New York City: great shows and food, food, food!

Our little group has been to Marea, located at 240 Central Park South, so many years that I bet they think of us as “regulars.” The food is coastal Italian and it’s currently rated as a Michelin “Recommended” restaurant. Here we are, from left, John and Margie Gill, Kenneth and Jane Creed, Alan Carmichael and me. (It’s the same table we had the last time we visited!)

Just look at these great entrees that Alan and I enjoyed. Alan had the halibut, top. And I ordered the gnocchetti because how can you go wrong with shrimp and pasta? They both were fabulous.

Some of the desserts. Clockwise, from top: Margie’s Meyer lemon tart, Alan’s three kinds of gelati (vanilla, salted honeycomb, and white coffee-stracciatella), and John’s bomboloni with chocolate sauce.

Another fun Italian experience we had was at Trattori Trecolori, where the whole group gathered for lunch on one of our days in NYC. It’s located at 254 W. 47h Street.

A buffet was set up with several of the best items on the menu and we all helped ourselves. Wine and beer were included. (And milk!)

Here are Jimmy and Vickie Duncan in the line.

From left, Gary and Julia Bentley with David Ratliff, audience experience manager for the Clarence Brown Theatre.

Here’s what an average plate looked like!

John and Margie Gill with Neno Russell, at right. Russell, an associate professor, is director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Theatre. Looks like they are having fun!

Jimmy Duncan with Becky Fuller.

Here’s Shelly Payne, the external relations manager at Clarence Brown Theatre. She’s the saint who has to corral all of us this entire long weekend. I wouldn’t do it for a million bucks! Look at all those tickets she has to keep straight and distribute!

I think it’s fun just walking the streets of New York as we scurry between plays and meals.

Yep!

Alan and I have found a sweet little lunch spot near our hotel in the Theater District. It’s called the West Bank Cafe, located at 407 W. 42nd Street.

I had cream of chicken soup, which was the daily soup special, left; Alan had a chicken salad sandwich; but the best thing of all was their “world famous” risotto balls: wild mushroom risotto balls, dusted in
Parmesan and served with a truffle aioli. Awesome! Try it next time you are in NYC. Very reasonable prices, too.

Ha! Loved another customer’s t-shirt.

And the eatery’s iconic logo on the wall.

Another recognizable street scene.

Here’s the set of “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)” at the Longacre Theatre, 220 W. 48th St.

Even though the two main characters were played by the understudies the night we were there, this was still my favorite play of the trip. Here are Vincent Michael and Phoenix Best during the curtain call.

Back at our home base at the Intercontinental Hotel Times Square, Clarence Brown folks invited everyone to an upstairs suite to discuss the play. From left, Becky Fuller, Ken Martin, and Margie Nichols Gill. Ken is artistic director of the Clarence Brown Theatre and head of the Department of Theatre.

This year I believe we had the largest group since we’ve been going on these trips for almost a decade. There were more than 70 of us, including CBT staff members and students.

By far the most elegant (and expensive) restaurant we enjoyed this trip was Gabriel Kreuther, a contemporary French-American and Alsatian restaurant in Midtown Manhattan. It holds a two Michelin Star-rating. We were among the first to get there one evening prior to a show.

Our dinner companions at Gabriel Kreuther: Margie and John Gill.

Holy cow! Just look at all this! (Our friend Scott Bird loves what we call “tweezer food.” He would have been in heaven!)

Two more!

The desserts!

Another view of the lovely interior of Gabriel Kreuther after more customers arrived.

Alan in front of the Booth Theatre, 222 W. 45th Street, for the play, “Proof.”

The set of “Proof,” a drama about mathematical genius and mental illness. We liked it, although the Tony nominators apparently did not.

Curtain call at “Proof.” From left, Kara Young, Jin Ha, Ayo Edebiri, and Don Cheadle.

After all the fancy food on the trip so far, we decided to go to Junior’s Famous Cheesecake, whose slogan is “Most Fabulous Restaurant!”

We were joined by our friends Mark and Amanda Jennings. Amanda was a superstar at Moxley Carmichael more than a decade ago, starting as an intern and leaving five years later as a senior account executive. She works in New York City now and we are still big fans of hers. Love Mark, too, who is a graduate of UT’s theater program.

Whereas I couldn’t tell you some of the fancy foods we had at other places on this trip, I can easily identify what we ordered at Junior’s! I had the matzo ball soup and Alan had a cheeseburger!And — paper napkins for a change! Ha.

We weren’t the only ones there at 11 p.m.!

One of our “must go to” restaurants on these trips is Marseille, just down the block from our hotel.

Jimmy and Vickie Duncan accompanied us.

Vickie won the prize for the best order with her French toast!

My eggs Benedict weren’t bad either!

Our final play was “The Lost Boys” at the Palace Theatre, 160 W. 47th Street.

Here’s my takeaway from the horror story: Vampires have no redeeming social value. None!

Some of our compatriots from Knoxville: Nancy Voith, seated; Kenneth Stark; and Jane Creed.

It was a large cast, as you can see from the curtain call.

One of the traditions on this trip is a gathering of our group with some UT Theatre alums living in New York. This year the gathering was at St. Patrick’s Bar & Grill, 22 W. 46th St. From left, John Gill, Michael Jordan, Margie Nichols Gill, Julia and Gary Bentley.

Nancy Voith and Kenneth Stark.

From left: Julie Howard, Kenneth Creed, Ken Martin, Margie and John Gill, Jane Creed, and Ted Flickinger.

Amanda and Mark Jennings with Becky Fuller, right.

It was a great place to mingle.

Until we noticed this! Turns out St. Pat’s is the official New York bar of Auburn University! Boo!

Back on the street, we crossed through Times Square on the way to our next stop! Greetings from King Kong!

And Lady Liberty!

I just love this place!

The things you pass in the windows are amazing!

Lots of pizza!

And pastries!

And even pretzels! Lord, it’s hard to resist!

Here’s where we were headed. The legendary Birdland jazz club. We try to go every time we are in New York City. Bonus: It’s right across the street from our hotel.

The headliner was Joao Bosco, a Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist. With a career spanning more than five decades, he was named #63 of the “100 Greatest Brazilian Music Artists of All Time” by Rolling Stone Brazil in 2008.

He was joined by clarinetist Anat Cohen, whom we saw perform with the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra last year and loved.

John Pizzarelli, a world renowned American jazz guitarist and vocalist who has performed with the KJO several times, was in the audience. He generously agreed to pose with Alan. (Sorry for the blurry photo. I was trying not to take too much of his time!)