Tuesday, July 29, 2008
CultureBuddies in the News
Today our hometown newspaper ran a story about the CBs with a huge photo. The photo takes up half the page in the print version and is a little embarrassing. The story is mostly right with the facts but there are a few minor errors, for example, the Life Is Beautiful anecdote happened over 10 years ago and was the start of our traveling to see movies out of the area, not the start of our Broadway obsession. We DO in fact go to regional theater in this area, but the blog is mostly about the shows we travel to NYC to see.
Monday, July 28, 2008
New York City- July 2008
We only had enough time for a quick two night stay in New York this time, so we left very early Thursday morning. We got to the city at about 1:30 and headed straight to Pigalli's for lunch. While there, we had our first celebrity sighting of the weekend--Laura Bell Bundy (the original Elle in Legally Blonde) was dining a couple of tables away from us. Of course, wonderful Jose- the sweetest waiter in the world- greeted the girls like old friends and we had a delicious lunch. For this trip, we used our Hilton points(35,000 points a night) to stay at the Hampton Inn on 51st and 8th- this is a very nice hotel and a good place to stay for a theater trip because it's so perfectly situated.
Thursday night we saw Damn Yankees at New York's City Center. It was part of their Encore Series where A-List performers do a short run (3 weeks) in a well known play. It is a sort of summer playhouse for the best of Broadway. This production was just so much fun. The story is the Faustian tale of an aging man's dream of being a baseball star. The devil was played by the wonderful Sean Hayes of Will and Grace fame, and he was hilarious. It was his first time being on the stage in New York, and he delighted the crowd. I hope he comes back for a longer run on Broadway soon. The temptress Lola was played by Broadway and TV star Jane Krakowski, and she was great to see on stage. She is beautiful and has a smile that could light up all of 42nd Street. The show used the original choreography which Bob Fosse created for Gwen Verdon - the original Lola. Not all the dance routines worked as well for the shorter Jane. Fosse used a stylized kind of shoulder rolling that is supposed to be sexy, but just didn't seem to work for her. Using the original choreography was a very brave move for the director and was well executed by the cast especially the young ballplayers. The show stopper for the CBs was the wonderful Cheyenne Jackson from Zanadu. He played the young baseball player, and he is so charming and relaxed on stage--on top of that he is incredibly handsome and has a wonderful voice. The CBs really enjoyed this classic show from the 1950's, and it was great to see Sean, Jane and Cheyenne perform together.
After the show we met our friends, Casey and Ben, at a local beer house and finally got to meet their roommates, Kara and Melissa. They are wonderful kids and we had a ton of laughs. Eagle-eye celebrity spotter Leslie saw one of our favorite people- Jonathan Groff from Spring Awakening and Hair- in front of the bar with some friends, and I had to be subdued so I didn't run outside and say hi. Casey was egging me on but, like usual, Leslie was the voice of reason and sanity!
Friday morning we headed over to the South Street Seaport to take a look at the NYC Waterfalls Project. We took a one hour boat ride on a Zephyr to see the waterfalls and the other sights in the East River like the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was a beautiful, sunny day and a perfect day for a boat ride. This is the most touristy thing the CBs have ever done in all their NYC visits, but we decided that a public arts project of this size was worthy of a visit from the CultureBuddies. We were not disappointed at all. The view of the waterfall under the Brooklyn Bridge alone was worth the cost of the trip. The Zephyr was full of new Americans as well as tourists from around the world and there is something quite moving about everyone racing to one side of the boat to take photos of Lady Liberty. It's a wonderful view of our favorite city.
Around 6:00, we headed to Central Park with the fixings for a picnic with Casey and Ben before seeing the Public Theater's latest production of Hair. We had incredible seats (thank you, Casey!) and watched this 41 year old slice of history. Isn't it hard to believe that this show is 41 years old? It was lots of fun with hippie clothing, drugs, free love, and draft card burnings. We got to see our friend Jonathan Groff again in his first role since Spring Awakening. He was wearing a long crazy wig and played Claude- the hippie who is drafted and who sings some of the best songs of the show. All in all, we had a good time and loved being with our pals Casey and Ben in such a beautiful setting. The play did seem a little bit dated, and at times, it seemed like the actor/singers were playing dress-up, but the second act had more bite to it. The closing scene of the character Claude laying dead on the american flag in his Army uniform was quite powerful.
