Xanadu

Xanadu is an un-apologetically over-the-top show that's goal is to entertain.

And it succeeds!


My former student and all-around special girl Caitlin was visiting the city this week, so we got together to catch up. At TKTS, we scored third row tickets! Then, we went to Starbuck's. (I don't feel like my tall chai frappuccino is so bad for Max now that I know it only has 45 mg of caffeine.)

Then, I took her to Ellen's Stardust Diner because it's the perfect location for theater lovers because the waiters sing and dance. Imagine the diner in Pulp Fiction where the actors dance. The diner was having some sort of Elvis celebration there with a couple of singing Elvises. So, of course, we ordered the peanut butter, banana, and jelly sandwich. Yum.

My friend Colleen promised me that I would love Xanadu because it was so absurd and self-effacing. She was right. When I learned Whoopi Goldberg was in it for a month I really wanted to see it.

Below is Kerry Butler, the star of the show.
If you look hard, you can see Whoopi on the left and Cheyenne Jackson, the male lead, signing autographs. Whoopi was very gracious.
It is a silly diversion that only lasts 90 minutes! Pegasus resembles a carousel horse. Actors wear roller skates, leg warmers, spandex under shorts, as well as garb of ancient Greeks. Plus, 2 of the 9 muses are played by guys. Curtis Holbrook was one of these sisters, and he was so funny I had to make myself stop watching only him.

Obviously, Xanadu doesn't take itself seriously. Which makes it work. Unlike other shows on Broadway, you're so busy laughing that you never have the urge to look at your watch.

Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps

My mom's birthday was last Monday. She arrived here on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I took her into the city to celebrate her birthday.
We watched The 39 Steps, which is rife with verbal and visual allusions to Alfred Hitchcock's movies. Just as he made an appearance in all of his films, his silhouette even slipped into the play. I knew it would be good, but I hadn't anticipated how funny it would be. The actor's capacity for physical comedy was impressive. Three men and one woman performed a large cast of character. In one scene five characters had a conversation played by only two men. One of the guys had a hat on his head and a hat in each hand that he switched for each persona. Hilarious.

Note if you're planning a trip to NYC: It's hard to know Broadway performances some men will like, but this one can be enjoyed by even the most theater-reluctant.
Before the show we ate at our favorite restaurant Langan's. I ordered the Maryland crabcakes and she ordered the porkchops. We split them and they were divine. After the show we stopped by Maxi's (I think that's the name of it) for dessert--crepes--before getting on the train. I hope she enjoyed her birthday treat as much as I did!

Our Perfect Day

Yesterday was one of the reasons we moved here. It was one of our favorite days that we ever spent in New York City.

The day began in an exciting way as we watched in awe as Max moved around in my belly. We saw him shake me like an earthquake. At one point, he rolled over and we saw his rump then his shoulder slide along my tummy. Then again, we don't know exactly which parts they were, but I felt a definite kinship with the movie Alien.

We rode the train and arrived in time to catch lunch before the show. We went to Langan's, one of our favorite restaurants in the city. Not only is the food tasty, but also the waitresses speak with a charming Irish lilt. Both entice us into returning after all these years. We were in a bit of a time crunch, so we each ordered something less fancy than we usually do. Garrett enjoyed crab cakes while I had a traditional fish and chips. The best thing we've ever had there, though, was fish (snapper?) with carmelized cabbage. Yummy.

For my birthday, Garrett bought us tickets to see November. It's a political spoof on a presidential election. Nathan Lane plays an ultra-conservative president. See... it's funny already, isn't it? Laurie Metcalf is nominated for a Tony for her performance. Dylan Baker, Michael Nichols, and Ethan Phillips shared the stage to create a funny show. After having the picture taken above, we saw Metcalf signing autographs. We had incredible seats and were impressed with the beauty of the Barrymore theatre. It was built in 1928 and holds the glamour of the time. Afterward, we dropped by Starbuck's and spent a few hours in Central Park. From a bench, we watched the people, squirrels, and giant pigeons. We walked a bit before sitting on a rock to watch the children play in the enormous playground. Then we stood in line for the porto-potties--THAT's an experience I never want to repeat. Afterward, we watched a baseball game where the Randy's were kicking Los Cocos' butts, and the latter's catcher, Diablitos, was not a happy camper. Eventually, we moved to another bench and watched the cyclists and carriages and skateboarders.

We wandered to a nearby mall at Columbus Circle. Garrett said the building is where CNN tapes each morning. I was thrilled because they had an Aveda shop and I was able to purchase Rosemary and Mint shampoo and conditioner. I love the smell of that stuff!

