Friday Five- Volume 5

This week's Friday Five is:
Five Cool Things I've Done in the Last Two Weeks

1. Meeting Pat Benatar- 80s rock superstar Pat Benatar signed copies of her autobiography, Between a Heart and a Rock Place, at the Fifth Ave. Barnes & Noble. No photos were allowed, darn it, but it was so cool to meet her. She is very down-to-earth, and her book is fantastic. I love her music, and have lots of her songs on my Ipod. And she used to eat at our favorite neighborhood diner, Green Kitchen!

2. Meeting the cast of Broadway's Lend Me a Tenor- The cast did a Q&A at Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle, and I learned that while watching a farce is very funny, talking about it, not necessarily so. The show is very funny, and it was pretty cool to meet Tony Shaloub (TV's Monk, my mother-in-law's favorite), his wife actress Brooke Adams, Justin Bartha (who is terrific in this show), Jay Klaitz and the incomparable Jan Maxwell, who was nominated for a Tony for her role. If you get the chance to see this show before it closes on August 15th, do so. You will laugh your self silly.

3. Meeting author Carolyn Parkhurst- Parkhurst wrote the devastatingly sad Dogs of Babel, which still haunts me, as well as Lost and Found, which I listened to (narrated by the brilliant Blair Brown) on my Ipod when I used to walk my dog Malcolm.  Her new book is The Nobodies Album, which is another incredible, unique novel. She is not one of those authors who writes a book a year, but the wait for her novels is so worth it. I was disappointed that there weren't more people at the reading, she is one of the best authors working today.

4. Meeting the cast of Broadway's Million Dollar Quartet-  The cast of this show performed three songs from the cast recording at Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle. The show is about Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis singing together at Sun Studios in Memphis. They rocked out the place, singing "Blue Suede Shoes" gospel song "Down by the Riverside" and "Great Balls of Fire".  The performers look so young, and Tony winner Levi Kreis, (Jerry Lee Lewis) looks so much like Harry Connick Jr. they could be brothers. And Lance Guest (Johnny Cash) when not in costume, reminded me of Brad Garrett from Everybody Loves Raymond. 

5. Meeting the cast of Broadway's Promises, Promises- Sean Hayes is the funniest man on the planet. Everything that comes out of his mouth is hilarious, and he moderated a Q&A with the cast that was wonderful. Kristin Chenoweth is lovely and so sweet, she spoke so kindly to all of the fans who showed up (and there were over 300 of them- the crowd rivaled the one who came for Liza Minnelli's CD signing last year). Waiting in line over 2 1/2 hours was worth it see this fun-filled event.