GOING ALONE
Now that I have a car, I’m going to do something tonight that I haven’t done
for several years – go to the theater alone.
When I was in my early 30’s, while living in Chicago, between my two marriages,
I would go on a date. Chicago is known for having several small theaters, many
of which were launchings for Broadway shows like “Yentl” and “Big River”. It
was a great place/scene for theaters. The only problem was, they were
“unknowns” and so you never knew what to expect.
I remember going on a date one time to see “Yentl”, the stage version. For
those of you who have seen the movie, the stage version was quite different
than the movie version with Barbara Streisand. The stage version was about a
Jewish woman/girl who was in love with learning; the movie version was about a
Jewish woman/girl who was in love. (Typical Hollywood adaptation.) In the
production, there was a scene where the boys, and Yentl, are walking in the
woods and come across a large stream. The boys take off all their clothes and
jump in the river to cavort. Yentl, a girl dressed as a boy so she can receive
an education, is faced with a conundrum: She can’t take off her clothes and
reveal that she is not a boy, yet all the boys are calling for her to join them
in the river. As the boys were shedding their clothes to go in the river in the
stage version, the scene included a full frontal nudity scene. This was back in
the early ‘80’s and considered very “avant garde”.
As I was watching this scene with the full frontal nudity, I didn’t mind it at
all. But I was “concerned” how my date would handle it. I became so focused on
my date’s reaction, which couldn’t be told to me during the play, that it was
difficult to relax and enjoy the performance.
Another time, the same thing happened with another date and play, but this time
the subject matter was homosexuality in the Army. Again, I watched the play
hoping that my date didn’t mind and I was hoping she didn’t thing I was trying
to “tell her something about me”.
I learned that I could/would enjoy these performances more if I went by myself
rather than with a date that I didn’t know.
As I would attend theaters, or concerts, or dance performances, I realized that
men didn’t go to these cultural events by themselves. Often, there would be
women by themselves, but more often there would be two women attending
together. But there were never two guys attending without the assumption that
they were gay. (Again, this was in the early 80’s.) It was interesting to look
around the audience while making these observations.
One exception to this was when I attended the MET HD performances, live
productions from the MET that were broadcast to show on movie screens in
theaters all over the United States, there would be several men by themselves.
After making this observation, I discovered that many of these men were
Italians who had grown up appreciating opera.
I have lived for two years at Discovery Village, an Independent Living
Facility, without a car. As a result, I didn’t go anywhere unless someone drove
me. I didn't attend cultural events except a few concerts with the Space Coast
Symphony where I was hosting the French Horn player who lived in Miami and
needed a place to stay locally. I just received a car this week so I am now
free to go places by myself, and tonight I’m going to the Vero Beach Theatre
Guild to see “The 28th Street Boarding House” by myself. I’ve been to the Vero
Beach Theatre Guild enough times to know what to expect: Almost all older
people, few people under 60 years old, and mostly women.
I’m sure it will feel like Old Home Week to me. (Smile)
David Kimball.
