Well last night set the stage for a wonderful five days in this amazing city that Sydney has become.
I finally caught up with PK at his lovely Redfern house, met his Italian housemate and accepted a light meal he kindly had prepared for me - such a generous friend - and then off to the Seymour Centre to taste some Sondheim. And what an evening's entertainment it was. Called 'Sondheim on Sondheim', it was a recent production from Broadway to celebrate Sondheim's eightieth birthday two years ago, and was a pastiche of all his works, done by a young local team of four men and four women, all great singers in their own right and they were they fantastic! I was really amazed at the quality of their singing and the excellence of the total production. I am sure Sondheim himself would have been proud of them and really it was worthy of Broadway itself. Although not especially written for such a young team, they nevertheless carried the songs off with consummate professionalism and it felt like we were 'On Broadway'. It was sell-out performance, with lots of young ones there, plus many, many friends of Dorothy, who were all entranced with the skills both of the composer and the performers. A great night's theatre and it will be doubtless a continued sellout season. It was vintage Sondheim, and Peter also was impressed so much so that he immediately wrote to the NYC Sondheim Review with details of the show's excellence - and he is a hardened Sondheim critic.
So home to meet the freshly arrived sis from WA and all went well there and we were in bed by midnight.
After a light breakfast and coffee I was on my way to the city for my RV with H at the Art Gallery of NSW, in the beautiful sunny Hyde Park and Domain gardens. It was Sydney at its best. A text from H says he's on his way. But I just have time for my first coffee at Stonleigh Cafe on the edge of Hyde Park at St James metro station. The fountains in front of St Mary's Cathedral are sparkling in the sunlight and the park is filled with Chinese decorations for the Night Noodles which is on every night from now on. Spring has really sprung in Sydney and it is festival time. Just in front of me there are the chess playing addicts considering their next move under the protective branches of the majestic trees which grace this lovely parkland. Now on to meet H.
The cool scene...
St Mary's at the back....
Chinese noodles extravaganza..
Very nice coffee....
The Chess Players.....
Well right on the appointed hour I am sitting on the steps of the AGNSW and a taxi rolls up and H descends having come directly from the airport. He has his customary small carry-on bag and is dressed all in black, with cap and heavy shades as before.
I instantly recognise him and beckon to him. He instantly takes another position as he did last time, I think to avoid the sunlight to which I believe he is very sensitive. There are a lot of differences to this man and lots to learn as I discover in the next few hours as we decide to stroll through the Botanical Gardens and talk. We eventually find his favourite seat overlooking the water lilies and hungry curious Ibises in order to sit a bench which is inscribed with a brass plaque 'To love is everything'.
The conversation ranges over many subjects but mainly what he knows about the gardens, their origins and what to do in Sydney for little money. He is obviously quite frugal but has great contacts who take him many places. I am sure he contributes his share as he is indeed a fount of knowledge.
However it is tiring so we take a break and I buy him a green tea as we sit outside one of the many small galleries and I eat a roast beef sandwich, being a bit peckish. He says he has eaten on the plane and also he has a big dinner party on tonight. We chat a little more, he takes note of when I am next in Sydney, with many invitations to join him travelling if I am at all interested. He is not at all pushy, and we leave on good terms at Elizabeth Street where I take my bus to the Verona Cinema to cach a movie to relax me before returning home to Matraville and the family. It has been another very interesting encounter.
Tomorrow will be a big day and I want to have an early night. The movie I choose to see is about ageing elegantly in NYC, something I won't tell Hazel I have seen as she doesn't believe in ageing at all. It's called 'Advanced Style', and it does happen, I'm here to tell you.
My first Sydney Movie, 'Advanced Style'
Veiw from Verona coffee shop...
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