Saturday we had a first class breakfast at Pigalli's and, as I was walking over to MOMA, I ran into Jonathan Groff again coming out of the gym. How weird is that? Three times in three days the CBs see a favorite Broadway star. We chatted for a few minutes and he mentioned seeing us at Hair the night before. We chatted about his Spring Awakening costar Lea Michelle who is playing in Les Miz in the Hollywood Bowl right now. He is just such a nice person, and the CBs will see him again this fall at Playwright's Horizon. He was amazed when I told him that the CBs had made a special trip in to the city to see his final performance in SA. He said he really appreciates our support and asked that we stop by when we see his show this fall.
After hanging around and doing some major people watching Saturday afternoon, we caught the matinee of [title of the show]. It's a very funny and clever little musical with a cast of only four and one musician. The show is a musical about the process of writing the show the audience is actually seeing. It's clever and fun and the cast is very talented.
We took a late bus home and ended one of our shortest trips to the city. Three fun musicals and three sightings of Jonathan Groff. When we opened our Sunday Times, who did we see but Jonathan Groff . . . Very cool!
Thursday night we saw Damn Yankees at New York's City Center. It was part of their Encore Series where A-List performers do a short run (3 weeks) in a well known play. It is a sort of summer playhouse for the best of Broadway. This production was just so much fun. The story is the Faustian tale of an aging man's dream of being a baseball star. The devil was played by the wonderful Sean Hayes of Will and Grace fame, and he was hilarious. It was his first time being on the stage in New York, and he delighted the crowd. I hope he comes back for a longer run on Broadway soon. The temptress Lola was played by Broadway and TV star Jane Krakowski, and she was great to see on stage. She is beautiful and has a smile that could light up all of 42nd Street. The show used the original choreography which Bob Fosse created for Gwen Verdon - the original Lola. Not all the dance routines worked as well for the shorter Jane. Fosse used a stylized kind of shoulder rolling that is supposed to be sexy, but just didn't seem to work for her. Using the original choreography was a very brave move for the director and was well executed by the cast especially the young ballplayers. The show stopper for the CBs was the wonderful Cheyenne Jackson from Zanadu. He played the young baseball player, and he is so charming and relaxed on stage--on top of that he is incredibly handsome and has a wonderful voice. The CBs really enjoyed this classic show from the 1950's, and it was great to see Sean, Jane and Cheyenne perform together.After the show we met our friends, Casey and Ben, at a local beer house and finally got to meet their roommates, Kara and Melissa. They are wonderful kids and we had a ton of laughs. Eagle-eye celebrity spotter Leslie saw one of our favorite people- Jonathan Groff from Spring Awakening and Hair- in front of the bar with some friends, and I had to be subdued so I didn't run outside and say hi. Casey was egging me on but, like usual, Leslie was the voice of reason and sanity!
Friday morning we headed over to the South Street Seaport to take a look at the NYC Waterfalls Project. We took a one hour boat ride on a Zephyr to see the waterfalls and the other sights in the East River like the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was a beautiful, sunny day and a perfect day for a boat ride. This is the most touristy thing the CBs have ever done in all their NYC visits, but we decided that a public arts project of this size was worthy of a visit from the CultureBuddies. We were not disappointed at all. The view of the waterfall under the Brooklyn Bridge alone was worth the cost of the trip. The Zephyr was full of new Americans as well as tourists from around the world and there is something quite moving about everyone racing to one side of the boat to take photos of Lady Liberty. It's a wonderful view of our favorite city.
