More Thankfulness

We're a week out from Surgery #4 (hopefully the last one EVER), and I'm ever so thankful everything went smoothly.  I need to get the name of the anesthesiologist so I can send him a thank-you note or something.  I sailed through recovery, got home relatively early and was eating French toast while laying on my couch in a nice timely manner.

I had to be at the hospital last Monday at 6am, which was fine, because I prefer to have these surgeries early (I get dehydrated really quickly, so the later the surgery, the farther away from my last drink of water we get...).  I admit to being a little nervous walking across a deserted 32nd Street so early in the morning, and I actually got stopped by a guy asking where Sixth Avenue was.  I told him and mentally prepared myself to poke him with my umbrella if he decided to follow me.  He didn't.  Oh, me of little faith.  So, anyway, I got to NYU a little early, and I sat down in the day surgery waiting room.  Boy, I really never need to see that room again.  After me, another woman about my age came in, then a family of three arrived: a mom, her 10-ish-year-old son, and the grandma.  Oh my.  I think the boy may have been autistic or something, but he was out of control, especially for 5:45am in a hospital surgical waiting room.  He kept running around, pushing any button he could find (good thing I had gotten up there in the elevator before him!), yelling and being generally disruptive.  I tried to convince myself that displacing my anxiety into being annoyed by this kid would work, but it didn't.  I was just anxious about the surgery AND annoyed by the kid.  Thankfully, a nurse came out and took me and the other lady back into the little surgery prep rooms.  I think she was being kind and getting us out of the earshot of the out-of-control kid (I do feel guilty for having little-to-no sympathy, but I'll cut myself some slack here).  I didn't hear the little guy any more that day, so I do hope all went well for him and his family. 

After sitting in the little room for awhile, the first nurse they assigned to me came in to begin the seemingly never-ending questions about my age, weight and latex allergies.  I realize they have to dot all the Is and cross all the Ts, but it gets annoying answering the same questions 75 times in about an hour period.  When the nurse told me I needed to take a pregnancy test, I said I could tell her, with 1000% certainty, that there was no chance I'm pregnant.  She looked at me, very sternly, and said "How??"  As if I were telling her it was physically impossible, as opposed to situationally impossible.  I pointed out the number of years the gestation would have to be for me to be pregnant, and she said, "So what?  You have to take the test anyway."  Oh, ok.  With no sense of humor here, it's going to be a LONG morning.  :)

Note:  if it's raining when you go to NYU Medical Center, don't carry a big umbrella.  It won't fit in the locker they give you for your clothes.

Anyway, I talked to about fifteen different doctors and/or nurses about my age, weight and latex allergies.  Dr Vera Wang finally came in and said, "So, this must be easier since you've been here before!"  She's so sweet, I felt bad contradicting her, but I said, "Um, no, it's actually HARDER each time.  I know more things that could go wrong!"  She looked perplexed and then moved on.  I became her art canvas, as she drew on me with her little black pen, where things were going to go, how big they were going to be, and so on.  I did decide on having the nipples done, but made sure to tell her I didn't want huge honking headlights.  She said they get smaller and flatter as time goes on, so we'll just have to see...

After I saw Dr Vera Wang, then I met Mr Anonymous Anesthesiologist (well, he told me his name, but I forgot it).  He said he saw in my files that I had problems the last time with the drugs and could I please explain them to him?  I talked him through everything, he listened and never condescended, which was great.  He then put in my file that I have an allergy to compazine and said he would do all he could to make sure I didn't get sick this time.  I felt very reassured by his attitude.

Finally, nurse #75 came back to take me to the operating room.  They give you one of those little hats and walk you for about a mile, until you get to your room.  I climb onto the table, lie down, and try not to be nervous.  I told Mr. AA that it's historically been difficult to put IVs into my arm and my hand is a better bet.  So, he speedily got it into my right hand, walked over to my left side to put me on a heart monitor, came back to my right side and said "Hmmmmmmmm."  I said, "Is that a good hmmmmmmm or a bad one?"  He said he just needed to tighten the tape holding the IV in, and not to worry.  What, me worry??  You could hear my heart monitor pounding pounding, so finally, Mr AA said, "You know what?  You seem anxious.  Let me give you a little something now."  I said, "That would be nice, thank you."    That's the last thing I remember until they woke me up in recovery.  :)

