Alan Ilagan

One of the best parts of vacationing in Ogunquit has got to be the food. The abundance of fresh seafood, coupled with the way the ocean fuels the appetite, makes for a combustible, and stomach-enhancing, explosion of diner and dinner. For our last night in town, we had to eat early in order to make the last performance of Sunset Boulevard at the Ogunquit Playhouse (more on that in a bit). We decided on The Front Porch, which is our go-to restaurant when we want something solid and dependable. It’s usually our first-night choice, when we’re too travel-frazzled to think about much else, and it’s always decent fare.

I began with a very dry Ketel One martini, and they do know how to make their cocktails right, starting with three very plump, sturdy olives, pimentos intact.

From there I had the calamari while Andy tried the tempura shrimp. He said the shrimp was excellent, perfectly accompanied by a peanut sauce. The calamari was all right, but a little too oily in the end.

For our entrees, Andy got the tuna special, which he loved, and I settled for a traditional fish and chips, which was tender, tan, and perfectly flaky in the best possible way.

We said no to dessert, deciding on a quick cup of Boston Blackout ice cream from the café across the street.

(It was so much better – and cooler – than the actual Boston Blackout I remember many summers ago.)

Andy had the foresight to suggest that we pick up an after-show snack from the Bread & Roses Bakery, which offers the following feasts for the eyes and mouth.

I tried to stay on the healthier side of things by choosing a Chocolate and Raspberry Oatie. Hey, raspberry is a fruit. (And no, this isn’t it.)

We boxed up the goodies and made our way to the Ogunquit Playhouse, where Norma Desmond was making her final trip down that famous staircase. It was Andy’s first time to see the show, and he enjoyed it (he was a big Stephanie Powers fan before this, so it was a bonus for him). Since I had seen the show numerous times before (including turns by Glenn Close and Betty Buckley on Broadway), I was a little spoiled, but the cast did a decent job. The best part was that they used the original costume designs by Anthony Powell. (I am hell-bent on finding that leopard coat for the upcoming Fall season.)

After the show we returned to the hotel for our final night in town. It was going to be difficult to leave, like it always is, but this one was going to sting a bit more because it had all been so perfect.

{To Be Continued…}

This Saturday Andy and I will be seeing Sunset Boulevard at the Ogunquit Playhouse. It is the first time he will see the musical version (I think it’s my sixth, having seen it a few times on Broadway, and a couple of touring versions. Yes, I was slightly obsessed with the show.) In this production Stephanie Powers takes on the role of Norma Desmond (as seen in the photos, courtesy of the Ogunquit Playhouse).

I’m not sure if anyone truly understands my former passion for Sunset Boulevard. To be honest, I didn’t always understand it, but the heart leads where it leads, and I don’t know if we’re meant to understand everything it wants. I am not some faded former movie star goddess, vainly attempting a comeback in the most self-delusional manner – but I can relate. I’m not a struggling writer willing to pimp myself out to some vain rich crone – but I can relate. And I’m certainly not some husband-turned-butler, catering to the every wish and whim of a deluded egotistical diva – but Andy can relate.

I have to admit I loved the musical before I even saw the movie (though since then they have shifted in order as my tastes have evolved) and my love for the show hinges on the obsessive love Norma Desmond has for her boy-toy Joe Gillis. It still moves me to watch this woman, thrown away by the only business she has ever known, struggle to come back, and fall in love with a man who is only using her.

It is the New Year’s Eve party scene that always gets me. She has arranged a celebration, complete with a mini-orchestra and overflowing with champagne, only it is just for her and Joe. He thinks it will be an evening of networking and meeting other Hollywood big-shots. They meet in the middle of her grand mansion, she confessing her love for him, and he gently but insistently shoving her off.

Whereas in the movie this moment was somewhat acerbically tragic, in the musical the ‘Perfect Year’ scene is poignant and sad, and the key to my love and understanding of the entire production. It all comes down to this. I could relate to loving someone, or believing you loved someone, and not having that love returned. There was a time when most of my love went unrequited, and it’s a singularly lonely experience, fraught with dark sadness and endless nights. Like Norma, I yearned for someone with whom I could share everything, no matter how silly or banal.

{In the YouTube scene below, you can see Betty Buckley’s take on Norma Desmond (forgive the poor bootleg quality). At the time, there was a heated debate over who made the better Desmond – Glenn Close, who originated the role on Broadway, or Ms. Buckley who succeeded her. Having seen both, it’s a tough call, and while my heart goes out to Ms. Close’s performance – grittier and believably homocidal – it was Buckley’s take that touched me slightly more. And she can sing too. Go to the 2:40 mark where the good bit begins.}

As they dance and the music swells, she just looks so happy, so hopeful. She lets out a laugh, a girlish giggle, and the hope of love releases all her defenses. That it is doomed only adds to its heartbreaking allure. (Whenever someone annoys me, and it happens as often as you’d surmise, I think of that person at their happiest, and I can’t get mad at them.)

Times have changed since 1995, and I’ve been fortunate to find love a few times in the ensuing years, but I still ache whenever I watch this part. For all her fabulous furs, glittering wardrobe, vainglorious busts, fancy cars, and histrionic behavior, she’s still just a person wanting to be loved, wanting to go through life with a partner – whether that’s in another human being or the collective love of the world.

