Wednesday - Cake Boss and TRIBES!!

It’s Wednesday, and it’s Tribes day – Tribes is a play about a Deaf son in a family of intellectuals, and the son is played by Russell Harvard, a Deaf actor that we have liked for his music videos and movies.  It’s so exciting to have another Deaf play on Broadway.  There have only been two others – Children of a Lesser God (which got a Tony for Phyllis Frelich long before it got an Oscar for Marlee Matlin), and Big River back in 2003 (which I saw twice in NYC and MANY times in DC at Ford’s Theatre).   So when we heard that Tribes had been extended and that it would be playing while we were in NYC, we were over the moon excited.  If we did nothing else we were going to see Tribes, and we were going to meet Russell Harvard.  So the word for the day is most certainly “RUSSELL”!!   There is an added bonus that we’re really excited about, and that’s that Mare Winningham is playing his mother – and she has history in the Deaf community, playing a daughter of deaf parents in THE best and most respected Deaf movie that I know of called “Love is Never Silent” – just gravy.  

But Tribes is not until 7pm – we have a whole day of stuff to get through before we get to Tribes…   the plans first thing are to head over to Hoboken, NJ and visit Carlo’s Bakery, home of the reality show, “Cake Boss”.  BMc ordered one of their famous crumb cakes online because if you have an order in with them then you don’t have to wait in line (she’s wily, that one).  But she also wants their cannolis.  She has tried a few since coming to the city and has been disappointed – she has decided that she won’t have another one until it’s from the Cake Boss, he’s famous for them as well.  

I have other plans for the day – while they’re all heading to New Jersey, I’ll be heading to the TKTS line to see if we can get Harvey tickets.   Fingers crossed!!    We’re all getting ready and heading out at the same time – and we’re watching the Today show, since we’re right down the street.  The Britts are a little obsessed with the movie Magic Mike, and all week they’ve had the guys from the show on to promote it.   Yesterday was “Joe” (and I’m sorry, but I’m honestly not sure if that’s a character name or his actual name, but this is how he is referred to.. ), and today Channing Tatum is on (and Joe comes back!) – they do a big dance number in the plaza and Channing is signing autographs for people.  BP is freaking out JUST a little because he’s right down the street from them, RIGHT NOW, and they’re missing out!   They announce at some point that Matthew McConaughey will be on tomorrow, and plans are made to DEFINITELY go down to the Today show to see him.   We’ll see if they realize that this means they have to get up early and if this actually happens. 

The other four head out for NJ – and since I was not there, Becki has contributed notes for this part of the blog…. We’ll see if I can pull it together from the accounts that I heard.  J

They take a bus to another bus, but can’t find the bus… they’re looking for the 126 Bus, but our land lady told us not to take the “PATH” because it isn’t included in our unlimited pass.   But as it so happens, the 126 *is* the PATH.   Tickets are about $6 so they go ahead and get them instead of going 10 more blocks south to pick up a bus that is included on the metro.   They asked “homeless help” people (they did have transit authority shirts on) for help finding the right bus after they purchased tickets… 
On the bus, they head through the Lincoln tunnel (and think of me and Buddy the Elf!)… the PATH bus is posh – nice and comfy, not like a city Metro bus…

They are surprised to see that, “Hey look! NJ has bluffs!  And it reminds Becki of home (Alton). Hoboken is cute very small town feel. Lots of little storefronts – and they all feel that this would be a great place to live.

Becki says… As we get off the bus we see Carlos bakery and are shocked to see NO LINE!  After all the stories of lines around the block, we are thrilled and go in to ogle all the goodies. We stand in awe for a few min, hoping to catch sight of Buddy (the “Boss”) but no luck. Bmc picks up her crumb cake and orders some cannolis; BP gets some cookies, cupcake and a lobster tail. Dana gets a chocolate covered strawberry and a sweatshirt. Becki gets a cheesecake (her nyc addiction) and 2 canolis. Also a tshirt. She hasn’t decided if it’s for herself or a gift for someone else...so if you’re reading this and you want a shirt… you might want to be extra nice to her.  

