My sister, Linda, and I already had our tickets for a show, and our flight to New York, when I was told I was the recipient of the Raven Award. I don’t usually go to NY three times in six weeks. This trip was phenomenal, though.
We flew on American from Columbus, Ohio to New York. We had just a couple hours in our hotel room, grabbing a quick dinner, before we headed to the Nederlander Theatre. Billy Crystal was starring in Mr. Saturday Night, a new musical comedy. Of course, the highlight was Billy Crystal. I was curious about the music by Jason Robert Brown, but, honestly, there were no songs that were memorable. But, the cast! The entire cast was perfect. Randy Graff, a Tony And Drama Desk award winner and nominee, played his wife. You’d recognize David Paymer if you saw him. He appeared with Billy Crystal in “City Slickers”, and played his brother Stan in the movie “Mr. Saturday Night”. He played Stan in this version as well.. Shoshana Bean has been nominated for a Tony for her role as Crystal’s daughter, and Chasten Harmon was marvelous as a young woman who became his agent. And, you know what else? Billy Crystal took questions about the show from the audience afterwards. This show was so much fun.
On Friday, we did something we had never done before. We took a walking tour. Nick is an actor/waiter/tour guide who lives in New York. He went to school with Linda’s oldest son. He met us at our hotel. He’s just the nicest young man. We started out walking around Broadway as we all talked about Broadway shows, actors, and he told us some of the history of various theaters. As much as we love theater, this was so much fun. Then, we took the subway to Greenwich Village. He talked about the history of various buildings, and we stopped several times for snacks. I could just kick myself though. Nick was so interesting to listen to that I forgot to take pictures of the house that was a major station on the underground railroad and the nearby one where Louisa Mae Alcott lived with her uncle when she wrote Little Women. But, here are some pictures from our Greenwich Village walking tour.
We took the subway back to our hotel, and then Linda and I headed out for dinner. We intended to go to one Irish pub, the Mean Fiddler, but couldn’t get in so we ended up at our old favorite Hurley’s. A light dinner before heading to the show. Friday night was a new musical, Six, about the wives of Henry VIII. We both knew the history, but this is really a concert. It was a lot of fun with six terrific women playing the roles.
Saturday morning was gorgeous weather, sunny, in the 80s. And, when I went down to the lobby, I found there was a street fair right in front of our hotel! It actually went for about 6 or 8 blocks, with streets blocked off. We had so much fun, and had street food, empanadas, corn pancakes filled with mozzarella cheese, and smoothies for lunch. Linda also bought a couple gifts. Then, we headed to see a matinee, a comedy called POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive. It’s a political comedy, written by a young woman, directed by a woman, and it starred seven women. They were perfect in their roles, and it was hilarious. It was timely, and it won’t be popular long. It only has a twelve week run, but we enjoyed it.
More street food for dinner, then off to see Funny Girl. Yes, I saw it a couple weeks ago because I’m infatuated with Ramin Karimloo who plays Nicky Arnstein. I’ve seen him multiple times – even four times in Les Miserables. But, when I went the last time, it was a last minute decision, and I had a lousy seat. I said at the time that Beanie Feldstein who plays Fanny Brice was good, but not great, and her voice isn’t great. Oh, we had such wonderful luck on Saturday night! First, we had bought our tickets way back in November, so we had great seats – Orchestra, Row B, on the aisle. Then, Beanie’s standby, Julie Benko, played Fanny Brice. Julie is so much better than Beanie in the role. Much better voice, so much charisma! She was wonderful. And, I was close enough that I could see Ramin’s dimple. There’s one scene that opens the second half in which he wins money in Monte Carlo and throws the fake money into the audience. Linda grabbed one of the bills for me. The show and the audience were so much better this time around. I’m really glad I went twice to see both women play Fanny Brice.
