They say the neon lights are bright...

Last weekend, Melis, Eric, and I took a quick trip to NYC. Melis and Eric wanted to see Idina in If/Then one more time before it closes or she leaves, and Melis and I wanted to see Beautiful before Jessie Mueller leaves. There was nothing to do but head to the Big Apple.

We got there Saturday morning and things went swimmingly. Melis and Eric won the final set of lottery tickets for If/Then, and went to see Idina in all her glory. I got a ticket for my beloved Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, and I must say, it was even better the third time.

For our second show, Melis and I went to see Tony award winning Jessie Mueller play Carole King in Beautiful. Melis had gotten the last single ticket available, and as I waited in the cancellation line, a darling little old man came up to me and sold me a ticket his friend had bought but couldn't use. Sixth row, center. Jackpot. He even went into the theater with me to make sure the ticket scanned so I knew he wasn't scamming me. Delightful.

That night Eric went to On the Town and, sadly, hated it. Poor him. But Melis and I were transported. Beautiful is a music-lover's dream. I was a scene and a half into it when I thought to myself, "I have to see this again tomorrow."

Then the Drifters came out as characters in the musical (I'm just crazy about the Drifters) and I could not have been happier. My mind was definitely made up to see it again.

The next day, an evil British lottery crone denied Melis and Eric a chance to enter the If/Then lottery, even though they showed up with a good 30 seconds to spare. It was too late, baby, it was too late, though we really did try to make it. (I was singing that song and Melis failed to see the humor.) So, Melis and I got cancellation tickets to Beautiful again and Eric got to see the wonderfulness that is Gentleman's Guide, finally. I enjoyed every second of Beautiful and danced out of the theater.

Also, I was sitting right behind the mother and godmother of the guy playing Gerry Goffin, the male lead. After the show I said to his mother, "He was wonderful." She replied, "I thought so too! And I'll be sure to tell him you said that!" She was a delight.

In between our three shows we stuffed our faces with:

• The world's best Eggs Benedict at Le Monde
• Chicken fingers, mashed potatoes, pickles and cabbage at Junior's
• The world's best pepperoni pizza (aside from my mother's homemade, of course) at John's
• Empanadas from a food truck
• The world's best chicken parm at Caffe Napoli
• Assorted pastry from Crumbs, Junior's, and the Ferrara bakery in Little Italy
• And another John's pizza for the road

We should be heartily ashamed of ourselves, but, well, you know how that goes.

Point here if you enjoy delightful things.

So, after years and years of riding the New York Subway (which is, without a doubt, the most superior subway in the world, as I so emphatically thought to myself last night while waiting an unbelievable 25 minutes for a DC Metro train at L'Enfant Plaza) I never noticed that at every station there is a black and white striped board which train conductors must point to whenever they pull into the station. It's a safety precaution, and a rather clever one at that. They are on camera at the time and they do it to show they are awake and alert.

Some awesome people took marvelous advantage of that fact, and bless them for doing so.

Goin' to New York, meetin' Matthew Crawley...

So, last weekend Alexa, Eric, and I headed to the Big Apple to see some shows and meet Alexa's future husband, Dan Stevens. (Or, as I will always call him, Cousin Matthew.) Oh, what would Max Talbot* say? Oh no!

*In case you didn't know, the celebrity object of Alexa's affections has heretofore been one Maxime Talbot, former Pittsburgh Penguin and current French Canadian. Her love for him even led her to traitorously root for the Canadian hockey team over the US at the Vancouver Olympics. It was an infamous spectacle, and a more revolting exhibition I cannot recall. He has since been traded to the Philadelphia Flyers, which I suspect took some of the shine off that diamond. 

We started our morning at the Gibsons', who generously hosted us for our whirlwind trip. After rising unbearably early and stopping for egg sandwiches at Starbucks, we were off. Eric and I argued and snarked the whole way to Manhattan while Alexa slept like a lazy lump in the back seat. Surprisingly there was almost no traffic on the way in and we were not greeted by hoards of desperate hurricane survivors barely clinging to life as many people who tried to talk us out of this trip predicted we would.

