The View from the Cheap Seats

I made my first pilgrimage to Center Stage tonight for the Richmond Symphony's Hitchcock! A Symphonic Night at the Movies performance.

Okay, so I only paid $17 for my ticket and was in the top balcony; given the large screen and perfect acoustics, it was still an excellent center seat.

We were treated to clips from four films, all with pitch-perfect musical accompaniment: To Catch A Thief, Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder and North by Northwest as well as a trailer Hitch made for N x NW, full of home movie footage of himself and his family on various vacations.

That alone was worth the price of admission.

As I walked down Grace Street to Center Stage, a homeless woman sitting on a bench asked what all the activity downtown was tonight and I told her (Symphony, Citizen Cope, Folk Fest).

Moments later I was joined by Russell Wilson, pianist for the Symphony, who accompanied me down the street and into the venue; I hadn't seen Russell since I took his Jazz Appreciation class three years ago at VMFA. He asked about my post-show destination and I invited him to join me.

I had already planned to meet up with my charming friend Nicholas, bass clarinetist for the Symphony, afterwards at the Belvidere. He's gluten-intolerant, as I'd discovered when we'd eaten together in the past, and I wanted to surprise him with a local place that featured an unusually wide variety of gluten-free choices (I say local because he lives in Brooklyn now, but is down here for symphony performances regularly).

At the moment, I may be his favorite friend  because of all the tasty possibilities he saw on that menu before choosing the Gouda burger on a GF roll.

Russell wasn't far behind in arriving (he had the turkey and white bean burger and pronounced it delicious; I haven't had it yet) and then we were joined by Leighton, she of the Historic Jackson Ward Association and Kim, our local school board member, and, like Nicholas and Russell, both passionate conversationalists.

Owner Julie was right there in the fray, sharing her thoughts about how to make a difference in the neighborhood and the city. As the only black members of the symphony, naturally the talk turned to diversity, gentrification and Richmond's reluctance to change.

Bets were made, conversation swirled in a dozen directions, far too many pictures were taken and before we knew it, it was closing time.

And at this moment, 2:40 a.m., a guy is walking up and down my street, drunk and confused, yelling, "FUCK!" at the top of his lungs because he can't remember where he left his car.

Don't you just love a nice low-key cultured night at the Symphony? I know I do.