Pix from New York City

I originally posted a few pictures from the NYC trip (see May 25, 31 and June 5) and I said I'd post more. Well - here they are ('cause I knew you were foaming at the mouth to see these...am I right, huh, huh?).

Tulips in the Shakespeare Gardens - 4 acres reserved for "quiet time alone".

View of The Great Lawn from the highest point of Belvedere Castle.

Angel of the Waters Fountain (Bethesda Angel - 1868) - South End of Central Park.

Tony Clements and I go way back to high school in Waterford. We worked on the school paper - he used to have layout parties at his house (he was editor his senior year, then I replaced him the next year). Kick ass layout parties (that's all I can really say - what's the statute of limitations on....oh, forget it).

Great actor, singer, musician, musical theater playwright. He and his partner, Rob, live on the Upper West Side - two blocks from Central Park, and Tony read in Stan's Addiction. I stayed with he and Rob for a couple days and they showed me around the city. Great tour guides. Tony and I sorta stayed in touch and kind of knew what we were each sorta doing - he was with one of the National Tours of Mama Mia for four years and doing other acting stuff in Milwaukee and I was in Iowa acting there. Anyway, we hooked up again and I'm very happy. There are people in your life that, if you never saw them again, no biggie. And there are people you wish you could see more often. Tony's one of those people.

So is Michael. Me with Michael Harrington (center), director of Stan's Addiction and John having a Guinness at some Irish pub. I met Mike back in Cedar Rapids when I first got into theatre. I think he was a freshman in high school at the time, but already a fantastic tapper and dancer. He just received his Masters at NYU in directing. Good man. Fun guy. And I believe he's gonna be a helluva director. It had been a few years since we had talked as well (before this play reading came up). So, I'm glad the play brought us back together. Thank you, Michael.
The cast of Stan's Addiction outside the Manhattan Theatre Source in Greenwich Village (the East Village). The woman is Elena Shaddow - Mike's wife, who is an up and coming Broadway theatre actress and singer, having starred or performed in several Broadway shows, and most recently the National Tour of The Light in the Piazza. I didn't get to chat with her as much as I would've liked but a nice girl.

My theater debut in Cedar Rapids at the Paramount Theatre for Follies...I had a picture taken in my tux in this exact same pose. That was 13 years ago - I haven't really changed much either. Huh.

Tony and Rob in Times Square .

Times Square. Bright. Crowded. Loud. Nuts. Chaotic. Exciting. Busy. It's a sight, that's for sure. But I could never stay down there long.