Last week I wrote about my shock at the reelection of Donald Trump. His bizarre cabinet nominations have provided ample fodder for an “I told you so” piece. Many more examples will follow, for sure, but let’s hold back for now.
Let me focus on a happier topic: the ways music has helped me deal with the new reality. My talented granddaughter Emma, a Bowdoin senior, and her friend Maeve, a junior at the University of Vermont, presented a wonderful hour of music at Thornton Oaks. The concert featured their melodic voices along with their skillful playing of fiddles, guitars and a flute.
Their hauntingly beautiful rendition of “Crossing the Bar” prompted one resident to say to me later, “Thank you. I needed that.” Another said, “They give me hope for the future.
” (NOTE: Go to YouTube and hear the rendition of “Crossing the Bar” by the Laudate Mennonite Ensemble to be truly inspired.) Bowdoin College students put on an extraordinary rendition of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” in Pickard Theater. Everything worked: the singing, the acting, the choreography, the costumes, the puppets and the set.
It’s mind boggling to consider how so many Bowdoin students can find the time to participate in such an epic show while fulfilling all their other obligations. Oh, to possess the energy of youth! Students at Brunswick High School continued the school’s long tradition of excellence in music and theater with their presentation of Jane Austen’s “Pride a.
