Old Loves and New Loves

I went to New York for a week. An old love, sadly neglected for twenty years. It felt like meeting up with an old friend, getting off the bus at Bryant Park and walking some ten blocks up to my hotel. I missed a turn somewhere, but got caught up in the bustle of the city and felt at home and happy.

The trip was very much about renewing old friendships and acquaintances, meeting up with people I hadn't seen for a while, and realising the connection was still there. It never ceases to amaze me that you can have people in your life you don't see for years but when you meet them again you simply pick up where you left off and if feels like years ago is yesterday. I've had that happen with a few people, and that is precious to me.

It was also about visiting old favourites like the Museum of Natural History, The Metropolitan Museum and the MoMA. Good to be back, even though some rooms were closed, others brought back good memories. My experiences over the past fifteen years gave me a different perspective on the Museum of Natural History and make me want to go back and just take a full day there. I felt the same in Central Park. I had been there before, but that was before I developed an interest in birds. So now I got to see all these new birds, and I would love to see more!

Then there was the theatre. So much on offer and so little time. I was looking forward to seeing Roger Rees again, and on Broadway for the first time, and I was not disappointed. "The Visit" has much to offer apart from Roger too, I love Kander and Ebb's music, then there is the legendary Chita Rivera, some wonderful young performers, and a design that blends in with the lovely old Lyceum Theatre. It was lovely to meet Roger after the show and get some heartfelt hugs.

I hadn't realised I got to New York just as all the new shows opened or started previewing. I thoroughly enjoyed "It Shoulda Been You", with so many wonderful performances. Then "It's Only a Play" with the brilliant Nathan Lane holding it all together. The Brits were there, and I got to see "Wolf Hall" after all. Helen Mirren granted an audience as Queen Elizabeth, though I loved Richard McCabe's performance in that one even more. Then "On the Town" and "Hedwig and the Angry Inch", two New York musicals, but so different. The lovely tradition of "On the Town", and the raw new feeling of Hedwig.