Weekend Journal

Summer weekends don’t get much better than this. Warm and dry and sunny. Lazy and busy at the same time.

On Saturday, I got some work done in the morning, but knocked off at around 2:00. I stopped by my brother’s barbecue to give hugs to two of his buddies that haven’t left his side since sixth grade. Guys never make good friends after high school, so it’s great the sixth grade buddies are still in the area. Babies were exchanged for kisses, and Chris gave everyone a mint julep.

After the quick visit, we dropped off the kids at my mom’s and went into the city for my birthday treat — dinner and Sweeney Todd. We sailed into midtown; zero traffic. Everybody else in the area was at the beach or mountains. On a nice day, I would rather be in the city.

We had an unexciting shepherd’s pie at a pub in Times Square before going into the theater.

Neither Steve and I knew what to expect from Sweeney Todd other than it had won a Tony for best revival. We hadn’t heard the score or seen the show on TV. It took us a few moments to get used to the operetta where the characters are also the orchestra. They intersperse playing the cello or trumpet with singing and acting. And the Sondheim score isn’t Rodgers and Hammerstein. After that first few minutes of confusion, we got into the musical and loved it. It’s remarkable to see people on stage who not only sing and act, but are professional musicians as well. People with excessive amounts of talent. The play was funny and dark.

Live shows are always amazing. I’ve even enjoyed some of the more raw shows we’ve seen with friends on off-off-off Broadway. The energy level in the theater is always intense. You’re so close to the actors that you can see them spit as they talk. You relate to the actors in a way that you can’t with people on TV or film. You almost feel that you know them. After we saw Vincent D’onofrio in a Sam Sheppard show and Mary-Louise Parker in Proof, we started keeping an eye out for them on TV.

I remember seeing Annie on Broadway twice when I was a kid. Once with Andrea McArdle and another time with Sarah Jessica Parker. I spent long hours planning ways for my best buddies, Sarah and Andrea, to get me on stage with them. Had a little girl crush going on there for a while.

After the show, we walked down to an open air Mexican restaurant and had a glass of wine at the bar. By that time, the guilt over dumping the kids at my mom’s was starting to dissipate. The weight of the responsibility was a little lighter. We silently thought about the play over our wine on that perfect evening in Manhattan.

As we drove home up the Westside Highway, the lights of the George Washington Bridge shown in the sky like a pearl necklace, and we felt very lucky indeed.