Despite the nasty weather and snow and freezing cold I have been scheduling and then attending lots of things and stuff. I actually drafted this posting on Saturday but didn’t get around to finishing it up until this afternoon, Wednesday, so the timing and tense(s) may be a bit off.Before getting into the details, and I know for some of you too many details, I just have to comment that this posting typifies why I remain in The Big Apple during the winter rather than heading somewhere to a warmer climate. Where else, my loyal and faithful readers, could I even approach the things that I have scheduled and done for the timeframe covered in this posting, roughly from January 29th to February 12th?
This is why Billi Pod aka Reverse Snowbird aka Bill Norris lives in the Greatest City in the World, The Big Apple. So, without further ado, lets get on with the narrative ... beginning with ...
Monday, February 2 - at 1:00 I had my semiannual HIV test and the results were NEGATIVE. Then I had a late lunch down in the Lower Eastside at Spitzer Corner with student/bartender/manager Scott Reed. It was excellent. This coming weekend Scott is flying out to Seattle for a whirlwind first time visit, including snow boarding at Whistler, British Columbia. Have fun Fabson, have fun.
8:00 - “Plan B, The Musical” - Off Broadway. “This musical comedy in one act, tells the story of a young scientist named Johnny who is working on the Perfect Woman, a robot named Isabel. Old man Jack, his boss at the lab, makes fun of Johnny for his youthful idealism but secretly admires the perfect robot, who is much easier to control than his daughter Julia, the foul-mouthed garbage woman at the lab who knows a thing or two about science. Julia helps Johnny build Isabel, secretly trying to win him over and prove to him that only a real woman can in fact be perfect.” (complimentary ticket).
I thought this was very funny and very well performed. I laughed a lot.
Tuesday - Happy 54th Birthday to my daughter Kathi Bendeck of Columbia, SC. Yeah, I was kinda (read very) young when I got married for the first time.
7:00 - “Lansky” - Off Broadway. This is the press blurb about this show: “American and Israeli star Mike Burstyn portrays Meyer Lansky, the infamous gangster who masterminded some of the most ingenious wealth management systems for his gangland brethren. The play also deals with Lanskys little-known efforts to become an Israeli citizen and uses his life story as a crucible to explore Jewish identity and the choices that some first-generation Americans made in order to achieve wealth and success.” (discounted TDF ticket).
This is in early previews and it sounds very interesting.
Wednesday - 7:30 - New York Philharmonic Orchestra @ Lincoln Center. The program is: All Mendelssohn - Overture to ruy Bus; Violin Concerto (featuring Anne-Sophia Mutter); and “The First Walpurgis Night.” (subscription series)
I have renewed my New York Philharmonic subscription for 2009/2010, for 3 weeknight series, which will result in 21 concerts plus 3 free concerts I get to select later.
Thursday - Happy Birthday to Sandy Mullon of Anna Maria, FL.
8:00 - “Music in the Air” - Off Broadway. “Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert presents a new staged concert production of MUSIC IN THE AIR, a 1932 musical by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II. Broadway favorite Kristin Chenoweth is joined by a large cast along with The Encores! Orchestra. Lovingly restored by the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, it has not been seen in its original form since its premiere Broadway engagement in 1932. Set in Munich, it tells of an aging rural music teacher, his naively charming daughter and their misadventures trying to break into the cynical, world-weary theater scene in the big city. Songs include Ive Told Evry Little Star and The Song Is You.” (discounted TDF ticket).
The Encores! can be hit or miss but my experience has been more hit than miss.
Friday - 8:00 - “This Beautiful City” - Off Broadway. “A provocative new play with music about the expansion of the Evangelical movement in Colorado Springs. While interviews were being conducted with people involved with or affected by the mega-church movement, scandal broke about New Life Church pastor Ted Haggard and shook the entire city. This show is an intriguing and timely look at faith and how it affects the American landscape.” (discounted TDF ticket).
Yep, this is gonna fall into the “hate it or love it” category, without a doubt,
Saturday - 8:00 - “Jeffery Self: People I Slept With Who Never Called Back.” Off Broadway. “Anyone who's waited by the phone (or avoided it) will enjoy this ode to the crossed lines of the hookup world from hilarious writer-performer Jeffery Self. Those on his personal list would be wise to come see what mud is slung--but prepare to duck!” (full price ticket).
This one man show is being performed at a space called Ars Nova located way way West on 54th Street. They usually have very interesting cutting-edge stuff. I am seeing this show on Scott’s recommendation.
Sunday - 3:00 - “Joshua Bell, violin and Jeremy Denk, piano @ Avery Fisher Hall.” Wow, I was able to score a rear orchestra seat for this concert. The program is: Jancek - Sonata for Violin and Piano; Brahms - Violin Sonata No. 3; Ysae - Violin Sonata No. 2; and, Franck - Violin Sonata in A major. (discounted TDF ticket).
