Sam Patch Erie Canal Tour

I can’t believe I haven’t been on the Sam Patch packet boat Erie Canal cruise until this past weekend. It took my friend Mary Beth’s visit from the city to inspire me to this activity, and I can honestly say that I would happily go again with future guests!

Johanna and Grace

We took a 4pm cruise, and I was delighted when one of my Concentus singing sisters, Johanna, boarded with her husband and two toddlers. Our guide, Wyatt Doremus, was informative and also funny, so I really tried to pay attention to his commentary as we made our way west from the Village of Pittsford. Wyatt is fascinating in his own right (click HERE for his bio), and he regaled us with facts and figures, including that 1000 canal builders died of Genesee fever (malaria), and that it took 8 years to dig (dynamite didn’t yet exist) and 11 years to recoup the investment.

Wyatt cautioned us that while many people think they hear the walls of Lock 32 talking to them, saying, “touch me,” it’s not a good idea to heed that call, since the slimy green walls will stain you and clothing, and there’s the risk of body parts getting pinned between the wall and the boat. He also explained that it’s not a good idea to swim in the canal, because of snakes and snapping turtles. I wasn't tempted to do either, but note taken. 

Wyatt and the kids
holding the rope in the lock

It was fascinating to watch the doors close on us when we got to that lock, and to watch and feel the boat rise 25 feet to the level that would allow the next doors to open for us to exit. Wyatt let the passenger children (including Johanna’s eldest) help him hold the rope that kept us from bouncing off the lock walls, and they took their responsibility quite seriously. 

We turned around just west of the lock, and were once again sealed in, and this time lowered, to return to the Village of Pittsford. The tour took us to just east of the village, so we could pass through the Great Embankment. It’s quite something to be eye-level with houses on one side and floating above roofs on the other!

I hadn’t realized that Corn Hill Navigation (CHN), which runs the Sam Patch, is a non-profit. When the Mary Jemison was still in service, they used to provide a discount that enabled the entire 4th grade from the city of Rochester to share this experience. The organization hopes to put a new Mary Jemison in the water next year. That tour will start in Corn Hill and go south on the Genesee. 

Wyatt had fond words for CHN’s visionary, who founded the organization in 1991 and passed away in 2017. Although I didn’t know Ted, this being small-town Rochester, of course I know his wife, Claire. Rochester owes a debt of gratitude to Ted and his family for helping revitalize our section of the canal.

Too soon, we passed back under the Mitchell Road low bridge and were coming to the town... 90 minutes on the Erie Canal!

The Great Escape Room

Back in September 2015, a Great Escape Room opened in Rochester, on University Avenue. I was so excited and wanted to go, but not alone, with a group of strangers, and I couldn’t recruit anyone to go with me. It’s kind of a nerdy thing to do, I guess; the real-life experience is based on computer games. It’s a mix of scavenger hunt and puzzles in a locked room with a timer set to an hour. The goal is to beat the clock and solve all of the puzzles to get out on your own, rather than fail and be let out when the time is up. 

I realized the ‘escape room’ concept had hit mainstream (or even jumped the shark?) when it was the plot of an episode of The Middle. And yet, I still wanted to go, and I still couldn’t recruit anyone! Finally, my Rocappella singing group agreed, but of course scheduling anything with 10+ people is a daunting task. In the meantime, I had bought a Groupon to an imitation Great Escape Room in Henrietta, and by the time I went to use it, right before expiration, the business had shuttered. (Getting a refund from Groupon was impossible –luckily, Paypal came to my rescue!)

Recently, my “ladies night out” group decided to give this a try, and we had 15 women signed up almost immediately, despite the hefty price ($25 per person).  So this week, we put on our thinking caps and entered “The Library” in The Great Escape Room. After a recorded “Sherlock Holmes” gave us some instructions that we didn’t really understand, our room monitor, “Dr. Watson” (Jasmine, a lovely woman studying criminal justice at Brockport), tried to guide us without actually giving us any answers. We had 5 puzzles to solve, each with a different number of clues that were hidden around the room, in and under things, and a couple only visible in the dark. It was rollicking great fun, and while we worked in small groups on each of the puzzles (I naturally gravitated to the math problem…), we also worked together to find and interpret the clues. This room is advertised as the easiest; 35% escape within the hour, and the quickest escape time was about 35 minutes. With probably more assistance from Dr. Watson than other groups get (although, really, who knows?), we happily made it out with 11 minutes to spare.

I was impressed with the creativity and variety of the puzzles. And unnumbered clues that at first  seemed like maddening mistakes on the part of the organizers in fact turned out not to be numbered for a well-thought-out reason. After we emerged victorious, we all agreed we would happily return again and try a more difficult room. Then we went to a nearby restaurant to celebrate!

Bottle Deposit

Penfield Return Center - bonus: it's 2 doors down
from The Original Steve's diner!

