Week 4: December 8, 2002

Production status:

• WE OPENED! Opening Night was Friday, 12/06, with a party afterwards at a nearby restaurant called "Lemon" . We had a nice crowd, including a number of Kleinmann and Weinberger family members who traveled from various points across the country and through some pretty nasty weather to see the show. We are quite pleased with the show overall and are proud to be associated with it. Now we'll see what the critics and the public think!
• Initial audience reaction has been very positive. Based on comments overheard in the lobby after the show, they "get it" . I heard one woman commenting on the similarity between the Sherlock Holmes/Watson relationship and Harry/Nigel, only with the roles reversed. I had to smile. This is EXACTLY what Kurt had in mind when he wrote the first black-and-white!
• The press is listing us as "Off Broadway" instead of "Off Off Broadway" ! This is important, as it boosts our credibility with audiences. It also means our ticket price ($45) is quite reasonable in comparison to other OB shows. FYI---the designation of "Broadway" , "Off Broadway" , and "Off-Off Broadway" is made based on number of seats: over 500 for Broadway; 100-499 for OB; and under 100 for OOB. Because the DR2 (a 99-seat house) is associated with the larger Daryl Roth, however, and because the DR2 space and the shows in it are of high quality, we are getting an Off Broadway designation. Very cool!
• Speaking of the press, we had the editor from Playbill at the show Opening Night. We're waiting to hear from our publicist as to whether or not that will translate into some coverage in Playbill. There were a number of other shows that opened this weekend (several on Broadway), so we don't expect most of the reviewers to come until later this week.
• Production highlight of the week: It turns out that one of the NY actors has been having an especially hard time with a couple of lines. Unbeknownst to us, he had written some key words on his gloves, to help him if he got stuck. So when his gloves got laundered earlier this week, his notes became unreadable. You have not known true terror until you have stood on stage with an actor desperately searching his hand for his next line. Thank goodness this happened in final dress and not in front of an audience.

NY observations this week:

• Language observation: When you go into a fast food place or a pizza joint here, instead of asking if it's "for here or to go" , they say "to stay or to go?"
• Here's something you don't see every day in the Yellow Pages in Dallas. The Manhattan Yellow pages have a separate category for "Role Play" . You have to see the photos in the ads to get the complete picture. Businesses listed in this category include: Den of Inequity; Ms. Tavia; The Art of Sensual Female Dominance (subtle...); and Wicked Bliss (with "Mistress Greta" and a special "spanking room" ). Some people clearly have far too much time and money on their hands.
• In Union Square, there is often a camper-truck that someone has converted to a Jewish-mobile called the "Mitzvah Tank" . Their slogan is "Your One-Stop Resource for Everything Jewish" . I don't exactly know what its purpose is, except to play music that sounds like the soundtrack to "Fiddler on the Roof" . I'm curious to learn more but am afraid I'll accidentally end up joining something if I go over and express interest.
• I think I've been here too long. Today I almost fought an elderly woman for the last available dryer in the building's laundry room. (I could have taken her, too. And it really was MY dryer.)
• Many of the stores here have resident cats. There was even a NY Times article on it recently. It's almost surely to keep rodents away, but the side benefit is that Kurt and I have lots of kitties to say "hello" to. The guys at Andy's (the corner store near us) think we're insane, but they haven't taken out a restraining order yet, so we get our kitty fix on a regular basis.
• Most aptly named establishment of the week: McSwiggan's (an Irish bar, of course!)

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