We soon met up with Taylor and her two friends Josh and Ty. We decided to go to Junior's for an early lunch and here's where we discovered an awesome scam. Did you know that if you go to Junior's before 11 AM they will be serving breakfast and thus instead of the traditional pickles, slaw, and beets, you get a plate of rugelach for the table? Yeah, neither did I. And Junior's rugelach is just as awesome as you would expect baked goods from Junior's to be. So, here's what you do. You go at 10:45, you scarf down the rugelach that they set before you, you ask for lunch menus and wait until 11:00 to order from them, and then you scarf down the pickles, slaw, and beets they bring out next.

Photo credit: Taylor

After lunch, we headed to the Christmas shops in Bryant Park before our shows. Taylor bought the cutest knitted ear band to keep her warm in winter. I lamented that I most likely won't need such finery because I live in a swamp town.

Lex and I headed to The Heiress to swoon over Matthew Crawley enjoy a brilliant play based on a wonderful Henry James novel, while the others saw Annie and Mary Poppins. Ty's cousin is in Annie, so he and Josh got a backstage tour. One of them tripped and nearly crushed the child who plays Annie, so you can imagine how awkward that would have been.

After our show, we went to the stage door. Jessica Chastain came out and was lovely and gracious and spent lots of time with the fans gathered there. (She was off-the-hook amazing in this play, BTW.) David Strathairn snuck out a side door and stood across the street chatting with, I think, his driver. Then Dan Stevens came out and Alexa, after having threatened to throw down the ladies in front of her with her ninja skills, instead waited politely to see the man of her dreams. He was adorable and so very British and he happily took photos with everyone, including our girl:

She came away squealing, "He put his arm around me! We look like a couple!" Our day in New York was clearly a success.

That evening, we couldn't get into John's because the city was packed, so we stopped at the 42nd Street McDonald's for dinner. Yeah, that's right. It was pretty sad. We couldn't even find a table so we ate our fries standing at a counter. I promised myself to never repeat that experience. Then the boys all went to see shows while Taylor, Lex, and I walked around and drank the most amazing hot apple cider you will ever have. We got pretty chilly, so we thought we'd pop into the Library, but we couldn't get in because it was hosting the swankiest wedding in New York City that night.

This is so brilliant because I often get bored at weddings, but if your wedding was in a library, I could just sneak off and spend some time with Miss Austen or Mr. Dickens. Classic literature and cake? Yes, please.  Seriously people, have your wedding in a library and invite me.

After warming up at a gelato/salad bar place with decor straight out of the tackiest restaurant in Miami, we headed to John's to meet the boys for some late night pizza, because there was no way I was leaving Manhattan without some John's pepperoni. Then we said goodbye to Taylor, Josh, and Ty, and headed back to Philly. This is the part of the trip where we almost died. Eric was so tired and I was nodding off, but I kept snapping myself awake, saying "Talk to Eric. Talk to him now or we're all gonna die." Alexa, heedless of our safety, was spread out like a hot breakfast in the back seat, dreaming of Matthew Crawley's** arm around her. How we made it home, alive and awake, I will never know.

**Sorry if this has been confusing, but Matthew Crawley and Dan Stevens are the same person.

The next morning, Lex and Eric headed west and Kris put me back on the train to Swamp Town our nation's capital. The views out the window were quite lovely.

Can't wait to do it again, guys.

In olden days a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking...

This weekend, Melis, Eric, and I took a whirlwind trip to NYC to see Sutton Foster's final performance in Anything Goes. Oh man, it was so good. She earned every bit of that Tony.

The tap dancing! The Cole Porter songs! The adorable guys in sailor uniforms! Marvelous, just marvelous.

When Sutton first took the stage, the show had to stop for the enormous applause that went on and on. There was a standing ovation at the act break and a standing ovation in the middle of act 2 and of course another one at the end. The cast, led by Joel Grey, sang the song "Friendship" to her at the end of the show. It was all just lovely.

