theater

The last time we saw B.T.R. in concert was 21 years ago at NDK in Sofia, Bulgaria. Their big hit Спасение was just released and that winter in 1998 we heard it for the first time. Later, back in Amsterdam, I downloaded their MP3; the very first MP3 I ever heard.

Miriam took take of the kids tonight and Sasha and I had a lovely night together. The concern was in Takoma, MD, about 45 minutes from us.

They played very well -- Nasko's voice is still terrific after all that time. They mixed new songs with old hits, it was a great show. We sang and we danced.

After the show we saw two of the band members off-stage.

Sasha to Nora to her first ballet in the Kennedy Center.

They saw Whipped Cream by the American Ballet Theatre.

Yesterday we saw Hair, a great musical. The show started at 7:30 pm in the Durham Performing Arts Center downtown.

When I got home from work I had lost my voice (I have a bit of a cold) but dinner was ready, Bulgarian musaka.

The show was great -- very energetic and fun, and with nice music. A good night out.

Yesterday Sasha and I attended a broadcast of "A Prairie Home Companion", a weekly radio show that's been on the air since 1974.

We've gotten to know the show since we bought our first car; it is on the air in North Carolina on Sunday afternoons. The show consists of a variety of acts, including live music and comical performances, and was created by its host Garrison Keillor. A Prairie Home Companion usually broadcast from Minnesota but occasionally they're on the road and last night the show was in the Durham Performing Art Center (DPAC).

It was very enjoyable to see a live performance of the show, which had many references to North Carolina last night. Graduation weekend, magnolia trees, North Carolina BBQ and of course the rivalry between Duke and UNC. It was great to see Fred Newman perform live creating a wide variety of sound effects with simple instruments.

This was our first visit to DPAC, which opened in December of 2008. It's a beautiful theater and it's very large with 2 levels of balconies. It's a great addition to downtown Durham. In the evening we celebrated Analia's birthday until late at night.

Yesterday's show will be placed on the Prairie Home website for listening sometime this week.

Yesterday I bought two tickets for A Prairie Home Companion, a live radio show that will be in Durham in May.

I started listening to A Prairie Home Companion when we moved to North Carolina and got a car -- on Sundays I'd tune in to the show. It's a wonderful, mellow and friendly show and I'm looking forward to see them in action.

Yesterday evening we saw Изстрели по никое време in the Plovdiv Drama Theater.

Nadia and Milan joined us around 6.30 pm on the Glavnata, the main street, and at 7.00 pm the show started.

This was the first time I saw a play in Bulgarian, and I could understand most of it. Not every word, but definitely the general story and dialogues -- pretty cool! The actors talked very clearly and not too fast.

The story was great, and very funny at times. The scene with the dancing couple was one of the highlights. The story was written by Gerald Moon.

Last night was also a celebration of the jubileum of Todor Genov (Тодор Генов), who has been an actor in Plovdiv for 30 years. At the end of the play he was congratulated by many dignitaries and friends, and received an incredible amount of flowers. His speech at the end was very nice too, very Bulgarian in style.

Saturday night Sasha and I went to a concert of Beyonce in the RBC Center in Raleigh.

The pre show by an artist called Robin Thicke wasn't really good but the main show by Beyonce was excellent. It was a spectacular show and a great performance, we really enjoyed it.

It turns out I know many more songs by Beyonce than I thought I did.

Last night we went to see Delirium by Cirque du Soleil. The show was in the RBC center, an indoor arena for the Hurricanes and Wolfpack, about 25 minutes from our home.

It was the first time I saw a show by Cirque du Soleil, and it was very entertaining. I really liked the video projections -- they made for great visual effects. The show took around two hours and featured great music, dancing, acrobatics and nice characters. There wasn't much of a story, but most of it was around the "dream" of the main character who encountered beautiful and strange situations.

When the show was after we were from our seat on the I-40 in 10 minutes, a testament to the smart design of the RBC center and its traffic arrangements.

Last night we went to see a concert by Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares at Duke University.

We saw the choir earlier this year, in March, in Washington D.C.

There were some differences in the song selection but over-all the show was similar. The acoustics in the Duke performance hall, an old building, where not as good as in the church in D.C. Because we had bought the tickets in August, we had front-row seats which was really nice.

After the show there was a meet-and-greet with the choir member and we talked with the manager of the choir. They are traveling to New York today.

Great view from the front-row seats.

The lady on the right is one of my favorite performers.

Saturday evening we went to a concert of an amazing Bulgarian women's choir: The Great Voices of Bulgaria, or Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares in French.

The event was in The Church of the Epiphany, a church in downtown D.C. We arrived early because we weren't able to get tickets online. There was a line inside but luckily there were still some tickets available and we quickly got inside the beautiful Anglican church. We joined Stratsi and Lozana in one of the front rows and had a good view of the stage.

The show was really beautiful and the music amazing. The choir members, 25 women and 1 man, were all dressed in traditional Bulgarian costumes. I had heard the choir before on CD recordings, but hearing them acoustic was even better. They didn't use any microphones, and no musical instruments. The choir brought the show with a lot of humour, and it was a real pleasure to listen and watch.

The evening was organized by the Smithsonian, as part of a serie of French cultural events. Except for the name there is nothing French about the choir so it was a bit strange that the Smithsonian Resident Associates choose it as their kick-off event.