From time to time I get spotted in public, occasionally with unpredictable results. I’ve relieved to say that I’ve never gotten a right to the jaw or a pie in the face, but last Friday I was standing in front of the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, waiting to see Anything Goes, when an older fellow with a perfect Mittel-European accent walked right up to me, peered in my face, and said, “You’re the guy who wrote the book about Louis Armstrong? I read it. I recognized your face! Nice to see you!” He then vanished into the crowd, leaving me…well, bemused, I guess. I hope he liked it.
I’m always happy to accept compliments (if that’s what this was) from strangers on the sidewalk, but if you’d like to have a more extended face-to-face encounter with me this week, here are two opportunities:
• On Tuesday in Manhattan I’ll be presenting excerpts from Danse Russe, my new operatic collaboration with Paul Moravec, as part of a midday program at the Jewish Community Center, which is located at 334 Amsterdam. The show starts at 12:30 p.m.
For more information, go here.
To read more about the arts festival of which Danse Russe (which opens in Philadelphia on April 28) is a part, go here.
• On Sunday I’ll be in Malvern, Pennsylvania, taking part in a public conversation with Abigail Adams, the artistic director of People’s Light & Theatre, one of my favorite regional theater companies. Our subject is Horton Foote, whose Dividing the Estate is about to be staged by PL&T (the production opens on May 11). The event starts at six o’clock.
For more information, go here.