Review - King Liz

I met playwright Fernanda Coppel a few years ago at a work event - she was so smart and interesting, I knew I wanted to see one of her plays.  When Second Stage Uptown announced they would be doing her new play, King Liz, in their space at the former Promenade Theater, I marked my calendar and got a ticket.  The run has recently been extended, so you should get a ticket, too.

King Liz is about the high-powered world of professional sports (in this case, basketball) and how a high-powered woman negotiates her way through it.  Super-agent Liz Rico has been toiling at her agency for over twenty years, expertly handling high-profile clients, and when her boss casually mentions he's going to retire, she assumes that she'll be taking over his position as CEO.  Of course, in the boys-club that is professional basketball, her promotion is not a sure thing.  Her boss tells her that if she can secure the newest high-school basketball sensation as a client, it will do a lot to influence the board that Liz is the 'man' for the job.  Liz has concerns about the boy, especially because of his troubled past, but sees similarities in her rise from the projects to what the boy could achieve, so she decides to take him on.

How Liz persuades the young player, Freddie Luna, to become her client and how she builds him up and simultaneously tears him down, is what drives the plot.  But Liz's evolution is what drives the emotion of the play.  I greatly enjoyed watching King Liz and I've been thinking about it pretty constantly since last night.  I was so engrossed throughout and was mostly on board for all of the plot's twists and turns (there were a couple that made me think, 'ummmmm, really?', but I went with them).  There was wonderful tension throughout that kept me on the edge of my seat.  The dialogue was strong and realistic, as were the characters, especially Liz. 

photo credit: Carol Rosegg

Plays with strong female protagonists, especially women of color, are so few and far between that I was thrilled to watch actress Karen Pittman sink her teeth into such a juicy character.  From her first entrance, Liz is a woman to be reckoned with, someone who has persevered in the face of casual racism and sexism, even in her office.  Pittman perfectly captures the public face vs the private face of a successful woman in a usually-male domain.  As the play progresses and it becomes harder and harder for Liz to compartmentalize effectively, I couldn't help but be so moved by her internal conflict.

photo credit: Carol Rosegg

I was also very impressed with Jeremie Harris as Freddie Luna, who captured the innocence and arrogance of a young athlete.  You rooted for him, yet despaired for him at the same time, and that tricky balance was maneuvered wonderfully by Harris.  I also enjoyed Russell G. Jones as the seen-it-all coach who has a few secrets of his own, and Michael Cullen was smooth and yet slimy as the head of the agency.  There were other members of the cast I wasn't as enamored with, but they didn't lessen my enjoyment of the play as a whole. 

I really thought King Liz was bold, smart and told me a story I haven't seen depicted on stage before.  I'm a bit of a sports fan myself, so I could understand all the references to players and teams and current backstage gossip.  I think, though, that even if you're not a sports fan, you'll find much to appreciate in this play.  It's directly briskly and has quite a bit of humor mixed with the tension of the story, and, to me, it ended someplace unexpected.  Plus, you'll be lucky enough to see a terrific actress at the top of her game.  I highly suggest you pick up a ticket and check out the play before it closes in mid-August.  And I'm definitely going to be keeping an eye on what playwright Coppel presents next...

RW lunch #1 - Burke & Wills

I can't believe I missed the first week of Restaurant Week!  I had in the back of my mind it was coming up, but got consumed with my work trip to La Jolla, so I didn't make any reservations for last week.  I have made up for it - I have two reservations this week, two next week.  I'm still ruminating going to more places the week after that... (how great is it that Restaurant Week (RW) is actually nearly a month long?!  woo hoo!!)

Yesterday was my first lunch - I went to Burke & Wills, a new Australian bistro on the upper west side.  I've never been to an Australian restaurant before (I almost did, years ago, for a company dinner, but that went disastrously wrong and we actually ate at a Thai restaurant across the street), so I figured RW was the perfect time to try something new without feeling as if I'd wasted a lot of money.

When I got off the subway at 79th Street, I looked across the street and saw the restaurant's awning - I realized I used to go to another restaurant that had been in that location for years, Miss Ellie's!  I used to meet friends there frequently and we were all really depressed when Miss Ellie's closed.  I don't think Burke & Wills is the first restaurant that went into that space, but it's certainly a nice spot now.

The very handsome gent at the front took me back to the sun room where most of the tables are located.  The room is pretty small, but gets a lot of light and is comfortable and cozy.  All of the employees were very nice with big smiles and a happy attitude.  If the service was a bit on the leisurely side...ok.  I ordered a non-alcoholic beverage called the Paul Hogan - an oolong tea infusion with ginger beer, club soda and peach nectar.  YUM.  I tell you, now that I've discovered ginger beer, I may overdose on it.

