In honor of Tim’s 46th birthday, I arranged for a two day trip to New York City, primarily for the purpose of seeing the impossible to get tickets for show, Book of Mormon. This isn’t the kind of trip that can be planned at the last minute due to the limited availability of show tickets and hotel rooms, so this extravaganza was planned in the summer, months before it would actually occur and anticipation was high. Our flight to New York City was on time and uneventful, despite rain and very low ceilings in Atlanta, which was important since we had a total of three hours from the time our flight arrived until curtain! I had arranged in advance for a Lincoln Town Car to pick us up at LaGuardia Airport, which is ultimately only slightly more expensive than a Yellow Cab and MUCH more comfortable and clean, so we were whisked into town quickly and in luxury via the most efficient route, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to the Mid-Town Tunnel. Town cars will always be the most efficient option since they are not incented to take longer than absolutely necessary since their fare is flat rate, not time based. Yellow Cabs are pretty infamous for taking out-of-towners on circuitous routes to jack up fares. We arrived at our favorite pied-a-terre, the Washington Square Hotel, in plenty of time to change for the show.
The First Show
I realize I have likely introduced confusion when I speak of getting ready for the “show.” I don’t mean Book of Mormon; that would occur on Tuesday evening, the actual calendar day of Tim’s birthday; this was on Monday, October 1. Shortly before leaving for New York I received an offer from Delta Airlines that would allow me to use my frequent flier miles, SkyMiles, either alone or in combination with a small amount of cash to purchase tickets to select Broadway shows. Not everything on Broadway is eligible, but Tim and I agreed that we would like to see Mamma Mia for a small amount of cash plus fewer miles than is required for the cheapest of trans-continental tickets. It was a great bargain and gave us something to do on our first night in Manhattan. We arrived in plenty of time to ride the E train up to the 7th Avenue station and walk to a small, neighborhood Indian restaurant on 9th Avenue. It wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible either and we arrived in plenty of time at “Will-Call” to pick up our tickets in advance of the show. We then still had time to wonder at the effect of LEDs on Times Square and I personally would continue to wonder at the remaking of Times Square from the squalid pit of peep shows and hookers it was when I lived there from 1988 to 1992, to the gleaming clean and sanitized tourist mecca it is today. Opinions on this transformation of New York vary, but it certainly seems to be enjoying an economic boom and you will quite literally hear every conceivable accent and language you can imagine on the sidewalks and in the restaurants of the area, although this crush is easily escaped by those in the know by moving a small few blocks in either direction, but especially so when moving west as you transition back to the non-tourist New York.
Mamma Mia was a good show although I think it is showing its age as it has been playing for many years now. The show originally opened at the Wintergarden Theater, where it is still housed, in 2001, so of course the original cast is long gone and most of the players today seem to be making Broadway debuts, which is fine and important since debutantes turn into the major stars of tomorrow, or at least a small and select number of them do. Everyone has to start somewhere! The show is based, as some of you may now, on a 1975 song by ABBA, the Swedish pop group that was phenomenally successful although it might mystify us as to why when we listen today. ABBA has been the subject, sometimes humorously or in parody, in movies such as Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Muriel’s Wedding, and other television and movie mentions. The transition to Broadway seemed inevitable. The making of it into a movie starring Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep was questionable in my mind since I can’t imagine the man I will always know as either Remington Steele or James Bond breaking out into spontaneous song! The basic premise is about a wedding in Greece with farce provided by a mixture of three potential fathers and a questioning young bride. As I said, the show is good, but it isn’t great as the cast isn’t exactly stellar at this point, but still, it is good value for a discount ticket; not bad after 11 years! It was early to bed that night, tired after a day of travel and theater.
The Old and the New
The next day we had to seek a replacement for the original Bagel Buffet on 6th Avenue, a place I knew when I lived only blocks away as a reliable and cheap place for a wonderfully sinful salt encrusted New York bagel. After many years of holding on, it has been replaced by Dunkin’ Donuts, which breaks my heart as it is yet one more piece of the New York I loved, and occasionally hated, that is now history. Instead, we made the long trek via train and foot to Ess-a-Bagel on Third Avenue, a location that I was confident would feature the sometimes hard to find, and admittedly only suitable for a specialized palate, salt bagel. Imagine the most intensely salt encrusted pretzel you have ever had, but make it round, with a hole, softly chewy, toasted lightly, with a sinful slab of cream cheese and you have my version of gustatory heaven. It is so intensely salty that even I have reservations about eating a whole one in a single sitting, but I manage somehow.
From there we walked down to Grand Central Station, the hub of the Metro North train system that carries millions to and from up-state New York on a daily basis. The reason for this visit was to utilize one of the three Apple Stores in New York to upgrade our new i-Phone 5s with a care plan only possible to install if in person with a Genius Bar member. The Grand Central Station location was the one with the most reasonable appointment slots but I confess I was hesitant. My vision of Grand Central Station was one of filth and endless, and endlessly odiferous, homeless people crowded into a formerly stunningly beautiful architectural triumph. But that was the Grand Central of the late 1980s and the station today is a miraculous phoenix-like rebirth! There is a long and incredibly well-stocked gourmet market that would rival those of Europe. Even the floors are clean! The space seems totally remade and the crowds milling about enjoying restaurants and high-end retail are certainly not homeless. I don’t know where Giuliani put them all, and I shudder to think, but it is difficult to locate a homeless person in New York today. I may question some of the remake that Giuliani imposed on New York, but in the case of Grand Central, I have to say, well done.
