Classic Film Reviews: The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz is the next film playing at the 2012 HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival Now with Pepsi and presented with Ralph Lauren this Monday, June 30, at sunset. The film was awarded Best Original Score for the well known song, Over The Rainbow and nominated for Best Picture, Art Direction, and Special Effects in 1939. Join us to cheer on Dorothy as she overcomes all obstacles on her journey down the yellow brick road to the mighty wizard’s castle!


And if you don't take our word for it, listen to a pro. John C. Flinn wrote this classic film review in 1939 for Variety Magazine. Flinn praised the film, saying nothing was comparable to the lavish spectacle. 

The Wizard of Oz 
The Variety Studio Critics' Pick

By John C. Flinn Sr.
Published: Tuesday, August 15, 1939


'The Wizard of Oz,' which springs from Metro's golden bowl (production cost is reported close to $3 million), is likely to perform some record-breaking feats of boxoffice magic. Given a sufficient period of pre-release showings in selected major spots, favorable word-of-mouth on the unique and highly entertaining features of the film should spread rapidly. It's a pushover for the children and family biz.
There's an audience for 'Oz' wherever there's a projection machine and a screen. L. Frank Baum's story is an American fairy tale, a nursery saga of nearly 40 years. It comes to the films already tested as a fine piece of theatrical property. Older theatergoers remember the musical comedy version, in which Dave Montgomery, Fred Stone and Anna Laughlin played for several years up and down across the land. It's a mixture of childish fantasy and adult satire and humor of a kind that never seems to grow old.

Nothing comparable has come out of Hollywood in the past few years to approximate the lavish scale of this filmusical extravaganza, in the making of which the ingenuity and inventiveness of technical forces were employed without stint of effort or cost. Except for opening and closing stretches of prolog and epilog, which are visioned in a rich sepia, the greater portion of the film is in Technicolor. Some of the scenic passages are so beautiful in design and composition as to stir audiences by their sheer unfoldment.

Whether 'Oz' will pay out on its heavy production investment is useless speculation, wholly dependent upon the breadth of its appeal and the effective showmanship of its handling. Fantasies and fairy stories are way out of the groove of run-of-the-mill film entertainment. 'Snow White' reached the peaks of commercial success and drew to theatres a vast casual public which skyrocketed receipts. In some respects, 'Oz' possesses the same qualities of technical perfection and story appeal. At popular prices it's a bargain package for eye and ear.

Such liberties that have been taken with the original story by Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf have vested the yarn with constructive dramatic values. Identification of characters is easily followed, despite transformation of humans into imaginative hybrids. Underlying theme of conquest of fear is subtly thrust through the action. Fairy stories must teach simple truths. 'Oz' has a message well timed to current events.

What is on the screen is an adventure story about a small girl who lives on a Kansas farm, which is unfortunately in the path of a mid-summer tornado. She and her dog, Toto, are caught in the twister and whisked into an eerie land of her own imagination in which she encounters strange beings, good and evil fairies, and prototypes of some of the adults who comprised her farm world. Then ensues the long trek to the mighty wizard's castle, where she and her companions, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion, each seeks fulfillment of desire. Dorothy wishes only to return home. The plot is as thin as all that.

In the playing of it, however, Judy Garland as the little girl is an appealing figure as the wandering waif. Her companions are Ray Bolger, as the Scarecrow; Jack Haley, as the Woodman; and Bert Lahr as the cringing lion. Frank Morgan appears in sundry roles as the wizard, and the good and evil fairies are Billie Burke and Margaret Hamilton.

Behind the scenes are Mervyn LeRoy, in the role of the producer, and Victor Fleming, director. These two, with the assistance of Harold Rosson, cameraman, and a host of technical assistants, carry the load of production responsibility. Of the half-dozen musical numbers by E.Y. Harburg and Harold Arlen, 'Over the Rainbow' already is prominent on the air. 'We're Off to See the Wizard' also is a lively tune.

Film presents an ever-changing panorama of scenic vesture, of which the village of the Munchkins is perhaps the most elaborate. Novelty is supplied in this sequence by appearance of Singer's Midgets in grotesque attire. Bobby Connolly staged the musical numbers, which are gay and bright.

'Oz' is aimed for the masses and will require heavy advance buildup in all spots and out of routine approach.

Flin.

1939: Best Original Score, Song ('Over the Rainbow').

Nominations: Best Picture, Art Direction, Special Effects

Date in print: Wed., Aug. 16, 1939

Malay and Riddhi Get Engaged

Four years ago on June 12th, Malay and Riddhi went to Bryant Park on their first date.  They ventured inside and wandered through, stopping to sit and get to know each other better.  Four years and several Bryant Park dates later, they returned to the park.  Sitting under an umbrella in a sopping spring rain, Malay asked Riddhi if she would  marry him.  She said yes.

