This past weekend was my annual Broadway weekend with PianoLady. In case you don't remember, she and I met as piano majors at Florida Technological University (University of Central Florida) in January of 1969. If your brain is tired, I'll tell you that's forty—count 'em, forty—years of friendship. We started our Broadway weekends in 1999, then skipped a few post-9/11 years while I was living in Tucson. And now we're back at it. This year I drove into the City—a first for me, and not much different than driving in D.C.
I arrived around noon on Friday, checked into the Marriott Marquis, then set out to explore. I've fallen in love with a sectional sofa in the CB2 (offshoot of Crate & Barrel) catalog, but refuse to buy a sofa without first sitting on it. CB2 only has about five stores, and one is in NYC's SoHo, where I've never before visited. After doing a little research, I set out in search of the M-1 and M-6 bus lines. After walking about 25 blocks in 3" heeled boots, I divined that buses were not in my future, and hailed a cab. I found CB2, sat on and loved the couch, got the salesman's card, and hit the streets again. I looked up at each storefront I passed, and was astonished to see Pearl River. I had been hearing about this shop for years, and now, by happenstance, here it was. I went in and petted a few yards of silk yardage, but resisted the urge to buy. Back on Broadway, I walked one block north and into the Swarovski boutique. If you make jewelry using Swarovski crystals, or you love sparkly jewelry, you must go into a Swarovski boutique at some point in your life. In*credible! They have every style of crystal bead, in every color they manufacture, plus finished jewelry, and crystal embellish bags, and …, and …. Again, I resisted the urge to buy, but enjoyed every moment of the visit. In the back of the boutique is an equally embellished lounge. I can imagine the after-work Cosmos and martinis flow freely.
Leaving there, I headed north again, this time on a back street rather than on Broadway. My destination was Sullivan and Houston (pronounced HOW-stun, if you didn't know) to find a precious little island of yarn in the big city. PurlSoho is well known to anyone who reads yarn or knitting magazines. And it's worth the search to find this little tucked-away gem. Beautiful yarns, knowledgeable yarn-loving sales associates, and fellow yarn-loving shoppers. Yummy! There was nothing I really needed at the moment, so I picked up some more sock yarn for my favorite sock-knitter, Tani. She loves to live vicariously through my travels, and I love bring fiber mementos back to her, as I know she'll use and love them.
After PurlSoho, I went three doors north to PurlPatchwork, and petted some lovely quilting cottons before hailing a cab and heading back to the Marriott.
PianoLady arrived at the last possible moment after not being able to hail a cab from Grand Central. Let's just say that this nonsense with closing Broadway between 42nd and 49th has really messed up cab service in the City.
She took a moment to catch her breath, and then we headed out to meet her friend, Susan, for a visit to the Titanic exhibition. I think we spent two hours looking at these incredible relics that rested on the ocean floor for 50+ years. I'm not a great lover of things historical, and tend to get glazed-over eyes when I go into a museum, but this was a fabulous exhibition. I'm so glad we went!
And then dinner. Susan had chosen Chez Josephine for our dinner. Fun! French food, French-speaking servers, a sweet little kimono-clad Maitre d'. And live piano music. Toward the end of the evening, after the theatre crowd had cleared out, I asked the pianist if I could play a piece for my friends. He had me clear it with the Jean Pierre or Jean Claude or whatever the Maitre d's name was, and I sat down. PianoLady and Susan were so deep into their conversation they didn't realize I was playing, thus thwarting my intention. Oh well. The pianist loved what I was doing and kept asking for more. And after I sat back down at our table, diner after diner complimented me on their way out the door. Fun!
Susan headed for Grand Central to go home to Westchester, and PL and I headed back to the Marriott. And that was Friday.
Saturday morning we grabbed a Starbucks breakfast and headed for the TKTS line. This is the first year we haven't had our show tickets at least three, if not six, months in advance. We decided we were just going to go with whatever we could get at a discount. Our first two choices only had obstructed-view seats, so we went with "Burn the Floor", starring Anya and Pasha from "So You Think You Can Dance."
After getting our tickets, we did our annual walk through the shops around Rockefeller Center and into Colony Music. We stop first at Dean & DeLuca for coffee. Then I got some music Tyler needed at Colony, and cool earrings for Jaci at Banana Republic. As always, we followed our shopping with salad and breadsticks at Olive Garden.
Then it was time for our matinee. "Burn the Floor" was dance and live music, lots of Latin dance, lots of skin and tattoos and piercings. I loved the swing and jive and waltz numbers, but didn't love all the Latin numbers. I want dancers to look like they're happy and enjoying each other's company, not like they're angry. But that's just me.
I was happy to see so many dancers and musicians with jobs. I enjoyed the show, but I didn't love it. When we left, I said to PL, "Can we please go see another show tonight? I want to go home with that urge to tell everybody about the show I saw." She acquiesced; we went back to the room and I got online and ordered tickets to "Next to Normal".
Our annual Saturday night dinner is at Café Un Deux Trois. (If you're reading this at work, turn down your speakers before clicking that link.) And it always finishes with profiteroles. (My profile photo, above, was taken at this dinner in 2008.) We love this annual rite. Every year we talk about going somewhere else for dinner, but always end up back at 123 44th Street. They've expanded the menu this year, and have included some smaller plates. The crepes with goat cheese, spinach and mushrooms, and crepes with chicken where fabulous and a nice alternative to a full entrée. This dinner is always a highlight of the annual trip.After dinner, we relaxed in our room for a while, then headed to the Booth Theatre for "Next to Normal". (Again, speakers off if you're at work.) Small, talented cast; brilliantly composed and orchestrated score; clever lyrics and book; sleek, industrial set. I enjoyed every moment of the show. The score reminded me, in places, of "Rent", and now that I look at the website, I see that it's from the director of "Rent", so that makes sense. If you're heading to NYC, see "Next to Normal"!
After the show, we had drinks in the Marriott lounge, The next morning, we again did our Starbucks run before I headed off, driving west to make a 6:00 p.m. rehearsal in Cleveland.
I've included, below, links from previous years' trips. And in closing, I repeat this year's implicit theme: Old friends just can't be beat.
2008: 1 2
2007: 1 2
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