Archive for August 29th, 2007
Random Things That Only Happen In NY
I went to see Les Miserables for the second time this year. I’m not sure if I wrote about it the first time but it rocketed to the top of the “Favorite Broadway Show” list, kicking Rent out of the top slot. So, when Ms L’s aunt and uncle came into the city for their yearly US Open jaunt, we decided to take them to Les Mis.
The post isn’t so much about Les Mis, although I will say that the show takes on a whole new meaning when you don’t particularly hate the actress portraying Fantine and, thus, aren’t rooting for her to hurry up and die. It’s more about the events afterward.
Ms L’s aunt & uncle are older folks from Western New York. I think they’re in their late 50s/early 60s but I won’t swear to it. They’re also creatures of habit. They stay at the same hotel every year and, as I’m discovering, like going to mostly the same restaurants. Last year, when we saw Spamalot, we started the night at a small Irish Pub called The Pig ‘n Whistle, went to the show, then visited the The ESPNZone in Times Square. On the surface, there isn’t much to hate about the ESPNZone. It’s huge, it’s got games, and it has TVs everywhere (including in front of the urinal AND in bathroom stalls). I imagine it’s a hell of a place to watch football… but that’s before you get into the $8 Coors Light and $10 mixed drinks. This year, we went to the Pig n Whistle for dinner and then tried to go to the ESPNZone but, since things in Times Square close crazy early, it had already called last call….. at 11pm. In some states, that might be normal. New York’s bars close at 4am. Yet another reason I hate mid-town.
Thus, we put our evening in Ms. L’s capable hands. I rarely, if ever, choose to spend my free time in the Times Square/Hell’s Kitchen part of Manhattan. Her job is in Times Square, so she’s got some idea of what’s in the area. We ended up walking over to 8th Avenue and finding a small bar called The Playwright’s Tavern. We went in to the bar to discover that the taps were all out but the bar did have a Late Night Happy Hour. One thing to love about Manhattan is the Late Night Happy Hour… when the bar decides that the 4-7pm Happy Hour just isn’t good enough so they schedule a 2nd one for 12-3am…. on a Wednesday night (This, by the way, is on my impending list of 25 items listing why living in New York City is essentially like an extended stay in college). Usually, a late night happy hour during the week has “bad idea” written all over it in 22 separate languages. I figured tonight would be pretty safe, though.
We get into the bar about 11:30. Sportscenter was on all the TVs as we came in. After we had ordered our first round (totaling $12… God bless Late Night Happy Hours Not at the ESPNZone) a group of guys came in to the bar. They were generally non-descript, save for all four of them and their girlfriends were a pretty tattooed-up bunch. They asked the bartender to put on Letterman, which he obliged.
To make a long story short Letterman eventually got to his musical guest; a band called: Against Me. As the band started playing we realized that it was the group of dudes who had come in earlier and were sitting behind us. I turned to watch the lead singer staring at the television, mouth agape, with an arm around his chick. He looked at me and said: “that’s totally me, dude” with a goofy grin. At the end of the song, the bar just kinda burst into applause for them. It was a pretty cool moment.
We left pretty much right after that, but was just one of those random nonsense things that happen in Manhattan that kind of makes it worthwhile to live there. Like going to a comedy club and seeing Chris Rock for free.