Word for Word Poetry with Letras Latinas

We have the help of some very special guest bloggers at the Word for Word Poetry series this summer. They capture a first-hand account of the poetry readings, as well as help to interpret the work of the talented poets who present in the Bryant Park Reading Room sponsored by HSBC.

Amanda O’Connor for Word for Word Poetry, June 26, 2012
Featuring the poets of Letras Latinas

The warm weather held well into the evening on the first Word for Word reading of summer.  In partnership with Letras Latinas, Bryant Park’s reading room was alive with bilingual poetry, dipping into performance, music, and even new media.  Under the shade of a tree canopy, excitement and energy burst from the night’s readers.

Aracelis Girmay opened the evening with a sweet work, “Ode to the Little R,” which is about the “little helicopter” rolled R in her name.  She describes an experience she often had growing up—and still experiences—of people mis-correcting the pronunciation of her own name.  That little rolled R between the two A’s is butchered, time and again, into a hard R.  More than a simple mispronunciation, though, it is a certain phrase that nagged her heart, “You mean Ar-a-cel-is,” as if she’d intended to say it like a real American, but her native tongue got in the way.  My heart truly sank as I listened to this poem.  I have about as much hope of rolling an R as an elephant riding a unicycle.  It’s as if my mouth is numb with Novocain.  An engine that won’t start.

Bryant Park's Klean Kanteen

You voted for your favorite water bottle design back in January, and now the winning bottle is available in the Shop. Our custom Klean Kanteen bottles have been produced and are ready to ship for gifts or daily use. Next time you're using a water bottle, remember Klean Kanteen's earth friendly option, and go with the Bryant Park style.

After Work Music with Spirit Family Reunion

Bryant Park After Work
Music to start the end of your day.

Spirit Family Reunion bring their rootsy, down-home folk rock to our After Work concert series this week. Five of the six band members sing, and their instrumentation goes beyond run of the mill to include a fiddle, an accordion, a washboard and a five-string banjo. It may sound raucous, but it will be nothing but rockin'.

After Work Music Now with Pepsi will continue all summer long, featuring an eclectic selection of New York area jazz musicians and singer-songwriters. Each week, we'll be giving Bryant Park Blog readers an exclusive track from our featured artist. Right click below to download and save the sounds of Bryant Park After Work.

Spirit Family Reunion - When My Name is Spoken

Spirit Family Reunion
Wednesday, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
June 27
Fountain Terrace

Pose with Your Tasteful Nudes

You may have laughed with Dave Hill at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, watched him on HBO, heard him on This American Life or read his work in the New York Times or Huffington Post. Now this esoteric funny man has released a book, Tasteful Nudes... and Other Misguided Attempts at Personal Growth and Validation, and he'll be visiting the Bryant Park Reading Room sponsored by HSBC during his 'assault on America' tour.

From @LisaRFM

As a sarcastic host at UCB, Mr. Hill has a hilarious slate of interviews under his belt as the interviewer, and it will be interesting to see if our host Janeane Garofalo can turn the questions on our featured author as he becomes the interviewee.

If you’re interested in stories about “stolen meat, animal attacks, young love, death, naked people, clergymen, rock ‘n’ roll, irritable Canadians and prison,” then Tasteful Nudes has something for you. Or maybe you just want to buy the book to get your photo on Dave's Gallery of Readers holding Tasteful Nudes.



Word for Word Author
Wednesdays, 12:30pm - 2:30pm
June 24 - July 12
Bryant Park Reading Room sponsored by HSBC

And as usual, we'll give away a copy of Mr. Hill's book to the first person to check-in to Bryant Park on Foursquare during the event. 

Classic Film Reviews: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is our second film for the 2012 HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival Now with Pepsi and presented with Ralph Lauren this Monday, June 25, at sunset. Get ready for a night under the stars with two of Hollywood’s most renowned actors, Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

Our classic film review today comes from famous critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, who saw the film in 1969. Although now known as one of the most popular films of the 1960’s, Ebert roundly trashes the film in this review, describing it as “slow and disappointing” with a “script [that] is constantly too cute,” but acknowledges that the film “does show moments of promise.” Come to the park Monday, and see if you agree with his cute yet promising diagnosis.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The Chicago Sun-Times Critics' Picks

By Roger Ebert
Published: October 13, 1969

"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" must have looked like a natural on paper, but, alas, the completed film is slow and disappointing. This despite the fact that it contains several good laughs and three sound performances.

