Intimidating!

I was reading one of my favorite blogs the other day, Skillet Doux, and noticed that he had been nominated for a web award through Saveur magazine.  Since I enjoy his blog so much, I decided to go over to the Saveur website and vote.  After voting, I took a look at some of the other blogs nominated for awards--wow!  What was I thinking, starting a blog??  These sites are so professionally put together, with gorgeous photos and really smart well-written copy!  Yikes, I think I've gotten myself into something a little out of my league...

BUT, I was also inspired.  I went to a new restaurant with some gorgeous gal pals and thought I'd try my hand at describing my experience.  I can't call it a review, but will do my best. 

For Christmas, I received a Diner's Deck, a deck of cards with different restaurants on each card.  I'm determined to try all of these restaurants by the end of the year.  It's going to be hard to catch up since I've started so late, but oh well!  Last night, we went to La Palapa in the East Village.

It's a lovely little spot on St Mark's Place, small, dark and a little noisy, but nicely laid out with delicious food.  We started off with some delicious margaritas (I got pomegranate--so yummy!) and some guacamole and chips.  The guac was very fresh and tasty, as was the pico de gallo.  The margarita choices are plentiful and all of the fresh-squeezed juice made the drinks pretty dangerous!

I decided to get two appetizers instead of an entree, so I could try more food.  I think we've discovered the reason why I'm having issues with my weight.  Anyway, after toying with sampling their vegan options, I decided I couldn't be at a Mexican restaurant without tasting dishes with fresh Mexican cheese.  So I went vegetarian instead.  I got the tamal de rajas - corn masa with poblanos and cotija cheese in a toasted pumpkin seed and tomatillo sauce.  It was delicious and rich, and rather looked like a piece of lasagna:

The toasted pumpkin seed and tomatillo sauce tasted like nothing I've ever had before--it had great depth of flavor; a little smoky and a little spicy and ever so sweet.  The pumpkin seeds added a nice textural contrast.  I'm glad I got the appetizer size, though, since it is such a rich dish.

I also ordered the chalupa con chorizo (but without the chorizo).  Even though they called it a chalupa, to me the description sounded like the sopes I had enjoyed at Rick Bayless' restaurant in Chicago:  corn masa 'boats' filled with guacamole, black beans, queso fresco and crema.  These were also so delicious--I could've eaten them all day long.  They were little bites of fresh deliciousness.  Perhaps a little sprinkling of fried tortilla chips or something would've added a nice crunch, since the little bites were so soft, but perhaps that was because I got them without chorizo.  I would imagine that the chorizo added a tiny bite of crunch.  But they were so amazingly tasty, it didn't really matter all that much.  Sorry the photo isn't very good:

One gal pal got the fish tacos and said they were amazing, and the other got a cheese quesadilla and said it was fine.  I definitely thought my food was more than fine and the prices were pretty reasonable for all the fresh ingredients.  We decided the food seemed pretty traditional without a lot of bells and whistles and we enjoyed that.

Even though I had no business eating one more thing, we looked at the dessert menu and could not resist ordering a dessert to share.  I think after reading the description, you will understand why it had to be ordered:  it was a cinnamon empanada, filled with rice pudding, and served with cinnamon ice cream.  It was really a wow dessert.  You would think it would be overly rich and heavy, but the rice pudding was actually really light, as was the empanada.  The empanada itself was much softer than we thought it was going to be--we all expected some crunch there.  I don't know if that would've made it a better dish since it was awfully darned delicious the way it was presented.  I didn't try the ice cream since I figured I was on dairy overload by now, but the gals said it was lovely.  My picture here isn't vey good either:

So, bottom line?  Thumbs WAY up for La Palapa.  We will definitely be going back.  I want to try a ginger margarita next time.  Our next restaurant card is next week--stay tuned!

Review - Ghetto Klown

I’ve never seen any of John Leguizamo’s plays, but I’ve enjoyed him well enough in the movies.  "Ghetto Klown" though, to me, seems less like a play and more like a really long stand-up routine (or even a therapy session).  Not that there’s anything wrong with that—he’s funny and charming, with music and dancing.  But if he was trying to provide an emotional arc, I didn’t get it.  Perhaps the show needs to go through one more edit; at two and a half hours, it’s at least fifteen (maybe even 30) minutes too long, in my opinion.

