Three days and four shows later...

Holy cow I slept until 10am on Sunday. That's probably because I was up late, but more likely because I'd been walking all around Manhattan. My legs were killing me but I slept like a rock.

As I put in my required amount of pavement pounding, I found myself becoming very skilled at taking the subway and acting like a New Yorker. (Nod to Karen and Sofia... I emulated S's "couldn't-care-less" look!) You know you are fitting in when people start asking you for directions and you can answer them.

I switched hotels because I had extended my stay. I moved to the Hilton Times Square - half a block off of Broadway and across the street from "Spiderman." I thought being on the 25th floor at the Radisson was good, but they put me on the 40th at the Hilton. Oh, I miss the good old days of my Hilton Diamond status.

Went to a Sunday matinee of "Rock of Ages." It's a funny love story told through 1980's hair bands. The theatre is small and they serve drinks in the audience. It's more like a rock concert than a musical. Quite fun. Would have been even better had I gone at night I think - no matter how much alcohol you put in people, there is only so much you can pull out of a Sunday afternoon crowd.

One eyebrow threading, three Italians, an old Jewish guy named Karl, the Canadian, a hot Scot and his son, nearly two dozen autographs, dinner at Felidia!!! (thanks for the tip Karen!) and a dish of melted chocolate later, I was on a plane back home.

Although I am always sad to end a vacation it is good to come home, if only so I can start planning the next trip!

Two fun memories -
Daniel Radcliff's character, Ponty Finch, jumping up and down on the couch and sating, "I'm in love, I'm in love!" Tom Cruise will never live that down.
The Green Goblin demonstrating how he works out using "Shake weights."

Judgement Day Part 2

So I guess there actually was a time (6:00pm) associated with what was supposed to be the end of the world. Here I was running around thinking I was safe all day.

I know this, because at 6:00pm, I heard a busker on the subway saying something about we're all still here and it's a good day. It didn't sink in until a couple hours later when I heard someone else say, "Six o'clock has come and gone..." Then I got it.

A crazy thing happened on the way to the theatre...
As I was standing in line at TKTS this morning, you'll never believe what happened!! I was chatting with people around me and a couple heard me say that I am from Chicago. They are too. I asked where they live and they told me La Grange!!! Then the woman said that she has a pilates studio. Not only do I know it, I used to live directly across from it, plus the guys from my phys. therapy office all go there. It's a small, small world.

I made my way to Greenwich Village, walked down Bleeker Street (love Paul Simon), stopped at a street market, bought falafel, came back to the theatre district in time for the matinee of "MotherF**cker with the Hat." It stars Chris Rock and Booby Cannevale, who you may remember as Will's boyfriend in Will and Grace. Fabulous play but Rock's was the only signature I missed.

Later, when I was on 34th street near the Empire State Building "I was looking up..."
(If you don't get that reference watch An Affair to Remember or Sleepless in Seattle.)

Back to midtown to see if I could find tickets for a show tonight and lo and behold I got into Spiderman! They reworked it, shortened songs, cut scenes, added some and after closing for three weeks opened with a revamped and much better show. I didn't really have a strong desire to see it, but now that I have I will freely admit that I WAS BLOWN AWAY. From a technical standpoint it is not just something that's never been done before, but it is breathtaking. Everyone was a kid - the looks on faces as Spidey soared overhead - even up into and over the balcony - was pure pleasure. And the scene design... freeking cool!

Two funny lines in Spidey tonight. One, there is a moment when M.J. begs Peter not to work tonight - to just take off one night. Peter says, "But anything would happen, a bomb or the end of the world." After one beat, the audience got it and roared. The other unexpected laugh came from an audience member. When Peter missed M.J.'s opening night, her friend said, "He's not even that cute." Without missing a beat, someone yelled, "Oh, yes he is!"

And on that happy note, I'm off to bed.
Good night, sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite. (And that's a challenge in NYC!)

Judgement Day in New York City

Well, it's May 21, 2011 and it looks like God is willing to let us try a little longer to get this right.

As for me, I arrived in NYC yesterday. Rained most of the day, but the skies cleared in time for a great night on Broadway.

Went to the WTC, old St. Paul's church (just love that old graveyard - so "out of place" in the middle of the Financial district), made friends with New Yorkers, drank free Starbucks (wink, wink Terri), ate some fabulous crab-stuffed trout, met a distinguished (unfortunately homophobic) music director from Calgary at "How to Succeed in Business", got Dan Radcliff and John Larroquette's autographs (yea!), and took FABULOUS night-time architecture photos which I will post soon.

Back out to the streets!