I am no fan of the bottle deposit. It was instituted in the time before curbside recycling, as a means to motivate people to recycle their cans and bottles. Well, some of them. It has always been an arbitrary, hypocritical, and political endeavor. I don’t recall, for example, there ever having been a deposit on returnable wine or liquor bottles in states where I’ve lived and drunk… Different states slap varying deposits on different types of containers. But sticking to New York, the current law is a nickel deposit on the following: carbonated soft drinks, soda water, beer and other malt beverages, mineral water (carbonated and non-carbonated), wine products, and water which does not contain sugar, including flavored or nutritionally enhanced water. But not on: milk products, wine and liquor, hard ciders, tea, sports drinks, juice, drink boxes, or waters containing sugar.

So why is there a deposit on a bottle of Coke but not a bottle of Snapple? If the bill really is intended to motivate recycling, why not all cans and bottles? And is a nickel enough motivation to get people to take all their returnable bottles and cans back, instead of putting them in their curbside recycling (or trash)? Obviously not, or the economics of the deposit wouldn’t work. And obviously not, from the number of houseguests I’ve had who throw all their empties in our general recycling bin for me to pick out… Or all the bottles collected by the homeless and returned by the hundreds at Wegmans on East Avenue...

I recently got fed up with having to remember which bottles we purchased at Wegman’s vs. Walmart vs. Beers of the World. You have to know that, because if it isn’t sold at a particular store, it isn’t returnable there, either. And I got fed up with feeding my containers one by one into Wegmans’ machines, which takes about 20 seconds per container, and that’s if it doesn’t reject it unnecessarily (their tiny water bottles take particular finesse at inserting, and some of the items they sell get rejected no matter what, and you have to take them in to Customer Service). And I got fed up with having an odd assortment of bottles that didn’t come from Wegmans littering up the garage. So I finally went to the Return Center in Penfield, where not only do they take all returnable bottles, they also do the sorting for you, and I got my money for my 84 containers within a minute of entering the store, without getting my fingers sticky (some cans don’t get rinsed quite as diligently…).

I asked the young man how much the redemption center was reimbursed for returns, and he informed me it’s between 6 and 8 cents, depending on the type of container and manufacturer. Hm. The deposit math is somewhat opaque. It reminds me of Milo Minderbinder’s scheme in Catch 22, summed up in Closing Time: “…he contrived the fruitful and abstruse financial strategies for buying fresh Italian eggs from Sicily in Malta for five cents apiece and selling them to his mess hall in Pianosa for five cents apiece at a handsome profit that increased the squadron’s capital supply, in which everybody had a share…” Because all along the way, businesses and the State are making money.

Until 2009, beer and soda distributors kept all the net nickels of unreturned bottles. Since then, 4 of every 5 cents of unclaimed deposits is remitted to the NYS Department of Taxation. This scheme only works if there is leakage – if there are enough lazy people who don’t bother to get their deposits back. According to an article in the Democrat & Chronicle on 12/20/17, New York collected more than $102 million in 5-cent deposits that went unclaimed during the state's 2016 fiscal year, … (amounting) to more than 2 billion recyclable containers that went unreturned in a single year.” That’s an enormous additional tax on consumers. Somehow, I don’t think the program is motivating what it’s meant to be motivating… 

For other attempts at explaining this convoluted system, see:
https://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/11/new_yorks_bottle_deposit_creat.html
or
https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/57687.html

Auburn Part I – Seward House Museum & Schweinfurth Art Center

My friend Krista and I had the best and most ambitious intentions of hitting all of the Auburn sights in one day, but after construction on I-90 delayed us by at least a half hour, we decided to take things as they came and to take the pressure off of ourselves. It was a new sensation for me!

We arrived at the Seward House Museum just as another couple were about to go on a tour. They, like us, had only put enough change in the meter for an hour, so between that and the fact that our docent had to start upstairs rather than down (another tour was still occupying the first floor), we were not only a bit rushed, but also out of order. Our docent was very knowledgeable and animated, but also a bit flustered by having to tell us about the assassination attempt on William Seward before telling us about how he came to live in the house in the first place, and all of his incredible accomplishments.

Seward was known for his
"dining room diplomacy"

Although I had visited the museum with my friend Nanette almost six years ago, I didn’t remember much about it or him, other than the highlights. Back then, she was already blogging about her adventures, but I hadn’t yet caught the bug. And looking back over what Nanette wrote (to see her blog click HERE), I can see that she captured many of the details better than I have the patience to! But her blog didn’t include photos, so their policy must have eased since then. 

Thomas Cole replica

Also, since then, the large and too-valuable-to protect Thomas Cole painting, “Portage Falls on the Genesee,” was replaced with a replica. The original, currently appraised at $18 million, is to be sold at auction, to help sustain the museum for future generations.

