In a nut shell

***Update***

I got home and switched my laptop and Tivo to another available wireless network. It's much slower than mine was but it will have to do until I figure something else out. What a relief!

***We now return to our regular blog***

New York was great (as always) but it was an incredibly hectic week. I'm so happy to be home. I usually manage to get more sleep in NYC but, this time, I was up past midnight each night and only found blogging time once. I had to get up at 5:30 am this morning to grab a quick breakfast and meet a friend for a 7:00 cab to get to the airport. I usually take a later flight but it dumps me in the middle of LA's Friday afternoon traffic. Also, the later flight is always packed. I finally realized that if I could drag my booty out of bed early, I could catch an earlier fight that is never full and therefore has many empty middle seats. When you're flying coach, it's really all about acquiring a an aisle seat with nobody seated next to you. I got lucky both coming and going this week and didn't have a middle seat passenger to deal with. Yea!! Ya know, it's the little things that really make me happy.

The low point of my week was yelling at the CFO of a company I work with. I caught him lying to me and I sort of lost it. I rarely freak out on people, but about every 4-5 years I find myself yelling at somebody. Because it's a rarity it's usually pretty effective. This freak-out happened on my cell phone in the mezzanine lounge of our hotel. We had just wrapped up our last meeting of the week and were sitting in the lounge having a round of well deserved drinks. I excused myself to check in on this CFO. I sat nearby but out of ear shot. I was pretty firm right away but things escalated rapidly and I started raising my voice. The whole issue is that I'd given this guy a deadline and he ignored it because he got an extension two years ago and, I suspect, he assumed he could just get another extension. I started shouting for a variety of reasons and that's when I scared my happy-go-lucky co-workers. I couldn't see them but I later heard they were all craning their necks in my direction to hear what the fuss was all about. None of them had ever heard me angry and all were surprised. At one point this CFO had the nerve to say "Hey, I'm supposed to be on the five o'clock train but...". That's when I stood up and shouted "Yeah and I'm supposed to be relaxing, with a drink, getting ready for a night of theater, so don't talk to me about your 5:00 train!!!" The lounge was loud, so it was difficult to hear, but it probably worked to my advantage. I just kept talking/yelling because I couldn't hear much of what they were saying on speakerphone. Ordinarily I'd feel bad about a freak-out, but I was in the right and this guy had deliberately mislead me and had been giving me the brush-off for several weeks. I don't think he'll be ignoring me anymore. This morning I got a message from the CFO's sales guy, a good guy who I normally get along with. He had been in on the angry call and left a message this morning saying "I'm just calling to see if you've calmed down." It pissed me off all over again. I really don't think he would have dared left that message for a 41 year-old man but he felt fine about leaving it for my 41-year-old ass. I thought it was a sexist, condescending thing to say and I was in no mood for it. Unfortunately, if you're a woman with a spine you're a a bitch and a pain in the ass. Men are allowed to have fits all day long and nobody bats an eye. I freak out once in a four year work relationship, because somebody lied to me, and I'm an hysterical female who needs to "calm down". Whatever. This female manages that man's rather lucrative contract so you'd think he'd be more respectful.

On the other hand, the highlight of the week was seeing Gypsy. OMG!!! Patti Lupone tore the doors off the place. (Here's a little taste. Believe it or not, she was even better last night. Also, she now does this hilarious cocky strut thing, in character, after this number, and the gays are practically flying through the air going ape-shit. Such fun!!!) I can't wait to get my hands on the cast recording. I've no idea when it's due to release but I am so there when it does. The staging was amazing and there were some effects that I still can't quite get my head around. At one point Baby June and her boys are dancing in profile in a line. A strobe light starts flickering (and all I can think is I hope nobody has a seizure) and about 30 seconds later you realize June and the boys are growing before your eyes. I don't mean the young actress stepped away and the older actress stepped in, it was a gradual growth of June and the boys and I have no idea how they pulled it off. I'm thinking it was some sort of trick with perspective but it was impressive. It took my brain a moment to even see the gradual growth. The whole audience gasped as they started to realize what was happening. It was so cool! And when Patti sang "Mama's Turn" I thought the place would explode. She paced herself so well throughout the show and I realized just what a damn demanding role it really is. The woman is an athlete I tell ya. I don't know how somebody can tear their guts out 8 times a week but she's doing it. The actress playing Gypsy was also great. As the role requires, she goes from wall flower/side kick to an amazingly confidant woman and really pulled it off. I loved her. The orchestra was one of the best I've heard. They were set in the background behind a couple of scrims. The musicians would showed up from time to time in the background. They were great. We even got good scoop on the show's dirt from a waiter at the restaurant before the show. The restaurants around Broadway always ask if you're going to a show so they can get you out the door in time. We told the waiter what we were seeing and he lit up. He told us a friend of his had seen it the night before and loved it. Even the NY Times raved! He said that Patti was supposed to have starred in the revival a few years ago but the writer (Laurents, not Sondheim) was furious with her for walking out on one of his projects. She was starring in one of his new shows but it was terrible, and not being improved, so Patti left. The writer swore he'd never work with her again and cast Bernadette Peters in the role of Mama, a role Patti had been promised. This is when the waiter leaned in and said "God love her, but Bernadette just couldn't carry that role." He went on to say that the writer was pretty much on his deathbed when his partner said "come on, let Patti play Mama, she was born to play that role". The writer finally agreed to this, shortly before his death, and that's how this revival got it's start. Now, I have no idea if any of this is true, but I love it! Nobody can throw down a great backstage fight like Broadway.

OH! And one of my favorite little moments happened last night when I stepped on to the hotel elevator after the show. A very cute guy was standing in the elevator when the doors opened. I stepped on and, because he was closer to the buttons, he asked what floor I was on. I nonchalantly said "Oh, penthouse please." He nodded and whispered "All-riiiiiiiiiiiight." I loved it. It was by far best thing about being on that floor.

SO there is my trip. I wish I'd had more time to blog because it's so much more fun. I did manage to snap this quick pic for y'all after the show. Here is Times Square around 11:00 pm last night:


Here is one half of my super-cute terrace:


And here is a shot of my cute room:

(Sorry it's sideways. It's not letting me save the rotation but you can still see how cute it is.)

Oh, and can somebody please tell me why I'm always in New York when stuff blows up? Remember the last time? It's starting to make me look very suspicious.