Ellen and I got all dolled up on Monday night to attend the Broadway opening of “33 Variations”, a play starring Jane Fonda. Now, normally this event might not get us out of the house, but it also happens to star my niece, Samantha Mathis, which is a very cool thing. She decided to leave California and a nice TV and movie career for a year and try her luck in NYC. No sooner had she unpacked, when she got this gig. Doesn’t that happen to everyone?
Anyway, it was a sparkling, star-studded event — Dolly Parton, Rosie O’Donnell, Geoffrey Rush, to name just a few. They all came to see Ms. Fonda return to Broadway after a 46 year absence. Except us. This was a family affair. In fact, I ran into a WSW customer entering the theater. I proudly told him that I was there to see my niece who’s starring in the play. “Well, what about Jane Fonda?” he asked. “Oh, yeah, she’s in it, too” I replied. I don’t think he took that too well. I hope he wasn’t her agent or something.
All the performances were excellent, Sam was great, and we were all weepy and proud at the curtain call. We did the whole backstage thing afterward, and then subwayed it down to Buddakan for the big party. All the limoed guests beat us to the food and booze line, which was endless. Chaos was the watchword, but eventually we managed to find a quiet, empty corner of this massive space and had a great time.
Go see it if you’re around. I’m sure they are tickets at TKTS. And if you bump into Samantha at the theatre, tell her we sent you.
