Picture it. New York City. Saturday, June 10, 2023.
I’m standing orchestra right in the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City.
I’m weeping.
Ugly tears.
Of joy.
Sarah and I saw the revival of Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot starting Phillipa Soo and Jordan Donica.
Phillipa Soo!
Eliza from Hamilton. Voice of an Angel and a mesmerizing presence on stage. Aaron Sorkin’s revised book of the show sparkles with his trademark wit and dialogue. Jordan Donica brings powerhouse vocals to his Lancelot.
The stage classic born anew in this production.
I was overcome with emotion following the ovation.
It was our second day in New York together and our third show of the weekend.
On Friday, after spending a day at The Met, we saw Leopoldstadt, Tom Stoppard’s beautiful and heartrending play about Jewish family life during the first half of the 20th Century.
Saturday’s matinee was Kimberly Akimbo, the wondrous musical with the saddest premise ever. The main character is afflicted with a genetic disorder that causes premature aging. Kimberly is a 16 year old in an 80-year-old body, distant parents, a criminal aunt and awkward friends.
Kimberly is dying, but the finale focuses on what lies ahead when she and her friend Seth take off on an adventure to see the world before she succumbed to her disease.
The uplifting and, for me, tearful finale includes the lyric “No one gets a second time around.”
Victoria Clark, the actress who performs the role of Kimberly, and the show, completely deserved their Tony wins. Leopoldstadt did too, by the way.
Sunday’s matinee was Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
With Josh Groban.
A full orchestra too. You could feel the power of the full complement of musicians in your chest, especially during the crescendos of the “Ballad of Sweeney Todd” at the opening and the finale.
Truly, I’d listen to Josh sing the dictionary. (I used to say “sing the phone book,” but does anyone know what that is anymore?)
Annaleigh Ashford as Mrs. Lovett was a revelation. She exuded fun in her character’s love/lust for Mr. Todd.
Jordan Fisher delighted as Anthony, and Gaten Matarazzo, whom you might know from Netflix’s Stranger Things, was amazing as Toby, the hero of the story.
I’m still pinching myself for getting to see all of these amazing and talented performers in a single weekend.
I teared up after every performance we saw, and managed to keep myself from falling apart after Sweeney.
Why the tears?
Sarah and I discussed this while cruising about the East and Hudson Rivers aboard the Bateaux New York. Dinner Cruise.
First, seeing anything on Broadway was a dream realized. My grandfather, George, who became an asshat nearest the end of his life, taught me a great deal about music appreciation. That is, appreciating music he liked. Like Broadway cast recordings, of which he had several.
While he wasn’t so much interested in seeing the shows, although he would bawl his head off at the finale of Les Miserables when I took him to see it but the message didn’t exactly take, he loved listening to the music.
Some of our most beautiful music comes from the stage and it can be argued that musical theater is an American art form.
Second, dream realized part two is that we survived the last 11 years and could therefore go to Broadway.
I mean, we wouldn’t have gone if Sarah had not had a business trip to the city on her schedule. As it happened, I was on a business trip to DC at the same time. A simple train ride north for me meant we could share a long weekend in the city.
Third, we work our butts off and the last six months have been a lot to manage between work, family and my plentiful advocacy activities.
We needed a bit of a break even if only for a few days.
So, we packed in more than we expected but we also didn’t jam every moment we were in New York with “something.” We enjoyed long brunches at our hotel, The Roxy in Tribeca.
We people watched from a sidewalk table between our afternoon at The Met and our first show of the weekend.
We spent part of our Saturday in the Mysterious Bookshop, where they sell only mystery books.
We spent time with friends over brunch on our last full day in the city—thank you Lewis and Alie!
The further away I get from our trip to New York City, the more the song in the finale resonates with me. No one gets a second time around.
“Saaaaaadly…” You’ll have to listen to the finale track to understand that one.
Truly, my cancer experience changed the calculus of how we think about everything in this life. Every day really is a gift. Losing Sarah’s dad and the aging of our parents in general puts a fine point on the point of this post.
Life is the but the work of a moment in eternity.
We are dust, and to dust we shall return.
We’re here and gone in the blink of an eye.
To borrow a line from Sweeney, there won’t be time to show up for our Maker impeccably shaved.
We were off on an adventure.
I can’t wait to see where the next one take us.
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