foxy

This afternoon I took myself off to spend some time with good Company. Actually very good Company. If you’re a Sondheim fan it’s fun to try to think of a favorite show or score. He wrote some real zingers. Even without the vodka. However Company is filled with some very wonderful songs. How can you not love Patti LuPone doing her version of Ladies Who Lunch? Even Elaine Stritch liked it. I can never help thinking Ms LuPone must think “it’s fun to be me”. So the lead Bobby is now Bobbie, a woman played by Katrina Lenk who was so good in The Band’s Visit. She was good but not as strong as I would have liked in the final number Being Alive. The crowd pleaser Getting Married Today is now sung by a gay man named Jamie played by Matt Doyle. I thought he did a great job although no one, in my opinion, will ever be better than the late, great Madeline Kahn. I really liked the constantly changing and very creative set design. I don’t often see a play a second time but might make an exception in this case.

I saw it this afternoon. First time in a movie theater in over 2 years. I liked it but can understand some of the negative criticism. Still the music is wonderful and the dance numbers are exciting. There were only about 4 other people in the audience. All with grey heads. I don’t think it’s going to make a lot of money.

I saw the Radio City show December 3rd. I’ve gone every year (before the virus). So happy to have seen it. But they were not requiring the audience to wear masks if you were vaccinated. Of course I was surrounded by a million kids without masks. I kept mine on during the show and going through the jam packed lobby. I was surprised especially since the few Broadway shows I’ve seen this season required the audience to wear masks. Now more shows are closing down. So very sad for performers and audiences. Returning to live theater was going to be the one bright spot this winter.

I saw the play today and am in total agreement with everything Benjamin said. I first saw the play in 2004. Happy to say it was just as wonderful the second time around. For those that qualify I highly recommend Theater Development Fund. It’s worth the annual fee. I think it’s now $40. I got a 6th row orchestra seat on the aisle for $61. Pretty cheap by Broadway prices. You never know where you’ll be sitting until you pick up your ticket at the box office about an hour before curtain. More often than not I’ve had a really good seat at a big discount.

My mother always wore the perfume Joy by Jean Patou. I bought many bottles for her over the years. She died 13 years ago and I keep her last bottle on my dresser. Every now and then, when I miss her, I open the bottle for a sniff occasionally putting a drop on my wrist if I’m not leaving the house. I feel her presence every time. It’s nice.

That’s a good point. I’m sorry I didn’t think to ask that. The bowling alley isn’t open to the public so I have no idea what it looks like. Happily the garden was saved.

The only person I could ever imagine living with would be a husband I really loved and could put up with. A platonic roommate would really get on my nerves. When my husband of 42 years died several friends said “you’ll meet someone else”. My reply was “I hope not”.

While the Frick is undergoing its renovation for the next couple of years seeing the collection at the Breuer gives a whole new perspective to the art. A few years ago as a member I got to see the second floor of the Frick mansion. It was fun to see what were the living quarters turned into office space which will now be exhibition space. Going up the staircase I got a better look at the pipe organ which sadly is no longer used. There was a time if you were rich enough you had two things in your mansion. A pipe organ and a bowling alley in the basement. The Frick has a bowling alley and the staff is allowed to use it. The new Halls of Gems and Minerals is now open at the American Museum of Natural History and it’s spectacular.

I have a lot of stuff. Some is valuable and a lot is not. Some are things I’ve inherited from my family. I love all of it. I’ve never had a cleaning person. I actually like to clean because I get to play with my stuff. It’s all carefully arranged. No cleaning person could deal with it. I’m a clean freak. You won’t find any dust in my house. Much of it is from international travels I did with my late husband. It all has meaning to me. As I hold some little trinket I’m transported back to a little market in Tunisia or a walk through Rome or Paris. It will mean nothing to my heirs or those who have to get rid of it all. I’ve had to clean out a few family households. It’s not that bad. My heirs will inherit a nice bit of cash. Let them call Got Junk. Or as I recommend in my papers an auction house. I could downsize to a little apartment or continue to live in the house that I shared with my husband for 35 mostly happy years. It’s not “just stuff” it’s a record of my life.

I don’t care for the images either. I can understand why you chose them but they just don’t work together. I’m not sure I understand what you mean about changing the display.

For a scaled back funeral I thought it was very impressive and beautifully done. Say what you want about the Brits, they do pomp better than any other country. I wouldn’t mind having one of those uniforms. The hymn Jerusalem always chokes me up for some reason.

Jason Markus!!! OMG!

It’s so hard for me to believe the Gaiety has now been gone for 16 years. How is that possible? So many fun filled memories. Aside from the obvious pleasure of watching the show and meeting the dancers I’m happy to report that Cooper and I bonded and have remained good friends all these years. Except for the pandemic we continued meeting in the city almost every Wednesday to take in a Broadway show, have lunch or dinner and continue on with cocktails. For years that was Splash Bar and when that closed (very sadly) we moved on to other bars. In the last few years that has been Hardware. Even though we haven’t been able to see each other in person this last year we text almost every day. I‘m looking forward to resuming our weekly meetings. I‘ve been reading some of our old reviews and have to admit they are pretty amusing. It was fun doing them and we got help from other posters like Lucky. Cooper and I had a standing date to meet and go to the first show on Mondays. After the show we’d head to a local bar or restaurant and compare notes. We actually took notes during the show. We took our job pretty seriously believe it or not. Although sometimes Cooper would see a dancer he liked and take off mid-show. But I would get a report later on so it was fine. Looking back it’s hard to believe the Gaiety existed. I guess we’ll never see anything like it again.

Why do so many men throw away illustrious careers just to get laid? I’d think there would be enough willing people who’d happily go along with a role in the hay with someone famous. Why pursue someone who isn’t interested? But I think of a man I used to work with who would say, laughingly “what good is power if you can’t abuse it?” What a terrible way to be remembered.

These 4 Matthew Bourne ballets are being streamed through City Center. You can get all 4 for $50 or buy individually for $15. You can watch them more than once which is nice. I've seen Swan Lake live a few times and have always enjoyed it. I'd never seen the others so I was happy to subscribe. I just watched The Car Man and its really sexy and great fun.

No live performance this year but you can stream it August 1. It's free but you can donate to a good cause. https://broadwaycares.org/pre-event/broadway-bares-zoom-in/

I've taken a number of harbor cruises with this line around Manhatten and they're always great. The Pride Sail Proceeds are going to the Hetrick-Martin Institute. Sail with PRIDE | Classic Harbor Line - Sail NYC

The Philip Glass opera Satyagraha is streaming tonight June 21 on metopeta.org. It’s available free for 24 hours. Should be a good production if you like the music of Philip Glass. I do and I’m looking forward to watching. I’ve never seen it performed.

It ended I thought on a very high poignant note. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEeHQed9_zg

Very good. Worth watching.

I just finished watching this. It’s fascinating and really quite good. I’d recommend it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXXQeD1G5FA:0

I finally caught up with The Tudors. There's some nice eye candy with two if it's stars and a bit of sex here and there. I was hoping to escape the daily news but the episode where the plague comes to England was as scary as the current headlines. I do think Henry Cavill one of the most gorgeous guys around.

His plays will live on forever. Closest thing you can get to immortality. True genius.

It’s been a few years since I’ve seen him onstage in person in Harbor in 2013. He looked incredible then and I expect he still does. He’s one of those fortunate guys who not only doesn’t age, but gets better as time goes by.