But there is some really funny, good stuff in here.  His characterizations of Sean Penn, Kurt Russell, Patrick Swayze, Steven Seagal and Al Pacino are hysterical and right on.  And his depictions of his parents and grandfather are quite touching.  But it’s the stuff in-between that’s a little meandering to me.  I think that’s where the ‘one more edit’ would help.  It’s as though he knows the show biz stuff will entertain us, but he really wants to tell us about his search for love.  The two things uneasily hang together.  But the rest of the audience seemed to love it, so what do I know?  The guy behind me laughed his a*s off the entire time!  Leguizamo is a terrific mimic, though most of his white guys sounded like Frank Langella doing Richard Nixon and the gals all sounded like various incarnations of Rosie Perez.  But it didn’t really matter—they were all distinct, crisp and pretty satisfying.

I found Leguizamo to be completely charming and full of energy, but, in my opinion, a little shaping of the piece would make it much more theatrically compelling.  If you’re already a fan, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.  If you’re not, maybe wait for a discount.

Review - The Normal Heart

Soooo exciting--I won tickets to last night’s performance of “The Normal Heart” through Time Out NY—hoorah!  Love winning stuff!  I had to stand in line for a bit to get the actual tickets, but it wasn’t too bad.  Our seats weren’t the best (about twelve rows back on the extreme left), but the house is small enough and the show is staged so that we didn’t miss much (or anything) at all.  

Here’s a snippet from my review of the one-night benefit performance that got this production started:  I went to the Actor’s Fund one-night-only reading of Larry Kramer’s “The Normal Heart” Monday night.  It was spectacular.  Joe Mantello, who hasn’t acted since the original “Angels in America,” was Ned Weeks and was really amazing.  He caught so many layers to Ned.  I thought he was great.  Victor Garber was terrific as Ned’s older brother, John Benjamin Hickey was fantastic as Felix, Ned’s lover.  My husband, Michael Cerveris, was of course terrific as the government official.  Kramer’s play is part didactic mess and part passionate rage at the world.  The two parts co-exist very well and the show is still so powerful.  It’s amazing that this play, written over twenty years ago, is still so timely and angry.  I laughed, I cried, I was a weeping puddle by the end.

All of the above is still completely true, except that Victor Garber and Michael Cerveris aren’t in this version of the show.  Boo.  But the gents who took their place are completely up to the challenge.

Joe Mantello has such a fine line to tread here—he’s described as a jerk and everyone is afraid of him, so we need to see that, but we also need to root for him and be curious about his journey.  Too much of a jerk and we don’t care.  Too little, and the plot could unravel.  But he finds the right combination.  I thought he was terrific, and although I LOVED Mark Rylance in “La Bete,” I think I’m rooting for Mantello to take the Tony.

He and John Benjamin Hickey have a wonderful chemistry and really play off each other beautifully.  I also enjoyed how Mantello played off Ellen Barkin, as Dr. Brookner.  She was fantastic, and omg, her monologue in the second act?  Breathtaking.   Mark Harelilk, who I loved as the father in “Light in the Piazza,” is terrific as Ned’s older brother. 

Lee Pace, from “Pushing Daisies” fame, was really good as Bruce, the closeted friend who ends up as the first president of GMHC (or the thinly veiled version of GMHC).  His monologue in the second act about the death of his lover was just shattering.  I mean, the monologue itself is horrifying, but he delivered it beautifully.  It’s so amazing—I know what’s coming, I try to prepare myself emotionally, and yet still I break down because it’s all so raw and so real.  Patrick Breen’s second act monologue was also heartbreaking.  Oh, and Jim Parsons (“Big Bang Theory”) was also great as the young guy who ends up being the peacemaker of the group.  He had wonderful comic timing, but also a lot of compassion and layers to his performance.  I would definitely like to see him on stage again.

