I wrote very recently about how incandescently happy I’ve been to be back in Boston. Yesterday, I went for a walk down Boylston and back up Newbury, straying at times to walk on Commonwealth or Marlborough (which is residential and absolutely stunning).
But this morning, when I was making my regular breakfast of fiber bread, toasted with butter and guava jam, I found myself thinking about San Diego.
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| Lowell Theater, Balboa Park |
For my sixteenth birthday, my parents gave me season tickets to see the Summer Shakespeare Festival at Lowell Theater in Balboa Park. Every summer, The Old Globe selects three Shakespeare plays and puts them on from June through September on a rotating basis. The same cast performs in all three. So basically, you get to watch the same cast embody different roles, learn countless iambic pentameter lines, and play the same stage with a different set.
That year, I got to see Cyrano de Bergerac with my dad (not Shakespeare, I realize, but a fabulous French play nonetheless) and Twelfth Night (which is one of my favorites) with my mom. They actually saw the last one together. It was one of the most thoughtful, creative (and unexpected) gifts I’ve ever received.
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| A very unflattering picture of me with actor Patrick Page and his pup, Sophie! |
I think about the shows I saw that summer often. Not only were they fantastic, but I also got to meet the actor that played Cyrano and Malvolio (and his little dog, too!). It was special because it was my last summer before I left for college and I got to spend some genuine quality time with my parents, one-on-one. We started the night off at a restaurant in the park and snuggled under scratchy blankets in the outdoor theater.
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| One of my senior pictures in beautiful Balboa Park <3 |
Balboa Park is one of the most beautiful places in the world. The park and the beach (and, of course, my family) are the few things that I miss wholeheartedly about San Diego. This year, the Summer Festival features The Tempest (a play I performed in and produced in high school that was also a CETA finalist) and Much Ado About Nothing. For the third show, the Globe has been venturing out and performing other non-Shakespearean plays (like Cyrano) with much success. This year’s third show is Amadeus. I’m bummed I’ll be missing it…
