Equus

I'm afraid it's going to be difficult to describe this, but I'm going to try.  I got home this afternoon from my very quick trip to New York to see Equus.  Shannon and I flew out yesterday morning - very early yesterday morning - and arrived in the early afternoon.  We got a cab to the West Side YMCA, where we had arranged to stay for the night.  Yeah, we were going for inexpensive rather than luxurious.  It wasn't really as bad as I was afraid it would be, although it was my first experience using a shared bathroom since my time in the dorms at college! 

Anyway, we got there and decided to go ahead and dress for the play and go explore before dinner.  We walked around a bit and took the subway to Times Square.  I was pretty proud of us, actually - some guy came up and asked us a question about the subway... I guess we looked like we belonged there or something!  At the time, we didn't know the answer to his question, which happened to be our question, but when Shannon found the train we were looking for, I went back and told the guy what we discovered. 

I love New York.  The energy, the people, the buildings... there's just something amazing about the city.  I want to spend more time there, to really experience the city more.  One day I'll go back.  It was interesting because while we were walking around and I was taking in all the sights, I kept thinking about being a senior in high school and making plans with my friend Jamie to move to New York for college.  I was going to go to Julliard and he was going to go to NYU.  I gave up on that for a guy, and I regret it now, more than I can say.  Know what's funny?  He lives in New York now.  He's the artist he always wanted to be.  I think that's amazing, especially since I'm still where I've always been.  It kind of made me sad, you know?  

So anyway, back to the trip... we walked around some, looking for a restaurant.  We had tossed around the idea of Thai, but as we walked toward the theatre, Shannon saw a restaurant she was familiar with, so we went there.  It was wonderful - great Italian food and a friendly atmosphere.  Since we didn't have a reservation, they needed the table at 5:30, so we finished up and went next door for an Irish coffee - which was great, by the way, and by the time we finished, it was time to head down to the theatre.  Keep in mind that this was my first experience seeing a play in New York.  The Broadhurst is so pretty inside - I really enjoyed just looking around before the play started.  But when it started... I couldn't look anywhere but the stage.

How to describe this play?  I'm not sure I can do it justice.  Daniel Radcliffe was, in a word, brilliant.  I didn't think of Harry Potter at all while watching the play, which is a good sign, but besides that, I really felt the character's struggles, really experienced the character's tragedy.  From the first moment until the last, I was totally involved in the story.  The play itself is so strange, but also strangely beautiful.  There were so many lines that just really spoke truth about life.  I love when that happens.  The other actors were amazing as well, and I would be remiss if I didn't say that.  The entire cast was amazing.  I also really enjoyed the technical aspects - the smoke, the lighting, the music, costumes, the music, the set, etc.  It was all so wonderful.  And so amazing to see real, professional theatre.  I haven't been able to see enough of that. 

So yeah, the play was wonderful and totally worth the trip.  We left the Y at 4:30 this morning and flew back.  I've never had a travel experience quite like it, but as we said goodbye, I told Shannon if she ever wants to see anything else, I'm totally ready to go.  I hope we can do it again sometime.