1/20/10 – 1/21/10 – Which did come first? Albany, NY, and The Egg

Immediately following our Kupferberg Center show, we drove to the capital city of New York, Albany. Sitting on the Hudson River, Albany is the second oldest city in the state of New York (the oldest being New Amsterdam) and the oldest surviving European settlement from the original Thirteen Colonies. It is named in honor of the Duke of Albany, James II of England (and James VI of Scotland). Duke of Albany was a Scottish title typically given to the younger son of the King of the Scots. I wish that we had had more of an opportunity to explore Albany, as many of the historical buildings that we passed resembled structures that I have seen in Europe.



One of the most prominent buildings of the Albany skyline is The Egg, a performing arts venue that, in fact, resembles an egg. Designed by Wallace Harrison and built between 1966 and 1976, The Egg sits in Empire State Plaza on a stem that goes down six stories to support the weight of the massive inclined building. The venue houses two theatre facilities and was the topic of the They Might Be Giants song, ‘The Egg’.



We performed one show in the 982-seat Kitty Carlisle Hart Theatre at The Egg. The audience was quite full, but it was a trying performance as I could not hear myself throughout the show. Perhaps the elliptical shape of the venue may have contributed to the odd acoustics I experienced during the show…or perhaps it was my cold, still wreaking havoc on my body.

Next stop – the Lebanon Opera House in Lebanon, NH. Until the next adventure…

Ciao!
XOXO-
Janine