Jon McLaughlin at the Hamilton

What a great concert. Got a VIP pass. With that I got to see him before the concert started and even got to hear two songs that he didn't play in the concert.

The Hamilton is a great place for a concert. It was tables and you ordered dinner (which was great). Because we got in early we had great seats. Front and center.

Here's a video that I took at the concert.




This is one of the extra songs I got to hear having the VIP pass. Jon's a little in the dark. The next song they turned up the lights.

Charlie Brown, Baseball and Snoopy

Charles Schulz certainly enjoyed baseball. And he had many strips of Charlie Brown's trials and tribulations with the game. Here's something to bring a smile to your face this Tuesday.

The Peanuts Movie

What a wonderful movie. What a wonderful tribute to Charles Schulz. A very sweet and delightful movie. It brings to like all the vast array of Peanuts characters in a charming and loving way.

The story is:. The little red haired girl has moved into the neighborhood. Charlie Brown is smitten with her. He tries for the rest of the movie to try and get her to notice him. Not all of his attempts work out. In fact none of them work out the way Charlie Brown hopes that they will. He tries to impress her at a dance. He does very well until he slips and some how sets off the sprinkler system. He is assigned to work with her on a book report. She has to go and see a sick relative. Charlie Brown takes it on himself to write the report on War and Peace no less. And it goes from there.

There are the usual side plots with Snoopy taking on the Red Baron. Lucy giving out advice. Linus having problems with Sally.

Here’s a sampling of the reviews:

From USA Today:

You’re in a good movie, Charlie Brown!

Those who have seen the vintage Halloween and Christmas specials a bazillion times or are just finding out now what a Pigpen is will find something to adore about the clever and charming The Peanuts Movie (*** out of four; rated G; in theaters Friday nationwide). Director Steve Martino (Horton Hears a Who!) and producer Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) bring Snoopy, Peppermint Patty and all the gang to computer-generated 3-D life while never overshadowing the timeless quality of the late Charles M. Schulz’s comic-strip world.

Yahoo News:

Maybe the Peanuts gang hasn’t been on the big screen in decades because they’ve had so much success on the small one, with specials like “The Great Pumpkin” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas” that have been annual TV traditions since the 1960s.

Thankfully, “The Peanuts Movie” isn’t just a small-screen special writ large. The filmmakers take advantage of their cinematic scope with a bigger story, more sophisticated animation and effective use of 3-D that gives new depth to the Peanuts world. But the characters loved by generations of fans — Lucy, Linus, Snoopy, Woodstock and beloved blockhead Charlie Brown — are as charming and timeless as ever.

Washington Post:

Director Martino has captured the emotions that made “Peanuts” so meaningful, masterfully replicating Schulz’s hand-drawn expressions, including Charlie’s sighs, Sally’s smiles and the exasperated yells of Lucy (Hadley Belle Miller). The filmmakers also stay true to the timelessness of Schulz’s world. The only tweets come from Woodstock, and Linus (Alexander Garfin) grips his blanket instead of an iPhone. Schroeder (Noah Johnston) still plays Beethoven on his toy piano, and Lucy charges only five cents for advice.

Parents’ hearts will melt every time Sally (Mariel Sheets) lovingly calls Charlie “Big Brother,” and when Charlie — feeling dejected at his prospects — laments that he has no future with the Little Red-Haired Girl because “she’s something, and I’m nothing.” An entertaining combination of humor and tenderness.

I saw it in 3D. Mostly because the time worked for me because of the other things I did that day. But I’m glad I saw it in 3D. It brought a whole new perspective on the whole Peanuts gang. This is a wonderful, delightful and just plain fun movie. Go and enjoy. Make sure you stay until the end for a couple of additional treats from the film makers.

Final Pictures of the New York City Trip

Just a few of the goodies available from the place we had dinner.

After getting autographs from the Allegiance cast, we headed to the half price ticket booth.

We wanted to see Something Rotten. When we got to the window we were told they didn't have any tickets. We tried next for A Gentlemen's Guide to Love and Murder. We were told they had seats but not together. Then they said they had tickets to Something Rotten but again not together.

We took those since I'd seen Gentlemen's Guide. Something Rotten was absolutely hilarious. The row behind me was empty so at intermission Diane and I moved there. Really really enjoyed the show.

Next on the agenda was dinner. We decided since we had a big lunch to just have a sandwich. Found a nice place north of Times Square. Had a very nice dinner and split a piece of cheese cake.

We had a little time before the show so we went to Times Square to take some more pictures.

After the show it was off to the bus. And another amazing trip to New York drew to a close.

Outside of Allegiance

A few shots of the theater.

More from Allegiance — Getting Cast Autographs

Telly Leung who plays Sammy

Our seats were right by an exit and as we exited we were right by the stage door. So we got some really good pictures and many autographs. George Takei did not come out.