As Mr. Porter would say, delightful, delicious, delovely!

Magical city

This past weekend we took Jules to New York City for the first time. She saw Times Square, the tree in Rock Center, the Christmas windows on 5th Avenue, and much more. Watching her experience it all was like being in New York for the first time again.

I'll post pics of her adventure soon, but until then, enjoy this beautiful video love letter to my favorite city by talented photographer and filmmaker Andrew Clancy:

A Year in New York from Andrew Clancy on Vimeo.

The way the light used to shine...

The skyscrapers that have been built up around it now block the light, but in 1929 this is how glorious it once was to stand in Grand Central.

Great balls of fire!

I just received word from Melis that the aunts went to see Million Dollar Quartet today and they were "giddy as schoolgirls to meet Fake Johnny Cash, Fake Elvis, etc."

I can picture it now. And it's delightful

Also, I like saying "Fake Johnny Cash." Because I am a dork.

NYC Round-up

I was in NYC for a week for work recently. Here’s a rundown of how I spent my time. My parents came and visited for a few days and they certainly made the most of their time (including three trips to Century 21--poor Dad.).

We started the trip out with dinner at Patsy’s. It’s an Italian place that was Frank Sinatra’s favorite New York restaurant. Here’s a really sweet story about what they did for him one Thanksgiving. My dad has always wanted to try the place and it was wonderful. I had the puttanesca and I wish I had some more right now.

Shows we saw:

Rock of Ages (again): I can’t get enough of it. Long live the 80s. Someone in the third row was taking photos during the show and she was hauled out by the ushers, so that was fun to see. Outside the theatre, dad was mistaken for one of the actors by a fan. She walked up to tell him what a wonderful job he had done. He corrected her mistake, but I think he should have autographed her Playbill and given her a thrill.

I also met Cameron from Modern Family outside the theater. I told him what a delight he is and I did the Casablanca piano hands move and he did it back to me. If you don’t love that show, you won’t know what I’m talking about, but believe me when I tell you it was totally cool.



Lend Me a Tenor: Hilarious hijinks with Tony Shaloub, Anthony LaPaglia, and that dude who got stuck on the roof in The Hangover. I howled with laughter. It also had the best curtain call I’ve ever seen. The entire cast sped through a repeat of the actions of play in thirty seconds.

A Behanding in Spokane: I saw this one on my own and it was awesome. I love the playwright (Martin McDonagh) and Christopher Walken was his usual awesome self. Some people find him frightening, but I think he’s darling and dear, even when he’s playing a hand-chopping psychopath.

Promises, Promises: Unbelievably, Sean Hayes upstaged the divine Kristin Chenoweth. He was so funny and charming, which you have to be to break the fourth wall, which he did the whole show. It was like a Mad Men episode: beautiful, colorful, soaked in gin and cigarette smoke, with philandering men in smart business suits and gorgeously dressed secretaries, all set to Burt Bacharach music. Yes, please!

Million Dollar Quartet: One December night in 1954 Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins showed up at Sun Records and had an impromptu jam session. You can see a recreation of it at the Nederlander Theater on 41st. (Fellow Rentheads, they gutted that theater and remodeled the inside so that it doesn’t so much resemble a crack house anymore. That was strange to see.) This show was awesome, lottery tickets are front row, and if you’re lucky you might catch Elvis’ scarf. This was a great way to end the trip. It’s one of those musicals that makes you dance all the way to the subway station. Early Tony prediction: Levi Kreis for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.

I also paid a visit to the Frick museum, an art museum housed in Henry Clay Frick’s Upper East Side mansion. Henry was quite the collector and everyone should go see his gorgeous place. I knew he loved art, but I wasn’t prepared for the quality of the collection. There are Vermeers, Titians, El Grecos, Goyas, Velázquezes, and Rembrandts, as well as Limoges enamels and 18th century furnishings. But the thing that knocked me off my feet was when I walked into the living room and there, flanking the fireplace, were the Hans Holbein paintings of Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell. When I saw them, I swear I almost started crying. Then I looked around and thought to myself, “Should we have these?” (We, meaning “Americans.”) “Should these be here? Shouldn’t they be in England or Germany?” Then I stood in front of the 500 year-old masterpieces and just stared. I may have drooled a little. The Thomases scowl at each other across the fireplace like the sworn enemies they were, and it is something to see.

