Too Busy For Love - Angel in America

I'd love to have gone to that Mardi Gras thing in Sydney, Australia with you on that gay cruise and find loving on the high seas, but I'm too busy visiting New York!

I flew in Thursday, just in time to set my stuff down, rush to dinner with Muh DAB, Richard, at Junior's

Then, rush out and find my seat at ANGELS IN AMERICA PART 2

'Wait,' one might be thinking, 'you're just gonna walk into part 2 willy nilly?'  Well, here's the thing, one time when I was too busy going to Fathom events and not finding love, I saw this very same production of ANGELS IN AMERICA PART 1 on the big screen.  I missed the second part because the screening date landing on my work meeting night.  So when I went to find a half price ticket to a show at TKTS, I saw this up there and thought, 'I've seen part one, and I've been flying all day, so I'll probably end up nodding off here & there during act 1 and I know the show, so I won't be lost when I'm actually fully awake...' So this show won.

I had seen Andrew Garfield and Nathan "ick, gross" Lane in Part 1, but I was excited to see that Lee Pace was new to the cast as Joseph, who was played by Russel Tovy in the part 1 I saw.  It wasn't until after the show that I got upset when I realized that I missed Russel Tovy's nude scene!  No offense Lee, but cripes! Russel Tovy neked!!

After the show I headed to Times Square to see the lights and such...

...and to see if there were any cuties out. There were...

Friday, I hopped out of bed and onto a bus to get across town to lunch with my friend Kenneth,  of Kenneth in the 212.  We caught up over a tasty meal at Westville, then he went to work and I went back to my quarters to cry.

I cried because all of a sudden there was sleet and ice and coldy stuffs falling out of the sky while blustery winds blustered!

So I stayed in, until it was time for my next show

I braved the blasting cold winds to get to the theatre to see Edward Albee's THREE TALL WOMEN

I knew of the show, but didn't know what it was about and let me tell you, it's about Glenda Jackson turning in a brava performance of an old lady at the end of her life- she's amazing!  Laurie Metcalf was her great self and Allison Pill kept up with the grand dames.

Then it was home again to cuddle up.

Saturday I kind of overslept and didn't get out to do anything except eat some two day old sushi I had bought when I got here, intending to eat sooner... I rushed over to the theatre district to eat my sushi, watch the Naked Cowboy strum for tips

And checked for cuties in Times Square, (of which there were some)

  before my Gay Duty matinee of HELLO, DOLLY starring Bernadette Peters.

Let me tell you, I'm not the hugest fan of Ms. Peters since I felt that she practically ruined the last revival of FOLLIES as a Sally Durant who played as crazy the moment she stepped on stage.  I came to see Dolly because I've never seen the stage version, I feel it's a Gay Duty kind of thing and I refused pay $300 to see Bette Midler (Is my Gay card revoked?).  Theatre is for the people and should be priced as such!!!

Anyhow, I was pleased when my program told me that Victor Garber was in the show.  Him, I like.

It was a delightful show and I didn't mind Bernadette here, too much, but this fell more into her cutesy wheelhouse than her last couple of Sondheim outings.  This show is old fashioned in a great sense... you know, at first when the house light went down and the orchestra started playing and nothing happened on stage, I was a tad confused.  Then I thought "Overture, dummy!"  I'd almost forgotten about the existence of overtures before a show!

I didn't get a chance to fret about how I would keep myself amused between shows because I met up with Mike Dreyden to get some face time after years of meeting, sending a message here & there on the social medias. We had a nice catch up session and discussed maybe a chance of me doing something in season 2 of his webseries LAST CALL.

Right after we concluded our meeting, I rushed over to Sardi's and didn't dine alone THIS time.  Remember that other time, HERE? This time around, it happens that my friend, Brian, is in town for business and to see a show or two and we had the same dinner hour open!  We met at Sardi's and caught up and enjoyed out meals. Before we knew it, it was time to head off to our respective shows.

He was off to HELLO, DOLLY and I was off to CAROUSEL

Here was another classic I had never seen, so there I was.  To be honest, Jesse Mueller got my butt in that seat.  I've loved her since she played Carol King in BEAUTIFUL.  This show is also old fashioned in a great way and the dancing!  Great dancers in the show and great cast... those voices!  I'm not sure I got the story, or why things happen the way they do and why there's this useless angel on stage for all of Billy's scenes... anyway, it's a great production and I recognized more songs than I thought I would.

Then I headed home via Times Square to see if there were any cuties out. There were...

Then I tried to figure out why the Empire State Building is gay on my way home.

Next up is brunch with more friends, a matinee of LOBBY HERO starring Chris Evans and Michael Cera, then a rush to JFK to hop a plane for LA and missing the Oscars.

I'm sure I would have loved making out with that drunk Aussie in the pink speedo and unicorn head mask, but I'm just too busy!  But, thank you!

Gay of A Certain Age - A Gay Old Time

My time in Palm Springs has been a fabulous mix of relaxation, activity and gayness!  

One of my favorite things to do is go to Wang's for dinner with the fellas, then off to the Spurline for drinks and videos!

This bar is great because they play showtunes & videos all the time!  The videos featured are old & new and everyone seems to enjoy them whether they know the songs or not.  You can walk in and have INTO THE WOODS on the screen and have HELLO, DOLLY bid you farewell as you head back to the aparment of the showtune loving lover who has seduced you during XANADU. 

That Dolly Levi, ever the match maker!

But, where else can you go that the entire bar grabs napkins and literally waves "Bye Bye, Birdie"?

It's always a great night, because I find that, as a Gay of A Certain Age, some of the uniquely gay experiences are fading away.  Gay bars are more inclusive now and you have party girls in there, followed by the straight guys who realize there's less competition at the gay bars and the music is better.  So, because everyone likes to dance, it's easy to go the gay bar.  Showtunes have not seemed to have caught on in the party girl world, nor with the straight guys who follow them to gay bars.  This place is a little haven where a gay can enjoy bonding with everyone else singing OKLAHOMA!  It's also refreshing to see gays of every age there, appreciating the old stuff, or learning about it, along with the newer things.  It is a unique experience that still feels uniquely gay.  I like that.  I cherish this little bar in Palm Springs because the L.A. gays can't seem to support even one night dedicated to showtunes, so it's on these sparse visits to the desert that I can truly enjoy myself.  I even stay at the bar when my group goes to the dance club across the street.  Maybe, this is why I'm single, too, but I like this reason.  I'll take SWEENY TODD over Justin Bieber any day!!