14 posts tagged “new york”

Cornball, I know, but I can't seem to help myself.  I had a wonderful time in New York.  The weather was just about perfect for being able to walk around outdoors.  This time I seemed to gravitate towards the Upper East Side and the Village(s).  Plenty of museum-going, and in spite of numerous special exhibitions, the single most exciting item I discovered was a paper cut by Hans Christian Andersen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The crappy photograph does not do it justice, but it was so exciting to stumble across it in the always-surprising prints and photographs gallery, which one tends to hurry through on the way to somewhere else.

I must really be getting old because I find myself in agreement with the New York Times critics on both performances I attended during my stay, Encores! Girl Crazy and the opening night benefit at New York City Ballet.  In both instances, the orchestra was by far the most entertaining aspect of the event.  I don't have any real complaints about the renovations at the New York State Theater, although it will take some getting used to.  It no longer felt quite like home.  The grille (if that's what it should be called) of lights at the box office seemed the lamest aspect (and the one most likely to show signs of wear and tear in a hurry).  The lack of carpeting in the auditorium is the biggest novelty.  I don't mind bare floors, but the painted concrete reminded me of my time in the projects.  Also, the improved acoustics now make every cough even more audible, as well as the clomping of latecomers.  I liked the elevated platform for the orchestra that can go up and down (just like Radio City Music Hall!), but I can't really see to what great use either of the hall's main constituents will be able to make of it.  Surprise me!  I'll save my reviews of the new Martins piece for one of my future, negative posts--this one is supposed to be upbeat!

In a sign of hope (or foolishness), I revived my membership at Film Forum.  When we got in the cab to JFK (I know, I am getting extravagant), Rhapsody in Blue began playing on the radio.  Time to start the countdown clock to the next visit.

Teetering close to Despair yet again, I took advantage of the appearance of some unexpectedly low fares to book a flight to New York.  Still quite far away on the horizon, but it is good to have it on the horizon nevertheless.  Now if I only had the requisite vacation time accumulated.  I'll have to get creative.

My trip back to New York went fine, although it was too brief.  This time around I only made it to a limited amount of areas in Manhattan.  Last time (in February), when I arrived the lake in Central Park was still frozen (although that day proved to be the warmest of the stay).  Later on in the week, a friend and I had an indulgent lunch at the Boathouse (discovering, after we got there that it was --an extended-- New York restaurant week).

This time when we got to Central Park, we only had time to stop for an (overpriced) glass of wine, but it was possible to sit outside and no one in authority was policing the smoking.  A lovely view.  I prefer the geese to the tourists, but I guess that's all I am now too.  Sigh.

I consoled myself on the last day by purchasing a couple of tickets for the NYCB spring season on my next visit.  Still too far away.

I am equal parts euphoric and anxious about my upcoming trip to NYC.  Eager to go, but feeling quite tense about how I'm ever going to be able to cram in half of the things I want to do (and keep up my energy to do so).  Still, I feel better having connected with a few friends over the past couple of days and made some at least tentative plans.  MBF is attempting to pick up some tickets for a few NYCB performances even as I bang away at this keyboard.

I'm a bit disappointed at the ballet programming, or, not so much the programs themselves this time, but the repetitiveness (i.e. not only the same program, but the same cast each time).  I probably will only be able to go two performances.  It seems more worthwhile at this point to use the rest of the time to do other things rather than sitting through the same thing more than once.  But we shall see.  It looks as if NYCB is moving away from the dreaded "block programming" in its spring schedule.

Meanwhile, I will be going to the ballet here again tonight.  Same program as last week, but with an entirely different cast.  The PNB production of Jewels even has drawn the (favorable) attention of the New York Times.  I'll wait until I've had a chance to see this other cast to compare/share notes.

My, these holiday-shortened work weeks often feel longer than the regular ones.  I am tired this morning, though not fatigued, if that makes sense.  I made the mistake of attending the post-performance q & a session after the program last evening.  Or was the mistake in bolting down that espresso right before the show (which lent me a false sense of energy to begin with)?

