"Comedy Cellar" - Settings: ISO 100, f/3.5, 1/100 sec, 50mm lens

I took this photo while waiting in line for a play on MacDougal Street last night.  This sign belongs to the Comedy Cellar – a popular comedy club in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan.  I’ve never been – but it’s been around since the early eighties and apparently much of the material for Seinfeld’s documentary Comedian was filmed there.  Personally, I was just drawn to the light-up sign.  I evidently like taking pictures of lights!  I gave it that cockeyed diagonal look in Lightroom… for some reason I just felt it worked better slanted.

So last night we went to see a play that our friend Mari wrote.  It is called 23 Feet in 12 Minutes: The Death and Rebirth of New Orleans.  It is showing in NYC as part of the Fringe Festival this month and I highly recommend you go see it!!  I was completely blown away by this play.  It is a documentary style – based on interviews they did with Hurricane Katrina survivors as well as people who relocated to New Orleans to help rebuild.  It was beautifully done – very simple and intimate.  Deanna Pacelli, the sole actress, did such an amazing job in her portrayal of six very different characters sharing their own stories and experiences related to the storm.  The title, “23 Feet in 12 Minutes” was referred to in the play – it is the amount that the water rose in the Lower Ninth Ward – rising above the roofs of houses with literally no time for the stranded people to prepare or react.  It was terrifying to hear the stories recounted so honestly and convincingly.  It really moved me.  I totally cried.  A lot.

Anyway, there are still five more shows (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday) – so if you’re in NYC, go get tickets (only $15) and support these awesome talented people and their amazing work!