The Broadway Flea Market!

Woke up this morning at 9:05AM to the soothing sounds of NPR.  Waking up relatively early to meet your friend in mid-town always sounds like a better idea the night before than it does the morning of. And yet, this will be a full day, so it's best to tackle the Broadway Flea Market early.

A few words on the Broadway Flea Market... this is an amazing annual event organized by "Broadway Cares" to raise money to fight Aids.  It takes place in Times Square and all of Broadway unites to raise funds by selling books, programs, historical costume and set renderings, etc.  Most of the major shows will have booths which sell items representing their show, and there's an auction for some of the bigger ticket items.

One thing I am still learning when it comes to getting ANYWHERE in New York- give yourself twenty minutes more time than you think you might need.  I'd made plans to meet my friend Leslie at Juniors in New York, and unwittingly set my app to guide me toward a closed location at Grand Central Station, which of course, made me a good twenty minutes late.  Luckily, she was a little late to, so it all kind of evened out.  

Leslie brought her constant companion Lolly Lardpop, the five year old candy addict.  If you are not familiar with Lolly, or her podcast...

Our first stop was to meet Laura Ware, who was helping her friend, the extremely talented artist Justin "Squigs" Robertson to man his booth.  

Justin's portrait of Holland Taylor as Ann Richards

(Justin, Fill Milano, Laura, Lolly, Me)

Next we roamed the flea market, pawed through books and photos and costume renderings, and had a couple star sightings including Bryan Batt of "Mad Men", the hottest police officer known to man (literally scorching) and Seth Rudetsky.

I will say, as exciting as it was, it got overwhelming very quickly as it was completely packed with eager fans, and therefor, it was often difficult to get to the things at the booths.  Luckily time passed quickly, and before we knew it, it was time to meet Chita Rivera.  That's right, Chita.  Leslie is friends with her, and we were able to meet up with her for a moment after she finished signing autographs.  While we waited we talked with her daughter Rosie ( a gem of a real gem of  a lady) and got to meet Jim Caruso who was hosting this portion of the Flea Market.  Due to high demand, Chita signed well beyond the time she was booked to be there, and when she came down the stairs  she was unbelievably charming, soulful, authentic and warm.  There are some people that simply radiate kindness wherever they go, and she is certainly one of them.  It was a true pleasure to meet her.  

After meeting Chita, fatigue started to set in, and I had another event to go to, so I parted ways with Leslie and Lolly and headed off  to Brooklyn and the "Atlantic Antic".  The Antic is a giant street festival in its 41st year, celebrating Brooklyn.  My new place of employment "The New York Transit Museum" had several antique buses featured.  I didn't have to work the festival, but I definitely wanted to view the buses and support my new work mates.

It was well worth it, as Atlantic Avenue was packed tight with revelers, food and music.  In truth, I wanted to eat everything.  There was fried chicken with waffles, Mexican Corn, doughnuts, kettle corn, jerk chicken... I felt like that rat from "Charlotte's Web" who stalks the fair at night just gorging himself.  I DID limit myself and settled upon something tempting that I'd never had before.  It was called an Arepa (melted mozzarella sandwiched between two sweet corn cakes) and it was the perfect combo of savory and sweet.  I could have eaten seven.  I didn't.  Instead I distracted myself by listening to the Cuban Jazz and the Carribean music.  Eventually I did have something else, a banana cupcake with chocolate hazelnut frosting from Mahalo New York Bakery, and  oh my Jesus, it was so moist and delicious.  

On the way home from the festivities I passed a couple of ladies photographing the moon and was drawn in by it for a bit.  It's funny, because I hadn't realized tonight was the night of the SUPER MOON.  The moon would be closer than ever for one night only, and it would be eclipsed, and around eleven o'clock easter it would appear blood red in the sky.  It was quite a talking point on the way home, and for someone new to the neighborhood it was a welcome excuse to meet and chat with folks on the street, and tok, not about weather or crime or directions, but about this natural but somewhat astounding natural event.  

And now, much later, it's time for me to flop down on my air mattress and recharge.   Til' tomorrow!

New York Moments

I learned a very valuable lesson on Thursday after an interview for a position with the The New York Transit Museum.  My lesson?  When it comes to a choice of two types of shoe:

1. comfortable and a little on the casual side.
2. dressy and new, but pinchy and uncomfortable.

