New York City is always a great place to go for red carpet events, theater, restaurants and just hanging out in general. A weekend in New York this time turned into one of the most memorable of all times. I was joined by six of my fantastic female friends, five from Chicago and one from Atlanta. We met on Friday, April 11, 2014 with plans for our first night of theater to see Denzel Washington in A Raisin in the Sun at the Barrymore Theater on West 47th Street. We met for lunch at Virgil's for some down-home barbeque, followed by a trip to the theater to secure our tickets before showtime. Upon arriving at the box office we noticed a flurry of activity on the street and wondered what was going on. Being the inquiring ladies that we are, we asked a security guard what was up and he informed us that "the President and First Lady are coming to the show tonight". Okay, after we regained our composure looked at each other in disbelief at our good fortune, we raced back to the St. Regis Hotel to change into our theater outfits, anticipating that our evening at the theater would require more than the average jockeying in line to get to our seats. There was going to be a lot of security checks in order to get seated on time. We were not wrong in that observation. West 47th was closed between 7th and 8th Avenue and we had to walk to 46th and down to 8th and 47th where a security check was installed. Once through that checkpoint, the entrance to the theater had medal detectors with TSA style security checks complete with bag checks, wans and pat downs.
Once in the theater, I was thrilled to find my center orchestra isle seat in the fifth row (thanks to my friend September who is a friend of the director of A Raisin in the Sun) Kenny Leon. You could feel the anticipation from the audience just waiting for the Obama appearance. My friend Chili and I tried to guess where the President was going to sit. After looking around the theater, the only seats that appeared to be vacant were part of the next three rows in front of us. Chili said he's going to sit here. I said "no way". Right on schedule at 8:00 p.m. the announcement that the show was about to begin and to make sure cellphones were off, the houselights went down and the side door in the back opened and in strode Obama and his entourage of Secret Service. As the President and First Lady passed in front of me, I was able to shake his hand before and he proceeded to sit in the isle seat two rows in front of me. We were separated by three Secret Service Agents who took the seats behind him. You could have wiped me off the floor. I was stunned. Here I am sharing a date night with the Obamas.
During Intermission, the President and First Lady went backstage to meet the cast. After the performance during curtain call, Denzel tipped his hat to the President. Not only did I get to see Denzel on Broadway, but I can officially say that I shared a date night with the President and First Lady of the United States.
The President and Mrs. Obama backstage during intermission at A Raisin In the Sun on April 11, 2014
(Photo courtesy People Magazine)
The President and First Lady arrive in New York for date night at A Raisin in the Sun
(Photo courtesy of NYdailynews.com)
The President and First Lady return to Washington after attending A Raisin in the Sun
(Photo courtesy blogs.wsj.com)
The Barrymore Theater ready for the President and First Lady date night
(Photo courtesy pix11.com)
The cast takes a curtain call after a performance of A Raisin in the Sun
(Photo courtesy atlantablackstar.com)
The next day we lunched at the ultra sophisticated Bergdorf Goodman restaurant with great views of Central Park. We reviewed our previous evening and made plans for our second evening at the theater to see Motown the Musical.
But first of course we couldn't visit BG's without doing a little shopping. Off to the shoe department for some shoe porn.
Christian Louboutin
Giuseppe Zanotti
Okay enough of that!
Motown the Musical at the Lunt-Fontaine Theater was a complete blast. Dancing in our seats to Dancing in the Street and all the other tunes from Motown that brought back memories and was the soundtrack of our lives. The cast was magnificent. Krystal Joy Brown seemed to be channeling Diana Ross. I later learned that she replaced the original star, Valisia LeKae who originated the role and was nominated for a Tony Award. Valisia left the show in December after a diagnosis of ovarian cancer. Krystal took over the role on Janaury 24, 2014 from Felicia Boswell who stepped in while Valisia was on vacation last fall and previous to her diagnosis.
Valisia LeKae as Diana Ross
Valisia LeKae
Krystal Joy Brown
Felicia Boswell
