Our summer was capped off with an end of August trip to the
New York City theater district. My nephew’s wedding took place in nearby New
Jersey. It was a short drive through the Lincoln Tunnel to our Times Square
hotel. Yes, the parking was $50.00 a day, but we avoided flying into La Guardia
from Pittsburgh and the two expensive cab rides.
The late summer energy in and around Midtown Manhattan was a
marvel to behold. The beautiful weather and influx of foreign tourists made the
four blocks in every direction from Times Square a sea of exhilarated humanity.
In order to check Google Maps, we needed to duck behind a lamp post to avoid
being swept away.
Almost everyone we met was from some other country with an
interesting story to tell. The local waiters and retail clerks always greeted
us with a smile. They would not hesitate to leave their posts to guide us
around a corner to point out our destination. Those who label “the city” cold
and dangerous are missing out on the excitement of America’s 24/7 global
epicenter of culture, finance, and human diversity.
Our focus on this excursion was Broadway. Some performances
on our bucket list had just closed (Cats: The Jellicle Ball and Ragtime)
and the new fall offerings had not yet opened (Galileo and Other
Desert Cities). However, our five choices did not disappoint. We came to
summarize our viewing experience as “three gunshots and two large bangs.”
The initial play, on the evening of our arrival, was Oh
Mary! This irreverent 80 minute, one-act drama provided our first gunshot. The play satirizes the life of Mary Todd
Lincoln in the weeks leading up to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination at Ford’s
Theater. My guess is that this dark comedy will not be making the rounds in
local community theaters anytime soon.
The play portrays Mary as an unhinged and raging alcoholic
trapped in an unhappy marriage to a gay, closeted Abraham Lincoln. It mixes
19th-century historical figures with absurdist fiction, musical medleys, and
biting camp humor.
Initially,
the show’s creator, Cole Escola, did not envision casting anyone besides himself
to play Mary for what he thought would be a limited run. After the play became
a runaway hit, nine actors have now played Mary in this very challenging
performance.
Our second gunshot was from the famous duel between Aaron
Burr and Alexander Hamilton that ended the title character’s life. Hamilton
has been on Broadway for over ten years. I thought our viewing would be a bit
stale and anticlimactic. I was wrong. Hamilton was one of the most
entertaining theater experiences of my life. Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda’s
combination of hip-hop score and his African American take on American history
was a joy to behold.
The third gunshot was from a small, off Broadway, production
of The Play That Goes Wrong. This offering was a fast-paced physical
comedy and a “play within a play.” It tells the story of a college drama
society’s disastrous opening night where everything goes wrong, bringing chaos
to the stage and laughs from the audience. At the end of the play, the villain
is shot and the entire set collapses on the actors. Great fun, with the cast
often going off script to interact with the patrons.
Our first large bang (in fact, many big booms) occurred in
the over-the-top production of The Lost Boys. This musical is a major
theatrical spectacle with incredible special effects, first rate acting, and
memorable songs. This year, The Lost Boys won four Tonys including best performance
by an actor and actress in a featured role.
The plot involves a mother and her two teenage sons. Looking
for a fresh start, they move to the fictional boardwalk town of Santa Carla,
California. Instead, they find a “band” of teenage vampires. The script uses
some of the scenes from the 1987 cult film starring Kiefer Sutherland, but
revises the roles of the female characters, giving them more agency.
For over two hours the action is nonstop. After the final song,
“If We Make It Through the Night” there is a dramatic loud boom and
a sudden drop to pitch darkness.
Our last selection, Operation Mincemeat, won high
praise in London and made its way to Broadway in March of 2025. It has become a
major commercial success and gained critical acclaim.
The musical depicts
the true story of a 1943 British military deception plan during World War II.
British Intelligence used a dead body with fake papers to trick Nazi Germany
into expecting an invasion of Greece and Sardinia instead of Sicily. Hitler believed the fake papers and moved his troops
to Greece and the Balkans, allowing the Allies to capture Sicily with far less
resistance.
While the film by the same name was a drama starring Colin
Firth, the musical is straight comedy pulled off by five actors, each playing
dozens of roles. Our final theatrical “bang”
was the high-energy, theatrical climax—the explosive final number of the
show.
In addition to our theater selections, museums were high on
our list. New exhibits at the Met were outstanding. We were particularly blown
away by the recent renovations to and art installations at the Henry Clay Frick
Mansion (now museum) facing Central Park.
Summertime in the city was an experience that will provide
us with many pleasant, year-round memories.
