Friday night I decided I really needed to see Slumdog Millionaire while it was still in theaters, so from work I went up to the AMC in Times Square (one of the few theaters still showing it). I grabbed some quick and delicious hot dogs on the sidewalk then went in to see if it deserves its spot on the pillars of the Kodak Theater.
As I was told I would, I definitely thought the movie was great. I loved the framing of the story around the interrogation. The acting was top-notch, too, especially from the young kids at the beginning. Of course any movie that ends with a dance sequence and awesomely designed closing credits is sweet in my book.
Wouldn't it be fun if the movie inspired abc to bring back Regis and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in primetime? I'd watch sometimes.
Saturday morning Joan and I went to Times Square to try and score lottery tickets to the new West Side Story revival. It wasn't to be, however, so we took the subway down to the financial district and checked out Trinity Church before making our way over to the South Street Seaport, an area I can see from work in Brooklyn and have wanted to go, mostly because of the sight of old ships.
As we walked through the area, I was amazed at how cool it was. Cobblestone streets, old brick buildings. This is the kind of historic city area that I love. Walking through here was like stepping back into the early 1800s, as long as you keep your distance from the Gap, Abercrombie and Sharper Image, that is.
Looks like it could actually be an old photograph, doesn't it? Nah, I took it myself on Saturday. Isn't it wonderful what a minute of photoshop can do?
Joan and I had lunch outside in the sun on the pier. It wasn't super warm, but it was warm enough for a lot of people to eat outside. It felt great, and gave me a little taste of how amazing it must be here in the Spring.
The rest of Saturday consisted of some hanging out in Prospect Park back in Brooklyn, a delicious dinner at Joan's apartment with Gabe and Dan, all of us playing a few hands of Bananagrams, and watching "Big." I was surprised I actually stayed up for the whole thing, but it is a great movie. Unfortunately though, this time while I was watching, I couldn't stop thinking of how messed up both of the main characters were going to be after living through the events of the movie. It would definitely take a lot of psychiatric help to resolve all their issues.
Sunday, Mom flew in for the day! She got in around 10:30, and we headed off to Chelsea Market, someplace I knew she'd love. We found out it used to be an old Nabisco factory, and the market has only existed for about 10 years, which was a surprise. It is so cool. Mom ate what she said was some of the best Lobster Bisque she's ever had, and I had a delicious cup of Chicken Pot Pie Soup. Mmmm.
From there, we took the subway up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, another place I was sure Mom would love. The museum is pretty ridiculous. It is all so well-kept with some incredible pieces. We took about half of a free museum highlights tour, then ducked out to join an Old Masters tour, which is some of my Mom's favorite work. Our tour guides in both cases were older New Yorker men with great accents. I actually learned a lot and was shown some great paintings on the Old Masters tour.
We also checked out a few other things, like some of the American Landscape paintings. Those are some of my favorites. There's just not much more artistically impressive to me than a beautiful mountain perfectly painted.
From the museum, Mom and I had a fun Italian dinner at Carmines on 44th and ended up with a huge amount of leftovers. From there, it was time for the Theater!
We walked over to the New Amsterdam Theatre, the theater Disney owns. Apparently the theater sat vacant, decaying and falling apart for something like 15 or 20 years before Disney bought the historic property in 1993 and began their renovation.
The renovation work is pretty amazing. You can see some before and after pictures here.
So how was Mary Poppins? Well, there's really only one word to describe it...
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. There you go, enjoy my cheesy-ness.
I love the self-awareness of Mary's comment at the beginning of that song, "Of course it's a word, and unless I'm very much mistaken I think it's going to prove a rather useful one."
Truly though, Mary Poppins is an amazing show. The music, the performances, the sets, are all awesome. Don't even get me started about the theatrics and effects of it all. I knew most of what was going to happen before I saw the show, and I was still very, very impressed. Even knowing as much as I did, I was still surprised by a lot and even got chills during a few scenes, including one involving Mr. Banks and the children near the end of the show. And the entire "Step in Time" scene above the rooftops of London has got to be the greatest dance sequence I've ever seen.
I won't go into any details about what magic stuff actually does happen in the show, because I don't want to ruin anything for anyone, but it really is all great. Our Mary and Bert were absolutely fantastic. During the bows, Mom and I rose to our feet from our seats in the front row of the mezzanine when Bert ran out, while most of the rest of the audience stayed sitting. The lady behind us said "Down in Front!" but one second later, the whole audience was standing as Mary came out for her bow.
Normally, I try to avoid doing things that take away from other peoples experiences at shows and theme parks and whatnot, but look lady, your kid was kicking the back of my seat during the entire show. I'll give my standing ovation to whoever the hell I want to.
The actor playing Bert just seemed to be having the time of his life in the role, and rightfully so, considering all that Bert gets to do in the show. In fact, seeing Mary Poppins made me want to be Bert. Not really play Bert in a musical or anything, but to actually be him.
You know, I think good Digital Designers are actually a lot like Bert...but that's a conversation for another time. I do think I'll make a great Bert on some future Halloween, though.
After the show, Mom and I went down to the basement of the theater to see this beautiful room called "The New Amsterdam Room." I'd expect it's used for special events and parties, and anytime Bob Iger is in town. Here's a shot of the amazing ceiling in the room. As you can see, since the renovation it's pretty awesome. It's nice to know Disney is capable of doing some really classy, good things in the world.
Good work, Disney.
As you can see, my last weekend in New York was a great one, topped off with what was probably the best show I've seen during my time here, Mary Poppins. The first few days of this week have had significant events themselves, but I'll save that for later.
For now, have a great week, everyone! I look forward to seeing many of you soon back in the Nati!
1 comment:
"I'll give my standing ovation to whoever the hell I want to."
Please watch your language, Alex. That should be "whomever the hell I want."
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