How to Survive an NYC Heatwave

Review: "The Minutes"

Fourteen years ago, in the first year of this blog, I reviewed August: Osage County, a brilliant epic Broadway play about a dysfunctional family in Oklahoma. It was a coup for its playwright, Tracy Letts, whose career subsequently exploded as a writer and actor -- he popped up on shows like Homeland and in other Broadway plays like Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf? There was even a big movie version of August with Meryl Streep and Julian Roberts (and produced, darkly, by Harvey Weinstein). 

Now Letts is back on Broadway, as a playwright and actor, with The Minutes which I just saw this past weekend. 

Like August, The Minutes is an intense experience but it's not a family melodrama -- it's more in the vein of 12 Angry Men or God of Carnage where a bunch of people get together to resolve a simple problem and, before you know it, all hell breaks loose, derailing into insanity. The Minutes is about an otherwise routine council meeting in a mid-size town called Big Cherry (its location in the United States is left purposely unclear). The meeting goes sideways when a young, impressionable councilman asks about the disappearance of one of their colleagues who, we soon learn, dug into the history of Big Cherry and discovered, well, something unpalatable.  

I'll leave the plot at that -- you have to see it to experience its shocking revelations. But the play is a brilliant example of pure talent at work. The writing, acting, and stagecraft are perfect, making for an enthralling if quite disturbing experience.

Letts plays the frightening mayor of this town and his polar opposite is played by Noah Reid, recently seen in the show Schitt's Creek. Reid is excellent in what is arguably the toughest role in the show, and he makes for a great emotional entry point and center in a play that is about the savagery of human corruption. Also in the cast are Jessie Mueller (who mostly does musicals), the legendary Austin Pendleton, my personal favorite Blair Brown, and others. Everyone in the cast is giving a chance to shine but it's ultimately Letts and Reid's show -- they are the duality of humanity, the darkness and the light, and represent the competing forces that have shaped the country and society we live in today. 

I really want to read the text of The Minutes since its writing is quite intricate and brutal -- but, as a theatrical experience, you won't soon forget it.

PS. I was originally going to see this play when it was scheduled to open in April, 2020. Obviously events intervened so I was glad to finally see it two years and three months later.

PPS. The character played by Noah Reid was originally to be played, in April 2020, by Armie Hammer but he got into some personal trouble and was subsequently "cancelled" -- and obviously his role was recast.

PPPS. I saw this play at the Studio 54. Interestingly, I saw the revival of Cabaret  at Studio 54 in 1999 and that show also featured Blair Brown -- so, for me,  Studio 54 is now the Blair Brown Theater. 

Moody NYC

The New York Times recently published a big article about ... how people are feeling.

About how they feel about NYC and their lives in it.

The "paper of record" wanted to gauge the "mood" of a city of 8.8 million people by speaking to a number of folks you could literally count on your hands and, from their anecdotes, come to a striking broad-based conclusion about the "mood" of all the residents of the nation's biggest metropolis. (Oh, they spoke to people in each of the five boroughs so I guess that makes it more "broad-based.")

The "mood" appears to be that everyone is freaking out about crime, everything is terrible, and no one can afford to live here. This attitude is so completely at odds with the reality of the evidence and facts on the ground -- crime remains at historic lows and more people live here than ever before -- that I'm stumped at the most respected paper in the city and country passing this off as journalism.

This kind of journalism is weird -- you never saw it before until the age of the Internet and social media. But perhaps there is something in the air in NYC that's making everything feel a little ... off.

Take, for example, our wacky mayor.

It turns out that he has a secret office in Brooklyn, right across the bridge from City Hall in Manhattan. This is honestly no big deal, mayor's have had hideout offices before (heck, Nixon famously didn't work in the Oval Office but in a little one off the Old Executive Office Building), but for some reason Mayor Adams kept it a secret for reasons that make no sense at all. Adams does a lot of weird things like hiring ethically dubious people, insulting low-skilled workers, lying about being a vegan, not being clear about where he lives, reiterating that crime is at historic highs when it's NOT ... and now this.

Adams is just a very weird dude and the city must be feeling very weird to have elected him. When you're the mayor of New York City, you are one of the most covered and criticized public officials in the country but the reality of this part of the job seems to have caught him entirely be surprise. He's secretive and ellusive and, honestly, I have no problem with wanting to maintain your privacy but, well, when you decide you want to be the mayor this isn't really going to be possible. But don't tell him that. 

So the mood in NYC right now is, in my humble opinion, contradictory -- people hate it here but more people than ever want to live here, the mayor doesn't want the press to cover him but wants to be seen everywhere, and day is night, up is down, and left is right.

So, honestly, my mood, the mood of this particular New Yorker, is confused and exhausted.  

James Caan RIP

Son of the Bronx, actor extraordinaire, James Caan aka Sonny Corleone in The Godfather, has passed away at age 82.

Ironically, even though he's best known for playing an Italian mobster, Jimmy Caan was actually Jewish. He was also great in movies like Rollerball, Thief, Misery, Elf and many others. A great talent and a real legend. RIP.

"Stay with Me Tonight"

Here's a fascinating historical artifact -- a music video from 1983 (back in the days when MTV was riding high and actually showing videos) by the rather forgotten pop singer Jeffrey Osborne from his big hit "Stay with Me Tonight."

