Thoughts on NYC Trip, or: Gray's Papaya indeed has baller hotdogs.

Some thoughts on my recent New York trip… (to be followed by more detailed posts and reviews, I swear!)

• Internet access is a bitch if you don’t plan ahead.
• The George Washington Bridge is every bit as beautiful in real life as it’s onstage replica in In the Heights.
• You can always see actors at the stage door after a show, but if you chill out on 44th Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue around 6:30pm, you’re likely to bump into stage stars before they head into their respective shows… the likes of Whoopi in Xanadu and Laura Benanti in Gypsy were just as exciting to see pre-show as they were post-show.
• Patti LuPone has no reason to be as generous and appreciative with her time and of her fans as she is. The lady is truly a legend. And all diva-like syndromes would be forgiven in lieu of her masterwork performance as Rose. However, she still manages to sign everyone’s playbill and even strike up a short conversation about south-central Texas with a fanboy who could barely hold back tears. Thank you, Ms. LuPone. Thank you.
• Boyd Gaines is really tall.
• [title of show] may be my favorite show right now. But I am intelligent enough to realize that it is not the best that Broadway has to offer. I don’t mean that as a criticism, I mean it as praise for a show that touches my heart and makes me laugh and is a bit fast-food-for-dinner (if not so much doughnuts). I heart it.
• Even with a mostly new cast, August: Osage County still may be one of the best shows I have ever seen in my life.
• The fake lamb in Gypsy doesn’t bug me anymore. As a matter of fact, it makes great directorial sense to me. Arthur Laurents’ vaudevillian take on a show-stopping, showbiz-loving show is fascinating to watch. I love to study how the actors on stage perform in a style that demands them to acknowledge that they are on stage without falling into self-referential mockumentary mugging a la [tos]. (Again, not a criticism.)
• It’s nice to know that the Lyceum Theatre, the St. James Theatre, and the Music Box all have senses of humor when it comes to pre-show curtain warmers like turning off cell phones and unwrapping loud candy.
• Apparently, Jeff Bowen hurt his ankle the night before I went to see [tos]. What a trooper. I had no idea. I couldn’t even tell.
• Cheyenne Jackson’s thighs join the Great Wall of China and the fake Dubai islands as one of the few phenomena to be able to be seen from space.
• A gin and tonic at the Music Box is $10.
• Late-night subway changes confuse everyone in New York City (even New Yorkers), and not just 3 tourists from Smalltown, Texas.
• The Jonas Brothers attract very large, shrieky, pre-pubescents in drodes.
• If you wait, she will come. Thank you, SarahB for the inspiration.
• There’s so much to do in NYC; make sure to plan ahead.