Anyhow, I think I wound up enjoying Fancy Free the best of the three last night, although (and this is in keeping with the theme of yesterday's -- and just about every one of those q & a's that I have attended) none were done as well as at NYCB.  As some questioner seemed to be getting at in a roundabout way--to me anyway--a lot of the Robbins ballets look out of context on other companies (this observation based, of course, on my vast personal experience of productions of Robbins ballets by companies other than NYCB). Especially those dating from the post-Dances At A Gathering period, which are really all about NYCB.  Even my boyfriend picked up on that when he recently got to see  Ma Mère L'Oye back home (lucky dog). While I find the little variations among productions interesting (e.g. Anthony Dowell costumes for In the Night, Edward Gorey curtains for The Concert), they rarely strike me as an improvement.  And as Patsy Stone warned, "beware of wigs."  The ones worn by Miranda Weese in The Concert and Kylee Kitchens in Fancy Free were especially horrible.

But why did I not skip work altogether, so I could wait in line to be among the first plebes to see Sex and the City: The Movie?  Just too much to do, darling.  But I am heading out in a little while for a reunion lunch with some gal pals, so maybe we will kick back a few Cosmos for old times sake.  Sad to say, but if I really wanted to be among the first to see the stupid movie (which no doubt I will see over the weekend when I am, come to think of it, relatively fancy free), had I still been in New York, I'm sure I could have bought a $5 DVD of it outside the subway station last week.

Well I know that this is the land that invented year round sandal (with socks, ugh) wearing, but it is always a shock to the tender flesh when wearing sandals out of doors for the first time after a hiatus of many months.  Yesterday was such a day, with temperatures hitting the mid-80s.  My feet hurt a lot last night and I didn't even walk around that much outside.  Today it's supposed to be a tad cooler, but the sun is already blazing, so we shall see.  A time to catch up on errands (I had a friend visiting last week and let some essential tasks slide) and maybe even catch a live performing arts event for the first time in what seems like ages.

Several people from work are off to New York right now (after pumping me for restaurant tips, etc.) and inciting nostalgia and envy in more or less equal doses.  It's nice to not have to hear about it.  I am eagerly awaiting my own (very) brief visit in a few weeks.  In the meantime, I finally started reading the Deborah Jowitt biography of Jerome Robbins in anticipation of my NYCB pilgrimage (although I don't think I will be seeing all that much Robbins) and the all Robbins program out here happening soon.

Ate too much.  Drank too much.  Slept too little.  Got shit upon by a pigeon.  Typical New York weekend.

Arrived back in NYC very late Sunday night (actually it was technically very early Monday morning by the time that I reached my doorstep).  Yesterday my mother asked me if I was “back to New York time.”  I don’t know what kind of time I’m on.  It feels more like borrowed time.  I am very disorganized and all over the place.

I did manage to get some sleep on Monday, but since then I have been waking up at the same ungodly hour that my partner gets ready for work, just lying in bed trying to get back asleep, but bothered by my little brain whirring away.  Worrying about all there is to do, but, aside from some frantic pretense at scurrying around during the day, doing very little about it all.

Amusingly, the in-flight magazine on the plane carried a typically fatuous story about yet another ailment for the over privileged: a condition known as the Post Vacation Blues (PVBs)—the inevitable letdown upon returning to work after a vacation.  Their prescription: more frequent long weekend vacations (unsurprising advice, coming from an airline).

These so-called PVBs are magnified when you are trying to tackle the chaos of “planning” a long-distance move, dealing with a probable separation from your spouse for a still indefinite amount of time, and confronting the anxiety of starting a new job, all of which is supposed to happen in the space of less than two weeks.  

Maybe I will just go back to bed now.

More about the trip to London itself (which was highly enjoyable) in a future post.