Strange looks in New York

So I'm spending the weekend in Manhattan after a couple days of training in New Jersey -- and I met a couple friends for dinner and drinks.

Unfortunately, thanks to the Port Authority and NJTransit, the usually easy AirTrain-to-NJTransit connection has been screwed up beyond all recognition and it took close to two and a half hours to get from EWR (aka Newark Airport) to New York Penn Station.

My original plan was to drop my bags at the hotel and then proceed to the designated drinking location -- however being already an hour late and waiting for a downtown C train that didn't seem to exist, I bit the bullet and both me and my luggage made it uptown (well... W. 72nd)

However, in that process my cell phone died -- containing both the name of the place we were meeting (decided just an hour or so before) as well as my firends contact info.

You wouldn't beleive the number of strange looks you get when you're on a subway with a USB cord sticking out of a bag and plugged into a phone. But using my laptop (in said bag) to charge my phone worked well enough for me to get a "I'm on my way" text out and then get me pointed in the right direction.

/sigh

May and June are turning into those "continuous travel" months where I don't have the time to stop and enjoy the smells.

I'm tired now...

Lincoln

Column and Stripe/NYC - The Armory Show [Cleveland Museum of Art]

As many regular readers (or those who pay attention to the "Disclosures" bar off to the right [your other right]) know, I'm involved in Column and Stripe: The New Friends of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Unfortunately travel demands of my real job haven't been conducive to attending all of the great events that our Programming Committee organizes.

Exterior of Pier 92 from Across 12 Ave.

Thanks to a last minute change in schedules for one of my big projects, and a United Fare Sale that made Cleveland to New York a $161 round drip flight (and cashing in some of my Hilton HHonors points for a few nights in one of my favorite hotels -- the Hilton Times Square) I was able to join a group of Column and Stripers 400 miles from home at New York City's Armory Show.

C&S Attendees; Mark Cole center background.

Mark Cole, Cleveland Museum of Art's Associate Curator of American Painting and Sculpture (until 1960) was in New York as well and graciously guided us through Pier 92's Modern Art.

Mr. Cole not only introduced us to some of the dealers who he knows, but also pointed out artists with Cleveland connections and artists who he thinks are significant and would like to see added to the museum's collection to complete the story (he remained mum as to specific works).

After our overview fly-by the group splintered and attacked the show in greater detail. The show which brings together leading art dealers from around the globe and concentrates them on two of the piers of Manhattan's West Side is a little overwhelming. ("Modern" is on pier 92, "Contemporary" is on pier 94)

One aisle of dealers at Pier 94

Although the show is made up of dealers (after all, unlike a museum, the goal here is to sell art), it is curated -- the dealers have to present a proposal months in advance, and from what I understand the cost of exhibiting can push into the high five-figures, so the quality of art is very high across the board. So are the prices -- many, though not all, of the exhibitors have prices listed on the label accompanying each piece, with prices I noticed ranging from about $2,500 to upwards of $370,000 and spanning from the technically simple to the obscenely complex.

It was a wonderful opportunity to enjoy art outside of Cleveland with similarly interested young Clevelanders, and hopefully this will be the first of many trips -- and that Rachel's work schedule will allow her to join in the next trip.

[By the way, any of the pictures should be clickable for a larger version if you so desire]

Lincoln

I [heart] New York: The Rest of the Trip

As it turns out I was  too busy showing Rachel The City (capitalization intentional) that by the time we made it back to our room I was too exhausted to actually write about it.

Her original flight in to La Guardia was cancelled, so while I waited for her I went ahead and hit up MoMA -- the Museum of Modern Art -- since Rachel tends to prefer more classical art. She didn't miss much. Last time I did MoMA there were works I didn't get and works that really captivated me. This time nothing really captivated me (and the galleries seemed particularly overrun with tourists) -- that is until I made it back to the Industrial Design section which is where I lingered for the longest period of time and had the greatest appreciation for: Commercial art that is eye catching and selling a product (PanAm destination posters)... Fonts and typefaces (Finally getting the attention they deserve)...every day products where function follows form.

After leaving MoMA I had just enough time to get back to the room get off my feet for a few minutes and confirm the route to La Guardia. Arriving several hours later than expected when Rachel landed she found her way to the Q33 bus to Jackson Heights where I met her after arriving on a Queens-bound (funny, since we were in Queens) 7 Train.

Taking her back we found a Manhattan bound E Train and rode in comfort back to the 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal stop and the quick walk back to the hotel. One of many reasons why the Hilton Times Square is my favorite hotel in The City (and perhaps period) is that it, as near as I can tell, sits on top of  the largest subway complex in NYC... and if you can't get where you want to get from Times Square/42nd/PABT directly, a short subway Shuttle (S Train) ride to Grand Central will get you there.

Dropping her bags off on the 43rd floor -- room 4320 -- we descended back into the subway station, caught the Shuttle (despite it now being almost 8pm, still packed) and at Grand Central found a downtown 1 Train to meet a friend of hers (and her boyfriend) for dinner. We found a barbecue joint on 3rd Avenue somewhere in the 30s that had good food -- and even better margaritas. (Not having to worry about driving, I indulged in two). We had ice cream in the friend's apartment and by the time we returned to street level a light rain had started. We found an uptown train and retired to the double-Queen room for the evening.

Getting a lazy start on Friday morning, we worked our way downtown to the Meat Packing district using the Shuttle and a C Train to 14th street -- before we got to our actual destination we discovered Tom Otterness's Life Underground, an art installation as part of the MTA's Arts For Transit program and quite an extensive installation at that. Mr. Otterness's little creatures are always so cute and that was particularly true in this case. Once we left the station a quick (although blustery) walk got us to our actual destination: The New York High Line, a former elevated freight rail road structure adapted, converted, and reused now as a public park. Its quite an impressive project, and I would have liked to linger a bit longer had there not been a biting cold wind pushing us around.

Working our way uptown we found our way to the southeast corner of Central Park (though I'm not sure which combination of trains we took to get there) wandered through the lower section of the park eyeing the people and wildlife (and downing a hot dog) before arriving at Rachel's prime destination: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Now I will admit that last time I visited The Met I wasn't overly impressed, but walking the galleries with Rachel it was delightful to see her eyes bug out as she excitedly bounded from artwork to artwork like a kid in a candy store "I've seen that one in books!" "We studied that in my classes!". We grabbed lunch in the Cafeteria lingered around the Europeans for a bit and then hit my highlight of the visit: The Met's renown Musical Instrument Collection displaying an evolution of musical instruments from the odd to the common... and a couple Stradivari violins.