The problems are two. First, the investment in superstar Paul Newman apparently inspired a bloated production that destroys the pacing. Second, William Goldman's script is constantly too cute and never gets up the nerve, by God, to admit it's a Western.

The premise was promising. Butch (Newman) and Sundance (Robert Redford) were two Western outlaws (unsung until now) who led a gang of cutthroat train robbers. But when Harriman, the railroad tycoon, got up a special posse of experts to hunt them, they lit out for Bolivia and stuck up banks there. You can see, in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," the bones of the good movie that could have been made about them.

But unfortunately, this good movie is buried beneath millions of dollars that were spent on "production values" that wreck the show. This is often the fate of movies with actors in the million-dollar class, like Newman. Having invested all that cash in the superstar, the studio gets nervous and decides to spend lots of money to protect its investment.

That's what happened here. The movie starts promisingly, with an amusing period-piece newsreel about the Cassidy gang. And then there is a scene in a tavern where Sundance faces down a tough gambler, and that's good. And then a scene where Butch puts down a rebellion in his gang, and that's one of the best things in the movie. And then an extended bout of train-robbing, climaxing in a dynamite explosion that'll have you rolling in the aisles. And then we meet Sundance's girlfriend, played by Katharine Ross, and the scenes with the three of them have you thinking you've wandered into a really first-rate film.

But the trouble starts after Harriman hires his posse. It's called the Super-posse because it includes all the best lawmen and trackers in the West. When it approaches, the ground rumbles and we get the feeling it's a supernatural force. Butch and the Kid try to hide in the badlands, but the Super-posse cannot be fooled. It's always on their track. Forever.

Director George Roy Hill apparently spent a lot of money to take his company on location for these scenes, and I guess when he got back to Hollywood he couldn't bear to edit them out of the final version. So the Super-posse chases our heroes unceasingly, until we've long since forgotten how well the movie started and are desperately wondering if they'll ever get finished riding up and down those endless hills. And once bogged down, the movie never recovers.

It does show moments of promise, however, after Butch, the Kid and his girl go to Bolivia. There are some funny difficulties with Spanish, for example. But here the script throws us off. Goldman has his heroes saying such quick, witty and contemporary things that we're distracted: it's as if, in 1910, they were consciously speaking for the benefit of us clever 1969 types.

This dialog is especially inappropriate in the final shoot-out, when it gets so bad we can't believe a word anyone says. And then the violent, bloody ending is also a mistake; apparently it was a misguided attempt to copy "Bonnie and Clyde." But the ending doesn't belong on "Butch Cassidy," and we don't believe it, and we walk out of the theater wondering what happened to that great movie we were seeing until an hour ago.


Still want more info on the film? 
Attend Word for Word Reel Talks just before the movie starts with our resident film experts Scott Adlerberg and Wallace Stroby, in the Reading Room. You'll get a lively discussion by passionate film fans with behind the scenes info, a little trivia, and prizes too!

Word for Word Poetry: An Emily Dickinson Program

We have the help of some very special guest bloggers at the Word for Word Poetry series this summer. They capture a first-hand account of the poetry readings, as well as help to interpret the work of the talented poets who present in the Bryant Park Reading Room sponsored by HSBC.

Jason Schneiderman for Word for Word Poetry, June 19, 2012
Featuring an Emily Dickinson Program

Word for Word’s tribute to Emily Dickinson pushed back against the idea of the beloved poet as the reclusive belle of Amherst, and instead presented the rapt audience with an active, engaged, and sensual Emily Dickinson.

The evening began and ended with lyric soprano Marsha Andrews performing song settings of Emily Dickinson’s poems to the accompaniment of Shirley Anne Seguin on the piano. The settings were remarkably varied, ranging from amusingly staccato to sweeping and dolorous. The music took different approaches to Dickinson’s work, sometimes letting the syntax of the poems guide the music, while other times the music made the words hard to hear. The virtuosity of Andrew's singing filled the park with Dickinson's words, beautifully carried on her voice.

Daniela Gioseffi, a significant poet and Dickinson scholar, gave a rousing biographical sketch of Dickinson. She described the ways in which Dickinson had deep friendships and correspondences with many of the most important thinkers of her day, particularly with Thomas Wentworth Higginson. Higginson is often thought of as having kept Dickinson from publishing, but Gioseffi told the audience that he actually considered her a genius, and that the decision not to publish was Dickinson’s. Dickinson poetry engaged politics and current events, and Gioseffi pointed out the new developments in science and philosophy that influenced Dickinson.

