NYC Monday

 

We had now reached Monday.  By the end of the work week, I’d be back in Taiwan.  But not yet!  Erin and I decided to go uptown to the Bronx.  We rode the subway all the way into Little Italy.  It was pretty early, so none of the restaurants had opened yet, but there was a buzz from the wait staff sweeping, delivery trucks dropping off supplies, and a few men in vests smoking in the street.  We wandered by Arthur Avenue Retail Market.  Stepping in, four old boys were rolling cigars.  We used the facilities upstairs, and on the way out, I grabbed a juicy nectarine from the fruit store that had already started business.  Erin opted for a cookie from Artuso Pastry Shop. 

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We then made our way to the New York Botanical Garden.  Arriving, we were unfortunately turned away – the garden is closed on Mondays.  Dejected, we headed back to the bus stop, catching a glimpse of something that smacked of 18th century Europe.  We headed closer for a view.  We had happened upon Fordham University.  We wandered up to get some pictures, but quickly turned around, deciding to head to the Met Cloisters.

This was the attraction I’d passed on the water that first day on the Circle Line Cruise.  I hadn’t known then that it is not an ecclesiastical building, but rather a separate campus of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The ticket that Erin and I bought several days ago to the campus beside Central Park also gave us access to this campus, but only if we visited both on the same day.  At $30 per ticket, I’d not been keen to pay twice.  However, with the botanic garden off-limits, I thought, screw it, we’re right up here near Washington Heights already.  I am so glad we went.  What a truly magnificent collection!  It specializes in European medieval art and architecture, focusing on the Romanesque and Gothic periods.  Parts of the buildings were themselves acquired in France and brought to New York to be reassembled.  The artworks, from European monastic origins, were collected gradually.  The collection was bought by John D. Rockefeller Jr., who added to it.  Worth every minute and every dime!

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Now we headed downtown.  We’d be meeting Camilo and Andres to experience a quintessential New York eatery – Katz’s Delicatessen, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.  It was established in 1888.  “Each week, Katz’s serves 15,000 lb (6,800 kg) of pastrami, 8,000 lb (3,600 kg) of corned beef, 2,000 lb (910 kg) of salami and 4,000 hot dogs.” (Wikipedia)  We waited outside for about 15 minutes – even though we arrived right in the middle of lunch at 13:11.  It was fast paced from the minute we entered until the moment we left.  Our waiter was efficient and pleasant, though I wasn’t able to get every word he said.  The result was that he chased after us to berate us for not tipping him.  I mean, I did tip him, but at the front, after I’d received my change – he wasn’t going to get $20 on a $36 bill!  The others in my group all tipped, too, and Camilo was miffed at the guy for not being clearer.  Whatever, I had been warned that American servers are known to chase down diners.  As we left, the queue was now all the way down the block – what luck we’d had!

From here we made our way to Coney Island.  I’d always thought that this was, well, an island, but no!  It is just a name given to the area of amusement at the southern end of Brooklyn.  We wandered about and watched riders excitedly being dropped from heights.  There weren’t that many people around, to be honest – well, it was Monday, after all – and then it started to spit a little.  

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The four of us all seemed to have our fill simultaneously, and rode back across to Manhattan and uptown together.  I got off around Times Square.  I’d be seeing my second showing of Cabaret.  My companions all returned to their separate accommodations.

At this second viewing, Gayle Rankin again portrayed Sally Bowles.  While I still found her performance exaggerated, I enjoyed it more this time, possibly because I already knew what to expect from her.  I must say that it was also somewhat different from her rendition last week.  Marty Lauter portrayed Emcee.  Now I’m going to say something that is (personally) controversial.  I thought that both Marty (they/them) and last year’s Mason Alexander Park (they/them) were better Emcees than Eddie Redmayne.  I really adore this ginger Brit.  I loved him in Les Miserables, in the Fantastic Beasts series, and especially in Like Minds.  I think he is marvelously talented, divinely handsome, convincing, and as sweet as chocolate.  (I think I have a crush on him.)  Yet, I don’t think that the character of Emcee suits this actor, despite how well he played it.  I feel almost unfaithful to him for saying this, but there it is.

I failed to mention Bebe Neuwirth – she portrayed Dr. Lilith Sternin in Frasier and Cheers – as Fräulein Schneider when I wrote about my first Broadway viewing.    She was in the role both times I watched it.  My take on her rendition matches exactly my take on Beverley Klein’s – whom I also saw twice – from London last year.  In both cases, I felt in Act I that, while charming, their voices cracked a little, and didn’t live up to the task.  In both cases, in Act II, during the heart-wrenching lament What Would You Do, they totally blasted the roof off.  I got to realise that Fräulein Schneider’s cracked voice was symbolic and that these two actresses portrayed this tremendously.  In my opinion, the character arcs of Fräulein Schneider and Herr Schultz are the most tragic of the musical.  (The Schneider-Schultz relationship, and indeed the character of Herr Schultz, exist only in the musical.  They are absent in Goodbye to Berlin, both versions of I Am a Camera, and the film Cabaret.  The part of Fräulein Schneider, who is called Fräulein Schroeder in the book, is peripheral in all versions other than the musical.)

Tonight, I would not make the same mistake that I did last time.  I limited my alcohol intake and stayed awake for the entire performance.  My seat was not at all comfortable, but it was at the end of a row, and I easily slipped out before the rambunctious applause.  This way, I was able to grab my bag, use the facilities, and get out of the theater before the masses.  That’s not to say that I didn’t want to applaud – the show was stupendous and the cast deserved each loud thwack.