Tonight I saw my last play in the Lansburgh Theatre, Harold Pinter’s Old Times. The director’s notes referred to this a a modern classic. It was written in 1970. I was definitely different from most of the plays I’ve seen recently. A very minimalist set, all in white with a few pieces of white furniture, and only three actors (all of whom were on stage most of the time). The play was fairly short, just over an hour and a half including a 15 minute intermission.
It was all about the words (and the pacing with which they were delivered), which started out seemingly mundane, but seemed to carry more meaning than their surface impression. The actors, all American, spoke with British accents. Although all of the play took place in the present, sub-conversations among different pairs of actors seemed to jump back and forth in time between the present and 20 years previously. I really don’t know what it was about, but it made you think and try to figure it out. The play was interesting, but I was glad it was brief. I could also have lived without several waves of smoking.
One interesting aspect was that two of the actors were recognizable from their work on television, although I didn’t recognize their names. The lead male (Steven Culp), was the fellow who played the conservative foil to the president on The West Wing, and one of the female leads was recognizable from a number of character roles (Tracy Lynn Middendorf).
My last day in New York City, I followed some of Dan Jobe’s suggestions and took the double decker red 
After returning to Manhattan, I hopped back on the bus, which looped back up along the east side. I again hopped off by the South Street Seaport and walked up towards the Brooklyn Bridge. It took a little doing, but I managed to find the pedestrian path and walked out to the first tower on the bridge. Amazing old stone construction of the towers, and beautiful patterns made by the supporting cables. It’s a little weird that the pedestrians (which were thick) are on a level over the traffic; the trash barrels were filled to overflowing with plastic bottles, and I could just imagine stuff dropping down on the traffic below.
This walk provided some great views and I took lots of pictures. I made my way back to the bus line and completed the downtown tour, through the East Village, and past the UN again. Although that tour should only take about 2 1/2 hours, with all my side trips, it was late afternoon by the time we got back to Times Square.
It went around Central Park, through the West Side, past Lincoln Center, through Central Park West (where we caught a glimpse of Yoko Ohno), up by Riverside Drive, across through Harlem, and back down the East Side of Central Park. By the time I got back it was around 7 pm, so I’m glad I didn’t try and squeeze in another play. The bus tour was a great way to get a good broad sense of the various neighborhoods and sites of the city.
At the end of my second day in New York City, I attended the play Jerusalem at the Music Box Theatre, starring Mark Rylance. This was my third play in three days, and it was great. 
The play then gets going with the main character coming out, and doing a head stand over a water bucket (right in front of me), dunking his head in and shaking it off, soaking all of us in the front row. It was a good vantage point for all the subsequent acting (if a bit low). It was an interesting story of an iconoclastic rebel, with later undertones of ancient English mysticism. The play lasted a little over three hours, with two brief intermissions, and all took place in one scene, but it moved along very quickly. It had great acting and I’m so glad I saw it.
After a great start to my trip to NYC, my second day was composed of a random walking exploration of midtown Manhattan. I began by walking up 5th Ave to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Then I went over to Rockefeller Center. I decided to go up to The Top of the Rock where I got a great panoramic view of Manhattan: Central Park to the north, and the Empire State Building to the south. It took a while to get used to the height (~66-68 floors up), but it was a great view. Being way up there on that tall building I got a new perspective on the destruction of the twin towers on 9/11. They were probably 50% taller than that building, which seemed extremely tall, and it made me have a more realistic sense of what it meant to have them collapse. I spent quite a bit of time up there, and took a lot of pictures.
As I made my way back towards the hotel, I crossed a section of 3rd Ave that was closed for a street fair (or just a street market) that was kind of interesting. I bought myself a cheap NYC souvenir T-shirt. 
I decided to grab some pizza for dinner at a place across from my hotel. I was hoping to experience a true NY pizza by having a slice. Maybe I did. It was good, but I still like by California style pizzas better than anything I’ve had out east. After dinner, I headed to the Music Box Theatre for another Broadway play that I’d gotten a ticket for at the last minute, 
Following a pleasant train ride, and an enjoyable Italian meal, I spent my first evening in New York by attending my first Broadway musical on Broadway. I went to How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying starring Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe and John Larroquette. It was at the 
Making some last minute plans, I finally made my way to New York City for the long holiday weekend. It turned out to be a great vacation. Following a somewhat late 
Saturday turned out to be filled with unexpected fun. After spending the morning doing some chores, I noticed some interesting clouds forming out east that looked like a good photographic opportunity. By the time I finished my laundry and got out to the mall, the clouds had moved a bit, but I still got a few photos. In walking about, I discovered that they had closed off a section of Pennsylvania Ave for a street fair celebrating Asian heritage.
After checking that out for a bit I decided to head home.
and watching the prom night crowds, Kathy found a Scottish heritage store and picked up some presents. Then we stumbled across an Irish bar that had live music, so we went in and stayed through several sets of singer Pat Carroll. I didn’t get home till the wee hours, but it was an unexpectedly fun day that started out fairly plain.
Seeing the 
From the outside it is an impressive stone structure looking similar in style to Westminster Abbey. Inside is very beautiful with lots of high arches and stained glass. As I didn’t really plan ahead for a tour, I got there pretty late and spent less than half an hour inside. It is a very impressive church and I’m glad I got to visit it.
Saturday morning I participated in