Choose option 1.  For Lord's sake choose 1.

I went for style, and ended up walking five miles in those miniature torture chambers.  By the end of the day I was happily, and gingerly walking behind some of the slower New Yorkers just so I'd have an excuse to give my feet a needed break.

On the upside, the interview went pretty well, and after it was complete I had the opportunity to
wander around a bit.  I definitely recommend doing so if you feel the need of a good escape, as the beautifully preserved subway cars (complete with vintage ads) give the wonderful feeling of tripping through time.  

My walk back to Brooklyn included a really lovely, small pleasure when I was greeted by the haunting sound of a trumpet.  It was such a lovely ambient, distinctly New York sound, kind of lonely and wistful.  When I got close enough to where the sound was coming from I looked up the wall of an apartment building and could make out the glint of a brass trumpet bell being aimed out the second floor window.  So the music was not some random practicing, but a deliberate gift to New York from an unknown musician.  It was a great moment.

Brooklynite!

As you most likely know, I returned from Greene, New York exactly a week ago, and have since settled in at a beautiful apartment in Brooklyn.  I'll be living with my dear friends Kirk German and Heather Huggins in a lovely, brand new building in a neighborhood that is half Hasidic Jews, and half Caribbean.  It's got a lovely and diverse feel to it, and I'm less than a quarter of a mile away from an amazing kosher market which is chock full of all the Kosher foods I've been developing such a strong affinity for lately.  Bagels, lox, knishes, chocolate babka... it's all there and I could not be happier.

The apartment itself has many perks-  a bright orange entry door, big windows letting in lots of light, big bedrooms and spacious common areas, central air conditioning, washer and dryer units in the building, and 2 bathrooms!  There have been some minor adjustments due to the newness of the complex, including  current lack of wi-fi which has me frequenting coffee shops and library even more than usual, but all in all it's been smooth and lovely.  I'm awfully grateful to Kirk and Heather doing reconnesaince while I was upstate, and the apartment is going to be a great home base for creative ventures.

My bedroom, so far, is pretty empty.  I've got a couple of suitcases full of clothes and a few books, but it all feels rather impermanent, and the nester in me is really looking forward to the next week when some of my belongings will be coming.  In the meantime however, I'm very grateful for the air mattress I rest my little head upon.

Leaving Escanaba

I've recently returned to New York City from my brief drop-in to Greene, New York to play Reuben Soady (Jeff Daniel's alter-ego) in his play Escanaba In Da Moonlight. It was really wonderful to see so many people show up (the town itself is so small that you often wonder where the people are coming from), and to get such apparent joy at the tale of the Soady families freaky and flatulent night on the eve before deer hunting season.  

As much as I enjoyed the experience, and I'm very proud of the show, I am grateful to be back.  Six weeks in a theatre in a small town, with one car shared amongst four of us, and lots and lots of free time can leave even the cheeriest person a little on the surly side, and I found myself going more than a little bonkers.  Luckily there were some wonderful friends to pass the time with, but you can't spend every waking second with them, and how many times can one drive to Barnes and Noble?  (Answer:  A lot).  All of this led to me, netflix and more oreos than I care to count, and thank God it was toward the end of the run that I realized it was possible to replace some of the constant snacking with sketching.  I had attempted some writing, and found myself in a dry spell when it came to words, but I was able to churn out a few  "drawrings", as Simon says.

Whatever you do, don't look at her hands.  :)

Girly man, my favorite kind

For those of you who were not able to attend, here are a few photos taken but the director Bill Lelbach, and feature our terrific cast (Including Dan Romero, Dan Mian, Emily Goodell, Scott Isert Huffman and Chris Knickerson, as well as his rustic set.

The absolutely charming Barby Kahl designed our costumes.  She won me on the first day when she called me "dear" and "darling".  I loved every endearment. To be fair, I am not the only one she called this, but I liked to pretend it was just me.  

What you don't see in the photos is how well loved and cared for and herded we were by Liz Howell ( my cohort on so many adventures), or  how much hard work Joey Velas put into making the set look as great as it did.  NOR can you see the lovely and feisty Faith White, who did every task under the sun, aided by Sandra Houde also who hosted a couple great gatherings at her and Bill's home.

Thanks to everyone involved, for shining your light ,and allowing me to call you "puddin'" and "bitch" on alternating days.