I have a vague memory of Dr Vera Wang telling me my blood pressure got really high during the procedure and I should probably see my cardiologist about that.  I apparently told people my feet were tingling, too, but I have absolutely no recollection of that.  Unlike the last procedure, I didn't have any heart irregularities afterwards, no one yelled at me to keep breathing, I didn't feel like I was going to be sick, and I didn't feel like I wanted to pull my hair out.  Yay!  I think I only laid around and dozed for about an hour and a half, then I got to sit up in a chair for awhile and eat some crackers, then I went home!  Thanks to my fantastic friends, I didn't have to worry about going to the drugstore (there's a pharmacy inside NYU Medical Center, so a dear one went and got my prescriptions filled while I was dozing), and I didn't have to worry about finding a cab to get me home (another dear one came and picked me up in his car).  Easy peasy, thank heavens.  Who's a thankful girl to have so many dear ones spend their days making her life easier??  ME!!  My friends thought it was good karma that people were moving INTO the apartments that had been gutted by the fire that happened the last time I got a ride home!  I'll take all the good karma I can find.

I'm also thankful I haven't had much pain at all, maybe some twinges here and there, so I mainly just slept and relaxed all last week, except for Thanksgiving Day, when I took a car so I could spend the evening with people I love and who love me.  Delicious food, delicious friends = perfect Thanksgiving.  I was still pretty tired, but I enjoyed myself all the same.  It's amazing how tired you can be after a minor surgical procedure.  Thursday was also the day to take off the bandages and take my first post-op shower.  That actually took quite a bit out of me.  I probably should've done it in the morning and then napped before dinner, but I didn't plan ahead (that should be the title of a chapter in my autobiography).  I thought everything looked good, though.  The right side, now lifted, looks more like the left side, and the nipples, though kinda goofy-looking without any areolas, seem about right.  So, all's good on that front.  I actually kinda like how they look now. 

I had my follow-up appointment with Dr Vera Wang this morning and she said all looks good to her, too.  No heavy lifting and no bouncing (?!) for the foreseeable future.  She also suggested I wear a bigger bra for awhile.  Great, more bra shopping.  I have to see her again after the holidays and then we'll talk about the tattoo areolas, after which, fingers crossed, I will be DONE.  (fingers crossed again)  For which I will be VERY thankful.  :)

Giving Thanks

By the time you read this, I will hopefully be out of surgery and heading home from NYU Medical Center.  I'll probably have a report on that later this week.  But I wanted to jot a few thoughts down beforehand (thank you, auto-post)...

The friend I had dinner with last week (doing the tasting menu at Ammo) introduced me to his late aunt a few years ago.  She and I became quite friendly and bonded over theater and the arts.  She was on my review list and she even took me to quite a few shows over the last few years.  My friend told me that she left me her Encores subscription in her will, which is a bit overwhelming.

Anyway, I visited her over the summer, which turned out to be a few months before she died.  She had a rare type of ovarian cancer, so we compared notes on surgery, doctors, treatments and other things.  Even though I am obviously nowhere near as ill as she was, it was still nice to complain with someone who understood about the degrading aspects of tests and treatments, and the outrageous costs of everything.  I felt so badly for her, because she was clearly so sick, but I also felt bad because she had no friends or family coming to visit or take care of her.  She had to hire a nurse to help her out.  She had two sisters, neither of whom came in to visit for extended periods of time.  And I gathered from some of her comments that her friends were just uncomfortable and couldn't handle the long-term aspects of her illness.  My friend (her nephew) lives in CA, so he came in a couple of times a month towards the end, but still, she spent major portions of her illness alone.  That is so monumentally sad to me.  Even if that was the way she wanted it.

Not only am I SO fortunate to not be as desperately ill as she was, but clearly I am outrageously thankful that I have so many friends and family members who would come to take care of me, at the drop of a hat, should I need them.  My mom was a rock star in February, intending to stay for a week and ending up being here for close to a month; my sister came in (and spent lots of money she doesn't have) to meet my doctors so everyone back home could feel a little bit more comfortable about my care.  My nephew wanted to visit immediately after to cheer me up.  Even my team of doctors have my best interests at heart and never make me feel like 'just another patient.' 