Lee Briccetti focused on her personal connection to Dickinson’s poetry, particularly focusing on the Dickinson as a poet of trauma. Having lived blocks away from ground zero, Dickinson’s poems helped her in the wake of 9-11. Briccetti marveled at Dickinson’s understanding of trauma while taking comfort in it, and being led forward to write her own poems. Briccetti stressed the idea of being an amateur (rather than a scholarly or professional) lover of Dickinson, emphasizing the root of “amateur” being love.





The readers and performers put themselves in conversation with Dickinson. The poets read both Dickinson’s poems and their own poems inspired by Dickinson. We heard Dickinson poems that were by turns funny, elegiac, clever, mournful, and ecstatic. Susan Howe famously titled her exploration of Dickinson’s work My Emily Dickinson. Tonight we saw many Emily Dickinsons, and all of them were stunning.

Jason Schneiderman is the author of Sublimation Point (Four Way Books) and Striking Surface (Ashland Poetry Press). His poetry and essays have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies including American Poetry Review, The Best American Poetry, Grand Street, Bloom, Court Green, The Penguin Book of the Sonnet, The Story Quarterly, the Virginia Quarterly Review and Tin House among other publications. Jason has received fellowships from Yaddo, The Fine Arts Work Center, and The Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference. He was the recipient of the Emily Dickinson Award from The Poetry Society in 2004. A graduate of the MFA program at NYU, he is currently completing his doctorate at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Oakleaf Hydrangea

The Oakleaf Hydrangea is a staple year round in our perennial gardens. The leafy green plant grows to be quite large with conical white flowers. It's typically underused, however we rely on it for continued seasonal interest in Bryant Park. The white flowers are very fragrant when they first bloom around this time. As the summer passes, the flowers will turn pink, and then brown. The flowers hold their shape for quite some time after they turn brown, lasting into the cooler months. The plant is dormant in the dead of winter, and begins anew each spring.

Seamless at the Southwest Porch, Redux

The rain stopped us the first time, but being a determined bunch, we're trying again.

Jennifer Swanson of Elie Tahari and Linda Tischler of Fast Company, 2011

Join us for a discussion of Seamless and their innovative food ordering platform next week at the Southwest Porch, featuring Seamless's Vice-President of Product, Lizzy Klein, with Neil Janowitz, a Senior Editor at Fast Company.

Register now for the discussion on Tuesday, June 26, and enjoy breakfast from 'wichcraft, while you test the Seamless iPad app. You can also check out the full series schedule (it's free!), made possible by Southwest Airlines.



Breakfast Briefing with Lizzy Klein, VP of Product Seamless
Tuesday, 8:30am - 9:30am
June 26
Southwest Porch

Summer Top 10

With over 600 free of events, it might be hard for one individual to experience everything Bryant Park has to offer in just one season. To help you divide and conquer, we've broken down the Top 10 Must Do's for Summer 2012 in the Park. Start ticking them off... it's already June.

1. Watch a movie from the lawn
It's the 20th Anniversary of the 2012 HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival, Now with Pepsi and presented with Ralph Lauren, so we're screening the best films from the last twenty years this summer. Come have a picnic and watch a great movie. It's a quintessential New York City experience.

2. Experience a free concert outdoors
With piano concerts, accordion performances, and After Work performances from eclectic New York artists, you have no excuse for missing a musical moment in the park this summer.

3. Get active and educated with a free lesson
Omm with lululemon athletica Yoga classes, balance with Tai Chi Chuan Center, spar with instructors from Manhattan Fencing Center, leap with Limon Dance, purl with Knitty City, parlez français with inlingua, or perfect your writing at Word for Word Writers Workshops. It's all free in the park.

4. Meet a bird... or an Author
Spice up your lunch break with a story of a chance meeting. The Bryant Park Reading Room sponsored by HSBC plays host to celebrity authors each week, and Le Carrousel turns in to a petting zoo on Tuesdays with exotic birds from Arcadia Bird Sanctuary.

5. Lay on the Bryant Park Lawn with your Bryant Park Lawn Towel
Take a piece of the park home with you. The Bryant Park Shop sells a variety of Bryant Park themed apparel and home goods, including our park chairs, subway signs, t-shirts, totes, and more!

6. Reflect on the history of Bryant Park
2012 marks the 20th year since the reopening of Bryant Park in 1992. The park's transformation is reflected in a special collection of 86 images, which are exhibited now on the park's perimeter fences, as well as online.

7. Compete in an epic musical chairs battle
Tomorrow, June 20th, at 20 o'clock, the lawn will be taken over by up to 400 revelers dancing and sitting their way to musical chairs glory. Each participant will receive a prize, as they battle for the title of champion. Register now. Updated to add: Registration is full, but sign up for the waiting list!

