My Times Square: A Big Apple Love Letter - Part 2

Thursday, February 28

The mere fact that Studio 54 is a legitimate Broadway theater still boggles the mind for those aware of its history as the legendary New York nightspot of the late 1970s. Now the home of the Roundabout Theater Company, the current production I saw last Thursday there, the recent London revival of the Sondheim/Lapine Sunday In the Park With George, is built around another reminder of Chicago in the Big Apple. Georges Seurat's pointillist masterpiece of "people out strolling on Sunday" is the prize possession of the Art Institute of Chicago, even more so than the "American Gothic" painting referenced in the opening credits of TV's Green Acres. Along with the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Sunday In the Park gave the Art Institute a lot to be pleased about in the mid-1980s.

(And why have I now mentioned Green Acres in both parts of this article? This is a question I will never fully be able to answer!)

Thursday and Friday

I always spend time in New York walking the side streets of the theater district.  Specifically, I eventually walk every street from 40^th to 54^th, in the block between Broadway and 8^th Avenue. As you probably know, most of the Broadway theaters are located on these numbered streets, lodged between the shopping district to the east and the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood to the west. I am looking to see what show is where, to see who is listed on the lobby boards and the exterior signage that I might know or remember, to visit favorite shops or buildings and to see the changes in the Times Square area over time.

Here is a note or two about these remarkable and storied side streets:

40^th Street: Now the home of the Drama Book Shop, this street used to be firmly located in the garment district. Maybe it still is to most people, but in my mind it is the new southern boundary of the theater district!

41^st Street: The impending closing of Rent at the Nederlander Theater here is made even more poignant by the hundreds if not thousands of handwritten messages that have built up on the front of the theater. I guess these messages from fans from across the world will soon be painted over. Many of them express one of two sentiments: love of one form or another for Anthony Rapp, the production's original Mark, and thanks to Jonathan Larson for writing the show. "Thank you, Jonathan Larson," with no other explanation needed, is repeated over and over and over again. Go see this powerful testament to this show's universal message before it's too late.

42^nd Street: This legendary block of film and song glory is a staggeringly successful transformation story. Twenty years ago you would literally take your life in your hands if you walked down this block, even in daylight. I would do it just to see if I actually could. It would be me and four other people: a drug dealer, a drug addict, and prostitute and a pimp. And no, I'm not kidding. But today, there are so many tourists and area residents flocking to Madame Tussaud's or the Ripley's museum or the two movie multiplexes or the four major legitimate theaters that it is hard to believe that the rejuvenation plan was highly controversial and even feared. And it is fascinating to realize that the two monster musical hits that square off directly across from one another, Young Frankenstein and Mary Poppins, are actually located in theaters on 43^rd and 41^st Streets, respectively. Only their theater lobbies (the New Amsterdam and the Hilton) are on 42^nd Street. Long lobbies lead patrons to where the theaters are actually located. I guess frontage on 42^nd is so valuable that it couldn't be used to seat people in the dark. Fascinating.

43^rd Street: There is absolutely nothing of interest to me on this street, the only one for which this is true. The lobby of the new Westin Hotel is at the 8^th Avenue corner—maybe I'll go in there on my next trip!

44^th Street: Ah, 44^th! One of the great blocks of the neighborhood, and home to five Broadway houses. There are signs of Chicago life here, too. Former Chicago actors Jim Weitzer and Scott Mikita are appearing in The Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theater. And across the street at the St. James, I encountered two workers putting up a backlit sign listing the full credits for Gypsy, now beginning preview performances. In very tiny print in the corner of the photograph of star Patti LuPone, the keen observer will note that the photo is credited to the Ravinia Festival. One can hope that Ravinia didn't grant the rights to this picture for free, as it will soon be seen everywhere in the City and will be associated with this production forever. Bravo for Cook County!

45^th Street: The true heart of the theater district, as far as I'm concerned. There are five, six, eight or ten Broadway theaters on this one street, depending on how you count them.  (Take me to dinner and I'll explain what I mean.) But no matter how you define it, there is probably no other street in the world with patrons of ten different theaters mingling with their tickets before the show, and proudly showing off their programs after the show. So many theaters…it's really heaven on earth. A blessed street, indeed.

46^th Street: One of my clearest memories of this street is watching Scott Wise (Broadway's leading chorus boy of the late 80s and early 90s) putting his stuff into the trunk of his car at the Imperial Theater stage door after the last performance of Jerome Robbins' Broadway, which I had just seen for the second time. The only thing is—he didn't perform in that performance. I was told by a friend in the cast that Wise had injured his ankle, and that he was sorely missed by his castmates on stage. The image I saw—a hardworking Tony winner, virtually anonymous, by the way, just going about the business of his career on a depressing Broadway evening—that will always stay with me. And just up the block—what's the deal with the Paramount Hotel? The ultra-sleek, Euro-artsy lobby, the bellmen (or maybe they're bellboys) all wearing black and grey get-ups straight out of a Milanese runway? If you haven't stopped by, you really should see this scenario. What's the deal???