Telly heading our way.

Katie Rose Clark who plays Hannah

Michael K. Lee who plays Frankie

Lea Salonga who plays Kei

Christopheren Nomura who plays Tatsuo

Aaron J. Albano

Playing Catch Up

Jon at work at the piano

A great deal to catch up on. I've been busy. I have to do my final posts on the trip to New York.

The review of the Peanuts movie which I saw on Monday.

The visit to National Geographic which was also on Monday.

Then last night was the Jon McLaughlin concert at the Hamilton.

But that's what weekends are for.

I will say this the rest of the trip was great.

The Peanuts movie was wonderful.

Jon was fantastic. I did the VIP pass and got to meet him and listen to a couple of songs too!

Allegiance

What a spectacular show. Not exactly the theme for a musical but it was pulled off really well.

It deals with a very troubling and dark time in World War II that very few people know about. It shines a bright light on these events.

Imagine being told one day, that because you looked like people your country were at war with, your loyalty to your country was question. Imagine further, that your country decided in order to feel safe, you would be put in camps. Imagine being told to take only what you could carry. Imagine having to sell your property that you worked so hard to obtain for a fraction of what it was worth. Then you get an idea of what Allegiance is all about. The interment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

Here’s more about it from the review in USA Today:

Allegiance follows a fictional family, the Kimuras, who are forced off their Califiornia farm and into the Heart Mountain Relocation Center. “Where are we?” asks Ojii-Chan, the gentle patriarch, played by a sweetly mischievous Takei. “Wyoming,” responds his bright, sturdy granddaughter, Kei, portrayed with no-nonsense clarity by former Miss Saigon star Lea Salonga. “I not ask why,” Ojii-Chan counters. “I ask where.”

As Allegiance progresses, though, it comes to wear its sense of purpose more comfortably, even finding flashes of dark wit to mitigate the hokum. We’re introduced to Mike Masoaka, a real-life figure who as spokesman for the Japanese American Citizens League discouraged resistance to oppressive government policies. Played here by Greg Watanabe, he is abrasive but not unsympathetic; there are shades of self-recrimination in his shouting, near the end, to members of his broken community.

This from the Wrap:

Rather than focusing on the atrocities they suffer, “Allegiance” follows three men’s radically different responses to the crisis: Sammy Kimura (Telly Leung) enlists in the Army despite his family’s continued internment. Frankie Suzuki (the dynamic Michael K. Lee) turns rebel inside the camp. Most fascinatingly is the real-life Mike Masaoka (Greg Watanabe), who as a top official with the Japanese-American Citizens League, urged cooperation with the government and called for the creation of the Nisei 100th Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

That’s a lot of history to pack into a two-and-half-hour show, and yet the authors and the cast (under the sure-footed direction of Stafford Arima) never reduce “Allegiance” to a lecture.

But by far the best review comes from Rex Reed in the Observer:

This is a musical? You bet, and a darned passionate one, too. The carefully researched book by Marc Acito, Lorenzo Thione and Jay Kuo, who also supplied the soaring music and intelligent lyrics, collates years of events into a gripping trajectory, while the stirring score perfectly illustrates the action, seamlessly staged by director Stafford Arima. By 1944, to prove their loyalty and ease tensions for their struggling families, Sammy leads a group of Japanese-American boys who join the Army and form their own fighting unit.  (Others were unfairly drafted, even while their families were still jailed.) Dissent reigns, but Sammy fights to defend the honor of all Japanese-Americans back home while others, including his sister Kei’s boyfriend Frankie Suzuki (an equally fine Michael K. Lee), burn draft cards and are labeled draft dodgers, risking a conviction for treason. Lea Salonga, with a voice clear and as sparkling as Baccarat crystal, is the older sister who bridges the gap, maintains peace and stands up for a positive future.

 I'll have more on my thoughts about this incredible show and pictures of the cast in an upcoming post.

Lunch at Tony's Di Napoli

Tony's Di Napoli is one of my favorite places to eat.

But this lunch was nothing sort of amazing.

It was lobster ravioli. But not just ravioli. It had muscles. It had jumbo shrimp. It was one of the best lunches I've every had. Diane agreed with me.

In fact we both decided they could have brought out the sauce left on the plate and some bread and we would have had that for lunch.

Wow what a meal.

Everything is Awesome at the Lego Store

It is always a treat to visit the Lego store at Rockefeller Center.

I said to Diane it's amazing what Lego has been able to do. It is about as low tech of a toy as you could possible be and yet it does a massive business.

Getting the Tree Ready at Rockefeller Center

After our stop at the Marquis, we wondered over to Rockefeller Center. They were in the process of putting the tree up there. It will be lit on December 2.