File this under, “No rest for the weary.” Barely a week after returning from our spring break trip to Dublin and Budapest, we found ourselves in New York, where Marilynn gave talks sponsored by NYU and Columbia.
Academic speaking engagements for anyone who’s not a best-selling author are not high-dollar affairs. In fact, they’re usually no-dollar affairs, apart from the occasional hotel room, a train transfer, or a meal after the talk. I compare it to the itinerant educators who traveled from rural village to rural village, sharing ciphering and basic reading skills in exchange for a bundle of carrots, a few potatoes, perhaps a chicken — enough sustenance to get them to the next village.
In New York, however, Marilynn received enough for a fine meal. Airfare. Two nights apiece in Greenwich Village and the Upper West Side. Chauffeured car to/from the airport and several meals. Of course, I accompanied her to explore parts of New York we hadn’t seen yet, visit friends, and bask in the glow of her considerable accomplishments.
Our first stop was the visitor center at the Stonewall Inn, site of the 1969 riots that eventually led to greater rights for the LGBTQ+ community. Fortunately, the visitor center is not administered by the National Park Service, where mentions of trans people have been scrubbed from its website. It would be impossible to understand Stonewall without mentioning trans woman, because they led the protests.
We also spent an hour or so in Central Park, wandering along the paths and visiting Belvedere Castle, built on a high point where visitors can look over the park and surrounding environs.
Marilynn’s talk at Glucksman Irish House at NYU was well-attended and led to many lively discussions afterward. Following her talk to the Columbia Irish Studies Seminar at the CUNY Graduate Center, we decamped for a meal and conversation at a nearby Irish pub, leaving just in time to walk to Paddy Reilly’s Music Bar, where we caught two sets by our favorite Irish band, The Prodigals, who have been a weekend fixture at the bar for 25 years. If you’re ever in New York, hearing The Prodigals live should top your to-do list.
A highlight of Sunday was attending a matinee performance of “Gypsy.” Marilynn is fond of Stephen Sondheim’s, and I go ga-ga for Audra McDonald, so it was a perfect fit. It’s interesting to note that “Gypsy” was the first full production staged at the Majestic Theatre since “Phantom of the Opera” closed in 2023 after nearly 14,000 performances spanning 35 years.
The play was fabulous, made more so by the hundred or so members of Jack and Jill of America, an organization of African-American moms who promote cultural, educational, and civic awareness among their children and the community at large. Fortunately, I love the strong women in my life, so I fit right in.
Last year, we attended our first Broadway show, an overlooked Sondheim musical called, “Merrily We Roll Along,” which had not been on Broadway since its debut in 1981. Unlike the original staging, the revival was a smash hit, earning Tony Awards for best musical revival, orchestration, and lead actors Jonathan Groff and Daniel Radcliffe, best known as Harry Potter. We filled the rest of our time visiting academic friends and colleagues, former students, and even Marilynn’s sister, who was in town with her daughter to visit her son who works in the city. We enjoyed an activity-packed five days, although we were certainly glad to return home.
To Europe ... and Back 