Every single loved one in my life has stepped up to the plate and gone above and beyond the call of friendship this year.  No one can realize how much easier this terrible year has been with so much love and support holding me up.  It even became apparent which friends were perhaps not worthy of as much time and attention as I had given them in the past.  If I tried to share, and they managed to avoid (or never contact me again), it became clear to me that it is probably time to move on, as much as I hate to do that.

I pride myself on being a loyal and fierce friend--and this year my friends have put me to shame.  I have a lot to live up to.  And I am extremely thankful for that.  I plan to spend 2012 and beyond showing everyone just how thankful for them I am.

Restaurant thoughts - Amma

I went to dinner last night with an old friend, and he convinced me to do something I'd never done before: try a tasting menu.  I met him at his late aunt's apartment (he's getting the apartment ready to sell) and we went to the Indian restaurant, Amma, which is across the street from the apartment.  I got the vegetarian tasting menu and he got the non-vegetarian menu.  We both declined the wine option.

Don't try a tasting menu if you're in a hurry.  We were there for quite a long time.  The restaurant itself is very nice--dark, with reds and yellows, and only maybe 15 tables, with a hushed atmosphere.  The music was exotic, but muted.  We were seated in the front, by the window and the door, so it got chilly as people came in and out, but it wasn't bad, mainly because the room was pretty warm, and the food was relatively spicy.  I couldn't get a good shot with the iPhone, though, because the lighting was so dim.


My first course was crispy spinach chaat, described on the menu as mung beans, potatoes and onions.  That doesn't really seem like what I ate.  I also noticed tomatoes and some kind of lentils (in addition to the mung beans), but it was tasty, regardless.  Plus, there was something acidic, other than the tomatoes, but I can't quite identify what it was.

The second plate was a samosa stuffed with green peas, and a mushroom stuffed with paneer chese.  They came with a little tamarind chutney and a cilantro-mint chutney.  I'm not a huge fan of cilantro, so I only took a little taste of that chutney (which was too cilantro-y for me), but the tamarind chutney was delicious.  So were both the samosa and the mushroom.  The samosa dough was light and not greasy at all, with a complex pea filling.  The stuffed mushroom had a really nice texture and was quite large.  I liked both of these dishes.



Next, came the tandoori bharwan (I think that's what it was called).  It was a red pepper, stuffed with vegetables and paneer chese, alongside some raw mushrooms in a tomato-garlic-ginger sauce.  The sauce on the mushrooms was incredible.  It had so many layers of flavor--sweetness, heat, spice.  I really liked it.  At first, I was uneasy about the mushrooms being raw, but they were sliced so thinly, it didn't matter.  The filling in the red peppers was very tasty, with sauteed cauliflower, broccoli and some beans, but I don't like to eat so much raw red pepper, so I left it behind.  All in all, another tasty dish.  And, you may notice, all the dishes were gorgeously plated.

Next came the dish I was most looking forward to--the kele ka kofta, a plantain dumpling in an onion-tomato sauce.  It was served with crispy lotus chips, and a baby eggplant, stuffed with mushrooms and garlic, in a bit of a yogurt sauce. Before we decided on the tasting menu, I was thinking I would just get the plantain dumplings and some biryani, since that sounded tasty.  But I was glad they were on the tasting menu.  And they did not disappoint.  The consistency of the filling was just right, and the flavor was delicate and delicious.  The sauce was also delicious.  Probably my favorite sauce of the evening (though that tomato-garlic-ginger sauce was way up there).  The crispy lotus chips were delicious and a nice textural contrast to all the soft dumplings and sauces.  I will say that the stuffed eggplant was my least favorite dish of the evening.  I didn't like the mealy consistency at all and the sauce was clumpy and unappetizing.  So I don't give thumbs up to that, unfortunately.  

