South Pacific on Broadway

South Pacific, now showing at the
Vivian Beaumont Theater
150 West 65th Street
New York, NY 10023

After failing to win the lottery for tickets to In the Heights, I hightailed it uptown to catch South Pacific at the Lincoln Center. I wandered around before the show and stumbled upon Central Park and a nice little mall on 8th Avenue.

The theatre was small and they used the stage really well with stagehands obviously moving props during the show, but it worked and they drew enough attention away from it that it didn’t matter.

The stage rolled backward several times during the show to reveal the orchestra, which played from beneath the stage. It was really cool and a great way to honor them at curtain call — they were all 100 percent visible to the audience and were able to stand and take their own bows.

South Pacific at Lincoln Center

The show takes  place during World War II in the South Pacific and centers around love, trust and racism. It was obviously well done, but not my kind of show.

There was a lot of 1940s-esque dancing and costumes, which made it really fun, but the forbidden love thing felt like it was trying too hard. In a day and age where racism is intolerable and difficult to understand, the show assumed too much that we’d be able to relate directly with the feelings the characters were expressing…when all I could really relate to was love, and didn’t get what their problem was.

South Pacific gets a 3 out of 5 because it wasn’t my type, but the stage was really cool. I felt like there should have been a swimming pool beneath it, too.

Chicago on Broadway

Chicago - Broadway's Sure Thing

Chicago, now showing at
The Ambassador Theatre
219 W. 49th St.
New York, NY 10019

Though I usually see shows on “Broadway In Chicago” it was amazing to finally see Chicago ON Broadway. I’d never seen Chicago live before, and it obviously did not disappoint me (what does?!).

The show was very minimalist — the set, the costumes, the everything.

The cool thing about this show was that the orchestra is onstage the entire time. There’s really no set, just some chairs and two swing-out ladders they use a few times. Everything is staged in front of the orchestra, whose role as a part of the action is integral throughout the show.

I feel it’s almost presented as if the entire production is a trial and the audience is the jury. We see some evidence, hear some testimony (and it’s true testimony, spoken/performed directly to the audience) and though we don’t decide the outcome, we do get what we want.

The show was sexy, sexy, SEXY. The all-black, simple costumes were very scandalous and sparkly, and the choreography was very fitting to the theme. I was in standing room, and I found myself starting to move/sway along with the hypnotic beats almost constantly. It was extremely well-done, especially for being so basic and bare AND has been showing since 1996! I didn’t even mind that I was by myself.

Chandra Wilson (Dr. Bailey on Grey’s Anatomy) was ‘Mama’ Morton, and she was perfect. I think Queen Latifah did great in the movie version, but Chandra has an amazing voice and played the role perfectly.

Chicago: 4 out of 5 stars

Famous Original Ray’s Pizza

Ray’s Pizza
736 7th Ave. (49th St.)
New York, NY 10024

Famous Original Ray’s is a chain, and we found this one right around the corner from the Ambassador, and it was pretty good.

I would probably say it was the best so far, surprisingly. It actually had sauce you could taste and the crust wasn’t too rubbery — it was a little thicker too.

It wasn’t as crunchy as it should have been, but the cheese was good and overall I really enjoyed my slice.

Ray’s: 3 out of 5 stars.

MoMA

Museum of Modern Art
11 W. 53rd St.
New York, NY 10019

Sara and "Starry Night"

The fourth and fifth floors of the Museum of Modern Art were really wonderful. These floors house paintings and sculptures — mainly the really interesting and famous ones you see all the time in books or art classes. It was really neat to see some works, such as Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night and Salvador Dali’s The Persistence of Memory.

A collection of Andy Warhol's Campbell's soup cans

MoMA also had a few nice works of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollack. I really liked being able to see big-name works up close and in person rather than finding them in Google Images.

The rest of the musem was kind of scary and much too modern for me. I don’t really like or understand modern art … such as a plain white canvas. There were some architecture sections of the museum which were alright, but it almost felt more like a furniture store than an art museum. I guess furniture can be art though, too, right?

Museum of Modern Art: 2 of 5 stars because I liked two of five floors of art.
Bonus points: 1 million because we saw Harrison Ford filming a movie right outside!!

Harrison Ford!

Week Two in NYC

I really love having a Monday-Tuesday break. I don’t encounter the crazy tourists of the weekend, and most things are open.

I wasn’t feeling well Monday, so I skipped any planned morning activities, but I met Dora in the city to go back to Magnolia. It’s an obsession and a necessity now. I can taste the red velvet cupcakes now, and there is a physical pain holding me at the computer while I desperately want to go back and get more … yum.

First we ate at John’s Pizzeria on Bleecker, right down the street from Magnolia. After all that and a couple of cupcakes later, we headed over to Dangerfield’s to see a comedy show. It was alright – we saw some funny people and some semi-big names.

On Tuesday, I experienced NYC bagels and street hot dogs. Both were excellent. We rushed “Blithe Spirit,” a hilarious play starring Angela Lansbury and Rupert Everett, then got some much-needed Chipotle and more Pinkberry.

I love Broadway. And I plan on seeing an average of two shows per week for the rest of my stay here.

Magnolia Bakery

Magnolia Bakery
401 Bleecker St.
New York, N.Y. 10014

O. M. G.

Made famous by such shows as Sex in the City and Saturday Night Live (Andy Samberg’s SNL Digital Shorts), but also mentioned in The Devil Wears Prada and Spin City … Magnolia is genuinely awesome.

The red velvet cupcakes are my new favorite dessert – ever. I could have a dozen in a row and be happy forever.

I have tried:

• vanilla with chocolate frosting – OK but not the best
• caramel with caramel frosting and caramel drizzle – the cake is delicious, but the frosting was overpoweringly sweet. I wiped the frosting off and enjoyed the amazing caramel cake.
• red. velvet. – my new favorite. I don’t think I’ll ever try any other cupcake from Magnolia because I know that red velvet is HEAVEN. The frosting is the most perfect mix of whatever frosting is made of, and it perfectly complements the red velvet cake … I can’t put into words how much I loved all three of the red velvet cupcakes I have had so far from Magnolia.

I am afraid that every time I visit the city I will end up buying a few or more cupcakes from Magnolia. Only red velvet, though.

Street Hot Dogs

My first couple of days in the city, I was terrified of the street foods and street vendors. I think this comes from living in Mexico because a few years ago in Washington, D.C., I had no problem eating hot dogs off the street. I’ve even gotten a little leery of eating from standalone carts at Disney World.

Anyway, I had a hot dog off the street. With everything on it. Right in the middle of Times Square. And it was quite good.

I wouldn’t do this all the time, but I’m proud to say it was an enjoyable New York experience that did not lead to physical illness. For this, we can all be happy.

New York street hot dogs: 5 out of 5 stars for serving the exact purpose for which they are meant (quick, cheap, tasty snack food)