Saturday night in the big city

Most of the time, I keep myself to three general areas of the city; Lincoln Center (work), the theatre district, and Ha-Hi (Hamilton Heights for those of you not up on the lingo, in other words, home). But once in a while I'm forced to broaden my horizons, and get a little adventurous. On Saturday night, I went downtown (yes, downtown) with Erin and Michelle, and we had a great time.
Erin took us for dinner at Indian Bread Company (someplace I'd long been looking forward to visiting). Although their air conditioning left something to be desired on a hot summer night, the food was delicious (thank you Erin for eating the spicier sandwich I ordered, and letting me eat hers), and there's nothing like eating at an out of the way spot on Bleeker Street (okay, I know Bleeker St. isn't so much out of the way, but I'm just a girl from Ha-Hi, it was exotic for me) to make you feel like a so in-the-know New Yorker.
For dessert, we went to Cones. It was very difficult to choose from all of their delectable flavors (I had a sample of corn sorbet which was very good), but I think we did pretty well. I got chocolate sorbet and pineapple sorbet that were wonderfully complimentary. Erin got Dulce de Leche (sinfully good) and strawberry & cream gelato. Michelle got chocolate ice cream with raspberry sorbet. All of them were so good, and we enjoyed the atmosphere (particularly the employees' accents) quite a bit as well.
The night ended very successfully at home with a viewing of Clue - oh yes, we know how to show visitors a good time, you betcha.
PS. I almost forgot the most important thing. While walking through Times Sqaure (eww) to meet Erin and Michelle, I literally almost collided with Denis O'Hare. It was thrilling. Wish I'd thought to talk to him rather than just jump out of the way, but maybe next time. Now that I know which street corner to stand at.

Look

Click on the picture to see a youtube video of a gadget that looks really cool:

Jersey Boys

I finally saw Jersey Boys. I ended up going to the videotaping with Patrick even though it was a Wednesday matinee, and I had plenty of work to do. But I almost never go to the tapings, and Patrick said he wanted me to see it; well, what's a girl to do? I will say that I felt my luck, though. The line outside the theatre for cancellations and standing room tickets was insanely long. I waltzed right in, and got, in my opinion, the best seat in the house. Center, first row of the mezzanine (I was sitting right next to a camera).
This show is intense, it never stops! They just keep singing, and singing, and singing. I don't know if they included every song the Four Seasons ever did, but it seems like they must have. Also, the show is much more adult than I expected. I don't know if it's a common misconception or not, but I equate jukebox musicals with family friendly shows. Jersey Boys shot that idea right out of the water. I've never seen the Sopranos, but I feel like this must be the musical version. There was sex, violence, and oh the profanity. In case you were wondering, Jersey Boys would be rated R if it were a movie.
I guess what it comes down to, is that I'm just not a fan of the jukebox musical. It's too prepackaged, the story's so big that I felt rushed the whole time. It was basically a TV biopic on stage. I understand why people like being there (I had a great time too), but I don't understand how anyone could consider this more of an artistic achievement than an original musical (such as, oh I don't know, The Drowsy Chaperone?) But I will say that I was impressed with the performers. I don't know how it's humanly possible to do what they do over and over again. I'd say the average break between songs is 30 seconds to a minute. It's crazy!
So bottom line, if you go to Jersey Boys, you'll have a good time. It won't change your life, it's not a great show, but it's fun. And there's no way in heaven and earth that it should have won the Best Musical Tony.

Why you should drink more soda

Congratulations Catherine!

You have won a Sony Playstation Portable from Dr Pepper. Based on the winning code you have entered in the Dr Pepper Unlock the Flavor promotion, you will be mailed your prize in 10-12 weeks.

