Saturday, June 28, 2014

New York--Days 3 & 4

The past few days in NYC have been a whirlwind of seeing shows, hanging out with old friends and eating, eating and EATING. As I'm writing this (Thursday), we are having a chill day in the apartment my dear friend from grad school (grad school Round 1, I should say) so kindly lent us for the week. We just ordered food (Luke was overwhelmed by all the choices they can just bring to your door here) and are watching the USA vs Germany match in Spanish as she doesn't get ESPN. Football is the same in any language, anyway, right?


On Tuesday, Luke and I caught up with a friend I went to NYU with before heading over to the Longacre Theater to see Of Mice and Men. Even though I am a true theater lover, it has been far too long since I've graced the Great White Way with the presence of my bum in a seat. It was pretty good, although I was very excited to find out that O'Neill from Orange is the New Black was in it (speaking of which, I have now gotten Luke into it!). Despite Leighton Meester, James Franco and Chris O'Dowd, I think both Luke and my favorite part of the play was Candy's dog. She is played by a 14-year-old rescue named Violet.
Of Mice and Men marquee
 
Violet (who plays Candy's Dog in Of Mice and Men) chilling with her understudy. Credit: NY Daily News
 
Wednesday had us meeting an old friend for lunch, before rushing over to see Alan Cumming in Cabaret. Cabaret likely wouldn't be the first play Luke would choose to see and since I have seen it about 5043343 times already, it might not be the first play I would see in NYC for a few days. However, I have a soft spot for Roundabout Theatre Company (I was their Education Intern in 2007--where I had an amazing experience) and ever since Alan Cumming played the role of the Emcee in the 1990s, I have wanted to see him perform it. And of course, Alan did not disappoint. He was FABULOUS. And by fabulous, I mean off the charts, standing ovation, best performance as the Emcee I have literally ever seen even after seeing the show about 43243243243432 times. If you are going to NYC, I highly, highly recommend it. If you (or anyone in your party) is under 35, you can also get $25 tickets via HipTix (this also applies to RTC's other shows) and it is definitely worth checking on.

I have to say, however, that Michelle Williams was not the right person for the role of Sally Bowles in this revival. I have really enjoyed her film roles (especially in My Week with Marilyn), but she was clearly uncomfortable in her role (I'm not sure if she has theatrical experience). Really, someone else should have been cast, but Alan's performance overrode it.


After the show, Luke and I sat in a cafe where I ate a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup cupcake (or half of it) before we went out to dinner and then had some more drinks with some more old friends. Luke has been quite the sport about being paraded around and introduced to everyone. And although I despise Times Square (I used to walk through there every day for work), Luke and I did go a couple of times and managed to do a little bit of shopping in the massive Forever 21 (suck it Kristen Lee and your 27 Things You Must Say Goodbye to at 27 article--I still got a really professional looking dress there).
You can't get this in England!





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