WATCHING
Still Relevant 60’s Musical
Hair
It’s hard to believe that I’d never seen a stage production of Hair until this week. I certainly knew many of the songs and something about the basic premise. Seeing it at the Asolo Theatre was a powerful experience.
The time is 1968, the place the streets of Greenwich Village, and the Vietnam War is raging. This gang of hippies, or wolf pack as they dub themselves, celebrates peace and love while promoting and participating in anti-war protests. Individually like Claude, or collectively, they must struggle with the realities of the draft.
The performance is energetic and almost electric, and the singing boisterous. It set my toes to tapping. The magnificently disordered set appropriately reflects both the inner and outer disruption in these young people’s lives. Despite its age, I found parts of Hair relevant to today. The show runs until January 1. Highly recommended!
Black & White in the 1920’s
Passing (Netflix)
This black and white film is being aired both in movie theaters and on Netflix. Irene and Brian are a well-off Black couple living in Harlem with their two sons. Claire is Irene’s sort-of friend from school days who’s married to a white man and living her life as if she were white. When the two women encounter each other in a restaurant, Clare builds upon their previous relationship and inserts herself into Irene’s life. She regularly travels up to Harlem to visit and to go out with Irene and Brian. How each woman deals with her multiple roles (wife and mother) and creates her place in society makes for a complex and haunting film. Shadows abound while tension lurks beneath the surface. Recommended!
CHAPEL HILL AND ENVIRONS
Shopping
We spent several days in the Chapel Hill area over Thanksgiving, and both shopped and ate well. A frequent outing is browsing the art galleries and shops in Pittsboro. Established in 1785, Pittsboro is a charming small town, and soon became the Chatham County seat.
One main shopping street runs into a traffic circle around the historic county courthouse, built in 1881. The building has been altered and renovated several times but remains an imposing and attractive example of late Victorian architecture. Many stores were closed because of the holiday, but our family group still browsed and bought.
Another must stop on this visit was a trip to McIntyre’s Books in Fearrington Village. Founded in 1989, it is truly a booklover’s paradise. The store’s multiple rooms and alcoves are inviting, and the inventory includes the latest fiction and nonfiction, classics, cookbooks galore, many, many mysteries, and a room devoted to just children’s books. It’s a real treasure, and true to form, I made several Christmas purchases.
Eating
Wednesday lunch was at The Mod, short for The Modern Life Deli & Drinks. The menu at this Pittsboro café included a wide selection of sandwiches and pizzas. My turkey rosemary pesto panini was very satisfying as was the Caesar salad on the side. Very good value!
On our last night, we dined at Mosaic Café & Bistro in Carrboro. As its name suggests, Mosaic offers a mix of small plates and larger entrees, some vegan or vegetarian, others what we might call regular cuisine (here that meant gluten-free). The Chief Penguin boldly ordered Ethiopian roasted parsnips and carrots as well as the vegan meatballs. The meatballs were made of seitan and served in a slightly spicy tomato sauce. If you didn’t know, you’d think they were really meat! These were small plates, but not truly small portions. Also popular with our companions were the sea scallops, escargots, and French onion soup. Playing it safe, I ordered the shrimp skewers and avocado. Mosaic is an attractive space with rust-colored walls and framed art.
In downtown Greensboro earlier in the week, we had a tasty lunch at Jerusalem Market on Elm. They offer takeout or ordering at the counter for eating in. Among the four of us, we sampled the shawarma, chicken kebab, falafel, and hummus. Flavors were fresh, portions ample, and we were happily satisfied. The restaurant is an affiliate of a local food market founded in 1989; when customers wanted more prepared foods, the sons of the owner decided to create this downtown restaurant. It’s a recent addition to the dining scene.
Note: Header photo of the Asolo Theatre set for Hair is courtesy heraldtribune.com.
