No llores por mi Argentina...

Saw Evita with mi Cariño today. I don't particularly like musicals were everything is sung... it's hard for me to understand what they're saying, plus it doesn't allow for songs to stand out in my mind, all bleeding into each other. This was ok, though, with Ricky Martin playing himself - I mean Ché the narrator. He was cute and did okay. The Eva understudy was on (we attended on a Wednesday on purpose). She was good, with a nice voice. But her voice could've been stronger - (think Sara Ramirez' strong!).

All in all I'm glad I saw it, although I wouldn't go see it again any time soon. Now off to google Evita!

It's All Happening!

I decided I wanted to spend some one on one time with my sweet Cesar. It's been a while, and the last few times we've hung out it's usually at his place - since I wanted to do something different, I woke up nice and super early and stood in line to get tickets to see "Bring it on: The Musical." It's still on Previews, and it'll be open at the beginning of August, so I figured there'd be less chances that Cesar has already seen this one, not to mention that I don't think this is one that he would choose to see right away.

I was the second in line, which wasn't too bad. Cesar had no idea what we were doing, and so he was totally surprised! He suggested dinner before the show, and so we were at Victor's Cafe in the Upper West. Coincidentally, it was Restaurant Week!

We had so much food! Also, I had forgotten that Mami was taking her GED Test just down the block - I would've called her to share our meal. We - well, really, I - downed a carafe of delicious Sangria.

Since on Tuesdays Shows start early, we hightailed it out of there close to 7pm, and essentially ran down to the theater, just like old times. The show was pretty much as I remember it from Los Angeles, but I enjoyed the songs a little bit more the second time around, I think.

Also, we got up and walked around during the intermission, and while doing that ran into Lin Manuel Miranda, and we - well Cesar - got to tell him we thought he was awesome and super talented. I touched his shoulder. It was awesome.

I really enjoyed the show a lot more from up close. The cheerleading routines were pretty spectacular, and the actors are just as great. They were pretty consistent with their work, which was commendable, too. I related to the storyline a little bit more this time around - it's less about cheerleading and more about trying to make it through High School. Really, a smart move from the producers and creators: great way to get younger viewers interested on Broadway.

That's So Raven!

So, Mi Cariño's closest friend Kristie and her love Emily are in town - which is a great excuse to not do anything work related today, as it's a long weekend! Well, for regular people. I'll be working on Memorial Day, but that's no reason to not enjoy today!

We got up around 7am, which is pretty early for a Saturday, and took the subway to the Great White Way - we wanted to get cheap tickets to see "Once" on Broadway, which I've been dying to see, and it happens that it's one of Emily's favorite movies too. I figured 8am arrival would be okay, although secretly I wanted to be THERE at 7. But since I needed Mi Cariño with me, and the last time I made her wait in line at a Broadway cheap ticket line the 7am arrival wasn't needed, I compromised and moved it up one hour. I wish I had had the wherewithal to take a picture of the line when I arrived! Days with matinees get a long line, but there were at least 30 people ahead of me. And there was no way to know if everyone was interested in one ticket or two. So, Mi Cariño and I decided to go for a sure thing and we walked over to Sister Act, which is another musical I've been wanting to see, but not something that was really a priority.

Regardless, we got there with barely people on the line, and we scored sweet cheap tickets on the first row, smack dab center. The main character would be played by Raven Symone, and so we figured, eh, it would be fun! And it was. Somewhat. We got matinee tickets, arrived just in time for show to begin, and enjoyed Raven's acting - her style suited the slapstick thing the show had going. The problem: the songs were all original. They didn't sing any of the awesome renditions used in the movie. And to make matters worse, the original songs weren't that great: they lacked that whole gospel-y but hip thing that the songs from the movie have. It was good for a laugh, though, and it was nice to be right there.

After the show, we made our way down to Union Square even though it was pouring, so that we could eat at S'Mac. I got a surprise Mac'n'Cheese, since I had a moment of disconnect from when I was looking at the Menu and voicing what I wanted. This thing had figs in it and what not. But it was good and tasty nonetheless.

Two Years Look Like This

Two years ago I met Mi Cariño in person for the very first time. The night is still very well etched in my memory. We like celebrating it - not a big deal, just a special day for the two of us were we reaffirm our love, what we care about, what we hope for the future.

So today we just spent the day together in New York City - we walked around Midtown and ate at The Gemini Diner before grabbing a cab back to the Theater District. Our cab ride was a little scary since it hit a woman when making a right on Madison Avenue. We got out, waited for a cop and an ambulance. We stuck around to let the cops know that the cab turned when it was green and then decided we'd walk the rest of the way.

We tried out for Wicked Lottery tickets, but alas we didn't win. Right next to it Godspell's Lottery starts just as Wicked's ends and so we decided to give it a try. It was a good thing indeed since I was lucky enough to win two tickets!