I was starting to slow down by this point--it wasn't a lot of food on each plate, but just more plates than I'm used to.  I was determined to make it to dessert, though.  The next dish was interesting - the center of the plate was a crispy okra salad, which tasted completely different than it looked.  It was salty and earthy, but not nearly as spiny as it looked.  It was tasty, though a bit difficult for me to eat more than just a bit.  Also on the plate was a piece of paneer, with a tomato-cream sauce.  It was good, not great, and I only ate about half, because it was so dense.  The other piece was a vegetable crepe, on a curried pumpkin sauce.  Now, I love me some pumpkin, but this sauce was way too spicy for me, as was the crepe.  I think there were whole chiles in the filling, which just isn't my thing.  I only ate a few bites of it.  Of course, I still had two plates to come, so it probably was a good idea to stop cleaning my plate!  :)

Next was the 'main course.'    There were a few choices, and I selected the dum aloo, a potato stuffed with raisins, cashews and more potato, covered with a tomato-onion sauce, and served with basmati rice.  This was super yummy, potato-y and warm and saucy.  The rice was also tasty, with a little jackfruit inside, which added a nice bright sweetness.

Even though I was beyond stuffed by this time, I was still looking forward to dessert.  I love getting rice pudding at Indian restaurants.  It's always delicious, a little spicy and aromatic and not too sweet.  This was no exception.  I could taste a hint of cardamom, even maybe a little black pepper.  It was a lovely finish, with a cute design on the plate, and a nice mango and strawberry puree.  It was a great dessert.  All in all, I greatly enjoyed my evening at Ammo and I definitely think I would go back.  There were quite a few vegetarian options that weren't on the tasting menu, so there would be lots of new stuff to try.  Tasting menus will have to be occasional experiences, though.  All that food is a little overwhelming to me!  If I had had wine too?  Yikes!  :)

Review - Other Desert Cities and Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway

My boss had an extra ticket for Wednesday’s matinee of Other Desert Cities, the new play by Jon Robin Baitz.  Other Desert Cities had a run at Lincoln Center earlier this year, but I didn’t get to see it.  I’ve heard such good things about the production, I was very fortunate that he asked me to go with him.

I enjoyed myself very much, but maybe my expectations were too high, because I didn’t ultimately think the play was more than very good.  It was a little too glib, a little too smoothly constructed, for me to find it a thrilling theatrical experience.  But probably that’s just me.  The acting ensemble is amazing, though, and the show is beautifully directed and designed.

The play takes place at Christmas in Palm Springs in 2004.  It’s a family reunion of sorts, since the daughter (played by Rachel Griffiths) hasn’t been home for six years.  Her parents, Stockard Channing and Stacy Keach, are worried about her, but sometimes use prickly behavior to express their worry; her younger brother, Thomas Sadoski, is the designated peacemaker; and Judith Light is the formerly-drunk sister of Stockard Channing, staying with the family as she dries out.

Griffiths’ character has come home because she has written a tell-all book about her family, and she thinks she wants to get their blessing before it’s published.  Things start to unravel from there.  There are so many secrets in this family, it got a little crazy by the end.  And, though I didn’t guess the final revelation before it came, I was a little put off by it.  It seemed to want to take everyone off the hook and forgive everyone without their really earning it.  So I was disappointed by that piece of the writing.

Everything character-wise, though, was completely believable:  the family dynamics, the shifting loyalties, the pain and fear.  Every character (and every actor) had many moments to really shine.  I did, however, find a lot of the dialogue to be a little to ‘banter’y’ for my tastes, though I do acknowledge that these characters perform for themselves and for each other, so perhaps banter is the only way they can communicate. 

Stockard Channing is sublime.  There are so many layers to this lady, it would take forever to describe them all.  The mask she hides behind, both physically and emotionally, takes an actor at the top of her game to make it real.  I’ve been a longtime fan of Stacy Keach and he did not disappoint.  I found his journey to be the most moving, actually.  Maybe because he  reminded me of my darling dad.  Thomas Sadoski was terrific—his last two monologues are really beautifully done, and pack a wallop.  Judith Light is also fantastic.  Brittle and angry, yet you see the love under the surface.  This is a performance completely vanity-free.  I was less sold on Rachel Griffiths.  Perhaps she was saving herself since it was a two-show day, but she seemed a little one-note and monotonous to me.  Not in a “I’ve been depressed for years” monotony, but an actor monotony.  To me.

