Finally!

Oh my god, what a disaster today almost turned out to be. I was supposed to be on a flight leaving at 9:00 am, and after two cancellations and a lengthy delay, my companion and I finally got on a flight that left at 1:40, just 20 minutes shy of the buffer I had mentally created. Once we were in the air, things got better. I listened to Patti and Jackie, and both were excellent. Patti's CD, being recorded in 1980, sounds a lot like Bette Midler's early bathhouse work. It's very different than she's ever been before or after, and she gives the definitive performance of Meadowlark, sorry Betty. Being in a gay club certainly brought out the catty side of her, she had quite a lot to say between songs. I highly recommend the CD, there are precious few acts like this any more, it's a great reminder of a time gone by. The other nice thing is that there have been posters for the CD all over midtown as we walked to the theatre tonight, it's really getting promoted, I may have to get my hands on one of those posters before I leave. As for Jackie, her CD is proably the best thing I have ever downloaded from emusic, All I have to say is get it. It's also something you don't hear much of any more, she is very original to say the least. I just got a start on 13, so I'll be listening to that on the way back.

Now, for what we all really care about, Harry Potter's gentles! We did make it to the hotel by about 5:30 and went for a great dinner at a little Italian place on 10th and 52nd, which I can't remember what it was called, but it was excellent. Then, we made it to the theatre with about 20 minutes to spare. Equus was fantastic in all of its aspects. The play was great (not nearly as dated as the critics would have you believe, the only thing that's not really done any more would be having the hospital psychiatrist doing therapy on a daily basis with patients, therapy now would be delegated to psychologists or counselors and would be 2-3 times weekly max). Richard Griffith as Dr. Dysert and Kate Mulgrew (aye captain!) as his lawyer friend were both fantastic, but Daniel is the true star of the show. There was no sign of Harry at all in his performance, he inhabited Alan Strang and had no inhibitions. It certainly was a very daring choice as he starts to prepare for a post-Harry career and I don't think he has anything to fear in terms of not living up to his performances as Harry. He certainly did have plenty there to push, but by the time the scene rolled around, the whole show was so electric that it seemed natural and not a big deal, as much as I was looking forward to seeing his magic wand. The set and costume design is a recreation by John Napier of his original design for the 1975 production, and is very effective. It's a very Gestalt-inspired design, keeping with the psychological themes of the play. I highly, highly, highly recommend the show. The Best Actor in a Play Tony race is going to be a tight one between Daniel and Frank Langella. Hopefully voters will decide that 3 is enough for Frank and pass the torch so to speak to the newcomer.

After the show we walked through Times Square and Colony Records was still open so I popped in and got Billy, The Magic Show, and The Mad Show (and no, those two are not related at all). I was expressly looking for Billy and The Magic Show, I had seen them last time but didn't get them and looking for them since discovered that they are not on amazon and are very hard to find, particularly Billy. Then, I decided to round it out with a third, and since they still don't have the new London Revival cast recording of Fiddler or any of John Barrowman's CD's, I went with Mad since I had been looking for it last time and they didn't have it then. Then it was back to the hotel and I've got some wine which should put me right to sleep. Tomorrow is another day, and hopefully it will be better than today.

Oh, and one other thing. To top this all off, the reason my companion and I even came to NY in the first place was so that he could participate in some meetings for work, which were cancelled while we were in flight, so we are going to go to the Village on Monday morning and then try to get on an earlier flight home. So, sorry boys, no meeting this time. I'll be back in late February for Blithe Spirit and West Side Story, so maybe then.