Big Apple Revisited
Hey everyone! This weekend I got to return to that greatest city in the world, New York. This time with Thomas, Marlene and Allison. We arrived Friday afternoon in the midst of a rainstorm but didn't let that stop us. We pricelined our hotel and lucked out with The W on 49th and Lex. It rocked! The rooms were small (but who stays in your room in NYC except to sleep), but it had tons of amenities from Bliss Spa, which has a store inside the hotel, and a modern, swanky lobby/bar where they are happy to serve you $8 amstel lites. Yes, we indulged and yes, it was worth it.
Three blocks down from The W is my fav building ever and Thomas's inspiration for my wedding ring, The Chrysler Building. I'd actually never been inside it before so we decided this was the ideal time. Although we weren't able to make it to the top to see the offices (think Aviator) the lobby alone was worth the trip. The ceiling is comprised of one of the world's largest murals entitled, "Energy, Result, Workmanship and Transportation," by Edward Turnbull. The mural was inspired by man's achievement and love of enterprise. Very Fountainhead. When the building was completed it was the tallest in the world between 1929 and 1931. Per this source, in what was certainly one of the greatest secrets and publicity coups in Manhattan real estate history, the famous stainless steel top was installed to the public's utter surprise in about 90 minutes in November, 1929. The tip of spire was 1046 feet high. The stainless steel cladding had been hidden in five pieces within the building's shell and was hoisted out of the top of the building and riveted into place. Can you just imagine walking out of your apartment one day and looking up and suddenly seeing that spire, virtually appearing out of nowhere? What a gift to the city! Also a joy to behold were the marble floors and the gorgeous Art Deco elevators. I envy the people who get to work in that building. Funnily enough, we met an extremely talkative lady from Alabama who'd come to check out the building. Her son just graduated from law school and is set to join a practice whose offices are in the Chrysler building. Lucky guy.
After that, we continued our Art Deco architecture tour and visited the Waldorf Astoria. It's also a gorgeous building, particularly the lobby. We decided to have dinner at Oscars there and enjoyed the Veal Oscar and of course, a Waldorf salad which was especially delicious. The entire time I ate it I thought of the hilarious Fawlty Towers ep where a group of Americans come in and demand this dish of the beleaguered Fawlty.
The next day we headed downtown on the subway for breakfast at The Cupping Room. A relaxed cafe in Soho that has great atmosphere and serves delicious food. Cyd introduced me to it and I've been there twice before in the past year. Anyway, while I was there one of the waiters remembered me from these visits and was extremely kind. I go to Zolo in Boulder at least once a month and this has yet to happen to me there. And people say New Yorkers are rude. This was so not our experience on this trip. After breakfast we shopped some in Soho and then headed to the new Apple store on Fifth Avenue - The Glass Cube - a beauty to behold. Once inside I sent emails just because I could while Thomas marveled at the genius bar. Apple has got it down.
Next was our first Broadway musical, The Light in the Piazza at Lincoln Center. Marlene sent me a first edition of the book earlier in the year. The musical is based on the book by Mississippi author, Elizabeth Spencer. It restored my faith in musicals! I think it ties with Rent as my favorite musical ever. It won five much-deserved Tonys last year, including Best Music, Best Lead Actress for the divine Victoria Clark, and Best Scenic and Costume Design. The story, the performers, the sets and the music were beyond wonderful. Light takes you through a range of emotions from humor to heartbreak. I cannot recommend this one more. Hopefully it will have a traveling show. We then had an early dinner at a fab Italian joint called Cafe Fiorello where Thomas and I split a wonderful proscuitto pizza and a pear salad.
Finally we ventured to our next musical, Threepenny Opera, showing at Studio 54. My expectations for this one were extremely high because starring in it were Cindy Lauper, Alan Cumming and our fav, Nellie McKay. This was a revival of the Bertl Brecht work and the only song you're likely to have heard of from it is Mac the Knife. Things started out poorly when we were crammed into seats with legroom that made United Economy seem extremely generous. Things got worse when the depressed looking cast appeared on a poorly lit stage. And they kept getting worse as all the music sounded like a funeral dirge. All I can say is Brecht and this revival's adaptor, Wallace Shawn, must both be a couple of extremely depressed people. The story and the direction of this show were beyond horrible. Allison, Marlene and I were all up for leaving at intermission, but Thomas somehow enjoyed Threepenny's twisted, satirical world. I do have to say that Cumming and McKay were great performers, as were scene stealers Jim Dale (voice of all the Harry Potter audio books) and Brian Charles Rooney as cross-dresser Lucy. Lauper was a disappointment. We decided the seats were so uncomfortable to prevent you from falling asleep and escaping the visual and auditory torture.
The next morning we were joined for brunch at Heartbeat, the hotel's restaurant, by Thomas's aunts and diehard New Yorkers, Mary Ellen and Anne. A good time was had by all. Unfortunately we had to leave around 12:30 for our 2 pm flight. Tho it turned out this wasn't really necessary given the 5 pm departure time thanks to United's mechanical problems. They don't make it easy for you, but delays and all, I wouldn't have missed this trip for the world.
