While I am thinking of Manhattan, we made two days into theatrical events, which is appropriate when we have Broadway as a focal point.

One morning we started off with a trip to Ellis Island, which is a marvelous tourist destination, especially if your family is not entrenched for many generations in the United States.  We had theater ticket to see Gore Vidal’s Best Man, which was a revival with a limited run, because it was a presidential election year.  I had seen the movie production of this play starring Henry Fonda.   This revival had an all star cast, and there was one scene that I shall never forget (unscripted).   Chris Noth (of Law and Order and Sex in the City) was delivering his lines, when someone in the audience had their cell phone on and it rang.  He stopped in the middle of his delivery, stared out into the audience in the vicinity of the phone, and gave a “death stare” worthy of Darth Vader, then proceeded with the play.

We made reservations at the historic 21 Club for a special “pre show rush” dinner.  The 21 Club goes back into the deep history of New York during the Prohibition Era.  As you walk up to the restaurant, there are (I believe) 21 mannequins (statues) dressed in the bright “silks” of legendary jockeys.  It is quite a façade for a restaurant, and one that cannot be forgotten.  I do not have the menu for the dinner, but I do remember having champagne with dinner to go with the “Broadway” theme of the evening.

After the show we did an “afterglow” at another legendary Prohibition Era institution of Broadway.  We went to Sardi’s, which is a location that all performers wish to be enshrined at.   The walls are covered with framed caricatures of the famous that have dined at Sardi’s.  We were at the bar and enjoyed some more Champagne to finish off the night.  I even bought a book, that gave the history of the establishment and showed most (if not all at time of publication) of the drawings that adorned the walls.  It was most enjoyable just to walk around and look at the pictures.