Perry’s #LLLPlay Impressions So Far, Part I.

So, I’ve been in New York, my hometown, after a long time in Mexico without a visit to my city. This makes my Love, Love, Love, New York experience different from that of many other fans who have or will be coming here. I suppose a few fans ” came home,” to see the play, but I’ not aware of any, and I’m definitely not aware of any fans who came  from a small town in Mexico that has American-style quality of life challenges – especially compared to New York. Also, I’m guessing that I’m going to be in New York a lot longer than most fans who are visiting for the play and will be in a number of different neighborhoods.

I’ve already spent a few days in the city, close to my old neighborhood on the Upper West Side. It may sound strange but I lived near West 86th street before, and this week I was staying  with friends on West 61st street. To me, that’s a different neighborhood. Anything below 72nd Street seems like a different neighborhood. The entire vibe is different. West 61st Street is close to Lincoln Center, Fordham University, The Time Warner Center, the south side of Central Park, Columbus Circle and the Mormon Temple. So, it is very much more a tourist neighborhood than higher uptown. It’s glitzier, too. Everything is new.

Still, I know my way around and I did make it as far up as 72nd street. ( Where I was delighted to discover that there is now a Bloomingdale’s outlet store!) It’s also a neighborhood that’s two  subway stops or a short bus ride from the Laura Pels Theater. When I got home after seeing the play the first night, I had time to make  a cup of tea, and within 10 minutes, Servetus was posting SD Soiree tweets.  Due to the rain, it took a little longer to get home after the second performance – but had I known what I later learned, 4 or 5 more minutes in the theater, and I would have seen him exiting with the audience. It would have been a bonus, because Stage Door was not on my bucket list.

Part of what I miss in Mexico is live U.S. news ( not to mention lightening speed internet).  In Mexico I currently have access to the New York affiliates and networks of  ABC, NBC CBS and Fox – all of which only provide 1/2 an hour of live news each evening. There is also morning news, but I don’t have access to the New York channels until 9 a.m. – too late for the morning news in NYC, which is an hour ahead. ( I find the news programs later – but still – not live news.) I get my news now starting with Twitter. When I see links for stories I want to read, or videos on networks, I click over to see what’s up.

So, here I am at a time when the election news is creating even greater havoc than it was a week ago ( The Comey letters, for example – though I think I correctly predicted that the initial bang and shock would taper off once the situation was analyzed or over-analyzed) and all of a sudden, I have all the live TV that I can take. It’s making it tough for me to get down to writing about my play experience at RTC_NYC.

It’s pretty chill right here ( and chilly).  It’s 10 degrees colder here than in the city, a a rule. I’m sitting here wearing 5 layers of clothes. I’m in East Hampton, spending time with some of my family at my brother’s weekend house. Sun is promised for this afternoon – so I hope to walk down to the beach ( or drive). Basically, we have nothing planned for several days, except a trip to the post office, a little shopping to get me four wheeled luggage, a nice dinner out, and lots of cooking together. At some point, I will have to approach my brother about how to see Berlin Station on Sunday night. He could have access to it in his New York apartment, where he has Time Warner, which carries EPIX – but here, we have Optimum or CableVision, and EPIX is not available. So, I have to convince him to get EPIX in the city ( from East Hampton, with a phone call), set up an online account, and let me access TWC Anywhere ( or whatever it’s called – maybe even EPIX.com) on my laptop. I’ve been putting off the conversation. Worse case scenario is that I will have to catch up on Episodes 3 and 4 next weekend, when I again have access to EPIX at another friend’s apartment.

Well, looks like my #LLLPlay experience will have to wait a bit – the sun is shining, and this is a good hour to walk down to the beach. See you on the other side.

#LLLPlay teaser – this happened.  (Not Richard Jenkins?) It’s a funny story