“OPERA  AT  SEA"
Programme #1

"La donna è mobile"   ~   (Rigoletto by Verdi)
"O mio babbino caro"   ~   (Gianni Schicchi by Puccini)
"O soave fanciulla"   ~   (La bohème by Puccini)
"Some enchanted evening"   ~   (South Pacific by Rodgers/Hammerstein)
"Over the rainbow"   ~   (The Wizard of Oz by Harold Arlen)
"Tonight"   ~   (West Side Story by Bernstein)
"I left my heart in San Francisco"   ~   (Cross/Cory)
"At last"   ~   (Mack Gordon/Harry Warren)
"The way you look tonight"   ~  (Jerome Kern)
"The Prayer"   ~   (David Foster)
"The Girl in 14G"   ~   (Jeanine Tesori and Dick Scanlan)
"Nessun dorma"   ~  (Turandot by Puccini)
ENCORE: "Edelweiss"   ~  (The Sound of Music by Rodgers/Hammerstein)

“OPERA  AT  SEA"
Programme #2

"Quando m’en vo"   ~   (La bohème by Puccini)
"Una furtiva lagrima"   ~   (L’elisir d’amore by Donizetti)
"Parigi, o cara"   ~   (La traviata by Verdi)
"With one look"   ~   (Sunset Boulevard by Andrew Lloyd Webber)
"Bring him home"   ~   (Les Misérables by Claude-Michel Schönberg)
"Summertime"   ~   (Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin)
"All I ask of you"   ~   (The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber)
"Wash that man right outta my hair"   ~  (South Pacific by Rodgers/Hammerstein)
"Be my love"   ~   (Nicholas Brodszky)
"‘Till there was you"   ~   (The Music Man by Meredith Willson)
"Fly me to the moon"   ~   (Bart Howard)
"Con te partirò/Time to say goodbye"   ~   (Francesco Sartori)
ENCORE: "Brindisi"   ~  (La traviata by Verdi)

EDEN'S   CONUNDRUM
. . . by John Newmeyer . . .

I have toured French Polynesia with 300 fellow travelers.
Our clear consensus is that we have been in PARADISE.
But though we've seen a fine and gorgeous place,
few or none, I think, will here retire.   It seems that
most all of us long for the hubbub, stimulation, and
variety of the Mainland.   Opera and ballet, art and
literature, advances in science and technology, pleasing
and disturbing news from near and far, and all the
other manifestations of Western Civilization--
we've learnt to savor all of it!

In short, Education has unfit us for Eden.

Apparently, it was always thus-- tasting from the
Tree of Knowledge made Adam and Eve unfit for
the original Eden.   I wondered, though, what was
it about a simple old apple?   Then it hit me:
the apple had fermented into hard cider.
The intoxication gave Adam and Eve an
Original Spin on the world, a vivid alternate way
of perceiving things.   From then on, Curiosity took
control and they hit the road.   Though the Angel
imploringly pursued them-- why leave, it's lovely here!
the First Couple responded, thanks but no thanks!--
we want to know, Why do birds sing?   How far is
the Moon?   What happened long ago? and,
how can we make better cider?
So here's my hopeful conclusion:   We can go back
to Paradise and still have that wide world of
Knowledge.   For me, I'd have a big library of books
and music, a Wikipedia of wisdom from the Internet,
3 or 4 jolly and clever friends for conversation, and a
nearby well-stocked market.   Not forgetting the
fermentation of apple and grape to put a good Spin
on things.

...hmm, not unlike a day on the Paul Gauguin...