From Yonkers on Down to the Bay

I’ve been in New York for the past three days working on a freelance gig and loving every minute of being in this city. Spent all day yesterday working with an amazing group of teachers in Yonkers, a city I’d only ever heard of from “Hello, Dolly,” Neil Simon’s trilogy, and as the home of Bakelite, Otis elevators, and Ella Fitzgerald. Yonkers was settled by the Dutch in the 1600s and the name actually comes from the Dutch word “Jonkheer” which means “young gentleman.” After decades of urban blight, there is an incredible revitalization overtaking this city, which is the fourth largest in New York, and the people I was meeting with had just moved into a gorgeous office in a restored historic trolley factory. Go, Yonkers!

Of course I managed to fit in two plays, both of which were excellent, I’m happy to say, since the current slate of Broadway offerings doesn't seem all that innovative or exciting. First I saw “Frost/Nixon,” a surprisingly powerful dramatic play centered around the 1977 interviews between Richard Nixon and David Frost. Such material could have fallen flat on stage, but it was a riveting night of theatre that showed the maddening aspects of Nixon’s personality quirks and paranoia while at the same time giving us a peek at his vulnerabilities and the shell he built around himself following his resignation. Tony winner Frank Langella, not an obvious choice, nailed the essence of the former President without resorting to caricature. Langella was almost unrecognizable in the part, even though they didn’t go overboard with makeup or prosthetics. It was only during the curtain call when he released himself from Nixon’s stooped posture and facial tics that he looked anything like the Frank Langella I remember. An even bigger revelation to me was Michael Sheen as David Frost. Just as he painted such a sublime. layered portrait of Tony Blair in “The Queen,” Sheen was able to show the crass, opportunistic, and somewhat sleazy side of Frost’s persona while still keeping him a sympathetic and even lovable character. What a great actor. I just read that Ron Howard is making a film of “Frost/Nixon” later this year with Langella and Sheen reprising their roles (good move, Ron!). My favorite bit of casting news regarding the upcoming film is that Pat Nixon (not a character in the play) will be portrayed by none other than Patty McCormack, most famous as the deliciously evil Rhoda Penmark from “The Bad Seed,” a movie she made when she was 11 years old. Do you think she’ll be asking Nixon for “a basketful of kisses?”

Last night I finally made it to the acclaimed Shakespeare in the Park summer series to see a wonderful staging of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” starring the beautiful and always brilliant Martha Plimpton as Helena and a large cast of talented actors including Tim Blake Nelson as Peter Quince, the part that Leah played a few years ago (at the age of 9!). Director Daniel Sullivan did a great job with this production but Martha told me the terrifying story of how he fell through a hole in the stage floor during the first tech rehearsal and was so badly injured that he wasn’t able to come back. I could see Plimpton in anything and it was especially fun to see her play the lovesick Helena, one of my favorite characters in the play. What can’t this woman do? Kendall and I saw her last year on Broadway in “Shining City,” she got a Tony nomination (and a Drama Desk award) for this year’s three-part “The Coast of Utopia,” and she’s going into another show after she finishes this Shakespeare run. What a great career, and I’m so glad she’s doing it her own way and not letting herself be fucked over by the idiots in Hollywood who would try to mold her into something she’s not. And as far as talented actors go, she’s one of the nicest people on the planet. This show was so good that I didn’t even mind sitting outside in the freakish winter-like freezing rain that suddenly turned New York from Hades into the Arctic. I was very underdressed (it had been scorching hot the day before) and at one point I was shivering so badly that the woman behind me yelled at me to stop fidgeting in my seat. Oh, those compassionate New Yorkers.

The company I’m working for is headquartered in SoHo and I just walked over to Balthazar for some coffee and soft-boiled eggs. Heaven. Despite yesterday’s insane weather (I swear it wasn’t just my thinned-out California blood!), it’s sunny and gorgeous again and I’m about to walk up to the Union Square greenmarket. How is it possible that I live in California and yet I find the produce (and most food products, for that matter) to be of such higher quality here in New York? I love this city and hope to be back soon.

Off to Chicago later today to help my sister celebrate her FIFTIETH birthday tomorrow. Gulp, aren’t we both still in our twenties?

Comments

[Roberta]

Right, so I live here (well, 12 miles west in Jersey) and I don't get out nearly so well.
I did have the joy of seeing Spring Awakening this week... I see a show like... never. And this was everything good about theater all rolled into one.
Glad you've had a nice visit, and that the weather gave you some gorgeous!

[tamarika]

Happy Birthday to your sister, Danny. Welcome to the 50's club. Best years of my life, it seems!

P.S. I can't believe you are/were just down the road aways! But thrilled with your reviews so that I know what to choose when I am "in town."

[Andrea]

Although I just moved from your native Sweet home of Chicago to your current neck of the woods in L.A., I am a native New Yorker and was just "home" for my dad's birthday a few weeks ago. My sister and I saw "Grey Gardens" right before it closed and boy am I glad we did. I was never that keen on the documentary, but the lives of the two Eddie's translated beautifully as a Broadway musical...Who Knew??
Have fun in Chicago and say hello to my former adopted city, which I will always love and long for, despite having to say goodbye a year ago this month...Happy Bday to your sis :-)

[OldOldLady Of The Hills]

Sounds like a wonderful exciting trip Danny...And do say a HAPPY 50th BIRYHDAY to your sister....! Sometimes I miss going to the theatre sooo much, it hurts! Would have loved to see both these plays....!
Enjoy Chicago!

[Emily]

It isn't just your California blood. We pulled out our comforter the other night. I'll never forget my first trip to New York, this exact same time of year. It being August, I'd only brought one pair of jeans with me, and no jacket or sweater or anything. By the time I left, those jeans could have walked themselves home. And Martha Plimpton is one of my all-time favorites. Glad to hear she's also a nice person.