Last night Tom and I went on our Valentines date. We went early so that we could get a sitter and avoid those pesky naked flying babies with bows and arrows. It was snowing and the roads were icy but we luckily have a 4 wheel drive truck and decided to go for it (hey there is more off-roading in the Brooklyn potholes than in suburbia lemmietellya). We dropped the babies off at the babysitter (she lives next door, and would head over to my house with them an hour later) and we got dressed in a flash and headed into the city. We drove up the West Side Highway and made a right onto West 47th Street, we drove through the dark warehouse district that merged into a more residential area with restaurants along the avenues. Ahead we could see the bright lights of Times Square reflecting in the snow and snow clouds above and it looked like a parade coming toward us. We parked under the Crown Plaza Hotel and for a second there considered just renting a room, taking a bath, ordering room service and sleeeeeeeping. But we ignored the temptation and only stopped in the gift shop to buy $3.75 waters. The man behind the counter was surrounded by tiny Statues of Libertys, FDNY and PDNY T-shirts and caps and a glass case that held I heart NY shot glasses, die-cast taxi cabs, Zippos and a pink sequined ladies evening purse in case of an impromptu ball. We joked that he filled up the waters in the back with the tap and he laughed with a burst. We walked into Times Square and looked up at the lights and billboards. It is strange to think that we live so close to this spectacle and don’t often remember its there. The snow was still white on the ground and was about an inch deep, it made the square (that is really a triangle) pretty, like a white Christmas. I put up my hood with the fake fur around the face and took Tom’s arm. We slid and scuffled down the sidewalk weaving in and out of the slow walking tourists and stole kisses from each other at the intersections. A huge billboard showed 5 women heavily airbrushed in impossible lingerie and I thought for a second that they weren’t properly dressed for the weather. Tom wondered how many men stood and looked up at that billboard frozen while the light changed to walk and back to don’t walk again. We passed the M & M store and I noticed the jean jacket with embroidered dancing M’s on it and I wondered: What man would wear that? …it seemed the opposite of NYC chic. How was it that the big candy stores of all things had moved into this area creating a Disneyesque theme version of New York. Portraying “safe, safe, safe to spend, spend, spend!”. I remembered it when off the side streets it was all XXX places, Ruby Foo’s and Madame Tussaud’s wax museum. The red light district has been moved out to Jersey and Queens but Madame Tussaud’s is still there. Lady Di still has to have her ass re-waxed now and again from being rubbed flat by the nice men posing with her. The signs of the times are brighter and flashier now. It is indeed a sight to see, our little cathedral of commercialism.
We walked to the Court Theater and went up to the mezzanine and stood in the back finishing our drinks while the angry usher publicly humiliated anyone who put their umbrellas on the ledge. We were there to see The Homecoming and we were both so glad to not be seeing a musical. The play was written in late 60’s London by a playwright (Harold Pinter) trying to fit into the new breed of cutting edge playwrights. It had a handful of actors and one set but we are suckers for a dark humored British story and we loved it. Ian McShane was amazing as we figured he would be. He played the father to three grown boys and Michael McKean played the Uncle. One of the boys comes to visit with his wife and the whole dynamic of the place changes with her presence. For all of its crassness it was sexy and poetic. And as I like so much in a story, it took a turn to where I had never imagined. At the intermission we were glad that we took advantage of pre-ordering our drinks. They sat at the end of the bar under a napkin that said “Tom” in blue ink and we avoided the line of perfumed and fur wearing theatergoers. We talked about the play and how it seemed to have room to breathe and we wondered what it might be like to play the same part every night for months. I said that it was probably a lot like what I had seen on the road with bands. The first week was spent trying to get all of the notes right and making sure of your mark and then once there is confidence it can then become musical and they begin to feed off of each other. I imagine that it was similar here and that as the play aged it took them to places that might even surprise the actors. And that the audience played a large role in what direction it went.
When the play ended we went down to the orchestra seats and stayed for a Q & A with the director and all of the actors. Everyone spoke candidly about what it was like to work together and with the playwright who answered questions via e-mail and often tersely. You could see how charming each actor was and how different their personalities were from the characters they played. Ian said some funny things about it not “arting you to death” which is something that bugs me in a lot of things too. Tom and I left with big smiles on our faces and happened to see Ian McShane getting into his car out front. Tom told him “Great show Ian” to witch he thanked us for. I don’t get star struck because I worked with famous people for awhile and have seen that we are all human and as capable of flaws as the next guy. But I am sure we would have jumped in the car with him and gone to Clancy’s for a round given the invitation. We stopped at the Hershey’s store to get Ruby something for Valentines Day and picked up our car and headed home talking about the play pretty much the whole way back. We are both the type to be attracted to characters who have a dark sense of humor, have big hearts and are a little rough around the edges. It was nice to be inspired by something. We usually go out to see live music, but this was a nice change. Although the $100 tickets, $38 parking and the $70 babysitter didn’t make it a cheap date. But it wasn’t like we had dinner at Nobu with glasses of Crystal or anything, not like we care about that stuff. We were happy we had done it, although next year I want to get that hotel room for afterwards and get my Mom to come up and stay the night. We should be allowed to sleep in at least once a year I think. And since our twins were born on Valentines Day last year we should make a tradition of also treating ourselves for having made it through another year. We have a lot to celebrate.

Harold Pinter’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech here where he says “So Language in art remains a highly ambiguous transaction, a quicksand, a trampoline, a frozen pool which might give way under you, the author, at any time.” (thanks for the link Josh!)

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