Want culture? Be my guest.

 In my effort to glean as much culture as I can while I am in D.C., I made a point to find some cultural stuff to experience, in addition to the amazing lot of historical and/or touristy stuff.

“Little Shop of Horrors” was my excuse to visit Ford’s Theater and I also went to a Mark Twain play in Alexandria. With the number of venues here, I couldn’t see something at every one, but I absolutely wanted to get to the Kennedy Center.

Since I couldn’t afford “Bye Bye Birdie” – those tickets are close to $200 – I scrolled forever on their site to find something and finally landed on it: Disney in Concert.

“The Sound Of Magic is a one-of-a-kind musical and visual celebration of the beautiful stories told by the music in Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney Theme Park's iconic settings.” That’s the blurb from the Kennedy Center website and the totality of what I knew I was getting for. I really had no idea.

Oh my, it was utterly fabulous. I had assumed it was some kind of touring show, but it was a performance by the National Symphony Orchestra. How would I have known that? I didn’t know there was a National Symphony Orchestra. But there is, and the conductor, Christopher Dragon, let us through two hours and 100 years of music.

Here’s what the NSO page says about the show:

“Your favorite characters and soundtracks from the Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney Parks come to life on the Concert Hall stage and big screen in a live-to-film concert like never before. Performed live by the National Symphony Orchestra, this new concert takes you on a magic carpet ride through the most memorable song, score, and movie moments of the first 100 years of The Walt Disney Company, including Peter Pan, Moana, Aladdin, The Jungle Book, Frozen, The Lion King, Fantasia, Encanto, Disney Parks classics, and more.”

My seats were high up on the second level, so I had a great view but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out the string section. It seemed the majority of the orchestra was strings, which included an electric guitar. The brass section had three trumpets, four trombones, a tuba and four French horns – unless I missed something. The percussion section had cymbals, bells, the whole nine yards.

And behind them, there was a giant screen. Essentially, it was like watching a fabulous mélange of Disney clips – not just from the movies, but also from sketches and narrations from Walt himself – with the orchestra performing the music live.

I cannot imagine the effort put into it, but it was absolutely worth it. I tried to imagine synching even a tape player up with a TV set. That’s hard enough, but this was live. Every crash on the screen – whether from Ariel’s transformation, Simba getting caught up in a stampede or Moana setting sail – was met with some kind of musical punch, and every one was spot on.

Of course the opening included “When You Wish Upon A Star,” and after the introduction, the orchestra swung into “Be Our Guest.” But other than those two slam-dunk inclusions, I have no idea how they whittled down a century’s worth of music to a two-hour event. The selection was interesting, because there were some songs I hadn’t heard of and some blockbusters weren’t included, like “Into the Jungle.” (Not that I wasn’t OK with that decision – last thing I needed was to have that song going through my head the rest of the day.)

The video clips really did go back 100 years, with Snow White just one of the older ones featured. Heck, they even had clips of Todd from The Fox and the Hound, a favorite of mine.

So many films figured in, in some way or another. And while I knew most of the songs, there were some that I never heard of, like “God Help the Outcasts.” I never saw The Hunchback of Notre Dame. There were also a couple of recent ones – I could tell from the animation – that I had absolutely no idea what were. But even those were wholly enjoyable.

Not Disney-related, but someone hid this
little guy on campus and I thought it was cute.

Of course there were a bunch of kids there, and that was especially obvious when “Let it Go” started. There had been happy murmuring at Moana, but when Elsa appeared, the kids went nuts. It really was hard to hold back. I mean, come on. It may not even be legal to just sit there and listen to “The Bare Necessities.” You have to at least tap your toes, if not burst out into song. I had trouble holding back during “I’m Almost There,” so I could totally relate to the kids.

Not that anyone audibly sang along, really, although, when there was a mashup of what really amounted to pretty scary and/or sad scenes from 100 years’ worth of movies, a couple of kids started crying. No, Bambi’s mother was not featured, but it’s always sad when Beast almost dies.

