Manic depressives swing into Manhattan

Hagey Coach driver Bob Harmer was our affable driver from Montgomeryville Mall to Manhattan, a trip of about two hours. Since my sister Ellen and I sat in the first two seats -- for a great view -- we got to ask lots of questions like Why aren't buses allowed in the left lane and Have you ever gotten a ticket (no - and he doesn't drive in the left lane when it's not allowed).

Fifteen of us from New Directions went to see the 2010 Pulitzer-prize winning musical drama Next to Normal. The ladies needed tissues for this emotional roller-coaster of a bipolar woman whose family is devastated by her illness. Funny, poignant, high drama, real life. The small cast included the gentlemen below who came out the stage door onto Schubert Alley after the play where the audience photo'd them and asked for their autographs....

He played the loving husband who was loyal to his wife as the rigors of her illness assaulted her

See, you can't really tell if he's an actor or if it's our own Larry Kirschner who helped choreograph the trip with his wife Helen (our former Mall Queen who now runs the Giant talks)

This young man played the son Gabriel, who died at age 8 months. He lived in the mind of his mother, however, reminiscent of the faux child in Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolfe.

Over 90 degrees at Times Square today but so cold in the Booth Theater our teeth were chattering. According to our playbill, the theatre took in a record no. of $$$ -- something like half a million -- during several days' performances of Next to Normal. The theatre was only half full today so we all moved and got better seats.


Fontaine from our Family Member Group, every bit as saucy as her photo

Ah, here's Helen now, the coordinator of our trip. Helen and Larry are avid theatregoers. I understand why. Scott and I watch a lot of movies. We love our Turner Classic Films, our films noir, and graceful B&Ws of women in long gowns trailing along the screen. BUT it all takes place as in another room and far far away.

The theatre is right there! Immediate! Loud! In your face! The audience is part of the action. We are not so much viewing it as we are participating in the drama.

As soon as we go off the bus we noticed the e-n-e-r-g-y of the city, the pulse. It was thrumming in low key as we walked to our restaurant for a wonderful lunch at Carmine's. A huge black man in a wheelchair was begging for money but was very polite. People in the Big Apple are tremendously courteous. You've got throngs of people yet they give way to let you through, they obey traffic signs, and share the sidewalks. This takes a high degree of social cooperation to navigate such complex tasks and find the rhythm of the city so you can cross the street and follow your Bipolar Brigade.

Another movie star from the play. I remembered when I got Carrie Fisher's autograf from her one-woman show Wishful Drinking. A thrill to stand next to her, but did I really want her autograf? No. It sat at home, blurry from the blizzard we had that day, and then two months later I threw it out. New rule: No autographs please, tho, I do have facsimiles of two letters wrin by A. Lincoln, as he signed his name.

A word about Carmine's restaurant. Never, and I mean, Never, have I had such delicious salads. What did they put in the dressing? We had two different types and we couldn't stop raving about them. We shared the fare in the main meal -- eggplant parm, mannicoti, and a pasta mushroom chicken dish -- all of them superb.

Price for all of us including tip? $18. Figure that one out!

We planned our trip on Valentine's Day, four months ago. A few of us were sitting at SweetBytes Cafe in Ambler, PA, and Ron Abrams announced he and his dtr saw a terrific play.

We'd never planned such an event like this before. One that cost lots and lots of money. Not everyone could go. People are raising families and didn't have the extra moolah. But we did it!

The Lincoln Tunnel is a true wonder. Think of all the portals leading to NYC - the tunnels and the bridges. Larry Kirschner wondered, What made New York the great city it is, and not Philadelphia? Or Boston? Or DC? Now somebody knows the answer to this Q but it isn't me. Why New York?

Oh, I just thot of something. Ellis Island is right there. Settlements rose up all around New York. Jews. Italians. Irish. Germans. Could that be it, Bartleby?



We bid goodbye to the hazy city until we meet again.