Be Prepared to feel old

When I joined Cub Scouts in the third grade, the Boy Scouts of America were celebrating their 50th anniversary.

And now the organization is celebrating its centennial. The Red Mill Museum Village in Clinton is helping to celebrate the occasion with a special exhibit, “100 Years of Boy Scouts by Area Boy Scouts.” It will be up through Oct. 3.

Although I grew up in Connecticut, I have a New Jersey Boy Scout connection. In 1963, my Tenderfoot year in Boy Scouts proper, my troop made a camping trip to Gettysburg and Valley Forge. On the way back, we made a stop at the Boy Scouts' National Headquarters, which was then located in North Brunswick. The headquarters has since moved to Texas, but I believe part of the site is now a park.

The Red Mill Museum Village is located at 56 Main St., Clinton. Hours: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tues.-Sat., noon-5 p.m. Sun. (April-Oct.), 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat., noon-4 p.m. Sun. (Nov. 1-Dec. 21). theredmill.org or (908) 735-4101.

Pretty Darned Funny

My wife, Karen, and I are huge P.D.Q. Bach fans.

"P.D.Q. Bach" is sort of the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" of classical music in that it has sort of a cult following. The famously untalented illegitimate son of Johann Sebastian Bach, P.D.Q. is the creation of Prof. Peter Schickele, who brings his latest classical parody, "What's Your Sign?" to Princeton's McCarter Theatre Center Tuesday evening.

When we lived in New York City, Karen and I went to Schickele's Christmas concert at Carnegie Hall every year.

One year, however, for some reason we couldn't go on any of the dates he was performing in NYC, so we went down to Trenton to see him at the War Memorial.

Now if you're a true P.D.Q. Bach fan, you know you're supposed to hiss when the stage manager comes out in his godawful purple plaid sports jacket and announces that Prof. Schickele will be late. And if you go to a concert in New York, everyone in the audience is in on the gag. That wasn't the case in Trenton. When the stage manager came out and Karen and I started hissing, the people next to us looked at us as if we came from another planet and asked us why we were hissing!

One year Schickele's program included "Oedipus Tex," a Western takeoff on Oedipus Rex. In this piece, right after Oedipus gouges out his eyes, he sings "I kinda wish I hadn't done that." We knew one of the soloists in the performance, and when we met her backstage after the concert, we asked her "How do you keep from cracking up?" She groaned and said, "You have no idea." She said when they came to the aforementioned line, everyone glanced at each other and almost lost it.

We lived in Hackensack for 15 years, so Schickele's "O Little Town of Hackensack" is close to our hearts. Also, when our son Doug was in the Select Chorus at River Dell High School, one year their holiday concert included "Good King Kong Looked Out."

Anita Donovan offers more background on Schickele's classical spoofs in her column in this week's Good Times. She also gives us a heads-up about the Westminster Jubilee Singers' 15th anniversary concert Sunday at Bristol Chapel on the Westminster Choir College campus in Princeton.

The cover story this week is Ted Otten's interview with "Saturday Night Live" alumna Rachel Dratch, who is appearing in A.R. Gurney's "Sylvia." Dratch plays the title character, who just happens to be a dog who wins the heart of Greg, played by Tony Award-winner Boyd Gaines.

Also of note is Janet Purcell's review of the "Focus on Sculpture" exhibition at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton. I've blogged about this show before because it includes a photo by my cousin, Susan Mills. Jan has nice things to say about Susan's picture of the MLK Fountain on the Princeton campus, and a copy of Susan's photo appears with the column.

In Backbeat, Lisa Rich tells us about Mission Hill, who performs Friday evening at the Triumph Brewing Company in Princeton.

Susan Yeske reviews the recently reopened National Hotel in Frenchtown, and gives the food a solid thumbs-up.

This doesn't appear to be a good week for new movies. Steve Whitty gave a so-so review of "Date Night," although he praised Dratch's "SNL" cast mate, Tina Fey, and "The Office" star Steve Carell for their performances. As for "The Black Waters of Echo's Pond," Steve advises you to skip this one and catch up with one of the older releases this weekend.

So this is another week with lots going on in Trenton Times Land. Enjoy!