Day 5–Theater Talk Breakfast, Fire & Harbor Cruise

by | May 8, 2026 | Uncategorized

This would be a good day for most of us. But not for the theater where Book of Mormon was playing on Broadway. Keep reading.

I didn’t go out for a pre-tour walk, so there were no photos from that. Our day actually started with a quick walk up the street to The Brooklyn Deli, where Alex had rented out the entire place for 90 minutes so we could hear from Tim Dolan. We had been with Tim for a separate theater talk two days earlier, when he and Cassie Silva from “& Juliet” spent an hour explaining how Broadway works. This time, we heard Tim talk during breakfast. We walked up the street, grabbed food, and then heard from Tim.

We would also hear from Tim on our last morning in NYC, and I can say that after being in his presence three times and touring Broadway with him, he is by far the best guide I have ever had the chance to tour with. There is no one like him. His encyclopedic knowledge of Broadway's history and lore is unmatched. More about him on the day we do the Hudson tour. So much of his talks are just us asking questions and him answering them in great depth. I know our tour to London next year will be a bit worse without Tim.

Sadly, you can’t tour with Tim personally unless you travel with Break-Away Tours. Tim owns Broadway Up Close, a business that provides tour guides for many parts of Broadway. He told us he has about ten guides working for him and that he seldom leads tours himself anymore, except for Break-Away. He alone is a reason to tour with Break-Away. Tim also owns a souvenir shop right on Times Square. If you are ever there, it is just south of 45th Street in Times Square. It’s a really cool, bright green booth.

After our outstanding theater talk, we walked back to the hotel. On the way, the streets were jammed, and there was a constant wave of fire truck sirens. When we got back to the hotel, we must have passed at least 20 of them. No exaggeration. After I got Kathleen back to our room, I headed out to buy postcard stamps (yes, I am still that guy) and took my camera in case I saw anything to photograph. As it turns out, I did. The fire was only three blocks away from our hotel. It was at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, where “The Book of Mormon” is currently playing. At least it should be by now, as they had a lot of water damage to fix. Happily, it wasn’t much of a fire, and we heard later that it started in a top-floor lighting rig. The NYFD had it out in no time, but in the meantime, they sent just about 20 trucks. I saw numerous engines, ladders, and ambulances. I got pretty close and shot some street photos of the whole incident. I asked Tim about it later in the week, and he said that they take no chances with the old theaters because so many of them have a bunch of flammables inside.

After that, it was back to the room to get ready for our afternoon trip, when we would take a guided harbor cruise around most of Manhattan, including a close-up view of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and the Brooklyn Bridge. We had a great guide on board the boat, and we spent a lot of time with him. I didn’t take many photos because the sky was very flat that day, but what I did get is below, along with the rest of my pics.

After the harbor tour, it was back to the hotel to get ready for our third group dinner at Bond 45. This was the worst of the three group dinners, and it did not pass the Steve Test. See the quote below if you don’t know what the Steve Test is. There was some pretty decent pizza for an appetizer, along with a make-your-own Caesar. I just wish they would cut up the lettuce. These wedge salads are a pain. But the real pain was the entrée choices: Atlantic salmon (YUCK!), pasta (pretty blah), and what they called chicken parm, which was chicken breasts smashed as flat as a thin pizza crust, covered in tomato sauce and cheese, and then topped with a literal half pound of pepperoni. Just what you give old people battling cholesterol.

I forgot to mention that while I was out taking photos of firefighters, the rest of the group (minus Kathleen and me) were visiting the 911 museum. We had just been there a few years ago, so Kathleen took a nap, and I took photos of firefighters.

My photos are below. Don't forget: if you click the first shot, you can scroll through using your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE... don't look at my photography on a phone. Please...

The Steve Test: I call this the Steve Test because my brother Steve came up with it. I think it’s brilliant. (If you eat in a restaurant while traveling, and if that restaurant is near you once you get home, would you go there again?) If it were in your hometown, would we eat there regularly?

Day 4-Carnegie Hall, Maybe Happy Ending

by | May 6, 2026 | Uncategorized

I realized after I posted yesterday that the headline said we went to see the play “Oh, Mary,” but I had not written about it. As you may remember, we are seeing four plays, and as I write this, we have been to all four. I would have to say that most of the folks on the tour were very nice when they said that “Oh, Mary” “was not my favorite.” Others were downright critical and said it was one of the worst plays they had ever seen.

I have to admit that I liked it. Kathleen liked it even though she is not a big Maya Rudolph fan (she was playing Mary when we saw the show). It is a VERY broad and dark comedy. If you have not seen it and think that you might, spoiler alert. “Oh, Mary” is about our 16th first lady, Mary Todd Lincoln. It takes place in the last weeks before Lincoln’s assassination. Mary is a drunk, she is bored and wants to be in a cabaret show (is this the start of a great comedy or what?). Maya made her entrance to great applause and proceeded to crack us up with almost five full minutes of over-the-top physical comedy without speaking a single intelligible word. For some, it was all downhill from there. Lincoln is portrayed as gay, and Mary is a horrible person who only wants booze and to perform. She is pretty much nasty to everyone. Her husband hires a man to give her acting lessons, who turns out to be John Wilkes Booth, later revealed to be Abe’s secret gay lover. There is even a scene where Lincoln is sitting at his desk screaming (you think it’s about the war), but when Mary leaves, he is actually having oral sex with a soldier who was under his desk. See what I mean? This play was easy to either love or hate. And I haven’t even (and won’t) told you the biggest twist of all. It ends with Mary's cabaret show.

Enough about that. More about the other plays later. Today’s post is about a kind of short day since it was Sunday. We were up late (we didn’t have to meet until 10:00 am) and off on a tour of Carnegie Hall. It was awesome. We had a great guide, and we learned a lot. The hall is beautiful. I only wish we could have seen a performance there. Photos are both above and below. And I almost forgot to mention that since we did not meet up as early, I had more time to roam around Manhattan and take photos. They are down there as well.

That afternoon, we saw our only matinée, “Sometimes, Happy Ending,” about two robots living in Seoul, Korea, who fall in love. I know, that sounds more absurd than “Oh, Mary.” But this was the play that most of us loved the most. I won’t go into all of it, but it was a beautiful piece with a cast of only five, so much heart, and so much to say about the human condition that we just loved it, no matter how impossible the situation seemed. I also have to mention that the sets were breathtaking, and the way they handled the entire show with sets, lights, and costumes was off the charts. No wonder this show won last year’s Tony for best musical.

That was about it (slow day on Sunday!), except for a group dinner at Marseilles restaurant. You don’t even have to guess that this was a French place and the food was excellent. I like escargot and have them when I can (mostly on ships). Their escargot was the best I have ever had.

After dinner, it was back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep. Monday would be much busier.