{Once again, photos of the current production courtesy of the Ogunquit Playhouse.}

This weekend Andy and I are heading to one of our favorite spots in the world – Ogunquit, Maine. It will be my first time in Ogunquit during the high summer season since I was a kid. I think I’m most looking forward to what the flowers will look like – usually we only get to see them at the start and tail-end of the season. Of course, I’m also excited to see the first Regional Theater run of Sunset Boulevard, one of my favorite musicals of all-time. It will also mark my first time attending a show at the Ogunquit Playhouse – about which I’ve only heard great things. In other words, it’s an Ogunquit trip filled with firsts – the best kind of trip.

Being that we were behind the vacation-planning schedule, we couldn’t get a room at our usual haunt, the Ogunquit Beach Inn, so we’ll be at the Anchorage, which is central and convenient, if lacking in the personal touches of Greg and Mike. Even so, we’re looking forward to the trip, especially the show, as it’s Andy’s first time seeing it on stage, and the last time I saw it was over ten years ago, before I even met Andy. (A more detailed look at Sunset will be coming up a bit later.)

As for now, I am packing up some sunblock and searching out some coconut-scented hair care products. It’s going to be a summer trip by the beach, rain or shine.

Our final full day in Ogunquit began with a continuation of the good food at Five-O. This is the first year (as far as I know) when they’ve offered breakfast, so we gave it a shot. Happily, the breakfast was just as tasty as the dinner – my streak of overindulgence was unabated as I sampled the lobster benedict, while Andy enjoyed his waffles and fresh strawberries with pure Maine maple syrup.

We did a little walking and shopping in the village, pausing at one of our favorite stores – Spoiled Rotten – which is one of the best places to find a gift for anyone left behind at home. While we were there, one customer backed into a table of glass jar candles, sending one smashing onto the floor. The owners were more than kind about it, saying not to bother with paying for it, and that it happened all the time. (If I were the customer who did that, I’d have bought three candles just to make up for the clean-up, but this guy was content to offer a brief apology.) The guys who run the store are always ready with a smile and a laugh, and set all their customers at ease, even if you’re not buying anything (or smashing things to pieces).

Andy went back to the room for an afternoon siesta while I wrote and read a little in front of the Village Market. The day was perfectly sunny, with a light breeze; we would have gone to the beach if we hadn’t seen the long parade of beach-going folks, but since it looked to be crowded with tourists (and their kids) we kept away. (I’m not a sit-on-the-beach kind of guy anyway, unless there’s an umbrella covered bar, which there wasn’t.)

For dinner we headed down to Katie’s Cafe on Shore Road, a destination for their over-the-top lobster mac and cheese with truffle oil – which is pretty much my culinary trifecta (and future arterial downfall). We arrived early and sat at the bar for a cocktail and conversation with one of the owners.

After being seated on the late-afternoon-sun-filled front porch, we checked out the menu and I decided that after a weekend of stuffing myself, the lobster mac and cheese was just too much, so I settled for a lobster ravioli instead, which was the best move I’ve made in a while.

Andy got the scallops with fiddleheads.

We both cleaned our plates, and since I had been so good about the mac and cheese, I got the raspberry dessert you see here.

Nothing makes me happier than having dessert.

Unless it’s having dessert with my husband.

After dinner, we stopped briefly on the Marginal Way – the light in the afternoon was completely different from the light of the morning, and the slant of the sun made the colors of the shore much richer. Unfortunately, there wasn’t time to walk the whole length, as we had a movie to catch.

The movie at the Leavitt Theater was Sex and the City 2, which I had been excited about seeing, despite some savagely unkind reviews. I’m sad to say I enjoyed the historical theater and the popcorn better than the movie (yes, I got popcorn after all that – it’s a movie for God’s sake.) I didn’t hate it, but it was even emptier than I thought it would be. Perhaps saddest of all, I wasn’t that impressed with the fashion (nothing could ever come close to the wedding couture sequence of the first film) and without the fashion, what is the point? (Carrie’s “crown” for the gay wedding was dismal at best, and she completely ruined that otherwise-promising lavender and tan full-skirted dress with that ridiculous “J’Adore Dior” t-shirt. I love Dior too (especially with Galliano at the creative helm) but I would never wear a t-shirt proclaiming such. But enough about the movie, if it’s mindless fluff you’re after, go see it.  

Crossing the street back to the main drag, we saw that Bread and Roses was still open, so for one final time Andy went in and got his coffee and dessert. When we leave Ogunquit after our Fall visits, it is with sadness and regret – on those October days it feels like we’re putting the town to rest for the winter, and starting the long, gray trudge towards a Spring that feels so far away. When we depart now, we leave with the hope of a summer laid out before us, and an Autumn trip before we say goodbye for the year.

(The best ending, if you’ve enjoyed the journey, is “To Be Continued”, and since one of my favorite musicals is at the Ogunquit Playhouse in August (Sunset Boulevard – for sentimental reasons, not musical theater genius), I’ve already informed Andy that we will be making a summer visit earlier than planned.)

That makes this act of leaving nothing more than a promise to return.

Until then, the parade of blooms goes on and on and on…