The Sun Sits Low

Time is slipping away in the City of New York. There are but six weeks left to cram in all the excitement possible. With the departure of daylight savings time, it gets dark here at roughly 5:00 p.m. As a wise man once said, you don't know what you got till it's gone. Seriously, my every waking moment of daylight is spent indoors working (not that I don't love my internship). But it is already halfway through fall, and I am yet to experience the true wonders of autumn in New York City. I tried to make it to Central Park yesterday to see the vibrantly colored leaves (as I assume they are), but upon my arrival circa 5:00, the sun promptly disappeared, leaving me no gorgeous sights to behold. Time is precious and it's slipping away, and I've been waiting for you all of my life - yes, I'm talking to you, NYC fall foliage.

And with that, I will transport you back to Tuesday. The Manhattan Theatre Club officially took over my life this week. Let's count the hours, shall we?
Monday: 8 / Tuesday: 11 / Wednesday: 10 / Thursday: 8 / Friday: 4 / Saturday: 8
And the grand total: 49 hours. AHHHHH!
Of course, this tally includes 12 paid hours and 3 hours at the opening night party, but still. This week was full of crazy hijinks at MTC - opening night party for Nightingale on Tuesday, review day and fun quote ad meeting on Wednesday, Associate Artistic Director seminar on Thursday, double Patron Lounge duty on Saturday, etc. Not to mention that I worked at the front desk for an hour on Thursday and got to buzz Angela Lansbury into the 8th floor for rehearsal. We made eye contact - we made a connection.

Tuesday was a marathon of epic proportions. I went straight from working at my internship from 2 to 6 to working the front desk shift from 6 to 10 to the opening night party until 1 a.m. The party was a grand (and classy) time. It was held at the Beacon <--- seriously, click on that link - you can tell just by looking at the home page that this place is legit. I had an absolutely amazing time at the party - all us interns hung out for a few hours and bonded. We all discussed what we plan on doing next semester - about half of the interns are sticking around, and I really wish I could, too. Realistically, though, I need to get back to school so that I can graduate - yikes. But anyway, it was really great to be able to hang with the other interns - they're all really cool and nice and I don't get the chance to see them enough (if at all) outside of work.

At the same time, I am simultaneously impressed and frightened by the sheer ambition all of the interns have. They have grand plans to direct and produce theatre - and what's more, a lot of them are already doing these things on a significant scale. I'm just happy to be working at such a prestigious theatre company, getting experience in the field and learning about it all. I don't have so many strong, unflinching goals considering my future. It has been comforting, though, to talk to my adviser Sunil about such things. He definitely hadn't figured things out at my age, and at 30 he is still discovering where he wants his career to go. I think it would be advantageous for me to develop stronger goals, but I also need to accept that I will never really be able to fully figure everything out.

Anyway, I digress. I also packed in two shows this week. On Wednesday, I got student rush to Oleanna. I accompanied Sally and Kelly, who had comps for the performance (in orchestra seats far better than my third row paid-for mezzanine seats). I thought the play was good, but I wasn't completely sold on the direction and performances. Bull Pullman was solid and Julia Stiles was passable (of course nothing can beat her flawless performance in "Save the Last Dance"), but the show just didn't flow and build to the climax like it should have. This production promised to be incredibly provocative and apparently after original production many couples left the theatre arguing. Leaving the theatre, I expressed my disappointment that I didn't feel there was much to argue about... Of course, immediately following this statement, we began arguing - although it was more about the merits of the production, and not the subject matter. Oh well, it was definitely an educational theatre experience.

Although I'll tell what's not so educational - the poetry seminar I've been taking for the last 3 weeks. It is uniformly agreed that no one has gotten anything out of this class - it had its interesting moments, but was overall pretty lame. For our last session, the class went to a poetry reading that took place in an art gallery. This idea is pleasant enough on paper...except that it turns out that all of the poets were pretty bad. I enjoyed the second woman, because she was just a precious old lady, but other than that they were pretty expendable. I'm rather excited to have my Thursday nights back - more time to see shows or watch the leaves change...oh wait, it gets dark at 5:00.