47^th Street: I found more signs of Chicago in New York on this block. Former Chicagoan Stephen R. Buntrock is appearing in the revival of Grease at the Brooks Atkinson Theater, and Steppenwolfer Laurie Metcalf is co-starring opposite Nathan Lane in November at the Ethel Barrymore. We are everywhere!

48^th Street: At the corner of 48^th and 8^th is the "Broadway firehouse," the New York City Fire Department station serving midtown, Times Square and Hell's Kitchen. The memorial plaques to fire fighters killed in the line of duty, especially those who perished on 9/11, are always touching to me. I was privileged to see a fire truck and crew heading out on a call as I passed by the modern, two-story brick building. There is a little drama almost everywhere in Manhattan, it seems. Protect our theaters well.

49^th Street: Across from the Eugene O'Neill Theater and the reigning Tony musical champion, Spring Awakening, sits St. Malachy's Roman Catholic Church, home of the Actors' Chapel. Step inside, as have so many other theater lovers before you.

50^th Street: Spelling Bee has closed at the Circle In the Square Theater, leaving the modern lobby sadly empty for the time being. Post-holiday winter is a traditional closing time for shows, but it always leaves me with the feeling that maybe the summer tourists could have returned to a show, if only it could have lasted long enough through the bad weather. 

51^st Street: In the same building as Circle in the Square sits the Gershwin Theater, home to a show known to Chicagoans, Wicked. In fact, a former Chicago actor, Kathy Santen, is listed in the cast list here.  And a sorry state of affairs to many theater lovers exists on this street as well. The Times Square Church has been occupying the landmarked Mark Hellinger Theater, the home of the original run of My Fair Lady, for many years now. It just seems wrong, doesn't it? Sorry, sad and wrong that such a great venue is lost to theatergoers, maybe forever. "Get Me To the Church On Time," indeed.

52^nd Street: On the other hand, it seems totally fitting that two theaters named for perhaps the two greatest American playwrights of the latter twentieth century are sitting proudly and almost directly across from each other on this festive block, thriving like nobody's business. The Neil Simon Theater (formerly the Alvin) houses Hairspray, and the August Wilson Theater (formerly the Virginia) houses Jersey Boys. Neither show is moving out anytime soon.

53^rd Street: On "The David Letterman Show," taped on show days at 5:00 pm in the Ed Sullivan Theater at 53^rd and Broadway, one can frequently see the long side of the Broadway Theater, running down 53^rd Street across from the Ed Sullivan Theater's side door. And yes, the Hello Deli is here, too. Though, weirdly, it never seems to be open.

54^th Street: The home of Studio 54 seems to be a fitting northern boundary for the theater district. There is a gym halfway down the block, and come to think of it, there is one halfway down 40^th Street, too. The theater district is now bookended by gyms.  I'm not sure what it means, but I am not surprised. End of tour. Now get some rest at your hotel before seeing a show tonight!!!

Friday, February 29

By day, it occurred to me that that there is a comparison to be made between the music and dance venues in midtown Manhattan and those in downtown Chicago.  Sure, New York has Radio City Music Hall, City Center, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and Madison Square Garden, but Chicago has the Chicago Theater, the Harris Theater, the Auditorium Theater, Symphony Center, the Civic Opera House and Soldier Field. I think we're doing pretty well, don't you think? I'd like to see a seat count and a programming comparison, myself.

And by night, I attended a preview performance of In The Heights at the Richard Rodgers Theater, which you will be hearing about a lot in the coming days. The fun thing is that the show's producers were taping the show that night with a three-camera set-up, in order to make commercials, give footage to TV stations for news stories, and maybe to use on the hotel-based "Broadway Channel," etc. One of the cameras was two rows directly behind me.  I always wondered how they always get such good footage of shows for promotional purposes. And now I know!

Saturday, March 1

Regrettably, I had to return to Chicago on an obviously two-performance day. But I made a little time at LaGuardia Airport for that Brooklyn National hot dog that I missed on my way into town on Tuesday. Funny, but it wasn't as good as I remembered. I guess I really do love a great big, excessively decorated Chicago-style hot dog. But New York itself was every bit as good as I remembered. It always is. I had a great time, and I can't wait for my next trip.

Maybe I'll see you there. You now know where to find me. And if I see someone trodding the side streets of midtown just for the hell of it, checking out the neighborhood for the first or the fortieth time, I'll recognize a kindred spirit. New York is a special place, and I love to bask in it. You do too, don't you?  As The Little Mermaid sings, "Wandering free, wish I could be part of your world."  Some wishes do come true. Make your wish in midtown Manhattan. A world of wonder awaits you.