The Best of Times is Now - But Only For Now

[firstfrost]

Whee! Back from New York! Seeing two shows on Saturday makes me remember it as two days, so I secretly had a longer trip than the weekend would really support. Highlights:

• There were something like six or seven 24-hour Korean barbecue places on our block. jadia and I investigated one for Second Dinner on Saturday, and I dragged people back for lunch on Sunday. (And not only did it have really good barbecue, but really good egg-and-potato-and-apple-and-raisin salad as one of the Traditional Korean Little Dishes.)
• Avenue Q was a lot of fun. I was surprised the scene didn't change more. Watching the puppets dissociate from their voices was very odd. Bizarrely, I found that my laughing instinct was suppressed during the musical numbers, because they sounded exactly like the soundtrack (being the same people and all), and I don't so much laugh out loud while listening to CDs. I did notice what desireearmfeldt pointed out, that the puppets were more likely to hang around in profile than stage actors generally do; I found it intriguing ("well, okay, most of the expressiveness is in the body language anyway, and not the facial expression..."), but I don't have the theater instincts that she does.
• La Cage Aux Folles was also very nice (good job tirinian on mind controlling us all onto your plan); Robert Goulet as Georges, and wow, can he sing. I don't know that I've heard anyone with as rich a voice before. He had the cautious movement to be expected from an actor who's seventy-three, and Albin wasn't played as tons younger, so I imagined them as having been together for fifty years or so. I'd heard "I Am What I Am" a bunch on Standing Room Only, but it's a much more powerful song in its place in the show. Jean-Michel, or whatever the son's name was, didn't do much for me; he sounded like he was saying lines instead of talking. Dunno. The big showgirl/boy numbers were fun to watch, but it's Georges and Albin's story that will stick with me.
• I can accept that hotels in New York have to be expensive to pay for the location. I find it strangely more offensive to be charged $3.25 for a can of soda.
• We were all pretty tired by the Botanical Gardens, but the giant caterpillars were pretty cool.

• The Strand Bookstore was very much what I imagine as a bookstore that one might find magic books in. Sadly, it still had the flaw of only having books 1 and 5 of something that I wanted book 2 of.

Comments

you're baiting me, aren't you

[astra-nomer.livejournal.com]

the egg-and-potato-and-apple-and-raisin salad may have been good, but it is NOT a Traditional Korean Little Dish.

[desireearmfeldt]

What I wondered about Jean-Michel was, given that he doesn't have an incredible amount of acting to do--or even an incredible amount of tricky singing--why they didn't go to the effort of getting someone who could hit the high notes more confidently. :)

I didn't realize Goulet was 73, even after my initial response to his name was "oh, he's still alive?" He didn't come across as anywhere near that old to me, but that would explain why he was moving like an old man. (I had thought he was *acting* old, as an artistic choice.) :)

miles of books

[ricedog.livejournal.com]

the strand is a fun place to browse. ny has strangely bad used book karma.

[navrins]

Avenue Q! Thank you; I should definitely remember to see that while I'm in New York City. Where is it, how much is it... oh, heck, I'm sure I can find that out on my own...