Spring!

A stunning day in New York. Blossoms in Central Park

and the West Village

The window at the Museum of Natural History was calling me

It was an edible garden display

I'm a sucker for colored lights. Bet it looks gorgeous at night.

My destination was East 77th St. The Carlyle has lost another icon now that Elaine Stritch has moved away this week.

Either one of these would do nicely, thank you.

I'd even settle for the one next door.

Lady M is a smart tea room for LADIES so I didn't dare cross the threshold.

Even though the cakes looked equal opportunity

Next door is Cynthia Rowley

A frock shop with a Grimm's fairy tale entrance.
My business completed I boarded the subway to the Village where I saw Michael Urie in BUYER & CELLAR, a very funny one-man show based on a fictional relationship between Barbra Streisand and the young man hired to work in the faux shopping mall under her house where she stores all her artifacts (the shopping mall is true; the idea that someone actually works in it is the conceit of the play and it is both hilarious and touching). Anyway, this is what was staring me in the face on the downtown subway.

Campbell Sports Center

Columbia University's new Campbell Sports Center has livened up my rather drab neighbourhood and is the subject of a detailed critique in this week's NEW YORK magazine.

Designed by Steven Holl with his partner Chris McVoy, the Center sits in a neighbourhood of plain brick apartment buildings and playing fields, right next to  busy Broadway traffic and the elevated subway track.

As Justin Davidson's article puts it, "At first glance this building seems foreign...nobody would call it contextual, and yet it's the only building around that deals with the surroundings in all their jagged complexity."

"It's not an especially friendly building", continues Davidson, "but in the rain or at dusk the lights go on and the staircase railings, which look solid in daylight, show their...perforated patterns of light and airy lines. Then the building's metallic quirkiness comes out, mingling with lyricism on a corner where you'd expect it least."

Jammin' With Sam

Back at the York Theatre where I did the PEG O' MY HEART reading a few weeks ago, this time for the SONGS OF SAM WILLMOTT repeating my song from the Roald Dahl musical "boy".

 I was last on the bill which gave me sufficient time to forget my words but it was so wonderful to hear selections from some of Sam's other shows and to meet some terrific young performers new to me.

Matthew Schechter repeated his triumph as Young Roald in "boy"

Etai BenShlomo, Larkin Bogan, Alyse Alan Louis and Grace McLean

Alyse & Larkin

Matthew Schechter, Griffin Birney, Melissa van der Schyff and Sam Tedaldi

Melissa & Sam

Sam & Etai

Grace scored with the tongue twisting song "The Witches"

Etai and Larkin have done many of these sorts of gigs together and are old pals.

 

Theatrical royalty in the house!

And food in the foyer after!

A Thousand Gowns

Twas a night of high glamour at the Hilton in NYC last night for the 27th annual NIGHT OF A THOUSAND GOWNS to benefit GMHC and GLAAD. I was an "Honorary Co-Chair" along with 32 other people which meant dusting off the tux and introducing part of the entertainment, in this case the singer Karen Mason. I invited my dear friend Steve Schepis to join me on the podium and wrote some witty repartee about how he had played Young Bernadette in PRISCILLA, a character which I haughtily pretended not to remember despite his jibes that I was OLD Bernadette, but between us EVERY night in PRISCILLA was a night of a thousand gowns.

 Our banter was greeted with scattered laughs and applause but mostly silence as everyone was concentrating on trying to eat their mozzarella salad without spilling it on their expensive satin frocks.

We were very fortunate to be on in the first fifteen minutes because after that everything went to hell and the audience just talked loudly through everything.

 

The opening number was a medley from FOLLIES which was mimed to ten minutes of selections from the cast album and the gowns were gorgeous.

After a lovely dinner, smart entertainment and a gander at the silent auction items I began to wilt and slunk off after three hours, only to discover it was the first intermission and there were two more segments to go! I hope everyone had a truly splendid night and I'll update this entry as more photos become available.

Karen Mason

taylor dayne

Christian Borle

Cat Power- MANHATTAN

Heartbreaker

I remember coming to New York in 1979 as a tourist, standing in the TKTS line and hearing people sneer at the idea of a show called SWEENEY TODD. "It's about turning people into HAMBURGER, for God's sake", somebody barked. Well, apparently the same thing is happening to a beautiful little show called HANDS ON A HARDBODY. Not only can the general public not get their heads around the title but "It's about a TRUCK, for God's sake!"

TT and I had seen the workshop presentation a couple of years ago thanks to our darling Keala Settle from PRISCILLA and we were totally blown away by the piece. Seeing it on Broadway yesterday at a Wednesday matinee nearly all the same elements were there to be savoured and yet I could hear rumblings of disappointment in the audience. Is it really true that we must simply follow Nellie Melba's instruction, "Sing 'em muck"?

The show is a slice of life portrait of an endurance test: ten ordinary people in Longview, Texas standing with their hands on a truck. Last man standing wins the truck. There are personality clashes, romances, sex, secrets and lies. It has elements of A CHORUS LINE and THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY?

The cast are all wonderful across the board and I'm told they're heartbroken that their show has been met with such a lukewarm reception despite largely positive reviews. There is no doubt business would be helped if the company could perform some of the numbers on television but the publicists seem to have dropped the bundle.

Keala's roof raising showstopping number "Joy of the Lord" will hopefully be chosen to appear on the TONY Awards and I'm sure the show and cast will also be nominated but the general feeling is that by then it could be too late.

Cheap tickets are available through several outlets so if you haven't seen HANDS ON A HARDBODY....save this show!!!!! For the sake of good musical theatre.