QUOTE (Just my imagination @ Aug 20 2007, 05:42 AM)

Okay, I'm back from my 4 days in NYC. I did not go to Chelsea Piers but I did see it as the plane circled Manhattan as we arrived. Doesn't count though, right? I did ask my neice who lives on Staten Island if she had seen them filming the movie Staten Island. She said she hadn't seen any movie crews recently but Law & Order filmed around her a lot. She said her neighbor had just gotten pictures of THE ITALIAN GUY! I asked calmly because we were in a crowded restaurant--VINCENT D'ONOFRIO? She said yes and seemed confused as to why her usually sane aunt was throwing a fit over her gnoccis. After I calmed down I asked her if she would let me know by e-mail in the future as to whether they are filming anything anywhere near her. She asked me what I would do if they were filming (I think she's afraid I'll jump in my car and drive the 7 hours to see them) and I told her I'd post it on the NBC Boards for all my fellow fanatics who live in the NYC area.
She also told me that a lot of The Soprano cast members live on Staten Island. She has met Michael Imperioli and his twin brother. I was not a fan of The Sopranos and only knew Michael from movies and when he filled in for Jesse L. Martin on the mothership. I'll keep on her to tell me when she sees things being filmed and post them here.
NYC in August is way too hot for me and the throngs of people around Midtown was ridiculous. I will never go to NYC in the summer again! Of course, that's what I said after my nephew got married in Queens in July 11 years ago. I did enjoy a few hours in Central Park and The Paley Museum of Media and The NY Historical Society. I'm glad I caught The Year of Magical Thinking and Nixon/Frost before they left Broadway. Vanessa Redgrave was so wonderful and Joan Didion's writing was the best she's ever done. I started crying 5 minutes into the play. It's a one-woman show and Redgrave's continuous monologue with difficult medical terminology and with an American accent just blew me away. Langella was very good too playing Nixon too. That has to be the hardest real person to portray and I think Langella, like most of us, was never really sure what Nixon was feeling from his words. I remembered the interview as a close-up of Nixon's face and the man had learned from his Chinese friends to be inscruitable. Langella got to use his whole body and let us see the nervousness and tension that you couldn't see on television. The end affected me strangely. I started to cry as he finally (sort of) admitted his wrong doing. I actually felt sorry for Nixon by the end of the play, but not as sorry as I did for America having to live through that era.
As I recall the 2 plays that were the reason for me going to NYC, I see that I was setting myself up for depression, but visiting The Paley Museum and viewing Signs of Life and a This is Your Life Betty White and Dick Van Dyke and a really young Johnny Carson and Tuesday Weld on What's My Line cheered me up after Magical Year, and cocktails at The Algonquin and Smith and Wolensky Grill (3rd and 49th where my nephew works--ask for Bernie) cheered me up.
And for the real adventure of my vacation, my flight Friday night was cancelled because of a lightning storm North of NYC. And what did I do--rented a car and drove home alone at 10:30 at night, through a thunderstorm in a strange car, when I had been awake since 6 am. I got to my house at 6:40 a.m. Saturday feeling like Wonder Woman. I think I can do anything now. Thanks USAirways for building my self confidence.
Sorry for the long post but I don't get out much anymore.
JMI
So tell us, JMI, can your niece get the pictures of "the Italian Guy" from her neighbor to show you? DonnaLucy(Jo) and I have often commented on how funny it is that we have to pretend we are sane when talking about Vincent in public. It is so hard to appear calm, when inside we are screaming! Hey, if you can drive 7 hours home, you can drive 7 hours back to see him filming in NYC, Wonder Woman. I'm sure it would be worth the trip!
Never say never. A fellow poster, Vurtgirl (whom we haven't heard from in ages btw) taught me that.
It
is unbearably hot in NYC in the summer. Remember "Blind Spot"? I think the horrible humidity and heat of NYC actually helped VDO portray Goren as so distraught and disheveled. But I felt so bad for him having to endure it!
How nice for you that you got to see two such fine actors - Vanessa Redgrave and Frank Langella - in such fine plays. And of course, seeing
Signs of Life must have been a thrill. Along with "cocktails at the Algonquin", it sounds like a wonderful time! So glad you got to go!