Bp is upset because she didn't get a Carlo's bakery bag- just a plain plastic bag. Bmc got 2 and promises to give her one. Dana asks BP why she wants a bag and BP says, "because I collect them"
Dana- what do you do with them?
BP- I put them in a drawer.
Dana- ...... hmmmm

We wander around Washington Street (the bakery is on Washington) and there are lots of cute little shops. We stop at Walgreens for a bathroom break- its on the 2nd floor and there is an old style tiny elevator after door slides open, there's another door to push open. BP is afraid fingers will get squished.

We're looking for things that say Hoboken or NJ so we can take pics and we find a little discount clothing shop with a cute dog (Ozzie) tied out front. Becki finds a shirtwaist dress for $10 and we head on to the bus stop.... Back on bus- it fills up quickly.  The driver is one of those start/stop
start/stop people. Making us a little nauseous.  Busy time of day for traffic and it’s slow going.

Instead of taking the subway for 8 blocks, they decide to walk the 8 blocks back from the port authority,   Bmc stops for a papaya dog. Dana razzed her because she'll eat a 2 dollar hot dog but won't eat a dollar slice of pizza. Bmc is not a fan of papaya dog's onion sauce (which Susen is grateful for, because I get back to the apt having not eaten, and I benefit from it).  Bmc and BP are out of breath because Dana and Becki were evidently marathon walking :)

 

Back to Susen now –

Meanwhile, back at the TKTS booth, no luck with Harvey tickets.  VERY disappointed.  But I was prepared with a back up plan.  I had been in contact with the others and asked if they wanted another show if we couldn’t get Harvey, like “One Man, Two Guvnors” (the lead actor won the Tony for Best Actor and he was in a couple of Dr Who episodes), or maybe Clybourne Park that won best play…   So with no luck with Harvey (the lady at the window said they haven’t had tickets since the reviews came out), we (with the exception of BP) get tickets to see “One man, two Guvners”.    And I set out to wander the city alone.   I got some pics of the Public Library that was featured in Ghost Busters, and I walk up the The Daily New building that was used as The Daily Planet in the Superman movies.   That was a little disappointing just because they had scaffolding around it for renovations, but I got pictures anyway.  I go by Sardi's... and the Chrysler building.  In fact when I'm in front of the doors, a couple walks by and asks if I know where the Chrysler budling is... I chuckle at them a little and point at the door. 

The Daily News... or Planet?

The two groups are in communication, and we really want to go to Katz’s Deli, so we’re thinking we can fit it in for lunch before the 2:00 show… but time is getting tight and it’s not exactly in a place that is really close to a train line – so we just don’t want to risk it.   I head back to the apt by subway and meet up with the gang.   They had said they got Papaya dogs (BP has been wanting to go for a while) so I thought I would try to find it too… no luck – so I get back to the apt starving (this is where I benefit from BMc not being crazy about the onion sauce)….   But it turns out it isn’t the same place that they’ve been wanting to go.   Dang. 

BP stays behind at the apt while we head to the show and she does a little laundry (but doesn’t have time to dry anything, so we don’t have any dry towels for tmw – we hang wet towels all around the apt. when we get back).

“One Man, Two Guvners” is not really what we expected – the ad outside even says, “If you’re not laughing at this show, then you’re on the wrong medication”.   And it was ok – we agree that the lead actor (who won the Tony), James Corden, makes the show.  The script is a little weak, it’s about a guy that has two bosses (which are apparently called “Guvners” by the Brits) and it a little dim witted so he keeps mixing them up.   And the two bosses are actually engaged to each other and thinks the other is dead – so hilarity ensues (it’s basically every scene you’ve seen in a restaurant or movie where the guy has to go back and forth between the two people that can’t know that the other exists).  But there is adlibbing in the show too – he talks to the audience, brings people up on stage – and THOSE moments are great.  Overall, glad to see it, but I had a horrible headache throughout, so maybe a nap would have served me better.   The most amazing things about the broadway shows are the small intimate theatres, AND that they bring drinks to your seats.   Becki orders a liquid love letter and starts a trend… and you get to keep the cups.  But they leak, be careful.