We also had dinner at The View, the rotating restaurant overlooking Times Square, and I discovered that I love halibut. And we went to Top of the Rock, the best view in the city.





On the way to Top of the Rock, we stopped to watch people cheering for Denzel Washington as he came out of the stage door at Fences. He was very gracious and signed lots of Playbills and waved to us on the other side of the street. A bunch of people were standing in the street trying to get photos of him (including my mom), and an NYPD cop bellowed, “Get BACK on the sidewalk or I will WRITE you a SUMMONS!” I wish I could describe the look of mortification on Mom’s face, but you’ll have to use your powers of imagination.



So that’s my week in a nutshell. The usual stuff was also done (cupcakes at Magnolia, shopping in SoHo, walking in the Park, pizza at John’s…) but you knew that. And for the first time I had to direct a taxi driver how to get me to my destination. Good thing I knew where I was going, because he certainly didn’t.

This is a great idea.

Very little continues to happen in my life since I'm devoting all my spare time to watching Shield DVDs. That statement does not even feel sad or pathetic. That's how good this show is.

This means season 5 has been concluded:


A similar pile showed up on my coffee table after a scene in an early season 6 episode. I will only say this: box of books. Cry with me now, fellow Shield fans.

Okay, that's enough of that. I want to share with you something my Dad sent me that was printed in the New York Times. (Happy Birthday, Dad!) This is a great idea for us traveling photographers. I'm heading to NYC soon, and I think I'll follow this advice.

Dear Diary:

On the way to the subway after work in late February, I found a digital camera in the snow. I brought it home and checked to see that it worked. There were tourist pictures of New York City on the camera: a gentleman smiling at Times Square, Lincoln Center, the Empire State Building, etc. And, there was a photo of the Novotel hotel sign.

On a whim, I called the Novotel and explained to a somewhat perplexed front desk employee that I might possibly have the camera of one of their guests. I persuaded them to take my telephone number in case anyone should inquire.

At 1 a.m. I got a call from a Frenchwoman, apologizing for calling at such an hour, explaining that she had lost her camera and hoped that I had it.

The next day, a grateful couple came by and retrieved their camera on the way to the airport. They were heading home to Paris. They gave me some pate de fruits from Fauchon.

Lesson learned: Take a picture of your hotel on your digital camera.

Apparently my dorkiness makes me memorable.

Tonight, my friend decided she had had enough of the subway and the cold weather (I know, I know), so I struck out on my own for the evening. I decided to follow up my Billy Elliot experience (the Tony winner for Best Musical) with the Tony winner for Best Play: God of Carnage. It’s about two sets of parents that meet for an afternoon to discuss a fight their children had. As the title suggests, the polite meeting descends into chaos. Also hilarity. It stars Jimmy Smits, Christine Lahti, Annie Potts, and Ken Stott. Funny and wonderful and everything good. Also, Annie Potts' character literally barfs onstage, so that alone is worth the price of admission.

But! The best part of the evening happened prior to the play. I decided to have dinner at Junior’s since it was near the theater. While I ate, I noticed a man a couple tables over looking at me. I thought he looked a little familiar, but I didn’t think anything of it. When I started to leave the restaurant, the guy and his companion also stood up to go. As I walked past he said, “Excuse me, were you in the front row of Billy last night?” I was stunned, but I squeaked out, “I was.” He said, “I thought so. I’m in the show. This is my brother. I saw your smile and I remembered you.”

I could not believe it! I mean, the night before I had sat there with a look of utter delight for the entire show, but still. I told him that I had had a wonderful time and that he and the company had done a fantastic job and then I left, elated.

