I was surprised Michael and I weren’t exhausted after seeing 6 shows in the past two days (7 total to this point.) Plus, I frequently take naps when my schedule allows and I haven’t had one since we got here. It’s been a great trip so far and I was looking forward to doing a little exploring today.

Union Square

After I finished my blog post…in a very windy Times Square…. I caught up with Michael in Union Square where we’d planned to meet up with a friend. Union Square holds special importance on this trip as it is one of the locations featured in the musical, RAGTIME that I am directing.

Emma Goldman gave speeches and held rallies here. Today, Occupy Wall Street is camping out, banging drums and holding signs of protest. A century later and not much has changed. Different cause — same location. Power to the people.

Washington Square Arch

We wandered the neighborhood a bit and I jogged over to Washington Square to take a few pictures of the Washington Square Arch. Then we met our friend, had lunch and checked out some of the unique shops in the area.

We ended up at Madison Square Park, the original location of Madison Square Gardens, where we stopped at the famous Shake Shake and had a frozen treat. It was pretty busy in spite to the blustery day. The park is across from the world famous Flatiron Building.

The Flatiron Building

Monday night we saw the revival of Evita which Michael and I had both been looking forward to seeing on Broadway.

I could probably go on and on about it –but let’s just say if it gets one good review I will be shocked.

In a nutshell, it is miscast, over designed, poorly sound reinforced and poorly staged.

There are some nice ‘looks’ but they become repetitive and dull. I have to question the wisdom in many of the characterizations and directing choices that make this production sterile and void of feeling.

It felt like the director tried so hard to avoid the original Harold Prince staging that the work was not serviced properly.

In this production, there is no connection between Eva and Che, except the brief Waltz for Eva and Che which then makes no sense here. Evita was a huge disappointment and an even bigger waste of money.

This is not what I expect to see when ticket prices are averaging $140 a piece.