long needed update
It's been forever since I've posted on here. Just a few things for an update.
Like us all, I'm getting older, balder, grayer(on what hair is left), fatter and my arthritis is getting worse. Well, that's the medical update.
Just got back today from a mostly wonderful weekend in the Big Apple(AKA New York City). Went up for a theater weekend and my buddy Scott, who I haven't seen in seven years) flew up from Florida to attend shows with me. He actually beat me to the hotel from the airport. Anyway, stayed at the Millenium Broadway, on West 44th St, just off Broadway. Nice hotel, friendly staff and nice rooms. Very convenient to the hustle and bustle of Times Square. Now for the bad part....the weather on Saturday was absolutely foul!!!! On Friday, it was cloudy and starting to get cold out. Scott and I went to see the brilliant new production of Follies at the Marquis Theater, almost across the street from the hotel. Bernadette Peters, Jan Maxwell, Ron Raines and Danny Burstein were all great in their roles. Highlight performances from the supporting cast were the great Terri White belting and tapping her way through Who's That Woman?Mirror, Mirror with high energy and a terrific voice. The other highlight was Jayne Houdyshell's rendition of Broadway Baby. It's a gem. I also got to meet these two terrific ladies in the lobby after the show, collecting money for Broadway Cares.
Saturday morning, when I peeked out the window, the rain had started. And it didn't let up all day, except when it changed to snow or sleet. Scott and I walked up to the TKTS booth and got orchestra tickets for Mary Poppins. For some reason that show just kept popping into my head as one I wanted to see. The seats were great. The show was very entertaining and once you forgot the movie, it was a lot of fun. It keeps the songs and basic plot of the film, but goes back more to the books for it's plot line. The young lady playing Mary is a major talent. Beautiful, sings great and taps like mad during Step in Time, almost outdoing the dancers in the show. And her exit at the end is spectacular. Gorgeous sets and costumes make this an entertaining show for all.
Now, after Mary Poppins we were walking back to the TKTS booth to see what we could get for Saturday night, and I told Scott to just go and get something, I didn't really care what and headed back to the hotel to dry out and warm up. He came back with tickets to Sister Act. If you ever get the chance to go to this show, do it!!!! It's a delight from start to finish with great vocals and it's very funny. I was so glad that Scott chose this one, because I would probably never have gone to see it on my own. It was one of the best evenings I've spent in the theater for a long time. The gals playing Delores and the Mother Superior were understudies, but they were wonderful. And the finale with the choir in their sequined habits and the disco ball statue of Mary in the background were a hoot. The pope even made an appearance from the orchestra pit very briefly. Just delightfully funny and fun.
After the shows on Friday and Saturday nights, we did late dinners. Friday night was Planet Hollywood, with all it's memorabilia and kitsch. Last night was Applebees, and we had the cutest waiter. Was ready to make him dessert. Saturday afternoon we went to Bubba Gump's Shrimp on Broadway for lunch and it was wonderful. I about died when the mud pie I ordered for dessert came and it was about 6" tall and a good 6-8" across. I gave it the old college try, but had to leave over half of it on my plate. It was delicious, though. All in all, it was a good weekend. Just that foul weather on Saturday. It rained, changed to snow, changed back to rain, back to snow....after the matinee it had changed to sleet, then back to rain, back to snow and on and on and on. And, of course, today was beautiful, except for being cold. Got back here to Charleston and there was not a drop of snow to be seen.
This was my first trip to NYC in over 10 years. A lot of the Times Square area has changed a bit, with new businesses, some new buildings that were only holes in the ground when I was last there. Foot traffic was lousy and automobile traffic was even worse. Took us almost two hours to get from LaGuardia to the hotel on Friday afternoon. But then, I do excuse it for being a Friday and us hitting New York at rush hour. Not the best planning on my part, but I survived it. Anyway, I certainly enjoyed the weekend, even if I did about either drown in the rain, or freeze my butt off in the snow.