Apple Makes It Amazing
Apple has outdone themselves in this space (the link will show you above!). At first, we struggled to find the store, consulting directories and looking about, only to finally turn around and look up to the balcony, which IS the store. The store is at least half open air, simply tables loaded with devices to sample and play with, absolutely no barriers to access, and friendly staff that will ask politely, even in New York, if you need help. There is ZERO pressure and you are welcome to play and experiment for hours if you wish, help always available, but not thrust on you, as there appears to be no commissions on sales. If you need accessories, they are in an alcove to the right while the Genius Bar, staffed only by those under 30 with beards and tattoos, which can patiently guide even the most technologically hopeless through using an Apple device, with no charge for the coaching, if to the left. I think the space has to be visualized, at the least, to understand its brilliance, and experienced at best. If in New York, even if you don’t use or even like Apple, visit the store to see what retail of the 21st century can be.
The Worst and the Best
We continued downtown to the Wall Street area both to see the World Trade Center site and to eat at what is rated by some as the best falafel sandwich shop in all of New York, Alfanoose. The World Trade Center site, after years of shameless bickering and debate over contracts and money, is rising quickly with floors approaching 102 stories in place with steel frames and glass up to the 73rd floor. Tim wanted to visit the Memorial but unknown to us this is only possible if you reserve tickets in advance through the website and pass some security questionnaire. Same day tickets were not an option so we could only see from afar, but it was quite impressive and very different from the stark hole in the ground that existed for so long.
Alfanoose was certainly a good falafel but I don’t know that I would say it was the best option. We think that the truck usually found parked near, or at, Park Avenue and 53rd Street actually has the best falafel sandwich in New York, at least of those we have tasted. Granted, it is a messy street food option but it really is good. Likewise, the best meal I had the entire visit was a sausage grilled on the street in Times Square, shared with Tim along with a soft pretzel and bottle of water. Simple sometimes really is the best.
All About Book of Mormon
After a brief nap we readied ourselves for the reason for the visit, the Book of Mormon. We arrived early and were seated well in advance in our seats in row C, third row, in the center orchestra; in other words, pretty nice seats. I don’t mean to be braggadocios but I confess that these tickets were more expensive than the airfare to get from Atlanta to New York. There was no other option for advance seats in all of 2012, or the first parts of 2013 either, so it was worth it to me to provide this treat to Tim on his special day given the incredible generosity he shows me on every day of the year. He is almost impossible to buy for since he generally gets whatever he wants when he wants it, but Broadway is sure to please, especially when it is Book of Mormon.
Some of you may know that Book of Mormon has been a sensation of Broadway in the past two years. It garnered 7 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, in 2011 and it is almost impossible to get tickets. Describing the show is difficult because it really has to be experienced but I will try. First, if you are a sensitive soul, offending by what is generally considered foul language or by the mocking of the faith of millions of people, you should consider going to this show carefully and if you are under 18, you can’t. It helps to know that the show originates from the same minds that bring us South Park, like it or not, a television phenomenon with multiple Emmy’s to its credit, so you have some idea of what to expect from a show where one of the first big musical and dance production numbers is titled F**k You God! There is a part of you that knows you should be offended, or at least taken aback, but you simply can’t be because the production values, the songs, the music, the dancing, are all so over the top perfect that you are having too good of a time to get offended. It is also critical to realize that the South Park team has mocked literally everyone and every religion. No one and nothing is sacred to them. They have taken on Catholics and Jews and Scientologists, they mocked Clinton and Obama and McCain, they have taken on Tom Cruise and John Travolta and that is just a sampling of who they have mocked and potentially offended, but all in good, TONY and EMMY award winning fun. And yes, while the story strongly mocks Mormon theology, it is also accurate in its portrayal of Mormon beliefs (God lives on the planet Kolob, etc), and more profoundly perhaps, it is also accurate in its portrayal of social issues prevalent in Africa, the setting of most of the action of the production. It is unfortunately true that female circumcision is common in Africa. This practice involves, at the minimum, the surgical removal of the clitoris, sometimes all external genitalia, and this is almost always done with non-sterile, if not rusty, implements resulting not infrequently in massive infection, shock, and death. If it is survived, it can lead to lifelong pain and difficulty with intercourse and birth. It is also true that people suffer massively from AIDS in Africa and yes, some men believe that raping a virgin, INCLUDING female infants, can cure the disease. And yes, there are warlords and out of control self-proclaimed “Generals” who might kill on sight in some places. It is important that the world knows about this so it can help combat such things as best it can, and if that message is delivered with a laugh, it is still delivered. If you know anything at all about South Park you know that there is ALWAYS a lesson in each episode and in this case the lesson is that no matter how potentially absurd our beliefs, or our total lack of belief, might be, we can still work together to alleviate the evils of this world and create a real paradise in the here and now. If you can see the show with that in message in mind and if you can let yourself laugh when you feel like it and marvel at the dancing and the music, then you will have a great time!! 7 Tony’s and numerous critics can’t be wrong and we had a rollicking good time! The show is now touring so a trip to New York isn’t required to see it. It is in Los Angeles until November (San Francisco November 27 to December 30) so get to it while you can.
Twilight
Seeing Book of Mormon was the highlight of the trip of course. We barely made it into Katz’s Deli for a massive pastrami sandwich before they closed, and like many things, it isn’t what it once was. The next day, Tim did some last minute switching of flights with Delta because our upgrade odds on our original flight looked iffy, so some switching had us up front even if not sitting next to each other for the relatively short flight home. But after all, who wants to sit in Coach on their birthday trip. The whole experience, but especially Book of Mormon was truly picture perfect and I simply can’t recommend the show heartily enough. Throw in the general potential magic of New York City, provided you know where to look, and you have a perfect combination for a magical short trip.