In eighth grade I went to a dance and won a Jesus Jones single in a raffle. I gave it to Emily. A few years ago I entered an online sweepstakes and later received an email that I'd won a Heartbreakers soundtrack and I should verify my address. I did, and also included a note about how excited I was to win something. I never received that CD.
So today at lunch, I bought myself a diet Dr. Pepper for an afternoon treat. There was a code under the cap to be entered on their website to enter this sweepstakes (I've entered maybe 4 codes already, I knew the drill). I was really hoping to be lucky enough to win a Dr. Pepper tee-shirt eventually (considering the amount of Dr. Pepper I've taken to drinking this summer). It seems I maybe even luckier than that. I'm not going to get overly excited (I've learned something from my Heartbreakers incident), but I'll go ahead and keep this bottle cap, just in case. I don't know anything about a Sony Playstation Portable, but if I get one in the mail in 10-12 weeks, I'll be very pleased indeed.

Pig Farm

I was looking forward to this play for two reasons: 1)it's by Greg Kotis who wrote Urinetown which I liked and 2)Denis O'Hare is in it.
The basic plot (which didn't seem to be too important) is that Tim (John Ellison Conlee) and his Tina (Katie Finneran), new pig farmers, get a juvenile delinquent, Tim (Logan Marshall-Green) out of jail early to help them run their farm. There are rumors that a government inspector (Dennis O'Hare) is coming soon, so Tom tells Tim to count the pigs while he gets rid of fecal sludge in the river. Meanwhile, Tina is about to have a break-down over the fact that they have yet to start their family. While Tom is at the river, Tina and Tim console each other and when Teddy, the government inspector, arrives the next morning to a drunk Tom upstairs, and adulterous Tina and Tim in the basement, the pig feces really hit the fan.
I'm not really sure what I can say about it this play. I had a good time, but I'm not sure why. It's got lots of quirky humor, but is that enough for a whole play? It probably could have been, but the ending went a little too far, and was a little too long for me. I'll be interested in what the critics say, but overall, I thought it was good; not great, but good. Except Denis, of course, who is always perfection.

Celebrity sighting

Last night, as I was walking to the bus stop, I saw that they were doing The Devil Wears Prada premiere at the Lincoln Center Loews (Sidenote: I don't know why they don't do more premieres there, it's a really nice theatre. And I would see more stars). Well, who should arrive just as I was walking by? Meryl Streep. She looked very nice if smaller than I expected (aren't they all). She'd brought all her kids, and they looked like they were having a good time. I didn't wait around to see if I could see Anne Hathaway or Adrian Grenier, I'll just look forward to see them in the movie.

Ick

Isn't amazing how we forget uncomfortable things, until they happen again? You all know that I'm not a big fan of summertime weather. I hate being hot, and I hate sweating, and I hate being around other people that are hot and sweating.
This morning, I woke up at 6:30 am, and I couldn't figure out why. I'm never awake at 6:30, ever. At first I thought there was something wrong with my clock and it was much later than 6:30, but it wasn't. I pondered for a moment, and then I realized, I was awake because I was too hot. And then I remembered how I have a hard time sleeping in the summer because I can't sleep when I'm hot.
It's going to be a long, hot, sweaty, tired summer. Ick.

A Prairie Home Companion

I wasn't sure how they were going to convert a quirky radio show into a mainstream movie, but I was eager to watch it. It turns out, they didn't transform the show into a blockbuster movie. They did fill it with movie stars, but the movie of A Prairie Home Companion is much like the radio show itself. It's strange, charming, disjointed, and Garrison Keillor does whatever he wants. I don't know how this movie is going to make money that way, but I surely had a good time.