Like us all, I'm getting older, balder, grayer(on what hair is left), fatter and my arthritis is getting worse. Well, that's the medical update.
Just got back today from a mostly wonderful weekend in the Big Apple(AKA New York City). Went up for a theater weekend and my buddy Scott, who I haven't seen in seven years) flew up from Florida to attend shows with me. He actually beat me to the hotel from the airport. Anyway, stayed at the Millenium Broadway, on West 44th St, just off Broadway. Nice hotel, friendly staff and nice rooms. Very convenient to the hustle and bustle of Times Square. Now for the bad part....the weather on Saturday was absolutely foul!!!! On Friday, it was cloudy and starting to get cold out. Scott and I went to see the brilliant new production of Follies at the Marquis Theater, almost across the street from the hotel. Bernadette Peters, Jan Maxwell, Ron Raines and Danny Burstein were all great in their roles. Highlight performances from the supporting cast were the great Terri White belting and tapping her way through Who's That Woman?Mirror, Mirror with high energy and a terrific voice. The other highlight was Jayne Houdyshell's rendition of Broadway Baby. It's a gem. I also got to meet these two terrific ladies in the lobby after the show, collecting money for Broadway Cares.
Saturday morning, when I peeked out the window, the rain had started. And it didn't let up all day, except when it changed to snow or sleet. Scott and I walked up to the TKTS booth and got orchestra tickets for Mary Poppins. For some reason that show just kept popping into my head as one I wanted to see. The seats were great. The show was very entertaining and once you forgot the movie, it was a lot of fun. It keeps the songs and basic plot of the film, but goes back more to the books for it's plot line. The young lady playing Mary is a major talent. Beautiful, sings great and taps like mad during Step in Time, almost outdoing the dancers in the show. And her exit at the end is spectacular. Gorgeous sets and costumes make this an entertaining show for all.
Now, after Mary Poppins we were walking back to the TKTS booth to see what we could get for Saturday night, and I told Scott to just go and get something, I didn't really care what and headed back to the hotel to dry out and warm up. He came back with tickets to Sister Act. If you ever get the chance to go to this show, do it!!!! It's a delight from start to finish with great vocals and it's very funny. I was so glad that Scott chose this one, because I would probably never have gone to see it on my own. It was one of the best evenings I've spent in the theater for a long time. The gals playing Delores and the Mother Superior were understudies, but they were wonderful. And the finale with the choir in their sequined habits and the disco ball statue of Mary in the background were a hoot. The pope even made an appearance from the orchestra pit very briefly. Just delightfully funny and fun.
After the shows on Friday and Saturday nights, we did late dinners. Friday night was Planet Hollywood, with all it's memorabilia and kitsch. Last night was Applebees, and we had the cutest waiter. Was ready to make him dessert. Saturday afternoon we went to Bubba Gump's Shrimp on Broadway for lunch and it was wonderful. I about died when the mud pie I ordered for dessert came and it was about 6" tall and a good 6-8" across. I gave it the old college try, but had to leave over half of it on my plate. It was delicious, though. All in all, it was a good weekend. Just that foul weather on Saturday. It rained, changed to snow, changed back to rain, back to snow....after the matinee it had changed to sleet, then back to rain, back to snow and on and on and on. And, of course, today was beautiful, except for being cold. Got back here to Charleston and there was not a drop of snow to be seen.
This was my first trip to NYC in over 10 years. A lot of the Times Square area has changed a bit, with new businesses, some new buildings that were only holes in the ground when I was last there. Foot traffic was lousy and automobile traffic was even worse. Took us almost two hours to get from LaGuardia to the hotel on Friday afternoon. But then, I do excuse it for being a Friday and us hitting New York at rush hour. Not the best planning on my part, but I survived it. Anyway, I certainly enjoyed the weekend, even if I did about either drown in the rain, or freeze my butt off in the snow.