The Lower East Side Tenement Museum & Some Other Craziness

It is hard to think of words to describe the amazing performances we saw on

Saturday, let alone our tours of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum.

The Tenement Museum was phenomenal.

Our wonderful tour guide, Daryl, led us through one of the

untouched tenement apartments made by the Germans centuries ago.

I love history and learning more about immigrants from Europe was absolutely interesting. The museum visit is so much more valuable than reading a textbook about the tenements. Being inside the original walls of someone’s home and seeing where they struggled with life changes, the deaths of loved ones, and unsanitary living conditions was simply moving. The tour really made me thing about my ancestors and how much I know about them. The museum was very successful in helping me realize what people went through long ago and I think it really serves the purpose that it was intended to serve in the best way possible.There was a sign outside of the museum that gave some background on the

history of the museum. It had a website listed on the bottom and once we got back I visited it. I highly recommend going to the museum. For those who cannot go, the website is extremely

informative and has some great photos and resources included.

The most powerful moment in the museum was when we entered the living room of the apartment. Seeing the wallpaper and all of the damage that had occurred over the years really took me to a different place and made me think hard about exactly what went on there. I loved the museum and I hope to go back someday soon.

The 7 Fingers Circus did a fantastic job in their show Traces. It was every bit of what I expected and more. Seeing the performers do their acts and reading their biographies in the play bill really made me realize how much work it takes to be those people. Using their skills and talents, the actors followed a storyline which is not typical of circus type performances. It really was performance art at its finest.

The set above was designed to look like the inside of an apartment or wherever they were living together. This helped the viewers better understand some of the actions that different actors performed between characters. Off-Broadway, this performance was very much different than that of Hair. The set was not traditional and neither were the performances.

Hair was like nothing I have ever seen. After missing the only song I know from the production, I really had no idea what to expect when I took my seat. The ideas about war, violence, drugs, sex and many other subjects are still viewed by people today in the same way they were back then. It is ironic that the show is ending even though the themes and morals involved in the storyline are without a doubt present in today’s world. Perhaps this is why the show started up again in 2009.