Pretty much only good stuff happens to me when I'm here. The entire city is my Tiffany's.

They say the neon lights are bright...

Just so you know, I had the most fantastic,

Broadway-lovin'-freak, crazy-awesome time tonight.

First let me say that my friend from work now thinks I'm the luckiest person in the world. (So someone agrees with you, Chris.) Not only did I win us Rock of Ages lottery tickets but we had another stroke of Broadway fortune at Billy Elliot tonight. The role of Billy is shared by three young performers (because of child labor laws and all that jazz) and the three boys who originated the role won a shared Tony this year. Only one of those three boys is still with the show and he's the one who performed tonight. He was spectacular. And so adorable I wanted to hop on stage and pinch his little cheeks.

But! Here's the best part: Carole Shelley is also in the musical. If you are a Wicked freak, I will only say: Madame Morrible. Madame. Morrible. If you aren't a Wicked freak, I'm not sure what can be done for you. Anyway, there's a part in the show where a dude dressed as Margaret Thatcher is shooting nerf balls out of a tank (it has nothing to do with drag and everything to do with a coal mine strike) and people in the audience were catching the balls. Well, I'm always keen to grab an extra souvenir so I was sad not to catch one of the balls. What happened next was unusually and exceedingly peculiar and altogether quite impossible to describe. Carole Shelley herself walked over to the edge of the stage, winked at me, and said, "Would you like this?" and handed me a nerf ball. I took it from her hand and gushed, "I love you!" because that is how dorktastic I am.

Also, I touched a piece of the Titanic today. Touched it with my own hands. It spent 73 years under water and now it's on 44th street. So very cool.

I've been waiting for a musical like you to come into my life.

Well, I'm in NYC and it's business as usual, meaning: Broadway! Tonight I won the Rock of Ages lottery and we had so much fun at the show. They even gave us little flashlights shaped like lighters so we could wave them during the ballads. Two and a half hours of eighties music, I'm still picking confetti out of my hair, and I can't remember the last time I had so much fun at the theater.

I'm trying to understand how Billy Elliot beat this show out for the Best Musical Tony, but I'm seeing that one on Thursday so maybe I'll figure it out then.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go listen to some Foreigner with a Survivor chaser.

Start spreadin' the news...

I'm working in Manhattan next week with a friend from work. She's been to the city before, but was reluctant to go exploring on her own, so she hasn't really seen much. I want to show her all the best sights and fun stuff to do. On the list already: a show (or several), pizza at John's, shopping in the Village/SoHo, cupcakes at Magnolia, Belvedere Castle in the Park, perhaps the Met if she's interested. We're also taking an evening to photograph cityscapes.

So, my question to you all is, what have I forgotten? What awesome, wonderful, very New York thing that we always do should I be certain to include?

Look out. I think Walsingham just shivved Sir Robert Dudley.

So, much of the family is in NYC for the aunts' annual theater trip. They and whoever else take a day trip to the city, see a couple of shows, and eat at John's or Junior's or both. Good times.

Well, Melis and Kris called me from West 44th to tell me that they had just walked out on a play. Mary Stuart. Apparently it was appallingly boring and the man next to them fell asleep 3 minutes after the curtain rose. At one point, there was a soundtrack of applause onstage and he jolted awake and began to clap, thinking it was the end of the first act. That was the most entertaining thing to happen in the Broadhurst Theater this evening.

Kris was also concerned about historical inaccuracies, including costumes such as three-piece suits for the men (keep in mind this is the 16th century) and a polka-dot dress for Queen Elizabeth. They expressed hope that things would improve in the second act for the people they left behind, but that's unlikely since my perusings online show a man in a leather jacket having a switchblade fight in Act 2. That's Act 2 of a play set in the 16th century, in case you weren't paying attention before.

For pity's sake.

I had wanted to see this play, but since I can't take the historical inaccuracies of The Tudors, a show that actually bothers to use jerkins and doublets, I doubt I could have endured this.

Lunch this weekend...

...will be with this handsome fella.


