Dizzy Dandelion: New York City day 4: If/Then, Alice's Tea Cup, Lincoln Center, and Serendipity

We intended to get up early on Sunday morning, because we wanted to attend Sacrament meeting at a local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints congregation before continuing our foodie and sight-seeing adventures. Alas, the person who was supposed to get up and shower first set her alarm for the time the last person (me) was supposed to get up. So, we ended up being about half an hour late for the 9am meeting at the same building the Manhattan Temple is located near Lincoln Center. On the plus side, we arrived in time to listen to the talks several of the members prepared. It was interesting that although their topics and approach were very different, each started with a little recap of how long and why they lived in Manhattan. I wonder if that was for the benefit of the visitors (there were quite a few of us, some with luggage in tow either coming from or headed to the airport), or simply because they're proud to be New Yorkers.

The Manhattan Temple

Kristen (imagining a future conversation):
"What show were you late for?" "Church."

After Sacrament meeting ended, we walked several blocks to Alice's Tea Cup, my favorite place for Sunday brunch in NYC. Our wait wasn't too bad. We had just enough time to walk to Central Park before the restaurant called to let us know our table was ready. We were all glad that we went to an earlier church meeting, because the wait at the Tea Cup got longer the later in the day you arrived... I guess that's true of most places where we dine/dined.

We ordered a small pot of "Hawaiian Delight" herbal tea, and an order of French toast all around. My mouth waters whenever I think of that French toast, and it was even better than I remembered. It was so good that Theresa and Kristen both considered buying the cookbook before we left.

It's impossible to sing the praises of this French toast too much!

We walked all the way to Lincoln Center before we realized that Levain Bakery was right next to Alice's Tea Cup. Whoops! Guess I'll have to go next time I'm in the city. Meanwhile, Larissa figured out the recipe for the famous chocolate cookies (her recipe is crazy good), so I could make them myself... you know, if I ever chose to bake :P

Anyway, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a series of buildings dedicated to, well, the performing arts. The organizations involved include the Julliard school, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Ballet, and the New York Philharmonic, among others. We are all theatre fanatics, but Theresa's dad is a high school orchestra teacher, and she herself studied the cello through college, so she was especially excited to walk around the courtyard, and visit the Metropolitan Opera building and store. Such a lovely, clean part of the city. A perfect place to spend a Sunday morning/early afternoon.

Before we knew it, it was time to head back downtown for our Sunday matinee. But first, we stopped at the Cake Boss Cafe on Times Square for some cannoli and some rugelach since we didn't know how long it would be before we could eat dinner.

Our last show during this trip was If/Then at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. Starring Idina Menzel, Anthony Rapp, and LaChanze, it is the story of a woman named Elizabeth who moves to New York after a divorce, and imagines how one choice leads to two very different futures. In one, she is Liz, a busy career woman who royally screws up her personal life. In the other, she is glasses-wearing Beth and gives up her career for a family. Both storylines were engaging, and I had a definite opinion on which story I wanted to be the "real" one. *Spoiler* I had thought, based on the opening, I knew how it was going to end. I was relieved to discover at the end that I had been wrong. *End spoiler* I found the ending to be very satisfying.

Idina Menzel was luminous as Elizabeth. She is such a star. Because of her seamless transitions, I had little trouble following which storyline she was in. Her voice is incredible. It was good on the Tonys, but she's even better live. She had no trouble filling the theater with that voice, despite the theater being the largest of all the shows I saw over the weekend. I can't imagine how she keeps her voice healthy after belting like that eight performances a week! She was soft and vulnerable when she needed to be, and strong and forceful when needed, too. I believed her in both worlds and rooted for her eventual happiness. If she had been the only good thing about the show, the ticket price was worth it.

