Our travel dates: Thursday, April 20, 2017 - Sunday, April 23, 2017
Thursday, April 20
My mom and I took the train up and arrived late afternoon. We went directly to my brother's apartment and visited with his doggies, Harry and Alice.
How could you not love this face?
After an hour or so of downtime we met my brother at Mémé Mediterranean, just one of several great places where we ate during our weekend getaway. The lamb meatballs are particularly delicious!
From there, we split off - my brother went home and my mom and I went our way to the Hudson Theatre to see Sunday in the Park With George. My mom chose this show and I went along because, who wouldn't want to see Jake Gyllenhaal on stage?
As it turned out, I thought the female lead, Annaleigh Ashford, stole the show. She has great stage presence, charisma, comedic timing, and her voice is lovely. Jake's performance was impressive. I was surprised by how rich his voice is but I really felt like Annaleigh's star shone brighter.
The show, as a whole, is flawed and disjointed. The first act is enjoyable but the second act feels like a total curveball. It just doesn't fit and it's a weak answer to a much stronger first half of the story. Overall though, I did enjoy the experience and while it was one of the weaker shows of the weekend it wasn't the worst. I still have one of the numbers playing over in my head several days later.
I will say, this theater had the WORST seats. The seat "cushion" felt like concrete put in a pillowcase.
On the way out of the theater we were pleasantly surprised to see Sally Field signing autographs and taking selfies with legions of fans. Her show, The Glass Menagerie, is playing in the theater next door. That was a neat and unexpected experience.
We hailed a ride home in Times Square. That place is such a nightmare. Too many people and too many lights.
Friday, April 21
Today was an extremely full, busy day. My mom and I got some sustenance at Whole Foods and then we made our way over to the reflecting pools that memorialize the victims of 9/11.
It's a simple but peaceful and powerful display. It's hard to ignore the magnitude of that day when you see all those names.
We learned while on our museum tour, later in the morning, that a white rose is placed in a victim's name on their birthday.
People are also welcome to bring/leave their own flowers to honor the victims.
We had a guided tour of the 9/11 Memorial Museum at 10:30am. Our guide, Katie, was excellent. She was informative and engaging and emotionally present. I don't know how many times she's done that tour but it must be difficult to strike a balance between stoicism and sentimentality and she does it well.
The museum is fascinating because not only is it an archive of documents and artifacts but it's an archeological zone, too. I learned a few new things despite having lived through and borne witness to the day's events.
9/11 had a cloudless, cartoon-like blue sky. Days like that are called "severe clear" by pilots. It was a magnificent day that was eventually marred by the coordinated efforts of evil men.
To honor all the victims of 9/11 and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing an artist put together an installation with panels in 2,900+ shades of blue that represent every one of those individuals. It's really breath-taking, as is the Virgil quote embedded in the tiles.
40% of the remains from 9/11 are still unidentified so I believe it's the museum's mission to honor the victims, their families, and their stories as much as possible. Many people still don't have a gravesite to go to pay respects so the reflecting pools and spots throughout the museum serve that purpose.
It was the 1993 bombers' objective to knock one building over into the other like a domino effect and make them topple over. I believe that they carried over this objective years later, however, I don't think anyone could've imagined that the towers would fall as they did on 9/11. Our guide explained that the steel beams didn't melt but they weakened and bent and when that happened the floors started to buckle and eventually collapse one after the other.
The final steel beam removed from the recovery zone:
It's a grim topic, of course, but our guide tempered the tour with positives, too. She said that because of the 1993 bombing, evacuation policies and procedures were put into place that saved 15,000+ people on 9/11. Many more lives could've been lost.
She also told us about how a window-washer survived the day's ordeal because of his squeegee! He got caught in an elevator after the plane hit the building. He couldn't escape through the top and when he was able to open the doors he realized that the elevator was stuck between floors - all he could see was a wall. He used the squeegee stick to keep the doors open and then removed the hard handle of the squeegee to work at the wall because he quickly realized that it was sheetrock, not concrete. Once he broke through to the other side, he and the other elevator occupants were able to kick out more of the wall and finally emerge on the other side. He brought his squeegee and bucket with him because his logic was that the company wouldn't reimburse him if he didn't return their equipment. He even watered some plants on his way out of the building! They have the squeegee handle available for viewing in the permanent exhibition.
After our tour was complete my mom and I ventured into the permanent exhibition. Honestly, I didn't really want to go in there. I knew it would be upsetting. So much of it is a replay or reenactment of the day's events with news footage, pictures, and artifacts. I had to fight back tears and avert my eyes from most of the TV coverage. I still can't watch the towers falling without getting emotional. It's just horrific. It's like watching hope die.
Once you get beyond that initial section which takes you minute by minute through that morning, including voicemail recordings left by victims to their spouses and family members, there are a lot of images and artifacts that explain the aftermath. One particular image that has stuck with me because of its terrifying power and struck me as akin to the room full of shoes at the Holocaust Museum is a cut-out of a retail store. It must've been in one of the adjacent buildings. You see sweatshirts and t-shirts hung up on a wall and then hung up on some clothes racks. They are coated and weighed down by dust and debris. It took me a few seconds before I realized - that's people. I mean, of course, it's the buildings, it's paperwork, it's computers, but it's also people.
A beautiful painting depicting 9/11 from the artist's window:
Needless to say, it's a heavy experience. I don't know that it's something I'd do again, for that reason, but it's a worthy visit.
...
From there we crossed the street to Brookfield Place for lunch. It's a very upscale mall and it was packed with people on their lunch breaks.
We split a yummy turkey BLT and sat on some steps and people-watched.
