Sunset Blvd. & Joe Allen
I’ve been meeting the most interesting New Yorkers lately: at the bar at Sardi’s, on a crowded bus, over the phone at Bottlerocket! While the city has been packed as of late (hello, one billion tourists in Midtown currently), I’m finding that if you try and slow down and engage with the people you interact with on the regular, you’re bound to have a conversation with someone worth telling everyone about. More on those convos to come, I’m sure! This week, I’ve got a rec that floored me, and somewhere you can go before or after for a perfect New York night on the town.
Holy shit, this show! You’ve probably seen or heard about Nicole Scherzinger’s jaw-dropping performance in this Broadway revival and I’m here to let you know, it’s all true. Maybe like me, you didn’t really have an opinion of Nicole Scherzinger. I knew she was a pop star and famous, sure, but I’d guess many people questioned her casting because of those reasons. But my god, was she sensational. When I tell you I was weeping, I was weeping. Actually, after we left the theatre my husband was like, “Are you ok? I’ve never seen you like that.” That’s how good she was. Now comes the time when I tell you, this is an Andrew Lloyd Weber musical. While they’ve done a great job with production design, this just isn’t my type of show in general. So, really, I think that should convince you all the more to get tickets ASAP.
The ongoing issue of where to eat pre or post-theatre in Times Square plagues us all. Sometimes I try to convince myself that I can just eat near Flatiron and quickly jump on the train a few stops, but it always leads to anxiety about curtain time. I’ve found the path of least resistance is to just give in to it all and eat nearby. Enter (you see what I did there), Joe Allen. A Theatre District institution open since 1965, this is a place I actually enjoy going to. It’s my go-to anytime I’m in the area, and you’d never guess it; my favorite spot is at the bar. But I’ve also been with large groups at a table in the back, with parent’s friends in the front, and so on. Their American-leaning menu isn’t intimidating and their drinks are cold and served swiftly. Plus, the room just feels so great: buzzy, brick-lined walls, filled with people who care about live performance still. It’s the perfect spot to grab some martinis before heading off to sob in the dark with 1,700 strangers.
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