New York City!

This past weekend my friends David, Mark, Tony, and I headed to New York City for some weekend fun. On the drive down, the weather was at times a little iffy, but never bad enough to keep us from making the trip. At one point we did have to drive around a car that had been hoisted up on a flatbed tow truck incorrectly, which caused it to fall off the truck and created a spark that set both the car and the tow truck on fire. Driving around it as quickly as possible (the tow truck had not blown yet and we didn't feel like sticking around until it did). As we drove by, I could feel the intense heat from the passenger seat.



After settling in at our hotel, we walked around like the tourists we were and ended up having a few drinks at some little Italian place. Across the street was the Ethel Barrymore theater, where the David Mamet play November, starring Nathan Lane, Laurie Metcalf, and Dylan Baker. It was an enjoyable show, although it could have been a little sharper and barbed, considering it was a political comedy centered around the pardoning of Turkeys and a lesbian civil ceremony/wedding...but I did enjoy it



While waiting outside the stage door so Tony could get Laurie Metcalf's autograph, I turned on my camera to take a little movie and then thought I had shut it off, and caught a little bit of drunken hilarity on film...when you hear me say "one more time", that's just after I realized I'd never turned off the camera:



Shortly after the cast came out to greet the fans, and Tony was lucky enough to get Laurie Metcalf's autograph...and I got a picture of her and the back of his head (that's him on the rigt):


The next day, the four of us met up with lj friends barkis and steven at gobo, a very good Vegetarian restaurant (which was good, since Mikey (aka barkis, Tony, and Mark are all vegetarians). While there, we had two celebrity sightings, as Sandra Bernhard (and her daughter) showed up to eat lunch, and then Blythe Danner showed up (her daughter Gwyneth was not with her though). Before parting, Mark snapped a few pictures (almost all of them blurry thanks to my non user-friendly camera)...


I'm so glad I finally got to meet Steven, and it's always good to see Mikey. I just wish it hadn't been such a short meeting...but it had to be, since Tony, Mark, David and I had tickets to a matinee of Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein.


I thoroughly enjoyed the musical. There were a few songs that were a little throw-away-ish (like Transylvania Mania, for example), but it was still bouncy. Andrea Martin as Frau Blucher was outstanding, and I loved it when she would bring in one of her random SCTV characters every now and then (like Perini Scloroso). Roger Bart as Frankenstein was good, although he has that kind of high nasally singing voice that doesn't always sound good if the song isn't right for it. Megan Mullally's acting is good, and her singing voice is awesome (especially when she sings Deep Love, and the true power of her voice comes out)...the only thing that bothered me a bit was the high society I've got money in my blood fuh-fuh accent she was working when she spoke. Sutton Foster as Inga was very good...and leggy. The monster was ok, but just about anybody could have pulled that part off, I think. Eye-gore was a scene stealer. There were a few scenes from the movie I wished the show had left in, especially the last scene Elizabeth is in where she talks about the special hamper for the Monsters poo-poo undies. Also, the "Sweet Mystery of Life" bit was less effective since it was surrounded by music. Some of the things that worked especially well were the sets, and the special effects that were used throughout the show, like the film projected behind the hay wagon and people dressed as horses during the hay wagon scene, with the wheels of the car rolling and the horses running in place, it was a pretty awesome illusion. The set of the lab was great as well.

Sitting next to me for the show was a very loud woman wearing a bedazzled denim jacket and frizzy badly dyed blonde hair with dark roots, who had the most annoying laugh ever...but it was so annoying that it was funny.

After the show, we headed back to the hotel for about a half hour before catching a cab to see drag queen Dina Martina's show, along with David's Niece and her partner (they live in NYC). I laughed through the whole thing, along with the rest of the audience. When Dina came down to talk to hand out gifts to some audience members, she ended up giving me a packet of Trivial Pursuit ketchup, a jelly chicken leg that was mango flavored and had a collectible plastic bone, and a strawberry flavored gummy steak. I was a little bummed that I didn't get the cheese flavored grubs and potty mouth lip gloss (lip gloss in a little toilet shaped container on a key chain). I also noticed during the show that this attractive guy kept looking away from Dina on stage and looking over at me. At first I thought he was looking at someone behind me, but he wasn't. After the show, while standing around outside trying to decide where to go for dinner, Mark said "I think you have an admirer...over at 11 O'clock." I can't tell time very well, but I finally saw the guy when Mark stepped out of the way, and it was the guy that had been looking at me during the show. I smiled then looked away. And then we all shuffled off to Metro Cafe for a late dinner. Sadly, I didn't say anything to the guy, but I didn't really feel like anything was going to come of it, with my living in a different state and all. Still, I probably should have said hi and planted a big kiss on his lips. Instead I smiled and looked down at his shoes as I walked quickly past him.

After returning to the hotel, Mark and I ventured out to one of the 3 nearby gay bars (thanks google maps!) for a drink. I got bored quickly and we ended up leaving. It had been a long day. the next morning we headed back home, stopping at this little cafe where the food was good and the bathroom was well stocked with toiletries like after shave cream and gel deodorant (ew! don't share gel deodorant!)

And then a few hours later I was home.

And now I'm going to bed. Aren't you glad you read all that?