Tommy

After a breakfast that was dreadful, even by the generally low standards of chain hotel cuisine, John and I went out to explore our neighborhood a bit. We are on 37th Street, just off Fifth, not far from the Library and Bryant Park. Another famous landmark in our neighborhood is a certain department store, already decorated for a spring that has not quite yet arrived in New York City.

It still has a sign proudly declaring it to be the WORLD’S LARGEST STORE though one suspects that the more accurate boast may soon be LAST REMAINING MACY’S. There were no shortage of people inside the store taking pictures of the decorations, but not any business I could see at the cash registers.

Across the street at discounter H&M things were pretty busy. John was looking for a light sports coat, though the ones he found were suitable for only people much shorter than he and much skinnier than me. We walked through Urban Outfitters and a couple other places before he announced that he had had enough shopping and was not feeling all that great. So I took him back to the hotel room.

I left him to run some errands. We had left his blood pressure cuff at home, so I went to the nearest CVS to find one for the trip. Last time I was in New York the shoplifting epidemic was devastating the drug stores and almost everything was locked up. It seemed more normal this time, and the security guards at the door looked like typical employees and not Blackwater contractors. After finding the cuff, I went up to find us tickets for Merrily We Roll Along. Although this revival of Stephen Sondheim’s most problematic play is not a huge hit, I knew that I could not expect to find discounted tickets for it. Mission accomplished, I went back to the hotel.

John was feeling a little better, and he was happy I had tickets for tomorrow’s matinee, though a little appalled at how much I had paid. I knew that he also wanted to see the newest version of The Who’s Tommy. About twenty-five years ago we had seen the original version of this a the La Jolla Playhouse before it went to Broadway. I knew that there would be tickets for this at the TKTS booth in Times Square, so I braced myself for a long wait in line there. John did not have to be talked into letting me do this by myself.

It was not as bad as it could have been. I was only in line for about an hour and I chatted with a guy from Connecticut who did recruiting for Raytheon. All my time at Mountain Meadows has taught me a little about making small talk with people with whom I have almost nothing in common.

Neither of us were particularly wowed by this new version of the the 1969 rock opera. The story creaks, particularly as a depiction of autism, though that term is never used. The new lead, Ali Louis Bourzgui, is certainly quite talented.

Hopefully, John will be feeling a bit better tomorrow and we will have more theater adventures.