April 14, 2024

Dateline Manhattan –

Sorry there was no update yesterday. I came back in after a double show day and just didn’t feel like writing anything so this will cover yesterday and today. Both days were pretty much about attending theater as that was the point of the weekend getaway. I’ve had other New York trips with other goals but this one was mostly about butt in seat at Broadway theater taking in some of the newer shows. After a couple of trips in the last few months, I’m starting to get caught up but there are a few of the long runs that I’m still missing like Moulin Rouge! and Six.

Saturday morning, I headed off on my own for a few hours. First stop was brunch with David Pohler catching up on life and things theatrical in the city. He then headed off to his tech rehearsal and I headed out. The weather was vile so a walk in the park was off the table so I turned my ramble into a walk through Macy’s Herald Square. I hadn’t been in for a few years. It hasn’t changed all that much other than, like in every other department store that remains open, it has become harder and harder to actually find a sales associate when you’ve made your selection. I bought myself a sage green linen blazer that was marked down about 70%, I don’t change size that much so I have a wardrobe that stretches back over decades, despite a lot of culling over the years. I therefore don’t have to buy a whole lot of new clothes these days. There’s enough in there for me to put on a new outfit everyday for at least six months (although I would run out of underwear).

I then met Patti at the Schoenfeld theater where we saw the matinee of the new musical version of The Notebook. I’ve never read the book (or anything else of Nicholas Sparks;’ – not interested) and have never seen the film. I did have a basic idea of the plot however as it’s one of those ubiquitous pieces of pop culture referenced by those of a certain age. The show has an excellent cast, is well designed and directed, relishes in its sentiments, and is undone by a ho-hum score. There’s not a song in it that sticks more than three minutes after it’s finished. I can see several of the leads garnering Tony nominations (especially Maryann Plunkett and Dorian Harewood) and it taking home direction and design nominations as well. And there’s a lovely use of water effects and an Act II rainstorm on stage that elevates the material.

Of course, the show with its themes of aging and love and loss, speaks to me given both my professional life and also my personal one. I know what it means to lose a partner in life – and I could very much read my parents story into the modern day sequences. I will admit I cried several times. It’s one of those shows that requires tissues. I just wish it had had a better score. If it had a Richard Rodgers or a Frederick Loewe writing the score, it would likely have left me a weepy mess as I usually am at the end of Carousel. Whoever put it together doesn’t follow theatrical superstition. It has a cast of thirteen.

Between shows, Patti and I got together with Ginny Stahlman Crooks and Stephen Crooks Felis for Mexican food and beer. More conversations regarding theater, reminiscences of Birmingham days, and thoughts about future travel plans together as part of the infamous Alabama Seven. (There is talk of Paris as a group in a year or so). Then, they headed off to Kimberly Akimbo while Patti and I headed to the revival of The Who’s Tommy at The Nederlander theater. I had seen the 1990s production that Des McAnuff directed back in the day. I remember sitting next to Steve as the lights went down and the electric guitars started up at top volume and his turning to me with a big grin saying ;’Oh this is going to be different’. We both loved it. This new production, with McAnuff again in the director’s chair, takes a somewhat different approach to the material than the last, especially in terms of the visual design with has a very stark black and white feel, only using color for certain elements or to enhance mood. It’s different but it works. The young man in the title role is a sensation, abetted by a large cast constantly in motion in an incredibly cinematic staging that must have taken weeks of rehearsal to perfect between performers and moving set pieces and lighting effects and onstage camera work.

This morning, we had a leisurely breakfast before heading uptown to church at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church on the Upper East Side. Old UU friend Lois Gaeta, having relocated to NYC, is now attending regularly so Patti and I joined her for service and then for lunch after together with a couple of her church friends, Miles Chapin and Julie Brannan. I have known who Miles is for many decades as he played a small, but crucial role in the film version of Hair back in the late 70s and that film was definitely one of the cultural touchstones of my late teens. How interesting to have a meal with him nearly half a century later. (Theater folk will likely know of his brother Ted, as well.)

Our matinee was the new musical version of Like Water for Elephants starring Grant Gustin of “The Flash’ fame. I liked the show but can’t say I truly loved anything about it. There’s nothing seriously wrong with it, it just doesn’t grab you in any particular way. The circus staging with a half dozen acrobats mixed into the ensemble is great but the physical production is otherwise a bit on the cheap and I was quite disappointed in the animal puppetry. I guess I have been spoiled by the likes of War Horse and Life of Pi. Performances are good, but nothing is a standout, not even Gregg Edelman as the older version of the protagonist. Again, as in The Notebook, we’re doing a memory play although the storytelling is a bit less clear with this one with our older narrator bopping from present to past through some very uneasy transitions.

And that completes the theater portion of the long weekend. We fly home tomorrow, however, as the flight isn’t until after two, we’re going to go to the Museum of Broadway in the morning before packing and heading to Laguardia. I may or may not bop back in with an update tomorrow. And so, with the sun disappearing behind the buildings of Hudson Yards, we bit farewell to New York. Tune in next month when our destination is Seattle.