8. Ride Le Carrousel and Party with the animals
Our beautiful carousel is a treat for young and old alike. Open 7 days a week, 12 months a year, Le Carrousel rides are only $2. Each Saturday, two of our carousel animals come to life at Le Carrousel Kids performances with Flaubert Frog and Cali Co Cat.

9. Play a game
Pass the time at the Chess and Backgammon Area and the Games Area. Or get active with Pétanque, Ping Pong, and Kubb.

10. Dine al Fresco
Grab a sandwich at 'wichcraft, a drink at The Southwest Porch, or a meal at the Bryant Park Grill. It doesn't matter your style, as long as you're outdoors savoring the summer weather!

From the Windows of Barney's to the Reading Room

If you’re looking for style guidance and dieting tips, but everything you’ve been reading isn’t helping, maybe you’re not getting advice from the right people. The creative mastermind behind the infamous windows at Barney’s NY, Simon Doonan says that when it comes to style (and a lot of other things), “the gays are the chosen people.” Not only does Doonan know fashion, but he’s also an expert on reducing his calorie intake. He’s just released his sixth book, Gay Men Don’t Get Fat and he'll be in the Bryant Park Reading Room sponsored by HSBC this Wednesday to dish on his expertise. Joining him will be radio host and comedian, Frank DeCaro of The Dead Celebrity Cookbook.


Word for Word Author
Wednesdays, 12:30pm - 2:30pm
May 16 - August 22
Bryant Park Reading Room sponsored by HSBC

Classic Film Reviews: Psycho

Pyscho kicks off the 2012 HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival Now with Pepsi and presented with Ralph Lauren this Monday, June 18 at sunset. You're definitely in for a creepy evening as you watch this scary movie under the stars in the park.

Pyscho may seem gentle, when compared to the gore and horror of today's entertainment, but nothing beats Director Alfred Hitchcock's films when you talk about suspense. Go ahead and read an original 1960 review of the film by Paine Knickerbocker from The San Francisco Chronicle. He doesn't give away any of the mystery.

'Psycho' the First Time Around
The San Francisco Chronicle Critics' Pick

By Paine Knickerbocker
Originally Published: August 11, 1960

"Psycho", which opened yesterday at the RKO-Golden Gate, obviously represents a challenge that Alfred Hitchcock gleefully accepted.

After his suspense pictures and romantic adventure stories could he come up with a shocker, acceptable to regular American audiences, which still carried the spine-tingling voltage of foreign presentations such as ``Diabolique''?

The answer is an enthusiastic yes. He has very shrewdly interwoven crime, sex and suspense, blended the real and the unreal in fascinating proportions and punctuated his film with several quick, grisly and unnerving surprises.

"Psycho'' opens with Janet Leigh and John Gavin in a cheap hotel room. That afternoon, on returning to her office, Miss Leigh succumbs to temptation and steals $40,000.

But as she flees Phoenix, Hitchcock's finger is always on the wheel. A highway patrolman represents menace behind his disturbing dark glasses. She is back in the world of uneasy reality as she purchases a used car from a convincing dealer.

And then suddenly she is in a strange motel, talking to its eager, sensitive manager, Anthony Perkins, who smiles disarmingly, tightens and freezes at certain suggestions, and betrays a speech defect during moments of nervous excitement. Perkins is excellent as young Norman Crane (sic).

No more of the action may be disclosed here. But violence follows, and then a skillfully paced interrogation by Martin Balsam as an affable but determined private eye.

And just when affairs become bizarre again Hitchcock brings in John McIntire as the most easygoing and acceptable of sheriffs.

Miss Leigh is effective as the troubled fugitive. Gavin and Vera Miles, who plays Miss Leigh's sister, have less to contribute, but the overall effect is expert, and again Hitchcock has used the camera skillfully.

Such a picture, in addition to all this, needs a gimmick. Here it is that no one will be admitted to the theater after the film has begun. This device is the final fillip to Hitchcock's artful and theatrical trickery.

This article appeared on page E - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Father's Day Relays at Southwest Porch

Calling all dads! Want to put your Daddy skills to the test and win fantastic prizes?

 

Come on over to Southwest Porch at Bryant Park this Saturday, June 16th, for 'wichcraft grilling, hanging with the family, and showing off your superior and awesome Daddy skills. Fathers can check-in at the bar area at Southwest Porch to compete in relays at four different times during the day: 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, or 4pm. Relays are comprised of tasks like diaper changing, necktie tying, and furniture assembling. Think you're the fastest Dad? Prizes for winners include SkyMall gift cards or Southwest Airlines round trip tickets.

