broadway under the stars

Ah....another random, wonderful night in NYC. Last week, while riding home on the subway, I ran into John. John is a boy from Ohio that I did a production of "Oliver!" with ten years ago. He and I exchanged numbers and vowed to get together. (Fast forward to last night.) John and his friend Adam (who is also from Ohio, and I randomly did a production of "Grease" with about five years ago) and I got together and headed to the Great Lawn in Central Park to see "Broadway Under the Stars". This show is a free concert where current Broadway performers do numbers. The theme last night was a tribute to legendary Director/Producer Hal Prince, and included numbers from his shows. It was so much fun! Although it threatened rain the whole evening, it never came. We saw amongst 5,000 people watching number after number. The highlight for me was the Jersey Boys performing a doo-wop version of "All I Ask of You" from "Phantom of the Opera". It was super trippy, but fabulous. So, we get to the end of the show, and who should walk out on stage but Liza Minnelli. I sat there with my jaw dropped in awe. It was an unbelievable moment. Unbeknownst to me, Hal Prince was there that night, he came up on stage, he gave a little speech and they presented him with a park bench. It was unbelievable!
After the show, John, Adam and I headed to a late night dinner at Pizzaria Uno's. (It's no Bexley Pizza Plus, but I do LOVE the Spinnocoli pizza.) We talked forever....and I didn't get home until well after midnight, which for me on a Monday is pretty much unheard of. It was all-in-all a lovely evening. And best of all....it was just so New York to go see an incredible free musical show in the park!

photo credit: www.womanrock.com