Leaving the Met we walked further up 5th Avenue and toured the Guggenheim which currently has a rather odd installation hanging from the ceiling. We didn't spend long but I did buy a new watch.

Walking towards Lexington Avenue, I misjudged the direction for the nearest Subway so instead of walking two blocks downtown to the nearest 4/5/6 station we walked eight blocks uptown and caught a 4 Train back to Grand Central, shuttled to Times Square and kicked off our shoes for a few minutes before departing to another destination Rachel wanted to check out: The Morgan Library and Museum, founded by Pierpont Morgan. Open late Fridays with live music we stayed and lingered until the guards kicked us out at the 9 PM Closing.

Returning to Times Square we had dinner at Schnippers Quality Kitchen on the corner of 41st and 8th Avenue. I had tripped over this place while I was in NYC for the Tony Awards (and staying at a different hotel) but it's literally right down the street from the hotel's back door. The Mac and Cheese with Bacon hit the spot. Returning to the 43rd floor... high above the city...we both quickly disappeared into slumber.

Waking up Saturday morning we realized our time was limited, and although we had been staying in the middle of Times Square, Rachel had never actually seen Times Square so I walked her through the highlights and we popped into the Hershey Store. Curiosity satisfied, we hopped on a train downtown, emerged from the surface at a random stop and among other sights window shopped Chinatown. From City Hall Park we uptown trained to NYU where Rachel poped into one of the Manhattan branches of an employer to look around, and realizing that we were starting to run short on time, we returned to the hotel for the last time, collected our belongings, and checked out.

Entering the Port Authority Bus Terminal subway station, I made a near fatal error -- already cutting the time close (by my standards) -- In a snap judgement thought that the A, C, or E trains would get where we wanted to go. Until we got on an A train, and I looked at a map. And Paniced. Only the E train ultimately ended up where we wanted to go, we popped off at the next station, and I misread signs... so we missed the first E train, and waited.

It felt like an eternity before the next E train showed up (all the while the station announcements blared "There is a...uptown...local...train approaching the...upper level...platform. Please stand clear of the platform edge, especially when trains are entering or leaving the station." on a seemingly constant basis. Rachel, sensing my fermenting panic had started to ask "Well, how much would a cab cost...?", but finally the "There is a Queens Bound...Express...E...Train approaching the...lower level...platform" announcement finally came. Getting back to Jackson Heights/Rosevelt, we left the station and immediately hopped on a waiting Q33 bus. Found seats, and made what felt like the interminable ride to the Central terminal. I checked in and checked my bags with Continental, then Rachel checked in for her much later flight with American... and with about 30 minutes left until I was set to board and since our gates were behind different security checkpoints, we grabbed a quick lunch in the terminal before bidding each other a temporary adieu.

Both of our flights home were uneventful.

Lincoln

I [heart] New York: Day 1 Part 1 - The New York Philharmonic

This morning I woke up at the ungodly hour of 6 AM (after finally retiring to bed around midnight, not because I was tired but because I wanted to be well-rested for today. Rachel was supposed to arrive just before 4... but thanks to American Airlines, that's changed to just before 6).

While I was getting my bearings on what might sound interesting I had noticed that the New York Philharmonic was offering an open rehearsal at 9:45 AM for, if I recall correctly, $19. While I've wanted to hear the NY Philharmonic, if for no other reason than to compare it to my Cleveland Orchestra, I didn't really want to dedicate an entire evening to the endeavor, much less an entire evening while Rachel was in town -- the open rehearsal sounded like a splendid way to make this work. Plus at closed rehearsals I've been invited to I've been thrilled by the artistic finesse and fine tuning that occurs between orchestra and conductor.

The concert being rehearsed consisted of two pieces (Strauss: Don Quixote, Op. 35, Cynthia Phelps, viola; Carter Brey, cello; Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 ("Pastoral"), Bernard Haitink, conductor), however I elected to leave during the rehearsal break as I was becoming hungry, and a bit restless -- not a good combination for 11:24 in the morning.

To put it simply, though, the Cleveland Orchestra is in no danger of loosing my musical heart. While Don Quixote was initially played through delightfully and without pause, it was no more musically satisfying than listening to something on my iPod. The precise reason why I don't listen to classical music on my iPod. I'm not sure if it's the orchestra or the acoustics of the visually uninspiring Avery Fisher Hall [It isn't far removed in size shape or decoration from an airplane hanger with seats and a stage left over from the dark days of design: The 70s] or even something particular to my seat (LL107) but there was no texture or emotion. I'm used to hearing classical music with nuances and individual character -- that is to say, a work that breathes with the collective breath of the musicians. I didn't get that, and had I paid much more than $19, I would have been remarkably disappointed. While the music was lively, the subject matter is after all Don Quixote, the delivery seemed mechanical. That said, both soloists, were captivating, particularly Ms. Phelps viola.

After the piece was played through in its entirety, specific passages were revisited, and reworked -- this is normally my favorite part, as it gives you a clear idea of what the conductor feels is most important about a piece,  however, as I was unable to hear a word Mr. Haitink was saying from the podium (as, of course, the comments were primarily if not exclusively intended for the benefit of the musicians) this provided no benefit to the audience.

The program notes and format were quite helpful on the other hand. I've long been a fan of the detail and organization of the Cleveland Orchestra's program books (the one addition I would suggest if given the opportunity is adding the approximate running times of movements, ala the Minnesota Orchestra) but the Philharmonic might win by a nose here of for nothing else than the sheer amount of well organized detail.

[Side note: The New York Philharmonic's Music Director, Alan Gilbert, is conducting this week's Cleveland Orchestra concerts -- it will be interesting to hear the Cleveland Orchestra under his baton on Saturday (if I make it back early enough) or Sunday (otherwise).


The NYC Ballet isn't presenting anything at the moment (slightly disappointing as I haven't found a more convenient source of ballet, namely one in Cleveland) and I absolutely cannot build any enthusiasm whatsoever for the Metropolitan Opera... so it seems unlikely that I'll return to Lincoln Center on this trip.