In true Disney fashion, the whole scary/sad medley was followed by the uplifting set, because, of course, Beast didn’t die, Tiana opened her restaurant and Simba became king. The energetic ending came way too soon; the show lasted two hours but I could have listened to four.

Still playing tourist. It's more fun than learning French.

Harper's Ferry - John Brown Fort

As I plug along and struggle with French, I’m making a point to play tourist every weekend. At about the halfway point, my French stinks but I’m checking off the tourist boxes big time. I’ve checked off many of the Smithsonians, seen a play at Ford’s Theater and, last week, went to a podcast taping of “Stuff You Should Know” (my favorite podcast) at the 100-year-old Warner Theater downtown. I’ve got tickets to upcoming performances at the Kennedy Center and the National Theater, plus a road trip to NY planned.

Last weekend I took a road trip with a friend to Harper’s Ferry. I thought I knew the place, but then I realized the reason it sounded familiar is because that’s the road I turn on to get to Zippy’s house. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen Gettysburg, but I’d never been to Harper’s Ferry.

Smithsonian Postal Museum

As that’s practically the first thing I’ve done with someone else, I had a blast. We walked a ton, up and down the hill and in and out of shops. Honestly, if I didn’t like my job so much I would aim for working at the National Parks Service. They have so many cool sites to explore! I’d gone to one on Saturday in DC – the old post office, which is now restored and a Waldorf Astoria hotel – and Harper’s Ferry had a few. The docents – or whatever they are – know their stuff. We happened into one cute little storefront and randomly arrived three minutes before a presentation. The presenter knew his stuff – he discussed the battle for an hour! And today, I went to the Capitol and gleaned knowledge from the guide there. (That may not have been NPS, but you get the idea.)

I still have three months to go but my “must do” list is dwindling. There is plenty to do here, though; that initial list is mostly the main touristy stuff. Although I’ve done a few off-the-beaten-path-type things, there is just so much more here. Washington.org is a fantastic site and I need to remember to check it before Thursday to plan the weekend.

Museum of African Art
(made with old gas cans)

Work-wise, French is awful for me but I’m plugging along. I’m well behind the curve but my hope is that one day it will all fall into place. The language is so lyrical and I just can’t tell when one word end and another begins. Essentially, I have to visualize the words and the read them and I’ll hear something like “con-gee” and think it’s the one word for “time off” but in reality, it’s two words meaning “when I.” I just cannot tell because it flows together, almost musically. (I mean, not when I speak, but basically anyone else.)

It’s like the song “Blinded by the Light.” No, the lyrics are not “wrapped up like a douche, another rumor in the night,” but that’s what I hear because I can’t pick out the words. It’s only once I get the lyrics – err, the transcription – that I’m like, OOOH! It’s “Revved up like a deuce, another rumor in the night.” NOW I hear it. But no matter how many times I hear it (and trust me, I replay these things 5-10 times) I cannot pick out the words until I see them in print.

In no way do I hate it, but it is sucking away at any bit of self-confidence I had. This is, quite literally, my job right now and I am pretty awful at it. It’s hard to accept being awful at your job. It’s not a feeling I like, for sure.

View of Capitol from old post office

It’s a slog, for sure, but time is marching on and I’m just hoping everything comes together in the last two months. I am so ready to get to post, mostly because I want to be good at what I do again.

Meanwhile, I am also ticking off the boxes of logistical stuff I have to do before I leave. New passport, check; visa application, check; vaccines, check. The next big hurdle is buying a car. I was hoping to buy Zippy’s but that doesn’t look like it’s going to work out so I’m looking in the DC area. Luckly, cars are cheaper here (guess it’s the inventory) but holy cow, prices are incredible. I thought I found a hybrid that would work but then I read that shipping hybrids – especially used ones, which is what I am looking at – is touch-and-go so that’s not going to happen. I don’t plan on making a move for another month or so, but I did learn yesterday that one of the dealers with some possibilities is only a mile away, so that’s walkable. I may stroll over there in the next week or two just to lay eyes on the stuff I’ve been looking at on Autotrader.com.