The Wearin' o' the Green

Marin and Charlie are desperately seeking a reasonable bedtime. Charlie has been showing a preference for sleeping during the day, and rocking and rolling all night long. Today, we decided to stay awake by watching the Saint Patrick's Day parade on Fifth Avenue.


According to the Today Show, there were 2 million people watching the parade this year.

Is this Charlie on the shoulders of a very old woman? Actually, no. This is what Marin looks like the morning after Charlie decides to sing "The Wheels on the Bus" all night. The effect is not improved by Marin's one-handed, point-at-yourself photography skills.

There were probably better bands than the NYPD marching band and bagpipers, but these guys definitely got the most applause.

After about an hour of parade watching, we decided to take a break, so we sauntered over to Rockefeller Center to join Gil for lunch. In the plaza, Charlie discovered yet another surface upon which he could push his train.

The most crowded area was right outside St. Patrick's Cathedral. Makes sense.

After we'd had enough crowds and bagpipes, it was off to the playground to enjoy the nice weather. We could still hear the music and the cheering drifting over the river.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Billy Elliot!

Gil here. Marin's uncle Tod came to town and treated us to a show. "Billy Elliot" is one of the most popular shows in town right now, and a Thursday night in February during a recession creates a perfect storm for ticket availability. We totally lucked out, getting the tickets the same day.

The musical "Billy Elliot" is set in England during the coal miner's strike--the longest (and unsuccessful) labor strike in England's history. One of the striking miner's sons decides to become a ballet dancer and it turns out he is awesome. He goes on to gain admission to the Royal Ballet School in London. It turns out the show calls for a 10-13 year-old triple threat (singer, dancer, and actor rolled into one). The dancing is especially important because the storyline revolves around the kid being a ballet virtuoso.

Because Broadway has somewhat strict labor laws for child actor's, there are three "Billy Elliot" characters who rotate through the cast. Because Billy Elliot has already sold more than $10 million in advance sales, the show is going to run for a long time. Combined with the fact that any of the boys could get injured, braces, sick, or worse, hit puberty, there are a host of backup "Billy Elliot" characters ready to go. Here are the current three leads. We saw the one on the far left--who has aged more than Obama since November (catch the New York Times reference? See here).

In January, we saw the closing night of "Gypsy," with Patti LuPone, which was a total showcase of arguably the best broadway actress ever. It lived up to our expectations, possibly exceeded them (although "In The Heights "still takes the cake). However, the child actor in "Billy Elliot" was showcased and paraded much more than Patti LuPone in "Gypsy," more than John Lloyd Young in "Jersey Boys" and more than Lin-Manuel Miranda in "In The Heights." He will never be featured like that again in his entire career. Shows aren't written to showcase an actor like that.

I'm sure the three boys careers are going to be fine, but they are never going to be so central to a show again. Ever. I'm glad I could see it.

Disclaimer: for my Utah friends, the language might be somewhat overwhelming. Not nearly as bad as "Jersey Boys," but not nearly as family friendly as "In The Heights."

Lunch at Lombardi's

One nice thing about Marin's sister getting a boyfriend in New York is the fact that Marin gets twice as many visits. She came out for a short weekend, and we all went to lunch at Lombardi's in Little Italy. It was the best New York pizza we've had in the city so far.

Then on Saturday night, we had a free babysitter for our date to see a barbershop chorus concert in the Salvation Army concert hall (think BYU Mens Chorus plus 30+ years and a bunch of costume changes).

All Set for Lent

Gil surprised Marin with a Mardi Gras party on Tuesday night. He brought home a big bag of Louisiana barbeque (or as close as you can find in New York City), beads, and a cd of New Orleans jazz. It totally livened up an otherwise uneventful day.

Charlie was cool with being stripped down for eating the messy food, but he was not a fan of the Mardi Gras beads. Another photo opp bites the dust. In the upper right corner of the photo, you can see the tiny plastic baby. Supposedly this baby is baked into a cake and whoever finds it wins something. We didn't have a cake so it was pretty easy to find. It has been consumed by the vacuum cleaner since then.

The menu: Pork ribs, pulled pork, mac and cheese, collard greens, and corn bread. Gil went a little off-theme to get cookies from Magnolia Bakery for dessert.