On my way back I went hunting for food and stumbled into a random deli and ordered a random sandwich. It was good.

Now I'm off to do some more exploring before picking up Rachel...

Lincoln

I [heart] NYC Day 0: The Mountaintop with Samuel L. Jackson

The work part of this trip ended when I returned the rental car for the "business" portion out in the 'burbs, dropped my coworker off at Newark Terminal C, and boarded NJTransit bound for New York Penn Station (not to be confused with Newark Penn Station, the first stop after the airport).

It took a bit longer than I expected but the trip was utterly uneventful and about $12.50. Leaving Penn Station on foot I walked uptown to 41st street and checked in to my favorite hotel in New York City, the Hilton Times Square -- where this time, my room on the 43rd floor has a fantastic panorama of Manhattan including the New York Times and Empire State Buildings. The very city texture which I love of Manhattan.

After dropping my luggage in the room at about 7:30 I continue walking up town -- I love how easy Manhattan is to navigate (uptown = street numbers get bigger / downtown = street numbers get smaller) and find the Theatre Development Fund's TKTS booth. I was in the mood for a musical, but all of the musicals on the board -- and it now being about 7:45 I had either (a) seen before (b) was planning on seeing the touring version at PlayhouseSquare [so why waste a night on Broadway?] or (c) had heard enough about to have no interest in seeing.

So in Lincoln fashion and with less than 15 minutes to published curtain I did what I normally do: Picked one that I haven't even heard of from the board, bought a ticket for a play called The Mountaintop and walked (this time downtown) to the Jacobs Theatre on 45th between Broadway and 8th for The Mountaintop, staring Samuel L. Jackson (as Martin Luther King, Jr.) and Angela Bassett (as Camae) in Room 306 of the Lorraine Motel, Memphis, Tennessee on April 3, 1968.

If that date doesn't click for you (for some reason when read the setting line in the program the room number was what triggered my recollections): Mr. King was assassinated outside that room on April 4th. . The beginning is a bit mundane: He relieves himself, then begins working on a speech. Calling for room service -- discontinued the previous week -- a housekeeper, Camae (Angela Bassett) delivers the coffee and a relationship between the two of them grows as they share cigarettes and she slips a bit of whisky ("Irish Cough Surup") into his coffee. But then it takes a surreal turn and it turns out Camae is an angel -- sent to bring Mr. King to heaven.

We see an even more human side of Martin Luther King--he's not prepared to be a martyr. There's too much left undone and he has to see it through to completion. It's difficult for me to summarize and like Next To Normal the total profundity is just starting to hit me -- and work on my emotions -- now, two plus hours after I left the theater. It seems like something worth seeing and both Ms. Bassett and Mr. Jackson turn in compelling performances where, combined with a realistic grungy 1960s hotel room set, you leave the decade for a good ninety minutes.

Returning to 2011 and leaving the theatre I bought my Unlimited Ride Metro Card. At $29 for 7 days of unlimited MTA rides, I'm still convinced that it is one of the best bargains in New York and made it Carnegie Hall's neighborhood of 57th and 7th for a quick and light dinner at Burger Joint in Le Parker Meridian. The psychological break and total incongruity that one passes while crossing from the hotel lobby (a high-end New York hotel that isn't cutting edge design trend-wise, but isn't by any stretch dull) to Burger Joint (a place that serves Hamburgers, Cheeseburgers, Grilled Cheese, Fries, and nothing else in an environment whose decor (and the ancient TV hanging on the wall) is most reminiscent of 1964, including paneled walls.

Subway back to the hotel... and I am ready to sleep.

More tomorrow.

Lincoln

Trip to the Tonys: Day Two, Part One.

I'll admit it. Despite setting a total of three alarms for "early" I decided to sleep in a bit and didn't actually hit the streets until about 9:45 or so.

I mentioned yesterday that I managed to bungle up most of the pictures I tried taking in Central Park so I was going to try and re-take them this beautiful morning -- today, apparently, there is (was) a Puerto Rico day parade down 5th avenue, and in addition to throngs of people [and the greatest number of police officers I've ever seen in the same place at the same time], access to Central Park other than roadways was very difficult--access to the parts of Central Park I actually wanted to take photos of was impossible. I did notice, though, while in the park an odd desolation: I was virtually alone, the sun was out and the treed were green, but somewhere just beyond view there was a cacophony of city noises: Whistles, horns, music, yelling, cheering. To me that's more soothing than silence.

So I did the next best thing: I walked Central Park from the southern foot at 6th Avenue (a few quick blocks walk from the hotel at 59th) to the northern end at 110th and Malcolm X Boulevard. Snapping a few photos along the way and briefly considering a return visit to the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum [I think my favorite museum from my last trip], I hopped a 2 Train subway down to Times Square/42nd where I transferred to an R train to City Hall, another park that I grabbed a few wintry shots at. After that I took the R one stop further downtown--without looking at a map of exactly where I was going--and ended up at Wall Street.
Got out, wandered around the financial district a bit, stumbled upon the NYSE and then took the train uptown to Times Square.

I had planned on, at this point, returning to the hotel room and possibly catching a quick nap -- certainly getting off my feet for a little while (Had I done any planning at all, I probably would have thought to bring a pair of shoes more suitable for all terrain walking -- but as my internal compass hasn't fully adapted to New York, I made a wrong turn and from 7th avenue ended up on 8th Ave instead of 6th where I wanted to be.

So I walk a few blocks up 8th planning on hanging a quick turn and jaunt back to 6th [I hate walking past the same people on the street going different directions... they may not remember that I just waked by, but I feel kind of stupid when I do that...plus, I needed to get about 15 blocks uptown anyway] -- and stumbled across a restaurant that caught my eye.