On Friday night, Kelly and I (after losing lotteries for both In the Heights and Ragtime) attended In the Next Room or the vibrator play. I know, sounds classy, right? Well, actually, strangely, it was. It is a Lincoln Center production on Broadway, so you can rest assured that it is well done and legit. The show is a dramatic comedy of sorts set in the 1880s, during which time doctors were apparently treating women for hysteria using...well, you know. But the play turned out to be a surprising poignant commentary on human connection, and I found the ending stunningly beautiful. I won't give it away, but let's just say that it steadily snows - which is always a plus for me. In fact, check out my new list of shows I've seen that feature onstage precipitation!

And you may have noticed one gaping absence in my blog as of late. Well, no worries, I have ended my hiatus...and made a triumphant return to Jamba Juice! Yup, as it gets colder, my love of Jamba grows fonder. A good Peanut Butter Moo'd can turn any frown upside down, as it has indeed done for me many a time. And with that, have a plentiful Jamba week!

The Gang's All Here

I apologize for the incredibly lengthy delay in post time - I have most certainly set a new record. I know all of you out there are have been pining for more news of the city. Although, let's be honest, more than half of the people who read this blog were in the city with me last weekend anyway. As such, there is lots (and lots and lots) to report.

It all started last Thursday. I picked up mom and Scott at the airport around 2:00. We arrived at the "305" around 3:30, got settled in, and went to eat lunch at my favorite place in town: Dinersty! This is cheap, disgusting Chinese food at it's best - they have the most exquisite Sesame Chicken in town. I go to this place so often, they just see me and know to give me Sesaly Elliot, The Royal Family, Nightingale opening, Central Park, God of Carnage, Staten Island Ferry, La Mela, Empire State Building, Jamba Juice, Shrek, Today Show, Chicago, parade, Columbus Dayme Chicken. (Although I once ordered General Tso's instead and they disregarded my order and gave me the Sesame - not that I'm complaining). Anyway, mom and Scott enjoyed their meals immensely - unless they were just being nice, but I sincerely doubt it.

We took it easy for a few hours before heading out to "dinner" in Times Square (wink wink). I strategically took them to Times Square through a Subway that would give them a good view right upon exiting - I remember my first Times Square experience well, and I try far too hard to replicate it for others. We wandered around the area for a while before heading down 45th Street. We told Scott we were going to dinner at a restaurant called Charley O's - which is conveniently located kitty-corner to the Imperial Theatre, home to Billy Elliot. Mom and I had been putting all our effort into averting suspicion - although there was a frightening moment in which Scott almost read my last blog post. Luckily, I put a stop to that...Anyway, we arrived in front of the theatre, right across the street from the fabled Charley O's, and I turned around and proclaimed, "You know, is anyone really that hungry? Because I do have three tickets to Billy Elliot here..." This is where Scott went crazy - he had absolutely no idea. We entered the theatre, took our seats, and the curtain went up. The show was amazing - a little different than expected, but still great. Phenomenal dancing of course, inspired performances (we got a Tony Award-winning Billy, thank goodness), and wonderful direction. Surprise!

Friday: incredibly eventful. It all started with the Today Show - I could unfortunately only stay for a few minutes, but I hear that Scott and Diane enjoyed it very much - they even stayed for Kathie Lee and Hoda (but who wouldn't, really?). After I got out of work at MTC - it was a very eventful day, what with The Royal Family reviews coming out and all - we headed to Central Park. We went to the wondrous Belvedere Castly, saw some crazy street performers, and stumbled upon Strawberry Fields - and get this: it was John Lennon's birthday! There were a good 150 people or so packed in and singing along to a whole bunch of Lennon songs - what an amazing coincidence. That night, we ate dinner at Monetti's - so they could get their first taste of New York pizza - and then got standing room for God of Carnage. Everyone loved the play of course, because it is amazing. We even got to chat with Jeff Daniels (who did not seem to care that we are from Michigan), James Gandolfini (who does not pose well for pictures), and Marcia Gay Harden (who unfortunately had to hurry out because she had some sick children). A grand time was had by all.

