“Amazing Grace”
Ladies and gents,
I’m having trouble focusing on the screen of my word processor right now as last night’s Grace opening has left me a tad bleary-eyed. (Well, more than a tad. I had to call down and have the doorman send a porter up to carry me out of bed this morning.) But I’m on deadline and so I’ll persevere.
What I adore about Grace is that it’s the kind of play you too often have to venture downtown to see: a quirky, edgy thought piece that manages to be both funny and utterly unsettling. All that with a first rate cast and the comfortable velvet seats of a real Broadway house! The best of both worlds! The crowd, too, represented the best of both worlds with fancy uptown folks mingling with the elites of Off-Broadway. It was a night to remember … or, more accurately, to try to remember through the dense fog of peach vodka (I didn’t even know they made peach vodka).
On Wednesday night, when much of the nation was tuned into the first presidential debate, this decidedly decided voter ventured out to Washington Square Park to catch PigPen Theatre Co.‘s new show The Old Man and The Old Moon. I walked into this nothing little space and the next two hours were sheer magic. I was utterly charmed by the kind of theatrical storytelling these seven adorable (and I do mean adorable) young (and I do mean young) gents specialize in. I’m not usually one for metaphors and symbolism, but when these boys take you on a ride you will be with them through every twist, turn and flight of fancy! I spotted my old friend, the great Dr. Barry Kohn, in the audience (he was there to first see the show and then shoot up the cast with flu vaccines), as well as a few castmembers from SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark, and Annie Purcell, who theater fans will remember from her beautiful turn in Coast of Utopia (assuming, of course, said theater fans were able to score a ticket). The show opens on Sunday and I am predicting it will be New York’s Next Big Thing.
Tidbits from around town…
Spotted 2012 Tony® Award Nominee Michael Cumpsty photographing roses on the Upper West Side.
Witnessed Christy Turlington lugging her own luggage down N. Moore Street like a real schlepper after her SUV was forced to let her out half-way down the block due to street construction.
Overheard Henry Winkler calling Cindy Williams, “one of the greatest ladies ever to grace [his] life” on 48th Street.
Kisses,