Lottery winners seat all around the stage on this cushions. Not super comfortable but not bad either. Mi Cariño prefers to sit on the edge of rows which is a good thing since during the Show, they pulled audience members to come to the stage and she was one of the chosen ones. She was adorable and poised, improvising her clues for the charades in a clever way while getting to "act" with Hunter Parrish who was playing Jesus. I would've turned to mush, but she held her own beautifully. After the show we stuck around and she got to take a picture with him.

A not-at-all planned day that was perfect for us (not so much the cab driver and that lady crossing the street.) Here's to hopefully many, many more years together.

Anything Goes

Today I made Ida and Mi Cariño wake up at the butt crack of dawn to get in line to score cheap tickets to see "Anything Goes" with the wonderful Sutton Foster and the only Joel Grey. It was cold and windy, and we were the first ones in line, which Ida and Mi Cariño did not appreciate as much as I did. I took a picture of them but will not post, since I would like for them to continue to be in speaking terms with me.

That is my stolen pic at the stage at the end of the show. I don't know how people record entire numbers - the ushers were hella serious about making sure no one had a phone out at any time! They were even talking to each other through walkies about possible transgressors.

I loved it. I was even more surprised to see that the wonderful Kelly Bishop was part of the cast. She was great! Still dancing around gracefully and wonderfully like it's nobody's business. The show had many lovely old songs, and Sutton is great at being "old timey Broadway." Plus she's sexy as all freaking get-go.

Originally we were supposed to go dancing after, but we were all just too beat to do it. Instead we had something to drink at XXL, then went our separate ways.

Feliz Cumpleaños, Cariño

Mi Cariño decided at the last minute that she did want a birthday celebration after all, and so we got together with some of her friends and headed to El Barrio in search of some good food. We ended up at Amor Cubano.

The place is pretty nice; they have live music on Tuesday nights, which we enjoyed while we drank delicious Sangria.

I enjoyed some vaca frita and white rice. I also stole someone's maduros. The live band sang Feliz Cumpleaños, Salsa style. A good night all around.

The fun part was teasing mi Cariño, who knew that all her friends knew what she was getting as a birthday present. She didn't find out until Wednesday night, when I tricked her into thinking we were going to happy hour with my coworkers, but instead we saw The Lion King. It was great - we were mezzanine but able to see everything clearly. Hopefully it was a great start to her new year.

Only for Now

Continuing my week of Broadway, yesterday I woke up early to get rush tickets to Avenue Q. Off-Broadway, technically, but who counts? Turns out the box office doesn't open til 1 on Fridays, which I'm glad I checked. I grabbed my cousin as the second body so that I could score three tickets and by 1:15 we were heading back to Brooklyn.
Later on I met with Naomi and the little Boo and we had us Thai food at Chanpen in Hell's Kitchen. I chose tofu pad thai, but I think I should've branched out, it wasn't very good.
I did choose to have me a Corona with my meal, it being Friday night and all.
Avenue Q was as good as I remembered it being, the actors were hilarious and it was nice to see it all up close. Naomi and Little Boo enjoyed it, which made me feel good, too. It was a good reminder - everything in life, is only for now.

The Book of Mormon

Been to two shows in a week span - but the first one is barely worth a sentence, much less a post, so I'll group it in with this one. My girls and I went to see "Death Takes a Holiday," an off-Broadway new musical that really, was interesting to watch but that I would not pay full price for. It just kept making me want to see "Meet Joe Black" so that I could look at pretty, pretty Brad Pitt eat peanut butter and say "yes," in that sibilant way of his while looking quizzically around. Netflix does not offer it on Watch Instant. Whatev's. The most memorable part of the musical actually was the guy sitting next to me, that during the second act kept banging himself against his chair, making my chair vibrate uncomfortably. Rude.

In any case this past Tuesday the little Boo felt lucky and went to try once again for Lottery Tickets to The Book of Mormon. I expressed that I would gladly make myself available to attend with her, but that I couldn't make it to the Lottery itself. (Tuesday the Lottery is done earlier in the day.) Just when it was almost quittin' time at work and I was thinking "I wonder how's it going?" I get a text from the Little Boo that says "I won!"

According to my co-worker Gaspy at that moment I did the girliest thing he's ever seen me do, since I just jumped up and down in place while squealing something along the lines of "OMG I'm going, I'm going!" I walked around the office and shared my joy with the rest of my co-workers, some of whom claimed to hate me on the spot because they also wish to see The Book of Mormon but I couldn't let the haterade hold me back. Later, after a quick Pax salad dinner for me, the little Boo and I made our way to the Eugene O'Neill Theater -which if I'm not mistaken also held "Spring Awakening" so I was already feeling happy about the whole deal - and then we realized we were exactly in the center of the first row. Best lottery tickets ever!! We were right behind the orchestra director!