For my appetizer, I selected the grilled octopus with braised pork belly, white beans and chorizo.  There was also a puree underneath, maybe potato?  Turnip?  I couldn't quite tell.  But this was off.the.charts delicious!  The octopus was perfectly grilled, so it was meaty but not rubbery, the pork belly was soft, fatty deliciousness and the small bits of chorizo were tasty spicy crunchy nuggets of yummy.  The white beans were a nice creamy accompaniment to all the proteins, plus there was a sauce that was rich and filled with umami (salty-ish, but not salty, just pleasurable).  I practically licked my plate clean, it was that good.  This dish will most likely make my top ten favorite dishes of the year.

I got the cavatelli as my entrée; it had a charred corn and heirloom tomato sauce.  This dish was also terrific.  The sauce was creamy from the corn (though the kernels still had some bite to them) and the corn milk that pooled at the bottom, and the heirloom tomatoes were bright and acidic.  There were also parmesan tuiles on top of the pasta, which added some nutty crunchiness to the dish.  I just love corn and pasta, I don't know why.  And this combination really hit the spot.

Not that the first two dishes were heavy, they weren't, but I probably should've ordered the fruit dessert or the affogato.  But, there are certain words on menus that get my attention.  And so, instead, I ordered the beignets, with powdered sugar, nutella and caramel dipping sauces.  They were delicious!  The beignets were still warm and the sauces were really thick and rich.  I'm not a huge fan of nutella, so I mainly stuck with the yummy caramel sauce.  But both were really really good.

The food was delicious and the atmosphere was really nice for a solo diner.  I would definitely go back and try some of their regional dishes, plus their wine and cocktail lists were terrific.  They had a 'roo burger' on the lunch menu and I just couldn't bring myself to order it.  Maybe another time.  It's not quite as cozy as Miss Ellie's, but with such delicious food, Burke & Wills is definitely worth another visit.

Review - Shows for Days

Do you realize it's been more than a month since I went to a show?  Yikes!  That's a long time.  We'll see if I'm even able to express my thoughts coherently...

Ever since Douglas Carter Beane's new play, Shows for Days, was announced, I knew I wanted to see it.  I've enjoyed his work in the past and once Patti LuPone and Michael Urie were announced for the cast, that sealed the deal for me.  Since the show is playing in Lincoln Center's smaller theater, tickets sold out quickly.  But nearing the end of the run, tickets have finally shown up on TDF.  Most of them were for Saturday matinees, which is not my favorite day to see a show, but when a random ticket for last night appeared, hurrah!

My seat was actually terrific.  I'm guessing it was a subscriber seat (sixth row, just off-center!) that was cancelled at the last minute - the seat next to me was the aisle seat and it remained empty.  The house looked pretty full otherwise.  I'm sure you've heard, if you follow theater-y backstage news, that Patti LuPone has been especially vigilant about making sure people turn off their cell phones during the show (she actually took a phone away from a rude gal who wouldn't stop texting during a performance).  When you arrive at the theater, your Playbill has a big insert asking you to shut off your phone, and Patti LuPone does the recorded pre-show announcement.  It's actually a wonderful announcement and I think every theater should use it.  She talks about the communal experience of the theater and we all love theater, that's why we're there, so we should immerse ourselves in the world and leave the phones alone.  It was terrific and I heartily agree. 

Oh, and about my arrival at the theater - I guess The King and I, playing upstairs at Lincoln Center, had a 7pm curtain, so when I arrived, I could hear Kelli O'Hara singing a bit of "Hello, Young Lovers."  That was a nice treat.  I picked up my ticket and as I walked down to the Newhouse, I was by a couple looking at the photos that cover the walls in that hallway.  The gent said, "Is that Light in the Piazza?  Are they doing that again?"  And his companion/pill said, "Ugh, no, they already did it.  I left at intermission.  I HATED IT!  It was one of the worst shows I've ever seen!"  Which she was saying at full outdoor voice.  I mean, I try not to get peeved at people with different opinions than mine (yes, I adored Light in the Piazza), but when you're in a theater, try not to denigrate other shows.  Or at least do it in your indoor voice.  I almost yelled at a couple of gals in the ladies room after the show - hello, people, five block rule!  Stop talking about how much you didn't like a show while you're still in the theater!  Not that Patti LuPone will be using that restroom, but maybe her family would!  Geez.  Moving on...

photo credit: Joan Marcus

As for the show:  I found it reasonably enjoyable, especially for a summer evening, but I didn't find it as expertly and movingly put together as I did The Nance or as sharply acerbic as As Bees in Honey Drown or The Little Dog Laughed.  I know I should stop comparing, but I just can't help it.  Shows for Days is sort of an awkward hybrid, trying to be warm and funny, yet sharp and astute.  The hybrid didn't really completely work for me.  That's not to say I didn't laugh, I did.  Quite a bit.  As a survivor of community theater in a small Midwestern town, I found much of the show relatable and familiar.  I was just expecting more, I guess.  Perhaps that's just my problem.

