My 37th State: Wisconsin

Annamaria on Monday

I've spent the weekend on my first visit to Wisconsin.  What brought me here in the first place was a field trip with staff and board members of my beloved Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival.  We went to check out a sister organization.  The American Players Theater is a nonprofit regional theater in Spring Green, established forty years ago and going strong.  Like HVSF, it is dedicated mostly the classics played in repertory, mostly in summer.

My group and I saw four plays and three days, and were treated (with the accent on treat!) to back stage and facilities tours, dinners and meetings with APT's board and incredibly hospitable and generous staff members.  Their well-deserved success can be seen in their most important statistic: Over 100,000 tickets sold every season (and this in an area about an hour's drive from the nearest good-size city).  The 1080 seat outdoor theater was packed the Saturday evening we saw "She Stoops to Conquer."

You can find more about this marvelous organization here.

While in Spring Green, we took the opportunity to tour Taliesin, the historically preserved home of Frank Lloyd Wright.  Let me give you a glimpse of it. 

I love to look at people's bookshelves to get to know them.  Here are a couple
shots of FLW's.

One of the things I have always admired about FLW's
designs is his idea to turn a corner into a window.
I loved this perfect way to frame a gorgeous view.

Proof I was really there

These two are for you, Susan!

Much is made whenever Frank Lloyd Wright's work is discussed about the undeniable influence of the Japanese aesthetic on his work, but in his home I saw a Chinese painting that looked to me like an inspiration for some of his design choices.  Here's the evidence.  Tell me what you think:

\

Now, I am off to spend some days with friends and family in the San Francisco Bay Area, on which I will report next week.  Toodle-ooo, in the meanwhile.