Monday - “33 Variations” - Broadway. This show stars Jane Fonda and is in very early previews: “A new American play about passion, parenthood and the moments of beauty that can transform a life, 33 Variations tells the story of Beethoven's fascination with a trivial waltz and the modern day musicologist who sets out to discover the roots of his obsession. From present-day New York to 19th-century Austria, it portrays a mother coming to terms with her daughter and a composer coming to terms with his genius. And, even though they are separated by 200 years, these two people share an obsession that might, even just for a moment, make time stand still.” (discounted TDF ticket).
Tuesday, February 10 - 8:00 - “The Story of My Life” - Broadway. The advance press blurb for this show is: “This new Broadway musical stars Will Chase and Malcolm Gets. It is a funny and moving tale of two lifelong best friends, Thomas and Alvin, and takes an intimate look at friendship, the personal cost of success and the choices made at the turning points in our lives.” (discounted TDF ticket)
The advance buzz on this show has been very mixed and I will be seeing it in very early previews.
Wednesday - Happy Birthday to Ginger Flowers of Atlanta, GA.
2:00 - “Becky Shaw” - Off Broadway. “A newlywed couple fixes up two romantically challenged friends: wife's best friend, meet husbands sexy and strange new coworker. When an evening calculated to bring happiness takes a dark turn, crisis and comedy ensue. This wicked new comedy asks what we owe the people we love and the strangers who land on our doorstep.” (discounted TDF ticket).
At 10:30 my favorite new comedian, Demetri Martin, premieres his new comedy show, “Important Things with Demetri Martin,” on Comedy Central and I will schedule something that will insure I will be back in the apartment in time for his show.
Thursday - 8:00 - “The Savannah Disputation” - Off Broadway. “Resurrect this! When susceptible Catholic spinster Margaret politely admits door-to-door Pentecostal missionary Melissa into her home, her seemingly-solid faith starts to waver much to the chagrin of her feisty sister Mary. But who's the blasphemer and who's the believer? Before long, the God-fearing sisters have ambushed their steadfast guest with the aid of an unsuspecting local priest, setting the scene for a smackdown of truly biblical proportions.” (discounted TDF ticket).
Now this really sounds interesting, doesn’t it?
I think it is a very interesting upcoming 10 days, too, don’t you?
What about the shows that I attended since the Thursday, January 29th, posting you are no doubt breathlessly asking? Well, in summary fashion --
Thursday the 29th was “Jason and the Argonauts” at 6:00, and it was a very well performed highly acrobatic two man show involving the mythological story of the quest for the Golden Fleece.
When this show was over I had plenty of time to make it uptown for the 8:30 performance of “Ride” at the theater on 59th Street. In this show a man and a woman wake up in bed together naked, neither can remember how they got there, or who the other is. For whatever reason this show didn’t turn me on very much, in fact, it didn’t do anything for me because, it sucked.
Friday night, January 30th, was a show downtown in SoHo called “Sixty Miles to Silver Lake,” about a divorced father driving his teenage son from soccer practice to the father’s residence in Silver Lake for weekend visitation. The house for this performance was full. I sat next to a friend named Will, who is an actor, and we both loved the acting but had no clue what the author’s message was/is. I do recommend the show, however, for the acting alone.
When I got back to the apartment after the show I learned that I have been living in a brothel since July 2001. More details in an upcoming post.
On Saturday afternoon I met up with John and Claudia Bullock of Columbia, SC, who were in town for the weekend to celebrate John’s 50th birthday. John retired from the Army and is now involved in the Juvenile Justice System in Columbia and Claudia is a very successful hairstylist. We had a nice lunch at an Italian Restaurant on Restaurant Row on 46th Street and afterwards I guided them downtown to Little Italy so Claudia could do some shopping.
That night was an Off Broadway drama called “White People” - “What does it mean to be a white American? A brutally honest and surprisingly funny examination of race and language in our culture, White People follows the lives of three ordinary Americans placed under the spotlight: Martin, a Brooklyn-born high powered attorney for a white-shoe law firm in St. Louis; Mara Lynn, a housewife and former homecoming queen in Fayetteville, North Carolina; and Alan, a young professor struggling to find his way in New York. Through heart-wrenching confessions, they wrestle with guilt, prejudice, and the price they and their children must pay for their actions.” (discounted TDF ticket).
I have to admit that I left this show not understanding how I felt about the message and/or the characters. I am still processing the show and the jury remains out. It has gotten mixed reviews.
Oh, man, this has gone on for much much too long, so ... let me close by asking ... do you kinda, maybe, sorta, etc. understand why Billi Pod is here in the Big Apple during the winter? I hope you do.
Go Gators!!
Billi Pod
wanjr@aol.com
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