The Busy World is Hushed

Erin and I went to this play (The Busy World is Hushed by Keith Bunin) last week because I got free tickets from work. I didn't know anything about it, except that Jill Clayburgh is in it, and I like her. It turns out her co-stars are two very cute boys (Hamish Linklater & Luke McFarlane), so that was a bonus. It's a play about a minister who's hired a young writer to help her write a book about a newly discovered Gospel (perhaps the earliest), and whose son is staying with her for a short time to try to find out more about his father who may or may not have committed suicide before he was born. Brandt (Linklater), the writer, wrestles with the fact that his father is dying, and tries to determine what kind of faith he has in God, and Thomas (McFarlane), rails against his mother's faith while simultaneously trying to absorb his father's through old, note filled Bibles that his father has left behind. Brandt and Thomas fall in love, and things seem to be going well until Thomas realizes that his mother approves of the match, and then he runs off, leaving Brandt to deal with his father's death alone unless he will accept the minister's comfort.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable play, and I thought there were some really great, thought provoking scenes, but Thomas was a problem for me. In the climax, he tells his mother she has to choose between faith in God, or her son. I found this ultimatum ridiculous and over the top, which would have been fine if one of the other characters called him on it, but they don't. The final scene (the minister and Brandt at his father's funeral), gives no resolution whatsoever. I understand that some plays are better served this way; leaving the audience to think about it themselves, but I felt it was unfair of Bunin to bring up so many issues about the nature of faith and Christ, and then leave us hanging without at least an opinion of his own to offer.

The Lieutenant of Inishmore

I finally went to see this play after hearing only good things for some time. It lived up to it's reputation. It reminded me of Fargo in that you just have to embrace the world you're being thrown into. It's rough, it's amoral, VERY bloody, and very funny. The basic plot is that Padraic, a member of a splinter group from the IRA who's more than a little off with a tendancy to shoot first and ask questions later, has left his cat, his only friend in the world, in the care of his father while he travels Ireland torturing drug dealers. Unfortunately, the cat shows up dead in the middle of the road, and no one's sure how it died, or how to tell Padraic the news. The play starts off ridiculous and high energy, and gets bigger and louder and more out of control as it goes along until we end up with a stage literally dripping with blood. This play's by the same author (Martin McDonagh) as last year's The Pillowman which I liked, but I found this one a little more accessible, although no less bizarre. Peter Gerety (pictured above holding the dead cat), who plays Padraic's father, was my favorite performance; his understated one-liners were high-larious. I thought Domhnall Gleeson (who got a Tony nomination) was good, but a little over the top, especially at the beginning; I think he should have eased us a little more into this crazy play. Likewise, Allison Pill (Tony nominated) was good (she plays a girl from Padraic's home town whose own sensibilities just might match his vigor for violence), but I'm not sorry she didn't win. I saw her in a play last year (On the Mountain) last season, and I think she has a lot of potential, but she's not award caliber just yet. Still, the entire cast was very enjoyable, and I really admire their dying skills.
Yes Anne, the actors get so covered with blood (and good many of them do not live to the end of the show) that they can taste it, so I've heard they appreciate the chocolaty flavor of the bloody concoction. I've also heard it takes two full hours for the stage hands to clean the set every night. If you ever come to the library to watch it, we taped some of the cleanup after the credits. We are getting so flashy!

The Reader's Bill of Rights
Everyone has the right to read. Here's The Reader's Bill of Rights to help you make the most of that right:

Readers have:

The right to not read.
The right to skip pages.
The right to not finish.
The right to reread.
The right to read anything.
The right to escapism.
The right to read anywhere.
The right to browse.
The right to read out loud.
The right not to defend your tastes.

—Pennac, Daniel, Better Than Life, Coach House Press, 1996.

Tony letdowns

I was pretty disappointed with the Tony outcomes this year. Overall I guess it was fine, but there were three things that really upset me:

1) Obviously, I was very upset that The Drowsy Chaperone didn't win Best Musical. It was completely robbed. I'm sure Jersey Boys is great and a lot of fun, but there's no way a jukebox musical should win over an original musical. This one's going to take me a while to get over.

2) I was horrified that Jim Dale didn't win Best Featured Actor in a Musical. The ONLY other person that could have won and I would have felt okay was Manoel Felciano from Sweeney Todd, but really Jim Dale just needed to win.