Happily, her costars were terrific, too! Anthony Rapp's character, best friend Lucas, had a different fate in each of the storylines, as well, and in both he suffered no small amount of heartache. He and Menzel performed together in Rent -- the original Broadway cast AND the movie -- so they had an easy chemistry; it was fun to watch the two of them together. LaChanze was a powerhouse as lesbian friend Kate. She commanded every scene she was in, and her character choices helped make sense of choices that Elizabeth made, too. I loved watching her. James Snyder was handsome and convincing as love interest and soldier Josh. He also had great chemistry with Menzel and I loved his singing voice. I hope I see him in something else soon!

In some scenes, the back flat lit up to show the

different subway routes, and the floor reflected

the lights. It was supremely cool.

The music was gorgeous. Since the writer was the same for Next to Normal, I expected going in that If/Then would be a "Rated R" musical, and it was. I had the most catchy song -- "What the F---" in my head for days afterwards. The music was passionate and displayed the performers' abilities wonderfully. I also liked the way they used the stage. The sets were generally minimal -- almost sketched in -- just enough to let you know where the characters were supposed to be. I liked it that way 'cause it put the emphasis on the story. By the end, I was exhausted by the emotions and dedication demonstrated by the performers. It was a fitting end to our six plays in four days.

A little note about the users at the Richard Rodgers Theatre staff: the ushers hated me. I was yelled at by those ushers more than I was the entire rest of the trip. I guess I understand they're used to thoughtless, awful tourists, and they wanted to get home as soon as possible to enjoy the rest of their Sunday, but I didn't think that, say, stopping to get a drink of water while in line for the bathroom was cause to snap at me! I was very relieved to finally get outside after the show!

We couldn't help but wait at the stage door. Unfortunately, we dawdled so much that Theresa and I ended up behind a massive crowd and couldn't see a thing. Kristen is tall, so she pushed her way through a tiny bit and then took photos over people's heads. To her credit, Idina Menzel signed absolutely everything put in front of her. It must have taken her 20 minutes to get around the entire barrier. When she was done, she climbed into an SUV with darkened windows; let's be honest: if anyone had seen her walking down the street she would have been mobbed.

Tired and happy, we rode the subway one final time to Serendipity 3, the restaurant for which the movie was named (and where scenes in the movie were filmed). We waited about an hour but, again, I think it was worth it. It was about as expensive as Sardi's (you may remember I thought that place was overpriced) but the atmosphere was fun, the staff delightful, and the food drool-worthy. I ordered the "One-Eyed Jack", an open-faced roast beef sandwich with a fried egg on top, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the fried parsnips that came on the side tasted like slightly sweetened potato chips -- yummmmmmmmm! Now I know that parsnips are delicious, I must eat them more often. We ordered the famous frozen hot chocolate, and were all a little disappointed that it didn't live up to the hype. We should have ordered the lemon version that our server recommended. You live and you learn.

Could these menus BE any bigger?!

Our last meal in NYC: meatloaf, ravioli, and the One-Eyed Jack

I don't know when or how it was decided I was in charge of deciding where we'd eat each meal. I had asked around before the trip, so I had a bunch of ideas, and Theresa had a recommended list as well. Though most of the restaurants/bakeries/food stands on our lists overlapped, it was not a task I undertook lightly. Eat at the must-eat places and keep the costs down? A big job for anyone. Fortunately, we made out ok. It helped that I plotted beforehand which restaurants were near other sites we planned to visit. We missed Levain Bakery, but that's about the only "must" on my list we didn't get to; we did go to several I hadn't thought planned on and turned out to be delicious.

We watched part of Miss Congeniality while we packed that night. I wished I could have gone home with the others the next day, but I still had my business trip to look forward to. I am glad that my original intent to do the business part first didn't work out; it was great to have the fun trip first when I was mostly well-rested and had my friends with me. They were terrific, easy-going, thoughtful travelling companions. I'll even be so bold as to say I would take them anywhere!

Phew! I made it through this last post! Sorry it took me so long to finish them all. I had fun reliving the memories. I need to plan another trip -- to New York sometime and to someplace this summer -- soon. I was ready to come home after these trips were done, but I'm ready to explore somewhere else now!