I definitely recommend seeing this play, especially for the amazing performances, but, for me, it was a little too safe to be an amazing play.  A well-crafted, well-made play, but not a transcendent experience.  Darn.

BUT, now that I’ve mentioned transcendent experiences, Jesus H Christ, Hugh Jackman is Just. Not. Right.  He is beyond handsome.  He seems beyond kind and generous.  He sings, he dances, he makes jokes, he can improv with the audience.  His charm is off the charts.  Part of my brain wants to think, really?  Can he really be all that?  The answer is always yes, yes, he IS all that.  And a bag of chips.

Intellectually, I know that his singing voice is imperfect, but I don’t care.  I find his sound to be comforting and pleasing; it sits nicely in my ear and heart.  He’s a marvelous interpreter of song—he acts them beautifully.  The first act closes with “Soliloquy” from Carousel and it is gorgeous.  It’s a three-act play in one song.  He closed the show with “Once Before I Go” from Boy From Oz and I sobbed.  Seriously. 

He’s a wonderful dancer, so graceful and comfortable with himself.  There is a delightful homage to the MGM musicals, where he sings and tap dances with a group of chorus gals.  It’s enchanting.  The Peter Allen medley is terrific, his New York medley was also great.  Honestly.  No complaints on anything here.  I loved the version of “Over the Rainbow” that he did, along with the Indigenous performers that joined him onstage.  There can never be enough didgeridoos on stage!!!  J

I think what I enjoyed the most was the joy and happiness he just radiates and shares with the audience.  I had a smile on my face the entire evening, right on through the Broadway Cares spiel at the end, where he auctioned off his sweaty t-shirts, and promised to meet and take photos with anyone who would donate a certain amount of money.  You all know I’m just a sucker for charm and charisma, and this guy has it by the bucketful.

Some pre-show notes: the lines to get into the theater were massive.  Crazy.  But, I did laugh every time a limo pulled up and an 80-ish year old man would get out of the limo with his 20-something blonde girlfriend.  This happened at least four times.  And a certain Broadway producer cut in front of me in the line.  Yes, I know who you are.  And I have a loooooooong memory.  lol

Clearly, I had a rocking time at the show, loved it from start to finish, and if you can scare up a ticket, I highly recommend you do so.  It’s like a big, warm hug.   And who doesn't love a big warm hug from Hugh Jackman?!

Reviews and a tiny bit more

I finally have a few minutes to put together some thoughts on two new plays I’ve seen this week.  One, Wild Animals You Should Know, doesn’t open for another two weeks, so I probably won’t review it per se, because lots of changes could be made.  The show I saw last night, All-American, opened last week.  My randomly-assigned theme for these two shows:  teenagers are too smart for their own good…

I bought a steeply discounted ticket to Wild Animals You Should Know at MCC because a friend is in it.  When I read the blurb about the play, I thought, well, I’m not sure it’s my cup of tea, but I want to support my friend.  So I went.  All I’ll say (since it has so many previews left before it opens) is that I think there’s a good play in there somewhere.  I was quite moved by a lot of the situations these characters found themselves in, and I think if the playwright can really hone in, it could be good.  As of right now, there are too many stories being told.  And if the point is you have to tell a lot of stories to tell one, it’s not apparent in the dramaturgy.  I also think I have a fundamental problem with the ending, but…I don’t know.  The acting is all quite good and I found myself nearly crying several times.  If you read the blurb and think the show sounds creepy and lurid, it’s not.  I may try to see it again after it opens, to see if any changes were made.  What I liked, I quite liked.  Maybe I should send them a note—from my seat on the extreme left, I couldn’t see all the projections.  Do we think anyone would care?

I got a comp to All-American last night, part of Lincoln Center’s LCT3 program.  The show was at the Duke Theater, which is right around the corner from the office, so it was pretty convenient.  It’s about a family who has moved to a new town, so the daughter can play quarterback on a good high school football team.  The father, a former football player, dreams of his daughter being a pro football quarterback.  The girl has a twin brother, who has no interest in football so his father has no interest in him, and a mom who is a new real estate agent.

