Broadway is Back - Including Raul !!

Friday morning I woke up and didn't feel that great... really... I mean it... I really didn't... I swear *cough... cough* - So I decided to call in sick to work and then attend the Broadway is Back "show" at the Marquis. The large and prodigious rumor mill asserted that each performer(s) there would sing a song from their show. This would make the whole affair run probably about an hour and a half. Not so..... I feel bad for the people who waited for hours. The show was only a half an hour at best.

Following is a link to the article describing the event. I'm too lazy to properly recount the festivities. PLAYBILL ARTICLE

and here is a pic I took at the end: Yes, that is "Elphaba" next to Ms. Lansbury......


Since I had a plethora of time left in the day - I decided to play tourist in my hometown and take some pics. The obligatory stops at "The Tree", Rock Center stores, and Radio City.



On the side of Radio City:


As if I didn't drink enough coffee so far, I made my regular pilgrimage to my java addicted soul's mecca - Porto Rico Coffee on Bleeker and then to Enfleurage where they have the most delicious selection of candles and soaps. (The subway was particularly fragrant by the way...)

Dear God I was hungry! Good thing, because I was meeting some friends for Mexican at my favorite place that also haaaaaapens to have my favorite waiter. First a stop at Posh for drinks (I was invited for the Secret Gay Conspiracy meeting) where I was introduced to a friend's friend with whom I had a spirited conversation about.... Raul. Let's just say we agree to disagree :-) However, he said I was pretty so he automatically becomes a new BFF and gets a blog mention :-) His blog: cowsinthebarn

Capping the evening off was some Coldstone which is conveniently down the block from the restaurant. The last time I had it, it was bland and tasteless. This time, I picked well... dark chocolate mint ice-cream with brownies.

After the sheer amount of food I consumed in such a short period of time, it was quite a surprise that I didn't throw up on the train back to my car. Although I did feel like it.

Definitely not a Weight Watchers kinda day.

Being a Peeping Tom - Or How I Met Auntie Mame

So on Thursday, after a gut busting dinner of really good Mexican food it was decided that we needed to walk it off by getting... hot chocolate. Logical right? I thought I was going to explode, but passing up peppermint hot chocolate at Chocolate Bar... not going to happen! After leaving the store, we were passing all the lovely dwellings on Hudson Street and came upon one in particular where the inhabitants were having a small cocktail party that we watched for a moment. Thoughts of a life in one of those houses were discussed amongst us. As we were about to pass the livingroom window one friend stopped dead in front and starting waving at them. Thinking he was a little nuts and high on the hot chocolate we laughed, but he still kept waving. Well it turns out that one of the party-goers was a friend of his. Said friend came out to greet us and invited us in to join them.

What a wonderful and eclectic group we were! They were so incredibly warm and inviting. One woman in particular (the aunt of the party goer's partner) stood out and completely enthralled me. She was a fantastically tipsy jewelry designer and former singer. She kept hugging me. After telling her that one of my friends was not my boyfriend as she thought, and that actually *they* were the ones that were together, she made me promise that I would do my best to make sure that my two friends got married and had a nice life together. She also kept singing to me. I wanted her to adopt me.

What a fun and unexpected evening. The best kind.

Meet the MET

On Friday and friend and I wanted to do something different, on yet another day off - so we took the backstage tour of the Metropolitan Opera House. What a magnificent place - not just the performance space, but the intricate operation it takes to make it happen.

Loved the tour - the access you have is remarkable. It made me sad that I couldn't go to Lucia, but........ we heard Natalie Dessay doing some warmups in a room we couldn't go in - and an added bonus... Renata Scotto was singing her heart out from a different room on a different floor - she was teaching someone (said the guide).

Seeing the costumes for Lucia, Romeo and Juliet, Butterfly (EXTRAORDINARY!) MacBeth, Faust, Aida, Boheme etc... priceless. They are all so gorgeous - and you are allowed to touch them. My friend and I wanted to hang back and try on the kimonos!

She and I had a blast with the stagehands and propmasters. They were adorable.
It is incredibly fascinating how everything is put together and the time frames involved. My favorite fact... they pick the 27 operas and the singers 5 years in advance!

It was a fantastic experience. I highly recommend it

Time Traveling

Last night, I went to a very enjoyable reading at CAP21 called "The Time Travelers Convention". The initial premise was that a group of students put flyers in the library books alerting any time travelers from the future that there will be a party for their arrival. The story's theme eventually came to "don't try and go back to the past in order to fix your present". There were some very funny and touching moments, but like I said some of it definitely needs overhauling - such as not starting Act 2 with a depressing daughter/father ballad.

One thing that irked me. The composer, Mike Pettry, is a Jonathan Larson Foundation Award winner and wrote some lovely music. Heidi Heilig wrote the book and lyrics - however, there was one song that repeated the phrase "I should tell you" several times and in a very familiar way. I suspect that perhaps it was their homage to Jonathan, but it was a bit much. One phrase that definitely should be removed is "library kisses (or libraries and kisses)".