Don't forget the photos, Dads. Show us a photo of your kids and your first drink is on Southwest. There will also be coverage of the USGA U.S. Open and a putting green for your golfing pleasure. All-in-all, a great way to celebrate your Father's Day weekend!

Word for Word Poetry with Cavan Kerry Press

We have the help of some very special guest bloggers at the Word for Word Poetry series this summer. They capture a first-hand account of the poetry readings, as well as help to interpret the work of the talented poets who present in the Bryant Park Reading Room sponsored by HSBC.


Amanda O’Connor on Word for Word Poetry, June 12, 2012
Featuring the poets of Cavan Kerry Press

While Tuesday’s rain showers may have kept some poetry lovers homebound, the dedicated and proud gathered in a warm, dry conference room 24-stories above Bryant Park.  With a direct view of the Chrysler building behind the poets, each transported us miles away of New York.  Carole Stone put it well, remarking, “Phillip Levine has Detroit, I have Newark.”  It seems that the same could be said of Paola Corso’s Pittsburgh and Kevin Carey’s Boston.  Regionalism was alive in the Bryant Park Reading Room.

Carole Stone opened the evening with poems from her latest collection American Rhapsody (CavanKerry Press, March 2012).  The cover photo’s amber glow of a mostly-drunk whiskey bottle begs the question, who drank all the liquor?  Stone wastes no time letting us know it was her father and mother.  The collection is an elegy for her parents who were once hopped up on bootlegged, bathtub booze and hot jazz.  Stone adeptly describes scenes she only could have imagined, from Josephine Baker to bars where the patrons smoke fat Cuban cigars.  She describes an exhilarating, perhaps even dangerous life.  The underbelly of these poems, though, is the life her parents left her, one that is sad and confused.  “English-American Duet” strikes this dichotomy well, noting poverty and corruption, money and middle class.  Between the highs and lows, Stone finds W.H. Auden.  At the end of the poem, the speaker remarks that she’s found her poets, “pastoral all,” which have provided a salvation. The collection is filled with wonderfully narrative work that blends Stone’s own experiences as an orphan with the dreams of who her parents were.  Really, we can only see as much as she does in the eyes of an old picture of her father.  “Black Dress” is a wonderful poem, breathing light and insight into the collection.  It begins with the speaker asking if she can give her black dress, the one she wore to her uncle’s funeral, to goodwill.  My heart sank as she confessed that no one at the funeral acknowledged that this man raised her as a daughter.  In the last lines, we learn that the poem was triggered by a Proustian memory, a lozenge in the pocket of another black dress reminded her of candies he ate.  The shifts between present and memories, memories imagined and experienced, are tightly controlled in form poetry, including a sestina and a lovely villanelle.  I have to admit, the simple rhyme of “rye” and “goodbye” still makes me tingle like a martini on my lips.

Win Pepsi Speed Passes to See the Beach Boys in Central Park

Pepsi is celebrating summer! To help kick off our HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival, Now with Pepsi and presented with Ralph Lauren, Pepsi is giving away 10 pairs of  Pepsi Speed Passes to see the Beach Boys this Friday, June 15th, in Central Park. The concert, part of Good Morning America's Summer Concert Series, will be held in Rumsey Playfield from 7am - 9am. Winners are advised to arrive by 5:45am as the pass gives them first access to the best viewing spots without waiting in line.

This isn't the first time the Beach Boys have played Central Park. Below is a clip from their 1971 Central Park concert that aired on ABC-TV as "Good Vibrations in Central Park." It's only the closing credits but it features, yes, the Beach Boys mega-hit "Good Vibrations."

How to win the passes? Leave a comment telling us your favorite film on our schedule this summer. Please include your email address so we can notify winners. You must be able to pick up the passes from our Midtown Manhattan offices by 5pm tomorrow, Thursday, June 14th. The contest will close at 11:59pm today, and winners will be announced tomorrow morning via email. A valid email address is required for entry. Please note that the Pepsi Speed Pass gives pass holders a first shot at the best viewing spots only if they are at the Rumsey Playfield 72nd Street entrance on Fifth Avenue by 5:45am.

See you at the concert!

After Work Music with Erin and Her Cello

Bryant Park After Work
Music to start the end of your day.

Erin and Her Cello are featured this week, playing songs ranging from jazz and blues to French pop and 50s rock, all with a dash of humor. The After Work concerts will continue all summer long, featuring an eclectic selection of New York area jazz musicians and singer-songwriters.

Each week, we'll be giving Bryant Park Blog readers an exclusive track from our featured artist. Right click below to download and save the sounds of Bryant Park After Work Now with Pepsi.

