The Saga Of David's Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                             Next to my late Uncle Tom, who was my godfather, David is the only New Years Baby I know.  So, it was important to celebrate his birthday in a way I knew he knew it would be special.  So, unlike myself, no place where ANNA has been cited.  David has been craving Indian food for months, while I have been dreading it, for reasons that shall be clear.  But, for his birthday, I bit the bullet and took him on January 1 to Mint Bay in our neighborhood of Bay Ridge.

                               We each shared a Samosa, which was delicious. David had Lamb Korma, which was one of his favorites.  I had what I thought was the mildest dish, Chicken Biryani.  It usually is but here--WOW!  My mouth was flaming from spices!!!!!!!!!  We each had a dish of rice pudding for dessert, though, let me tell you, girls, the one at Something Greek is better.

                                   And that was that.  David was happy, and I was pleased.  But then we walked into our apartment, and my stomach felt funny. and I knew I had to head for the bathroom.  You guessed it, I was emptied out like a colonoscopy prep.  It took that short a time for the Indian food to react on me.  But it was not done with me yet.

                                    We went to bed, and right to sleep.  I awoke in the middle of the night--around 3AM--with a horrible stomachache, and the feeling I was going to throw up any second.  I knew it was the Indian food.  And we were supposed to go to The Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular the next day.  I was running lists of friends I could pawn off the ticket to, while deciding if I had to throw up or not.  Nature decided for me; I went to sleep, and when I awoke hours later, the stomachache and nausea were gone.  And never came back.

                                    But that is it for me with Indian food.  At least for the next 364 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                Yes, we made it to Radio City the next day, for the 2PM show, which was David's choice, but what a time we had getting in.  As I recalled several years back, the management of crowd control was not good, and has not gotten better with time.  We had a time with the whole system of Ticketmaster, I was trembling whether of not we would get in, because I had paid a hefty sum for those tickets, but fortunately it all worked out.

                                  The show was dazzling and brought me to smiles.  Girls, how many of us, when young dreamed of being a Rockette???????????  You better believe I did.  The coordination of the entire show--costume changes, animals on and off stage, use of film and other media--I could just imagine the chaos backstage and how many stage managers and techies it took to put this on.  If someone were to approach me in the forthcoming year, to say "We would like you to stage manage "The Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular," I would say, "What?  Are you crazy?"  Then I would go through an Equity directory, find all the best unemployed stage managers.", and assemble a dynamite team.  Exactly like what was done here.

                                 Now, The Nativity.  Oh, my God.  I fell to my knees, like Jennifer Jones in "The Song Of Berandette."  When the angel appeared in the sky, and sang "The First Noel," I was in tears.  Then the curtain parted and we saw, the shepherds, the animals, the Magi, with Mary, Jospeh and the Baby Jesus in the manger.  I am telling you girls; I have said this and will say it again--I do not think the Real Thing could have been better staged!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                     For those who think theater craft is gone--and I know  many of you Broadway Theater Queens do--I urge you to visit this attraction.  You have one more day for it this year, so, if you don't make it now, plan on visiting it come Christmas season 2026.

                                       And Happy Birthday to David, my love.  I had as much fun as if it had been my birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                        Happy New Year, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!