Another near-perfect day in The Ap! First up was a matinee of Xanadu, which was hilarious. You may recognize this as a play I ridiculed as reflecting the dearth of originality on Broadway, but which I decided to see because I saw book writer Douglas Carter Beane talk about it and he sounded funny. So the show is campy, energetic, and funny, as one line goes, "children's theater for forty year-old gay people". And in the ladies' room afterward, I saw my first Toni Pony hair piece. (Go to hsn.com if you don't know what it is.) Seriously, this do was a brunette Sharon Tate.
Then I had a couple of hours to kill, so I walked over to the 25 screen multi at Times Square and saw "Talk to Me". I liked it a lot, but please, someone explain to me why thy used 215 as the area code for the DC radio station! That's Philly, y'all. I know, cause I still be representin' the 202. In the bathroom, they were test marketing the new Dyson 12-second "hand squeegee" blow dryer, which worked great. I think my Dad needs one in his garage.
Anyway, I'd considered going to the library before I went into the movie, and I'm glad I didn't because when I came out, there was smoke down the street, which turned out to be from a steam pipe explosion a block from the library. What the hell are steam pipes for? The calliopes?
I'm starting the South Beach diet tomorrow and decided on Thai for my last supper. There are Thai restaurants slightly below ground level on every block of Times Square between Broadway and 8th Ave, and I keep trying to go back to one I've been to before, but always get a different one. Well, Blue Chili on 51st was the best Thai meal I've ever had, and reasonably priced. I had a delicious meal of steamed chicken and peanut dumplings, garden salad, tom kha gai, and iced Thai coffee. Really fantastic.
Then it was up to Studio 54 for 110 in the Shade. I wanted to see Audra McDonald, and she was terrific. Can't say I thought much of the book, though. Which is surprising, because the theme of the show is how you might as well be dead as a spinster. Audra's dad basically pays a grifter $100 to boink her so that her life will have meaning for at least a couple of hours. Anyway, as I said, Audra was worth it, especially since I hit a new record low price for a Broadway show--$28.
Yes, a perfect day, but did I do anything other than allow myself to be entertained and eat good food? No. I've been avoiding this computer business, but it's top of the agenda, starting with making sure my laptop's ready to step in as a backup in case I can't get Whiskers III (the desktop) running. I looked into new computers, and once you look at paying someone $150 to come to the house, you might as well just buy a new box. They'll be like toasters soon--cheaper to replace than repair.