The show needs a lot of work, but the potential is definitely there for a fun off-broadway venture that would probably do quite well given the right cast.

SIDE NOTE: While walking back to my car (down the block) I experienced something I hadn't in a VERY long time. Uneasiness. I guess what happened two weeks ago didn't just stay in my dreams but manifested itself in reality. It bothered me that I was bothered.

A Day In The Life - A Photo Essay of sorts

Last weekend was a glorious one in NYC - the weather was perfect and I'd like to share some of the photos I took last Saturday. I've lived in the City almost all of my life and am never at a loss for things that catch my eye. Given the fact that my camera comes everywhere with me..... I always manage to stop and take a shot or two... or three... or four - sometimes to the dismay of my companions :-) Walk - stop - walk - stop...

Journey begins.. waiting for the train to pass...

Two of the many doors...



On the building across from Roosevelt birthplace


20th & Broadway (East Side)

Broadway (East Side)
This one just made me giggle...


Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace


Grace Church

You have to be in Little Italy with a place called Cha Cha's


Little Italy/SOHO border


Union Square
Union Square

Saturday Spotlight

Porto Rico Importing Company

On Bleeker Street, just about three quarters of a block away from this mecca of beautiful beans, a faint breeze blows and the enticing aroma of java starts to fill your senses. The closer you get the excitement builds.

PRCP is not a coffee shop - it is a small store that sells a wide variety of the most incredible array fresh coffee beans and teas from around the world. What a treat to be able to go around the world with coffee. A trip I would love to take for real!

Inadvertant Eavesdropping

While walking the streets of NYC you are bound to hear things that will either make you stop and giggle or shake your head with confusion and/or wonderment. Here are a few from the past few days :

1) Dude! Now she's making me eat lettuce... WTF?
My thought: Dude! She's "grooming" you for the future... be aware.

2) Man in front of the Marriott Marquis: Yeah, they moved the TKTS booth from Times Square to here.

Woman with him: What do you mean? How could they move Times Square?

3) Visiting Man with first time visitor to NYC pointing to the Port Authority: "See that building? That's where buses come from NJ and Connecticut to Manhattan.

Me feeling friendly: It is amazing that buses come from all over the country and it is so coordinated.

Man: Rolling his eyes and looking at me like I'm an alien says... "pffft - from all over the country - yeah right"

What A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

In two of them as a matter of fact. Yesterday was the type of day that you just stop and say... life is good.

The weather was spectacular. A perfect spring day in NYC. I met a friend for a late(ish) lunch and then went to the 3rd Avenue street fair (in the 20's) for a bit. I found a very cool necklace that I liked, but when I asked about how the matching earrings would look, the answer I got..... like a drag queen. I just got the necklace.

We got into the car and my parking mojo was in full force - a HUGE spot on 55th and 8th. No easy feat. It was just... there. Stopped into the Whole Foods at the Time Warner Center for coffee and found the most gorgeous apricots. I don't know what variety they are - they are not your normal pale yellow golf ball size ones. They are tiny, not really fuzzy, and have the most beautiful blush to them. They look more like teeny tiny plums and taste like a cross between a nectarine and an apricot.

A stroll around Lincoln Center on a sunny spring day is always fantastic for people watching. We saw the NY Philharmonic getting ready to go on a bus. That was fun to see... so many world class musicans... what was a little disconcerting was seeing the police with the canine unit and vans there to protect them and their instruments. The dog was an almost all black/chocolate brown German Shepard. It was beautiful.

Realizing I had never been in the Gracious Home store, it warranted a trip across the street. Loved it. So much stuff. The cooking section had me insane. We wanted everything. Including the miniscule melon baller. Seriously, the bowl was half the size of a pea. I don't know what I would do with it, but it would be great to have in my utensil collection.

After leaving the store - looking up we saw ... another street fair! Fantastic! More stuff I wanted, but couldn't buy this week. No problem - these vendors are always at other fairs... so I will see them again... and again.... and again.

Days like these are perfect - especially when they end with a brand new episode of the Sopranos.

New York, New York... WAS a Helluva Town

Enough already... STOP chipping away at my beloved City and what little is left that makes it so special. I'm not going to go into why this Festival means so much.... anyone who lives in the City can tell you. No smoking in bars... Shut up... I smoke - and now this.

I hope you choke on your fucking zeppole

To sum it up:

Little Italy residents upset by the raucous annual street fair voted this month to pull the plug on the historic feast, recommending that Community Board 2 move to nix the 11-day gala.

"No one likes San Gennaro who lives here," said Sean Sweeney, a member of the community board's street events committee, which voted against issuing permits for the feast.


So.... after 80 years of the Festival.. all of a sudden it's a nuisance....

and huuumm - I wonder what part of Italy Mr. SWEENEY's family is from.... maybe a visit from Tony Soprano is in order :-)