Goodbye, D.C.

Tuesday, January 8th

My four weeks in Washington ended with a flurry of sight-seeing and a four show weekend. Sheila Marie and her folks headed off in opposite directions on Wednesday the second (Sheila headed north back to NYC while Donn and Rhoda headed south to Florida.)

The National Tour of My Fair Lady was also in town (and also, it turns out, staying at the Carlyle). As several of us had friends on the tour, their Company Manager arranged some seats to their Thursday matinee for us. The Kennedy Center is an impressive building. It contains eight different performance spaces - it felt to me like all of Lincoln Center combined into one building. The foyers and entrance halls were massive and very formal feeling spaces. My Fair Lady performed in the Opera House. The theatre is all red damask with crystal chandeliers (again, very reminiscent of The Met at Lincoln Center).

The Hall of Nations - one of the lobbies at the Kennedy Center

Kennedy's Memorial Bust

The entrance to the Opera House

The Watergate Complex is across the street from the Kennedy Center

I finally went out to see some of the governmental highlights on Friday. My first stop was the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, though established in the Constitution, was essentially homeless until the 1930's. The Justices held court in various conference and committee rooms in the Capitol - scheduling themselves around the workings of Congress. The court's current home at 1 First Street NE (across the street from the Capitol) while impressive, isn't all that large. It's a four story building with enormous columns and statues on either side of the marble stairs: Justice the Guardian of Liberty and Equal Justice Under the Law.

The exterior of the Supreme Court

Equal Justice Under the Law

I got to visit the Supreme Courtroom and heard a brief lecture on the history, traditions and operation of the court. The Courtroom only seats about 250 people in the gallery. There are reserved seats for guests of the Justices, Clerks, the media (who are only allowed paper and a pencil) and sketch artists. The public is admitted to hear arguments before the court (which take place only on Mondays beginning in October and lasting until as late as April) on a first come first served basis - the line usually begins to form around 6 AM for a 10 AM case. Each side is given a strictly enforced half an hour to present their case and answer questions from the Justices. The Justices hear two cases every other Monday. The cases are selected from about 8,000 that are submitted to the Court each year (generally, less 100 are selected for argument). I enjoyed my visit very much. The court seemed appropriately meditative and deliberate.

From the Court, I went to visit the National Archive and to see the "Charters of Freedom". On display in the rotunda of the building are the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights. While I imagined that seeing these important documents in person would be sort of like seeing great art in person: a much more powerful experience than seeing them in a textbook. While it was cool, it wasn't transformative. I was quite surprised at how accessible the documents were. The Declaration of Independence is so faded as to be almost unreadable, but the other two were quite legible. Standing in front of them did make me think about the courage of the founders and really respect their careful forethought even in a time of crisis. It also made me wonder who would make such decisions today should it be necessary. Lastly I was reminded that these great documents are only pieces of paper. It is the ideas they represent that are so powerful and important.

On the way to work, I walked around the Capitol

The Washington Monument at sunset

On Sunday, I made a grand circle of the National Mall and saw many of the monuments and memorials we've built there. I must tell you, that I found the monuments much more impressive and inspiring than I had imagined that I would. Several of them were quite powerful and moving. I visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, FDR Memorial, Jefferson Memorial and Washington Monument. I especially enjoyed the FDR Memorial; it takes the shape of four outdoor "rooms" that represent each of FDR's four Presidential terms.

The fountain in the fourth "room" at the FDR monument.

(Even though it was quite a warm morning, the fountain had all these cool ice formations.)

A quote from the FDR memorial

The Jefferson Memorial as seen across the Tidal Basin

The Washington Monument reflected in the Tidal Basin

Looking across the Tidal Basin.

By the time I arrived back at the National Theatre, the trucks had arrived for the load-out and the crew was at work on the box call.

It was time to pack up...

Ken cleaning out his trunk

Before I left town, though, there was time for one last meal with an old friend. Hannah called me and we had dinner together between shows on Sunday. She caught me up on the news from Michigan: she was able to attend the MSU Theatre Department reunion while she was home for the holidays and caught me up on all the husbands, wives and children I have yet to meet. Every time I'm reunited with the wonderful people from my past, it only reminds why they are so dear to me. People like Hannah knew me when I was really becoming the person I am today. It has been one of the great blessings of this tour to be able to see so many people that I might not have otherwise had occasion to visit and spend some face time in their home environment. It has meant a lot to me that so many folks have made time to spend with me.

Monday morning I climbed aboard the cast bus and bid farewell to Washington. I could have spent much more time in Washington and was sad to go, but Schenectady was calling...

JV

**** Author's note: our film camera died a sad death in D.C. All these photos were taken with my cell phone. While this will drag me into the 21st century (the one containing digital cameras) and may, in all likelihood, result in many more great photos for the blog; it also means we'll have to make do with cell phone and stolen photos for a short while...