The Friday 5ive- July 10, 2020

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post about five things that caught my attention this week.

1)  Saturday was the 4th of July and usually we can see the Macy’s Fireworks on the East River from our balcony. This year, Macy’s did five smaller fireworks displays across the five boroughs, culminating with fireworks from the top of the Empire State Building. We watched it on TV, and they did a great job editing it together. We saw some fireworks from our weekend retreat just outside the city, and we had the last of our Columbia Restaurant sangria in our America pitcher.

2)  To celebrate the 4th weekend, we watched Hamilton the Musical on Disney+. I was lucky enough to see the original cast on Broadway and they did such an amazing job filming it. You got a lot more out of it watching it on the screen. I loved it.

3)  I finally finished the latest season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime. Midge teaching Susie how to swim in the Fontainebleau pool was so hilarious! We stayed at the Fontainebleau a few years ago and it was fun to see how they made it look like 1960 again. 

4) I read New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey’s book She Said, about their investigative reporting on the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment case, and it is phenomenal. Author Adriana Trigiani hosted a Facebook Live with the two reporters this week, and if you read the book, this is a perfect accompaniment. And if you haven’t read the book, read it and then watch. It’s imperative to read about the brave women who came forward at great risk to themselves.

5)  In addition to reading She Said, I also read Sarah M. Bloom’s The Yellow House, her memoir about growing up one of 12 children in New Orleans. It’s the story of her and her family as seen through the lens of their small shotgun house, and it is so moving. If you want to read more black voices, this is a good one to add to your list, and it deservedly won the 2019 National Book Award for Nonfiction.

If you are a fan of Netflix’s The Crown, Brynn Turnbull’s debut novel The Woman Before Wallis is for you. It tells the fictional story of a real woman, Thelma Morgan, who became entangled with two scandals in the 1930s. Morgan was the mistress of Edward, the Prince of Wales and next in line to become King of England, before he married Wallis Simpson and abdicated the throne. She was also the twin sister of Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, mother to Gloria Vanderbilt and who fought a very public custody battle for little Gloria. My full review publishes Tuesday. (Spoiler alert- I really liked it.)

I hope you all stay safe and dry- we’re getting some much needed rain this weekend, but do we really need a tropical storm on top of everything else? #Thanks2020

Friday Five- March 29,2019

Welcome to the Friday Five, where I talk about five things that caught my attention this week.

1) First up on the list, I like to listen to podcasts when I do my four mile beach walk when in Longboat Key. An NPR This American Life podcast from 2010 titled Petty Tyrant was riveting. It tells the story of the head of maintenance for the Schnectady, NY school district who terrorized the people who worked for him and how he got away with it for so long. It's a crazy story and you can find it here.

2) I volunteer at the Book Cellar, a used bookstore located in the basement of the Webster Library branch of the New York Public Library. (Our proceeds benefit branch libraries of the NYPL.) All of the items we sell are donated, and sometimes we find something really great. In one of our recent donations, we found a copy of Hamilton, the Revolution, a book about the phenomonal Broadway production. What made this so special is that is is signed by Liin-Manuel Miranda. A few weeks ago we discovered a signed copy of George W. Bush's book Portraits of Courage. We're on a roll!

3) I went to see a revival of Lanford Wilson's play Burn/This on Broadway. Keri Russell (whom I loved in TV's The Americans) and Brandon Uranowitz (whom I saw in An American In Paris and Falsettos on Broadway- he was wonderful in both) play NYC roommates whose third roommate died in a boating accident. When the dead man's larger-than-life brother barrels his way into their apartment, he causes problems when he won't go away. Adam Driver (nominated for an Academy Award this year for Blackk Klansman) plays the brother and he will probably get a Tony nomination. He was astounding, playing all shades of a very complex character.  It's only on Broadway through July, you can find more info here.  

4) Season two of Good Girls (Monday at 10pm on NBC) is so addictive. Christina Hendricks (Mad Men), Mae Whitman (Parenthood) and Retta (Parks & Recreation) play three Detroit suburban women who rob a grocery store out of desperation, only to find that the store was laundering money for a group of thugs. They get themselves in deep in season one, and in season two each episode just gets more and more tense. My stomach is in knots (in a good way!) the entire time I watch it. Retta plays a mom who used the money to pay for her young daughter's kidney transplant and she just breaks my heart as she struggles with the morality of her actions. If you liked Breaking Bad, give this one a try here. 

