Hartford Stage - Age Discrimination Fail

So Hartford Stage is marketing to the young.

Stage Pass

Introducing a $38 Unlimited Season Pass!

WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?

An unlimited season pass to Hartford Stage’s 2012/13 season. If you are
18–27 years old and love theatre, Stage Pass is definitely for you. Purchase a Stage Pass for only $38 – yup, that’s it – and get into every Mainstage production at Hartford Stage for the 2012/13 season. That’s basically what you would spend going to the movies twice, and just think how sophisticated you’ll sound when you tell your friends and family you are “going to the theatre tonight.” Speaking of friends, want to bring a friend when you use your Stage Pass? Go ahead and do it! Purchase up to 3 companion tickets for only $20 each.

 I'd slap a big old Facebook "Like" on that if I were not, well, 51, and therefore ineligible.  FWIW, I love the theater, and I'm not really able to afford Hartford Stage except on special occasion.

Apparently, offering a special to a particular age (and by default, not offering it to those outside of that age) is legal and socially acceptable (of course it is, look at all the senior discounts out there). But imagine if this special offer were limited to people of a certain race ("If you are white and like the theater....") or religion ("If you are non-christian, come on down...."

I get that they want to bring a younger crowd in the door, but jeez, there are ways to do that (how about targeting the offer via youth-heavy conduits such as QR Codes, twitter, handing out physical coupons at particular events) - instead of blatant age targeting (and flipping the coin over, de facto discrimination).

Instead, I'm vaguely resentful that Hartford Stage is not offering me this particular special. 

The Tempest - Hartford Stage

So much to love!

A lazy Memorial Day weekend, without a lot on the agenda. So as a friend and I lamented our single (meaning, no families, no picnics) state on Facebook, we realized we could sneak in a visit downtown - and holiday tickets were 50% off!  We were so there!

Forst off, I've already seen The Tempest at Hartford Stage - the last time they put it on, circa 1984/85 season. Yeah, I am that old.  I must have been a way cooler 24 year old than I remembered - although a few years out of college (where I sucked up every Shakespeare course my engineering college offered), with a good (for the time) salary and a pile of credit, I was flush. Anyway, I am sure I loved that version (I made a point of seeing every Mark Lamos directed Shakespeare play that I could), but I think I loved this one more.

In no particular order, I loved:

• Ariel played by Shirine Babb with a chorus, I loved the concept of Ariel being multiple sprites. It would have been pretty  cool (conceptually) to have the three actors portraying Ariels movement chorus shared the speaking roles, although Shirine was outstanding throughout.
• The stage floor and costumes, many of which were woven with the text of the play)
•  The wall of books, artfully designed to permit the Ariel chorus to climb and pose.
• Caliban. Amazing performance by Ben Cole, and amazing choices in terms of how to play him by the director
• The stage turntable, used sparingly but effectively, all night, but especially during...
•  The opening scene, where a woman on stage in a long-trained dress transformed into the Figurehead of the ship that is wrecked in a storm. I just fell in love from the start.
• Not a huge fan of Prospero's revels (ballet and aerial dancing) in general but it was a beautiful interlude and I did love the rainbow arc. 

The actors were great, the costuming was great - hard to trump the fantastical elements of the play but they supported it fully and never detracted. Even Trinculo and Stephano (Shakespeare's obligatory comic relief) were wonderful. 

Live theater, I miss you. It was really not that pricey to see a play, there are bargains to be had, I need to cultivate a few theater going friends.

Hugh and Lucy

My friend Kim and I trekked out to University of Hartford to see Hugh Blumenfeld, opening up for Lucy Kaplansky last event, part of the Music for a Change series.

First Hugh. Lovely to see him again, although Kim and I also headed out to see him last year at the Coventry Farmer's Market (where the *cough* Guinea Pigs will be playing in June!). A short set; but filled with goodness - opening with Raphael, doing the song about his brother from Strong in Spirit. No "Good Humor Man" (not quite summer enough) and no "How Long (Will the Mill Wheels Turn)" although thatt's probably not the name of the song.

However, extra special bonus, Diane Chodkowski (who I spotted in the house along with long time folkie Cyd Slotoroff) came up on stage to help out with "Friend of the Traveler" (she is the Diane who has "...been from Equador to Cracow, singing like an ambassador from heaven....", and sang with Margo and Adrienne as part of "Madwommin in the Attic" for a time). A fun treat; I was hoping she might join Hugh on stage.

For the Hugh fans - a new album entitled "Father" is coming out in June (in time for Father's Day) and he graduates and puts up his shingle in June also. I'm assuming he's going to be practicing pediatrics; not sure where.

Lucy is also an old favorite of mine; Kim never quite caught the bug. She played a cover heavy set - opening with Lyle Lovett's God Will, closing with Springsteen's Thunder Road (!), and sprinkling in Cohen (Hallelujah), McCartney (Let it Be), and Cash (Ring of Fire) - along with two by her father.

I'm a Lucy fan for a lot of reasons. I've heard her harmonizing on my favorite folk artists for literally decades - perhaps first on John Gorka's tracks. She has written and performed some amazing songs - her cover of Broken Things (Julie Miller) is a staple on my yoga disk, often setting up for Savasana (and often bringing tears). And one year, getting ready for Falcon Ridge Folk Fest she must have called me 1/2 dozen times to be sure her CDs got there; and she was so personable and engaging on the phone that I fell in love with the person to match the voice and music. Having a beloved performer call you on the phone is always kind of an E ticket experience....

But I think I hit on why some folks do not get her - she steadfastly refuses to sing the melody, live. She performed many songs that I know well (her own and covers) and invariably, she sang all over the place. Consciously, deliberately, and beautifully, mind you. But the "hook" of a song is almost always in the melody, and so it's hard to really get the song without that. It's almost like her performances are for the true believer, who has the song's melody in their head (from listening to the track) leaving her free to play around with harmony. She is, as she confessed to having been titled by Gorka "The Dominatrix of Harmony"

She's not on the Falcon Ridge roster for this year, BUT she noted that she, John Gorka, and Eliza Gilkyson are working on a trio project (think "Cry Cry Cry") entitled "Red Horses", and due out in July. Since 2/3 of the trio will be at Falcon Ridge I would not be surprised to see her make an appearance.....

Afterwards, Kim and I grabbed a bite at Gold Roc, a pack of high school theater geeks descended, some in greasepaint and hairspray. Kim guessed "Godspell" based on some of the makeup and I guessed the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts (they are performing "Urinetown" this weekend and next, which I would love to sneak over to see). Having watched one too many episodes of Glee, I half expected an over the top production number. But we let before they got rowdy and tuneful!