3) You know I loved The Pajama Game, I really did. But it is not in the same league as Sweeney Todd; not even close. I am appalled that they gave Best Revival to PJ Game over this magnificent and revolutionary production of Sweeney Todd. It's maddening.

4) I know I said three, but I just had to end by saying that although I was pretty sure John Lloyd Young would win Best Actor in a Musical so it wasn't a surprise, you and I both know that it should have been Michael Cerveris.

Read it

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I'm not going to tell you anything about this book, because I think it's more fun the less you know. But I was really taken with it, and I think you should read it. Yes, I mean you, specifically. It reminded me of The Secret History by Donna Tartt (although they are radically different in content) because they are both kind of quiet stories. A lot of the time there is nothing happening, and yet, I was mesmerized by it. I'll have to read Ishiguro's other books very soon. Do yourself a favor and read this one today.

The people you meet at the theatre

You know me, I don't talk to strangers. My usual MO is to pretend that I'm the only one in existence, and try to stay out of people's way so that they can do the same. My rules are relaxed slightly at the theatre, since I feel a slight communal feeling towards other audience members.
So last week I went to MTC to see Defiance. As I was about a block away, a downpour began, and I had no umbrella, so I arrived at the theatre a bit soggy. I'd bought a discount ticket, so I was all the way at the end of an aisle (not that I'm complaining about my seat, because it was just fine), and I had to do the whole excuse me bit. The last guy had a large umbrella, so he cautioned me to be careful as I stepped over it. I said no problem, passed him and sat down. He then asked me if it had started raining, and indicating the large splashes on my shirt, I said it had. I then pulled out my book to read, but the guy kept talking. This is usually the point where I would open my book anyway, in hopes of discouraging my chatty neighbor, but for whatever reason, I talked back. So Terry (a 59 year old, and I know this sounds judgmental, but he just had to be, gay man) and I discussed the playwright, the upcoming Tony's, and by the time the play started, we even had an inside joke (which we snickered at during the show, including elbow nudges)! In fact, Terry and I had such a good time, I was sad when the play ended and we parted ways. Made me seriously consider talking to more strangers in the future.

Living in a Seinfeld world

A few years ago, just after Erin had moved to Manhattan, she told me it was like living in an episode of Seinfeld. I laughed at her naivete and her attachment to that show. Then I moved here. I don't so much feel that I live in a Seinfeld episode, but I have gained a new appreciation for the show. It was always funny of course, but now things that I had thought exaggerated for comic effect seem much more true to life.
Take the episode I recently watched:
THE SUBWAY

Summary:
Everyone has an uncommon experience while going their separate ways on the subway. George meets a beautiful woman who distracts him from his intended destination, a job interview. Jerry falls asleep and then wakes up across from a fat naked man and winds up discussing with him, the New York Mets & Coney Island. Elaine's train stops in the middle of a tunnel on her way to be best man at a lesbian wedding. Kramer overhears a hot tip on a horse on his way to pay $600 in traffic violations.

I had seen it before, and enjoyed it, but the other night, I almost fell off the couch laughinh at Elaine's story. I swear I've had this exact conversation with myself!

(Elaine is trapped in a stopped train.)

ELAINE'S VOICE: Oh, this is great. This is what I need, just what I need. Ok, take it easy I'm sure it's nothing. Probably rats on the track, we're stopping for rats. God, it's so crowded. How can there be so many people? This guy really smells, doesn't anyone use deodorant in the city? What is so hard, you take the cap off, you roll it on. What's that? I feel something rubbing against me. Disgusting animals, these people should be in a cage. We are in a cage. What if I miss the wedding? I got the ring. What'll they do? You can't get married without the ring. Oh, I can't breath, I feel faint. Take it easy, it'll start moving soon. Think about the people on the concentration camps, what they went through. And hostages, what would you do if you were a hostage? Think about that. This is nothing. No, it's not nothing, it's something. It's a nightmare! Help me! Move it! Come on move this fu(beep) thing!! Why isn't it moving?!? What can go wrong with a train!?! It's on tracks, there's no traffic! How can a train get stuck. Step on the gas!! What could it be? You'de think the conductor would explain it to us? 'I'm sorry there's a delay we'll be moving in 5 minutes'!! I wanna hear a voice. What's that on my leg?!!