So I stopped at Schnipper's and ordered a burger and cheese frys. It was good. I made a mess of myself eating it on the patio on the corner of 8th Ave and 41st, but it was good enough that I didn't care. (The sign above the register: "Hello! We serve good old-fashioned American food for New Yorkers and travelers alike. We don’t do fusion or foreign. We think happy is healthy. We think low stress is as important as low fat, and high-quality can be just as important as organic. While we respect places that serve precious, fussy food, we never wanted to be one of them." There's an attitude I dig)

And I walked back to hotel without further direction-finding incident where I am typing this now... and I think I will try for a quick nap before I have to take a shower and get ready to be at Radio City by 4:30. I did pass the International Center for Photography Museum just south of the hotel-- I'd like to check it out, but I think I'll save that for my next trip given time constraints: I'd hate to not enjoy it simply because I rushed through it.

Until later tonight... Photos can be found here

Lincoln

Trip to the Tonys: Day Won, Part Two: Fela! The Musical

I realized at some point this evening that I left out an important detail from Part One: Between the Frick Collection and the TKTS booth I did the Radio City Music Hall "stage door" tour. Unfourtunately this was during the time that my camera was charging in the hotel room an cell phone cameras were verbotten for some unclear reason. You'll see the Music Hall and Tony set tomorrow night on CBS -- the main lobby is an amazing volume of space, and of course, there is some interesting history in the building. For about $20 I'd reccommend it over the Empire State Building.

And thus we arrive at the ticket booth and by extention the show I saw tonight: Fela! The Musical. I took a risk with Fela! because I hadn't heard anything about it; it was a risk that didn't pay off -- perhaps ominously, Fela is playing directly across the street from the only musical I've ever walked out on; maybe West 49th isn't my street for theatre.

Unfourtunately it's a case of the sum of the parts being less than the whole: The set -- which spilled out into the entire theater -- was visually interesting; the correography was good. Lighting and visual effects were effective and probably my single favorite element. I really didn't care for the music--and it seemed like 2 hours of pretty much the same beat--but it was well played technically. I take no issues with the acting or the dancing.

The storyline stopped making sense to me after about twenty minutes, and the plot seemed confused. For example, Fela died in 1997 and [based on Wikipedia] was most active in the 60s-70s, yet references are made to Hati, AIG, the IMF and other anachronistic-just-to-make-a-political-statement insertions. In the end, I simply was not entertained*, motivated, inspired, or enlightened and it's not a show that I can envision myself seeing again.

"Lincoln," you may ask, "why did you buy a ticket without knowing anything about the show?" Fair question. When I arrived at Father Duffy square, I surveyed the board. Of the shows that caught my interest, I want to see Phantom of the Opera a second time, but it will be in PlayhouseSquare later this summer [I should probably buy a ticket, if I can, shouldn't I?]-- I really like the music from Next to Normal, but I have it to look forward to in PlayhouseSquare's next season, and while I enjoyed Avenue Q and In the Heights, I already know what those are about: I wanted something new. I had planned on Promises, Promises -- which was on the board when I got to the front of the line, but had sold out by the time I got to the window. So I blurted out the first name that came to mind: Fela.

No, I didn't know anything about the show before I bought my ticket, but I didn't know anything about Next To Normal either, and that's a show I enjoyed at the time and has really grown on me since then. In that case it was a gamble, that paid off. Such was not my luck with Fela... but there is no regret in trying something new.

Making a speedy exit during the curtain call, I walked back to the hotel via Rockefeller Center--another destination I missed on my first "real" visit to Manhattan back in January--and grabbed a few pictures of both the plaza and Radio City Music Hall. New York at night is a beautiful city. They aren't the greatest quality, but I've uploaded the ones that are at slightly in focus to Flickr.

And now it's time for a nice long nap before the big day. I'm quite excited at the moment.

Lincoln
*- I also wasn't amused that I was sold an obstructed view seat without it being disclosed as such.

Why I Bought a Tux (or Why I'll be In New York Next Weekend)

There have been plenty of "Black Tie" events that I've resisted attending for the simple fact that renting a tuxedo kind of creeps me out and they weren't of sufficient magnitude to warrant a purchase.

I now have such an event. Though my credit card hates me right now, I will (giddy laughter) have a spontaneous weekend in New York thanks to Cleveland's PlayhouseSquare.
Nordstrom's "cheap" Tux: $550*;
White Dress Shirt: $58.50**;
Black Tie: $95;
Going to the Tony Awards: Priceless.

A while back -- I can't remember exactly when -- in PlayhouseSquare's eAlert newsletter there was a contest with the prize being a trip to the Tony Awards as a "seat filler". I submitted my entry then promptly forgot completely about it.

This past Friday when I got home from work I had a voicemail from the marketing department congratulating me. Somehow -- for I think the first time in my adult life -- I managed to win.

I takes a lot to get me giddy. This is such an occasion. I love New York nearly as much as I love Cleveland. I love theatre. I love travel. I love spontaneity. This is the perfect confluence of all of those passions and it comes at a time when I've been feeling a severe case of summertime wanderlust but couldn't figure out where to wander to.

I think this qualifies as "Once in a lifetime experience"

More blogging and some pictures to follow once I hit the road... and I have to thank PlayhouseSquare for the opportunity and my client in Columbus for rescheduling the meeting I had on Monday to Tuesday.

Lincoln
*- Including shipping since the Beechwood store doesn't stock "toothpick" as a standard size.
** - My expectations for the lifespan of this shirt is approximately 6 hours based on my luck with anything white. Despite the miracles my dry cleaner can work, essentially, I'm considering it disposable.
*** - Calm down, I love Cleveland as well--and can actually afford to live here.

New York: Recap

I'll return you to my regularly scheduled blogging this Friday with the Heights Arts House Concert, and Saturday with the Orchestra (Interestingly, Mr. Boulez is conducting this weekend's concerts -- something I didn't realize until I found the postcard in my mailbox yesterday). For now, the recap of New York, from the comfort of my own sofa.

The last set of pictures is here, pictures from the full set are over there.

Overall: Really, New York is one of the most amazing cities on the planet and certainly the most amazing I've visited thus far. There's an infinite variety of things to do, see, hear, touch, feel. I can't wait to go back (and if I ever win the lottery, my first stop would be to buy a pied-à-terre in the City. Just next time I'm not going in the middle of January.

Lodging: Stayed at both the Waldorf-Astoria and the Hilton Times Square. The Waldorf was nice, but superficially so; the Hilton is in a great location, had fantastic views, great rooms, and an incredibly accommodating and personable staff. My next trip will definitely include the Times Square location if the rates are in the ballpark.

