Monday, November 24, 2014

Winter Is Over - The Belle of Amherst - The Gayest Christmas Pageant Ever - Dinner with Dian, Robert and Marty - American Festival Choir



Monday==>HOORAY!! Yes, my loyal and faithful readers and followers out there in the morass known as cyberspace ... your favorite blogger is more than happy to report that it appears as though Winter is over here in The Big Apple, The Greatest City In The World.

Yes, on this Back-To-Work Monday the temperature here in Gotham City is a balmy 66º at 11:30am.

Time to break out the shorts and flip-flops.

HOORAY!!

So ... we need to get this posting started because Billi Pod feels the need to walk and wander big-time ... so ... let’s start with ...

Billi Pod’s report cards on yesterday’s entertainment doubleheader ...

First, the Off Broadway show ... 

THE BELLE OF AMHERST, Emily Dickinson welcomes the audience into her lifelong Amherst homestead in mid-19th century Massachusetts, where she found solace in solitude through much of her life==>A

Joely Richardson, the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave, brings the reclusive poet to life, making use of Dickinson’s poetry and personal observations to develop the story line. 

It becomes pretty clear that Dickinson was well aware of her personality defects that fueled her lack of desire to interact with other people.

The lighting, staging and sets were perfect.

This was the final performance of the well-received and well-reviewed run. The house was full and we gave Richardson a roaring standing ovation at curtain call.

I am so glad that I finally got to see it.

When the show was over I came back to PHC, had my usual afternoon snack, fruit and cheese, and then it was time to walk the two blocks to my second show ...

The Off Broadway show ...

THE GAYEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER, the story centers on a struggling gay theater company in West Hollywood and its quest to stage ‘the gayest Christmas pageant ever.’ But when they're left without a script at the last minute, the theater's drama-addicted cast and crew must try to pull off their very own Christmas miracle==>B

There is a lot to like and a lot to dislike about this over-the-top in-your-face parody that is basically 100% politically incorrect. Yep ... the F-word and the N-word are very much in play.

The mostly young cast does an excellent job in creating some outlandish characters that mirror virtually every conceivable gay stereotype known to the World.

To me the funniest character was the profane homophobic mother, on a walker.

Yeah, there were a lot of very funny scenes along with some "WTF was that?" scenes.

My major criticism of the show is its length. It clocked in at 1:50, without intermission, and needs to be trimmed by at least 15 minutes.

The show was playing at The Producers Theatre on West 44th Street and last night was the final performance of the limited run. I was told that they hope to bring it back in December.

Oh ... when I got back to the apartment I searched this blog and found out I had seen this show back in 2009 with about the same reaction.

OK ... moving on to today ...

Have my usual errands and chores list to work on ... then ...

At 5:00pm I will meet up with my friends Dian Crystal aka My Lady, Robert Danforth and Marty Kosarik aka Whatever, at our favorite Ethiopian restaurant, MESKE, on West 47th Street, for an early dinner and some much needed/wanted face time.

It has been a long time since the four of us were together.

When dinner is over Marty, Robert and I will leisurely walk over to Carnegie Hall on West 57th Street for ...

8:00==>AMERICAN FESTIVAL CHOIR - 4th Annual Christmas in New York Concert. The program is:

The World Premiere of “The Heart of Christmas” by Phil Barfoot and Rebecca Peck.
(concert - complimentary ticket)

The featured performers are Travis Cottrell and Marcia Ware.

OK, my loyal and faithful readers and followers ... it is time to post this and then begin work on my errands and chores list ... or ... maybe ... walk and wander ... or ... whatever ...

Oh ... the Semi-holes are currently 10-point favorites over my Gators.

In closing ... the nasty weather last week resulted in the lowest weekly walking mileage in a long long time ... oh well ...

Yesterday’s Pedometer mileage==>2.25 miles (or, 4,931 steps)

Total mileage for the week==>21.22 miles (average 3.03 miles per day)

Total mileage for 2014==>1,320.51 miles (average 4.04 miles per day)

GO GATORS!!

Billi Pod
“Don’t pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he’ll just kill you.”

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