This is still Tuesday in New York.

So I went to dinner at Planet Hollywood, which is suddenly right in Times Square. It used to be up on 57th Street near Carnegie Hall and next to The Russian TeaRoom. It’s now in the space that was once occupied by The All Star Café (which I understand went bankrupt).

This is actually a much bigger and brighter restaurant. More open, and still filled with all sorts of movie memorabilia. I had the wonderful good luck to sit in front of the hideously hairy coats that were worn by IN Sync. At least I didn’t have to look at them.

They have video screens all around the upper part of the restaurant, and it’s got music videos on a constant loop. They were running current music videos but they also had their own compilations, which were quite clever. For example, they play "Chapel of Love" and have put together clips of some of the best movie weddings (like The Sound of Music and Runaway Bride). This was very cool. "Kung Foo Fighting" had all sorts of martial arts clips. It was interesting to watch to see what would come up next.

I had a raspberry margarita and fajitas. It was a decent meal, and not too outrageously priced.

I walked back to my hotel after I finished eating, claimed my suitcase, and finally got to my room.

It wasn’t made up.

The girl at the desk thought it was, and was clearly dismayed when I called her. After about ten minutes she called me back to tell me that she was sending a bellboy with a new room key, they were moving me.

I’m glad I hadn’t ambitiously started to unpack.

So I moved to my new room, which was quite small and hideous. And oppressively HOT! I turned on the air conditioner, but it was pretty clear that there wasn’t much hope that was going to help.

The decoration of this place was really bad. It was as if some wacky person had been watching all the episodes of "Trading Spaces" (which is a show that I happen to love), took all the bad ideas that they’ve had, and then decorated this room.

The bathroom was a sight. I can’t even begin to explain how the toilet was literally WEDGED into a corner. You had to maneuver yourself between the shower stall (no bathtub) and the sink (the smallest vanity known to man) so that ultimately your knees were touching the side of the vanity.

It was strange.

You get what you pay for.

I had enough time to unload the suitcase and get rid of some of the things that I’d been hauling around all day. Then I got changed to go to the theater and strolled back down to 45th Street to see "Bells Are Ringing".

I had an amazing seat for this show, seventh row, center, and just one off the aisle. I always go to the theater early so I can read the program and scan the audience.

Scanning led me to zero in on the couple who was at the opposite end of the row in front of me. It was Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Now for non-musical theater people the names mean nothing. To those of us who are addicted, they are right up there with Stephen Sondheim.

Comden and Green wrote "Bells Are Ringing". They also wrote "On the Town", "Applause", "The Will Rogers Follies", the stage version of "Peter Pan". And as for movies they wrote "Singin’ in the Rain"

These people are gods.

I decided that I’d get to them during intermission.

The show was really terrific. I do like Faith Prince who was playing the lead, and was so happy that they had kept the style and the design faithful to the 50’s. It reminded me of my mother’s kitchen when I was a kid.

The opening number was done as a huge television projected onto a scrim. They used lots of old commercials and news clips, then faded into the song. It was quite clever.

Faith Prince is a wonderful actress. She has great command of the stage and is a joy to watch. The leading man, Mark Kudisch has a great voice, one that reminds you of the old days of Broadway where men really knew how to sing.

Several of the critics killed the show (but not Faith Prince) for being old and dated, but of course it is!!! It’s supposed to be!!! It was written to take place in the 50’s for goodness sake! None of the events that take place in the show COULD take place now!! I don’t understand why the critics can’t appreciate having a show be true to itself and allow the audience to just enjoy the simplicity of the original intent.

At intermission I made my way to Comden and green, had to wait a bit, but had the chance to talk to them and get their autographs. According to the Playbill they have been partners for about 60 years. They looked it. They have to be well into their eighties. But they were totally gracious and lovely to talk to.

I went back to my seat happily clutching my program.

Back at my seat, the woman who had been in the aisle seat sat back down. I commented that I liked her jacket, and we started chatting about clothes. Suddenly, in the middle of the conversation, a light dawned.

Me: Are you who I think you are? (Now isn’t’ that a brilliant line?)

Woman: Well, I am an actress.

Me: And you’re Lea Thompson! (As if she didn’t know!!)

For those who are thinking "I know that name, but who is she?", she was in "Caroline in the City" and "Back to the Future’ (Michael J. Fox’s mother/girlfriend) and one of my favorites, "Space Camp". I told her that we showed Space Camp to the kids at school (in a slightly edited form) and she said , "Oh my GOD!"

She may have been horrified.

In any case, she was really friendly and signed my program. We talked about things like if she was planning to come back to Broadway and how she was in NYC for only a couple of days on business then would be heading back to L.A.

I kept thinking, "Whose life is this? Things like this don’t happen to me.

Act II was just a good as Act I. I really enjoy shows where I know the music. It feels like and old friend.

After the show I decided that as long as I was in "star collector" mode that I might as well go all the way, so I waited outside the stage door to get Faith Prince’s autograph.

Mark Kudisch came out first, so I had him sign my program, as well as the guy who played the dentist. When Faith Prince finally emerged she was totally gracious, thanking those of us who were there for waiting for her, posing for pictures and chatting. As a matter of fact I went to take her picture and she noticed and posed beside the poster for the show.

To me that’s what being on Broadway is all about. Being accessible and friendly and gracious. You earn fans that way.

I met some really nice people while we were standing outside the stage door, so we all chatted about theater experiences for a while. It was fun. I love New York City.

I stopped at the Roxy Deli on my way back to the hotel (it’s right in Times Square) and indulged in white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. It was to die for. To steal a line that I’m sure I’ve heard on the Iron Chef, "it was like eating a cloud".

I got back to the hotel just after midnight. The room was like an oven. I didn’t sleep much, I was just too hot.

But it was such a good day that it didn’t matter very much to me. I was a very happy individual.