Joel Grey directed the reading last year, but since he was involved in rehearsals for “Anything Goes” during this rehearsal process, George C Wolfe came on as co-director.  I definitely saw a lot of his touches during the evening, though, on the whole, the staging and set were identical to last fall’s reading.  I liked many of George’s additions (I generally admire his directing work a great deal), though I do wonder at one thing.  I was thinking about this on the way home last night—there was a change in the way the last scene was played from last fall to now.  I don’t want to say exactly what happened, in case people are going to see the show and don’t want to be ‘spoiled,’ but I’m really curious about why it was done.  I’d love to discuss with people after they’ve seen the show.

And I do hope everyone can try to see this production.  It's amazing to me that all that rage and fury actually made it into a play.  Usually there’s a filter, but there’s no filter here.  And the rage and fury are STILL completely justified.  As I said above, it’s amazing to me that so much of what is happening on that stage is still timely and current.  And it was written over 20 years ago!  But, oh, this play is just filled with pain and beauty.  Thumbs way way up from me. 

Review - House of Blue Leaves

I'm definitely predisposed to enjoy a John Guare play--I love me some John Guare.  (Pronto, John Guare!)  He writes like no one else, and I love seeing his earlier, more absurd work.  I didn't see the very famous revival of "Blue Leaves" (well, I saw the video once, a long time ago), so I came into this pretty fresh, not having read it in years.  As I watched it unfold, I was trying to listen and hang onto all of the gorgeous imagery in this near-squalor.  The juxtaposition is amazing.

I was unsure I would enjoy Ben Stiller as Artie, but I think he was very good.  It kinda worked having this still-handsome guy play such a loser.  Another juxtaposition that I liked.  You could see that he was really torn about what he was doing to his wife, Bananas, yet he had a vision and had to see it through.  In this era of reality tv and people wanting their fifteen minutes of fame no matter what, the story of the play is more timely now than ever.

I always like to describe a John Guare play as having equal parts whimsy and pathos--the director of this revival, David Cromer, has really brought out the pathos, but it somehow makes the whimsy more pronounced.  Just as you're sitting there feeling terrible for these people, then you start to crack up with laughter, then you start to cry.  It's a fantastic roller coaster that you just don't want to end.  John Guare has created this awful characters, yet they're totally sympathetic.  It's really lovely.

photo credit: Sara Krulwich

Edie Falco is a tad mannered in her first scene, but she really had me by the end.  Her Bananas is the most sane person on the stage, even as she resists yet acknowleges her insanity.  I think she hits a lot of nice notes in her scene with Billy (nicely played by Thomas Sadoski, but no matter how much gray they put in his hair, he doesn't look old enough to have gone to high school with her and Ben Stiller), and at the end.  She also has an oddly touching relationship with Bunny, played with relish by Jennifer Jason Leigh.  At first I thought, omg, tone it down sister, but then she really grew on me too.  Her great need to be next to fame and success was very scary yet touching, and her loud bravado was a great cover for her complete lack of self.

I didn't even recognize Mary Beth Hurt as the main nun, but she was a riot.  All of the nuns were hysterical.  Christopher Abbott as the son, Ronnie, did a fantastic job with his opening monologue and Allison Pill was excellent in her short time on stage as Billy's girlfriend.

I give this production a huge thumbs up.  It's horrifying and hysterical, tragic and absurd (I will admit to not really understanding the surreal aspects to the set, but they didn't distract from anything) and just plain makes you think.  I can't wait to see it again.  Of course, I believe that means it will get trashed in the reviews tomorrow.  My record this season isn't that great... ;)

Glass is half full, yes?

One of the reasons I started this blog was to put some positive energy out there.  When I was diagnosed and trying to figure out which way to turn, I looked at a lot of blogs and message boards that had such sad and horrifying stories, it was hard to keep my eye on the prize and stay positive.  So I thought I would write about my experiences in a more upbeat way, considering that I've had little to no complications or worries during my recovery process so far (knock wood).  Of course, my first few posts had complaints in them, so there went the positive energy idea!  :)

I guess it's easier to dwell on the bad things and want to get support and feedback to keep you going, than to write about how well you're doing.  Which is more interesting?  Or more readable?  Perhaps I've found the reason behind reality tv.  Hmmmm.  But, anyway, I have forced myself to stop looking at other boards because I've decided I don't want to know everything that could go wrong.  I would rather focus on what is going right so far.  Besides, sometimes even my rather easy recovery story seems so hard to believe!  If my life were a play, critics would call the plot a little hard to swallow!