Around 6:00, we headed to Central Park with the fixings for a picnic with Casey and Ben before seeing the Public Theater's latest production of Hair. We had incredible seats (thank you, Casey!) and watched this 41 year old slice of history. Isn't it hard to believe that this show is 41 years old? It was lots of fun with hippie clothing, drugs, free love, and draft card burnings. We got to see our friend Jonathan Groff again in his first role since Spring Awakening. He was wearing a long crazy wig and played Claude- the hippie who is drafted and who sings some of the best songs of the show. All in all, we had a good time and loved being with our pals Casey and Ben in such a beautiful setting. The play did seem a little bit dated, and at times, it seemed like the actor/singers were playing dress-up, but the second act had more bite to it. The closing scene of the character Claude laying dead on the american flag in his Army uniform was quite powerful.Saturday we had a first class breakfast at Pigalli's and, as I was walking over to MOMA, I ran into Jonathan Groff again coming out of the gym. How weird is that? Three times in three days the CBs see a favorite Broadway star. We chatted for a few minutes and he mentioned seeing us at Hair the night before. We chatted about his Spring Awakening costar Lea Michelle who is playing in Les Miz in the Hollywood Bowl right now. He is just such a nice person, and the CBs will see him again this fall at Playwright's Horizon. He was amazed when I told him that the CBs had made a special trip in to the city to see his final performance in SA. He said he really appreciates our support and asked that we stop by when we see his show this fall.
After hanging around and doing some major people watching Saturday afternoon, we caught the matinee of [title of the show]. It's a very funny and clever little musical with a cast of only four and one musician. The show is a musical about the process of writing the show the audience is actually seeing. It's clever and fun and the cast is very talented.
We took a late bus home and ended one of our shortest trips to the city. Three fun musicals and three sightings of Jonathan Groff. When we opened our Sunday Times, who did we see but Jonathan Groff . . . Very cool!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Mamma Mia
The CB's took in the new movie, Mamma Mia, the other night with some friends and had a blast. Okay, it's not going to be an Oscar award-winning film, but it's definitely a fun time at the movies. Meryl Streep is actually very good and certainly throws herself into the role. As her sidekicks, Christine Baranski and Julie Walters, are great, and the three lead men are adorable. Pierce Brosnan is a pretty bad singer, but he gives it all he's got and it works. The young girl who plays the lead is perfect, and her fiance (who was in the original History Boys on Broadway) is very cute. The scenery is to die for. Be sure to stay all the way through the closing credits to see them all in crazy ABBA spandex costumes!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
A Short Trip
This week we are taking a short trip to the city. A very short trip by CultureBuddy standards - just two nights and three plays. Thursday night we have tickets to Damn Yankees. Friday night we plan on seeing Hair in Central Park and Saturday we will see the matinee of the new musical [title of the show]. We have a big trip planned in the fall because many shows are opening. We have already started getting tickets for our next trip. We have tickets to see Billie Elliot and All My Sons with many more to come. The fall season on Broadway looks to be a great one.
Monday, July 14, 2008
More News from Chautauqua, NY
(From Leslie) I am starting my second week here in Chautauqua, and trying to switch gears from Week 3's theme,On Writing (with really outstanding talks and readings by Billy Collins, E.L. Doctorow, Amy Tan, Joyce Carol Oates, Garry Trudeau, and Jane Pauley), to Week 4's theme, The Ethical Frontiers of Science. The lineup of speakers this week will take on the ethical debates surrounding advances in biomedical sciences and new discoveries about how the brain works, as well as the issues raised by the development of new drugs and genetic discoveries that enable us to improve our memories, moods, and cognitive abilities. This morning, Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at Univ. of Penn talked made an argument for funding stem cell research that will improve and extend life--he's not talking about imortality, but adding 20-40 quality years to an average life span. It was a pretty fascinating lecture, and he certainly raised lots of good discussion.
One of last week's highlights was the return visit of an amazingly talented young pianist from Russia, Alexander Gavrylyuk. He is only twenty-three and is just unbelievable . . . After his solo performance on Thursday night in the Ampitheatre, the audience didn't stop until he did four encoures! Friday, I went to a Master Class he gave to several young piano students here, and Saturday night he performed with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, and, again, he brought down the house with his interpretation of Tchaikovsky's Second Concerto. Check out more information on him in the Chautauquan Daily and consider buying a CD or a DVD--it would be money well-spent.
