Tuesday - Upcoming events report

Good afternoon everyone. The Big Apple is expecting a cold front to move in starting Wednesday, bringing with it the coldest weather of the winter so far. Not that much snow is predicted but over the weekend it is forecast to be in the low teens and single digits.

Has the weather forecast impacted my entertainment schedule, you ask? Well, if you are a loyal and faithful reader of this blog you already know the answer - of course the f**k not.

This is my entertainment and activity schedule for the next 8 days --

Tuesday - 7:15 - “Terre Haute” - Off Broadway. “A famous author comes face-to-face with America's most notorious terrorist. As the clock ticks on death row, the bond between the two men grows. A scorching new play inspired by Gore Vidal's famous essays on Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh from one of America's greatest living writers, author of A Boy's Own Story.” (discounted TDF ticket)

Wednesday - noonish - lunch some place with student/bartender/manager Scott Reed, if he will just get off his lazy ass and tell me where and when.

7:00 - “Third Story” - Off Broadway. This show stars renowned actress Kathleen Turner and the press blurb is: “A mother and son screenwriting team hunker down in Omaha after fleeing Commie-obsessed 1940s Hollywood. A romantically-inclined but socially-inept princess makes a deal with an ancient witch. And tommy guns meet test tubes as a way-too-well-dressed first lady of the mob forms a desperate alliance with a cloning scientist whose experiments have had, um, less-than-consistent results. Gangster flicks, fairy tales, and B-movie sci-fi collide in this epic comic fable from the imagination of Charles Busch.” (discounted TDF ticket).

I think this show sounds very interesting and Kathleen Turner is usually great.

Thursday - in the morning I have my semi-annual finger-up-the-butt (aka a DRE or Digital Rectal Examination) appointment with my urologist, Dr. Erik T. Goluboff, who is Director of Urology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

7:30 - “Krapp, 39” - Off Broadway. “A voyeuristic prefiguring of Samuel Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape, and a deeply personal window on one man's last moment of youth. Reeling on his 39th birthday, an actor's obsessive identification with Beckett's famous character compels him to examine his own quixotic life and failures. His hilarious and heart breaking self-scrutiny plays out through intimate audio tapes, archival video, raw journal entries, haunted letters, racy confessions, and recorded conversations with the living and the lost.” (complimentary ticket).

OK! OK! - stop your snickering. I know that I have scheduled a play called Krapp after having someone stick his finger up my butt. I get it, OK? Stop it. Don’t make me come and get you.

Friday - 8:30 - “Ride” - Off Broadway. “When a man and a woman wake up in bed together naked, neither can remember how they got there, or who the other is. In the harsh light of the morning after, they attempt to make sense of what may or may not have happened between them. As they are forced to reveal more of themselves, a complex snapshot of modern intimacy gradually comes into focus.” (complimentary ticket).

Saturday - 8:00 - “Oscar and the Pink Lady” - Off Broadway. The star of this one-person play is Rosemary Harris. The press blurb is: “The play tells the story of a young hospital patient and his uplifting relationship with an elderly volunteer "Pink Lady," whose daily visits provide him with inspiration and hope.” (discounted TDF ticket).

I am really looking forward to this show. Rosemary Harris is a true theater legend.

Sunday - a day/evening of football, first the 3:30 Philadelphia vs. Arizona game for the NFL Championship and then at 6:30 the Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh game for the AFC Championship. You know, I really don’t care who wins these games, I am just looking forward to good football.

Monday - open at the moment.

Tuesday - 7:30 - New York Philharmonic Orchestra @ Avery Fisher Hall. The program is: Knussen’s Violin Concerto performed by Pinchas Zukerman; and, Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. (subscription series)

So, I hope you will agree with me that it looks like a very interesting 8 days.

Some observations about shows and stuff since my last postings --

“Home” (Tuesday, 1/7) - was a very well performed drama about a black farmer and his life from the 1950s through the Civil Rights era.

“For Lover’s Only” (Friday, 1/9) - this show-case production featured 5 performers weaving together 100 love songs and it was outstanding. I hope it can find backing for an Off Broadway run.

It was bitterly cold on Friday and I had scheduled a show called “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind,” which I described in an earlier posting, for 10:30. It was a complimentary ticket so I had to go or face problems with the ticket service, so ... gasp ... at 9:30 I braved the frigid weather, went downtown to The East Village, picked up my ticket and then ... gasp ... came on back to my warm and cozy apartment. My bad.

“The Wrestler” (Saturday, 1/10) - I had very mixed emotions about seeing this movie, starring Mickey Rourke, about a washed-up former wrestler who wants to make a comeback and also reestablish a relationship with his estranged daughter. Well, folks, it is terrific. Rourke recently won the Golden Globe award as best actor in a drama. I don’t want to give anything away, but this is a must-see, trust me on this ...See it!!

“LIGA, 50% reward & 50% punishment” (Sunday, 1/11) - In the January 6th posting I said: “Without a doubt this will be a ‘love-it or hate-it’ show for moi” ... so my verdict is: I actually loved it a bit more than I hated it because the performers were excellent. I haven’t a clue, however, about what point the playwright was trying to make.

Finally, on Monday night I saw a very interesting Off Broadway show called “The Event” - “The Event is a one-man, comic ritual. Armed only with his memorized words, can an actor say something else? Dealing directly, honestly and humorously with the technician, the stage manager, the critics and the audience, the actor moves into dangerous and slippery territory.” (complimentary ticket). I liked this show a lot.

Have lots more stuff I could write about, but I think this posting has gone on long enough, so ...

Go Gators!!

Billi Pod
wanjr@aol.com