MANIFEST THIS

In my opinion, there's really only two things wrong with William Shatner's one-man show,

the script and the performance.

That sounds bitchier than I mean it to. The truth is, his stories, though somewhat self-aggrandising, are actually good stories. Some funny, some poignant, and mostly quite interesting. But...if a script, a series of scenes, or stories, is like a pearl necklace, strung together symmetrically, moving smoothly from one to the next, Bill's pearls are all over the floor. The stories leap and yo-yo back and forth from topic to topic with no real flow or reason.

And though they are HIS stories, he's a TERRIBLE story teller. I don't think he finished a single sentence in the entire show. None of this seemed to bother the hard-core fans, sci-fi or otherwise, that were in the house, but I would love to introduce him to a dominatrix-dramaturg (Shari Wattling) and a director that will say, "No Bill, do it THIS way !". 

Don't get me wrong, I like Captain Kirk as much as the next closet-Trekkie, and I certainly admire Bill's fight to make his career one, long successful come-back after another, but this show was certainly not a memorable night in the theatre for me.

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One of the dressers on Lion King, Pixie, (yes, her name is Pixie) hosts a post-show cabaret on the last Wednesday of every month. It's held in a tiny room on the third floor of a tavern on 46th street, so tiny that twenty people make it seem crowded. But the atmosphere is friendly and supportive and the owner pours generous drinks and keeps the kitchen open late. 

 The event is the kind of no-holds-barred, anything-can-happen evening that everyone should experience. You never really know what, or who you're going to get, but you are guaranteed a collection of eclectic performances by cast and crew members of various Broadway shows. The most recent line-up included several excellent stand-up comics, two new songs from a musical about prostate cancer being written by two Lion Kingers (both survivors of the disease), some hot acoustic guitar playing,

 and some great solos from a variety of on and off-stage people from different shows. Even the waitress took a turn at the microphone. 

 

 

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I'm still spending as much of my time off as possible discovering New York. Recently, I've stomped the crooked streets of Greenwich Village, visited The Chelsea Market, and walked the beautiful High Line Park.

I'm also discovering places where I like to eat and drink, though I don't do either of those as often as most New Yorkers seem to. My new favourite place to indulge in good, old-fashioned, inexpensive comfort food is The Meatball Shop. This place, at least the location that I've been frequenting, screams New York. Crammed with people, noisy, happy and oh so delicious. There's always a crowd at the door since they don't take reservations but if you put your name on the list, they are happy to send a text to your mobile phone when your table is ready. Their food is so popular, they've published a cookbook and are confident enough about the loyalty of their clientele that your bill comes clipped to a recipe !! 

Meatballs. Who knew?

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Dressing room attitude

Dressing room merriment

Dressing room tasks...

signing hundreds of posters for Broadway Cares

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You know that moment when you find a forgotten twenty-dollar bill in your pants pocket. Well, I had one of those moments the other day. But better...

For a while now, I've been grumpy about dragging my laptop to the theatre on double-show days, but having it handy between shows on a twelve hour day is just so convenient for watching a movie or getting some banking done. So, I've been thinking that if I bought an ipad, I could just leave it at the theatre and, voila, no more lugging the laptop back and forth. Nice idea but a new ipad2 is five-hundred dollars. So, I put it in the back of my mind as something to visit down the road, perhaps once I move into a cheaper apartment. Fast forward to me looking for a safe pocket in my tiny purse (yes, I call it my purse) to shove some show tickets into. (William Shatner's show, actually) As I dug into a small, unused pocket, I discovered, wait for it, 500 Singapore dollars that I've obviously been dragging around with me since October !!

ipad, purchased.

Never let it be said that I don't know how to manifest.

I'm working on a manifesting a Lexington Avenue townhouse.