Seward was a man ahead of his time, not only in securing the purchase of Alaska, but in his views about the Constitution. This, on the base of the statue of him outside the museum: “The Constitution regulates our stewardship, the Constitution devotes the domain to union, to justice, to defense, to welfare and to liberty. But there is a higher law than the Constitution, which regulates our authority over the domain, and devotes it to the same noble purposes.”

Elderberry Pond

After our history lesson, we enjoyed a leisurely and delicious lunch at the Restaurant at Elderberry Pond and stopped briefly for Krista to buy some fresh eggs. On our way back to town to tour the Harriet Tubman Home, we took a detour to the Schweinfurth Art Center and its Made in NY 2018 exhibit (which runs until June 17). 

"Anomalous" by Eileen
Fioramonti. "I once desperately
wished I could mold and reshape
my body into a form that I
thought was more desirable.
This piece was created by a new
and more accepting me."

"The Question is Why" by Mary Giehl
"There are 250,000 people killed each
year from the AK47. Each of the 250
crochet flowers represents 1000 people."

Almost everything was for sale, and there were a couple of pieces that caught my eye, but not my pocketbook. Krista did, however, purchase a lovely piece called “Replaying the Dance” that perfectly captured the mood of a ballerina post-performance.

Between the exhibit and the gift shop, our short detour became a long one, so we decided to end our day there. Besides, we need to go back in June to collect Krista’s purchase, so we’ll plan to finish our exploring then…

Seriously?!

Steel Magnolias

I’d never seen the play that the movie was based on until this production at Geva Theatre. And even though I know the ending (because who hasn’t seen the memorable 1989 movie?), it still snuck up on me.

I was privileged to be able to attend both an open rehearsal for donors and a run-through of most of the second act with a couple of students under director Skip Greer’s tutelage. The donor viewing coincided with the cast and production team working out the transition from Scene 1 to Scene 2 in Act 2. Yes, they actually spent almost 45 minutes working on what will take less than a minute to get through when perfected. While that might sound tedious to observe, it was actually more fun that watching the actors run their lines. Not only do the stagehands need to move various articles around the stage, to indicate the passing of time, but the actors all need to do significant costume changes. Oh, and get into place back on stage, in the dark. Since there are stairs to be navigated, someone brought out glow tape and marked the landings, so none of the actors would trip and fall. Eve Plumb, who plays Clairee (the Olympia Dukakis role), practiced getting to her chair several times, and we could see her counting her steps: how many to the stairs, how many down the stairs, how many to the chair. During the scene change, we are entertained with a Cyndi Lauper song, and Skip as a radio announcer (I don’t think that’s giving anything away…). They rehearsed the scene change twice, working out details such as who enters from which door, precisely how a belt is to be buckled, and where the phone needs to be. Too soon, “dinner” was called (at 4:00…), and the actors all left the stage. It was truly fascinating!

Director Skip Greer, with various members
of the production team

The next day, I got to watch the second act run-through. There was only one flubbed line, and the scene transition was flawless. It might as well have been a dress rehearsal, as far as I was concerned. All of a sudden, at 4:00, which must be the witching hour, someone called “hold,” and all of the actors froze. Again, it was time for dinner break. The action was stopped at a particularly passionate point in the play, before the catharsis, and one of the actors remained on stage – it appeared she was still caught in that emotion and having trouble getting out of character to leave. It was then that I saw what a sensitive director Skip is – he went to her immediately, and while I couldn’t hear what he said, I could tell he was helping her let go. I didn't stay to hear his discussion with his students, but I imagine he is just as dedicated and thoughtful with them as with his actors.

I can’t wait for opening night and am sorry I won’t be able to see the show twice. It’s got a short run – only four weeks – and it can’t be extended because of the surprise return of Million Dollar Quartet. The show runs May 8 to June 3, and tickets are selling briskly – for more information visit: gevatheatre.org

Eastman Presents

This is the end of the fourth year of the Eastman Presents series – how time flies! It’s come a long way from the second concert:  Arturo Sandoval, which was pathetically underattended, possibly because it was a Sunday afternoon and there was some kind of sports on TV. It seems that Eastman has learned that Sunday afternoons in the fall are not a good time for a concert; all of their current presentations are now at night. Happily, they have also decided next year to start all concerts at 7:30, instead of 8!

I have greatly enjoyed the variety of the series over the years – from symphonic concerts to jazz to Broadway divas to comedians. There’s definitely something for everyone. And while I haven’t loved every concert, I have more than once been surprised by how much I’ve enjoyed a performance I never would have attended had it not been part of a subscription purchase. In the case of this series, you really have to go to know, because there are no repeats – if you wait, it’ll be too late.

