Corey goes to New York! The Hotel has a FAX MACHINE.

April 19, 1994

Dear Bethy,

I'm in New York, NY. Our hotel room is superb 2 TVs, 3 telephones (one in the bathroom), a fax machine and one of those food chests.

Dad and I went to FAO Schwartz. It was fabulous. Last night Dad and I saw "The Fantasticks". It was awesome!!! All the actors were playing their lines to me. At one point an old man goes "and the with CHILDREN..." and he stared at me. Everyone laughed.

Oh, "The Fantasticks" is in a little theatre holding only about 100 people. And there were only 30 the night I went. It was amazing. Today Dad and I are going to Les Miz and Beauty and the Beast. YES.

love,Corey

April 21, 1994

Dear Bethy, I'm on the plane coming back from New York. Les Miz was very good... but very sad. At one point this boy is in the streets during a shooting and he's singing "But watch out when the pup grows..." and he dies before he finishes the song.

Beauty and the Beast was OK but I can't see it as a musical. It's more like an Aladdin on Ice kind of thing.

love,

Corey

Mostly this is a sentimental post. Although I will definitely make fun of my description of the hotel room. I'm so impressed by material goods. I love that I mention the fax machine. I mean, do I even know what a fax machine DOES? Highly, highly unlikely. Also I'm already such a fucking New Yorker. The hotel room is "superb" and FAO is "fabulous". Not to mention I am SUPER happy I already had excellent taste in theatre. I knew the difference between actual theatre and sloppy commercial crap. Way to go little Corey!

Dad took me to New York pretty often. We both liked diners and musicals and the city. The Fantasticks was my favorite show I'd ever seen. I was blown away my walking around the Village and ending up in a tiny theatre with no one in it and a personal show without a true fourth wall. Transformative. And inspiring to read about now after eight years in the city and a jaded outlook on city life. Better to focus on the original magic of NYC. And the original magic of theatre. Fresh eyes. Maybe one of the better lessons from this project.