Saturday, June 8, 2019
Saturday was a non-Manhattan day. Because my parents were staying on Staten Island, we decided to stick around and explore the area. We had a gourmet lunch of chips & dip on South Beach! The ocean was absolutely freezing but it was beautiful.
Hands down the best part of our day was when we rented a surrey bike! We went around for a couple of hours. We must have looked like clowns in a little clown car but it was so much fun.
To finish the day, we went to a comedy show in New Jersey.
Sunday, June 9, 2019
Sunday was Broadway day. Not off Broadway, real real Broadway. Fun fact: the only differentiating factor is the number of seats in the theatre!
Mom & I took the Staten Island Ferry then the metro up to the theatre. The Staten Island Ferry is free and gives you a great view of the Statue of Liberty!
Mom was a trouper going up and down the stairs and through the crowds at Time Square on her crutches. New York is NOT an accessible city.
Because we arrived a bit early, we stopped at Junior’s Cheesecake to grab two of those quintessential slices of heaven. I got the blueberry and mom got the brownie – HIGHLY recommend.
We bought tickets to King Lear at the Cort Theatre for a few reasons. We had some specific wishes: non-musical, good (last minute) ticket availability, & powerful leading woman. We were excited to see a female play Lear and were looking forward to seeing how the role would be approached. Our biggest question: would all the male pronouns be changed to female or would Jackson be playing Lear as a male? I went to a Christmas Story in December at the Grand Theatre (London, ON) and saw the very first Canadian performance of a woman playing Scrooge. It completely changed the dynamics of the familiar (almost cliché) story.
It was an amazing experience but let’s just say that the performance was interesting…
I will start with the good: the acting. Jackson was phenomenal playing Lear as a man. She was such a tiny human with a huge stage presence. Big points also go out to Ruth Wilson who played both Cordelia and the Fool.
Now for the not-so-good. All in all, the performance was not cohesive. The actors all had different accents. The costumes seemed to be borrowed last minute – the tux of Lear was modern yet the dresses of his daughters were renaissance-like. The play was not in modern english yet the set design appeared as if it was a modern time. I was quite disappointed that they producers were indecisive with their direction.
All-in-all, mom and I throughly enjoyed our very first Broadway show together!
After the show we went back to our Airbnb and ordered in Chinese food. To finish off our last night together, we had a little family movie night (sorry Angus)! I’ve said it before but I will say it again – I am so lucky to have such amazing parents !
Thanks for reading!
Xoxo,
Tara
Tara's Terra 