A couple nights ago I saw the musical Ragtime. It was revived from 12 years ago and is still in previews. I hadn't even known it was coming back until a few days ago. Apparently the year it opened was the same year Lion King opened and of course Lion King took all the Tonys that year. Ragtime was a brilliant show, and its revival is true to the original. I was lucky to get the best seats in the entire house (7th row, center orch). Not sure how that happened, but I was thrilled. Right before the curtain went up, the actor, Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon) sat down in the seat directly in front of me.
As the curtain went up, the entire cast of about 35 people was already onstage and the theater broke out into thunderous applause. I'm sure that many of the audience were friends of the cast and of the show, but many had seen the show 12 years ago and were so happy to see it again. At any rate, the energy from the audience was the best that any cast could ever want, and the show seemed to float on top of that love. Not a cue was missed, everyone gave great performances and everyone had a real voice, something that seems more and more rare in broadway musicals these days. It was a great piece that was executed flawlessly. You laughed, you cried, you cheered and when it was over you gave an immediate and enthusiastic standing ovation. It was indeed a memorable Broadway experience. I highly recommend this show. The last time I felt this strongly about a great show was when i saw Wicked 5 or 6 years ago.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Ghosts from the past
I saw an advertisement for a show that I recognized as the show a friend of mine had written 25 years ago. I haven't seen this friend in a couple of decades, and so I bought tickets hoping that he might be at the performance. The performance was wonderful. I had the demo tapes from 25 years ago, and I was familiar with the music. Of course they had reworked it, but the skeleton was the same, and as the music and the show washed over me, I was brought back to my college days. I had loved this music back then and I had associated it with my friendship with this guy, who was instrumental in my life in a way that he wasn't even aware. We had met as counselors in a childrens sleep-over camp that was geared towards musicals. One night when I was stuck doing bunk duty and all the other counselors were going out drinking, he gave me the tapes and libretto for Sweeney Todd and told me it would change my life. It did. After that summer, I spent a weekend with him at Eastman School of Music, where he studied. His dream was to be a composer of pop music in LA. I returned to my engineering studies after that weekend knowing beyond all doubt that I was supposed to be a professional musician. It took me 10 years after that to actually get around to it, but I finally did.
After the show was over, I was able to locate my friend. He didn't recognize me at first. Once we did the reintroductions, I told him how instrumental he was in my life, especially the weekend I visited him at Eastman. I told him that I now made my living performing, and that my love of Broadway had initiated from the night that he had given me Sweeney Todd to listen to. It was so great to talk to him. He told me he did make it to LA but that he no longer does music. He has been working as an Engineer!
After the show was over, I was able to locate my friend. He didn't recognize me at first. Once we did the reintroductions, I told him how instrumental he was in my life, especially the weekend I visited him at Eastman. I told him that I now made my living performing, and that my love of Broadway had initiated from the night that he had given me Sweeney Todd to listen to. It was so great to talk to him. He told me he did make it to LA but that he no longer does music. He has been working as an Engineer!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Roommate 2.0
You may remember a previous post where I got a part time roommate to help me defray expenses in the midtown apartment. Well, after 2 months he left. He claimed it was a money thing. It was upsetting because I was really seeking someone for a long term situation. But C'est La Vie.
I put another ad on Craigslist and quickly got 6 or 7 pretty solid interested parties. I met with 4 of them and was just about to make a decision when I get yet another person emailing me about the apartment. In her first email she tells me that she is a porn star based on the West Coast. She goes on about how responsible and quiet she is, and that she is under contract with one of the major Hollywood studios (not porn) for a TV show. She tells me that she will arrive in NYC the following Weds with all her professional references, a copy of the TV contract, her bank statements, landlord references, cash in hand, etc. etc. etc. She is interested in a part-time long term commitment. I immediately think, well she's a vapid, big-breasted, straight porn star; I will hate her! But, the business part of my mind says, well, not so fast. She's coming at me correctly, let's see where this takes us.
