Friday 5ive- June 9, 2023

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

1) The number one topic this week was the air quality on Wednesday. I was at work at the Book Cellar and we have windows that look out into a garden. We can see a little bit of the sky and we noticed that it was turning odd colors during the course of the afternoon, going from a cloudy grey to almost a bright orange. The NYPL closed all their branches at 3:30 and we headed home to what felt like being around a campfire, with that smoky odor (but alas, no smores). All is well now, our air quality index on Friday was 33.

Photo taken at 2:30pm on Wednesday by NBC News NY

2) Sunday I walked over to Times Square to see the Broaway musical Kimberly Akimbo. On my walk over, I got caught up in the Israel Day Parade and it took me a lot longer to get where I needed to be. The show was fantastic, one of the best I've ever seen. It's nominated for 8 Tony Awards on Sunday, and I hope it wins them all. Victoria Clark is a veteran Broadway performer and Tony nominated for her role as Kimberly, a 16 year-old girl who has a disease that ages her. Her body is 72 years old, but her mind is sixteen. Kimberly is befriended by Seth, who works at the local ice skating rink. Seth is played brilliantly by Justin Cooley, nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, in his Broadway debut. Kimberly has to deal with being an outcast in school and with her dysfunctional family. Her father is an alcoholic who forgets to pick her up from the rink, and her mother is hugely pregnant- and a narcissist. Kimberly has to take care of them. Her Aunt Debra is played by the hilarious Bonnie Mulligan (nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Musical) who steals the show with her physicality and impeccable comedic timing. Debra has spent time in prison, and comes back to convince Kimberly's high school friends to help her with her latest scam. The show is hilarious and heartfelt, you'll laugh and tear up. This is the one show to see if you are coming to New York. 

3)  I stopped in to visit the new McNally Jackson bookstore in Rockfeller Center on Sunday. All I can say is that it is a stunning bookstore! There are two levels, and the store is so wonderfully curated. Their Children's section is huge, with separate areas for Picture Books, Chapter Books and Young Adult, filled with thousands of books. The Fiction section on the top floor is has so many sub-genres- American Literature, British Literature, Russian Literature- even Oceanic Literature and Canadian Literature have their own section. I did think it was humorous to see True Crime next to Romance. I was very impressed and will returning when I can spend more time browsing.

 

4)  On my walk back home, I ran into a large crowd in Times Square calling for Russia to free Alexi Navalny, currently imprisoned in Siberia for daring to ask for democracy. 

5) I watched the last two episodes of Ted Lasso and all I can say is bravo. It was a lovely way to say goodbye to our friends in Richmond, and they tied up most of the storylines very well. I liked Nate's arc, and the scene where Coach Beard goes to visit Nate was so touching, I cried. Sam, the Nigerian player, has a great arc too. Roy and Jamie's bromance was fun to watch, and seeing all these characters grow as people was enjoyable. I also like how they left the door open for a spinoff, I think the fans would be on board for that.  And shout-out for the Little Free Library in front of the Lasso house- nice touch! 

The LIttle Free Library!

I hope you all had a safe, healthy week. Don't forget Father's Day is next Sunday! Until then.

Friday 5ive- April 1, 2023

April Fools! Event though it's Saturday, welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly-ish post featuring five things that caught my eye this week.

1)  I went to see MJ: The Musical on Broadway this week. Myles Frost, who plays Michael Jackson, won the Tony last year for his portrayal, and this is his last week in the show so I wanted to him. The show revolves around Michael Jackson rehearsing for his Dangerous tour, and we see him and the dancers and singers working to make the show perfect. Frost is magnetic in the role, you literally can't take your eyes off him when he is on stage. He sounds and moves just like Jackson and it appeared that audience members felt like they were seeing the actual Michael Jackson on stage. There were flashbacks to seminal moments in Jackson's career, from his beginnings with the Jackson 5 to his Thriller days, and all of the Michael Jackson hits are here. If you like jukebox musicals like Jersey Boys and A Beauiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical, you'll like this one too.

2)  I visited the Museum of Broadway in Times Square this week before MJ, and it is so wonderfully done. They start with the beginnings of Broadway through each era of shows and iconic shows like Hair, A Chorus Line, Wicked have displays with costumes, sets and cast photos. At the end they have a huge section dedicated to the behind-the-scenes jobs- set designers, stage managers, public relations and marketing people. My only criticism is that the font for the captions on the photos is so small you have to be right on top of the photos to even read them. I will be returning when I can spend more time there, it is a must-see for every Broadway fan.

Original Ziegfeld Follies costumes found in a trunk

Doc's Drug Store from West Side Story

Costumes from Hair

Auburnian Thommie Walsh from A Chorus Line

Broadway Cares AIDS Quilt

The set from The Producers

3) While doing a little spring cleaning I found a box with cards from my sons, and this one from my older son JD made me laugh because it is ironic, because we have found out there is something scarier. It's from well before 2016 (maybe 2012 or so?).

Not so funny now, is it?

4)  Ted Lasso is back for its third and supposedly final season on Apple TV+. The first three episodes are available and they haven't lost a step. I laughed so hard in episode three when Ted is trying to slide out from behind Richmond's newest player international star Zava during their locker room pep talk (Jason Sudekis is a comedic genius). The lines come fast and furious, you really have to pay attention. On a serious note, Ted is dealing with his worsening panic attacks, and I like how the show has brought attention to that. This is appointment television on Fridays. 