5) I read two wonderful books this week- Elinor Lipman's Good Riddance is about a young woman who throws her mother's yearbook away in the recycling bin and what happens when her neighbor picks it up and creates a podcast out of it. It's funny and clever and pure Lipman. 

I also read Helen Ellis' book of essays Southern Lady Code, about her adventures living in NYC (in my neighborhood). Helen is from Alabama, and she recounts the words of wisdom her mother gives her about things a southern lady says and does. I loved Helen's last book, a short story collection titled American Housewife that is demented and delightful, and Southern Lady Code lives up to that one in laughter. (Full reviews on both to follow.) 

What did you do this week? Let me know in comments.

Book Report- Books Make Great Broadway Shows and Movies

Many of the movies nominated for Oscars this year have their roots in books, including a few of my favorites, Colm Toibin's Brooklyn and Emma Donoghue's Room. I discussed this in my March Book Report column in last week's Citizen. Click the link below to read it.

http://auburnpub.com/lifestyles/la-rue-the-revenant-hamilton-and-other-awards-season-darlings/article_b97f731f-8c3a-51f4-97f6-ef59ec08ba42.html

On Broadway- Hamilton

The hottest ticket in entertainment is Broadway's Hamilton. Created by writer/director/composer/actor/genius (yes, he won a McArthur Genius Grant so he is an actual genius) Lin-Manuel Miranda, who won a Tony for Best Musical for his In the Heights, it is the most creative, amazing piece of theater I've ever seen.

Miranda read historian Ron Chernow's biography Hamilton while on vacation and thought that it would make a great hip-hop Broadway musical. Some people may have thought he had sunstroke, but his creative mind set to work and the result is a brilliant show that is sure to sweep this year's Tony awards. and go down in history as a game-changer in theater.

Miranda brings to vivid life the historical people most of us barely know much about at the time of the American Revolution. Alexander Hamilton was an intelligent, ambitious young orphan from the Caribbean island of Nevis when he came to America.

He graduated from King's College in New York and became a lawyer. But he was passionate about the coming revolution and after writing many pamphlets and tracts encouraging revolution, he became General George Washington's right-hand man and eventual first Secretary of the Treasury.

In addition to his many accomplishments, we see Hamilton's personal life. He married Eliza Schuyler, the daughter of a wealthy, prominent man, and he had a close relationship with her sister Angelica.

The story is narrated by his frenemy Aaron Burr, whom we know eventually killed Hamilton in a duel.

The cast is amazing, from Miranda as Hamilton to Leslie Odom Jr. as Burr. (He has a stunning voice.) Angelica is portrayed by a luminescent Renee Elise Goldsberry, who captures the stage whenever she is on it. Phillipa Soo stands out as Hamilton's loyal wife Eliza.

Christopher Jackson plays George Washington as we know him- a large presence and a strong leader who depended on Hamilton and at the same time called him out when Hamilton needed it. Daveed Diggs is fantastic as both LaFayette and has a memorable turn as a Thomas Jefferson who is not as stuffy here as history books make him out to be.

Jonathan Groff should order his tux now for the Tonys as his performance as a petulant King George II brought down the house in each of his four short scenes. He is a shoo-in for Best Supporting Actor and is sure to be up against many of his co-stars.

I'd call Hamilton a hip-hop opera, as it feels like it could be at home at the Met. The subject matter is operatic, and this may well be the future of opera. The show is mostly sung, and the lyrics, using phrases we remember from history class, are ingenious. The performers in this show get quite a vocal workout. (Owning the soundtrack is a must so you can truly appreciate the words. Oh, those words.)

The choreography, costumes and staging perfectly complement this groundbreaking show. Tickets are extremely hard to come by (they are putting a new set of tickets on sale next week for November 2016- January 2017) but I cannot tell you much I loved this show. I loved history class in high school, and Miranda and company bring it to new, exciting, accessible life in Hamilton. If you see only one show on Broadway, this is the one to see.

The website for Hamilton is here.
For more Hamilton fun, check out #Ham4Ham videos posted on YouTube.