So last night, my friends and I went to the giant Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul (all the way down Westminster) to hear Sergei Rachmaninov's choral masterwork, The All-Night Vigil. It was incredible; the piece stands as a towering achievement in choral music, and the space is so incredibly huge and resonant! The Brown Chorus did an awesome job with some very challenging and range-defying repertoire.
On the walk back, one of the friends with whom I had come directed us down a side street to the oddest, least-probable display I have ever seen. Huge windows down the entire block showcased massive, for lack of a better word, creature-things. Gargantuan insects, tentacles, horns, whiskers, eyes, beaks, warts, veins, fingers, goblins, and items less-describable stared at us comically from within their displays. I thought I had encountered the craziest creations on earth Friday night, as I attended Artist's Ball (!!!), but these windows must contain some of the wildest sculpture/puppet/animal/alien constructions in the universe.
We continue walking down the block, and at the corner there is a door into the building behind the creatures. We see people inside, a glimpse of a strange workshop, and, in the spirit of a courageous child out on a somewhat terrifying derive - there were some monsters in the windows, too! - I boldly stepped where my friends would not tread.
Best choice of my life it was, too. Turns out that on this obscure side street of Providence sits the workshop of a decades-old street theater troop called "Big Nazo." It's headed by a hilarious RISD-affiliated dude named Irminio and they construct these wild costumes and set pieces from foam, upholstery glue, plastics, paint, liquid latex, and many other things that would make any material alchemist green (or purple, blue, glittery, striped, or polka-dotted) with envy. Here are some photos. I'm still reeling - it's been a weekend of extremely low-probability events.
http://www.bignazo.com/