When I got up to put on my jacket I spotted Donald Trump in the audience. It made me wonder who else was in the Theater but thoughts of anyone else went away quickly because the show grabs you from moment one. I literally laughed all the way through, even during the serious, sad-like parts, I was smiling. The secret between this show and say something like Walmart-opia, is that the show was funny, yes, but the music.... the music makes all the difference.

The first number, "Hello," is a layered piece that requires actors to come in at precisely the right time to create the right effect. I love those puppies because everyone has to be on their game to make those work. Plus it was catchy. From then on, I liked all songs but "Hasa Diga Ebowai" and "Turn it Off" are incredibly catchy, full of fun good melody and just laugh out loud lyrics that still make you want to sway to the music. Specially Turn it Off.

Very few shows have a second act that is as strong as the first act, and yes, the second act of The Book of Mormon drags a tiny bit at its beginning, mostly because that's when the deep serious stuff happens, but it picks up quickly with songs like "Man Up" and "I believe," which was the song chosen to be performed at this year's Tony Awards, so I was familiar with it. I loved I believe, and it was the song I was singing along when I left the theater after the show, even though the closing number "Tomorrow is a Latter Day" was just as good.

In conclusion I'll say that I expected the show to be good and it did not disappoint; the writing was strong, the music was strong, and most importantly: although the show purportedly is about making fun of a very specifically American religion, it mocks respectfully, carrying a strong message at the end. I won't spell that out here, because I don't want to ruin it for anyone but let's just say that it was enough to appease my mostly Christian sensitivities, while making me laugh (sometimes at myself.)

A day with the Muffin

Home and finally able to hang out, Ida and I planned our Saturday together. We began by meeting at the AMC on 42nd to watch Limitless.

It was quite an interesting movie. What if we could access the parts of our brain that sit there asleep and we know nothing about? Would it really push you to clean your apartment because you'll logic out that it's ridiculous to be living in filth? In any case, Bradley Cooper and his blue, blue eyes go through all the motions; super intelligent guy will of course decide to run for president. In order to do so he needs money. In order to do so, he starts with the stock market. After he writes a brilliant novel of course; but the novel won't be published until the next year and that's too far away... At first it seemed that the protagonist's demise was going to be what he himself mentioned during the movie. Mankind's biggest problem is greed. To explain himself he talked about Britain and Pompeii and Germany - all of these countries that were doing great and ruling it all or something - until they decided to invade someone else. I simmered that down  to why not just be happy with what you get? And I wondered about that when our protagonist HAS to get involved with the biggest names in stocks and HAS to manage the biggest merger ever - even though he already has over 2.5 million from just a couple of days of work.

In any case, I was pleasantly surprised by the ending, although there was no real payout - you didn't see it, I was told about it - but it was cute. And made me wonder about that dreaded word we all live with: potential. Yuck.

After the movies, we walked around the West Side, and had coffee at this little spot I found years ago, when I used to walk around Hell's Kitchen, just looking at buildings, Ruby et Violette. I enjoyed some tea while Ida enjoyed coffee. It's in the middle of the block, and not a lot of people walk by, much less walk in. They're not helped by the fact that they don't serve drip coffee, but hey, they know what they do, I assume.

An hour or longer later we made our way to the East Side, but first stopping by New World Stages and purchasing two student tickets to Naked Boys Singing. From there, we walked to the Sony Wonder Lab Museum, which is a cool interesting place. It's a lot more interesting when there are less children, so I suggest you visit during the weekday.

The rest of the day was smooth and went this way. Searched for dinner, settled for Brazilian at Viva Brasil.
Enter a Caipirinha

and the national Brazilian meat dish

which comes with fries

and white rice

and black beans

Afterwards, it was too early for the show so we stopped by the Hibernia Bar to have a Smithwick

Until it was finally time for 

Let me begin by saying, that they really are naked! The "show" if you want to call it that, has no plot nor tying idea, except for the fact that all performers are naked, naked, naked. They sang some fun songs, most having to do with the male genitalia, and about the fact that they were naked, and even one about masturbation and tom peeping. Plus the ever enjoyable one about scoping other gays at the gym. There were a lot of "helicopter" motions with the penises, which were funny. I have to say I've never seen so much meat before, and it was quite hard to look at the performers faces when they sang. BUT it was fun, specially considering we only paid the student tickets price, so it's all good. 

We finished the night by having yet another beer before realizing that we were pooped and taking our trains home. Ah yes, a day in New York City with one of my favorite girls. I'm happy. 

