56 West

We had dinner the last with some friends at 56 West.  It's a lovely casual restaurant with reasonable prices.  Most of the items on the menu end either on even dollar values or fifty-six cents.  Mostly I go to this place on Sunday mornings for their Pajama Brunch.  For $8.56, you get an all you can eat breakfast food including pancakes, french toast, bacon, sausage, chorizo, fresh fruits, eggs Benedict, and omelets made to order.  Also, the servers are in their pajamas and encourage patrons to do the same!

For lunch and dinner, 56 West specializes in burgers and sandwiches.   The menu items are named after romantic concepts.  For example, cheese fries are named Instant Gratification.

SPINACH AND ARTICHOKE DIP
Fresh spinach and artichoke hearts whipped in a blend of sour cream and
cream cheese-served with fresh sliced baguette.  There were originally 4 more pieces of baguette with the appetizer, but I forgot to take the picture before we started.   Yummy!

BEAUTIFUL SUNRISE
Chargrilled burger with crisp Pancetta, fried egg, American cheese, lettuce,
and tomato.

FRIEND WITH BENEFITS
Burger topped with our chipotle sauce, applesmoked bacon, Vermont cheddar
cheese, fried onion straws.

 For each of the burgers, you could choose between a wheat or white bun or having a baguette.  The burger was large enough for me to enjoy again today at lunch!

Sondheim on Sondheim

Tonight, I had the pleasure of seeing Sondheim on Sondheim, the first collaboration betweenthe KeyBank Broadway Series and Great Lakes Theater.  There wasn't a Broadway Buzz pre-show talk today, but there was one available to view online before the performance.

I loved this show!   I have been a fan of Stephan Sondheim's work for about 15 years.  You don't have to a be familiar with his work to enjoy the show, but it certainly helps.  My favorite Sondheim musicals are Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

The show stars a small cast of 8 versatile actors, and Stephan Sondheim himself as video clips projected on a massive picture frame on the stage.  The small orchestra is located behind this picture frame.   Each actor slips into and out of roles from the various Sondheim productions, performing defining musical numbers.  

This show feels like a massive DVD special features and commentary of Stephan Sondheim's body of work (and I adore DVD special features).  You learn a lot about his creative process, and see the various revisions that the shows underwent.  For example, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum had two previous opening numbers before Comedy Tonight made the show famous.  The show actually had bombed with the previous songs as lead ins to the show.  Both of these numbers are performed before you get to see Comedy Tonight.

Stephan Sondheim plays a sort of peanut gallery to his own work.  He makes comments to the actors on stage, and they react to him and vice versa.  The opening number is a surprising medley of various songs, that are strung together in unexpected ways.  You'd have to see it to believe it.   I definitely recommend seeing this show.

Come Fly Away

Today we went to see Come Fly Away. It was amazing!  There are no words.  Literally!  It is a dance musical featuring the best vocals of Frank Sinatra, a live band, and the dances of Twyla Tharp.  Even without a stitch of dialogue, every emotion from every character on stage is expressed through dance!

It feels like Frank Sinatra is right there on the stage.  Speakers are placed throughout the orchestra, so it feels as though he is right there!   Joe Garry, in the pre-show talk described it as a sort of reversed karaoke.   The best vocals of Sinatra have been selected and put with a fantastic live big band.
Twyla Tharp's choreography combines the best features of ballroom, modern dance, and classical ballet.  Each of the dancers on stage is extremely agile, and their every move conveys their intentions.  They mime drinking and dancing at a club so perfectly, you wonder how there isn't broken glass upon the stage!   They dance elegantly, with feigned clumsiness, and under the influence of imaginary alcohol.   But mostly, the dancing is graceful and beautiful.

My favorite couple on the stage was the bartender and the waitress (pictured above).   Their initial introduction provides a lot of comedy.

This musical is a must see if you enjoy Sinatra (like myself) or love great dancing/ballet (like my husband).   It's a smart, funny, and at times sexy show, running 80 minutes without an intermission.