Granted, he'll be on the field and I'll be in peanut heaven eating a Nathan's dog, but you get the picture.

Go Yanks. If only so Jen doesn't complain the whole way from the Bronx to Manhattan.

Times Square just got prettier

No need to crowd into the outdoor lobby at the Marriot Marquis any longer. The new TKTS ticket booth has finally opened! The renovated structure is far superior to the rundown (but much beloved) trailer/plywood contraption that formerly housed the booth. It's got more windows (twelve in all) and get this: you can use credit cards now.

But all of this is nothing compared to the booth's new facelift. It's covered in glass walls and sheltered by a red glass canopy.


But here's the show stopper: a sixteen-foot high staircase made of ruby-red glass that rises over the back of the booth and lights up at night. Visitors can climb to the top for a new vantage point of Times Square. They are encouraged to have a seat and enjoy a picnic lunch, but there's no smoking allowed. Fabulous!


I imagine that in ten or twenty years, this staircase will be as much an iconic image of Times Square as the towering, lit up Coke sign. It sounds like to the perfect excuse to go visit.

When people in the UN can't agree, they should just start a mother-in-law conversation.

So I'm in Philly visiting Aunt Linda and Uncle Giz this week, and yesterday Melis, Kris, Lex, Mom, and I took a side trip to Manhattan. It was fabulous. I saw two shows that I've been dying to see, got some John's pizza, and saw a used-to-be-famous person on the street. (It was Greg Germann, who played the quirky Richard Fish on Ally MacBeal.)

In the morning Kris used her student ID to obtain a ticket for Gypsy for me while everyone else got tickets for Legally Blonde. We had lunch at Junior's and then rushed off to our shows. Gypsy is amazing and Patty Lupone must be on steroids for the amount of energy and emotion she puts into that show. She is a Broadway legend and it was such a thrill to see her in that amazing role. Go see it!

We met up for dinner at John's and then split again. The others saw Xanadu and sat in the on-stage seats. Whoopie Goldberg was guesting in one of the roles and she touched Lex and my Mom during the "Strange Magic" number. That squeal of jealousy you just heard came from Harrisburg, PA, from the mouth of my friend Chris.

While all this was going on, I was uptown having the theater experience of my life. I got a second row, dead center seat for The 39 Steps and I cannot even come up with an adjective powerful enough to describe how fabulous this show is. Every once in a while you see something on stage that you know is special and amazing and could never be recreated by someone else, and that is what I saw on the stage of the Cort Theater. Go see this show, go see it now, get in your car and drive to New York, but first stop in Johnstown to pick me up because I need to see it again.

Even my restroom experience in the Cort Theater was entertaining. There was a woman in the Ladies' Lounge complaining about her mother-in-law, and this must be the topic that crosses all cultural divides because total strangers started joining in, and here's what I heard:

"I hated my mother-in-law. My word, she was vicious."

"I hated my mother. Now, she was vicious."

"My first mother-in-law opened all my wedding gifts!"

"No wonder she was your first mother-in-law."

"I always referred to my son's first wife as 'my son's first wife,' even when they were still married."

I just love it when women get catty in the Ladies' Room!

Frau Blucher?

So, it was an average Thursday evening and I thought to myself, “Hmmm, I haven’t seen Chris in a long time. Maybe I’ll visit him in Harrisburg this weekend.” Thirty six hours later I found myself in New York City. I do love when that kind of thing happens. Chris, J., and I decided we needed some Broadway, stat, and Broadway accommodated us.

Saturday Matinee: Xanadu

I saw this show a while back with Melis and I have wanted to sit in one of the on-stage seats ever since. They have 29 seats right on the stage and it is such a cool perspective. I convinced the boys to sit on stage with me, with the whole theater looking at us. (Melis, we were in the seats right in the middle where the actors turn around and offer you popcorn during that one song!) It was fairly fabulous. Cheyenne Jackson isn’t in the lead role right now, but Curtis Holbrook (Dean Hyde from All Shook Up, people!) is filling in and he is just the most cheek-pinching-est adorable man. I want to squeeze him like the Pillsbury Doughboy and then wrap him up and put him in my pocket.