Transportation: The NYC MTA is an amazingly efficient and wonderfully comprehensive network, of which I only sampled a small portion. The $27 7-day unlimited ride MetroCard is quite possibly the best bargain in New York, and the MTA NYC Subway staff are some of the most courteous and helpful transportation employees I've encountered. The lone exception would be the R train Saturday morning where not only were the doors closed with a large number of passengers still trying to board, yours truly included, but the doors were closed without warning, and on a tourist who was halfway through the doors at the time (with an arm and leg outside the car) -- and didn't reopen them (Specific descriptions here, here, here, and, described by my mother as hallucinogenic, here).

Theatre, Music, Dance: Phantom Of The Opera, the New York City Ballet, Next to Normal, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. All tremendously entertaining in their own ways, and all with very full houses. Of course TKTS made prices for Phantom and Next to Normal reasonable.

Art, Culture, Randomness: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and Central Park, The Museum of Modern Art and Seghal's This Progress at the Guggenheim, possibly the most thought provoking piece of art I've encountered. Last but not least is MTA's Arts For Transit with art sprinkled throughout the stations... and opening your mind to look for art in places that you aren't expecting, like this and this.

Despite using HHonors points to pay for my three nights at the Waldorf, according to preliminary credit card statements and cash on hand, as a single traveler I contributed somewhere between $700-800 to the New York economy, about 20% more than my original expectation. It was worth it.

Lincoln

New York: Day 5: The Music of the Subway

Today was not my most well-planned day... the good news is that there is plenty of things to do on the next trip. My flight back to Cleveland is at a weird time that, combined with the fact that nothing opened before 11 today meant that I didn't really do anything.

A car is picking me up from the hotel headed for La Guardia at 1:30... I had wanted to visit the Whitney Museum of American Art but my rapidly declining cold-weather endurance combined with the fact that at best I would have 90 minutes in the museum before needing to return to the hotel and check out I decided to make that a "next trip" visit.

I started this morning by riding the 1 Train from Times Square/42nd up to the Bronx and back. While riding I closed my eyes and heard a symphony: A punctuated pizzicato rhythm starts in the bases and is echoed by the first, violins then the violas. The cellos repeat the line, which is echoed by the second violins -- circling the rider from left to right. Percussion lets out a thump, followed by a thump while a lone flutist plays three notes of different lengths; a second flute joins the first somewhere between the second and third notes creating a harmonic relationship. This structure repeats while a horn sounds, and sounds again. A sustained note, then ends.

The strings build, from the violins up to create a fervent excitement of accelerating tempo. A sustained note is played by the bases, while the other strings slow to a stop, and return to the pizzicato from earlier. A sharp note comes from the woodwinds, and percussion signals the thump-stop of the train. A din is heard from the mixed voices outside the car, a descending chord his heard to warn of the impending departure and the symphony repeats, building then falling, and either repeating or ending as the rider continues or exits.

That's what I heard in the subway.

Lincoln

New York: Day 4, Part 2: Chicago Symphony Orchestra - Carnegie Hall

Ravel: Le Trombeau de Couperin (1914)

Dalbavie: Flute Concerto (2006)Bartok: Bluebird's Castle, Op. 11
Pierre Boulez, conductor.

On my way to Carnegie Hall I spotted the creation you see on your to the right from across the Q express tracks at Times Square/42nd St. station (the uncropped version can be found at Flickr for the full context)... perhaps I've been spending too much time looking at Contemporary Art or perhaps it's a testament to the quantity of public art throughout the MTA system but my first take was to try and figure out the artist's intent... first guess was a figure lounging while reading a book, then a reclining figure playing a bowed instrument of some kind with the music in front of him... and when I finally realized it was graffiti I had to take a picture.

Until this evening the Cleveland Orchestra was truly the only orchestra I had heard*. Upon learning that, a talented young violinist I met through Match.com told me that I would be disappointed with anyone else I would hear. During the preshow lecture, I noticed the Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage seemed particularly acoustically live and boomy as compared to Severance Hall, which, in retrospect is fairly dead acoustically**. My seat was not in the best location, visually or acoustically, but it was serviceable.

I was not disappointed -- the concert was thoroughly enjoyable, but I felt like something was missing. There is something intangible, indescribable, a...je ne sais qouis that makes listening to the Cleveland Orchestra -- at Severance or Blossom completely different than what I listened to tonight. Near the end of the Bartok piece I realized that when I'm listening to TCO I feel like I'm listening to an integrated whole that envelops me in the music. Tonight, on the other hand, I felt detached and it almost seemed as if every section existed in it's own universe that while contributing to the whole ignored the constituent parts. It's hard for me to come up for a good description for what I felt.

There were a few moments, particularly in the Ravel and Bartok pieces where the reverberant nature of the hall was instantaneously distracting -- I'd hear a note from a flute or a horn and milliseconds later hear that same note from "behind" me.

It was interesting to watch Mr. Boulez conduct; of all of the conductors I've observed I think he was the most understated, rarely moving his hands more than a few inches, never moving on the podium, and every movement was fluid; I didn't notice a single sharp/aggressive gesture..

I think Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin was my favorite from the evening, particularly the first and fourth movements (Prelude and Rigaudon). Dalbavie was in attendance for the performance of his Flute Concerto which was not bad, though I didn't particularly take anything away from it.

I turns out that despite my giving the Metropolitan Opera a pass, I was still destined to hear opera while I was in New York City. While Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle will not ascend my favorite's list, The piece had several interesting moments and the performance benefited from several features that made it immensely more enjoyable:

• The use of an electronic display for surtitles, and that display was at a reasonable height above the orchestra (perhaps 15' above the stage), allowing both the orchestra and the titles to be in view at the the same time. One of my chief complaints with Opera Cleveland is that they position the title board at the top of the proscenium arch, making it impossible to both watch the action on stage and follow the story at the same time.
• A printed text and translation for the entire opera in both Hungarian and English. While I primarily used the surtitles, this booklet made it easier to gauge the progress of the work and review any dialog I missed.
• The singers were not amplified, and mixed well with the orchestra. I could easily "tune out" either group depending on my listening preference at any given moment.