5)  I read a memoir and an upcoming novel from one of my go-to authors this week. Alisha Fernandez Miranda's memoir My What If Year shares her experiences going from CEO of a consulting company to interning in three different jobs in one year. Alisha is the daughters of immigrants, the kind of driven, hardworking woman who graduated from Harvard University and the London School of Economics and always followed the rules to succeed. When she found herself yearning for something more, she decided to try her hand at learning three different careers that always interested her. She left her husband and two young daughters in London and headed to New York City to intern for two different Broadway productions- Flying Over Sunset and a revival of Assassins- in the early months of 2020. Just as things were proceeding in rehearsals and production and Alisha was enjoying her internship, COVID hit and Broadway shut down. She headed back home to London and moved onto her next internship with an art dealer, where she was offered a permanent position. She finished her What If Year at a resort in Scotland near her home. This one proved to be the most arduous one yet; working as a waitress was physically exhausting for the 40 year-old. I enjoyed that section the most.  The premise was so interesting, although her timing of doing all this during COVID was unfortunate. She does acknowledge how lucky she was to have great connections that allowed her the opportunities that most don't have. I found my copy in the gift shop at the Museum of Broadway, the last signed copy they had. If you like memoirs (and Broadway!), this is a must-read. 

One of my all-time favorite authors, Alice McDermott, has a new novel publishing in November titled Absolution. This one has a different setting than most of her New York based books. The setting is Saigon in the early 1960s. Tricia is a young newlywed whose husband is a naval engineer stationed in Vietnam. When she meets Charlene, another American wife, she finds herself drawn into Charlene's charitable plans to help the Vietnamese people, going against her husband's wishes. McDermott brings us into a time and place we don't know much about as seen through these women's eyes, and her writing is exquisite. It reminded me of Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible , a book that resides on my Favorites Shelf. I already preordered a physical copy for November, I'm going to make an early call that it will be one of my best reads of 2023. 

I think spring is here (right?) Stay safe and healthy all.

Diane

Friday 5ive- August 27, 2021

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post featuring five things that caught my eye this week. The Friday 5ive took last week for a mini-vacation.

1)  Can you believe August is almost over? Why does summer go by so fast? I love summer, but my youngest sister loves autumn and can't wait for it to begin so she can have her pumpkin spice latte. Our brother made her a board for her "Coffee Corner" at her house. I'm always impressed by anyone with artistic skill (as I lack it). 

2) We traveled to Boston last weekend to visit our youngest son. He took us to his golf club, Granite Hills Links in Quincy, for lunch and the view there is incredible. You can golf while overlooking the skyline of Boston as seen in this photo. Apparently the club is one of the most popular wedding venues in Massachusetts and there was a wedding and a bridal shower there on the day we visited.

3) While the guys golfed, the gals spent the day at Nantasket Beach in Hull, and while walking the beach we came across a large group of young children talking surfing lessons. It was fun to watch them get up on their boards.  

4) Speaking of different seasons, I watched the Christmas episode of Ted Lasso on Apple TV+ and it was so delightful. If it didn't put a smile on your face, you are truly a Grinch. I particularly enjoyed the homage to my favorite Christmas movie, Love, Actually. Whenever I am feeling down or losing faith in humanity, I will play this episode. 

5) As I spent time in airports and on planes, I was able to read uninterrupted.  First up was Kristin van Ogtrop's memoir Did I Say That Out Loud-Midlife Indignities and How to Survive Them. Ogtrop, was the former editor of Real Simple magazine, and her essays on such things as her climb up the corporate ladder from joy to agony as magazines folded up publication, to the time she nearly died from accidentally swallowing a plastic fork tine, to the vacation home her family bought with her sister's family will have you laughing and crying. It makes a good pairing with Sara Arnell's midlife crisis book from a few weeks ago, There Will Be Lobster. While I've been reading books about midlife crisis, I don't think I'm in one. (right?) 

Laura Dave's suspense novel, The Last Thing He Told Me, tops the bestseller list and I can see why. When Hannah receives a note from Owen, her husband of one year, reading "Protect her", she is totally unprepared for what is ahead of her. Her husband has disappeared after the company he works for is raided by the SEC and FBI and the head of the company is arrested. What happens next as Hannah attempts to keep her 16 year-old stepdaughter safe and unravel Owen's true identity kept me frantically turning the pages. Dave has written a few other books, but not suspense novels like this. I think she has found her genre and this is scheduled to be a limited series on Apple TV+ with Julia Roberts. 

I also read a psychological thriller, Where I Left Her, by Amber Garza, about a parent's worst nightmare. Whitney drops off her 16 year-old daughter Amelia at a sleepover with her new friend Lauren. When Whitney returns to pick Amelia up the next day, an elderly woman answers the door and says that no one named Lauren lives there, Whitney agonizes over what happened to her daughter. Like The Last Thing He Told Me, this book keeps you turning the pages, and the ending twist is a shocker. My full review is here. 

We seem to be going backwards with COVID, so please wear a mask, wash your hands, stay socially distant and get a vaccine. It's the best way to keep each other, especially young children who can't get a vaccine yet, safe.