Shows for Days takes place in a small Pennsylvania town, when young narrator (obviously a stand-in for Beane) Car turns up at a community theater, offering to do 'whatever' while he's waiting for a bus.  The other theater folks around quickly recognize a kindred spirit and persuade young Car to stay.  Car is played, both as an adult narrator/Beane stand-in and as the naïve teenager, by the ever-charming Michael Urie.  He has appeal and charm to spare and he is totally truthful as the young boy and the older man reminiscing.  The other actors are all good, but are playing stereotypes and play the stereotypes broadly, so it was hard to care about any of them.

photo credit: Sara Krulwich

Patti LuPone is a force of nature, of course, as the head of the little theater who will do anything, and I do mean ANYTHING, to keep her theater going.  As always, she's quite good, very specific and detailed in her acting, yet still free and easy.  She had all the best one-liners and she made me laugh out loud a lot.  I've known people like her (well, maybe not quite so extreme), and she mined as many layers as she could out of this character.  I was a bit surprised that there didn't seem to be any question about, or consequences to, some of the appalling things she does.  I mean, I guess she was one of those people that you forgive anything, but it was hard to wrap my brain around.

Again, I did enjoy myself and I can certainly see Shows for Days becoming quite popular at smaller theaters across the country.  I just wish it had been...more.  More what, I don't know.  That's why I'm not a playwright, I guess.  More moving, maybe.  Fewer subplot points.  I don't know.  It runs another few weeks, and there are worse ways you could spend a summer evening.  The pre-show announcement and quite a few laugh lines are worth the price of a discounted ticket, I would say...

I'm Back! (recalling last week in La Jolla)

Well, my work event has come and gone; boy, am I relieved!  We worked very hard on this event for over a year and it was a long, arduous weekend, but it seemed to go well.  Thank heavens.  And the weather was again simply glorious.  Well, most of the time.  You know how they say it never rains in California?  When we were there:  it did.

I got to La Jolla early on Monday, three days before the official start of our conference.  I went out with two work chums to get everything ready (unpacking boxes, meeting with hotel staff, stuff like that).  I was very fortunate to get a gorgeous corner hotel room, which meant I had a lovely (and very large) terrace.  I made sure to sit out there A LOT.  It had a beautiful view of the golf course, and the ocean beyond, which was very restorative, especially when work got frantic.  I loved that view.  That first day, we only got a few minutes by the pool, but we did have time to go back to George's on the Cove and have a delicious dinner.  Our reservation was a little after sunset, so we didn't get spectacular scenery, but it was lovely all the same.  The amazing sunset meal came later in the trip.  I again found the spaghetti with clams delicious and the peanut butter ice box cake was so rich and yummy.  I also had a fantastic margarita.  In fact, I may have had a margarita every night during this trip.  Let me think on that...

Tuesday, I got my work chums to indulge me and go to Harry's Coffee Shop.  One of my travel magazines called the diner one of the best in the U.S., so I wanted to check it out.  It's a little past the main cove drag next to an attractively named shop (lol).  Harry's is a real old-fashioned coffee shop, filled with tourists and regulars alike.  Our waitress was so sweet and it was clear she'd be working there quite a while.  It was hard to decide what I wanted (hello, they had bacon pancakes, which I almost got), but I settled on the breakfast burrito.  Good heavens, it was ENORMOUS!  And the tortilla was fried.  It was a hugely filling dish, very yummy with the hash browns inside the burrito.  It was so good, but I couldn't finish it.  Especially since I knew we were having lunch with our conference planner later in the afternoon.

Oh, I forgot to mention: before breakfast, I wandered over to the Torrey Pines golf course - I wanted to get a souvenir for my dad, who loves to golf.  It's a short but pretty walk over to the golf course from the hotel.  And the golf course is stunning, as I expected.  There happened to be a youth golf tournament that day, so I watched some kids practicing their putting and I saw a couple of kids officially tee off, which was fun.  I also enjoyed walking through the pro shop.  I hope my dad likes the stuff I got him.