When we arrived at the theater we were given instructions for sitting on the stage: Don’t chew gum, don’t rifle through your purse, don’t reach out and touch Curtis’ hair, etc… (It’s possible that last one is just a rule I made up in my head for myself.) Then they handed us glowsticks and told us that the actors would cue us when to light them up and they’d cue us when we were supposed to stand up and dance around while waving them. Dance around. On stage. J. looked mortified and Chris turned to me and hissed, “If there’s anything else you haven’t been telling us, you’d better spill it. Now.” Truly, I had not remembered that part. But then! During the song “Strange Magic,” the actresses singing it were standing right over us and one of them leaned over Chris and started rubbing his head like a crystal ball and touching him and playing with his shirt collar. He promptly turned the color of a raspberry. It was his Broadway debut!

There were no further snags until the final number when we were standing and dancing around and waving our glowsticks. My glowstick flew out of my hand and rolled into the middle of the stage, and these actors are on roller skates, people, (Seriously.) and for one brief moment I had a vision of Kerry Butler skating over it and breaking her ankle, followed by me being escorted from the theater as I gave my hasty regards to her understudy. But one of the other actresses saw it and tossed it back to me before it took anyone down. Crisis averted. But you should definitely see Xanadu and sit on the stage. You get a free glowstick! Just don’t touch Curtis.

Saturday Evening: Spring Awakening

This won the Tony in 2007 for Best Musical and it was much deserved. It’s easily some of the most beautiful music I ever heard trip off a Broadway stage, and I haven’t stopped listening to the CD since. However, a warning: this show has some very mature themes. It’s not for kids. In fact, there was a school group sitting near us and the kids were 12 – 14 years old and I could literally see the chaperones mentally composing their resumes for the jobs they would most certainly be searching for Monday morning.

Sunday Matinee: Young Frankenstein

We followed up the 2007 Best Musical winner with the 2008 Best Musical winner. J. won the ticket lottery and then we bought a third seat in the balcony and Chris and I split the acts between the balcony and the front row. Gary and Lisa, you are correct that this show is fabulous, but I cannot agree with your assertion that it’s as good as Wicked. I think we need to get some perspective here.

We also did our usual NYC stuff: lunch at John’s, Central Park, Jamba Juice, walking along the Hudson. And we discovered an Amish Market, right in the heart of the Financial District. Being Pennsylvanians, of course we had to inspect it for veracity. Turns out, it was just a regular specialty food market. Nothing Amish about it. I was incensed. I thought about walking up to the counter and announcing to the ladies behind the register that I was from Pennsylvania and that there was not an ounce of authenticity in this parading charlatan of a market. But instead I walked up to the counter and plunked down $2.92 for a German candy bar. I’m so weak.

They cause scenes.

Have you ever heard of Improv Everywhere? You should check out their website. I just love these guys. They started out as this little comedy troupe in NYC that would perform improvisational stunts, known as "missions," throughout the city. Now they’ve expanded all over. Their most recent mission was to send their "agents" to a California little league game and act like it was a pro game. They had fans in the stands screaming for the players of their choice, agents distributing concessions and programs, animal mascots, a jumbotron in the outfield broadcasting color commentators, and they even got the Good Year Blimp to do a fly by. After the game the "fans" swarmed the dugouts asking for players’ autographs.

If you go to the website, you can peruse their missions. Their classic mission is called "No Pants," where every year they coordinate hundreds of people to ride the NYC Subway sans trousers, but my favorite mission is The Moebius.

Check it out.

