The force is with us

A dear friend of mine used to say, 'What's worse than one flute?'  The answer, of course, is 'Two flutes'. Dorothy had a flute problem.

Well then, what's better than one Tour de Force?

Three!

As someone once said 'Tel jour, telle nuit'. Tonight I had a ticket to see Zero Hour at Barrington Stage 2. It is a one man show about Zero Mostel.

On the drive up to Pittsfield I encountered the first tour de force. It was my own Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. I decided to listen again to her recording of the Berlioz Nuits d'été. I should not have been surprised at the power of her performance. I had heard her sing it many times. But tonight, driving through the countryside on the Tyringham Valley Road with its multitudes of greens and pinks and lavenders, it just hit me once more.

My God, that girl could sing!

A few years ago when Lorraine was still with us, I was having dinner with friends. A local music critic was also at the table, and when the subject of Lorraine came up he said, 'I think that her singing is just too intense.' I, amazingly, kept my mouth shut, but my thoughts were unprintable. It was only too intense if soul searing emotion and musicality are more than you can take. As you might guess, he was not a very good music critic and is no longer in print.

Then, arriving at Stage 2 and being seated in Row AA, center, the second tour de force arrived on the scene in the person of Jim Brochu who simply blew the walls out as Zero Mostel. He had known Zero when Jim was a young actor and has him down to a T. He made us laugh, and cry, and gasp. In the midst of this one act mono-drama, we were treated to a major storm going on outside the theatre. Perhaps this was to compliment the major storm going on inside the hall. We could hear hail pounding on the roof. At first I thought it was a theatrical effect, but when the lights kept dimming and coming back up and even going out for several seconds, I decided that both storms, inside and out, were the real thing.

Jim Brochu, a consummate actor, never blinked an eye at the competition and kept absolutely in character even when the lights went off in the theatre. I would say that he and Lorraine have the same intensity when doing what they do best. It is an all compelling fury about the way they approach their art. Fury and love, I guess.

Whew.

Then, to cap off the evening, when I left the theatre, I found that the storm had put out all the lights in Pittsfield and everywhere else most of the way home. The theatre must have it's own generator. I guess you would call this a Tour de force de nature. Number three.

As I wended my way back to Sandisfield, I encountered downed trees strewn across the highway. I actually got lost for a few minutes in Lenox with no lights. Then had to make a detour before getting to Stockbridge and come home through Lee and Monterey. For those of you who do not know Berkshire County, this is not exactly as the crow flies. Mix in a lot of fog and you have the setting for the perfect Hallowe'en night!

The Temperature today went from 96 at Bradley Airport to 64 in my front yard when I reached home.

Who ever said that life in the country is dull?