I found the play perfectly pleasant, if not profound or groundbreaking.  It was a nice way to spend an evening.  The acting was all quite good, especially the boy.  I really felt his pain and his attempts to mask it under a bunch of teenage snark.  The dialogue was relatively sharp, with some pretty funny moments, but it didn’t dig very deep.  The characters mentioned problems, but you didn’t really get discussion or exploration, just presentation.  If that makes sense.  It’s directed well, with nice pacing and interesting stage pictures.  I always forget how much I like the space at the Duke.  So, I think this is worth a look.  I’m pretty sure tickets are regularly only $20, and I’ll be interested in watching the playwright, Julia Brownell, develop.  It wasn’t full, so they’ll probably be papering throughout the run.  The Times gave it a pretty good, if not great, review, sort of comparing it to Friday Night Lights.  I compared it in my head to an episode of Parenthood.  J

Non-play-related-issues report:  the gals sitting behind me at the theater last night had no concept of ‘indoor voice.’  They chatted pretty much throughout, oblivious to shushing, but when the characters started eating Chinese takeout, one of them exclaimed, “Lo mein!  I’m starving!”  Stunned silence all around.  People can be SO annoying.  Also, I don’t recommend the pumpkin cupcake at Crumbs.  Very disappointing.

I discovered the identity of the letter-writer, so we'll see how it plays out.  I told him I want to meet for coffee so we can discuss things in person, but I'm sure whatever impulse moved him to write the letter has passed.  It will be an interesting conversation, I'm sure.

I'm just now counting the minutes until our big work event is over, then there's a little work event the next night, then I'll have to cram a ton of work into the rest of the week before Surgery #4.  Sigh.  I don't think I planned my schedule very well.  Clearly, I never dreamed I'd be having four surgeries in one year.  Of course, only one was a 'major' surgery, but I think any time you have to go to a hospital and be put to sleep is relatively 'major.'  It will be nice, though, to have the right side 'lifted.'  It's looking pretty lopsided and I'm thinking of going back to button-up shirts most days.  Blech.  I'm sure everyone is as sick of them as I am.  I'm still tossing and turning the idea of the new nipples around in my head, but the Christmas tree story did have an effect. 

Speaking of Christmas trees, I have made the monumental decision to not decorate my apartment for the holidays this year.  Not because I'm depressed or anything, but I'm just so blasted tired.  I just have too much stuff, and you can't put out a little bit of holiday decor, you have to go whole hog.  At least I do.  I think it will be fine to skip a year.  I have a little tree and cute door thing that I'll probably put in my office.  So it will be festive enough.  I'm looking forward to doing some holiday browsing (the official shopping is DONE!)--I always enjoy the holiday markets around the city and I am looking forward to all the windows.  I've put my holiday playlist on my iPhone, so if I need a little Christmas right this very minute while I'm laying around after surgery #4, I'll be ready.

I think I may need to find a Dunkin Donuts and have a pumpkin doughnut...

Review - Love's Labour's Lost

Last night, I went downtown to the Public Theater’s lab production of Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost (the Public is actually spelling it without the ‘u’, but I think the ‘u’ looks more Shakespearean, don’t you?), and the tickets are only $15.  I think it’s a bargain.  I’ve done several productions of the play, and this particular version is a lot of fun.  With a few caveats, of course.  J

Directed by Karin Coonrod, this is a fast-paced and funny evening, which utilizes practically every inch of the Ahmanson space.  It runs a little over two hours, with no intermission, but the time really flies by.  I probably only felt a drag in the proceedings once, towards the end.  There are many inventive directorial choices and the acting, on the whole, is quite good.

I will say, however, that the production leans on the funny a bit too much, so when the tone changes at the end at the end of the play, there’s nothing really to hang onto and the air floats out of the proceedings.  Not because of the tone of the text, but because the direction isn’t as strong in the serious parts as it was in the comic parts.  In my opinion, of course.  And I will say that, although I thought the boy playing Berowne delivered his dialogue most attractively, the way he clomped around like Herman Munster worked my last nerve.  The loud thudding was very annoying.  I also thought some of the clowns went a little too far, and I really didn’t enjoy the contemporary ad-libs.  I guess I’m a Shakespeare purist.  So shoot me.