Then we made our way to the United Nations for an afternoon tour. Both my mom and I have been there before (separately) but it's been many years so I pushed to do it again. It wasn't as cool this time around so my guess is that my second tour will be my last. We had a very cute and nice Chinese guide but he wasn't at the top of his game like our 9/11 Museum guide.
We recuperated a bit at home before the three of us (my brother included) went to Lupulo [permanently closed as of October 2017] for dinner. We met my brother's girlfriend there as well. The four of us had a grand time chowing down on what I would consider the best meal of our trip. As my brother said, Portuguese food is pretty similar to Spanish food, but I think it might be a notch better! My favorites were the salt cod croquettes, grilled octopus, and Iberico ham. The Portuguese donuts and banana bread pudding were also to die for.
We capped off our night with Hello, Dolly! starring the dazzling Bette Midler. My mom and I saw a very lackluster rendition of Hello, Dolly! years ago in Washington, D.C. and I was left with a mediocre impression of the show and the musical numbers. Frankly, I was a little bored. Well, Bette Midler's show is a horse of a different color.
I couldn't take my eyes off the show or her. It's a feast for the senses. The costumes are so colorful and vivid you almost need sunglasses. The side characters, including, David Hyde Pierce (Niles of Frasier), are fantastic and wildly talented. The musical numbers are fun and infectious. Better Midler was nothing short of luminescent. She radiated pure joy. You could tell how humbled and honored she was by the audience's adoration. She was a pleasure to watch. She made the show but her supporting cast are also top-notch. It's a wonderful ensemble. This was definitely a highlight of the trip because how many times do you get to see a legend like Bette Midler? It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Unforgettable!
Saturday, April 22
The three of us started the day with a good breakfast at The Standard Grill, not far from my brother's place. They have these adorable salt shakers on every table (different animals and other types of dogs too). They used to sell them but they don't anymore. *insert sad face*
From there my brother went his way and my mom and I walked the length of the High Line, an elevated park that used to be a railroad track. It's really fabulous. I just wish it hadn't been so packed with people. We kept an eye out for Claire Danes but no sightings this time. My parents have been seen her running on there several times.
There are lots of beautiful plants, trees, and flowers in bloom and some art installations here and there.
You gotta love New Yorkers! #RESIST
After burning some calories on the High Line we made our way to a matinee of War Paint, the most disappointing show of the trip. My mom had a better impression than I did but I was bored from start to finish. My head actually bobbed a few times in the first act. To clarify, my head wasn't bobbing to the music, it was bobbing from fatigue. The second act was a little better but generally speaking, I thought the score was weak, there was little to no action, and the "story" didn't offer a lot of depth. Patti LuPone is a great character actress but she was so great that I had a hard time understanding her Polish accent. I thought both male leads were as weak and useless as their characters were portrayed to be. I enjoyed Christine Ebersole's contribution and I thought her signature song "pink" was the best song in the whole show.
It's a shame because if the show was intended to show how strong, independent, and powerful women can be - it also highlighted the cattiness that can result from female competition. I don't know if the show empowers women as much as it reinforces stereotypes. Also, I hate how the show portrays Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden as patriotic/supportive of the war effort because they continued to produce makeup and panty hose in spite of rations. Way to go on finding new ways to make cosmetics but do you really think women on the ground contributing to the war effort cared how they looked? Give me a break. I think it rubs me the wrong way because I've always been anti-makeup but it just seems so tone deaf. I guess that's not the show as much as it's the women themselves - they must've marketed their products in a way that made it seem like looking your best was your patriotic duty. *rolls eyes*
There's no doubt that both women are phenomenally talented but I think they deserved a better vehicle for their talents.
After that we returned home briefly and then the three of us had dinner at Tavern on Jane. My mom and I both got delicious burgers and my brother picked at our leftovers.
Then it was just my mom and I again for our last show of the trip - Groundhog Day. If my mom chose Sunday in the Park With George and War Paint then Groundhog Day was definitely my choice. As soon as I heard about the movie being converted into a Broadway musical I knew I wanted/had to see it. Evan and I love the movie (he'll see the show when it inevitably comes to D.C.), as do my parents.
The star of the show, Andy Karl, tore his ACL in previews but we were fortunate enough to see him perform, leg brace and all. What can I say? He is fabulous, the entire cast is fabulous, the set is simple but complex - it had concentric moving circles which helped to illustrate the cycle of living the same day over and over again, the music is fun, catchy, and irreverent, the show is funny and dark, light and heavy - it was my favorite show of the weekend with Hello, Dolly! a very, very, very close second. It is so inventive and at times, shocking. It is an existential adventure. There is a lot of overlap with the movie but there are a lot of differences that make it its own unique story. The sometimes crass and profane language reminded me of Avenue Q, one of my favorite shows of all time. Overall, it was awesome. I didn't want the first act to end and I didn't want the second act to end either. I can't wait to see it again when it comes to D.C.!
As an aside, I was really impressed to see Asian-Americans represented in at least three of the four shows we saw. Aside from Avenue Q, I'm not sure I've ever seen Asian-Americans in a Broadway cast. This is a good trend. I hope they keep it up.
...
On Sunday, we had brunch at the Standard Grill with my brother and his girlfriend. I had a delicious rendition of eggs benedict, one of my favorite breakfast foods. From there my mom and I left to begin our journey back home by bus.
It was a wonderful weekend with lots of valuable quality time spent with my brother - we had four meals together while in town. He's a great host and I look forward to visiting again sometime in the near future. Maybe Evan will tag along next time.
My mom and I probably packed in a little too much. Being committed to four shows really limited our flexibility so there wasn't a lot of room to spontaneously pop into a museum or something. As a rule, one or two shows at a time is likely enough. Anyway, we had a great time so that's all that matters.
Thanks to my mom and brother for treating me to an awesome time!
