Stumbling Across A Slice of London in NYC, Pork-Belly Ramen, and Moonlighting as a Boxing Editor

First of all: Whew! You may recall that I attended a performance of “The Black Clown” as part of Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival with Ben Brantley last night, and that I gave it a ringing endorsement. Ben’s review published this afternoon, and it turns out he agreed — not only that, but he classed it as a critic’s pick, praising the lead, Davóne Tines, for embodying “the evolving, divided soul of black America.”

The level of detail in his assessment is extraordinary — I was sitting next to him and saw the notes he took, and there definitely weren’t that many (and half of them, he acknowledged, were illegible because of the darkness). And he didn’t write the review immediately after the performance, either --- he got up early this morning to do it. But I guess that’s why he’s The Times’s chief theater critic. His theatrical knowledge is encyclopedic.

In a shift to the sports side of things, I’ve been editing a lot of sports copy this week. I moonlighted as a football editor earlier this week, and it was boxing today. You can check the pieces out here and here!

Today couldn’t possibly live up to yesterday, but it was still pretty great. I started it off with a fantastic Broadway in Bryant Park concert this afternoon, featuring performances from the cast of “Aladdin,” “Frozen,” and “The Lion King.” It was the series’ Disney-on-Broadway edition, and the host said the performance attracted the largest audience they’d had for a Broadway in Bryant Park concert to date.

I was particularly impressed by Aisha Jackson’s performance as Princess Anna in "Frozen" (she’s the current standby for the role, and was also the first black actress to portray Anna on Broadway).

After the concert, I headed uptown to Sotheby’s on York Avenue, where I’d booked a free ticket to the “Treasures from Chatsworth” exhibition.

I was glad I was dressed nicely today, because that auction house — lobby, wine room, exhibit-goers and potential purchasers, all of it — is swanky to the max. I cozied up to this Aston Martin DB5 in the lobby.

As for the exhibit — wow, major wave of feelings! It’s a bona fide slice of England in NYC (the gallery attendants even have British accents!). I forgot how much I loved London, and England, until that moment, when all the memories came flooding back, just as fresh as they were three years ago. It was a reminder that while I’ll be sad to leave NYC, it won’t break my heart like leaving London did. *Heart breaks all over again*

One of the reasons I love England is that there’s so much history everywhere. This exhibit, whose gallery layouts were constructed by “Hamilton” set designer David Korins, looks like it was plucked straight from an English estate. If there had been a window, I would’ve been unsurprised to look out over a formal garden and rolling countryside.

Quick background: If you’re unfamiliar with Chatsworth, it’s a stately home in Derbyshire, England, that’s the seat of the Duke of Devonshire. It was also used as Pemberly (Mr. Darcy’s residence) during the filming of the 2005 “Pride and Prejudice” film with Keira Knightley.

The exhibition featured 43 treasures from the estate, which took longer to soak in than you might expect. There are plaques that provide fascinating context about each, from elaborate statewear to a Rembrandt portrait to a very ritzy, wedding-only crown.

Some of my favorites were the jewels (look at that stomacher!), the crown (of course!), and the variety of paintings by masters from Da Vinci to Van Eyck. It made me so incredibly homesick for England, but in the best way possible.

Next to the “Treasures from Chatsworth” exhibition, in which nothing is for sale, is an “Inspired by Chatsworth” selling exhibit, in which everything is. There aren’t any glass cases around the objects or paintings, meaning you can mosey right up to a $2 million artwork. It was fun to try to guess the asking prices on particular objects, or to be met with the ominous “price available upon request” for three or four of the most select treasures (a.k.a., even millionaires might not be able to afford them).

After my delightful afternoon at Sotheby’s, I took the Q train to work (today was my first time on this line — hooray for checking off yet another one!), passing by this impromptu dog cluster on the way. Now seems a good time to mention that I also saw a very large Great Dane, as well as an even larger mastiff, in Central Park on Tuesday, which has the certifiably cutest dogs in the country. 🐕🐩🐾🐶

Today’s food adventure took me to K-town, which is on 32nd Street close to the New York Times (40th Street). I enjoyed this Tonkotsu ramen from Noona Noodles, which featured pork belly, onions, napa, scallion, corn, and an egg.

BUT in depressing food news, I found out this evening while editing The Times’s NY Today newsletter that my favorite bagel store — The Bagel Store in Brooklyn, home of the original rainbow bagel with Funfetti cream cheese that I keep raving about — is closed until further notice (and maybe permanently, as they were planning to move locations soon anyway) after being seized by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance for unpaid taxes.

So, it looks like I won’t get to enjoy any more rainbow bagels this summer, because even if the shop does reopen, it will almost certainly be after I leave (where did the summer go?!).

In better news, up next tomorrow: A tour of The Vessel at Hudson Yards, which I booked a free online ticket for about a month ago (it’s super popular, and advance tickets go quickly!)