On Wednesday May
4, 2016 I set off with a group from my community happy to be leaving Vacaville
for a while. Our driver, from All West took us on Route 37 so that we could
cross into San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge, always a thrill no matter
how many times one does it.
Lunch was at the
Beach Chalet overlooking a grey sea, often that way in the city. I enjoyed Kale
Salad, Grilled Salmon and a “to die for” New York Cheesecake.
We drove along
John F. Kennedy Drive through the 1,027 acres of Golden Gate Park, which is
larger than Central Park in New York. We were luckily enough to Carolyn Roy
with us; she had worked with the Golden Gate Police Dept. for 30 years and knew
so much about the park.
The area was
originally sand dunes and from the 1870s John McLaren (Superintendent of the
Park for 53 years), worked to design the park, initially planting 60,000 trees
from all over the world.
We saw many of
these trees on the drive along with lakes, a soccer field and golf course. We
passed two windmills, a herd of buffalo, and beautiful gardens in front of the
Stow Lake Boathouse and Japanese Gardens, along with the Conservatory of
Flowers which uses re-cycled water. We
passed the many buildings of the California Academy of Sciences; the
Planetarium, National History Museum and the new Aquarium along with the new
building housing the deYoung Museum.
The musical was
enchanting in this lovely old theatre filled with moms with little girls in
their party dresses, retirees and tourists. The singing, dancing and costumes
were perfect but I think most of us were curious about how they managed the
transformation of Ella and the Fairy Godmother’s costumes on stage right in front
of our eyes! Many of the songs were
familiar to us particularly “In My Own Little Room,” “Impossible” and “Ten
Minutes ago.”
The Prince, was
impossibly beautiful — be it if slightly unworldly! The Producers of this show
had developed the characters of the two ugly stepsisters to make them more
interesting. One was a comedian who kept the cast and audience laughing all
through the show with her antics. The other sister was in love with the local
social activist and after the couple becomes friends with Ella, the three of
them work to open his eyes to inequities in his land, and everyone lives
happily ever after.
A special mention is given to Lauren Sprague
as Marie, the Fairy Godmother!
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