WHAT A WEEK
OK, FIRST OF ALL my husband Tim, his parents, Jessie and Tony, and sister Dorothy came last Saturday and stayed till mid day Wednesday. Tim,s mom and dad are in their early 80′s and have never been to NYC. They came to the show Sunday and were treated like royalty by the cast, especially JLY and Christian, Daniel and probably Bobby, and the rest but I only witnessed the previous. Then some of our great JB fans recognized them and treated them wonderfully. They loved the show, and I warned Tony about my swearing before hand. Tim called me at intermission and was so moved and said he had never sat that close up before (house seats) and he thought I was a really good actress. Thank goodness, because being away this long may make some sense.
After the show, and thousands of photos with cast, all five of us crammed illegally in a cab with this great Hungarian driver who ended up being a wonderful character actor in some great films we’ve all seen. He showed us his book, with photos with Robert DeNiro and Matt Damon, Brad Pitt..Law and Order etc…needless to say the 40 minute ride was very entertaining. This remarkable man had beaten colon cancer and just recently tested the waters of acting and continues to consistently work.
We then went to Nolita and ate PEASANT. This was amazing. Frankie DeCarlo (recognize the family name Gyp DeCarlo???) owns and is head chef of this rustic, charming, delicious restaurant. I spoke to him before sitting down, and he told me how he grew up with Toni and Francine Valli and the Gaudios and DeVitos and how seeing the show brought him back 20 years and how the music overwhelmed and moved him…almost as much as his generous food and appetizers and desserts that graced our table, unordered by us…we were humbled by his graciousness and 2 and a half hours later managed to part from his warm home. Well fed, and happy we strolled Little Italy catching the last hour of the St Gennaro festival and then went home.
Too sum up other things we did, the next day, (and I highly recommend this one), we went to the WTC Museum near Ground Zero. I could have spent hours there. It was so moving and whoever put this together…words can’t describe what you go through as you walk with those who were there…and those who didn’t make it. A fallen firefighter’s mother was on hand giving tours and pointing out photos of her son and telling personal stories of other “faces” on the wall…it was beautiful and haunting…we did other things there…but I’ll jump to the evening Harbor Light Cruise off of pier 42…a 2 hour guided tour in the boat circling our beloved NY…gorgeous.
The next day, I had an audition for Gossip Girl (a sassy, unamused waitress) and than joined the team at the MET for a few hours of culture and then Central Park…the weather was unbeatable every day…I went to the show then…and after the show Tim came alone and took me to Top of the Rock…gorgeous, romantic, breathtaking,..and so was Top of the Rock.
The next morning we met for breakfast, said goodbye…I did two shows and came home to an empty apt.
Next day I ordered 1,000 postcards for my cabaret…(100 is the same price as 1000) so if you see me after show passing out postcards just humor me…NOVEMBER 11, 9:30 SUNDAY NIGHT…THE LAURIE BEECHMAN THEATRE /42ND AND 9TH.
Ok, at Friday’s show the automation stopped working which means no elevator, no microphones popping up, no 4 Seasons rising out of the earth, etc…which also means 4 great looking swings, dressed in black manually setting up the microphones. Michelle Bosch our stage mgr was all calm and orderly..the show was delayed 20 minutes, the audience patient and wonderful..and again the swings saved the day…thank you Heather, Dominic, John and Graham.
Alright one show today…some surprises for fans…also thank you Irene, Wanda, Kathy, Howard for the bday cards…I’m not opening them till Tuesday….LET THE CELEBRATIONS BEGIN.