Adventures with Mom

My mom came to visit for two whole weeks! (Oct 1-15) The first week she was here her friend and fellow costume designer Erin came along as well. That first day they were here we got a bit of a late start since I had returned home at 5am that morning from filming a tv pilot called “Royal Pains” due to air on USA Network next year. But we still managed to have time to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and then headed into the city in hopes of landing some tickets to a Broadway show! Luck turned out to be on our side as both my mom and Erin’s names were drawn for the lottery tickets to “In the Heights!” It was my second time seeing it but I think I loved it even more this time, I highly recommend this show to everyone! The next two days my mom and Erin went to visit my aunt and uncle out in NJ. Saturday night Mike and I met them back in Times Square and went to see “Forbidden Broadway,” a spoof of current shows and stars that is closing soon after playing for 27 years! Sunday night was tickets to “Title of Show” a small show that started at the New York Fringe Festival four years ago and became a Broadway hit. Sadly, it closed the weekend after we were lucky enough to see it.

Monday was Erin and my mom’s day to live their fabric dreams as they ventured out to all the fabric shops they could find in the big city. They came home loaded with bags of fabrics and costumer’s treasures! Tuesday I had to get up early to attend ‘Fiddler on the Roof” auditions and my mom and Erin got a chance to rest after their day of shopping. Tuesday night was the eagerly awaited concert of “Celtic Thunder” at Radio City … my mom and Erin came back high on Irish music! Erin left Wednesday morning and my mom and I headed into the city to attempt tickets to a “Wicked” matinee performance assuming we’d have better odds with the lottery then. Unfortunately, “Wicked” lottery was the only one we’ve never been able to win but we went to the ticket booth and were able to get discounted tickets on the Orchestra level … Thanks Daniel for our early Christmas presents! I had seen the show when it toured in Seattle and had been dying for my mom to see it ever since, definitely another show I highly recommend!

Wednesday night and all day Thursday I had to babysit for a Yom Kippur event at the Marriot Hotel so my mom was able to rest up and take care of Zoka. (Mike left on Wednesday as well for his Trial Ad competition in Texas). Starting Friday we were back at our Broadway marathon. My mom won lottery tickets to “Avenue Q” (another show I have seen and wanted her to see as well) and then I took her to the After Party which is a late-night cabaret open mic that always has several Broadway stars performing. After failing to get Mama Mia or Billy Elliot tickets on Saturday afternoon we saw a crowd in the Shubert Alley and realized Clay Aiken was signing autographs after the matinee performance of “Spamalot.” Since neither of us had seen the show yet and my mom is a fan of Clay, we went to the ticket window and scored some discount tickets again. We also managed a quick visit with my cousins on the Upper West before going to the show that night.

The past few days I had been fighting a really bad sore throat which was starting to turn into what felt like a sinus infection. I didn’t want it to ruin the time with my Mom, but Sunday morning we started our day by going to the drop-in medical clinic. I was quickly diagnosed with a sinus infection and put on antibiotics. But, I wasn’t going to let that stop us from our last day to see a show … we had decided that “Mama Mia” was the last show we had to see before the end of the trip. I had surprisingly not seen the stage or movie version yet and my Mom had seen the movie three times already but not the stage production. Since the show is still a huge hit there are no options for discount tickets except ‘standing room.’ We had decided we wanted to see it bad enough that we would pay the $21.50 each for standing room instead of the $120 to sit in the far back balcony. Luckily for standing room tickets you get a railing to lean on and have a great view of the stage from the back of the orchestra level and my mom was able to find a chair to sit in for the second act. It was a long time to stand, but definitely worth it … I’m also excited because they are finally having auditions for this show in a few weeks!

My sinus infection was definitely putting a bit of hinder on our trip but we did still manage to get some birthday shopping in for me! For my birthday on Tuesday we spent a couple hours shopping and then my mom came with me to my voice lesson. That evening after Mike finished class we went to the Chocolate Room and ate some of Oprah’s famous favorite chocolate cake!!! Even feeling sick couldn’t put a damper on delicious chocolate!

My mom left Wednesday morning but happily will be back shortly in November to see my production of Joseph…Technicolor Dreamcoat. Wednesday evening Mike and I also headed to the airport to make our way down to Austin, Texas to have an early Thanksgiving with the Popes! That trip will be it’s own blog entry so stay tuned! Also coming this next week … details on how to see me (hopefully) in Thursday’s episode of Life on Mars!