Hush Up

Friday night found me having delicious butternut squash soup with Jen at the new uptown Vynl. It's right in my 'hood, and I have to say: it's even better than the perennially favorite midtown location. Celebrity look-a-like dolls adorn the back wall, a giant disco light hangs over head, and each of the bathrooms is a mini shrine to a celebrity. I chose to go next to a pretty awesome mosaic of Elton John while Rocket Man was piped in from some Elton-only music universe.

From there we headed to the piano bar Don't Tell Mama, where I had more fun than I've had out on the town in ages. Unlike show tune-heavy Marie's Crisis, my other favorite piano bar, Don't Tell Mama focuses mostly on pop songs. Bartenders and wait staff each do their own set, singing along is encouraged throughout the night, and the quality of guest performers' (aka audience members') voices far exceed what you'd normally hear at open mic nights. Jen was even brave enough to perform her own rendition of "Hopelessly Devoted to You," inspired by the Grease playbill held by a woman near us. We also bonded with the man and woman at the table next to us through a shared love of an older woman across the room. She was so excited by the music that she was practically dancing in her seat the entire night. She seemed so energetic, engaged, and happy that we couldn't stop watching her. I think each of us at one point said we hoped to be like her when we're older. The only way the night would have been better was if the Joanna Gleason doppelganger sitting beside us for part of the night had actually been Joanna Gleason. I know Gleason mostly from stage work, but those of you who aren't regular theatre-goers will most likely know her as Rachel's boss on Friends (the one with the cigarette smoking subplot, not the one with the dating-Chandler subplot).

To top it off, we very randomly found a whole mess of British candy bars at the bodega on the corner. It's hard to beat any night that includes a surprise Lion Bar.
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