Who could imagine that I would leave the hospital and come back to an apartment building that was on fire?!  That I would have to stay in a hotel by the airport for ten days post-surgery?!  That the visiting nurse service would have to come to a hotel by LaGuardia??  If everything had gone as planned, I probably could've gone back to work in two weeks and been done with it.  I would've been uncomfortable, but that's ok.  But, as we all know, life rarely goes the way we plan it, so I'm grateful that I thought ahead and asked for plenty of time to get my head back on straight.  I was fortunate to have so many friends and colleagues to help me get through the mounds of paperwork and hassles that need to be gotten through.  Medical insurance paperwork is a big enough nuisance, but rental insurance for a fire that wasn't your fault?  Another nuisance.  But my nuisance-level was minimal, thanks to the angels in my life that stepped up and took care of things for me.

One thing I've learned through this is you really need to accept help when it's offered.  One of my doctors likes to tell me 'no one needs a martyr.'  She's talking about taking pain medication when it's needed, but to me, it also means that you don't get bonus points for wearing yourself out to do stuff alone that you don't need to do alone.  But it's really hard to let go of that control, especially when you're so out of control in other areas.  The few times I've let myself go and cry really hard were mainly when I was accepting the generosity of others.  Sometimes it's hard to accept that so many people think you're worthy of such generosity.

The last few months are actually sort of a blur--I feel like everything has flown by and maybe I didn't concentrate as much as I should've, or maybe I made decisions too quickly.  Or maybe everything has gone the way it's supposed to and I'll find out the reasons down the road.  That's usually the way things happen for me.  I wonder what I'm supposed to learn from today's trial, then figure it out months (or years) later.  That can be annoying, but also can be comforting.  And I'll take all the comfort I can get.

The light at the end of the tunnel seems so far off...

So I had my last 'fill' yesterday at Dr Vera Wang's office (I'm ever so glad I have pre-existing nicknames for all of my doctors--best to keep things anonymous!), and set the date for my exchange surgery.  But I have to wait two months for the exchange.  Two more months of wearing the expanders.  Two more months of sleeping sitting straight up.  Two more months of feeling like I'm in a metal corset.  Two more months of button-up shirts.  Sigh.  I've already been filled with 500 cc's, which doesn't seem quite enough, when I look at myself, but I know that I can't do another fill.  The doctor thought maybe I should have one more to help with the 'shape,' but I said no.  Though I could change my mind before the surgery in June, I guess.

I know the way I look now is not necessarily the way I'll look after the exchange--the expanders sort of take up a lot more room than the implants, so it looks more like a twelve-year-old pudgy boy's chest than mine.   I suppose I could get fitted for a new bra now, instead of waiting until after the exchange.  Maybe that would give me a little more normalcy.  But I do find the surgical bra comforting at the moment.  Physically and emotionally comforting.  I keep telling myself that if I lose fifteen or twenty pounds, I'll look more proportioned.  But it's getting harder and harder for me to lose weight without vigorous exercise and I'm not supposed to exercise vigorously yet.  So I sit and eat comfort food, which I'm sure doesn't help anything.

In lieu of comfort food last night, I took myself to the revival of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying."  I had a grand time, even with the discomfort of a skinny seat and a well-fed next-door-seat-neighbor who kept invading my personal space.  Daniel Radcliffe is ADORABLE!  He is a delightful song and dance man, with a charming wink to the audience.  OK, his singing is not going to make you forget Brian Stokes Mitchell and he's no Gene Kelly in the dance department, but he's so darn charming and delightful, you just don't care.  The whole is greater than the sum of its parts (or however that saying goes).  And by the time you get to "Brotherhood of Man," you are so rooting for this kid (the character AND the actor), you're just grinning like an idiot.  At least I was.  Plus, may I say he was also totally delightful in the Broadway Cares pitch after the show.  Super adorable.

