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Monday, May 17, 2010

The Billy Elliot-Man v Food Weekend

In Charlotte's Web, the spider tells the pig to put up a big fight when the farmers try to put him in the crate, otherwise they'll think something's wrong with him. Men do the same thing when it comes to seeing musicals - real men don't go to shows where there's singing and dancing unless it's a titty bar. Man, did my husband put up one heck of a fight. In the end, however, he was singing a different tune.

It was a family outing to see the musical Billy Elliot on Broadway. The event was to celebrate the birthdays of my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law, her fiancee and my husband. You see, for good seats, tickets have to be purchased about six months in advance, so from the time we purchased them to the time we actually attended the show - we spanned all those birthdays.

But the show was awesome! With a capital awe. We get so carried away with movies and their CG (computer graphics) spelling everything out for us that our imagination gets quite a work out filling in the physical limitations of live theater. It was incredible how the scenes transitioned and yet the most elaborate part of the set was just a rising bedroom. For the most part, the scenes took place in open space with lots of chairs. But the truly breath-taking scene with Billy and his alter-ego, I guess, had nothing but smoke and a pulley to hoist and spin the little bugger around. I called it the NAMBLA dance because there definitely was some man-boy fantasy innuendo there. Thank God, Elton John didn't have to write a number for that scene.

The show was followed by a fantastic meal at the Delta Grill in Hell's Kitchen. It's Cajun cuisine, although I'm sure anybody from New Orleans would argue about the authenticity. I don't care. In my book, any restaurant that plops a basket full of warm, homemade corn muffins on the table while you're looking at the menu, is alright by me.

As stuffed as we were, we made the fatal mistake of watching Man v. Food for the rest of the evening and by 11:30pm, I was hankering for some hot wings. My anti-musical husband was in such a good mood that he drove to the Cork Lounge on Greenpoint Avenue to score some wings. The bar is next to the Fire Station, so their kitchen is open late but regardless, we'd get their wings anytime - it's that good. All in all, I'd say it was a very New York cultural weekend.

4 comments:

  1. I so want to see Billy Elliot...sounds like you had a fantastic time.

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  2. Very cultural weekend indeed!

    My husband actually likes musicals, although I'm sure he would put up a fight over Billy Elliot. Did you take the kiddos?

    The only show we took my daughter to see what Mary Poppins. She still talks about it today, it was a really great show. By the end of it, though, I was questioning child labor laws...

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  3. This sounds like a fabulous weekend! I love cajun food and living on the Gulf coast of TX we have some pretty good places here! I love musicals too we have a descent theater disctrict.

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  4. At a hundred thirty dollars per ticket, it'll be a while when we take the kiddos. Though, I think my five-year old would have LOVED it.

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