It's one of those videos that actually has a little bit of plot -- long story short, Osborne is walking around NYC, singing, then goes to a bar to scope out chicks, still stinging, then meets an Asian-looking woman, sing some more, and hilarity ensues. 

This song is one of those 1980s ditties that you hear today in dentist offices and fast-food joints but the video is fascinating -- it perfectly captures the early '80s NYC nightlife, the Bright Lights Big City scene, with neon and bad hair in abundance. No one snorts any coke but they probably did that off-camera.

Enjoy.

Mr NYC in Germany

This past week I was in Germany for a work BUT I did get to do two side trips -- one to the Rhine River Valley and another to the city of Heidelberg. Both are located in the State of Hesse and are beautiful and fascinating. they gave me a new appreciation for Germanic culture (the good kind, not the obvious scary kind).

One of the first things we saw (after a scary by amazing cable car ride) was this huge statue erected right after the Franco-Prussian War of 1871, a monument to the triumph of Kaiser Wilhelm 1 in that war, uniting Prussian and various German principalities into the mighty German Empire (it lasted until 1918 after World War I, the country then turning into a socialist republic, followed by the Nazi-era Third Reich, followed by the Federal Republic of West Germany/Communist-era German Democratic Republic, followed by the present-day re-united Federal Republic of Germany -- I know, it's exhausting). 

Anyway, this statue is of Germania, the Goddess or Godmother of Germany, dating from the time of the Holy Roman Emperor -- she's Germany's Romulus, its spiritual founding mother and the personification of its people. Beneath her are figurines of Kaiser Wilhem and his generals and information about the great victors that made the Empire. 

Then we trekked around a path that provided amazing vistas of the Rhine River, vineyards, and castles popping out of the trees below. Hesse is the home of Riesling, the wonderful white wine, so vines are everywhere, and our hiking trail even had a small "wine hut" where we stopped for a spritz -- a small glass of Riesling combined with water. It was very refreshing and fortified me to the complete the hike.

We also saw some nice architecture, a funny sign, and a beautiful old church before we took a ski-lift ride back down and had a lovely dinner (I didn't take pictures out of fear of dropping my camera but I've committed the images of the great view to memory).

Next day we went to Heidelberg via the Autobahn -- I was told there's no speed-limit on this infamous highway but the cars didn't go any faster than you'd find on an American one.

When we got to Heidelberg, the first thing we saw was anti-vaxx march which was a little depressing but, hey, it confirms that Germany is a free country (I took a video of it but it's too large to upload here). On a happier note, we took a tram to another cable car that took us to Schloss Heidelberg, a castle with a long, amazing history that connects it to various wars and royals and that has spectacular views of the city of Heidelberg and the Neckar River that flows through it. It was overwhelming -- and it included some interesting signs and modern art on the grounds.

I spent most of my time working but, on my final night, I got to enjoy some delicious Lager in a stein and schnitzel for dinner.

All in all, a great trip, and I hope to visit others part of Germany some day!

NYC Protests the Overturning of Roe v. Wade

If you want to know more about the protection of reproductive freedom in NYC, go to this site run by the city. Not only is there lots of helpful information but it warns you about fake clinics.

As tragic as this evil decision by the Supreme Court is, I've never been more proud of this city and its people.

25 NYC Novels in 100 Years

The New York Times has recently published a list of 25 novels set in NYC, published within the last 100 years, where the city is more than just a backdrop or even a "character" in the story -- it is the story, NYC is intertwined with the plot.

These are books that, simply put, couldn't have taken place anywhere else. 

Believe it or not, some big titles are missing -- no Gatsby, nothing by Edith Wharton. Sadly Slaves of New York was not included either but the author, Tama Janowitz (a previous Mr NYC interviewee) was mentioned (with a photo) since her 1980s Brat Pack colleagues Jay McInery's 1984 novel Bright Lights, Big City was included (my review of the movie version of it can be found here). 

This list is very interesting, and it includes commentary by the various critics who chose the titles. Lists like this are inherently flawed and infuriating, but at least they remind you that there are lots of good books about NYC that you should put on your shelf -- or load onto your Kindle. 

One big inclusion is Don DeLillo's 1997 masterpiece Underworld. That is a great NYC novel but so much more -- its an epic sweep of an Everyman living through the second half of the 20th century while history unfolds around him and occasionally touches him. For me, it's not just a novel, or a great novel, or a great NYC novel -- it's a state of mind, a raising of consciousness, a story that makes you look at the world and history differently. I'm glad to see it on this list but Underworld is sui generis, like all great work. The same way that NYC is a city bigger than its population and its borders, Underworld extends beyond the story on its pages.

Supreme Court to NYC: Drop Dead

Here's to Flatbush

The story of Flatbush is the story of Brooklyn and NYC as a whole -- how a Dutch village turned into a suburban oasis before transforming into an urban hub. 

Flatbush is a city within a city within a city -- and one of the most diverse neighborhoods in NYC.

In recent years, part of the it was renamed Little Caribbean, recognizing its history as a welcoming refuge for Caribbean immigrants. 

The latest episode of the Bowery Boys tells the story of Flatbush and its amazing history. It shows how Flatbush, like the city as a whole, is always changing while keeping its history never vanishes.