 

The whole cast is excellent.  I thought John Larroquette was very funny as Biggley--he had some hysterical line readings and played very well off Radcliffe.  They actually had terrific chemistry, even in their post-show stuff.  Rose Hemingway is very good as Rosemary, though not quite as quirky and fun as Megan Mullaly was in the last revival.  This gal plays it more in the old-fashioned ingenue type, which was fine and she was quite cute.  The kid playing Bud Frump went in a totally different direction than the usual Frump, but he was funny.  Tammy Blanchard was a riot as Hedy LaRue.  Thumbs way up from me.  In fact, I may need to see it again, just to see "Brotherhood of Man" again.  I read a review somewhere where the reviewer said they wanted to rewind that number and watch it again--that's how I felt too.  Shows that make you feel good are so few and far between.  If I could see this show and "La Cage" a few more times before June 20, maybe I'll feel a little lighter and better about the whole thing...

Sometimes, you just want a hug

Though this whole process of surgery, fire, follow-ups and reconstruction, I've tried to stay upbeat.  Sure, sleeping sitting up is uncomfortable, wearing button-up shirts all the time is annoying, boxes all over my apartment are in the way and drive me nuts.  Blah blah blah.  These are things that will be over eventually.  I have a sign on my desk that says 'this too shall pass.'  I say that to myself a lot during the day.  But the one thing that keeps me vaguely depressed and that will probably not be over eventually?  Giving and receiving hugs.  I just never realized how much I depend on a good strong hug to get me through a bad day, a hard time, or even a great party!  There's nothing like a great big bear hug to make you feel good, to help transmit the love and affection you want to show another person.  And I can't have one.  Or give one.  That makes me sad.

I'll be going to a party later today to celebrate one of the most beautiful people I know.  Someone who went above and beyond the call of friendship to get me through the last few months.  In fact, there will be dozens of people there who I love and adore and who support me every day.  I'm seriously bummed I won't be able to really hug them.  Sure, I can do the wimpy 45-degree-angle hug, where you stick out your butt and kinda touch each other's faces and/or shoulders, and you look like a weird triangle.  But I won't be able to get my arms up and around their necks and give a good hard squeeze that says "I love you.  Thank you.  You're the best."  Will I ever be able to again?  Who knows if it will ever be the same, when there are foreign objects between me and the hugee.  For some reason, this is what bothers me the most.  At least today...

Reviews and other ramblings

I love living in New York.  I can see theater any time I want, which is generally all the time.  If I had the energy (and the money), I would see something every night.  A few years ago, a gent in my office was an award nominator, so he got tickets to everything and would frequently invite me to join him.  It was great to see so much, and I decided I wanted to share my impressions with my friends.  Thus my Review e-chain was born.  Originally it went out to five or six people, but it's grown over the years to over 30 people.  So--even though I don't see as much as I used to, I thought I'd put some reviews on the blog.  As a rule, I don't review things done by my closest friends (no perspective) and I won't share my negative impressions of shows written by people I may happen to work for (no courage).  But, rules are made to be broken, yes?  Here we go...

I was fortunate enough to score a TDF ticket for Arcadia on Tuesday night and had a friend take me to Sister Act last night.  I have to say I enjoyed both evenings immensely.

I’ve never seen a production of Arcadia and freely admit I haven’t read it in years.  So I went into the show relatively ‘blind’ and loved it.  I guess I am predisposed to love a Stoppard play (Rock and Roll and Coast of Utopia are both WAY up on my favorite recent productions list) and wasn’t disappointed this time.  Although all of the acting wasn’t spot on, I was completely engaged throughout the three-hour run time and found the final images haunting.