I called her, and we had a really good conversation, good enough, in fact, for me to delay my decision until she came to town on Weds and we could meet. She went on to tell me that she was my age (somewhere between 35 and death), the mother of two, and she has a friend that she likes to visit a couple of times a month here in NY. The more we talked, the more I was drawn to her. Although she had the porn star voice, and she giggled like a girl, she was not at all vapid. In fact she has a pretty solid sense of business and some amazing life experience that she shared with me with no apologies. As one who appreciates directness and hates all things fake, I was under her spell. After the phone call she texted me that she was going to stalk me via text until our meeting Weds, which she did, but not in an obnoxious way.
By the time she arrived, I had pretty much made up my mind that she would be my next roommate. My biggest concern was that she not cause a scandal arriving in my conservative east-side lobby with her big porn titties and skin-tight jeans telling the doorman she was here to see me. When she arrived, there was some protest going on and the streets were all blocked off, so I had to fetch her from the corner to get her past the cops and their barricades. She was tastefully dressed and we recognized each other immediately. We went up to my apartment and had the nicest evening, drinking wine and eating sushi, which she insisted upon paying for. My only last concern, since she was in the adult entertainment industry, was that she not entertain tricks in the apartment. (A week prior I actually had an inquiry about my apartment by a couple of professional girls that wanted to "entertain friends that make living in New York more manageable!") After a very long and honest conversation, I was convinced that escorting is not part of her business model. By the end of the night we were best friends and I invited her to share my apartment and she agreed. The following day she came with the cash, signed the papers and began her 4 day stay. I had to leave for the Midwest the next morning but when I got back to the apartment on Sunday, the fridge was stocked, the apartment was immaculate, there were scented candles and new linens on the bed. She flew out before I got back, but after about 9 days in CA, filming her show she'll be back in NY for 6 nights. I can't wait...we'll have a blast.
I put another ad on Craigslist and quickly got 6 or 7 pretty solid interested parties. I met with 4 of them and was just about to make a decision when I get yet another person emailing me about the apartment. In her first email she tells me that she is a porn star based on the West Coast. She goes on about how responsible and quiet she is, and that she is under contract with one of the major Hollywood studios (not porn) for a TV show. She tells me that she will arrive in NYC the following Weds with all her professional references, a copy of the TV contract, her bank statements, landlord references, cash in hand, etc. etc. etc. She is interested in a part-time long term commitment. I immediately think, well she's a vapid, big-breasted, straight porn star; I will hate her! But, the business part of my mind says, well, not so fast. She's coming at me correctly, let's see where this takes us.
I called her, and we had a really good conversation, good enough, in fact, for me to delay my decision until she came to town on Weds and we could meet. She went on to tell me that she was my age (somewhere between 35 and death), the mother of two, and she has a friend that she likes to visit a couple of times a month here in NY. The more we talked, the more I was drawn to her. Although she had the porn star voice, and she giggled like a girl, she was not at all vapid. In fact she has a pretty solid sense of business and some amazing life experience that she shared with me with no apologies. As one who appreciates directness and hates all things fake, I was under her spell. After the phone call she texted me that she was going to stalk me via text until our meeting Weds, which she did, but not in an obnoxious way.
By the time she arrived, I had pretty much made up my mind that she would be my next roommate. My biggest concern was that she not cause a scandal arriving in my conservative east-side lobby with her big porn titties and skin-tight jeans telling the doorman she was here to see me. When she arrived, there was some protest going on and the streets were all blocked off, so I had to fetch her from the corner to get her past the cops and their barricades. She was tastefully dressed and we recognized each other immediately. We went up to my apartment and had the nicest evening, drinking wine and eating sushi, which she insisted upon paying for. My only last concern, since she was in the adult entertainment industry, was that she not entertain tricks in the apartment. (A week prior I actually had an inquiry about my apartment by a couple of professional girls that wanted to "entertain friends that make living in New York more manageable!") After a very long and honest conversation, I was convinced that escorting is not part of her business model. By the end of the night we were best friends and I invited her to share my apartment and she agreed. The following day she came with the cash, signed the papers and began her 4 day stay. I had to leave for the Midwest the next morning but when I got back to the apartment on Sunday, the fridge was stocked, the apartment was immaculate, there were scented candles and new linens on the bed. She flew out before I got back, but after about 9 days in CA, filming her show she'll be back in NY for 6 nights. I can't wait...we'll have a blast.
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