with no umbrella in her hand

It’s raining in Brooklyn today. I needed a rainy day. I’m tired. The city has worn me out a bit, in a good way.

I saw two musicals yesterday. The first, The Drowsy Chaperone, was a high profile Broadway production. I sat beside a couple on my right and an older lady on my left. The left hand lady slept through most of the show, bobbing her overly made up and big blond head and snoring now and then. She was the quintessential New York old lady who goes to matinees every now and then as her hobby. Before her nap (read: before the show started) she rummaged in her purse for decades, filed her nails and blew her nose. I wanted a shower after sitting beside her. New York is dirty and you are onslaught with miniscule debris constantly, but I think the left hand lady gave me a day’s dose of New York slime in 5 minutes.

The show starts I complete darkness with the narrator introducing the show. And from the second I heard his voice I was in love. The voice was a little high for a man, but something in it was familiar and warm. I couldn’t place my automatic fondness for this man, hadn’t recognized his name on the program, hadn’t placed his face. But, I wouldn’t have. It’s been years, decades even. I was in middle school probably and he was my dream man. For any girl who’s ever breathed in the girly air of the 80’s and was jealous of the red-headed Anne (with an “e”) you’ll understand why I was so easily in love with the narrator’s voice because it was Gil .

The second musical was Gutenberg! The Musical! at which my cousin Rebecca works. It was hilarious and wonderful and in a tiny theatre where you can feel the subway underneath you as the show goes on. I loved it and hope that it continues to run for longer and longer stretches. “A musical about a man who invented the printing press?” I know, but it’s got everything a musical needs and they’ll tell you so. If you are in NYC you should go and it’s in a great location in the Village near Magnolia Bakery, Sushi Samba, Tasti-D-Lite, and few other places you’ll love.

Today, this rainy, cold day is my last in New York, this town I love. I have not key to leave the apartment and partly I don’t want to. I’m tired and ready for home, but sometimes I wish this was that place.