NYC - Day 4 - Saturday

(Ann) Saturday was a busy day with two shows--one on Broadway and one in Union Square--and lots of walking and people-watching to do. The city is very crowded on Saturday and after only 4 days in the city, we feel like natives and wonder why all these tourists are crowding the streets of 'our' city!

We saw the matinee of Promises, Promises starring Sean Hayes and Kristen Chenowith. This show, based on the Jack Lemmon movie The Apartment, takes place during the carefree, sexist, cigarette-filled days of the 60's. The show is campy and fun and makes the most of its talented cast. Burt Bacharach's music is great, and Sean Hayes is adorable and funny as the lowly office worker who shares his apartment key with higher ups in the hopes of getting a promotion. He sings and dances with great skill and brings some fun physical comedy to the role. Kristen Chenowith plays his love interest (the Shirley MacLaine role in the movie), and she can sing like no one else. Saying that she has a great set of pipes is an understatement. The show's choreography is very creative, and the ensembles does a great job. The highlight of the show is a hilarious scene of Sean Hayes' character drunkenly picking up an equally drunk woman in a seedy bar. Katie Finneran is a blast in this role, and she definitely deserves her Tony nomination for Best Supporting Actress! Leslie and I had a great time at this good old-fashioned musical with some wonderful songs, awesome choreography, and many laughs. We recommend it!

After the show we took the subway to Union Square for some people-watching and relaxing before our evening show. We are great fans of John Douglas Thompson who we saw last season in Emperor Jones and whose career we follow closely. He and Diane Wiest are starring in the play The Forest at the Classic Stage Company on 13th Street. The play, written by

Alexander Ostrovsky in the mid-1800's, is an interesting Russian satire of a money-grubbing Russian aristocrat, played by Weiss, and a wandering tragedian actor (who also happens to be her nephew), played by Thompson, who exposes her hypocrisy. It had some good laughs and Thompson and Weiss got a chance to really show off their acting chops in such a small space. We waited to see John after the show and were greeted by this charming man as old friends. We walked to the subway with him and wished him luck during the upcoming awards season. He has already won the Obie (Off-Broadway's equivalent of a Tony) and is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor by the Drama Desk (which will be held next week). He is in some awesome company including Jude Law, Liev Shreiber, and Christopher Walken. We wish this fabulous actor the best of luck, and we look forward to seeing him this summer when he plays Richard III in the Berkshires.

NYC-Day Three . . .

(Leslie) On Friday, I initiated a new Culture Buddies event--the after breakfast nap . . . why didn't I think of that before? I was roused from bed by a surprise call from my ex-brother-in-law, Danny (from Houston), who was in the city on business. After I introduced Ann to Danny, she headed up towards Lincoln Center, and Danny and I had a nice time catching up over lunch. It was more than great to see him.

I met Ann at our favorite movie theatre in the city near Lincoln Center and we saw a great movie that was opening that day called Looking for Eric. The story centers on Eric Bishop, a middle-aged British postal worker whose life is a mess. After he reaches the breaking point, his former teammate, Eric Cantona, the real-life former star of the Manchester United soccer team, begins to appear to him at random times. This Eric becomes his confidant, his advisor, and, in a sense, his savior. We loved this movie, especially the scenes between Eric and his real-life "mates". We recommend that you catch this movie when it comes your way.

Our play on Friday night was the new revival of August Wilson's Fences, starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis (Doubt). We recently saw this play at the Huntington Theatre in Boston, and this production shares the same director (and what looked to be the same set . . .). Ann had just finished a close reading of the play, so she especially looked forward to seeing this production. It was a thrill to see Denzel Washington on stage, and his portrayal of the lead character, Troy, brings out aspects of the character we had not considered before. It was Viola Davis, however, who stole the show . . . she is simply amazing in the role of Rose, Troy's long-suffering wife. Overall, though, we didn't feel the emotional punch this play should produce--perhaps largely due to a number of times where many in the audience responded with laughter and hoots and hollers to situations and lines of dialogue that can also be interpreted as pretty tragic. It was interesting, though, to try to see parts of this play in such a different way.