Erin and Her Cello - Subway Crush

Erin and Her Cello
Wednesday, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
June 13
Fountain Terrace

Watch What Happens... when Andy Cohen comes to the Reading Room

If you like Reality TV, then chances are that a few of Bravo's unscripted shows are included on your guilty pleasure list. Can't wait to see the Real Housewives flip tables and shed tears? Love watching Patti Stanger set up the dateless on Millionaire Matchmaker? Salivate over Top Chef creations? Remember Project Runway and Queer Eye longingly? Andy Cohen oversaw all of these shows and more in his role as an executive at Bravo. Now the creative producer has his own show, Watch What Happens Live! and a brand new memoir Most Talkative: Stories from the Front Lines of Pop Culture.

Meet the man who created Bravo gold in the Bryant Park Reading Room sponsored by HSBC this Wednesday with host Willie Geist of  MSNBC.

Word for Word Author
Wednesdays, 12:30pm - 2:30pm
May 16 - August 22
Bryant Park Reading Room sponsored by HSBC

Friday Round-up

'wichcraft. The summer menu returns to our favorite sandwich kiosk in the park this week. Head over for new additions like blackened flank steak, zucchini & mozzarella, and free-range chicken salad.

Knitting. Get a jump start on the season of free knitting classes in the park with World Wide Knitting in Public Day this Sunday. Knitty City has rounded up experienced members from The Big Apple Knitting Guild, NYC Crochet Guild, The Harlem Needlearts, and The Seaman's Institute for this 'knit-in'. Beginners are also welcome. Lessons and materials will be provided.

Jewish Books Cooking. See a free performance of Tony-nominated artist Elizabeth Swados' new children's musical performance on Sunday, June 17 at Le Carrousel. The piece brings classic Jewish children's stories like Mr. Mentch and The Klezmer Bunch to life with music. More info here.

Towers of Flowers

These pink, green and white towers of flowers are perhaps our most dramatic horticultural detail. The towers give off the impression that they are made up of dense masses of flowering bushes, adding color and richness to the park pathways at a multitude of heights.

Here's the secret. The towers are actually formed by a series of stacked, circular reservoirs made of steel. They are commonly known as Garsy Planters, which  our Director of Horticulture Maureen Hackett fills with a mixture of white begonias, pink begonias and ivy.

The care and maintenance of these units takes some major planning from year to year. Our grower picks up the containers every fall, and stores them in a greenhouse in Long Island for the winter. Around February, the garsy units are refilled and nourished until they are lush and healthy. They are then returned to the park each year in late Spring for the peak summer season.

We hope you enjoy them for the next few months!

Busy Tuesdays in the Park

Tuesdays have become a whirlwind day in Bryant Park. We start the mornings with Tai Chi on the Fountain Terrace and Yoga on the Upper Terrace...

  

...and then move into our lunchtime activities. The exotic creatures of Arcadia Bird Sanctuary visit Le Carrousel for a friendly meeting, while the fencers practice on the Library Terrace facing 5th Avenue.

We have two music performances that take place on Tuesdays at lunch. Piano concerts on the Upper Terrace, and musette-style accordion music at the 40th Street Plaza.

The activities persist, even as evening sets with free Juggling lessons in the 40th Street Plaza and Word for Word Poetry in the Reading Room. 

All of that... and we still haven't mentioned our daily amenities like the Games Area, Le Carrousel, The Tables, Pétanque, and Chess. Drop by any Tuesday for a full day of free activities in the park. 

After Work Music with the Armen Donelian Trio

Bryant Park After Work
Music to start the end of your day.

Our weekly concert series returns this Wednesday with the Armen Donelian Trio. The concerts will continue all summer long, featuring an eclectic selection of New York area jazz musicians and singer-songwriters.

Each week, we'll be giving Bryant Park Blog readers an exclusive track from our featured artist. Right click below to download and save the sounds of Bryant Park After Work Now with Pepsi.

Armen Donelian Trio - In Your Own Sweet Way

Armen Donelian is also performing solo at lunchtime this week for Piano in the Park. Catch him through Friday on the Upper Terrace from 12:30pm-2:30pm.


Armen Donelian Trio
Wednesday, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
June 6
Fountain Terrace

Jen and Jennifer at the Reading Room

Have a laugh with Jennifer Weiner and Jen Lancaster over lunch at the Bryant Park Reading Room sponsored by HSBC on Wednesday. The two New York Times best-selling authors and friends will join forces for an afternoon on writing, pop culture and their newly published books.

