Tuesday, March 22, 2005
A Midtown Day
Before launching into a story of yesterday in midtown Manhattan, my brother Richard will be glad to know that I have received a Jury Summons i can no longer ignore. Having been several years away, I've had to turn down summons after summons, the last one served me just before we went to the UK. Each one I replied to with a polite reason for not being able to serve, but the one I received yesterday for April 18th I can actually say "yes" to....and so I will. For the New York Supreme Court.60 Centre Street. Room 452. Shades of LAW AND ORDER. The Asian restaurants in that neighborhood are great, since it is so close to China Town...and i'll catch up on my reading...if important auditions occur during that time, the people in charge always let me out for them...that is unless I actually get on a Jury, which somehow I have never managed to do. Maybe this time....
Our Abingdon visitor Melvin Dillon is here and he arrived right on time Sunday at LaGuardia. Peter met his plane and made sure he got here to our place safely. That first night we had dinner with Paul D. and Steve C. at Pearl's our favorite Chinese restaurant, and Melvin had his first try at using chopsticks! Right from the start of his visit, he is running towards every possible new experience, and my admiration for him grows daily. He's a strong, smart and talented 20-year-old, who before Sunday had never been on an airplane before in his life! But NYC, rather than daunting him, is opening him up like some hearty new tropical plant! Yesterday was his first full day in the City , and we began with a good breakfast around our table, with Peter helping him with bus routes for his proposed day's journey. Then,since I had an 11:00 radio voiceover audition (Amex) at Ogilvey and Mather down on West 49th Street, Melvin came with me on a leisurely morning #104 City Bus ride down Broadway! I gave him a guided tour as we toddled down, and as I left him to continue his journey across 42nd Street and then down to SouthStreet Seaport, he was busily talking to a nice lady who adopted him as her mission for the rest of the journey...i sensed he was in good hands! And then i did not lay eyes on him again until after he came home from his first Broadway show: GLASS MENAGERIE with Jessica Lange! He even managed to get Christian Slater's autograph!!He is still sleeping this morning...I can imagine his exhaustion.
My 11:00 radio audition was actually one of the fun ones, because the short script called for me to create a character of a woman, which most of them do not call for. I worked with John Lavelle, a young man freshly graduated from NYU and we had a good time. I continue to see so many friends who I have not seen for years, and I again realize how little has changed...Afterwards, i treated myself to a nice cup of Starbucks, as I re-read the script for GODDESS WHEEL, since I had meetings about it later in the day...THEN: I decided to be a tourist again, and walk midtown with fresh eyes: view it all with the wonder of a newcomer, and so I did:
I walked straight across 49th from 8th Avenue, through an extremely busy Broadway area ( it's Spring Break USA! and young people from all over the place are here in large groups roaming the streets looking up!). Even by noon, the Times Square HalfPrice Tix Booth had a huge crowd around it...(I was glad that Melvin had decided to get his ticket for a show downtown at SouthStreet...much less crowded, hence much easier to get a good ticket)...I kept strolling...the day was grey cool and wettish...but i felt cozy in my stroll....then i was at 5th Avenue and Saks'Fifth and St.Patrick's Cathedral, neither of which I'd seen in such a long time! So I went into St. Pat's, also filled with tourists, and gained access to the middle aisle under the pretext of staying for the Mass at 1:00...i settled into a comfortable pew, got out my journal pages and wrote and wrote, and when the Mass did begin, I stayed and actually participated in my own Jewish-Buddhist way! It was very calming. Since this is Easter Week, all sorts of folks were there, long lines at the various confessionals around the Cathedral...people getting renewed for a fresh Spring start to their lives! I really enjoyed the time there, comparing it to the religious places we visited in the UK, enjoying St.Pat's clean, aristocratic and soaring beauty.
THEN I went to Saks! Another sort of "church" of mine! I have worshipped at its altar of consumerism consistently and often in my past, and it felt heady to re-enter the glorious retail space...the smell of wealth is such a sweet perfume (usually on sale at some counter or other) and i feel at home surrounded by it. Before I even managed to reach the escalators at the back of the store, the Orlane women had grabbed me and began demonstrating on my face their latest products...I could not say no and though I bought little, I got a lot out of my time with them. They made me feel so good...I am such a spoiled thing! And it got worse!!! Once I got to my favorite departments and began browsing the clothing, I was almost drunk with happiness at all the beautiful things i was seeing and feeling....old addictions are hard to break...I saw at least 8 things i wanted to buy, but did not.Clothing at Saks is very very expensive...I determined to book a lucrative soap opera job so I could buy all these things,forgetting for the moment, that i have no more room in any of our closets for new things no matter how glorious! It was so good to be reminded though about New York's fashion brilliance, so close to the touch.And I do love beautiful clothing. Always have, always will.
