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.

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.

California Dreaming, Days 3 and 4

What a long day. We had a full recording day, then made our way from Salinas to San Francisco. The way in took longer, since we hit rush hour BUT we had the fun part of enjoying the Carpool Lane, even making up a little ditty to the tune of "Carwash."

Once in San Fran, I crashed at my co-worker Natalia's place, which was much more comfortable than I expected if still a bit awkward. She hooked me up with dinner - I don't remember what it was.

Day 4 was a travel day - I got to see the San Francisco booth, then flew down to Los Angeles. It was my first time there, and the movies don't kid: traffic can be a killer. And all the driving you've got to do! It took a little over an hour from the airport to my hotel. Once there I gave a call to Mi Cariño's dear friend Kristie, and I met up with her and her girlfriend Emily - we had purchased tickets to go see "Bring it on: The Musical."

We almost didn't make it thanks to the traffic, but we got there just when we should've. Lin-Manuel Miranda of In The Heights fame is the lyricist for this musical, main reason why we were interested. At the theater we met up with Kristie and Emily's friend Miguel, who coincidentally also had tickets. The show was decent enough, even though the music was not extremely memorable. The actors were pretty impressive with their jumping and what not.

After, we drove around to a hip diner-like place... I just can't remember the name. I wasn't bowled over by it all. I had a turkey meatloaf sandwich. Pretty unimpressive.

I was nervous since I was essentially hanging out for the first time with Mi Cariño's friends without her, but they were so open and friendly and fun that time flew. All in all, I'm excited about Bring It On: The Musical eventually making it to Broadway, and getting to enjoy the changes it'll go through after the tour.

Ich bin ein Berliner!

So I had to take vacation days or I would lose them, and my friend says "I'll be in Berlin for Easter weekend," and I answered with "I want to be in Berlin for Easter weekend!" And so I was. 

We had a blast. We both arrived on April 1st and the first order of business was to get us something yummy to eat. Enter Vietnamese Food restauran Hoai Nam, a couple of blocks from our apartment.

The atmosphere was very nice and they helpfully had the menu in English and German. I began the meal with vegetarian dumplings, kimchi, and Saigon beer. 

The main course consisted of Tofu Noodles with coconut milk:

It was a great way to begin our visit!!

The next day we went on a walking tour of mostly East Berlin. We saw all the big attractions: Checkpoint Charlie, the Berliner Dom, Museum Island, the TV Tower, a bit of Berlin Wall that's still left, Hitler's Bunker, the new memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe, the German memorial for the victims of War and Tyranny, the Royal Opera House, Bebelplatz and the memorial to the book burning that happened there in 1933. Awesome, and exhausting... some pictures: 

After all that walking we were starving! First we took a break at a small café and had a bit of a snack

We did go drinking, which was great and fun. The beer was cheap and of EXCELLENT quality. There are no pictures of debauchery available, however ;-)

The next morning though, we took our time waking up and had brunch at around noon. We had to search but found a little brunch place, practically empty. I had the Chorizo and sweet pepper omelet

The omelet was good, but it made me feel a little queasy later. More sightseeing happened, in the meantime - the weather was perfect and we rode U-Bahns and S-Bahns all over the place. We ended Saturday night by watching the movie "Precious" with German subtitles - yeah, we like to keep it light and sweet during vacation. 

Sunday also had a slow start, but in a good sense. Museums were visited, we went up to the TV Tower observatory (not as cool as the Empire State Building, but who's comparing?) and also up to the Berliner Dom roof and had great looks of the city. We didn't make it too far into West Berlin, unfortunately, but I guess that means we'll have to go back. We finished our visit to Berlin by having a delicious meal at a Vegetarian restaurant in Kreuzberg. Some awesome Rose wine and a stuffed aubergine in a bed of a tomato sauce:

The next day I headed back to the States, via London. I made a quick stop at the Brittish Museum.

I made what I believe was a brilliant attempt to actually at the very least walk through the entire museum, which consists of three levels and what seems like countless exhibitions. I failed miserably.

To cheer myself up, I walked to the West End and attempted to find a good show. I ran into Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, with Sanaa Lathan and Phyllicia Rashad. I got super excited. 

But then I find out that the show is sold out for the night. Bum-mer. I keep walking and almost inmediately I run into another theater, where Dirty Dancing (Yes, based on the movie) was playing. I figure, what the hell, right? I liked the adaptation of Legally Blonde to the Stage (actually one of my favorite musicals, say what you will,) and the show's been open for years by now, there's no way it would be open for long if it wasn't good. So I got whipped out my student ID (yes, it is expired, but the Brits didn't seem to care) and purchased me a 20 Pound seat, which was on first mezz, second row center. What luck, right? 

Before the show I walked around - I found at least three different Thai food restaurants, but this is the one I chose

Thai Square was a GREAT choice. I let the waiter know I had a Show to make and she brought out my Tofu Pad Thai inmediately

It was one of the best Tofu Pad Thai's I've ever tasted. The Tofu had a wonderful scald to it, the noodles had a good consistency, the sauce made me very happy. YUM to the MY. 

Quickly though, as I was cutting it close, I ran to The Aldwych Theater thinking that as soon as Dirty Dancing was over I would skip over to the Stage Door on the other theater and get to say hi to the actors of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. 

Dirty Dancing... What... a waste of my time and money. They included EVERY SCENE of the movie. Even though it made the entire thing run choppily and made scenes sometimes less than a minute long. What that means is that it took longer for the actors and the stage to set up for a scene than it got them to actually say the lines. The dancing was not properly Dirty, I'll say that too - severely dissappointed in that respect. AND they added scenes to the whole deal: A bit about Neil the grandson going freedom riding and Baby and her mother having more a rapport, as well as showing Baby's mom and pop talking to each other a bit more. Unnecesary scenes for the movie and certainly unnecesary for the show. These people really needed to get the important scenes together, combined some of the scenes to make the flow better, and they seriously needed to choose a Johnny that had a bit more experience with modern dancing and not a completely ballet trained dancer. The guy was horrible. 

The only saving grace of the show was the actress that played Baby's sister. Now, she did almost a carbon copy of what the movie actress did - but it was a good choice. Singing during the talent show and her way of dancing: perfect. What upset me is that the entire theater went crazy when Johnny did his "Nobody puts baby in a corner" bit, which came out rushed and quickly, and done badly. They started cheering and SINGING ALONG AND OUTLOUD when the "I've had the time of my life" number came on, as if: a)they had never seen the movie, and b)as if the actors were any good. Really, I cannot possibly explain how angry I was at my having spent money on this. And then, to boot, by the time I was out, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof had been long over, and there was not even a slight chance to say "hey" to Mrs. Cosby. Feh. 

Regardless, I enjoyed the walk back to my hostel, and I had good chamomile tea before bedtime. The next day I checked out early and decided that my last meal in London before heading to the States would be what they call "The full English."

This protein-and-grease fest consists of buttered toast, fried bacon, fried egg, fried sausage, and beans. Topped it with a cup of coffee and off the Airport I went. I felt a little queasy there for a second, but it was well worth it. I'm pretty sure that on this mini vacation I put on all the weight I lost in the month of March. Huzzah.