(Lights in the train go off)

ELAINE'S VOICE: Why couldn't I take a cab. For 6 dollars my whole life could've changed. What is that on my leg? I'll never get out of here. What if I'm here for the rest of my life? Maybe I'll get out in 5 seconds. 1 banana, 2 banana, 3 banana, 4 banana, 5 banana...no, I'm still here! Still here! Why don't they start moving? Move! Move!! Move!!!
*Train starts moving, lights get back on*
It's moving! It's moving! Yes! Yes!!
*Train stops again and lights go off*
Motherf(beep-beep)!!!

Is that wrong?

There's this guy at work who's a really nice man. He's also really annoying. I mean really annoying. Every morning, he insists on not just doing the "good mornings," but also going through this whole rigmarole about how we're doing, and the state of the weather. Then, after lunch, the same thing! I mean, how much does he think changes during the hour I'm at lunch? He also says "libary" instead of library, which I cannot stand, and he talks really loudly on the phone at least once a day to either his wife or his mother, sometimes both.
Now I know that this man is a good person, so I should like him. But I can't. He's just too annoying. Does this make me a bad person?

Uh-oh

I drank soda at lunch today and got the hiccups. This in and of itself isn't so bad; embarrassing (I have the loudest hiccups in the world-imagine me hiccuping my way through the hushed library), but manageable. But here's the problem, I always get the hiccups twice, and tonight I'm going to see a play! I'm just sure that halfway through the first act is when I'm going to get my second attack. Yikes! Anyone know how to force yourself to get the hiccups?

a Drowsy video clip

Click on the picture to see a backstage tour of The Drowsy Chaperone, hosted by Sutton Foster:

Some Girl(s) & Defiance

What is the deal with these family portrait play posters? The last two plays I've seen, this is the only image I can find to put on my blog. Not a play poster or program, just a family picture. I don't like it.
Last week I saw Neil LaBute's Some Girl(s). I enjoyed it, but I don't have much to say about it. I found it a solid production, and I was interested throughout. It seemed, for a while, that maybe he was going veer from his characteristic cynicism, but overall, it was still pretty standard LaBute. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I thought Eric McCormack was pretty good, there was only a moment or two of Will (which I guess is really a moment or two of Eric, but you know what I mean). As for the girls, they were all good, Maura was the standout, but part of that was because her character was the strongest. And part of that is just because I like her. Also noteworthy was the set. The play is four scenes, and four different hotel rooms. In the first scene, Eric says he always stays in the same hotel (it's a nationwide chain), so I thought that was a pretty neat and conservative way to explain using the exact same set (which was very detailed) for all four locations. Oh no, they changed it. It was always the same furniture, but everything else changed everything (including the walls), and the crew all wore hotel cleaning uniforms, and the transitions were very sharp. If you get a chance, you should see it.
Last night I went to Defiance. Doubt was a little disappointing to me (I think a combination of overhype and seeing the 2nd cast), so I wasn't going to see Defiance, but Patrick decided not to tape it, and there were discount tickets available so I figured I'd check it out. The play has problems, but I'm not sorry I went to see it. Click on the link in my sidebar to see the NY Times review, I agree with it. The play tries to talk about racial issues within the microcosm of a marines base, but it tries to do too much in not enough time. I actually was interested in most of the characters (although they were all played in a very heavy handed way, which I'm surprised Doug Hughes allowed, or wanted), but you never get to know any of them enough to really feel for them or understand them, so I ended up frustrated. I would rather have spent more time with one of them. But as I said, I'm not sorry I saw it, and I met a very interesting fellow there, but that's for another post.