Scotia and then plan to visit Montreal another time. 

But also instead of driving the whole way I'm going to take trains and a ferry to get to Nova Scotia and then rent a car when I'm there because frankly Nova Scotia has a virtually non-existent public transportation network. Although you can take two ferries to NS. 

And Brooke Johnson's one-woman show is selling tickets finally.

Now I just have to renew my passport.

Canadian Road Trip

It looks like I'm taking a Canadian road trip in August!

Brooke Johnson, who does a one-woman show about her friendship with Pierre Trudeau (I blogged about it in January) emailed me to let me know that she's doing the show in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Coincidentally I recently noted that my great-great grandfather Alexander Wolfington was born in Halifax, which makes me at least 1/32 Canadian.

So I plan to go to the show and then travel from there to Montreal by way of Quebec city where I can practice my French. I'm into the third week of French class and hope to be semi-fluent by August. So it will be a 3-province trip: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec.

Brooke also asked if I could host some Canadian theater women at the end of May. They happen to be working with Jeanine Tesori, the composer of the songs from FUN HOME, and of course I said yes. I'm excited to be able to further the cause of US-Canadian theater exchange. Justin Trudeau has been inspirational in that regard as in so much else, inviting Ivanka Trump to join him to see the Canadian musical COME FROM AWAY about helping refugees. More about these Canadian theater women later.

Oh Canada!

Dear Sweet Canada

In honor of Trump's inauguration, I decided to dedicate the bottom of this week's NYCPlaywrights Saturday email (where I put links to items of theatrical interest, grouped by a single theme) to Canada.

Starting with Justin Trudeau reciting Shakespeare.

Could you imagine Trump reciting Shakespeare? No, of course not because Trump is a thug and a slob.

Like so many Americans, I never paid attention to Canada. Which, when you think about it, is just so weird. First because Canadians certainly think about the USA. Here is Trudeau talking to some kids about Trump - it's a good bet that few American students know who Justin Trudeau is -  hell, plenty of adult Americans have no idea who he is, as this Youtube video so clearly illustrates.

But another reason it's weird is because Canada is a giant country. It's the second biggest country in the world after Russia (USA is #3) although sure, they only have one-tenth the population of the US but still. A giant country is sitting there, less than 300 miles from where I live, and it is directly across a river from the northern border of the state I live in.  Which is a really big state, but still.

It's only because of my new-found admiration for Justin Trudeau that I think about Canada as much as I do now. Prior to discovering my Premier Ministre D'Amour,  the only things I thought about Canada was that Joni Mitchell is Canadian, and that the plot of the South Park movie was a plan to invade Canada ("Blame Canada - with all the hockey hullabaloo, and that bitch Anne Murray too, Blame Canada, they aren't even a real country anyway.")

So I was doing some Googling around, looking for interesting items related to Canadian theater - this item was particularly ghastly - Canada's Hamilton Theatre inundated with angry Americans mistaking it for 'Hamilton' - when I came across information about a play called TRUDEAU STORIES, currently playing at the Great Canadian Theater Company about a young woman who had a Platonic relationship with Pierre Trudeau in the 1980s.

Then I found this podcast interview with the author and I really want to go see this show. I am seriously considering the idea of driving up to Ottawa (which is the capitol of Canada in case you didn't know, and you probably didn't even though it's the capitol of a GIANT COUNTRY) next week.  It's only a 7 hour drive - about the same distance as Washington DC.

In the podcast the author of the play, Brooke Johnson, mentions that people ask her if Justin Trudeau has ever shown up and she said no, although of course she would love it if he did. Maybe he'll show up this Tuesday when I am (maybe) there - SELFIE TIME!

The US is so lucky to have such a good neighbor on our longest border. We really don't appreciate Canada enough, partly because they're so good to us. But although Justin Trudeau can tell you, as he does in this video, that 35 of our united states list Canada as their #1 export destination, Donald Trump, the greatest humiliation of this country (and I once believed that was George W. Bush) most certainly does not know that.

Also, I don't think Donald Trump cares whether Americans would be hurt by a trade war, as JTRU seems to believe. Donald Trump only cares about using his position to LOOT the United States on behalf of himself and Vladimir Putin.

We would really be screwed if Canada came to hate us. We have to stop taking Canada's niceness for granted.

What I'm saying is, we need to start having more appreciation for our dear sweet GIANT neighbor to the north.