I'm sorry that I couldn't get a picture of the understudy who played Bobby Darin in the play "Just In Time" tonight. But, I did get a picture of the rest of the cast during the closing number. (I got caught taking a picture, and I had to put my camera away.) Thankfully, AI cleaned up the picture better than I could myself, and I can say that if used wisely, AI can be a great assistant to skilled humans.
But I digress....
Today was going to be the worst day of the current heatwave, and I didn't want to take the risk of overheating if I were dressed as Marian. (New York City is a heat island, and would be unbearable without Air Conditioning.) So, I showered and dressed and went out the door as Mario again.
Arriving at the train station, I easily found a parking spot. However, I was in such a rush, that I bought a round trip ticket at the full price, instead of at the senior discounted rate I usually pay. And this would be typical of the way my finances would run for the rest of the day. I reached Grand Central at 4:30, met RQS in the waiting room, then walked over to the Grand Brasserie for dinner. (It was French Restaurant Week, and we got a better deal than we usually would get dining here.) The place was noisy, most of the noise coming from the bar area where people were watching the FIFA semi finals. (I couldn't give a hoot about that sport. If I wanted to see men running around for 90 minutes without scoring, I'd go to a singles bar before closing.) It quieted around after Argentina won. But it also got warmer inside the restaurant. So, we were glad to leave the place around 6:15 to make a 7:00 show.
It's always a minor headache to reach the theater district in a heatwave. Does one swelter underground and walk an undefined distance to the theater? Or, does one ride in the air-conditioned comfort of a cab, but spend much more money to get to the theater? We made the mistake of taking a cab. Midtown Manhattan streets are usually jammed during rush hour. But the police were making things worse by prohibiting left turns to reach the West Side of Manhattan - even when street signs are directing people to turn left. We reached 51st Street and 6th Avenue and told the cabbie to drop us off here. We could walk faster than the driver could get us there. As we exited the car, the policeman started to give the driver a ticket for stopping. But what was the driver to do? I feel sorry for him. The police managing street flow were making things worse, and we had to make our 7:00 show.
After a bit of huffing and puffing along city sidewalks, we made it to the theater just in time. We took our seats, and for the next 2 hours, we enjoyed a great musical, albeit with an understudy playing Bobby Darin. I got busted trying to take a still photo of the star. But I was able to take a picture of the rest of the cast as we exited the place.
RQS and I look at the subway system very differently. I was trying to tell her that we'd take the Broadway line, and she was only thinking of route ids ("W" Train, "N" Train and "R" Train) to reach her destination. Once she understood how I thought about the system, it made sense to her. So, we walked to 49th and 7th, and entered the subway system. This station made me very glad that I was not wearing a wig - it must have been over 100 degrees in that station. I got out at Times Square, while RQS proceeded to Union Square, where she got her usual train home.
It was a long day. And I'll be glad to get back into a dress tomorrow for my dental appointment.
