A Rapscallion in New York ...
The past few days have been absolutely crazy, but am finally back in Bristol after my four-day New York adventure. For the first time in forever I'm going to spend more than three days in Bristol. And there are many chores to be done, things to be cleaned, DVR to watch and sleep to catch up on. I barely even watched the Red Sox win the World Series for the second time in four years - what the hell is going on in sports?!?! I caught some of the game Thursday at a bar that resembled someone's basement, most of the game Saturday, none of Sunday.
I spent Friday with Minda in the Park Slope area of Brooklyn, which I hadn't been to in a few years, so it was nice to hit up some of those places again. We hit up Brooklyn Industries, always full of urban-sophisticate clothes that are a wee bit overpriced. I found a coat that I liked, though. (If I ever moved to New York, chances are I'd give away most of my clothes and start new, given how many things I see there that I want to own.) We also trudged through the misty rain for lunch at British restaurant The Chip Shop, and checked out Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co..
Later that night I met up with my old college friend Lara, whom I hadn't seen in nearly four years. We caught up on everything, and it was so good to see her. (Definitely check out the Emerald Inn on Columbus if you're in the 60s.)
This time I stayed at the Empire Hotel, next to the Lincoln Center. It's a great location, and the hotel is rich in deco design - dark and atmospheric. Brown and gold color scheme throughout the place, with an awesome lounge full of big curtains and couches. The elevators full of mirrored walls with iron lattice work with rectangles of stained glass. The hallway wallpaper with design of trees. My room looked like a walking West Elm spread, or from a Esquire photo shoot - leather everything, big big bed with large panels of leather fixed to the wall as a headboard. The bathroom had a sliding clear door with a showerhead that let the water fall from the ceiling onto wooden boards. A corridor-sized giant mirror with a low set of leather-clad drawers that appeared built for more amorous purposes. And, a tiger chair that dares you to use it for more than sitting.
However, this was not my favorite hotel on these trips. The layout wasn't the best, with a wardrobe that they crammed a large safe and the mini-fridge into. The bathroom was pretty tight, with no place to hang towels, and my sink stopper wouldn't rise so I had to take it out so the sink didn't fill every time I used it. And the shower door fell off the slide track! And the cable went out, but not a big deal since I just watched "The Office" DVDs.
Saturday was very long, since I had to work three games from 10 a.m. until about 12:30 a.m., only to return to work a NASCAR race at noon the next day. I spent most of the time alone, and watching a billion games to run score alerts in a dark, musty basement. Saturday night I walked amid a long johns'wearing Wonder Woman, Kurt Cobain and other Halloween favorites on my way to a drink at the Empire's lounge.
But after desperately waiting for a NASCAR race to end, I had a surprise: my friend Minda had gotten us student rush tickets to "Spring Awakening." Overall it was entertaining and I liked it, and I see what all the fuss is about, but not great. Definitely eye-opening for your seasoned musical theatergoer, though. It's a rock concert with staging more than it is a musical.
Dislikes: I wish there were more songs that advanced the plot, and more fleshing out of the non-singing bits for character development - it felt like I was doing DVD scene selection through the story. I want to read the original play to compare. And the modern dance moves can go back to "So You Think You Can Dance?".
Likes: The cast was full of excellent voices, and the songs were very cool and melodic if not musical theater-ish. Plus there's a lot of sex and death (and brief nudity!), and you can't go wrong with those. The man who played all the adult men was my favorite, as was the kid who played Moritz. This show belongs to the boys - each one different, each one with their own quality that shines. For my first trip to Broadway in nine years (saw "Phantom" at the Majestic in 1998), this was worth it. I may do more Broadway stuff on my days off to come.
Monday it was back on the road ... and now I hope to do very little driving between now and next week. But who knows what'll happen when Thursday and Friday get here, and where they could take me. miashell and pinksbrat, I am thinking about going back to Northampton ...
I spent Friday with Minda in the Park Slope area of Brooklyn, which I hadn't been to in a few years, so it was nice to hit up some of those places again. We hit up Brooklyn Industries, always full of urban-sophisticate clothes that are a wee bit overpriced. I found a coat that I liked, though. (If I ever moved to New York, chances are I'd give away most of my clothes and start new, given how many things I see there that I want to own.) We also trudged through the misty rain for lunch at British restaurant The Chip Shop, and checked out Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co..
Later that night I met up with my old college friend Lara, whom I hadn't seen in nearly four years. We caught up on everything, and it was so good to see her. (Definitely check out the Emerald Inn on Columbus if you're in the 60s.)
This time I stayed at the Empire Hotel, next to the Lincoln Center. It's a great location, and the hotel is rich in deco design - dark and atmospheric. Brown and gold color scheme throughout the place, with an awesome lounge full of big curtains and couches. The elevators full of mirrored walls with iron lattice work with rectangles of stained glass. The hallway wallpaper with design of trees. My room looked like a walking West Elm spread, or from a Esquire photo shoot - leather everything, big big bed with large panels of leather fixed to the wall as a headboard. The bathroom had a sliding clear door with a showerhead that let the water fall from the ceiling onto wooden boards. A corridor-sized giant mirror with a low set of leather-clad drawers that appeared built for more amorous purposes. And, a tiger chair that dares you to use it for more than sitting.
However, this was not my favorite hotel on these trips. The layout wasn't the best, with a wardrobe that they crammed a large safe and the mini-fridge into. The bathroom was pretty tight, with no place to hang towels, and my sink stopper wouldn't rise so I had to take it out so the sink didn't fill every time I used it. And the shower door fell off the slide track! And the cable went out, but not a big deal since I just watched "The Office" DVDs.
Saturday was very long, since I had to work three games from 10 a.m. until about 12:30 a.m., only to return to work a NASCAR race at noon the next day. I spent most of the time alone, and watching a billion games to run score alerts in a dark, musty basement. Saturday night I walked amid a long johns'wearing Wonder Woman, Kurt Cobain and other Halloween favorites on my way to a drink at the Empire's lounge.
But after desperately waiting for a NASCAR race to end, I had a surprise: my friend Minda had gotten us student rush tickets to "Spring Awakening." Overall it was entertaining and I liked it, and I see what all the fuss is about, but not great. Definitely eye-opening for your seasoned musical theatergoer, though. It's a rock concert with staging more than it is a musical.
Dislikes: I wish there were more songs that advanced the plot, and more fleshing out of the non-singing bits for character development - it felt like I was doing DVD scene selection through the story. I want to read the original play to compare. And the modern dance moves can go back to "So You Think You Can Dance?".
Likes: The cast was full of excellent voices, and the songs were very cool and melodic if not musical theater-ish. Plus there's a lot of sex and death (and brief nudity!), and you can't go wrong with those. The man who played all the adult men was my favorite, as was the kid who played Moritz. This show belongs to the boys - each one different, each one with their own quality that shines. For my first trip to Broadway in nine years (saw "Phantom" at the Majestic in 1998), this was worth it. I may do more Broadway stuff on my days off to come.
Monday it was back on the road ... and now I hope to do very little driving between now and next week. But who knows what'll happen when Thursday and Friday get here, and where they could take me. miashell and pinksbrat, I am thinking about going back to Northampton ...