I got up very early this morning so I could go to the TKTS booth and get a seat to something for today’s matinee. In that I hadn’t slept very much last night – it was so HOT!! – that it wasn’t a big deal to get out of bed.

There was supposed to be continental breakfast at the hotel, but I didn’t see any sign of it around. Nor did I smell any coffee, which was what I was most interested in locating. I decided not to waste my time but to just head down to the Starbucks in Times Square.

There I was able to get my calorie-laden breakfast of white chocolate mocha coffee and a Krispy Kreme donut. Thus armed I made my way across the street, where I was about third in line. There were actually four people ahead of me, but three were together, so they only count as one person.

In any case, I had just settled in for some people watching when I looked across the street and saw Michael! I tore across the street like a maniac so I could say hello. (I left my bag in the care of the stranger who was in front of me in line.) He was on his way to catch the subway because he had jury duty. He was downright shocked to see me. We spoke for about a minute and a half, and that was it.

Oddly enough I wasn’t all that surprised to run into him.

So I got back to my spot in line and the woman in front of me started chatting with me. She was from Massachusetts and lives one town over from where I live. Then we started talking to the woman behind me and the man behind her. All of us from Massachusetts.

Kinda strange.

Time passed fairly quickly and the booth opened at ten. I had really been hemming and hawing about what I wanted to see, I kept vacillating between "Kiss Me Kate" and "Jane Eyre". I finally opted for "Jane Eyre" because it was new and could potentially be nominated for Tony awards. "Kiss Me Kate" had been around for a couple of years and I saw a production of it in London many years ago, so it wasn’t something I’d never had the chance to see on stage.

I also thought about going to "42nd Street" which is a new production. But I saw that at least four times back in the 80’s and then I directed a high school production of it, so I am way too close to it. It’s very hard to see a show that you’ve lived – literally lived and breathed and ate and drank - with for five months of your life.

I have no idea what possessed me to do this, but after I got my ticket I decided to walk to "Kate’s Paperie" which is on 73rd and 3rd. I was on 47th and Broadway. That’s about thirty-one blocks!

It was a beautiful day and a lovely day for a walk, but I didn’t reckon at how long a walk it really was. The store was a HUGE disappointment and didn’t live up to its hype. It was snooty and had lots of overpriced- beautiful but overpriced- paper.

I wasn’t there long, and started the long walk back. I thought I was going to drop. My backpack was much too heavy (I had optimistically packed art supplies like cardstock and colored pencils along with the usual stuff, and my umbrella), I though my back was going to go into spasm.

But I kept on trudging.

At some point a woman fell into step beside me and started talking about all the people on cell phones, especially the ones who looked as if they were talking to themselves because they use those ear wire thingys. I don’t remember what street we were on (it might have been 53rd) when she pointed to a huge slab of concrete that was covered with graffiti and sort of tucked in an alcove. "I’ll me you didn’t know that was a piece of the Berlin Wall!"

Totally right! I parted company and went to take a look. That was a pretty incredible site. I guess it was just there as a reminder.

I somehow found the Museum of Television and radio and went in to wander. I didn’t stay long though as it’s not a wandering kind of museum, but one where you sit and watch television clips. It would be an interesting place to spend some time, but I didn’t have too much time to kill before the show.

"Jane Eyre". Two words: dark and bleak.

Of course given the subject matter it really couldn’t be anything else, but I was thinking that there would be some glimmers. Not a one. The music wasn’t very memorable, although the voices were lovely. The woman playing Jane had a very demanding part, I think she was on the stage for all but five minutes or so.

But the show was not something that I’d recommend to anyone. I don’t think I ever really cared about either of the characters. I don’t think that it’s because I know the story so well, either. I’ve been known to cry at the same place in the same movie or book countless times.

It just didn’t have anything special to draw me in.

But I’ve seen it, so if it’s Tony nominated I’ll know what they’re talking about.

After the show I went to Friday’s to grab a quick dinner (again I’d skipped lunch) and then went back to the hotel to change and rest for a bit.

At last it was time for

THE PRODUCERS

I don’t even have the words to describe the feeling in the theater. The air was vibrating with excitement, and it was as if the audience was sitting with arms wide open ready to embrace anything that was put before them.

My seat was in the first row, off to the right, but with a not that bad view. I bunched up my leather coat and sat on it so I could boost myself up a bit. The challenge was to see over the edge of the stage.

It must have been press night, as every critic in New York was there: Liz Smith, Jeffrey Lyons, Joel Segal. There were also all sorts of theater people present: Julie Christie, Elaine Stritch, Barbara Barrie, Tony Walton (he’s a scenic designer and Julie Andrews’ first husband).

I don’t have words enough to describe this show. If you have seen the movie "The Producers" you know how funny it is. Well multiply that by the biggest number you can think of and then you just might hit on how funny this show is.

Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick are just about perfect. Each of them is such a wonderful performer that when they are on stage together (which is most of the time) you don’t know which one you should watch. They are never not listening and reacting to whatever is going on in the scene, even if they’re just observers.

The other actors are quite wonderful and just perfect. I especially loved the director’s assistant "Carmen Ghia", he was so over the top that he’d make you giggle by just walking across the stage. The guy who played the director was great, as was the actor who played the playwright. There wasn’t one weak link in the entire cast.

The production numbers were among the funniest I’ve ever heard. There is one number where the old ladies that Nathan Lane is bilking tap dance with their walkers!

Of course "Springtime for Hitler" is the number that everyone was waiting for, because that’s the big production number in the movie. Well, it lived up to expectations and more! It had mirrors that tilted so you could see the dancing swastika formation, it had every insult that you can think of, and through the whole thing you were laughing so hard that the tears were pouring down your face.

Audience members were standing and screaming and cheering at the end of the number.

Nathan Lane has a number near the end of the show that is literally a summary of the entire plot to that point. It is astounding and one of the funniest sets of rhymes I’ve ever heard. Nathan Lane is just a master at this kind of thing.

At the end of the show, when Nathan lane and Matthew Broderick took their curtain call together, the entire audience stood and cheered and hollered and stomped their feet. It was such an exciting moment! The show hasn’t even opened yet, but everyone is just buzzing about what a hit it is.

I am so glad that I was able to see it. It has to be one of the theater highlights of my life.

After the show – continuing in my star collector mode – I went to the stage door to wait for autographs and pictures. They were putting up a police barrier and this one guy tried to muscle me out, but I held my ground and landed right up front. I was also on the side that the door opened out to, so this was the side that the actors would see first as they emerged.

All the aforementioned critics and actors came out first, but none stopped to sign autographs. The first performer from the show to come out was the Carmen Ghia character and I had him sign my book. Then came Nathan Lane – much cheering and shouting and flashes from cameras, but he had his own pen and signed every program that was put in front of him. He is just so cute. He’s very short and has those eyebrows that make him look perpetually puzzled.

It took a while, but Matthew Broderick finally emerged. He too is shorter than I expected (but taller than Nathan Lane), and he’s as cute in person as he is when he’s Ferris Bueller. He signed autograph after autograph and posed for pictures whenever he was asked.

It was a swell night.

I again indulged in white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, but had some coffee this time as well – it was downright cold! From there I walked slowly back to the hotel. It was cold, but it was also my last night to see the lights of the city for a while, so I wanted to savor it.

It had been a great day.