I got home late Sunday night from my trip to NYC.  It was the best time I've ever had there -- my brother Mark had perfectly planned 5 days and 4 nights full of seeing family and friends, great meals, shows, and entertainment!  The city is usually quite expensive, but you can find some great deals right now on hotel rooms and shows if you really look.  We stayed in Times Square, so we very seldom had to take a cab anywhere.  Saw "Billy Elliott," and just loved it!  I was surprised Elton John's music wasn't more memorable, but the dancing and acting were fantastic.  There are lots of kids in the cast and their talents just blow you away!  Also saw another Tony winner, "In the Heights," and thought it was terrific.  I knew very little about it before I saw it and I had forgotten how much fun it is to "discover" a show you've never seen before.  Great music and cast!  I don't know these kids from the "High School Musical"s but my teen-aged niece and nephew Lucy and Sean do, so they knew of the lead actor Corbin Bleu (please, can that possibly be his real name?!)  We happened to catch him and the rest of the cast at the stage door as we were leaving, so Lucy got nice pics and autographs.  I was so proud of my friends John and Anthony with their show "When Joey Married Bobby" playing to a packed house the night we saw it.  And Letterman was a blast!  I've never seen a taping of a show like that, and to get to see someone I've been a huge fan of for so many years work "live" was a wonderful treat!  We had great seats in the balcony.  I can't believe how large the studio looks on TV because it's really very small.  Only a dozen or so rows on the floor and less than that in the balcony.  Since I'm always so warm, I thought the cold temperature in his studio that everyone always complains about was perfect.  His band is really the bomb!  They played several songs in their entirety to get the crowd revved up.  I'll tell you, since tickets to the show are free you could plan a great trip to NYC around that -- so much to do, so much to see!  I'll be back sooner than later!