Finally, I thought it was interesting how many times the words "Cleveland Orchestra" appeared in the program: The schedule insert for the 'Great American Orchestras I' series (February 5, 2011); Mr. Dalbavie's biography [page 33]; Mr. Boulez's biography [Page 38i]; Mr. Aimard's biography [Page 38j]; and Ms. DeYoung's biography [Page 38m]

Lincoln

*- I don't consider the two "pops" orchestras I've heard (Long Beach and Cleveland Pops) or student orchestras (the Cleveland Institute of Music) in the same orbit

New York: Day 4, Part 1: Moving Downtown

Today was a very lazy day for me... for some reason my ankles were making their discomfort known and that combined with the brutally cold temperatures (a high of 20 according to the newscast I'm viewing while I type this) generally discouraged me from doing much. But that's not to say I did nothing:

Changing Hotels. The three night stay I booked at the Waldorf was finished and it was time to move to my hotel for the last night of my stay: The Hilton Times Square. Thanks to an extremely accommodating desk staff, for a about 3 hours this morning I was technically checked in to two hotels simultaneously.

I have a total of three bags including my laptop. I decided to do two trips: The first trip I carried my laptop and overnight bag (now the swag bag) onto the 6 train, then the 42nd street shuttle to the Hilton. I took MTA back to the Waldorf but decided to hail a cab for my roll aboard (I didn't feel like throwing it over a turnstile and based on the headways I encountered on the first trip I didn't really want to waste any more of the morning).

I had watched other tourists try to hail a cab without much luck and was expecting some difficulty for my first time. Such was not the case. Literally, I got to the curb on Lexington, had my arm out for no more than 2 seconds before a cab was in front of me.

Based on what I've seen so far, I actually much prefer this property-- it's much more my style, the location is far more convenient (Both the Hilton and Waldorf are within about a 3 minute walk of a subway station... but Times Square/42nd has more lines and generally goes more of the places I want to go without needing to transfer). In addition there is a huge amount of contemporary art around the property... including a collection of Tom Otterness's very cute sculptures-with-a-story*

The service is also much more "we're being hospitable because we want to be hospitable" than "we're being hospitable, damn it, because you expect us to"

The Empire State Building. Tourist trap, pure an simple. At $20 it's overpriced and they try to get you to buy extras at every turn. Decent view, but I have pretty much the same view from my hotel room window. Add a security detail that's more aggressive than any airport I've transited** It's not something I ever need to do again.

Lunch. My violin teacher suggested -- actually the only suggestion I got -- eating at Veselka in Manhattan's East Village. Fantastic atmosphere, and amazingly crowded at 2pm. The place is a mix of Ukranian and American Diner; based on my aforementioned picky eating tendencies once I fought my way to an empty bar stool I stuck to the diner side of the menu with Mac & Cheese and a side of fries.

The Rest Of The Afternoon. I sat quietly and relaxed. Until the time came to head to Carnegie Hall, the subject of the next post.

More Photos over at Flickr

Lincoln

*- Mr. Otterness' work The Gates can be found at the Cleveland Public Library. A photo of one of the little people is the centerpiece of my living room's south wall. If I could afford one of the sculptures, I would love to have the real thing.
** - The buttons on my jeans set off the metal detector. Seriously. Then the gaurd made pull up my pant legs to double check.

New York: Day 3, Part 2: Next To Normal

So my original plan for this evening was to see a show then do the Empire State Building by night. It's just too cold and I'm just too tired to do that tonight... Anyway...

While browsing the TKTS board Next To Normal was the only show I had heard next to nothing about but the premise sounded interesting. In short, it's about a bipolar mother who sees her dead son, and a generally dysfunctional family.

The show received a nearly unanimous standing ovation (at least on the orchestra level), the first I've seen in any New York show [even Phantom only received a few scattered standees]. While enjoyable-with-a-message, the show seemed a bit uneven as far as energy, pacing, and volume go; given the content of the show I'm willing to write that off as intentional.

The program lacks any synopsis, list of musical numbers, or similar information (in fact, the lone hint that one is given about the structure of the production is There Will Be One 15 Minute Intermission) so while I can say I enjoyed most of the music, without having samples to listen to I can't tell you what specific pieces they were.

The casting was a bit suspicious: I could not believe that Gabe (Kyle Dean Massey) was young enough to be Dan's (J. Robert Spencer) son, although in Act II, I noticed a hint of gray hair which at least made it easier to tell who was who. Likewise, I sensed absolutely no chemistry between Natalie (Jennifer Damiano) and Henry (Adam Chanler-Berat).

Overall, though, well worth the evening.

Lincoln

New York: Day 3, Part 1: Ce n'est pas un blog.

So I looked at getting tickets for The Metropolitan Opera either tonight or tomorrow afternoon's matinee. I decided against it because... well... I have psychological issues that prevent me spending $375 on a single seat for a single event. (Not to mention that while I'd love to try out "Met Titles", I'm not that big of a foreign-language opera fan).

Anyway... the morning started with me trying to visit The High Line, a former elevated railway downtown that's been converted to park space. I've read about it and seen it on TV so I figured I'd check it out in person. It happens to be very easy to find but impossible to find access to, though with the firigid temperatures -- I lost feeling in my ears. I didn't know you had feeling in your ears. -- I wasn't exactly motivated to spend a lot of time outdoors. After buying the most god-awful looking cap-thingy to help keep my ears a little bit warmer, I took a somewhat circuitous route to

The TDF/TKTS booth at South St. Seaport, that involved going back uptown to Grand Central then downtown... largely so I could warm up a bit. Thanks to a wrong turn, I wound up at the World Trade Center site before finding the TKTS booth where I got a ticket for tonight's performance of Next To Normal... read more about that in Part 2. You know the whole ticket-handling-fee racket is getting out of control when your receipt actually lists a "Fee Fee" of $2.50...

That business taken care of I headed for The Museum of Modern Art. While I found relatively little that truly caught my eye at The Metropolitan Museum of Art yesterday, there was comparatively little that didn't catch my eye at MoMA, though I will admit that my fascination was directed more at the photos, lithios, and 3D objects than paintings.

Last but not least for Part 1 I wound up at The Guggenheim Museum. I knew that I was in for a museum unlike any other when immediately after (not-)paying I walked into a very passionate/sensual peice of performance art between a man and woman (fully clothed, however). The true suprise was yet to come.

