Tony's Week- Day Two, Part One

From Ann:
Yesterday started with a yummy FREE breakfast (compliments of our Hilton credit card) at Pigalli's. I love that the staff knows us and Jose - our favorite waiter- treats us royally. We went from there to MOMA for a little shopping before our matinee.

Seeing two shows in one day is the CB norm on a Wednesday. Some people are amazed that we can see so many shows in so little time, but it is ABSOLUTELY not an issue for the girls! We wanted to attend the Wednesday night performance of Hamlet in Central Park, but getting tickets was a whole new experience for us, and, since we were seeing a matinee, standing in the line was a problem. Our pal Casey gave us lots of advise about the best way to get tickets, and we both registered early in the morning on their Public Theater's new virtual line. When we checked after 1:00, I had been awarded two tickets! Getting the tickets online was great because otherwise we would have had to stand in the standby ticket line for a couple of hours before the show hoping people wouldn't show it. Wonderful things seem to happen to us in this city . . .

We saw Gypsy thanks to Danny Fleckman's generosity and HE GETS A HUGE CB THANK YOU!! The seats were absolutely perfect--in the mezzanine and a perfect viewing spot for this great revival of a legendary Broadway show. We had seen the show last July in the Encore series, and the cast has remained intact for the move to Broadway. Patti LuPone plays Mama Rose, and she is something to behold. She is like watching a tornado up close. S he belts out the tunes with every ounce of energy she possesses- there is nothing subtle about Patti! She brings down the house, and I just love watching and listening to her. Boyd Gaines plays Herbie, and the show stopper, in my view, is Laura Beneti who plays Gypsy Rose Lee. She is transformed from the girl, Louise, to the elegant stripper Gypsy in an amazingly convincing way and she is breathtakingly beautiful. Plus she has a phenomenal voice. This is a show for anyone who loves an old time Broadway show with the great tunes and a full orchestra. It's a real treat and a wonderful revival.

After the show we took a 30 minute rest and then headed uptown to Central Park. More from Leslie in Part Two . . .