I did get a couple of hours by the pool on Tuesday after breakfast, before our lunch meeting, so that was very nice.  I didn't actually get in the pool, though, because I didn't want to get overtired before meetings.  But it was so great to just sit by the pool, read my book, and not be bothered for a bit.  That was one of the few quiet moments of the whole week.  For lunch, I shared those delicious crab nachos I had been dreaming about for months with our conference planner.  SO good.   Tuesday night was a get-together for some west coast peeps on the hotel's terrace overlooking the pool.  There was a very small turnout, but it was a lovely night.  Brian, our dedicated bartender for the evening, was a trip.  He mixed me several delicious margaritas (he even made me one to go when the get-together was over).  There was fun conversation, tasty drinks and flatbread pizzas.  I wish more people had been able to come, but it was a good time all the same.

The rest of our office crowd arrived on Wednesday, so it was busy busy busy.  We had a breakfast working meeting with our conference planner and then got seriously started on putting everything together for the conference opening on Thursday.  But Wednesday night was a treat - we went to Pacific Coast Grill for a staff dinner.  It took WAY too long to get there, and the food wasn't as spectacular as I had hoped, but my blood orange margarita was superlative and the views were spectacular.  We sat on the terrace, the ocean just yards away from us.  The sunset was glorious and it was nice to sit outside and relax before the coming onslaught.

I'm happy to report that although there were bumps behind the scenes, I think everything went smoothly for the participants and everyone seemed to have a good time and maybe even learned a little something.  I enjoyed meeting so many people, but I wish I had found the time to actually sit in on some of the sessions.  Oh well.  When you're reporting to the guy in charge, there's not much time for anything but work.  And I guess it's nobody's fault but my own that I'm such a perfectionist that I had to keep my eye on everything going on. 

After telling our members that the weather would be spectacular in La Jolla (it mainly was, don't get me wrong), it did POUR the rain on Saturday, off and on - we had to move our morning yoga and garden lunch inside, but that's a minor complaint.  I still had a couple of friends over to drink wine on my terrace Saturday night.  Sunday, though, when it would've been my main time to sit by the pool, it also POURED.  As in monsoon.  I did get about two hours of sun before the rains came, so I won't complain, but boy was I the teensiest bit disappointed that the only time we experienced rain there was during the official event.  Oh well.

So Sunday night was spent in my quiet room, ordering room service and (mainly) watching Food Network.  That was actually pretty nice.  I talked to my sister and nephew on the phone, read my book, watched cable, took a nap (or two), and tried not to be driven crazy by the dripping noise off my terrace doors.  My room actually had a leak at both terrace doors, the carpets were wet and I couldn't really go outside, but again, minor complaints.  I spent a lot of time out there before Sunday, so...oh well.

Traveling back to NY on Monday was a bit of a pain - my flight to LAX was delayed so long that I would've missed my connecting flight to JFK, so they put me on a flight to Detroit instead.  The agent (who was very nice) told me she gave me a lovely seat by the window.  She didn't mention that lovely window seat was the very last seat on the plane and in front of the bathroom.  Ew.  At least the flight wasn't overly long AND I had my own tv screen.  I watched a Hugh Grant film, The Rewrite, and then Into the Woods.  They definitely made the trip seem faster.  The layover in Detroit was a quick one, but I made it home in one piece, though it took a lot longer than it should've.  There was traffic in the airspace, so we had to hover over JFK for awhile, then we landed way far away from the gate, so we taxied for about a half hour.  The gate was then approximately 100 miles from the baggage area (give or take a few miles - let's just say I had plenty of time to eat a Shackburger from Shake Shack as I walked there) and once I got to baggage claim, I saw that my bag wasn't there.  I went into the baggage office and they told me my bag would arrive in about four hours.  I said, I don't have to wait for it, do I?  He said no, they'd deliver it.  So that was a good thing (it arrived safe and sound on Tuesday afternoon).  When I saw the taxi line outside the baggage office, I decided to take the AirTrain out of JFK to the subway, since I didn't have my big suitcase.  It was probably the right choice, but it did seem to take forever.  I got back to my apartment about four hours later than I should've, but at least it made going to sleep pretty easy that night.  I'm still jetlagged and tired, four days later.  Hopefully, I can get all caught up over the weekend.

All in all, it was a good trip.  I didn't really get to do any touristy things, like see the seals or go to San Diego proper, but even with all the work (and there was a lot), I still feel like I relaxed a bit and had a good time periodically throughout.  I got to spend time with a dear friend from grad school who was a conference participant, and I always love spending time with some of my work chums.  I guess you can't ask for anything more than that.  I hope I get to go back to La Jolla someday.  If rain is planned, I'm going to stay away from that drippy terrace room, though.

I feel as if it's been forever since I've seen a show!  I'm happy to report I couldn't stop myself and succumbed to the siren song of TDF and will be seeing something next week.  Whew!

the kit the baggage office gave me, since all my toiletries were in my lost bag :)