Got to run--more culture to soak in!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
One CB's Vote for Best Summer Read
CultureBuddy Ann is on a 12 month academic contract so vacation days are hoarded and used very sparingly. Nearly all of my vacation days are spent on my two favorite pursuits: Broadway and the Boston Red Sox. A trip to Tampa for baseball is planned for September but every other day of vacation time that I have accrued for the rest of the year is already pledged to a Broadway trip. Only two weeks to go and the CB's are back in the city that they love!
In the meantime, I am doing some great reading. I think the best summer read of this year is The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski and the New York Times agrees with me. The book is over 550 pages long. I am on page 400 and reading these last 150 pages very slowly because I don't want it to end. It is the story of a mute teenager and takes place on a dog farm in Wisconsin. At face value, not much interests me less than a story about dogs or a story that takes place on a farm. But this is not your usual novel and really must be experienced. It is a beautifully written and slowly unfolding tale full of classic themes. There are even undertones of Hamlet. What an amazing first novel. I rarely buy a book in hardcover but this is one that is worth every cent.
In the meantime, I am doing some great reading. I think the best summer read of this year is The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski and the New York Times agrees with me. The book is over 550 pages long. I am on page 400 and reading these last 150 pages very slowly because I don't want it to end. It is the story of a mute teenager and takes place on a dog farm in Wisconsin. At face value, not much interests me less than a story about dogs or a story that takes place on a farm. But this is not your usual novel and really must be experienced. It is a beautifully written and slowly unfolding tale full of classic themes. There are even undertones of Hamlet. What an amazing first novel. I rarely buy a book in hardcover but this is one that is worth every cent.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
CB On Vacation at Chautauqua, NY
(From Leslie): Believe it or not, sometimes the CB's experience cultural events without each other! I am currently in a perfectly unique place called Chautauqua, NY (near Jamestown and Buffalo). At Chautauqua Institute, you can hear a lecture about just about anything, see a ballet, go to the opera, take in an independent movie, listen to a concert, go to a play, attend a religious service, swim in the lake, go for a sail, or observe a music master class--all without leaving the grounds! This week's theme is Writers on Writing, and the morning lecture series so far (in a huge open air ampitheatre) has included Pulitzer Prize winning essayist, author, playwright and television commentator Roger Rosenblatt talking with his friends, the poet Billy Collins and the author E.L. Doctorow. It's a thrill to see such well-known literary giants, enjoy their humor, hear about their process and their thoughts on the profession of writing, and to listen to them read from their work. Coming up the rest of the week will be Joyce Carol Oates, and Amy Tan, and cartoonist Garry Trudeau. Not bad!
Speaking of writers--as I drove my parent's car from NC to NY, I listened to an unbelievably great book by Lloyd Jones--Mister Pip. It was wonderful to listen to, and I imagine just as wonderful to read. Other recent favorites: The Rope Walk by Carrie Brown, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, and So Brave, Young and Handsome by Leif Enger (who also wrote the excellent Peace Like a River). I know that my buddy Ann is busy enjoying The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wromblewski.
More from Chautauqua coming soon!
Speaking of writers--as I drove my parent's car from NC to NY, I listened to an unbelievably great book by Lloyd Jones--Mister Pip. It was wonderful to listen to, and I imagine just as wonderful to read. Other recent favorites: The Rope Walk by Carrie Brown, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, and So Brave, Young and Handsome by Leif Enger (who also wrote the excellent Peace Like a River). I know that my buddy Ann is busy enjoying The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wromblewski.
More from Chautauqua coming soon!
Sunday, July 6, 2008
New York City Here We Come
The Boston Globe compared all of the bus lines that make the run from Boston to New York City and back. The CultureBuddies were frequent Greyhound/Peter Pan travellers but have started to take the Bolt Bus when it's convenient. It's cheaper and the buses are brand new. Check out the Globe article.
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