Times Squared

When I went to NYC I was very excited to give my regards to Broadway.

The spectacle lures one like a distant oasis. The throngs plod along at a camel's pace.




Finally arriving at the Casbah, one can only stop & gape, snap pictures & ruminate.



So many choices, so little cash!




Let's just sit awhile on the red stairs and contemplate Herald Square.

*

Since I was a little kid I've been a big fan of musical theatre. In the summer my grandparents would take me to see "Theatre Under the Stars" (fondly known as Tuts) in Vancouver's Stanley Park. The show would get under way at dusk and the mosquitoes would come out as the sun went down. When the night air grew chill, we'd spread plaid blankets over our knees without missing a beat of the music or a line of dialogue. It was magic time! There were usually two Broadway musicals presented each summer and we'd always see at least one of them. I had no trouble staying awake after my bedtime, right up until we drove past the illuminated dancing fountain at the park's entrance--the perfect ending to an enchanted evening (and, yes, I did see South Pacific there).

When West Side Story came out as a movie I was absolutely gaga over it. I had the program, the album, I knew all the songs by heart, I could do a mean version of the dance routines in my living room when no one was around. I couldn't make up my mind whether I wanted to marry the leader of the Sharks or the Jets when I grew up. When I was a teenager, Tuts put on West Side Story and I auditioned for it. I was a very good dancer, but a bit too chubby and a little too young so I didn't make the cut.

But I did finally get to New York City and I did see a Broadway show, albeit Ionesco, starring Susan Sarandon, Geoffrey Rush, Andrea Martin and...the girl from 6 Feet Under... in "Exit the King." It was every bit as thrilling and exciting as anticipated. Although a revival of West Side Story was playing, I opted not to see it. A case of having "been there, done that, and bought everything but the T-shirt."

In case you were wondering, I never married George Chakiris or Russ Tamblyn.

I was here!