Stuff I Did Over the Weekend: Dim sum and drag queens and midtown, oh my!

Waiting (im)patiently for Hedwig

Ahh, New York. I don't visit as often as I should. I'm not super romantic about the city and it's history and culture and this and that. Still, I always have such a good time when I visit.

This visit in particular was pretty epic. Not only did we get to have our first NYC dim sum experience and visit friends that we don't get to see so often, but I saw my first Broadway musical. Starring Neil Patrick Harris. In drag. So epic.

Anyway, let me recount for you the stuff I did over the weekend.


- before getting to leave for New York, I wrote my entry for the 24-Hour Short Story Contest. It would have been nice to actually use the whole twenty four hours to edit it, but at only 900 words, I think I cranked out a decent little piece. We shall see how the judges feel in roughly six weeks.



Green smoothie + laptop = getting stuff done

- after a long day at work, two hours of trying to get showered, eat a measly dinner, write a short story and stop at my parent's house, we were on our way to New York! The good thing about driving into the city later than you want to is that there was no traffic.

Carrying precious cargo to Justin and Ava; some delicious treat from Talluto's Italian Market

- luckily, when we arrived at Justin and Ava's Washington Heights apartment, they treated us to some amazing Caribbean spiced rotisserie chicken and mashed potatoes from a local restaurant. I was too busy devouring said food to remember to take a picture of it, but I did get this photo of someone else's take-out... avocado?




Your guess is as good as mine

- after our lovely dinner and relaxing conversation, Justin played us sweet lullabies on the banjo

He was a bluegrass player in another lifetime, I'm sure

- once it was time for bed, Tom and I stayed up just a little longer, regaling each other with tales from Justin's Izakaya cookbook (Japanese tapas, sort of). We had to put it away because the delicious pictures were making us hungry.

Just some light bedtime reading

- the next day we met with Ric and Mirabai, this time on their turf! Actually, we met them in Chinatown for dim sum at Jing Fong, a traditional Chinese dim sum hall that promises delicious food stuff and... long waits. We waited over forty minutes and lost Ava in the process as she had to get to a reading. Le sigh.

Part of the line waiting for Jing Fong

And more of the line...

Luckily, we got Ava a little "wife cake" to hold her over

- FINALLY, we were called to take our place in the massive dining hall upstairs. Seriously, this place was HUGE. It makes you wonder how there could possibly be such a long line when the room the meal is served in has to hold upwards of 200 people.

For those who don't know the foodgasmness that is dim sum, it consists of small plates of food, ranging from a wide array of dumplings, to interestingly pickled and steamed vegetables and jello-y dessert things, to other completely unrecognizable food (to me, anyway). The novelty of dim sum at a place like Jing Fong is the abundance of carts being wheeled around, delivering the food to you. A little lady comes up with carts teeming with steamer baskets and plates of food and starts shoving them under your nose until you can't resist the delicious smells and sights any more and just start taking everything she offers you. Well, that's what we did any way. It was excessive and heavenly.


So hungry. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into



Escalator to heaven



Only just the beginning

Slowing down, but we made a valiant effort on all the food

 

 

 

- After brunch it was time to wander tourist-style around Times Square while we waited for our Broadway debut. Also, time for a photo shoot in my very Hedwig appropriate outfit.

 

Trying to look cool and uninterested. Failing.

Obligatory Times Square picture



Finally!

Just hanging out on the stoop like a real New Yorker



 - once in line, it was clear that I was the only one in the theater who took the time to ask myself WWHW? What Would Hedwig Wear? Naturally, I looked fabulous and I know NPH would have been proud, but I did receive some interesting looks from the more "conservatively" dressed folks in the audience. Maybe it would have gone over better at the night show.

My souvenir: The Shroud of Hedwig

Obligatory bathroom selfie

Looking smug and fabulous

 - the show was completely awe-inspiring. Essentially a one man (woman) act, Neil Patrick Harris as Hedwig regales us with tales of him growing up as a boy in East Berlin, being courted by an older American military sergeant, suffering a botched sex change surgery, being left again and again by the men she loves and touring with her band named for the remnants of her past, The Angry Inch. It was funny, entertaining and even a little heart wrenching. What more could you ask for? There was even a sing along! Of course, I wasn't allowed to take pictures, but I snuck one anyway.

The stage, not that you can tell anything from this picture

The amazing Hedwig! (picture not taken by me)

 

 

- to top off an amazing show, our friend Justin just happened to be working the sound mixing that day and gave us a backstage tour! We got to go on the stage that NPH had just finished spitting and grinding on, walk around where they get ready and where Justin works, making sure all the sound for the show is perfect (an important job, I would think, for a musical) and getting to stand somewhat next to NPH's dressing room. We even saw a couple of the "band" members! Naturally instead of telling them what a fabulous job they did on stage, Tom and I just grinned in their direction, completely mute by the awe of seeing Broadway actors right next to us. They smiled back at us, though, so I will take that.

 

We also got to exit through the stage door, where fans were gathered in hopes of getting an autograph or picture with the actors. I regret now not bursting through the doors with a flourish and taking a bow, but even so someone in the crowd applauded and shouted to us "I love your work!" For my Broadway debut, I would call it a success.

 



Justin's Office

 - although we would have loved to stay in New York for longer than a single day, it was, alas, time to head home. Luckily, we didn't hit any bad traffic and got home just in time to collapse, exhausted but fulfilled, in bed and start this new week fresh. New York with friends, dim sum and Broadway? This is the stuff Sundays are made for.

Driving home music in honor of Justin's new favorite musical



Leaving NY via the George Washington bridge



 

 

 

Today's To-Do List is short. Just hanging out, writing, researching writing and maybe sending out a resume or two.

 

Your to-do list item this week, tell me about your favorite Broadway (or off-Broadway) show! Although I don't see how anything could compare to the fabulousness of Hedwig, I just might be a convert to the theater crowd. So, what should be on my list of must-sees?

 

 

This might make the list...

Until next time, strange rock n' rollers, just know you're doing alright!