Throughout the day, we popped into wine shops to ask them if they carried any non-alcoholic wine. I'd just seen an article about several brands. Really, the only craving I have during pregnancy is for a good red wine. The article seemed fortuitous. Sadly, most of the workers greeted my question with a look implying I was a silly girl who should just go find some grape juice.

We then took a bumpy cab ride to Little Italy. It seems that they have a lot of festivals there in the summer, and we were not disappointed. We ate at Novella's and I still get happy when I think of how tasty it was. We dined alfresco, so we had a good view of everyone at the festival. We also were easy access for the nun who was collecting for St. Anthony. She made her rounds to all the diners. Maybe that was the purpose of the festival??? The tour busses rolled by on a regular basis, and Garrett smiled for the cameras. There were so many flashes, it was like a red carpet shindig. I think Garrett likes the idea of being in so many photo albums. We realized that we'd enjoyed our time past meeting the train, so we made our way to Port Authority Bus Terminal. We'd never caught the bus from NYC to NJ--and it was not easy! When I was almost in tears and had totally given up, Garrett pressed on. Eventually, the guide I'd printed off the internet gave us enough information to find our way. Believe me, we would have asked for help, but the information booths were closed with signs directing us to the other closed information booths.

When we got off the bus, we dodged a few raindrops. Once under the safety of our stoop, the skies unleashed the rain.

It was a good day.

Wednesday, May 14--23 weeks!

I took the bus into the city today to see my friend Stephanie and a show. The beautiful day and fun activities made up for the beginning of the journey. The smells of the perfume in the magazine I was reading and the guy sitting beside me combined with the stop and start motion of the bus to make me wonder if I would have to use my purse as a barf bag. Nausea, be gone!

Once in the city, though, it was a perfect and gorgeous day. We ate lunch alfresco at a little French restaurant. Then we went to a show called Perfect Crime. It's the longest running drama in Broadway history. According to the program, Catherine Russell, the lead, has missed only four shows in 20 years. (We speculated that she must be either one dedicated or incredibly lonely woman.) The show was a good mystery. Max and I didn't exactly like the gunshots much--he jumped around a lot! The men in the show were all impressive. The show is at the tiny Snapple Theatre. It's a cozy, and worthwhile experience.

After the play we went to a bridal boutique. Stephanie is marrying a super-nice guy on 8-8-08 in Paris. Unfortunately, we won't be able to attend because it's only a month from our due date. Still, it was fun to get to help her with her wedding dress. It was one of those afternoons that made me thankful we moved here.

While at the boutique, we observed a bride-to-be having a horrific problem with sizing a dress for her August wedding. Apparently, she'd selected a mermaid style gown several months before. At some point during the engagement she got pregnant. She's currently three months along and one of her breasts alone equaled the size of my belly. She was huge. They were trying to find a different gown and order it in the right size to fit her. None of her friends or family could go with her that day, so Stephanie and I befriended her. My heart hurt for the girl. She was such a sweet thing. Getting married and having a baby should be joyous occasions. I feel so bad for her that the two are getting crammed together with one tainting the pleasure of the other. I hope she has a lovely day.

As for me, I was officially 23 weeks that day. The people at the bridal shop didn't even notice I was pregnant until it came out in conversation. I guess they thought I was just built funny. Hmmm. I'm not really sure how to take that.

February 24

My mom and I watched the Broadway production of August: Osage County. The guys went to the Natural History Museum, which they said is nothing like Ben Stiller's movie At the Museum.

The first act was especially good. I thought it seemed to have elements of Steel Magnolias and Terms of Endearment. Tracy Letts created a believably kooky family--even if a certain subplot was a little icky. As the play continued for three acts I wondered if the theater was trying to add to the setting of an Oklahoma August by smothering us. I think I'd seen a show in that theater before and remembered a leaky roof that did not help the fact that it was frigid.

One of the reasons we'd wanted to see the play was because the playwright was the son of Oklahoma's own Billi Letts, who wrote Where the Heart Is (you know, the Oprah book that became a movie and was about the girl who had a baby at Wal Mart). Letts has such a knack with creating characters, we wanted to see if her talent rubbed off on her son. We met her at HAWK's Heartland writing workshop last summer, and she glowed with pride as she spoke of her son's play. Below is a picture of some of my writing pals with the author:

The show was a family affair. Her husband Dennis Letts played the father. His monologue opened the show. We were disappointed to see that someone was filling in for him. When Mama returned home she explained why the actor missed the show. After reading local Oklahoma papers, she learned he'd died that Friday--two days before the performance. My heart goes out to their family in their loss. I've heard her speak a couple of times, and she seems like a sincere person whose pride and love for her family are evident.