Takin' the Rockaway Ferry to See "Piece of My Heart" - and a Met Game with Old Pals

Thurs, July 31, 1PM

Go see a great show - was available on TDF.

Bathing Beauty sea sirens at RTC pool party looking to drag guys into water - they all happen to play strippers in Gypsy.

I am just back from the theater where Tony had me build a ladder for the upcoming Godspell. When the actors fall off during the show, my name is on the ladder.

I've had a fun few days. After taping the Sunday Gypsy performance I went to the cast party at the home of one of the volunteers and had a wonderful time -- as you can see from the pic above - hanging with RTC people is a very different environment from what I am used to. Many of them are teachers, but... their major interest is in the theater, not union politics. A great break for me.

This morning I chatted with Arthur Goldstein who is heading to Chicago tomorrow for the national conference of what I'll term - alternate teacher unionism. I'm not going because I chose to go to the AFT convention as my one trip this summer - mainly because so few MOREistas went there and so many are going to Chicago. We have a great group going and can't wait for reports.

Yesterday we took the fabulous, soon to be defunct, Rockaway ferry to 34 St, a restaurant week lunch at a fancy French place on 9th Ave and 44th (I would have preferred Shake Shack), and the matinee of a great show, Piece of My Heart at the interesting Signature theater on 42nd and 10th Av.

I'm not a big musical fan - though being in 2 musicals at the RTC has given me a new appreciation - but after reading about Burt Burns in a NY Times article 2 weeks ago, I wanted to see the new play about him that opened recently.I loved every minute of it -- while they didn't do his most famous Motown songs, they did do Shake It Up Baby and closed with Piece of My Heart, which Joplin made famous. Monday night I took my wife's cousin Danny to the Met game because he wanted to see City Field. Ed Beller got the tickets for Ellen Fox and James and Camille Eterno, who took an evening off from their new baby. Ed was a New Action guy - see - ICE/MORE and New Action can have a fun night out together.

Contemplating the lunch bill at French restaurant

Ellen, Ed, Camille and James - Camille keeps looking younger with every kid she has.

The game was bad - they lost 6-0. (I am a Yankee - first and Mets - second fan and root for both.) On the way home Danny, who is 27, wanted to talk about Israel. Oy!

Dan took this to prove I was there

And some pics from the ferry -