Saturday: Beka arrived in town! We started the day off by heading to the Staten Island Fairy and taking lots of unnecessary Statue of Liberty pictures. We then checked out the 9/11 memorial before heading to Greenwich Village to check out some beautiful apartments we could never afford. After this, we decided Chinatown would be a lovely place to visit...it is not. It smells stank nasty and is dirty as all hell. So we wandered around for a while (led by my misguided direction) before finally finding Little Italy. We stopped in for a delicious dinner at La Mela Ristorante. We were taken down a dark, scary hallway before emerging into a lovely dining room. The food was delicious and there was even a wonderful two-man band that played some lovely Italian songs, my favorite of which was "That's Amore" by the incomparable Harry Warren. Penultimately, we made a visit to the Empire State Building - a la "Sleepless in Seattle". We all felt just like Meg Ryan waiting for Tom Hanks, and we even got in some lovely sightseeing in the process. New York is gorgeous at night. To cap it all off, we stopped by Times Square (Beka's first visit - she was astounded) for some more sights and sounds, and some delicious Jamba Juice (this was Scott, Diane, and Beka's firsts - they were all astounded). Wow, we did a lot.

Sunday: Mom and Scott had to head out in the early afternoon, so we walked around the town a little more before heading to the airport. We said our goodbyes, and I headed back to meet up with Beka and Kelly. We headed to Beka's first Broadway show: Shrek. It was a riotous good time, and clearly warranted a Stage Door visit. Beka got some lovely photos with some cast members, although we were unfortunately stood up by Sutton Foster once again (this also happened when Kelly and I saw it in May) - but we are determined to meet her at some point. We headed to Jamba Juice once more, and then layed down for a good night's rest.

Monday: We woke up bright and early to check out the Today Show. We got there around 8:00 to find a mob of screaming little girls. We couldn't get within 200 feet of Matt and Meredith. "Why?", we asked. Well, it was apparently all because 15-year-old singing sensation Justin Bieber was performing - he is now all of our nemesis. Luckily, the screaming girl crowd cleared out around 9, after Justin Bieber left, and we were free to enjoy the Today Show as we pleased. Kelly had to go to work, so Beka and I hung around for Kathie Lee and Hoda (again, who wouldn't?), and we may have even managed to get on TV. Soon after, we stumbled upon a Columbus Day Parade - apparently, in New York, this day is an excuse for Italian Americans to celebrate their heritage. The parade was overall pretty lame, with the possible exception of a crazy winged girl on roller skates and a man we met dressed up in Italian garb, complete with glasses with windshield wipers. Beka enjoyed her first NYC pizza, and Kelly rejoined us for dinner at Applebee's and Beka's second Broadway show: Chicago. As always, the show was phenomenal - this was the best cast of the three times I have seen it. And of course, we stopped by Jamba Juice after for a perfect ending - our new best friend is now Jesus, the man who works the register there.

On Tuesday, I dropped Beka off at the airport bright and early...well, "dropped off" isn't really the right phrase. There was all kinds of drama because they thought Beka owed $25 for her luggage from Detroit, and they were not at all hasty about solving this problem, even though her flight would leave in 40 minutes or so. We waited around for a while, and Beka was finally able to get in line (where I understand there was even more drama), and finally onto the plane. I took a lovely bus/subway ride to work and my normal routine began again.

So that's the amazing weekend. I know what you're thinking - there is another week to cover! Well, I'm exhausted, and I will give you the rest of the update tomorrow (hopefully...). So everybody calm down and I'll be with you shortly. I hope you can forgive me for the delay, and will all stay the faithful followers I know you to be.