Each year, they program a “must see” for me, as if the Director of Concert Activities were in my head. The first year it was Bernadette Peters. The second, it was Kristin Chenoweth, last year, it was Kelli O’Hara (are you seeing a pattern?), and this year it was Patti LuPone. Each of them gave outstanding performances, of course! This season, the concert that surprise-delighted me was Che Malambo, an all-male Argentinian dance group that was incredible, and so much more than just dancing.

The series started out with six concerts and grew to eight in the 2016/17 season, which I felt was too many, when you consider that they are competing for audience with the other more established series, such as the RPO, Geva, and RBTL. For the 2018/19 season, which is on sale now, they have sensibly pared it back to five. This leaves time to explore some of the other wonderful Eastman concert offerings, like Dawn Upshaw, and Beatrice Rana, who was a soloist with the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia – Rome in this past series. There are no Broadway divas in the lineup, but there’s something better: Pink Martini! I’ve seen them twice before, but could see them perform every year, no, every month, and not get enough. To see the complete series, go to:

http://eastmantheatre.org/events/?criteria=event_series&series=Eastman%20Presents%20Series

Not for Profit Theatre

Roche Schulfer, with Dennis Bassett, Kevin Sweeney,
and Chris Mannelli

Roche Schulfer, Executive Director of the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, recently gave a presentation to the trustees of Geva Theatre on the economics of the performing arts and business models in the American theatre, and it was both common sense and eye opening. Most people don’t understand the difference between not-for-profit (e.g., Geva) and commercial (Broadway) theatre (let’s not get into the hybrid model of RBTL…). And until I joined Geva’s board, I was one of those. For example, it puzzled me when former Executive Director Tom Parrish bemoaned the high proportion of Geva’s income that was derived from ticket income. Wasn’t that a good thing? Didn’t that mean Geva was doing a great job at audience engagement so that it didn’t have to rely so heavily on donations? Maybe, maybe not, as it turns out…

Schulfer began with an interesting reframing of the question, turning “Why not-for-profit?” into “Why not for-profit?” He let us chew on a few statistics: Broadway has an 80% failure rate (defined as failing to make a return on investment, the holy grail of capitalism), and there are zero for-profit orchestras, opera or ballet companies (you might google and find one or two, but that’s virtually none). Unlike Geva and other not-for-profit (NFP) theatres, which plan a season’s worth of subscription shows, each Broadway show is a stand-alone business, driven by return on investment to producers and investors. This discourages risk-taking, and leads to lots of musicals, revivals, or adaptations from other sources. It also means most shows are usually star-centered, and ticket prices are as high as the market (mostly tourists) will bear.

The model that has developed for NFP theatres (and other performing arts organizations) usually includes: 1) art, not commerce, being the impulse for programming, 2) below-market ticket prices that minimize resistance to new work, 3) education and community programs, and 4) ticket income supporting 45-65% of budget. Understanding this, it’s easier to understand Parrish’s remark. Geva’s mission includes a plethora of educational programs and outreach, as well as a desire to keep ticket prices at a level that encourages a diverse audience. Ticket income, especially subscription income, is always well below the cost of productions. Hence, the need for donations – from individuals, foundations, and governments. That includes the NEA, which was created in 1965, and which each Republican administration seems to want to dismantle because they do not see the value of the arts in communities.

The NFP theatre industry also turns out to be a critical part of Broadway’s success. Most new musicals, and plays by unknown playwrights, begin their lives at NFP theatres for a “try out,” getting kinks worked out and demonstrating their potential for commercial success before heading to Broadway. This recipe doesn’t guarantee success, however, as demonstrated by the recent transfer of War Paint from the Goodman to Broadway; it featured two of Broadway’s divas, Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole, and couldn’t survive the departure of one of the stars.

One of the reasons so many performing arts organizations are non-profit is that expenses continue to rise, but they can’t realize increases in productivity. since the product is the labor of artists and occurs in real time (it reminds me of the joke about 9 women not being able to make a baby in 1 month). In addition, seating capacity is fixed. While theatres might be able to extend a hot show by a week or two, they can’t magically add seats to the theatre. So, the economics dictate the need for subsidy. Otherwise, if these organizations increase ticket prices to cover expenses, they could price themselves out of existence. Should we care?

Zelda Fichandler, co-founder of Arena Stage, in Washington, D.C., expressed the answer to that question perfectly – that theatre is “an instrument of civilization no less important to the life of a community than a church, a major library, a museum, or a university.” *

It’s difficult to distill all of the information Schulfer provided into a short(ish) blog, let alone into a 2-minute curtain talk or ‘elevator speech’ to communicate to the public the need for financial support. And most audiences just want to be entertained, not to be asked for money. But without funding, NFP theatre, which has become America’s national theatre, will cease to exist. I, for one, think that would be a great loss.

* https://www.americantheatre.org/2016/08/05/zelda-fichandler-valiant-striver-in-the-arena/