Tag: Lincoln Center

Oh Hell!: The Devil And Billy Markham by Shel Silverstein, Billy Gould In Hell by David Mamet, Lincoln Center, Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 26 November 1989

It’s very clear from my log that I went to the theatre (or, as they say in the USA, theater) on the Sunday. Not something that can be done in London much – most theatres in London close on a Sunday. I think I went to a matinee or perhaps they just do the one late afternoon/early evening showing on a Sunday. I think this because I have a feeling that I met up with someone for dinner that evening as well; I think a second evening with Jane Lewis and I think it was the Louisiana-style restaurant in Alphabet City mentioned in Part One of my New York story…

My First Visit To The USA Part One: New York, c19 to 22 November 1989

…which rather begs the question, where and what did Jane and I eat on the first evening? Something mid-town and reasonably trendy at the time, I suspect.

But returning to the Lincoln Centre production…

…the theatrical production I chose was a good one. A double bill of short plays; one by Shel Silverstein, The Devil And Billy Markham, which was a musical monolgue performed by Dennis Locorriere of Dr Hook fame.

Locorriere was a superb performer. The Devil And Billy Markham had started life as a Shel Silverstein story in Playboy, which Silverstein adapted as a monolgue for this production.

Below is a video of Dennis Locorriere performing another Shel Silverstein piece, Carry Me, Carrie:

Below is a video of a subsequent performance of The Devil And Billy Markham by an unknown (to me) performer, doing it rather well, but not quite as captivating as Locorriere:

The second play was a David Mamet play, Bobby Gould In Hell, perhaps not Mamet’s best or most profound work but it was interesting and enjoyable. The character Bobby Gould originally appeared in Speed The Plow, which I had seen earlier that year in London:

Speed-the-Plow by David Mamet, Lyttelton Theatre, 4 March 1989

The conceit of this “sequel” play is that Bobby Gould has gone to hell and is being interrogated.

Gregory Mosher, the director of both pieces, is a doyen of both the Lincoln Center and David Mamet’s work, so I was certainly in the hands of the right chap for this visit.

Treat Williams, Steven Goldstein, Felicity Huffman and William H Macy were a very sound headlining cast for the Bobby Gould piece – the latter two it seems went on to become a celebrity couple some years after this production. Who knew?

Ironically, I learn that Felicity Huffman has recently (he says writing in the autumn of 2019) spent time in prison after admitting involvement in part of a college admissions bribery scandal this year, in respect of SAT scores for her and Macy’s daughter. A more Mamet-like, Speed The Plow-like true story I find hard to envisage.

But back in 1989, I remember very much liking both short plays and indeed enjoying the whole experience of seeing some theatre in New York.

I also liked living just a few blocks away from The Lincoln Center – W70th between Broadway and Columbus proved to be a decidedly suitable address for me, even if it was just for a week or so.

Here’s a review from the Central new Jersey Home News:

Central New Jersey Home NewsCentral New Jersey Home News Thu, Dec 7, 1989 – 48 · The Central New Jersey Home News (New Brunswick, New Jersey) · Newspapers.com

Here’s a review from The Record in hackensack:

The Record HackensackThe Record Hackensack Wed, Nov 29, 1989 – 46 · The Record (Hackensack, New Jersey) · Newspapers.com

Zubin Mehta & The New York Philharmonic Orchestra & Moose, Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York, 24 November 1989

The background to my 1989 sojourn to the USA is provided in an earlier piece – click here or below:

My First Visit To The USA Part One: New York, c19 to 22 November 1989

But while I lack a travel log for this holiday, I can fall back on my theatres and concerts log for the centrepiece of this day, the day after Thanksgiving – now known as Black Friday -was that “a thing” back then – I don’t recall hearing the term. Anyway, my log says:

Great gig on a Friday afternoon. Only 12 days after I met Rita. Moose had spent a couple of days schlepping around New York with me, so I treated her to this concert by way of a thank you.

I have described the evening I met Rita Frank in this piece – click here or below:

An Unexpected Evening At The Barbican During Which I Heard Sibelius, Met Rita Frank & Experienced Driving In Dense London Fog, 12 November 1989

I have also described Rita’s daughter, Mara Frank’s, informal New York tour guide role in the “Part One” piece linked above. All that remains to explain is that Mara was known as Moose back then. Possibly still is. I’ll try and find out, as I have managed to track her down and we are communicating over these pieces.

Anyway, point is…well, exactly the point I made on the log. I wanted to see stuff at the Lincoln Centre before I left New York and spotted that there was good availability of tickets over that holiday weekend.

The chance to see Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in New York seemed too good to miss. I thought Mara (Moose) might enjoy seeing them too.

Here is a recording of Zubin Mehta & The New York Philharmonic Orchestra playing the very Vivaldi piece we heard in the very Lincoln Centre in which we heard it – albeit the recording has sightly more high falutin’ soloisti:

It was a super concert that afternoon and I think Moose enjoyed it. But possibly she didn’t – she’d have been far too polite to say if she hadn’t liked it. Mara, if by any chance you remember, you can tell me truthfully now.

Subsequently, when she came to live in London, I discovered that Mara was a keen fan of Dr Demento. Moose and I spent many happy, silly hours listening to her Dr Demento tapes. But Moose is probably blissfully unaware of my own massive novelty song canon, as I think she had returned to the USA before my NewsRevue writing career started, in 1992. NewsRevue is explained in the anniversary piece – click here or below:

NewsRevue 40th Anniversary Party, Show & Smoker, Canal Cafe Theatre, 18 August 2019

Moose might like the following one of mine, for example, just one of several hundred such ditties:

White House, NewsRevue Lyric, 8 November 1992

But Dr Demento (and Newsrevue) stuff is a far cry from Zubin Mehta and the New York Phil…but then, I like all sorts of music – Moose might also like both. In fact, now I come to think of it, John Random is a doyen of NewsRevue writers/lyricists and he is an avid fan of Zubin Mehta.

But back to Black Friday 1989: that was an afternoon concert and I’m pretty sure Mara and I spent at least the early part of the evening together too. This might have been the occasion when she insisted on buying me Godiva chocolates (mentioned in the Part One piece).

I also recall being scammed by a fast-talking sob-story merchant. It’s hard to imagine falling for one of those, but we didn’t have them in London back then (or at least young folk like me didn’t encounter them) so I fell for the “just need my train fare” story and gave him a couple of bucks.

He’ll be a junky and the bucks will be spent on drugs, not transport…

…said Mara.

I don’t fall for those any more.

I think Mara and I had a bite to eat together and I think this was the last I saw of her until she came to London for her placement the following year. But I’m happy to stand corrected if my memory has missed or confused these details.

As a musical aside, I remember thinking the concert an ideal choice for Moose, as it had some Sibelius in it and Sibelius had been the centre-piece of the concert at which I had met Rita.

I cannot find Zubin Mehta conducting Sibelius, but I have found one of the first ever filmed concerts at the Lincoln Centre, from the early 1960’s, with Leonard Bernstein conducting Finlandia, the very piece of Sibelius we heard. It is actually a very fine performance and also a rather splendid piece of historic concert filming: