Well, we are on the way home from another great trip to New York. Sunday was the best day yet. It’s always great fun to be in New York on Tony Awards Weekend. We actually attended the Tony’s one year and it was a blast. This year, we just enjoyed them from various vantage points around Mid-Town.
However, let me start at the beginning of the day…
We started the day by visiting the “High Line”. This is a garden the City of New York has created along the old El Track- the old elevated train track since replaced by the subway. This is a great urban garden in the sky. It was also hot as hell. You can actually walk from the Village to Chelsea along this track and they are in the process of extending it father uptown. It’s really worth checking out. Just not on a hot, humid day.
We then saw one of the best play productions I’ve ever seen in New York. August Wilson’s “Fences” at the Cort Theatre on Broadway.
As a side note, it was also Puerto Rican Day in New York. We always seem to see Denzel Washington on Puerto Rican Day. The last time was when we saw him in “Julius Caesar” a few years ago. It was so much chaos, we were afraid we wouldn’t hear the play that day. Things seem to have calmed down this year. It’s always fun to be on the fringe of these festivities and see people celebrate their heritage.
Back to “Fences”. I can’t recall seeing a better play with better performances. Denzel Washington was just wonderful. You did not see a Hollywood leading man, you saw a fine actor playing a complex and often unflattering character. Viola Davis, as Rose, his wife was also amazing. She uses her voice and projects emotion like few actresses I’ve seen. She is one of the greats.
It was also so good to have the extra bonus of seeing Chris Chalk in this play. Chris played the key role of Denzel Washington’s character’s son. Chris is a UNC-G graduate and played one of the leads in one of Steve’s plays, “Passing Ceremonies” a few years ago. It’s great to see a local man make good and go from Greensboro to Broadway. Chris also gave an excellent performance and more than held his own with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. He was that good.
Here are a couple of clips from YouTube:
Here is another clip with Chris and Denzel:
We were so blown away and drained after “Fences”, we had to have a drink. Then we wanted to see something a little lighter, so we went to the early show of Leslie Jordan’s “My Trip Down the Pink Carpet.” Leslie won an Emmy for his guest performance on “Will and Grace” a couple of years ago and is also well-known from the movie and TV Series “Sordid Lives”. You would know him if you saw him.
Leslie Jordan’s show was both light and fun and deep and endearing. He talked about his journey as both an actor and as a Gay man of 55. He detailed his struggle from a young child in a military family in Chattanooga,TN to Hollywood and beyond. He touchingly and funnily described his struggles with substance abuse and his journey from self-hatred and internal homophobia to a happy, proud gay man. It was a journey most Gay men my age can understand and relate to on one level or another. We have all come a long way both individually and collectively over the years. He also had lots of amusing stories about Cloris Leachman, Robert Ulrich, Mark Harmon, Meagan Mullaley and others. It was a great way to cap off our theatre weekend.
Scott, Steve and Leslie Jordan
We then went over to Times Square where they had set up chairs to view the Tony’s on a giant screen in Times Square. It had rained earlier and was still threatening rain, so there was not the crowd they had anticipated.
We weren’t about to sit around in the middle of Times Square and watch a giant TV screen.
We also hadn’t really eaten all day, so we decided to go to Joe Allen’s for dinner and to watch a little of the Tony’s there. Joe Allen’s is a famous old Theatre District Restaurant with good, classic American food. It’s also a haunt frequented by theatre people.
In past visits to Joe Allen”s, I once sat at the bar once next to Penny Fuller and John McMartin. I literally ran into Linda Lavin going out the door one night. Whoopi Goldberg and Frank Langella were once seated at the next table. Minnie Driver was next to us another night. It’s that kind of place. It’s entire staff is also composed of young people trying to make it in the theatre. It was fun to overhear the comments during the Tony’s.
During one of the long commercial breaks, we went back to the hotel to finish our evening.
It was wonderful to see Denzel Washington and Viola Davis win Tony’s for performances we had seen only hours previously. It was also wonderful to see this fine production of “Fences” win the Tony as Best Revival of a Play. And to see Catherine Zeta Jones, who we saw in December, win Best Actress in a Musical, for the exquisite production of “A Little Night Music”. We were lucky to see many of the nominated shows and performances this year. We are blessed.
I’m now sitting in the USAirways Club at LaGuardia recapping this as we head home to Greensboro. New York always both energizes me and wears me out. It’s time to go home and take our great memories of another great weekend in New York with us. I’ve dropped enough names…
And we are already planning another trip in December!
Lost in the 21st Century 