You often hear about art "challenging" you or "engaging" you, but I've never come upon such a literal challenge. It turns out that today was the opening for Tino Seghal's This Progress, an artist and installation I had never heard of. Upon walking up the Gugenheim's famous ramp, I was met by an attractive young woman who invited me to observe a piece of performance art. She asked the meaning of progress, and while we walked up the ramp challenged me to define it and relate it, expand it. (This is precisely the kind of conversation that I'd love to have over dinner and why being single is slowly killing me). She then handed me off to a gentleman and the process repeated, more or less, as it did two or three more times until reaching the top of the ramp. (Seriously, everything outside of the conversations disappeared into a blur, I was simultaneously trying to carry on a conversation while trying to process what I was experiencing.

After arriving at the top of the ramp the last person and I parted ways and I was left to look at the traditional art on display, of which there is not much at the moment--what is on the walls is fantastic to look at, but there simply isn't much gallery space open at the moment. Mr. Seghal's "piece"? "installation"? "exhibit"? Made the visit very well worthwhile.

It can be, and has been, said that everyone experiences art in their own way... With this piece that could never be truer. A much more comprehensive writeup can be found at The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/magazine/17seghal-t.html

Lincoln
(It's funny to note that I had chosen the "Ce n'est pas un blog" title on my way back to the hotel and before I stumbled across this article in the New York Observer titled "Ceci n'est pas Performance Art"... I guess I wasn't the only one who had that reaction to interacting with the piece.)

Lincoln In New York: Day 2: Lincoln Does Lincoln Center

My morning didn't exactly get off to the best start when I looked out the hotel room window and saw plenty of snowflakes flying. I then proceeded to search the hotel for the Starbucks that is suposedly somewhere on premise (and that I have three free "breakfast" vouchers for) before giving up.

Transportation.
I then hopped on the 6 train at 51st & Lex -- conveniently adjacent to the hotel with no exact destination in mind. Of all of the various lines I rode today, the 6 train was certainly the most technologically advanced. Unlike BART (and as it turns out the 1, C, N, and S trains-- though none of those were anywhere near as bad as BART), PA announcements were clearly intelligible, though I kept expecting to hear "Pardner" after the "Please stand clear of the closing door" announcements -- sounded very much like a Disney ride.

I'm amazed at how incredibly efficient New York City Transit is... my longest wait for a train was maybe 5 minutes, and my 6/S/1 and 1/S/6 routings to and from Lincoln Center were painless, though it did take some elbowing to fit on. (I will say that both Gand Central and 42nd/Times Square could use some better signage regarding locating the S train).

So anyway I took the 6 train to City Hall, wandered around in the still-falling snow for all of about 5 minutes and found my way to the N train to 5th Av/59th St. From there I walked through Central Park, until I arrived at...

The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
For as gigantic a collection as they have, I was supprised by how relatively little art really caught my eye. I also found the layout a little confusing -- though this is not unique to The Met. One of the things I love about the "new" Cleveland Museum of Art is that it's fairly easy to make your way through galleries such that you see every gallery once without backtracking (for example, in a clockwise fashion).

The Atrium on the American Wing gave me a glimpse of what can be expected when (if?) the Cleveland Museum's renovation/expansion is complete... it seems like an exciting space.

I had a hotdog on the steps of the Met, and when finished continued walking North until I arrived at

The Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Design
Industrial Design (along with Human Factors) is one of the areas of art/design that I really dig. Unfortunately, most of the Museum is closed for renovation/expansion but the special exhibition [and the fact that they offer privileges for CMA members] made it worth the visit. The museum had a cool twist on the audio tour -- using iPod Touches loaded with video, slide shows, and interviews instead of the standard monotone stuff.

One of the designers featured in the exhibition is Milton Glaset. Mr. Glaset is a man who's work I've admired without ever knowing the man (among others the "I {heart} New York" design was his creation. In his interview he made some points that really resonated (The quote may not be exact, but it should be close enough):

If you like Mozart and I like Mozart, we already have something in common and are less likely to want to hill each other. Art is about keeping us from killing each other.

and, even more so,

A great thing about being in the arts is that the possibility for learning never disappears. You have to admit that you've never learned everything.

Another of the honorees featured in the exhibit was the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis which you may recall I visited just a few months ago.

Central Park
After leaving Cooper-Hewitt I walked to the north end of Central Park, hung a left, got to Central Park Left, and hopped on the C train headed downtown...somehow (don't push me for details) I would up on the 1 train and at

Lincoln Center (the first time).
I wandered around a bit, found some of the Juliard School buildings, and the theatre where the New York City Ballet was performing. Picked up my ticket from Will Call, then hopped back on the 1 train, and the short ride to Columbus Circle.

Lunch and Carnegie Hall
From Columbus Circle I made my way to Carnegie Hall where I purchased tickets for a the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Saturday Evening Performance and then on to Burger Joint, a well hidden, very casual, um, burger joint, in the lobby of Le Parker Meridian. After lunch I needed to be off my feet for a little while, so I came back to the hotel and got ready for

New York City Ballet's performance of Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty
At Lincoln Center. Took the 6 train from 51st/Lex to Grand Central, S from Grand Central to 42nd/times square, and 1 from Times Square to 66th/Lincoln Center. It really couldn't have been easier. Driving from my house to any of the theaters in Cleveland is more stressful and probably takes as long if not longer.

I was in the front row of the First Tier, just about 10' off center. I really don't think there were many seats with a better view. The theater was much more intimate than the seating chart made it appear and I was far enough back to see "everything" without being so far back as to not be able to see detail.

I've said it before and will say it again... I'm not qualified to comment on ballet. All I can say is that there was nothing that I thought distracted from an enjoyable experience. The dancing was well executed, the orchestra was a pleasure to listen to, etc., etc.

So then I did the 1 train to the S train to the 6 train and am back here at the hotel for the night. There are more pictures over at Flickr.

Tomorrow I'm tempted to try to get into the Met Opera to see their show, if for no other reason than to see how their surtitling system works... but I'm also tempted to try to see another show on Broadway. Ugh. Decisions, decisions. It will probably come down to if any of the shows TKTS has catch my fancy.

