Stars talk star stuff: Neil deGrasse Tyson and Robert Krulwich at 92Y

What's your hurry? Whatever.
Dr. Tyson's here to drop some science.
(W. W. Norton, 2017)

Since its 1935 opening, there have been five directors of New York's beloved Hayden Planetarium. Okay, class. How many can you name?

That's right: Neil deGrasse Tyson

L-r: Neil deGrasse Tyson and Robert Krulwich

And there you have it. A solid scientist---astrophysics, for heaven's sake!--with top-notch communication skills, irrepressible charm and the celebrity of a rock star. Raised in New York's very own Boogie Down Bronx by a Black father and Puerto Rican mother. Able to tap into his own life-long wonder and intellectual curiosity to help the rest of us mortals wrap our brains around stuff like the possibility of dimensions beyond the mere three we perceive with our puny, survival-oriented senses.

Last night, when Dr. Tyson strode out onto the stage of 92Y's Kaufmann Concert Hall, cheers went up from the audience, so much so that host Robert Krulwich (himself a celebrated broadcast journalist and co-host of NPR's Radiolab) had to wave us into silence so the two friends could get down to their conversation and the business of promoting Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, Tyson's latest book.

While waiting for your morning coffee to brew, or while waiting for the bus, the train, or the plane to arrive, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry will reveal just what you need to be fluent and ready for the next cosmic headlines: from the Big Bang to black holes, from quarks to quantum mechanics, and from the search for planets to the search for life in the universe.

Science and scientists have taken a severe beating in Trump's New American Order. In this toxic atmosphere, Tyson's educational mission, visibility and accessibility loom even larger, approaching heroic status. While no one, onstage or in the audience, broached political or needlessly politicized issues during the 92Y appearance, anyone who thinks Tyson shirks from speaking up for rational policy needs to look at this video. The informal and wide-ranging chat revolved around both men's interest in stripping science facts of their austerity and their abilities to approach all of this with a storyteller's ready wit.

Tyson: "I have a photon joke. Can I tell it?"

Krulwich: "Go ahead."

Tyson: "Photon checks into a hotel, and the bellhop asks, 'Do you have any luggage?' Photon says, 'No, I'm traveling light.'"

And if you ever run into Tyson, you must ask to hear the entire hot cocoa/whipped cream story, which I will not spoil here. No worries. Just thank me when you see me later.

To be honest, I'm more of a casual science geek (and Tyson fangirl) than a deeply knowledgeable one but, as a neo-pagan, I share the agnostic Tyson's sense of wonder and admire his dedication to a cosmic perspective that rescues spirituality from being defined, confined and ultimately smothered by religious orthodoxy.

Excerpts from "Reflections on the Cosmic Perspectives," Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

The cosmic perspective comes from the frontiers of science, yet it is not solely the provenance of the scientist. It belongs to everyone.
The cosmic perspective is humble.

The cosmic perspective is spiritual -- even redemptive -- but not religious.

The cosmic perspective opens our minds to extraordinary ideas but does not leave them so open that our brains spill out, making us susceptible to believing anything we're told.

The cosmic perspective opens our eyes to the universe, not as a benevolent cradle designed to nurture life but as a cold, lonely, hazardous place, forcing us to reassess the value of all humans to one another.

The Virgo in me--sorry for the astrological reference, Dr. Tyson--completely gets his resistance to calling the color violet anything but "violet" as in "Roses are red, violets are...violet." The poet in me forgives him for that and grooves on the very idea of things called dwarf galaxies and runaway stars. The nosy person in me likes the question "What's going on between planets?" OMG, what, indeed?

I'm sympathetic to the notion that humans are simply not smart enough to figure out universes that might be trivial to the brain of a more intelligent species. I've seen what my fellow Americans are capable of unleashing on this planet. So, there's that. And how's this for real talk from Tyson? "The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you." Oh, yeah. That much is clear every. damn. day.

For information on Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, click here. And to learn about other cool programs at 92Y, click here.

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I'm over the moon!

But I'm also bummed out that Gotham Chamber Opera will be coming down to earth soon, ending its run of Il mondo della luna (The World on the Moon) after this Thursday. It's the kind of show that should stick around long enough for you to nag every one of your friends to see it. But, alas!

Trimming this tasty Haydn farce to a lively 90 minutes and staging it under the world-famous projection dome of the Hayden Planetarium were strokes of genius. Kudos to Gotham's artistic director/conductor Neal Goren and the production's director, Diane Paulus, last noted for the hit Broadway revival of Hair.

Gotham's orchestra plays on a raised platform beneath the dome as marvelous singers enact the story and an explosion of stars, galaxies and Alex Grey-style psychedelica dazzle the eye. In this comic tale, Buonafede (Marco Nisticò) gets scammed by a so-called astronomer (Nicholas Coppolo), his own daughters (Hanan Alattar and Albina Shagimuratova), his maid/mistress (Rachel Calloway) and a couple of the women's suitors (Matthew Tuell and Timothy Kuhn). The conspirators drug him and convince Buonafede that they have all been transported to the moon, where women know their place--firmly under the thumb of their men. Nisticò, guesting from the Metropolitan Opera, brings such a warm, mellifluous tone to his characterization of the blatantly sexist, remarkably gullible Buonafede that you almost feel empathy for the man. Almost!

There's also no lack of slick, driving charm in Coppollo's performance or winning effervescence in the three beauteous ladies--Alattar, Shagimuratova and Calloway--as Haydn's 18th Century metronomic perkiness inspires their Supremes-style choreography. Don't get the wrong impression, though: With a farce this broad, so much could have been overdone, but it's not. The music and singing are allowed their lyrical delicacy, and even the projections and fantasy costumes are more fizzy than bombastic.

The planetarium's seating might not lend itself to comfort over the long haul, but it was a treat to be in there anyway for a purpose other than scientific/educational. Kind of subversive! Clever staging, set manipulation and the resilience of the performers--in physically demanding roles--make the production not only work efficiently but continuously surprise and amuse. If performers truly do catch energy from audiences, this cast must have loved our crowd, for they were always near enough to us to hear our every chuckle, and there were many chuckles for them to savor.

Hurrah for Gotham! And hurry! Maybe you can still snare a ticket for the moon!

8pm tonight, tomorrow and Thursday

Il mondo della luna

Hayden Planetarium
American Museum of Natural History's Rose Center for Earth and Space
81st Street (between Central Park West & Columbus Avenue), Manhattan

Over the moon: Haydn at the Hayden

A Space Opera in A Proper Galaxy
by Matthew Gurewitsch, The New York Times, January 14, 2010