We abort another attempt at Katz’s because we really don’t want to be late for Tribes, and decide instead to eat at Junior’s in Time Square which is just right across from the theatre that we just came out of.   I prefer the atmosphere of the one in Brooklyn better – and the prices.  We get mass quantities of food – HUGE portions (who got what), and Becki gets blueberry cheesecake, while BP and I split an “original” in our attempt to be purists..   It is SO good, we’re both thinking that we should have gotten our own.  BP wants to lick the plate, or just move to NYC so that she can eat this all the time.   Becki has a cappuccino with her cheesecake, and the foam makes a little moustache – we call her CAP-stache (instead of “Black Stache” from Peter and the Starcather).  We’re clever like that.   And we learn that BM is very proud of herself for being able to keep up with the walking.   We’re proud of her too. 

We catch the train down to Tribes… we’re up in the Times Square area and Tribes is down in Greenwich village, we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to get down there.  The guy in the front lobby makes fun of us a little bit and says, “Wow you guys didn’t want to miss nuthin’ did you?”   We wander around Greenwich Village – and realize that we’re really close to Washington Square Park, the subway line that takes us back up the apt is right around the corner, so we know where we need to go after the show (it’s the same place that we came when we came to Washington Square Park on Tuesday).   Who knew that Tribes was right around the corner?

We go in and get our seats – and we thought that all of the seats were in the round around the stage, only 4 rows deep on all four sides, and the stage is only about 25 square feet (all of that is true), but there is also a Mezzanine area, and that’s where we are.  We’re right above the stage, and the Mezzanine is only two rows deep, and we’re in the first row.  We rest our arms on the railing and look right into the stage.  

The show itself was great!  The script is not just a typically black/white kind of issue that you see on most shows that talk about what it’s like to be Deaf.  It’s about a family of intellectuals that have an adult Deaf son who they have raised without sign language.  He speaks and reads lips, but obviously feels left out of the family discussions which get quite deep, and when he asks what they’re talking about he’s told it’s about “a book”… He goes to a party and meets a CODA who signs – he likes her but he doesn’t understand her.  She is going (has gone) deaf herself and it still trying to get by on her limited hearing, but doesn’t read lips very well.   They’re intrigued by each other and after dating for while she comes to meet the family.  They’re very upset that she’s teaching him sign language, and they have a great discussion about the hierarchy of the Deaf community – she explains that their son gains points for being Deaf since birth, but loses points for having a hearing family and learning to sign late… while she gains a lot of points for having Deaf parents and being fluent in sign, but loses points because she’s not Deaf since birth.   Eventually the son decides that he doesn’t want to be a part of the family anymore because they have never shown an interest in learning sign or teaching him sign  - the high impact moment is when he’s now using only sign, and the girlfriend is interpreting to his family for him.   He says that all of their conversations are surface, “how’s work?  How’s school?... not discussions at the level that the rest of the family has – he tells his father that this is the most he’s ever listened to him.  And it’s because he’s not speaking.  He takes out his hearing aids and the family continues to argue with no sound.   Mare is great at the mother and her cry as he walks out is visceral.  He does come back and the family has learned their first sign… “Love”…   Very well done.

Curtain call time and they rotate and face all four sides of the stage, they turn toward us and we’re afraid he’s not going to see us up above him.   We are vigorously “deaf clapping”, and then he sees us!!   He looks up and gives us a little wink and signs “cool” to us… BM and Becki head down NOW, they want to be in the lobby and beat the crowd out the door.   They’re making another round on the curtain call, and this time when he comes around he looks right at us and waves.   We are stoked!  

