Day 8 - Saturday, June 26 - More Broadway

Day 8 - Saturday, June 26 - More Broadway
Two shows to see today. I used the gym. With visions of Hungarian goulash dancing in our heads, we chose to lunch downstairs at "Cafe Edison". Alas, not on the day's menu.  :(
Pity we never saw the Edison's entertainment, but it was only Saturday nights, and we had theater tickets. 


We walked the easy two blocks to 45th Street to the Imperial Theater for the matinee show.

Debbie soon showed up, rewarding me for the extra ticket I held.


Photo of Deb at the right was taken about 4 weeks earlier when I went up for her (shhh) 60th birthday.

Book and lyrics by Lee Hall, music of Elton John, choreographed by Peter Darling. I thought the show tried too hard to make a social/political statement about workers and politics, but it was easy to put that aside with the glorious "angry" dances, and dream sequences and songs and humor. 

By this time over 50 boys have played the title roll. Five are listed in our program. Different ones star on different days. We saw Jacob Clemente as Billy.
David Bologna played Billy's friend, Michael.
His "Dad" was Gregory Jbara, and grandmother was Carole Shelley.

Dance teacher, Elliot Kate                     Grandma, Carole Shelley                       Dad,  Gregory Jbara


There are several funny songs and good lines in the show.
Many blogs on Billy Elliot focus on the "Dream sequence" where Billy dances with his older self. It begins in classical style with "Swan Lake" playing, but then goes circus-like when Billy is harnessed and able to soar.  Renate and I both feel it was done tastefully and wondrously.  Go see the show!

Stephen Hanna left the NY City ballet and has been in a few Broadway shows. If interested, try these Billy Elliot selections from You Tube:
Swan Lake:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WXt0ImXTiI&feature=youtube_gdata

Dance during worker's strike:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg57KOrg3mw&feature=related

From the movie: "Angry Dance" in which he (acting) hurts leg, and keeps dancing. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jens3h3eXH0

After the show - as planned -  Debbie's date, Howard, is waiting outside the theater. The four of us walk up 8th Avenue and stop at Carve - same place I got cheap breakfast. 
Renate and I treated for snacks of pizza, coffee, and desert. We spent 40 minutes till Debbie and Howard had to catch a subway for an off-broadway show that had one of Deb's friends in the cast.
Renate and I relaxed awhile in the Edison.

Soon we headed back to 45th street - across the street from Billy Elliot was Next to Normal at the Booth Theater. With music by Tom Kitt and book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, this is musical comedy(?) follows a family of 4 (well, 3 + a dead guy) in which mom is being treated with meds and electroshock in an attempt to break her from hallucinating the presence of her son who - though dead at 6 months - has stayed over the years and grown up  in her head. He's a major force in the family's life. 
The show is done in rock opera fashion with 2 others in the cast: the daughter's boyfriend and mom's psychiatrist. Descriptions such as above sound unpromising, but it is performed with pathos and humor. Read this from a Los Angeles Times source:

The 2010 Pulitzer Prize for drama has gone to the musical "Next to Normal." The tuner about a woman coping with mental illness contended for 11 Tony Awards last season, winning three: lead actress Alice Ripley, 
score by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (who share the Pulitzer and the $10,000 cash prize) and orchestrations. In the 92-year history of the Pulitzers, seven other musicals have won the award: "Of Thee I Sing" (1932); "South Pacific" (1950); "Fiorello" (1960); "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" (1962); "A Chorus Line" (1976); "Sunday in the Park with George" (1985); and "Rent" (1996).
Besides seeing Alice Ripley as the struggling mom, Brian d'Arcy was the father.

Kyle Dean Massey     Alice Ripley            Brian D'Arcy
Jennifer Damiano played the daugher, and Michael Berry stepped in as the doctor.
Kyle Dean Massey (whose larger than life face- shot on a street poster received many adolescent hugs) played the controlling son.
Renate walked into the theater, almost annoyed at being subjected to a rock musical, and left in delight at her favorite show on this trip.
Hey! The Pulitzer ain't stupid!

Our last night in New York, we walked the half-block to 45th and Broadway. With traffic on  Broadway and 7th cut off between 42nd and 47th, Times Square is flooded with people on this hot, Saturday night in June.


People are pointing at a Kodak advertisement which features a large screen display from a webcam. 

Renate and I are on the display above. Good luck.
It gets more complicated, I just learned from googling, according to
http://1000words.kodak.com/post/?id=2839868

you can have a photo of your choice displayed for about 10 seconds on a screen on the west side of Times Square.
It's a bit complicated: email your photo to Kodak, receive code to text from your phone when you're ready to view, up to 6 times per month. I wonder if marriage proposals have been done there yet.

We were both happy to see such a packed, lively crowd at 10:30 at night. New York lives up to its promise.