NYC recap

The Shows: We were in New York City from July 1 through July 8th. During that time we saw 11 plays and musicals. Our top four favorites were:

**Sweeney Todd - An all time best reinterpretation. The cast of ten play their own instruments in lieu of an orchestra. Starring Patti LuPone and Michael Cerveris.
**The Lieutenant of Inishmore – A wicked black comedy about Irish paramilitaries, extreme violence, guns and cats, that is shocking and farcical.
**Spring Awakening - Based on Frank Wedekind’s controversial play, which was banned for 71 years. This rock musical boldly depicts how young people navigate the thrilling, confusing and mysterious time of their sexual awakening.
**The Drowsy Chaperone - A die-hard musical-theatre fan plays his favorite cast album on his turntable, and the musical literally bursts to life in his living room, telling the tale of a Broadway starlet trying to find and keep her true love. The star and one of the writers, Bob Martin, looks and acts just like E!

The Food:
Best high end restaurant: Gotham Bar and Grill on 12 East 12th St. We had a wonderful dinner there before seeing “The Drowsy Chaperone”
Best mid-price restaurant: CaminoSur located next door to the Zipper Theatre on 37th St. It features the cuisines of Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia and Peru. We went there after an evening show.
Best place to get a piece of greasy pizza at 4:30 in the morning after dancing and drinking all night: Ray’s Pizza at the corner of 17th St and 6th Ave.

The Clubs and Bars:
We visited over a half dozen gay clubs and bars. We went out every night after seeing a show except one. Much of the time we were with friends and relatives. Our oldest son is working at a summer internship in the City. A gay cousin lives in Chelsea. We met several friends visiting the same time we were. We also met some new local people too including the handsome and talented blogger Jere-Rigged.
The first night we were in the city we went dancing at the Roxy until 4:30 in the morning. We went to Splash Club four times. It was closest to our friend’s wonderful apartment we stayed at on 15th Street. Splash offered a great combination of a fairly quiet bar downstairs were you could talk with people and an energetic dance floor upstairs. We also spent time at Barracuda, the View Bar, the Gym Sportsbar, Monster and Ninth Avenue Saloon. Most nights we didn't get back to the apartment until sometime between 4 and 5 am.