I am catching up on my back log of pictures and experiences, so this trip to NYC was actually two weeks ago.
In the city for work, I finished my meetings early on Monday, at 3 pm, and had until the following morning all to myself. In my younger days I would have rushed through my address book to find friends to meet for coffee, dinner, dessert—whatever I could squeeze in.
But lately I have found that I enjoy being my own travel companion. Of course, it wouldn't be fun if that were all the time, but from a life of people-immersion: colleagues, children, (lovely) husband—there is a novelty to just being by myself.
I started by walking the 45 blocks down Broadway from Columbia to my hotel, taking my time to look in shops. Sigh, what a great city! I bought myself flowers for my room, and then an interesting glass to house them in, a new tradition I am establishing for myself. I love cut flowers, and I love having interesting vases and glassware to do my own floral arrangements at homes, so what better way to indulge than one-arrangement-at-a-time paced with my own travel schedule?
I took a break at one of my favorite cafes, Le Pain Quotidien. I know that it is a chain and not "cool and indy,"but I like the spacious farmhouse interior, the really good food, and great coffee, and since it is only in NYC, Washington DC, LA, London and Philly, for me it is exotic. And I am addicted to their fruit tarts...
This photo of Le Pain Quotidien is courtesy of TripAdvisor
Settled in with my latte and fruit tart, I browsed the theater selections. I wanted something low key and entertaining—not big, blaring, Broadway and loud. Lately, my daughter and I have been watching Ugly Betty together, a fun sit com about the fashion industry that has a tongue-in-cheek template of Mexican soap operas and a wonderful bright color palate. One of its stars, Michael Urie, was performing a one-man play in the Village called "Buyer and Cellar." I bought my single ticket (second row center—the advantage of being a singleton theater goer), and headed back to my hotel for a brief rest.
I was staying at the NYLO again, and I was delighted to discover their redesign. The rooms were bright, colorful, well laid out and full of amazing light and playful modern decor accents. Also had a great work table area for me to set up my flowers and my new vase. Just like home. (Only someone else makes the bed!)
Down to the Village by subway, into the intimate Barrow Theater, and I had the perfect theater experience!
The play has a very quirky premise based on a riff off of Barbara Streisand's recent book:
in which she describes her house, including, a private "mock" shopping mall in her basement to house all her tchotchkes and collections.
The playwright imagines that if she has a shopping mall, well, she must have a clerk to wait on her when she "shops" and from there the play takes off. Michael Urie plays the out of work LA actor who takes the gig....
The play has a bit of a gay-culture insider's feel, (Barbara is after all a stereotypical gay fetish), but not to the exclusion of the non-gay viewer. It is about loneliness and narcissism and celebrity, about relationships and projection and being genuine. And it works. Wonderful use of a spare stage with projections and very few physical objects, and really brilliant script which brings to life several characters through the auspices of our one man star. But what also struck me was the power of seeing an actor up close and really feeling the power of his art, energy and charm, as opposed to what I had experienced by watching this very same actor on the TV screen.
Long live theater!!!
In the city for work, I finished my meetings early on Monday, at 3 pm, and had until the following morning all to myself. In my younger days I would have rushed through my address book to find friends to meet for coffee, dinner, dessert—whatever I could squeeze in.
But lately I have found that I enjoy being my own travel companion. Of course, it wouldn't be fun if that were all the time, but from a life of people-immersion: colleagues, children, (lovely) husband—there is a novelty to just being by myself.
I started by walking the 45 blocks down Broadway from Columbia to my hotel, taking my time to look in shops. Sigh, what a great city! I bought myself flowers for my room, and then an interesting glass to house them in, a new tradition I am establishing for myself. I love cut flowers, and I love having interesting vases and glassware to do my own floral arrangements at homes, so what better way to indulge than one-arrangement-at-a-time paced with my own travel schedule?
I took a break at one of my favorite cafes, Le Pain Quotidien. I know that it is a chain and not "cool and indy,"but I like the spacious farmhouse interior, the really good food, and great coffee, and since it is only in NYC, Washington DC, LA, London and Philly, for me it is exotic. And I am addicted to their fruit tarts...
Settled in with my latte and fruit tart, I browsed the theater selections. I wanted something low key and entertaining—not big, blaring, Broadway and loud. Lately, my daughter and I have been watching Ugly Betty together, a fun sit com about the fashion industry that has a tongue-in-cheek template of Mexican soap operas and a wonderful bright color palate. One of its stars, Michael Urie, was performing a one-man play in the Village called "Buyer and Cellar." I bought my single ticket (second row center—the advantage of being a singleton theater goer), and headed back to my hotel for a brief rest.
I was staying at the NYLO again, and I was delighted to discover their redesign. The rooms were bright, colorful, well laid out and full of amazing light and playful modern decor accents. Also had a great work table area for me to set up my flowers and my new vase. Just like home. (Only someone else makes the bed!)Down to the Village by subway, into the intimate Barrow Theater, and I had the perfect theater experience!
The play has a very quirky premise based on a riff off of Barbara Streisand's recent book:
in which she describes her house, including, a private "mock" shopping mall in her basement to house all her tchotchkes and collections.The playwright imagines that if she has a shopping mall, well, she must have a clerk to wait on her when she "shops" and from there the play takes off. Michael Urie plays the out of work LA actor who takes the gig....
Photo from Broadway.com
The play has a bit of a gay-culture insider's feel, (Barbara is after all a stereotypical gay fetish), but not to the exclusion of the non-gay viewer. It is about loneliness and narcissism and celebrity, about relationships and projection and being genuine. And it works. Wonderful use of a spare stage with projections and very few physical objects, and really brilliant script which brings to life several characters through the auspices of our one man star. But what also struck me was the power of seeing an actor up close and really feeling the power of his art, energy and charm, as opposed to what I had experienced by watching this very same actor on the TV screen.
Long live theater!!!
Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteIt was one of those things–you know the kind–where you see or hear a name, a book, a song, a topic, several times in a short time span, that I found your blog. First, you showed up on Google + and then your name appeared in an Amazon search for children’s books. I KNOW that name and that face, I kept thinking...then it dawned on me, of course, Irad’s wife! Not being able to resist the temptation and I googled you. I found your blog and being the avid blog reader that I am, read it from start to finish. I enjoyed reading your blog, especially the Tel Aviv entries. (I know so little about Israel.) I am sending the link to Tofu Crossing to my SIL who is a vegetarian. I think she will enjoy reading it and trying out many of the recipes.
Kind regards,
Pat
p.s. I am a former TOA employee during 2010 to 2012.