foxy

Although I’m a big Sondheim fan it sometimes takes me a few times seeing one of his shows for it to grow on me. Sunday In The Park With George for one. I saw the original production and just shrugged. Eventually after a few more I saw the one with Jake Gyllenhaal (big sigh) from the second row orchestra. I thought he was great and the best production I experienced. Now I’m going to get totally shameless. A friend of mine, a screen writer invited me to a private screening of the movie Stronger. Jake being the star hosted a party and I got to go up to him after the screening and talked to him for a few minutes. He looked gorgeous in person close up by the way. He stood there politely while I told him how much I enjoyed his performance as George. I actually said “I couldn’t take my eyes off you” making a total fool of myself. But it was true. He didn’t seem to mind.

Today I took myself to the box office and got 5th row orchestra seats for the final performance of Into The Woods May 15. Really looking forward to seeing it as it has a good cast and Encores usually does a good production. Not sure how stripped down this will be but it’s all about the music. The last production I saw was in 2002 when Vanessa Williams played the witch. I’ll never figure out how they did that instant, right in front of your eyes change from the ugly witch to the beautiful witch. It was great stage magic. I’m also a big fan of the movie version which isn’t often the case. https://www.nycitycenter.org

He stole the show. Really.

I did see it years ago but can’t be sure what production. In a moment of madness several years ago, getting rid of stuff in my attic I threw away boxes full of Playbills going back to my 15th birthday when my sister took me to see Bye Bye Birdie. I’ve been kicking myself ever since. I think this is a good production.

Today I saw the revival of this play written by David Mamet in 1975. It stars Laurence Fishburne, Sam Rockwell and Darren Criss. I thought Sam Rockwell was especially good but he does have the showiest part. The play is considered by many to be one of the best American plays and has understandably won a number of awards. Darren Criss may be more familiar to readers for his performance in Glee and also as the serial killer Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace. He’s a multitalented performer and despite his portrayals of gay characters he’s straight. But he’s still cute.

I’ve seen several videos of Beanie singing and she was good. But that’s not 8 shows a week. Following Streisand takes chutzpah so maybe she’ll pull it off. I guess we’ll find out.

There was a lot of décolletage at the Oscars this year. Some ill-conceived. So Timothee showed restraint.

When I was in the Army we were instructed “This is my rifle, this is my gun. This is for shooting, this is for fun”. Words to live by.

Calling Lea Michele now

It’s ironic when you think how all these people in the movie industry who were understandably shocked at this display of violence especially when the majority of the product they make is so violent. Sort of a disconnect it seems to me.

But maybe…..Has anyone asked John Travolta about this?

When they pee? it seems 9 times out of 10 when I use a public urinal there’s always a big puddle of pee on the floor. It’s disgusting. So I stand with my feet 2 feet apart not wanting to step in it. I realize I’m probably stepping in all sorts of awful stuff when I’m out walking so I usually take my shoes off and leave them by the door when I get home. Apparently a maintenance guy came up with the brilliant and simple solution of putting a realistic image of a fly on the back of urinals. That was over 20 years ago. Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam is one of the places I’ve seen them. You can’t resist aiming at them and the floor stays dry. I feel sorry for the people who have to clean this mess up every day. I think they should be mandatory.

I saw two shower scenes. One had all the players. It stuck out (pun intended) because one of the actors looked like he had a semi hard on. But I think he was just gifted.

What confuses me is that Smith laughed at first when the joke was told. Was it Jada’s annoyed look that made him get up and smack Chris Rock? Did Smith think he’d be in trouble when they got home if he didn’t do anything? His meandering weird acceptance speech made it even worse. Unfortunately it became the highlight, or maybe the lowlight of the show. It’s strange that for an industry based on entertainment the Oscars is usually so boring.

Happy to say I’ve seen Sutton Foster in a number of Broadway shows and she’s always wonderful. But I’m not sure about seeing this new production of Music Man. She was at one time married to Christian Borle who is in this new Encores production of Into The Woods May 4-15 at City Center. Hoping to get tickets this week. I’ve also seen her brother Hunter Foster several times and he’s also very talented. I’d love to see them do something together. When Hunter was in a revival of Little Shop of Horrors about 2003 they were doing a collection for Broadway Cares. For a $20 donation Hunter and Kerry Butler who played Audrey would pose for a photo with you. As the photo was being taken I slipped my arm around Hunter who I had a bit of a crush on. I have a framed copy of the photo and it always makes me smile.

In the “good old days” during Shakespeare’s time it was common practice for people to yell and boo at the actors often throwing fruit at them. I believe opera performances were equally raucous. So I suppose todays audiences are not as bad by comparison. Still I have no problem tapping people who are talking during a performance with my playbill and putting a finger to my lips to signify they should shut up. I’d like to think my expression is one of sadness that they are idiots and don’t know better. This is hard to do wearing a mask.

I’ve never understood the attraction for Rolex watches. I don’t find them attractive. I once had a real one in front of me and a good fake and you couldn’t tell the difference till you picked them up and there was a noticeable difference in weight. The real Rolex being much heavier. As for the gold content there really isn’t much if you melted it down. If I was going to buy an expensive watch it would be a Cartier tank watch. Much more elegant in my opinion. My father was given a gold Jules Jorgensen at retirement many years ago. He never wore it. I wore it a few times then gave it to a nephew when he graduated from high school. I told him he had to wind it which I think amused him. I’m not sure if he ever wore it.

Japan has the best toilets. TP seems almost disgusting after you’ve used these toilets. I buy very little toilet paper. Not so much for the environment but it’s just a cleanliness thing. Your white briefs will thank you.

I saw the play today and enjoyed it. A group of attractive long time gay male friends in their 30’s meet in a house they’ve rented for the weekend in Palm Springs. They are there to reconnect and revisit some old memories of good times shared together. And have some sex. The dialogue is fast paced, witty and sometimes bitchy. There are contemporary social and pop references that I don’t always relate to. There are times when they put on wigs and caftans dance and lip sync to pop tunes. I’ve never done that with my gay male friends. I can’t quite picture doing it. One thing I have been pondering however and the show title makes that clear, they often refer to each other as “girl”. It doesn’t bother me and I understand why it’s camp and funny but I also can’t imagine referring to any of my gay male friends as “girl”. It’s probably because I’m old and stodgy. Still it’s a fun show and the audience, which looked surprisingly straight had a good time. I’d recommend it.

John Travolta is an actor. I think that sums it all up.

I saw the play first at the Joseph Papp Public Theater in 2002 twice. Today I saw this new production. 20 years was long enough for me to have forgotten a lot of the plot details so in some ways it seemed new to me. It’s a good play and much of it still feels relevant. It’s interesting that naked men on stage still seems like a big deal.

I now have tickets for the Wednesday matinee May 18. Much better seat choices at the box office. Center orchestra seats. Looking forward to seeing it. I hope it doesn’t rain.

It’s really good. I hope he survives this horrible war.

I have a ticket for this next Saturday. I don’t really know anything about it but I’ve had a long history visiting Palm Springs so I think it should be fun. The guys look cute. https://2st.com/shows/to-my-girls

I’m now aiming for mid-May so will hit the box office this coming Tuesday. Curious to see what they have available. It should be good I think.