Scheherazade, Elderly Behaving Badly & A Menage A Trois

The only way to return to New York City after a trip like my maritime odyssey in Nova Scotia, is to take a headlong plunge back into the city's cultural offerings.

First up was a taste of Off-Off Broadway theater - a night watching an oddly compelling look at Scheherazade's 1001 Nights with some apocalyptic NYC war stories thrown in for good measure. All in all though, it wasn't enough to draw me back into the thick of New York's crazy, cultural hustle and bustle.

So, another play date was made. Through some creative scheduling, I was able to wrangle time off to catch a Wednesday matinee of the new Tom Stoppard play "Rock n' Roll" with my pal Sandra.

But stepping up to the theater we were suddenly concerned. We were surrounded by a sea of seniors. Could a somber, political drama featuring songs by Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones have a target demographic market of Long Island and Westchester church and Hadassah elderly? We didn't know for sure, but could only hope for the producer's sake that these retirees were hip at heart, despite their replacement hips.

Hip they weren't. Loud they were.

I have never heard such a noisy cacophony of "What did he say?," "What is this about?" and "Shhhhhhh," in all my life. At one point an usher actually had to ask a particularly talkative Granny to leave the theater. She left, but not quietly. (No big surprise!)

Once the curtain fell, I realized that theater wasn't going to be enough to get me back into a New York groove. That said, a good friend, a few good laughs and a good glass of wine might just do the trick.

Thankfully, Sandra was more than delighted to accompany me to the bar at nearby Thalia to make the dream a reality. Two glasses of a jammy red wine called Menage a Trois and several giggles and guffaws later, I was feeling much more my usual city self.

Lesson learned. The New York theater scene is marvelous - not to mention the New York art, dance and music scenes. But at the end of the day, it's only part of a larger puzzle for me. And if I can successfully fit those jigsaw pieces in with the addition of a pal and a Menage a Trois, all with be right with the world. Or at the very least, all will be right with me and NYC.