The Return: 5 Things I Am Obsessed About This Week

Hello everyone!

I'm back. I know I haven't posted since January which sucks for my blog following. But I am happy to say I have returned -- if in a slightly different format -- and will be sharing my thoughts with you twice a week on everything from culture and politics to trivia and world events. It's been a busy year...

So to kick things off: here are the 5 Things I Am Obsessed About This Week (in no particular order)--

1) David Hyde Pierce's epic monologue-rant halfway through the second act of Christopher Durang's new Tony-nominated play "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike". I had the pleasure of seeing Durang's latest on Broadway last weekend. And while I found the play uneven overall -- I thought it tried too hard to be funny -- Mr. Hyde Pierce's character's (Vanya's) breakdown over the lack of respect shown by the younger generation, social media, texting, Tweeting, and basically everything that's wrong with the world in 2013, was riveting, hilarious, and oh so prescient. It was a show-stopper in the true sense of the word and the audience -- myself included -- lapped up every minute of it. Does the play -- which is favored to win the Tony for Best Play tonight -- deserve all its acclaim? Probably not. But David Hyde Pierce and his co-star Kristine Nielsen deserve any and all awards they have been nominated for.

2) "Pippin". Diane Paulus's much Tony-nominated revival of the Stephen Schwartz/Bob Fosse musical is truly a feast for the eyes and ears. The acrobatic stunts are jaw-dropping and the cast (Andrea Martin and Patina Miller in particular) is a delight. The second act drags and I felt somewhat loses its direction, but the overall production is spot-on. And yes, Ms. Martin's rousing sing-along rendition of "No Time At All" is definitely worthy of a Tony Award tonight for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. It has been a long while since a Broadway musical transported me the way this production of "Pippin" did. If you're in New York, go see it.

3) "Capital" by John Lanchester. I just finished reading Lanchester's much-praised 2012 novel chronicling the lives of the fictional residents of London's Pepys Road who find themselves united by the 2008 financial collapse and the receipt of a strange series of postcards and blog postings proclaiming We Want What You Have. The storytelling is epic in its intimacy and very, very funny. It is also a somewhat provocative portrayal of our lives in the second decade of the 21st century. And while the ending works in its way, I did find the "Big Reveal" a little underwhelming. Still, this is a thoughtful and wonderful novel about a cross-section of the population of one of the world's greatest cities.

4) Diaghilev and the Ballet Russes exhibition at the National Gallery in Washington D.C. A fascinating overview, originally produced by London's Victoria and Albert Museum, of the life and creative genius of Serge Diaghilev, one of the great theatrical impresarios of the 20th century. Diaghilev's collaborations with the likes of Stravinsky, Nijinsky, Leon Bakst, and Picasso (among others) are legendary even a hundred years later. This comprehensive exhibition tells Diaghilev's story through a variety of media (costumes, set designs, video footage, etc) while successfully placing it within the historical context of its time. I'm in the midst of reading the beautifully-rendered exhibition catalog and am in the process of revisiting some of the revolutionary ballet scores produced under Diaghilev's reign at the helm of the Ballet Russes -- Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring," "Petruschka", and "The Firebird" among them. You don't have to love ballet to enjoy and appreciate this extraordinary exhibition. It just opened and runs through September.

5) Pigalle. I dined at this gem of a French bistro on 8th and 48th in New York for the second time last weekend before seeing "Pippin". My steak au poivre was everything a steak au poivre should be and the profiteroles transported me back to Paris where I'd just been a few weeks before. The atmosphere is buzzy but not overly loud. The service is prompt, polite, and unassuming. The dining room itself is bright and convincingly Gallic. All of this added up to a perfectly enjoyable pre-theatre meal without the pretension that I feel accompanies all too many of the so-called "great" restaurants today. I look forward to my next visit.

Ciao!