So, after my Saks fix, I went to my 3:00 at my agents office and it was such a good meeting. What a dear man Gary E.is and what a good friend. We talked and talked. I left the office with a better perspective on the "scene" here, and my place in it. Every now and again, these "agent-client" chats are necessary.
Then down to CAP 21 for meetings about GODDESS WHEEL...casting ,etc. And Peter and I stayed for the 6:30 CAP 21 Showcase of graduated students....an hour's worth of talent...then home for a late supper. We talked late into the night. A good day.
Our Abingdon visitor Melvin Dillon is here and he arrived right on time Sunday at LaGuardia. Peter met his plane and made sure he got here to our place safely. That first night we had dinner with Paul D. and Steve C. at Pearl's our favorite Chinese restaurant, and Melvin had his first try at using chopsticks! Right from the start of his visit, he is running towards every possible new experience, and my admiration for him grows daily. He's a strong, smart and talented 20-year-old, who before Sunday had never been on an airplane before in his life! But NYC, rather than daunting him, is opening him up like some hearty new tropical plant! Yesterday was his first full day in the City , and we began with a good breakfast around our table, with Peter helping him with bus routes for his proposed day's journey. Then,since I had an 11:00 radio voiceover audition (Amex) at Ogilvey and Mather down on West 49th Street, Melvin came with me on a leisurely morning #104 City Bus ride down Broadway! I gave him a guided tour as we toddled down, and as I left him to continue his journey across 42nd Street and then down to SouthStreet Seaport, he was busily talking to a nice lady who adopted him as her mission for the rest of the journey...i sensed he was in good hands! And then i did not lay eyes on him again until after he came home from his first Broadway show: GLASS MENAGERIE with Jessica Lange! He even managed to get Christian Slater's autograph!!He is still sleeping this morning...I can imagine his exhaustion.
My 11:00 radio audition was actually one of the fun ones, because the short script called for me to create a character of a woman, which most of them do not call for. I worked with John Lavelle, a young man freshly graduated from NYU and we had a good time. I continue to see so many friends who I have not seen for years, and I again realize how little has changed...Afterwards, i treated myself to a nice cup of Starbucks, as I re-read the script for GODDESS WHEEL, since I had meetings about it later in the day...THEN: I decided to be a tourist again, and walk midtown with fresh eyes: view it all with the wonder of a newcomer, and so I did:
I walked straight across 49th from 8th Avenue, through an extremely busy Broadway area ( it's Spring Break USA! and young people from all over the place are here in large groups roaming the streets looking up!). Even by noon, the Times Square HalfPrice Tix Booth had a huge crowd around it...(I was glad that Melvin had decided to get his ticket for a show downtown at SouthStreet...much less crowded, hence much easier to get a good ticket)...I kept strolling...the day was grey cool and wettish...but i felt cozy in my stroll....then i was at 5th Avenue and Saks'Fifth and St.Patrick's Cathedral, neither of which I'd seen in such a long time! So I went into St. Pat's, also filled with tourists, and gained access to the middle aisle under the pretext of staying for the Mass at 1:00...i settled into a comfortable pew, got out my journal pages and wrote and wrote, and when the Mass did begin, I stayed and actually participated in my own Jewish-Buddhist way! It was very calming. Since this is Easter Week, all sorts of folks were there, long lines at the various confessionals around the Cathedral...people getting renewed for a fresh Spring start to their lives! I really enjoyed the time there, comparing it to the religious places we visited in the UK, enjoying St.Pat's clean, aristocratic and soaring beauty.
THEN I went to Saks! Another sort of "church" of mine! I have worshipped at its altar of consumerism consistently and often in my past, and it felt heady to re-enter the glorious retail space...the smell of wealth is such a sweet perfume (usually on sale at some counter or other) and i feel at home surrounded by it. Before I even managed to reach the escalators at the back of the store, the Orlane women had grabbed me and began demonstrating on my face their latest products...I could not say no and though I bought little, I got a lot out of my time with them. They made me feel so good...I am such a spoiled thing! And it got worse!!! Once I got to my favorite departments and began browsing the clothing, I was almost drunk with happiness at all the beautiful things i was seeing and feeling....old addictions are hard to break...I saw at least 8 things i wanted to buy, but did not.Clothing at Saks is very very expensive...I determined to book a lucrative soap opera job so I could buy all these things,forgetting for the moment, that i have no more room in any of our closets for new things no matter how glorious! It was so good to be reminded though about New York's fashion brilliance, so close to the touch.And I do love beautiful clothing. Always have, always will.
So, after my Saks fix, I went to my 3:00 at my agents office and it was such a good meeting. What a dear man Gary E.is and what a good friend. We talked and talked. I left the office with a better perspective on the "scene" here, and my place in it. Every now and again, these "agent-client" chats are necessary.
Then down to CAP 21 for meetings about GODDESS WHEEL...casting ,etc. And Peter and I stayed for the 6:30 CAP 21 Showcase of graduated students....an hour's worth of talent...then home for a late supper. We talked late into the night. A good day.
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