I loved the boys playing Longaville and Dumaine, and the gent playing Ferdinand was regal and silly and fun, with a gorgeous speaking (and singing!) voice.  Plus, he looks tres attractive in his costumes.  ;)    All of the ladies were quite fine, with a special shout-out to the spitfire who played the wench Jaquenetta.  She was a riot, yet very real and specific.  I liked her.

I don’t know why this particular play isn’t performed as often as the other comedies—it’s quite funny and has some lovely speeches about love and the battle of the sexes.  I enjoy it and am always happy to check out a production.  This one, even with my quibbling, is well worth the viewing.

Review - Queen of the Mist

I got a discounted ticket to a recent preview of Michael John LaChiusa’s new musical Queen of the Mist, presented by the Transport Group at The Gym at Judson (near Washington Square Park).  I am predisposed to enjoy Michael John’s work (I greatly admire his devotion to writing risky work featuring complex female characters) and this production is no exception.  My fingers are crossed that it gets recorded, because I would love to listen to this score again.

The show is based on a real-life woman, Anna Edson Taylor, the first woman to successfully go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.  But it also makes commentary on obsession, both personal and societal, and the public’s desire for sensationalism.  I think it’s quite successful in putting across many of these ideas, though I didn't understand some directorial choices (I really didn’t understand what the ‘dance with the items in the suitcase’ conceit was all about, for example).  

photo credit: Carol Rosegg

Mary Testa plays Anna, and she is fantastic.  Anna is a quirky, alienating, provoking character and, well, Mary Testa is just the gal to play her.  Mary’s off-beat line readings and sort-of ‘out there’ persona works just perfectly here.  And she sings the heck out of this music.  Her first number, “There is Greatness in Me,” is one of the best songs I’ve ever heard from Michael John.  And her duets with her sister, played by Theresa McCarthy, were gorgeous.  Mary is giving a specific, mesmerizing performance here.  I actually liked the entire cast, especially Andrew Samonsky as Anna’s manager—their relationship was quite touching and could even have been explored more.  Well, I didn’t love one gal in the show, but I never love her.  I guess it’s not her fault that she reminds me so much of Helen Hunt that I just can’t enjoy her.  Oh well.  She has a big voice, though.  I found myself aggravated though when she began audibly sobbing at the end, and I don't think it was a character choice.  It was as if she was saying "look at how moved I am," as an actor.  I would've much preferred to get there on my own through Mary Testa and not through a loudly sobbing aactor behind her.  But that's just me, I guess.  A grudge is a terrible thing to waste.  I need to snap out of it.

The first act of the show is spectacular; it deals with the reasoning and the lead-up to the barrel ride over the Falls.  The second act I found less successful, but I think it’s an inherent dramaturgical problem:  how do you make interesting a story about a woman who refuses to tell her story?  Part of the point of the second act is that Anna is unable to truly share herself and she feels that if she tells everything about her ‘deed,’ it will kill her, because there will be nothing left to her.  An interesting notion, but hard to dramatize.  I’m not sure how, or if, this can be solved.  It’s just a puzzle, because the first act is such a thrilling ride, leading to an amazing first-act closer, then the second act is sort of an anti-climax.  Now, I realize that the ‘second act’ of Anna’s life was probably also an anti-climax, but that doesn’t make it any more interesting to watch.  I did lose a bit of interest dramatically, until the finale, but I never lost interest in the music.  It’s all really terrific.  Each actor is given a moment to vocally shine, but the show is mainly about Mary Testa and her amazing performance.  And Michael John's terrific score.

The space is interesting—it’s the downstairs at the Judson Memorial Church.  It’s set up as a long playing space, with risers on either side.  I will say I had a moment of vertigo before the show started, because the risers are angled really steeply, but I got over it.   All the sightlines were fine and I think this is a good story to present so intimately.  I don’t know that every show would work here, but I would definitely go back to see other work there.

I think the show opens this weekend, so you can probably get cheap tickets now, but I’m hoping it gets really good reviews and sells out (there aren’t that many seats, maybe 150?).    I may be alone on the Michael John bandwagon, but I'm not giving up my seat.  I think this is definitely a show worth seeing, especially for Mary Testa’s performance.