Areas of Unrest

3 June 2007 - Give My Regards to Broadway

First, I will probably not be updating for the next couple of weeks.

The celebrity death department needs to mention Charles Nelson Reilly. While he was probably best known as a game show celebrity, I prefer to think of him as a Broadway star. In addition to roles in major musicals such as "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" and "Hello, Dolly," I will always remember him as the devil in Neil Simon's "G-d's Acre," which was a modern day suburban version of the story of Job.

Another death I want to mention, though not of someone nearly as well known, is that of Jim Klima. Jim's travelogues were a great help to me when planning my mid-life crisis adventures in Africa, as well as a general source of pleasure to read.

The work week was reasonably routine, with the only event of note being a successful trip to the Russian consulate to pick up my visa. I'd heard horrible stories about dealing with them, but both visits (to drop off the forms and pick up the visa) were pleasant and efficient. Frankly, the biggest hassle was just the time to get over there, since it's a tedious bus ride from the metro. I do like that the bus stops are announced (and displayed on an electronic board at the front of the bus) - something I've only seen previously in Japan.

As for the weekend, I went up to New York to take my mother on her annual theatre outing. We went to see the Roundabout Theatre production of "110 in the Shade," which I'd talked her into largely because John Cullum is in it. Before the show, we did some shopping and she was thrilled to find some pants that fit at K-mart. She also insisted we go to Macy's to pick up free Jockey for Her underwear. We had lunch at Ben's, which led to her deciding we needed to take the left-over pickles and my having to schlep them all over Manhattan all day. I'm not convinced that pickling is all that effective a method of food preservation and it was a hot day, so I wasn't about to eat them myself, frankly.

As for the show, it was very entertaining. Audra McDonald played Lizzie very effectively. She has a great voice, but what really matters is the emotion behind it. The story is predictable and old-fashioned (and, alas, sexist), but it's all sweet and pleasant enough. The real discovery of the show was Carla Duren as Snookie, who was just perfect for the role and whose performance of "Little Red Hat" (with Bobby Steggert as Jimmy) was a real scene stealer. She's got a great career ahead of her. I should also mention the non-traditional (i.e. color blind) casting. The most interesting aspect of that is that none of the reviews I saw even made an issue of it. So, perhaps, musical theatre has reached the modern era with respect to race.

After the show, we walked up to Lincoln Center, stopping to look at the bizarre and newish Hearst Corporation building at 57th and 8th. I hadn't realized that Mom hadn't been up past the theatre district in years, so she had lots of comments on how it was all changed.. The purpose of the excursion was the American Crafts Festival at Lincoln Center. I saw a few things I liked, but nothing I felt the need to carry home. I'd hoped to find some interesting jewelry, but saw just a few pieces to my taste. Mom was getting tired and kvetchier than usual by then, so we walked back to Penn Station. Of course, she decided to deal with the growing crowds on 8th Avenue by cutting down 45th Street to Broadway, putting us right in the midst of roughly a third of the population of the entire planet for a few blocks.

Back in Island Park, I satisfied my other New York food need with pizza from DaVinci's. Today's venture was to go over to Kitty Cove and play with the kittens. There was one energetic grey and white boy that I would have loved to take home with me, but it really isn't very feasible right now.

I can't say I really did much of anything else during the trip, other than be driven crazy. I really need to remember to pack earplugs when I go up to my mother's. Between the volume she plays the television at and the general noisiness of her house (train whistles twice every hour all night, traffice noise, loud neighbors), I was sure my ears were going to start bleeding. Add in the mattress that hasn't been replaced since I was in junior high and I got way too little sleep all weekend. While I did nap a bit on the train home, I'm still going to head off now and remedy some of the deficiency.

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