I am back (safe and exhausted) from our whirlwind trip to NYC.  Dan had to detour to northern California for a business trip, so he's going to be even more exhausted than I when he returns tonight.  Poor guy had seven hours in the airport (JFK) as flight after flight was delayed.  He finally got into his hotel at 2:30 a.m.   Yikes.

We enjoyed our trip a lot.  After a long day getting into the Big Apple, we checked into the Times Square W hotel.  It was a rainy evening, so we decided to eat at the hotel's restaurant, Blue Fin, since Kevin and Steven were out for the evening.  (They saw Eartha Kitt at the Carlyle and said she was incredible.)  The server at Blue Fin was very sweet.  We chatted a bit and he gave us a complimentary glass of champagne since it was our first time at the restaurant.  We tumbled into the low bed, watched a horrible movie and fell asleep quickly.

The next day, we walked over to 5th Avenue with Steve and Kevin.  It was still rainy, so the crowds were a bit subdued, but we enjoyed shopping and I picked up a gorgeous new handbag at Saks.  We enjoyed lunch at a wonderful steak house then walked briskly to the Hilton Theater to see Young Frankenstein.  We got to the theater just ahead of a downpour, counting ourselves lucky.

The crowd in the theater was highly energized, ready to be entertained and many seemed familiar with the movie upon which the musical is based.  I was surprised to see so many young children in the audience, given the movie's raunchy sense of humor...but I'm not a parent so what do I know?

Overall, I'd give the show a B-.  The sets were versatile, sometimes breathtaking and technically advanced in the use of video.  (I could tell it had been a while since I'd been to Broadway.)  The music; however, was not memorable despite some excellent musical performances among the cast (Sutton Foster as Inga and Megan Mullally as Elizabeth had the best vocal performances).  As I said to the guys, it's not a good sign when the only song you're humming while leaving the theater is "Puttin' on the Ritz," rather than any new numbers from the musical.  Most of the numbers original to this show were, unfortunately, overly long and quite a few were one-joke long in terms of material.

The book was also a problem.  Sketchy, in a word.  So much so that there was very little by way of character development.  Performances were energetic for the most part and I particularly enjoyed the aforementioned Foster, Andrea Martin as Frau Blucher (actually the best number in the musical was "He Vas My Boyfriend" performed by Martin spot on), and Christopher Fitzgerald as Igor.  Shuler Hensley brought some skills to the tap sequence and made for a good Monster.  Unfortunately, we didn't see Roger Bart in the title role and Matthew LaBanca was not up to the Frederick Frankenstein role vocally.

Others in my party made points of their own about where the show went astray (average rating was a "C") and all of us were disappointed in Mullally's portrayal of Elizabeth. 

Fortunately, we had an excellent experience at Nobu which more than made up for mediocre theater.  Amazing food, great service, excellent company and a nice ambience.

The next day we hooked up with Dan's and my godson, Chad.  We enjoyed our time with him.  Dan had to leave on Sunday afternoon, so I got the best of the visit (along with Steve and Kevin), seeing Chad in his environment (the City, the apartment) and meeting his wonderful friends.  He is a constant joy to our hearts.

So now it's down to cases with prep for Nanowrimo, Hawaii, Thanksgiving looming!  I do love New York, as I said before.  But it's good to be home.

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