Jen and Jennifer at an event outside Chicago

You may know Jennifer Weiner from her popular book In Her Shoes, which became a movie with Cameron Diaz and Shirley MacLaine. Now she's back with two more works of fiction, Then Came You, and her forthcoming novel The Next Best Thing, which will be released on July 3rd. Author and memoirist, Jen Lancaster, will be talking about her newest book Jeneration X; One Reluctant Adult's Attempt to Unarrest Her Arrested Development; Or, Why It's Never Too Late for Her Dumb Ass to Learn Why Froot Loops Are Not for Dinner.

These prolific writers other topics have included: weight loss, reality tv, motherhood, paying rent, finding jobs, finding love, losing love... it's all there. Both create relatable, self-deprecating tales that remind us to find humor in life's challenges. They will certainly lighten your mood on Wednesday. And two lucky attendees will win one book by either Jen or Jennifer. Be one of the first two people to check-in on Foursquare for more information.


Word for Word Author
Wednesdays, 12:30pm - 2:30pm
May 16 - August 22
Bryant Park Reading Room sponsored by HSBC

Bryant Park Blog Q&A with Christopher McDougall and Steve Friedman

We're celebrating the release of ultra-marathoner Scott Jurek's memoir, Eat and Run with all things running and literary this Tuesday in the Bryant Park Reading Room sponsored by HSBC . He'll be joined by co-author Steve Friedman, and the best selling author of Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, Christopher McDougall, who will serve as host. Golden Globe nominee, Peter Sarsgaard will also join our esteemed running crew for the event, as he prepares for his upcoming role as actor and director in the film version of Born to Run.

 

We couldn't just talk about running without some real action though. Scott Jurek will take the lead on a 31 mile run around the perimeter of Manhattan, beginning at the Robert Moses playground on East 42nd Street at 5am, and ending just in time for our Word for Word event at the Reading Room in the park. The public is invited to join him on all or part of his route, as he makes his may through the city. See the Meet-Up page for more specific information.

Christopher McDougall and Steve Friedman were kind enough to answer our Blog Q&A to get you prepped for the event. See which author is a serial f-bomb offender, and which author had a childhood interest in the work of Ray Bradbury.

What was your inspiration for this book?
CM: A fantastic, rollicking adventure in Mexico’s Copper Canyons alongside wild characters like the White Horse, Barefoot Ted, Manuel Luna, and Scott Jurek.
SF: Scott asked me to help him.

Where do you do your best writing?
CM: In my head. i just wish it came out the same way on the page.
SF: Someplace away from my apartment.

Did you have an “a-ha!” moment that made you want to be a writer?
CM: Right after I finished reading The Great Brain as a kid, I started plotting how I could write something that good myself. I’m getting there.
SF: Yes, hearing my seventh grade teacher read Ray Bradbury’s description of a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Which author do you wish had been your 7th grade English teacher?
CM: Anne Sexton. if you have to ask why, just watch this.
SF: Ray Bradbury

What is your secret talent?
CM: Sorry, it’s a secret.
SF: I tell a pretty scary ghost story.

What is your favorite book?
CM: Born to Run, of course.
SF: When I was 13 or 14,  Look Homeward Angel. Now, I can’t name a favorite.

Who reads your first draft?
CM: I don’t show anything to anyone until it’s done. And then I send it straight to the editor and hold my breath until he tells me I don’t have to start over. Which isn’t every time.
SF: They’re bad enough that I don’t subject anyone to them.

Do you read your books after they’ve been published?
CM: No. I’m an obsessive re-writer, so by the time the book is finished, I’ve re-read every page dozens of times and can’t stand to look at them again.
SF: No

Do you prefer writing on a computer or longhand?
CM: Notes and outlines longhand and always longhand; full sentences always on the computer.
SF: Computer

What book are you currently reading? (Old school or e-Reader?)
CM: I’m working on a new book that dives through WWII, so I’m reading a stack of great out-of-print combat accounts, like Popski’s Private Army and Hunters from the Sky: The German Parachute Corps: 1940-1945. And I’m always a sucker for anything by Patricia Highsmith.
SF: The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta (Print)

What word or punctuation mark are you most guilty of overusing?
CM: Spoken-word, I’m a serial f-bomb abuser.
SF: It’s a tie between and and doomed. Commas.

If you weren’t a writer, what would you be?
CM: Hopefully marrying into money.
SF: Teacher

Word for Word Author
Wednesdays, 12:30pm - 2:30pm
May 16 - August 22
Bryant Park Reading Room sponsored by HSBC


Don't forget to check-in to Bryant Park on Foursquare on Wednesday when you come for the event. The first two people to check-in will receive a book by one of our featured authors!