On the Road Again
We got on the road at about two-thirty this afternoon. Dee had her doctor’s appointment (all is fine) and came over as soon as she got out. We hopped in my buggy and hit the road. I was, of course, driving.
The day had been humid and overcast, and rain was promised in this area. I don’t know if that was a promise kept or not.
But in New York and Connecticut it was a promise that had been kept with a vengeance!
There was flooding in the streets, on the highways, in the subways, on the railroads. Transportation was halted in all sorts of places.
Unfortunately I was totally oblivious to all of this.
I should have realized something was up when the Today Show allowed the spectators INSIDE the building. They’re usually outside through rain, sleet, snow, but today they were in the lobby.
It never dawned on me that this was an indicator that things were really bad.
The drive itself wasn’t too bad. We’d encounter an occasional shower, or even a downpour, but they were fast moving, and, well…so was I!
It took us about two hours to get to New Haven, and I was afraid that we’d missed the train and would have to wait for an hour. I’m not sure if the schedule I’d gotten from the Internet was wrong, or if the weather had affected the schedules, but we had a train that was set to leave in ten minutes waiting for us.
Theoretically.
The reality was that it took about a half-hour to get going. And then it was on the slow side. Tracks had been flooded and there were huge delays on the New Haven line.
Figures.
We got to Grand Central Station at about 7.10. We made an O.J. dash to the cabs, and headed to the TKTS booth in Times Square. Dee guarded the luggage while I flew to a window to see if there was a snowball’s chance in hell that there were tickets to any musical.
Victory!
"Jekyll and Hyde" was available. And they were seats in the rear orchestra, which was a total surprise. I figured we’d end up in the rear balcony!
We grabbed another cab to get us to the hotel on 58th St. Did a record breaking check -in and change of clothes, got back in a cab and made it to the theatre as the lights were dimming.
"Jekyll and Hyde" is a show I saw last year, and enjoyed a great deal. It’s dark and gloomy, but has enjoyable music and good performers. I liked it better last year when Linda Eder was in the cast. She has a fabulous voice that has a real Streisand–like quality to it. A couple of times the hair on the back of my neck stood up. This cast was fine, but didn’t have the same quality of voice.
Actually, the leading man was the same guy as last year and was very good. He had a strong voice and presence. The Jekyll/Hyde character is complex and demanding as he sinks deeper and deeper into madness. There is one song in which each side is trying to gain total control and he shows this my turning from left to right and affecting an entirely different posture and allowing his hair to hang in a certain way. It’s amazing to watch, and must be exhausting to perform.
Some of the staging is quite clever as it uses glass and lighting changes rather than huge spectacle. Although, they are big on using fire whenever an opportunity presents itself.
There are a couple of decent songs in the show, most notably "This is the Moment". He sang it with great power and emotion. The music is written by someone who understands the formula for grabbing an audience. Each song has at least two key changes leading towards the climax, giving more and more power to the voices as they reach the end of the number. It’s pretty much a guarantee that the audience will respond enthusiastically.
Dee enjoyed it, and I did too, but I liked last year’s cast much better.
By the time the show ended, somewhere in the vicinity of 12.30, we were starving. Dee hadn’t had dinner and I’d missed both dinner and lunch. I would have liked to walk a bit to find a restaurant, but Dee insisted on going to the first place she saw, which was Lindy’s Deli on the corner of 44th and Broadway. We paid $19 for sandwiches! I never would have chosen the place, but I didn’t feel like arguing.
After pigging out on sandwiches we then started to head back to the hotel. I wanted to walk a bit and poke around stores in the Times Square area, but Dee wanted a cab.
So we poked in one little store then got a cab.
The message light on the phone was flashing when we got to our room.
Michael!!!
I had only told Dee that I had told him we were coming, I hadn’t told her we were planning to get together. Fortunately in his usual uncommunicative way, Michael hadn’t gotten back to me before we left, so I’d e-mailed him the name of the hotel and the phone number.
That was a good thing, as I didn’t have to talk about plans to meet and could act surprised that he’d managed to clear his schedule.
Devious, I know, but important to me.
So the message was to meet him in Chelsea on Friday afternoon at 5, and he gave me the name of a restaurant. I was thrilled.
Dee was o.k. with it, and I even invited her to come, crossing my fingers that she wouldn’t want to.
She didn’t want to.
I went to sleep with a big smile on my face.
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