Dana, BP and I finally get out the lobby – it was slow going.  And just as we get out there, he’s coming out already!   We ask for autographs and pictures – and we take video.  Dana is our camera man for the night J.   We talk to him about the complexity of the show, he asks about what we’re doing in NY and suggests that we go to Coney Island for a day (dang!).  I tell him that I noticed that there was little mistake during the show when he signed something that the girlfriend was supposed to be voicing, and she voiced the wrong thing.  He caught it and repeated it to her – he just laughed, and said, “Of course you caught that – you know the language” (like dang! We were caught!)… he’s so nice to us and he even says that if his mother weren’t in town we could go out for drinks.   UGH.  BMc is SO mad at his mother right now… we could have been out with Russell!    I ask Russell if Mare still signs and he gave us a coy look and said to ask her… we will, but I take that as a no.   There are other ladies that are wanting to talk to him too, but they don’t sign – so Russell asks Brittany if she would mind interpreting… WHAT???  MIND??!?!   She’s trying to hold in the crazy excitement – but she’s interpreting for and voicing for Russell.   He asks how long she’s been signing and he’s amazed when she says just two years.   We learn that the show pays for his rent, and only for him and two other actors (we’re assuming Mare and Jeff Perry).

Mare has been standing behind us chatting with other people the whole time and I really want to talk to her too, so I’m torn.  We say our goodbyes to Russell, and BMc is OVER THE MOON with crazy happy feelings because he uses her name (he remembered it over a 20 minute period).    We start talking to Mare, and she is the nicest and most normal person to talk to ever.  I tell her that we’re sign language interpreters and so we’re really familiar with her work on “Love is Never Silent” – and I say that it’s truly the best Deaf movie ever made (truly) – anyone who hasn’t seen it needs to see!   We compliment her sign skills, her prosody and production are spot on, she looks like a natural (and that’s not easy at all)!   So I ask if she still knows any sign, and she said that she just learned it scene to scene – she never really knew it.   And Lou Fant was her sign language coach.   He worked with her in her dressing room, teaching her the signs (while she was breast feeding because she had just had a baby), and she’s so glad to hear that it looked good because she was paranoid about that.   I tell her that she should watch it again, that it’s available on DVD now, that before all we had was the grainy VHS copy, and she says that what SHE has too!  She would love to have it on DVD (we think that Hallmark should just give her one) – and Russell’s understudy (who is a CODA) was actually looking for it on Amazon but couldn’t find it.  We told her you have to get it from Hallmark.com – and she was excited because she wanted to get it and watch it with Russell!   What we hear is “understudy” and it never even occurred to us that we could have shown up and not see Russell.  There would have been tears.

We have crazy afterglow – our vacation is made.  Mission accomplished, everything else is gravy.  We call people and scream at them with excitement (you know who you are) and we blow up facebook with how excited we are.  I know all our hearing (non-terp) friends have no idea who he is.  But this is a big deal for us. 

We are up now!   Not tired at all!!   This is so much better than caffeine.  J   We get the train back to the apt and we stay outside in the plaza and have frozen drinks and rehash our night.  We have some REALLY loud people sitting directly behind us, they are shouting dramatic things, our favorite is “Oh no, Dionne does not EVEN count!”… that’s right, you tell ‘em.   BP is just full of the feeling and we’re talking about the famous people that we saw, beside Russell and Mare, we saw Judith Light who was there to see her friend Mare in the show… and Jeff Perry (he played Meredith’s father on Grey’s Anatomy, and he was the President’s brother on Prison Break).  BP says, “I don’t think I can handle this much famous.”

   Back up in the apt I transfer pics, process video, finish Tuesday’s blog, start Wednesday’s blog and head to bed at 3:00am.    Normally when we do this we have some down time in the afternoon for me to put things together and bounce ideas off of other people – but with our schedule, we’ve been getting up early and staying out fairly late.  By the time we get back everyone is read y for bed and I’m blogging by streetlights.    And tmw we’re going down to the Today show early…  so we’ll see how that goes.  I let video continue to upload overnight – it takes forever!   But soon we will have video of the night to share. 

We had some technical difficulties loading pictures today... but we figure that we posted them all on facebook already.  :)   The link to the first video is up, and it's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5CFUCTYJVY&feature=youtu.be