Of course, Delta Airlines tried to ruin our trip, but we didn’t let them. I have no idea what the heck they were doing all weekend, but they canceled our Sunday morning flight on Saturday night, and “tried” to switch our flight to Monday. And, they were canceling flights all over the country – only Delta, though, so it was definitely not weather-related. The last time we were there, our flight was canceled, but everything for twelve hours at a minimum was canceled due to fog.
Oh, well. We didn’t let Delta stop us. We hired a car to take us to Newark Airport, and rented a car there. Linda drove 8 hours home to Ohio. So, we still got home on Sunday, despite Delta.
Someone said to us that we just aren’t supposed to go to New York. We said no. We’re just not supposed to fly Delta. Other than that, it was another wonderful trip to New York City. Just so much fun!
Good morning. I’m glad you enjoyed your trip despite Delta. Your descriptions of the street food makes me want an arepa now. I love the combination of sweet cornmeal and cheese but I guess I’ll have to wait for the summer street fairs.
I don’t blame you one bit, Sandy. It was my favorite!
Glad you had such a good time and glad you got to see the understudy! Yeah, those airlines just don’t care any more and don’t even bother to pretend. We’re looking forward to POTUS next.
Jeff, I’m so glad we got to see the standby as well! My sister liked POTUS so much that she’s talked a couple of her family members into taking the train up to see it.
Loved hearing about your trip. Glad everything worked out for you.
Thank you, Donna!
You missed some really wonderful statues in Washington Square Park. They have stories to go with each of them. Back in the late 60’s and early 70’s the park rocked all weekend with musicians coming to the park and either forming impromptu groups or just finding a spot to play for the crowds.
Nick told us about all the musicians in the park. He would have had a hard time introducing us to the statues. The park was packed with NYU graduates and their families that day.
It’s so much fun to listen to the enthusiasm in your writing Lesa. Clearly you had a fabulous time. I’m so happy for you that you finally got to Broadway again! And surrounding areas as well. A walking tour with a guide would be so valuable, since there is abundant history in NYC and Greenwich Village. I’ve been there, years ago, but had no idea what was important. Street fairs can be so much fun, so I can only imagine one outside your door. How nice to replace all the traffic with street vendors! Broadway shows galore, your descriptions brought them to life. Thanks for sharing your trip!
Thank you, Sandie. I think it’s obvious that I love New York City, Broadway, and my trips there. It’s fun to share the stories with others so I even have a written memory. Thank you for listening!
Yes, Washington Square used to be the “loose joints” capital of NYC, back in the day. Now you can go to a truck or store in Times Square!
There are still a few places in Greenwich Village from the old days. My cousin used to buy drugs there and I was always afraid he’d get arrested. They did clean it and Union Square up. I knew the Stonewall was still there even before seeing the pictures. Bigelow Pharmacy on Sixth Avenue is another. The old Jefferson Market is a library now. (I used to go therre when I worked in the Village 50 years ago, but it was inundated by sleeping homeless guys.) Glad you got to see some places and hear the stories.
You could still smell the weed all over Washington Square, Jeff.
It was so much fun to see some of the places, and Nick knew a lot of stories!
It’s always so much fun to read about your trips to NYC and enjoy your excitement. ❤
Thank you, Kaye! I love NY!
That sounds like a wonderful trip, Lesa. The tour sounded good too. I am not much of a traveler but I like hearing about the shows you saw.
I love David Paymer. He was in State and Main and The American President (with Michael Douglas and Annette Bening). Also in Get Shorty (with John Travolta). I would love to see him in a show. And much more.
I did have a wonderful trip, Tracy. And, I love live theater because I do get to see those people in person on the stage.
I just attended Thrillerfest for Pitchfest in NYC and I reserved all my evenings for shows—I took all your suggestions! I loved The Play That Goes Wrong the most. Saw a matinee of the star-studded POTUS. Saw Six. Caught Cone From Away right before it closed. Great recs!
Oh, that’s fabulous, Becky. I’m glad you got to see Come From Away before it closed. That show and cast is wonderful. I’m so glad you enjoyed the shows!