I fell on the ice yesterday morning. It wasn't a bad fall, more embarrassing than painful, sort of in slow motion. But as I walked - carefully - the rest of the way to the PATH station in Jersey City, I cursed the ice, the snow, and everything I could think of related to my morning commute. And for the millionth time I wondered why I don't move someplace warmer.
I know the answer to that question, of course: my job is here, and these days that's nothing to sneeze at. The charms of NYC have worn thin, though, and seemed virtually non-existent at 7 AM on the ice.
Fortunately we had booked tickets to see Olympia Dukakis in Tennessee Williams' The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore at the Laura Pels Theatre. It's not one of his best - the review in the New York Times described it as a "patchily eloquent but often preposterous drama..." Yeah, I can't argue with that.
But. But. But Olympia Dukakis is great, and she's great in this. I've been a fan since her Oscar-winning performance in Moonstruck (1988), which is one of my favorite movies. To watch her on stage alternately angry, wistful, seductive, and downright silly reminded me of what remains (for me) the best part of New York: the theater.
Next week we're seeing Chekhov's Three Sisters with Peter Sarsgaard, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Jessica Hecht at the Classic Stage Company on East 13th Street. Hopefully we won't have another snowstorm before then, but if we do, I'm going to look forward even more to a night at the theater.
Note: The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore is produced by the Roundabout Theatre Company, and is at the Laura Pels Theater at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, 111 West 46th Street (btw 6th and 7th Avenues). Discounts are available through http://www.theatermania.com/ and http://www.playbill.com/
Spot on. Thanks for posting.
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