The new year brings a lot of talk about changing diets, getting fit and quitting vices. We offer a much easier and enjoyable option: What about shaking up your weekend?
Try a new cultural experience. Head out in search of new flavors. Let go of your fear of subtitles.
Here, we offer some new adventures for the new year.
A svelte lady sings
Opera intimidates a lot of people, but for those who feel that it's too formal or that you have to spend a lot of money, there's a series that's just the ticket.
New York City's Metropolitan Opera is now in its sixth season of transmitting live productions in high definition from its stage to movie theaters around the country. Three theaters in the Regal Cinemas chain are participating locally. The tickets are under $25, you can have popcorn and soda at your stadium seats, and you can dress as comfortably as you want.
Shown about once a month on Saturday afternoons (with recorded midweek repeats a few weeks later), the series features the world's top singers in dazzling and inventive productions. Upcoming operas include Verdi's "La Traviata" and Massenet's "Manon," plus the final part of Wagner's Ring Cycle, "Götterdämmerung." All showings have English subtitles and there are 20-minute intermissions for stretching and snack refills.
So if you want to know what all the fuss is about, attend one of the five productions left this season (the next one is Jan. 21) or by go to this summer's repeat showings from earlier seasons.
Here are the particulars to start you on your operatic adventures:
Metropolitan Opera HD Season info:
metoperafamily.org/metopera/liveinhd/LiveinHD.aspx
Tickets may be purchased at the box office of participating theaters or online at: www.fathom events.com/PerformingArts/series/metropolitan opera.aspx
Crossroads Stadium 20: 816-0220
North Hills Stadium 14: 786-4494
Brier Creek Stadium 14: 361-1115 (showing on two screens)
One dish on the menu
Explore the local take on the "one-note" restaurant trend: inexpensive eateries specializing in variations on a single dish. Here are a few that come to mind (the first two are Ashley Christensen's new ventures):
Beasley's Chicken + Honey: fried chicken and honey www.ac-restaurants.com/beasleys/
Chuck's: gourmet burgers www.ac-restaurants.com/chucks/
Calavera: empanadas calaveraraleigh.com/
Pie Bird: sweet and savory pies piebirdraleigh.com/
DaisyCakes: cupcakes eatdaisycakes.com/
Rex's Bite Size Chicken; boneless fried chicken rexschicken.com/
Nanataco: tacos www.nanataco.com/
Escazu: hot chocolate bar www.escazuchocolates.com/
Drive and eat
Get out of town. Venture outside the Triangle proper to explore interesting restaurants on the margins. All these are within an hour's drive (or maybe a little more), and cover a wide range from down-home cooking to ambitious chef-driven farm-to-fork:
The Sly Fox, Southern Pines: www.theslyfoxpub.com/
Harvest, Oxford: on.fb.me/yvIFgm
The Eddy and Saxapahaw General Store, both in Saxapahaw: www.saxgenstore.com/, theeddypub.com/
Meadow Village Restaurant, Meadow: meadowvillagerestaurant.com/
SoCo, Wilson: www.soconc.com/
The Steele Pig, Sanford: www.thesteelepig.com/
Chef & The Farmer, Kinston: chefandthefarmer.com/
On the Square, Tarboro: www.onthesquarenc.com/
Greg Cox
Hear the music upstairs
Feb. 9 offers a fine chance to see a show in one of the coolest music venues on the planet - Marsh Woodwinds, the instrument store near downtown Raleigh, which has a truly incredible performance space upstairs.
Performing at Marsh that night will be the dynamic duo of Mike Compton and Joe Newberry, two well-traveled old-time veterans recently heard to excellent effect on Laurelyn Dossett's "The Gathering" project. They're the perfect act to see at Marsh, which has a vibe not unlike the living room of a mansion haunted by friendly ghosts.
Marsh is appointed with comfortable furniture and all manner of cool artifacts. Capacity is around 80, and the management puts out a right nice spread of snacks, too. In addition to Compton-Newberry on Feb. 9, upcoming Marsh shows include singer/songwriter Russ Thompson on Jan. 14; and Rebecca Newton (of Rebecca & the Hi-Tones fame) on Jan. 21.
Marsh Woodwinds is at 707 N. Person St. There's a website at marshwoodwinds.com, but it's often not current on the show schedule. The phone number is 839-0536.
David Menconi
Go overseas for films
David Fincher's adaptation of Stieg Larsson's "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo," is in theaters, but many folks, including me, prefer the 2009 Swedish version directed by Niels Arden Oplev.
Here are several recent foreign thrillers that I think should be seen, whether or not they're remade by us Yanks:
1. "Point Blank" (2010) - This gripping French thriller, directed by Fred Cavayé, concerns a male nurse (Gilles Lellouche) whose pregnant wife is kidnapped. To save her, he must spring a wounded wanted criminal from the hospital, free from corrupt cops and murderous thugs. Cavayé's "Anything For Her" (2008) was adapted by Paul Haggis for "The Next Three Days" last year, so this seems ripe for a remake.
2. "The Double Hour" (2009) - An Italian thriller in which a chambermaid and an ex-cop (Filippo Timi and Kseniya Rappoport) meet at a speed dating event, then get entangled in a violent home invasion. Director Giuseppe Capotondi crafts a film full of twists that would undoubtedly get dumbed down if tackled by Hollywood.
3. "The Secret In Their Eyes" (2009) - A criminal investigator (Ricardo Darín) delves into the long unsolved case of a young newlywed's brutal rape and murder in this Spanish thriller by Juan José Campanella, which won the Best Foreign Language Film award at last year's Oscars.
4. "The Red Riding Trilogy" (2009) - These three films (originally produced for British TV, but released here theatrically), each dealing with a different year ("1974", "1980", and "1983") in the case of a complicated series of murders, may find folks having to rely on subtitles to get through the thick accents, but the murky mystery within is sure to keep them compelled. Julian Jarrold, James Marsh, and Anand Tucker individually directed the films, and Ridley Scott is set to helm an adaptation for Columbia Pictures.
These foreign thrillers are available on DVD and Blu-ray. "The Red Riding Trilogy" can also be accessed on Netflix Instant.
Daniel Cook Johnson
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