Aladdin, the musical

  

 So we won the lottery @ Aladdin.  I had no idea what to expect. It was definitely written for 10 year olds and the music all sounds the same, but the choreography was great and the costimes were over the top.  A cute show and the price was right.   Afterwards, I looked up the review in the NY Times and the critic said it's the best thing Disney has done on Broadway.  We had good seats since they drew our tickets second.

The theater is the New Amsterdam which was built around 1900.  A lot of history in this building.  They recently did a wonderful restoration with lots of toilets in the ladies room.

This is a ballroom off the theater.  

Very well done.  A good day.

Domino Sugar Factory, Madonna & Children

This was an exhibition that took place at the Domino Sugar Factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge.  This entire warehouse will be demolished to be replaced by condos as soon as this exhibition is over.

The

sculptures are covered in sugar.  The little boys are coated in brown sugar, and the large, female who looks like the sphinx is coated in white granulated sugar.  The small boys are created from molds so they can be recreated.

To me, the walls look like a Richard Serra sculpture, however a guard swore that was just the drippings from the sugar.

 This female is the sculptor's idea of a black female prototype.  The sculptor is a black woman herself.

 I asked one of the attendants the relationship is size between this sculpture and the sphinx in Egypt and was informed the one in Egypt is 5 times the size of this one.  All in all, a lovely, free way to get people to come to Williamsburg and see all the new housing, etc.  The sculptor is very political and you can read whatever you want into the exhibit (i.e., the exploitation of the people who worked in this factory).

Brooklyn Heights waterfront

Mitch, Suzanne and Luke are coming for the 4th of July.  NYC is shooting the fireworks off from barges in the East River and they will be visible from this promenade but the police are limiting it to only 250,000 people.  People in our building say there's a good view from Prospect Park which is just up the road.

Ed liked this gargoyle which was in a fountain our in from of this beautiful building.  I'm sure we should know the name of it but we don't.

This is the beautiful building.

The new World Trade Center

The World Trade Center is a huge tourist destination.  We went on a Friday.  I can't imagine what a weekend would be like.  Of course, the site is enormous because those two pools are on the footprints of the twin towers that fell.

There are cops and guides all over the site.  Ed said that ordinarily, a skyscraper is occupied as they build it.  So there should be tenants in practically the entire building.  But the guard told us, there are no occupants.  In fact, they've quit constructing on the site because they can't find tenants.

The thing on the left is going to be the new transportation hub for Wall Street.  It will be the center for all the trains that come in there.

Mario Bataly's Eataly

We couldn't find our French Market coffee in Brooklyn so Ed found it on line on 14th Street so we journeyed over.  As long as we were close, we decided to visit Eataly, Mario Batali's new economic venture.  This place is huge.  It's a food emporium, and has like 10 restaurants.  You can buy anything Italian you care to.

There's a restaurant on the roof (that's the Flat Iron Building past the roof) that takes reservations (it's on the 14th floor).  Very inviting, friendly place.  Worth hanging out.

Our first two weeks.......................

So of course the first thing we did was go to the Brooklyn Library to get our library cards.  

As you can see, it's a very beautiful library.  Actually, I think they just added a new facade because when you get inside, it feels old.

The first show I wanted to see was Cabaret because of the stars.  Michelle Williams played Sally Bowles and Alan Cumming from the Good Wife played the Emcee.  He has done the part many times and they were both terrific.

On Sunday I tried to get in to see Kenneth Branaugh in Macbeth.  I didn't get there early enough.  (There were people who spent the night in sleeping bags.  They gave out 35 tickets and I was number 70.  So I called Ed and he came over and we went through the Frick.  What a fabulous collection of art.  He had at least two Vermeers, many Rembrandts, etc.  Just a magnificent collection and magnificent house.

We went to the Wednesday matinee this week and stopped to have lunch at Maria Pia an Italian restaurant in Hell's Kitchen.  Really a nice place.  

We had never seen Jersey Boys.  When we were here 4 years ago the ticket was just too hot.  We are finding what shows are hot this year and we're going to have to bite the bullet to see them.

First post of Summer, 2014

We set out from our house on Tybee on Monday morning, June 2, and we drove to Williamsburg, VA arriving at 4:30 p.m.  We took a short cut from I-95 over to a very cool ferry we know about over the James River.  It saves a lot of time and you miss Petersburg and Richmond.  It is very cool.  We spent the night in Williamsburg and visited some of our old haunts.  The next day we took the Cheasapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and drove north to arrive in Oxford, MD to visit my old high school buddy, Phoebe.

This is the drawing room of the Inn we stayed in.  It's the only place that has an internet connection.  The place was built in 1700 and who can imagine the people who have trod these boards.

This is me with my friend, Phoebe.  We have been friends since we were 13.  She lives in Oxford.  That's why we came.

This is St. Michael's, the very touristy town that is next door.  This is where they filmed Wedding Crashers.

We stayed two nights in Oxford and have now driven to the Cape May Ferry in Delaware and we will arrive in New Jersey on the other end to go visit my Cousin Nancy in Little Egg Harbor, NJ.

This is the outside shot of the inn.  The Blogger app has thrown me some curves since last I used it so you'll have to bear with me.

This is taken from the ferry and behind those trees is Jamestown, the oldest settlement in the first 13 colonies.