Friday, December 9, 2016.
The Symphony And The Stompers.
Last year at this time, the Marys and I went to the Orpheum for a holiday concert put on by two emphatically different performing organizations, in tandem with one another. It's a long-standing tradition for the classical orchestra in a city to put on a program of Christmas-oriented works. These tend to the light side, but with the full powers of the musicians. (The Boston Pops and its Christmas concert are a perfect example.)
But I wonder if many other such groups involve the likes of the 610 Stompers. Clearly New Orleans in its DNA, the Stompers are so far off the wall that not even localisms like "yaat" and "Chalmatian" stick hard. Is it dance? Music? Comedy? All and none of the above.
In last year's presentation, the same two organizations gave a very entertaining show. The LPO sounded great. But the conductor moved the musicians into the path of the Stompers, and there was no telling what might happen next--other than the certainty that it would be funny, if in a very weird way.
The Marys were taken aback in that last year's program was not repeated. In fact, even the style of the show was different. This year, a rotund Stomper was sort of a protagonist, stumbling through a story with a plot. But then the plot would be stalled out by the arrival of Chinese dragons. Or whatever.
My lone criticism is that this performance seemed, in comparison with last year's, a bit self-conscious. "Look, we're the Stompers, so expect us to do silly things." Last year, one had no inkling of what went on until it did, at which point it was inexplicable.
I have a taste for this sort of incongruity. I also like Christmas music, especially in the beautiful-music style that the LPO laid down. So it was a wonderful evening to me. Mary Ann, on the other hand, said that it's not really Christmas music without Mariah Carey's saying that all she wants for Christmas is you. But she's not really my type. Mariah, I mean.
After the show, we transited the Roosevelt Hotel's grand Christmas decoration of its lobby, and entered Dominica through the back door. Mary Ann has reserved a table for the three of us plus MA's brother Lee's wife and son. Dominica was otherwise a full house. We began with a Calabrese pizza--red sauce, spicy salami, capers. Very zippy in flavor, with an ideal crust. I think this may be exactly the pizza we had last year after the same show.
ML and I each had a pasta dish. Hers was funnel-shaped noodles with a great sauce with a bit of guanciale (smoked hog's jowl). I have rigatoni with a sauce very like that on the pizza. All this was good eating, in a very noisy dining room. This pizzeria of John Besh's and Alon Straya's must surely be a money factory. And it deserves to be.
Domenica. CBD: 123 Baronne (Roosevelt Hotel). 504-648-6020.
