Broken crowd

Curious artistic coincidences as my Japanese friend H visits New York for the first time in three years. I met her at the new terminal at La Guardia, which is full of art, and was particularly taken by an enormous mosaic by Rashid Johnson, "The Travelers" from his Broken Crowd series. More of the Broken Crowd met us tonight at the Metropolitan Opera, where we had another unexpected doubling: the final scene of Kevin Puts' new opera of "The Hours" circles around the words "you are not alone," as its three characters, living in separate times, step out of their times into a kind of communion of solitude in song. But just the day before, at the acclaimed revival of Sondheim's "Into the Woods" on Broadway, we'd been moved to tears by another finale, using the wonder of theater to bring some hope in the chaos and loss of the dark second act of these adult spins on fairy tales with a similar refrain: "No one is alone."