NYC Trip

A different kind of NY trip for us this time, which was been terrific.

We went with 2 friends, one of whom is an under 10 kid. Me! In NYC with a kid? Some will wonder how this happened. Some will wonder if this will change my total lack of desire for children of my own. Some don't read my blog.  Isn't that the real shocker?

I'm not sure how it happened. No, it doesn't look like it will change any of my life goals.  Won't even move the needle, even though this kid was really great (and when that facade slipped, Mom was there to remove her from our presence before any explosions occurred).  That's probably why our perception is that she was awesomely behaved.

But back to NY. We had an amazing weather weekend. Got up to 60 degrees Saturday (Jan 7), but there is no such thing as climate change, right?

We arrived on Friday afternoon and immediately headed to see the tree in Rockefeller center.  It seemed smaller than in years past.  Until we realized it had to be 3 stories tall.  Guess it was a big tree after all.  Perhaps it was that we saw it in daylight, probably much more impressive at night, but it's cold at night and I'm sleepy and there are shows to see....It was fun to see The Kid see the tree for the first time.  She was not awed.  Not a bit.  But she was fascinated by the skating rink, which was fun to watch.

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So, I've been writing this for 5 weeks now.  We have a second NYC trip scheduled for the 1st weekend in March.  I've got to finish this.  Here are the play reviews:


"Seminar"

Starring Alan Rickman and Hamish Linklater with Jerry O'Connell. 

Anita hit sound sleep.  Never a good sign.  This was intended to be high-brow and cynical, but for me, it ended up being pretentious and mean-spirited.  At a loss for words?  Fine, have the two women in the play flash their boobs or ass.  Really?  Weak stuff here, though the performances were all good.

I knew we were in trouble when the first 5 minutes was continuous drivel about Kerouac's "On The Road."  Neither of us has read this book and though certainly I've read about it, I clearly don't have an opinion on it's value to society as a whole.  FYI, this did not inspire me to read it.

I think my brother & sister-in-law might like this play, as they are more intellectual than we are.  However, we didn't like it and I think most of the critics that did are doing the Emperor's new clothes are awesome kind of a thing.

Skip it, unless perhaps you think Kerouac is the second coming.  Note that I've really enjoyed David Mamet's plays which tend toward an intellectual cynicism (except his latest, "Race").  So, it's not that I'm anti-cynicism.  It just has to be funny or meaningful or SOMETHING.


Sunday we saw the new rendition of "Godspell."  It's theater in the round, which can be great.  It was great.  Great.  We had front row seats and each got to high-five Jesus during the show.  Cool.  At intermission, they invited everyone on stage for a grape juice communion.  The Kid loved it.  I always kind of forget that the last 10 minutes of this show are pretty intense.  Fortunately, (and this is the first time I've ever thought this) the Kid is being raised Catholic, so she wasn't shocked at Jesus being crucified.  I was.  It was a very emotional staging and I wept. 

Afterward, we hung out by the stage door and since the entire cast is filled with Broadway rookies, they came out and signed programs and stood for pictures as long as anyone wanted.  Very nice introduction to the Broadway stage for the Kid and lovely for the rest of us as well.

I highly recommend this version of "Godspell."

In March, we're going to see another year of the Broadway Backwards benefit where the Broadway love songs are sung in a same sex vein.  We hope to see 3 other shows while we're there, so I hope to bring you some more Broadway reviews in March.