Pink Saturday: A Memo from the Buttercupland Tourism Office

 

I love New York and I love the wonderful visitors to New York City. 

From: Buttercupland Tourism Office

To: Visitors to New York City

Welcome back. You were missed for many long months. Thank you and hope you're having a great time. That's it. 

Stores are stocked for our returning visitors.

Almost like any other Saturday afternoon for the last forty-six years -- I moved to New York City in 1975 -- I was out and about. This Saturday I took the subway to West 50th Street for an off-Broadway theater matinee. It was chilly, but sunny and the first thing I noticed when I got off the subway and began to walk over to the theater was how crowded the streets were. Overseas visitors were permitted to return to New York starting November 8 and there's definitely an uptick in the people in Midtown Manhattan. 

 

On the bus ride home I thought about writing a thank you note to everyone who is a visitor to New York City. I realize I don't officially represent the City of New York, but I am the Chief Operating Officer for Buttercupland, and the Director of the Buttercupland Tourism Office, and we've certainly done our part to encourage visitors. I can certainly speak in that capacity. Thank you all for visiting New York. Visitors contribute so much to our city. Yes, in the obvious ways of jobs and revenue. But equally or even more importantly, in the energy and enthusiasm visitors bring with them. We wouldn't be New York without you, and as to paraphrase Hello Dolly, "It's so nice to have you back again. Please don't ever go away again!"

I'm also not the New York Times theater reviewer, but that's the wonder of having one's own mini-magazine in blog form. I am the official reviewer for Buttercupland, and in that capacity I'm reviewing the play I saw this afternoon. "Morning's at Seven" was first  produced in 1939 and has been brought back for a limited run through the beginning of January. I saw it in a revival a number of years ago and was enticed to see it again by a terrific cast. The play is a little dated, but comes together in the second act and was charming and fun. I was a fan of "The Wonder Years" and was delighted to see that Dan Lauria and Alley Mills, the parents in that show were both featured here and definite favorites for me. 

I'm trying to get a lot done in the next week. I've started wrapping and writing and would love to make a dent there in the next few days. I've got a medical appointment and cranberry relish to make and I know this season always gets a lot busier than I anticipate, so I want to be able to enjoy as much as I can without worrying about errands undone. 

So glad to join the Pink Saturday fun again this week and hope you'll stop by How Sweet the Sound to see all the fun posts. 

As ever, thanks for visiting and have a sweet Sunday.

Hello, Bette

When I was in high school one of the great treats of my life was taking the New Haven Railroad  from Hartford to New York City for Wednesday matinee day with my mother. We didn't do it very often because of the expense, and our lunch in New York was usually at the automat -- no Sardi's for these theater goers -- but what a treat it was. One of the plays we saw was "Hello, Dolly, with Ginger Rogers in the title role. Over fifty years later people still ask me if I saw Carol Channing in her signature role and I say happily, "No, I saw my dancing idol, Ginger Rogers." It's still a very happy memory.
 

Last fall I saw that there would be revival of the play with Bette Midler opening in the spring. I ordered tickets months ahead and kept busy with life. But May came around and I saw a beautiful and touching production with Bette Midler, now my perfect Dolly. When I saw Hello Dolly at sixteen, I couldn't fathom what life might be like for an older woman making her way in the world alone, as Dolly Levi does in the play. Now I totally understand it and had so much appreciation for the character, the role and Bette Midler. It's a beautiful production and if you're a fan of musicals or theater or fun, well worth seeing.

I played Stagedoor Buttercup after the show. Alas, Bette Midler didn't come out for autographs the night I saw it, I did get David Hyde Pierce's autograph on my program, which made my evening of theater complete.

I'm completing two pieces of unfinished business with this post. The first is my A to Z blogging. I omitted H and while I will be doing a post about Alexander Hamilton, I am counting this post as "H." The second piece of business is announcing the winner of the Mile A Day in May Challenge.  The winner is Jeannette at Longwell Crew. Jeannette, I have a novel and a book tote bag for you. Congratulations and thanks to all the walkers for keeping me company.

I'm reading and reading these days and did my first post on  Coffee Light and Mysteries Noir in a long time. I shared my thoughts on Jane Harper's terrific mystery, "Dry." I hope you will stop by and visit.

As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care!