PopCult Rudy Panucci on Pop Culture

Theatre-Geek Photos, Stuff To Do, and the loss of an Icon

February 27, 2015 by Rudy Panucci

Photo02180945_1The PopCulteer
February 27, 2015

Though he’s been back more than a week, your PopCulteer is still reeling from the whirlwind trip to New York City last week. We went up to attend The International Toy Fair (and you’ll be seeing coverage of that event in this blog for weeks), but we also hit the Big Apple to see “A Delicate Balance,” the revival of Edward Albee’s 1967 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama. This production starred John Lithgow, Glenn Close, Bob Balaban, Martha Plympton, Lindsay Duncan and Clare Higgins, and it was a incredible as you’d expect.

You may remember that a couple of years ago Mrs. PopCulteer, Melanie Larch, was in a local production of this, alongside Mark Felton, Susan Minnerly and Rob Boone, and except for the Gazette reviewer, it was pretty universally-acclaimed thanks to a great local cast and director Patrick Felton. It is such a striking play that we couldn’t pass up the chance to see it produced with a world-class cast and a Tony-winning director.

While we were on Broadway, we indulged in taking some theatre-geek photos around the show we were seeing. It’s amazing how much theatre they can cram into such a small area. So today we’re taking a break from the toys and instead are strolling the Great White Way by way of photos taken by Mel and Rudy. And after that we run down stuff to do in town. That’s the Herald Square Hotel at the head of this post.

1509748_10153137607551974_352620889498355759_nAs we prepared to post this, word came down that Leonard Nimoy, who portrayed the iconic Mr. Spock on Star Trek in television and movies, had passed away. It was not unexpected, he’d been hospitalized with severe chest pains in recent days, but it’s still an emotional gut-punch for those of us who grew up in the thrall of the Vulcan.

Nimoy was also a strong supporter of the craft of acting and live theater, so we dedicate this photo essay to the man for whom the former Thalia movie house in Manhatten was renamed, “The Leonard Nimoy Thalia,” Leonard Nimoy. He lived long, and prospered.

On with the photo tour…

Mel outside the theater
Mel outside the theater

The main reason we went to NYC
The main reason we went to NYC
The cast list
The cast list
Your PopCulteer with a bunch of wannabees
Your PopCulteer with a bunch of wannabees
Another nearby theater
Another nearby theater
Looks sorta like the graphic on MGM records labels during the early 1970s
Looks sorta like the graphic on MGM records labels during the early 1970s
This was next door to "A Delicate Balance"
This was next door to “A Delicate Balance”
And this was three doors down
And this was three doors down
Your PopCulteer sitting on the not-in-use outdoor deck at Junior's
Your PopCulteer sitting on the not-in-use outdoor deck at Junior’s
We caught this at The Kennedy Center, but two of the guys we saw in that cast are on Broadway now
We caught this at The Kennedy Center, but two of the guys we saw in that cast are on Broadway now
Passed this along the way
Passed this along the way
And this
And this
Right across the street from where we saw "A Delicate Balance"
Right across the street from where we saw “A Delicate Balance”
Best slogan on Broadway (or slightly off)
Best slogan on Broadway (or slightly off)

Stuff To Do This Weekend

Tonight

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And In Lewisburg…

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That’s about it for this week’s PopCulteer. RFC is taking another week off while we dig into our Toy Fair video, so there will be video coming your way,  just not local music. This is the first time we’ve taken off two weeks in a row from bringing you Radio Free Charleston or The RFC MINI SHOW since the summer of 2013, so I think you can cut us a break. All of our other regular features will be here, sandwiched between cool toy stories.