-sunday
Three blocks down from The W is my fav building ever and Thomas's inspiration for my wedding ring, The Chrysler Building. I'd actually never been inside it before so we decided this was the ideal time. Although we weren't able to make it to the top to see the offices (think Aviator) the lobby alone was worth the trip. The ceiling is comprised of one of the world's largest murals entitled, "Energy, Result, Workmanship and Transportation," by Edward Turnbull. The mural was inspired by man's achievement and love of enterprise. Very Fountainhead. When the building was completed it was the tallest in the world between 1929 and 1931. Per this source, in what was certainly one of the greatest secrets and publicity coups in Manhattan real estate history, the famous stainless steel top was installed to the public's utter surprise in about 90 minutes in November, 1929. The tip of spire was 1046 feet high. The stainless steel cladding had been hidden in five pieces within the building's shell and was hoisted out of the top of the building and riveted into place. Can you just imagine walking out of your apartment one day and looking up and suddenly seeing that spire, virtually appearing out of nowhere? What a gift to the city! Also a joy to behold were the marble floors and the gorgeous Art Deco elevators. I envy the people who get to work in that building. Funnily enough, we met an extremely talkative lady from Alabama who'd come to check out the building. Her son just graduated from law school and is set to join a practice whose offices are in the Chrysler building. Lucky guy.
After that, we continued our Art Deco architecture tour and visited the Waldorf Astoria. It's also a gorgeous building, particularly the lobby. We decided to have dinner at Oscars there and enjoyed the Veal Oscar and of course, a Waldorf salad which was especially delicious. The entire time I ate it I thought of the hilarious Fawlty Towers ep where a group of Americans come in and demand this dish of the beleaguered Fawlty.
The next day we headed downtown on the subway for breakfast at The Cupping Room. A relaxed cafe in Soho that has great atmosphere and serves delicious food. Cyd introduced me to it and I've been there twice before in the past year. Anyway, while I was there one of the waiters remembered me from these visits and was extremely kind. I go to Zolo in Boulder at least once a month and this has yet to happen to me there. And people say New Yorkers are rude. This was so not our experience on this trip. After breakfast we shopped some in Soho and then headed to the new Apple store on Fifth Avenue - The Glass Cube - a beauty to behold. Once inside I sent emails just because I could while Thomas marveled at the genius bar. Apple has got it down.
Next was our first Broadway musical, The Light in the Piazza at Lincoln Center. Marlene sent me a first edition of the book earlier in the year. The musical is based on the book by Mississippi author, Elizabeth Spencer. It restored my faith in musicals! I think it ties with Rent as my favorite musical ever. It won five much-deserved Tonys last year, including Best Music, Best Lead Actress for the divine Victoria Clark, and Best Scenic and Costume Design. The story, the performers, the sets and the music were beyond wonderful. Light takes you through a range of emotions from humor to heartbreak. I cannot recommend this one more. Hopefully it will have a traveling show. We then had an early dinner at a fab Italian joint called Cafe Fiorello where Thomas and I split a wonderful proscuitto pizza and a pear salad.
Finally we ventured to our next musical, Threepenny Opera, showing at Studio 54. My expectations for this one were extremely high because starring in it were Cindy Lauper, Alan Cumming and our fav, Nellie McKay. This was a revival of the Bertl Brecht work and the only song you're likely to have heard of from it is Mac the Knife. Things started out poorly when we were crammed into seats with legroom that made United Economy seem extremely generous. Things got worse when the depressed looking cast appeared on a poorly lit stage. And they kept getting worse as all the music sounded like a funeral dirge. All I can say is Brecht and this revival's adaptor, Wallace Shawn, must both be a couple of extremely depressed people. The story and the direction of this show were beyond horrible. Allison, Marlene and I were all up for leaving at intermission, but Thomas somehow enjoyed Threepenny's twisted, satirical world. I do have to say that Cumming and McKay were great performers, as were scene stealers Jim Dale (voice of all the Harry Potter audio books) and Brian Charles Rooney as cross-dresser Lucy. Lauper was a disappointment. We decided the seats were so uncomfortable to prevent you from falling asleep and escaping the visual and auditory torture.
The next morning we were joined for brunch at Heartbeat, the hotel's restaurant, by Thomas's aunts and diehard New Yorkers, Mary Ellen and Anne. A good time was had by all. Unfortunately we had to leave around 12:30 for our 2 pm flight. Tho it turned out this wasn't really necessary given the 5 pm departure time thanks to United's mechanical problems. They don't make it easy for you, but delays and all, I wouldn't have missed this trip for the world.
-sunday
posted by Sunday at
10:23 AM
3 Comments:
I am sorry you had such a bad time at our show :(
Threepenny is not a typical musical - this version tried to be as true to the original 1928 German production in its mood... I think the director took Brecht's "alienation" technique too literally :( Where it means constantly reminding the audience that they are watching a play, in order to prevent them from living viacariously through the characters, and as a result also preventing them from rationalizing the behavior of the characters in order to highlight social issues - our director thought that "alienation" meant pissing people off :( in a way...
I hope I made you laugh a little - and freaked you out some with my crazy vocal range ;)
-Brian Charles Rooney
By
Anonymous, at 6/08/2006 1:02 AM
Hey Sunday, I just love reading the highlights of your trips, keep em coming! :)
By
Jen, at 6/08/2006 7:35 AM
OMG! If you are really Brian Charles Rooney you have made my day. Before I wrote the above entry I googled you. Your scene in your boudoir was the highlight of the entire musical for me. It was a moment of lightness in an otherwise dark dark show. And you're right, your vocal range was unbelievable. I was with my mother-in-law who studied vocals at Julliard and she was amazed by your voice. Seriously, bravo to you. And thanks for the explanation of the director's intent. I really appreciate it. Good luck to you and I'll be looking out for your future performances.
By
Sunday, at 6/08/2006 8:16 AM
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