Lincoln

Lincoln In New York: Day 1: Phantom of the Opera

So the "work" part of this trip [if you can call two days of BSing, cocktails, and bowling work] was officially over at 3:45 this afternoon. By 5:30 I was in Manhattan and checked in to my room. At the Waldorf=Astoria.

Now the room itself isn't too much more spectacular than any given room at any other hotel; comparably it's certainly smaller than I'm used to but by no means claustrophobic. Although now that I'm typing this and have looked at some of the pictures I took, I'm realizing that the level of craftsmanship and detail is infinitely higher than I'm used to. Despite being in quite possibly the noisiest city in the world, the room is stunningly quiet -- I've not heard one bit of noise from the hallway and only the occasional horn honk outside.

After checking in and hanging my clothes [an ounce of prevention is worth 45 minutes of me trying to iron out a wrinkle in vain] I went for a little walk to get myself oriented. After correcting for three wrong turns and going solely from memory I made my way to the TKTS booth in Times Square.

I still had a really bad taste in my mouth from Playhouse Square's Chicago and I needed to cleanse my palette. A perfect cleansing is exactly what I got. While I still need to see Les Mis, I am now not the only musical theatre fan in America who has not seen Phantom of the Opera. A lot of people seem to get very excited about Phantom and I've never really gotten it.

I wasn't terribly familiar with the music but what I had heard I was kind of lukewarm to. It goes without saying that it was a completely different experience live and somewhere around the dramatic swell in Think of Me during the first scene I realized that this was going to be a great show. While not my favorite musical (Spring Awakening still holds that role, and for sentimental reasons Jersey Boys and The Who's Tommy are tied for second), Phantom was a solid and enjoyable show.

Where with Chicago most songs started tolerable but ended "painfully annoying", Phantom I enjoyed most songs from the beginning and those that I didn't immediately like I wound up liking to some degree as the song progressed. I did feel that the first act was much stronger than the second, but that is the case with most theater... and matching the first act would have been tough to pull off. Something about the music kept me wondering when I was going to hear Sondheim's Pretty Women from Sweeney Todd (in this video clip starting at about 6:20 if you don't know what I'm talking about). The music was very operatic and I was pleasantly surprised by how well the cast pulled it off.

Here's a box office tip for you: Any time a ticket seller tells you that a seat is "a little to the left" or "just off center" translate that to "you couldn't be any more to the left while still having a seat in the theater" -- and that was true of my seat, BB 11, second row, last occupied seat... here's my preshow view (BB 12 and 13 exist but it doesn't appear that 12 or 13 in any of the first several rows was sold)... it was actually a very good seat. Most of the action was either center or in that corner downstage right and there's very little where I felt like I might be missing something.

While I was essentially seated directly in front of a speaker and heard more amplified sound than natural sound after my recent experiences with poorly balanced sound (Chicago and Wicked to be precise) the audio was pleasantly unobtrusive.

I love when the band/orchestra plays out, and I watched the entire playout for Phantom from the edge of the pit. Not only did it sound fantastic it was a unique perspective: Being literally above the musicians allowed for a much better view of their playing and because the conductor's portion of the pit extends further into the house for the first time ever I could see the conductor's facial expressions and body language which adds a dynamic to the interaction between musician and conductor. (To digress: I wonder if the Cleveland Orchestra has ever thought of putting audience members behind the orchestra on the choir risers? I'm not sure you'd get the best sound, but it would be an immerseive experience!)

Ok, so it's time for me to go to bed so I can get up nice and early for tomorrow's adventures :)

For as hard as a time as I've given Playhouse Square recently the Jump Back Ball is coming up and I learned about a deal via 27 Dresses in Cleveland...I'm acutally more tempted than not to go this year but I'm not convinced it's for me.

Lincoln

Cleveland Orchestra Negotiations: An Audience Member's Perspective (Part 2)

I think the Orchestra got more [read: the only] local television attention during the period of, ahem, unrest than in the entirety of the 4 years I've lived in Cleveland -- and I got more emails from out-of-town friends and relatives (Hi, Indiana!) on the subject of the Orchestra than ever before as well. I noticed no such mention today, and found no mention on the orchestra's website.

It took a bit of quick Googling but it looks like an amicable resolution was reached... I say this not having the benefit of seeing the contract, and I understand that more than money was on the table -- I'm not sure what besides money was being negotiated, but:

It's a resolution that I'm somewhat shocked it took a not just the threat of, but an actual strike for both sides to agree to it. Instead of cut/restore/2.5% raise, it's freeze/freeze/2 & 3% raise... aside from not realizing any savings in the 1st year and 2.5% more in the 3rd year it seems pretty darn close to where things started.

Anyway, enough of that. The musicians are presumably back to playing, the Miami Residency is on (I think), I'm back to listening, and hopefully the economy in 3 years will be in such shape that arguing about money isn't in the cards.

I found out that the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is playing Carnegie Hall while I'm in New York (and TCO is in Miami). Would it be considered cheating on "My" orchestra if I were attend? ;)

Lincoln

NYC Trip Update & Props to the NYC MTA

So... I still have no firm plans for my time in NYC, though I have the hotel figured out for three of four nights: I'm using HHonors points for the Waldorf=Astoria (since it was only like 30,000 points more than the Hampton Inn) -- and I haven't decided what I'm doing for night #4. Perhaps that will also be at the Waldorf.

Suggestions for events, places, food, ... are still welcome.

Meanwhile, I have to give props to the NYC MTA. I wound up on their website trying to figure out how to make my way around the city. I found most of the info I wanted, but still had a "Stupid Tourist Question". I emailed the MTA. I got a response back pretty quickly, that not only answered my question, but invited me to contact the author if I had any additional questions or if maps would be helpful.

While it's generally against my nature to refer to maps while exploring a city, given the sheer density of NY I figured that it could be a helpful resource.

In my mailbox today was one of the most amazing collections of transit resources I've ever received: Bus maps, subway maps, commuter rail maps, Art en Route information, postcards, fare information... A veritable wonderland of resources for navigating the city and ways to stop and smell the roses along the way (To give you an idea: The envelope overflowed my mailbox).

I am most appreciative of the gentleman who forwarded the information; I guess it's easy to view an organization of the size and scope of the MTA as faceless... I no longer have that view.

Lincoln