NYC Valentines (Broadway Binge 2025 Part 1)
If you’ve been following us, you know that we gorged on Broadway shows last fall, when we lived in New York City for two months. You would think that we’d had enough of Broadway for a while. Not at all! We go to NYC every year in February for my birthday, and since this year was a milestone birthday, we couldn’t possibly skip our annual Broadway Binge. And now that we are retired and embracing nomad life, there was no reason to limit ourselves to just one weekend. So this year’s Broadway Binge would have two parts. The first was a four-day visit spanning Valentine’s Day.
We stayed at our usual place, the iconic Algonquin Hotel, which we love for its location (near the theaters, away from the noise of Times Square) and history (the Gonq was were Dorothy Parker and her Vicious Circle hung out.) Here’s what we saw:
All In, a brilliant comedy about love with a rotating cast. Our performance starred Lin-Manuel Miranda, Annaleigh Ashford, Hank Azaria, and Tim Meadows. It was awesome seeing Miranda live, from the second row!
Dianne Reeves: With Love. This legendary jazz singer’s annual Valentine’s Day concert was outstanding. I loved the eclectic selection of songs, the expert jazz musicians, and the way Reeves engaged with the audience.
New York City Ballet. Amy joined us for a performance featuring two notable pieces by George Balanchine, plus Christopher Wheeldon’s clever and whimsical production of Carnival of the Animals, starring the wonderful John Lithgow.
We made a return visit to the Museum of Modern Art to see a new exhibit, Pirouette: Turning Points in Design. It showcased objects that were surprising and unconventional at first, but had a big impact on everyday life. There were consumer products like the Sony Walkman, the Macintosh computer, Post-It Notes, and Spanx. There were symbols like emojis, desktop icons, and signage for public spaces. And there were ingeniously simple life-saving devices, like a wristband for diagnosing acute malnutrition in children, and a wind-powered sphere for detonating land mines. The exhibit was a testament to the power of design to change the world.
A special bonus for this trip was the chance for me to spend time with two of my Zoom Buddies, Jennifer (who lives in Manhattan) and Linda (visiting from Pennsylvania). This was special because Linda missed our Zoom Buddies weekend in NYC last November. Jennifer and Linda gave me the best birthday gift: tea at the Blue Box Cafe, Chef Daniel Boulud’s restaurant at Tiffany’s! Wow! Later, the three of us spent a lovely evening together. It was like being back in college again - good friends, endless conversations, and hugs and laughter.
On Sunday, Amy joined us at the Algonquin, along with my sister Marg, her wife Gabriella, and their seven-year-old son, our nephew Emmett. We enjoyed a leisurely brunch together. Emmett’s current passion is Squishmallows, which I guess are a new incarnation of Beanie Babies. He has quite a collection.
It was fun seeing my “gal-entines” and family members, but Steve was and is my very favorite Valentine. I’m grateful for him every day.
