Shopping, Pizza and Gypsy

Gayle and I decided we didn't want to do another museum today.  After taste testing the difference between a Frenchette kouign amann and a Dominique Ansel kouign amann (Ansel won hands down), we got a taxi and headed to Chelsea Market.  It was fun to walk through the indoor shopping area but we purchased nothing but lunch.  We voted for a smashburger and ate at Creamline, which boasted burgers, shakes and waffle fries.  Gayle got a chocolate shake that was the most chocolately shake every created.  The burgers were fine (not my best smashburger).  (Rating 80)

We took our usual lovely afternoon nap and drug ourselves out of the hotel room to experience John's Pizzeria.  Gayle was most interested in seeing the stained glass ceiling.  John's Pizzeria was once the Gospel Tabernacle Church.  Unfortunately they do not back light the impressive ceiling and since we arrived when it was dark outside we were not able to be impressed just disappointed.  The pizza was underwhelming.  (Rating 65)

After dinner we walked across the street to the Majestic Theater to see Audra McDonald in "Gypsy".  As we were planning this trip, we listened to people's recommendations for what shows to see while in NYC.  "Gypsy" was high on people's recommendations because of Audra McDonald.  Neither Gayle or I had ever seen the play before so we had no expectations or comparisons to make.  We had read ahead of time that it is considered by many as the best American musical of all time.  The theater was lovely.  The seats were exceptionally comfortable compared to other theaters we have experienced this week.  We were on the main floor but we climbed stairs to get to our seats which meant that the floor was sufficiently slanted to give us great viewing pleasure.

"Gypsy" has been recreated numerous times since it first came out in 1959.  This is the first time that the part of Rose has been played by a black woman.  Critics had questioned whether that would make it feel "unbelievable" for its era of vaudeville and burlesque.  I don't think that hindered the believability of this musical one bit. McDonald is an incredible actress, even if she overacted her part and her vibrato is wider than normal.  She did a magnificent job at the end portraying an aging woman who spent her whole life pushing her children to achieve greatness so that she could be noticed.  Danny Burstein (playing Herbie) and Joy Woods (playing Louise) were excellent.  But I admit that I wasn't wowed by the musical.  It felt too dated compared to the other musicals we are experiencing on this trip.  (Rating 79)

We got a taxi driver with a bad attitude for our ride back to our hotel.  He kept saying, "Why don't you like yellow taxi cabs?"  We were confused.  We were riding in one.  We offered to get out at the corner of our block so we didn't have to ride any further with him.  He said, "I'm sorry.  We love you tourists."  Gayle gave him a 3 out of 5 rating on the Curb app.  I thought it was generous of her.