photo credit: Carol Rosegg

I’ve heard from several people who saw the original NY production that this one suffered from its casting, so I’m kinda glad I didn’t have that baggage going in.  I will say that the gal playing Thomasina takes some getting used to.  She’s so odd and affected, it’s as if she’s doing some sort of acting student caricature with her accent (which is odd, since she’s actually a Brit), but ultimately she worked for me because her character is so contradictory and unknowable, her complete ‘rough around the edges’ persona made sense.  And it helped the movement of her relationship with Septimus, played by Tom Riley.  I thought he was terrific—smart and funny, charming, knowing, yet totally naïve.  Plus, well, he’s adorable.  Never hurts.  Billy Crudup is teetering on the edge of overplaying in his performance, but he really worked for me, too.  You really saw the grasping and the climbing of this guy, who just wants to get famous, and doesn’t really care how.  He tries to have a meeting of the minds with Lia Williams’ character, but can’t quite take that final step (well, she has something to do with that, too, but…).  In fact, a lot of the show is how people just can’t seem to go that extra step to get what they want for their heart, but they will blindly go for miles to get what they want for their brain.  Interesting ideas.  Of course I loved my crush, Raul Esparza.  Talk about not being able to go after what you want.  Margaret Colin was terrific as the lady of the manor and Lia Williams was heartbreaking as Hannah.  I do think the direction is a little stately and sterile.  I could’ve used a tad more oomph to up the emotional quotient to match the intellectual quotient, but I loved the script enough that I could live with the inequity.  Maybe on repeat viewings, I would get resentful.  I don’t know.  I’m thinking of getting another TDF ticket, so I’ll keep you posted. 

I went into Sister Act last night with next-to-no expectations.  I like the movie, but wondered how an original score would fit into the story.  For the most part, I thought the score was terrific.  They have moved the setting to the 70s, so a lot of the songs now have a disco beat.  I did think some of the songs sounded a lot alike, especially the stuff done by the ‘bad guys.’  And one of the songs sounds an awful lot like Dreamgirls, but there was enough good music to make up for the not-as-good.  The stuff sung by the nuns is terrific, especially their first number "Raise Your Voice."  I thought the music, lyrics and performances came together smashingly in that one.

photo credit: Joan Marcus

Patina Miller as Deloris was excellent, though I will say maybe she was the tiniest bit underwhelming last night. She was off-stage for extended scenes and I didn’t really miss her, even though the story is ostensibly about her.  Now Victoria Clark, on the other hand, IS a star.  You can’t take your eyes off her and she completely rocks her scene work (of course she rocks her songs, too, I mean hello, she’s Victoria Clark).  She’s great.  I really loved Fred Applegate as the priest, and Chester Gregory as the cop who has a crush on Deloris.  His big number has some riotous directorial choices in it, so thumbs up for that.  Jerry Zaks directed, which in a way didn’t surprise me, because there were some clunky directorial choices in the first act, but then did surprise me in the second act, because there was some fun stuff, too.  So…there you have it.  J    Oh, and there’s a disco ball Virgin Mary—gotta love that.  All in all, I had a lot of fun at the show and the rest of the audience seemed to be loving it.  I’ll be interested in how the reviews for this one plays out.

As to the other ramblings mentioned in the post title, one of my other passions is tennis.  I've watched for years (Bjorn Borg was an early crush), but became more fanatical about it after a sunny day in June 2001, when I saw Roger Federer for the first time.  I was at my parents' house, watching Wimbledon on the little tv in their kitchen, cheering as Federer played an amazing match to beat Pete Sampras.  I was in love.  And have been in love with Roger ever since.  During his amazing run as #1, I watched him religiously and got SO MAD whenever he lost (which wasn't often).  I mean, MAD.  Like, don't talk to me today, I'm too mad.  He spoiled me by winning so much.  Well, fast-forward to ten years later, and I watched him lose this morning.  And I didn't get mad.  I was sad, yet vaguely pleased for Jurgen Melzer, the opponent who had never beaten Roger before.  So...what does that mean?  Have I mellowed (doubtful)?  Am I accepting the inevitable (NOOOOO!)?  I will love Roger forever, but do I need a new tennis passion?  Maybe this will require further thought and another post.  To quote one of my favorite musicals: is.a.puzzlement.

Oh my - let's see what happens

Hello out there.  I never thought I'd be starting a blog, but there are so many things happening and so many things running through my brain, I figured a blog might be a good way to clear the decks.  As it were.  I'm hoping to chat about my many interests, including theater, ballet, tennis, travel and cooking.  Oh, and my nephew.  Not to mention my new 'vaguely vegan' lifestyle and the twists and turns surrounding surgery and fire (not in that order).  I guess this is an experiment and I'll just have to see how things go.  Onward...