Full Disclosure

This past Wednesday marked the one year anniversary of the day that Mi Cariño and I braved the crazy rain on a Tuesday night, to nervously pick at Arepas (in my case), then quietly heckle at the Nuyorican before saying goodnight with an awkward hug (initiated by me.)

It has gone by extremely quickly - to the point that it takes me by surprise still. I think it's a combination of my schedule (when you travel often days do seem to fly by you) and the easy-ness present in our relationship. She manages to make a weekend in both exciting and comfortable. But for the anniversary, I was surprised with a night out.

We began the day by trying to win Wicked Lottery tickets. I really felt lucky - I made it there just before they closed the entry. I had caught each train on the way over. It was going to happen! But it didn't. I figured we'd go try to see Mamma Mia, the only other Broadway Show that still offers the general public the opportunity to buy somewhat cheap tickets (I'll start that rant later. Actually no, I'll start it now; what the hell Broadway! You've taken off all the General Rush options. Now it's all Student this, Student that. Do you know how much money you would've gotten from me by now if I was able to spend it 30 bucks at a time?!).

Anyway, moving on - Mi Cariño says it's all okay - because we're seeing The Addams Family in the evening. Score! It's nice to be surprised. We celebrated by going to a late lunch in Times Square, and from then on the day was pretty much perfect. Later on in the evening, after watching the show, we had a late dinner at Becco's, an Italian restaurant in Restaurant Row. No pictures for that dinner because we were too busy being lovey dovey to take pics. Suffice it to say that their pre-fixe deal is pretty good: a Caesar Salad or Antipasto paired with three types of Pasta, served table side.

Now, unto the show: I have to admit I was not wowed by it. I can't remember a single song from the night and that tends to be the main way I judge a Musical. The story in itself, was based on The Addams Family TV Show rather than the movies, and being more familiar with the latter it was a bit hard on me. However, the show had no qualms about making fun of itself, which made total difference. Also, there was a great audience present, which can get the actors fired up. One thing I disliked that was very integral to the show: Wednesday was not as dark as Christina Ricci's Wednesday, which: being as Weds. darkness is my favorite part of the movies, it was tough to accept. That said, the actress that played her was great, and has a great voice.

So a new year starts and I'm excited about what it'll bring. It's exciting, knowing all the plans and hopes we already have in place for it. Here we go, yo.

Look at the fireworks!

(This image does not belong to me.)

I've loved "In The Heights" since July of 2007 when I went to see it off-Broadway at 37 Arts in midtown west a Sunday afternoon. I was so lucky - I woke up that morning and thought, "I'm going to see a show" and Cesar had seen this one already and loved it and so I bought tickets right before the performance was sold out. This was, after all, their final Off-Broadway Performance and the show had already been chosen to move on up to Broadway. I remember how much I loved Vanessa (and Karen Olivo), I disliked Nina and the actress that portrayed her, loved Usnavi, cried when Abuela passed away, and left that theater humming "Look at the fireworks!" after pre-buying the yet to be recorded soundtrack.

I hummed that line for a year after only hearing that song once. When the show appeared in Broadway finally, I refused to listen to the soundtrack until I had the chance to watch the new, revamped Broadway version. I got to see the show in AMAZING seats as a graduation present. I lost the ability to breathe during several moments in that show, and felt my eyes water when the "Blackout" song finally came on towards the end of the first act.

I mean, I really loved this show. I saw it one more time in 2008, and then two years have gone by and this weekend I just wanted to see it again. Plus I was curious to see how Jordin Sparks would be as Nina. So I convinced mi Cariño, and off we went.

This was tough for me, since I had never seen the show without its original actors - Can Usnavi really be Usnavi without Lin Manuel Miranda, and all that. I have to say that Sparks was pretty decent as Nina - not a dancer by any means and the acting is okay, but she sure has the pipes for it, and more. All I know is that when Blackout came around I once again lost the ability to breathe and my eyes went misty and I felt so... I don't know, complete, fulfilled? I don't even know how to explain it, but I sure love that feeling.

After the Show and after wandering around the city for an hour or two we decided to go to the movies, and 'La Soga' was playing. This Dominican produced, directed and acted movie was pretty interesting - I can only compare it to reading a Short Story. It's a revenge flick, with lots of action and blood and what not, but also makes good use of symbolism, hits the right sentimental notes, and really kept me entertained. I recommend y'all to go watch it. It's a big deal for me - for the country. Growing up, we never saw ourselves on TV - DR only had limited reaches, production wise. We had news programs, tv show sketches, a la saturday night live and Sábado Gigante - things that had one stationary camera in one studio. The biggest amount of acting and self produced things we saw were our commercials (and those were a piece of art.) So it means something to me to see mi Santiago in the big screen. Makes me happy. It's not fireworks lighting up the night sky happy, but it's a good deal close. Ah, patriotism, nationalism... la la la.