I had SUCH a great day today

I had the BEST time in New York City today. We (me, Melis, Brian, Jackie, Kristen, and her friend) drove in to see Rent now that the original actors (Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp) for the two main characters are back for a limited run. The show was amazing, just amazing. These guys have such wonderful chemistry and such a great rapport on stage. They also appear to not have aged in the last decade. I don’t know if they’re sleeping in Tupperware or bathing in the blood of children, but they looked great. We were among the last to leave the theatre and Jackie (who had never seen the show before today) looked over and said, “Um, isn’t that the guy? Isn’t that one of the originals?” Sure enough, Anthony Rapp was standing ten feet away, waiting to step outside the see the mob of screaming fans waiting on the sidewalk. Nice catch, Jacks. We were happy to catch a glimpse of him because the mob outside was so huge, there was no seeing anything out there.

That evening Kris and her friend were seeing an off-Broadway play and Jackie and Brian scored standing room tickets for Jersey Boys, so Melis and I were on our own. We tried to get lottery tickets for the evening show of Rent, but failed. We headed to TKTS and, after much deliberation, settled on Xanadu. We were very unsure of our choice and even tried to trade them in at one point. What a foolish mistake that would have been! The show was awesome. Hilarious, clever, great music, great cast (including Cheyenne Jackson! Anyone who has seen All Shook Up knows exactly what I’m talking about.) This show is great! Go see it! But the best part was after the show. We went to the stage door and met Cheyenne. What a lovely, gracious (completely freakin’ adorable) guy he is. He signed our Playbills, took a photo with me and Melis, and was all enthusiastic when she told him that she directed All Shook Up for her high school. Melis and I walked down the street giggling like the 12 year-old girls that we secretly inwardly are. It was pretty awesome.

Then Melis had the bright idea to head down to the Rent stage door to see if Anthony and Adam would come out and sign our Playbills. Xanadu is a short show and we were out way before the others, so we had some time to kill and thought that we could beat the crazy mob to good spots for seeing the Rent guys. On the way down to Rent we stopped at a newspaper stand for a drink and I had an incredible stroke of luck. My favorite gum (cinnamon flavored Freshen Up) is impossible to find in Pennsylvania but there, lo and behold, sat 8 packs of it. My eyes widened, my heart raced, I pounced. I gathered up all 8 packs and the little old Chinese lady behind the counter gasped in shock. Then she pulled out her stash from below the counter and asked if I wanted more. I said, “Yes, I’ll take two more. So that will be 1 bottle of water and 10 packs of gum, please.” The guy behind me said, “Is that the gum with the liquid center? Man, that stuff is hard to find.” Seriously dude. I look for it everywhere. I was even hoping to stumble upon it in London. Now I am so stocked up, and I walked down 7^th Avenue, giddy with my good fortune.

Then it was on to Rent. We got there in plenty of time to get a front row spot on the barricades they set up to handle the crazy crowds by the stage door. About 20 minutes later, the show let out and the people who had rushed like madmen from their seats were horrified to find there was already a crowd, three people deep, at the barricades. More and more people swarmed in and started shoving us against the barricades like it was a Who concert in Cincinnati. Let me take a moment to explain, in case you’re not familiar with this show, that Rent fans are the most fanatical, semi-psycho fans on Broadway. It is a huge deal that Anthony and Adam came back, and it’s really tough to get tickets right now and people go crazy to see them. The crowd pours into the streets, the NYPD has officers there, it’s pandemonium. And Melis and I were at the front of it all.

Anthony came out first. He was very polite and reserved and kept thanking people for their enthusiasm. The crowd went so crazy and I thought we were going to flip the barricade over and end up, face down, on the ground at his feet. He signed our Playbills and spent a lot of time with the crowd and was very gracious. I told him I have liked him since Adventures in Babysitting (“Oh Thor, mighty god of thunder!”) and he, somewhat disappointingly, did not respond with “Ya think?” I guess you can’t have everything. Then Adam came out and the crowd went wild. Girls were screaming, “Adam, marry me!” He had to stop signing autographs to ask people to calm down and take a step back so those of us at the front didn’t get crushed. He also spent lots of time with the crowd and was completely adorable. Then the NYPD had to step in and push the barriers back and do some crowd control, which basically consisted of screaming at people to stop pushing. It was pretty fabulous.