I think that besides going through significant withdrawal once we leave New York City and head home to Mesa, I will have a similar feeling from not having a periodic outlet like my New York City emails. For now, I am going to make the most of the few emails I have left.
Sunday morning was the opportunity to take the kids to a real, Jewish Deli, the Carnegie Deli. The food on the table was impressive for the five of us and included two Woody Allen Sandwiches (Corned Beef and Pastrami), a corned beef sandwich, a tuna fish sandwich, 3 potato latkes, 1 potato knish, 1 bowl of chicken soup with matzo balls and french fries. Suffice it to say that we all had plenty of leftovers. We went back to the apartment for Eric and Lindsey to pack and then bade them farewell. The five days went by so quickly and having all five of us together for the period was the highlight of our trip to New York City. Felice and I did some straightening up including deflating the blow up bed and cleaning the bedding and then took a one hour walk in Central Park. I don't think that walking for 5 hours would have made a dent in all the calories I had today at the Carnegie Deli and I only ate half the sandwich. The law of diminishing marginal returns is a real economic law and after our 3rd trip to the Carnegie Deli, I think I have the urge for corned beef and pastrami out of my system for quite a while. Felice and I did a little grocery shopping and had a relatively small dinner of leftovers. We are trying to figure out what we should do for the next few days and are a bit perplexed as we have gone almost everywhere we planned. Perhaps we will wake up with a brainstorm. Today we walked a mere 4 1/3 miles.
Monday, our 34th wedding anniversary, is so special to us as we got to spend it together just being with one another. After breakfast and relaxation, we readied ourselves for the rest of the day. That was at about 2:00. After watching a little television we went out to Central Park, but chose not to walk because it was about 80 degrees and 70 percent humidity. Not the best combination for us desert dwellers. We packed up all of the bedding, inflatable bed and stuff and went to Lauren's apartment. Someone up there (at the MTA, not God) must have known it was our anniversary because even though the trains were on a weekend schedule, and confusing as all hell, we had an easy trip. We were lugging a 30 pound piece of luggage with the things for Lauren, but the first train arrived quickly, and we were able to take an elevator up to the next platform and jump on the 2nd train just as it was leaving and the third train was waiting when we got to it. We went to Lauren's and then to Thai food at Tuk Tuk. It was very good and we even had leftovers. After going back to Lauren's to get our empty luggage we said goodbye to Ella and gave Lauren a conditional goodbye as we may still see her before we leave and headed back to retrace our subway steps. Well, it turned out that we were able to get right on the 2nd train, but it didn't stop where we planned so we weren't able to transfer to the third train. We took the 2nd train right to 96th Street and jumped on a crosstown bus. We got home even quicker and easier than our outbound trip. Again, someone was looking out for us on this fine day. 'We walked a total of 3 miles today and spent the evening planning the last three days of our trip to pick up the loose ends we have left.
We have been asked by a few people which of the shows that we saw would we recommend and have done so below. Note that they are broken out based on musical and straight plays with comments next to each of them.
Musicals
Highly Recommended
The Book of Mormon It is rollicking and crude and is to Broadway now what The Producers was then. We heartily recommend it, but the ticket price is steep and it is hard to get a ticket.
Jersey Boys In the words of the Fours Seasons' song, "Oh What a Night!" We loved the show and believe that it should be seen preferably with the Broadway cast, but regardless it should be seen.
Jesus Christ Superstar This is the best production of JCS. It should not be missed as we saw it twice and would see it again. The staging was phenomenal as was the sound.
Anything Goes This is an old time Broadway musical with dancing and everything. A little dated, but still a lot of fun. It would be fun to go to if you have time.
Fat Camp This is Off Broadway and is very cute for a fun evening.
Mildly Recommended
Newsies The dancing was spectacular and the show exciting, even though the material was a little weak and the leads not as strong as they could have been in singing or acting, Typical Disney show with a built in audience that will probably run for years, but frankly was a very expensive ticket for what we saw.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying This was a great show that has not aged as well as it could and Beau Bridges looks like he needed a job and that is the only reason he is in it. I am glad I saw it, but glad we were able to get discount tickets.
Now. Here. This. This is a thought provoking show from the the creators of [title of show]. It was a good value for the ticket price, but it probably won't be around long as it appears to be searching for an audience.
Not Recommended
Leap of Faith There is no need to jump for this one and I would think it won't be around long. Raul Esparza is a great talent, but the material just doesn't work and the music is not different enough to make it interesting.
Straight Plays
Highly Recommended
Clybourne Park This is a sequel to Raisin in the Sun and is focused on race relations. It had been adapted from a Pulitzer Prize winning book and it is very well handled.
Mildly Recommended
Peter and the Starcatcher I am probably out of touch with most of the folks that have seen it and it will likely win a few Tony's, but for me was a little too silly in its staging. That being said, it is an enjoyable prequel to Peter Pan, but just be ready to suspend all disbelief.
Lonely I'm Not This was an interesting concept that is well staged and is touching yet funny. The local critics found things to complain about, but if you are able to buy a reasonably priced ticket, it is worthwhile.
Seminar This is a little crass with too much done for shock value, like at one point the female lead pulled her blouse off in an effort to shock one of the actors, but it was really gratuitous. Jeff Goldblum was very good in the lead, but it didn't move quickly enough and was a bit too pretentious for my liking.
Not Recommended
Don't Dress for Dinner This is the prototypical British farce. No need to dress for (or go to) this one as it is just silly and for a show where the dialog and action is fast moving, the show was very slow.
Magic Bird This character study of the relationship of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird just didn't go deep enough into the relationship between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird to make it that interesting. Females who are not knowledgeable about sports or even Magic and Bird, will be bored out of their minds.
Of course I would not take my word for it and encourage you to go to the New York Times Online as it has excellent reviews. You may not be able to access them online without a subscription, but you can buy a 30-day online subscription for 99 cents and just remember to cancel it. Even if you cancel it, they will try to keep you as a subscriber and will offer another 30 days for 99 cents. I am not sure how many times they will do that, but likely long enough for anyone who wants to learn what the expert critics have to say.
Bye bye for now from the Big Apple.
Gary and Felice
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