Two Nights With Minky Woodcock

The Complication

Ah, but it couldn’t be that easy, could it.

Having built up a solid following, Robyn Adele Anderson was launching her first solo tour. Which, due to circumstances I doubt she chose, meant leaving New York before the run of Houdini was over. Specifically, Thursday Nov. 8th. The exact day I’d chosen to see the show, because I didn’t want to risk missing curtain on the Wednesday when I arrived, and I wanted to leave myself the option of going again on Friday, That‘s why I picked Thursday, since I’m pretending you asked. 

There were many reasons I wanted to see this show. Genuine interest in the story and the staging, for instance. And the theatre was an actual, though heavily renovated, 1920s speakeasy. But… but it seemed like a lot of effort and expense to not see Robyn Adele Anderson acting in it. There was one option.

My flight landed around 3:00 on Wednesday in Newark, New Jersey, because Aeroplan ain’t send you to JFK for no money. My check-in time for my Air BnB was 6:00. Doors opened at 7:00, recommended arrival time was prior to 7:15, with the cut-off being 7:45.

I could make it.

It would be tight, but giving up on things because they seem dicey is not how Ian and I made it to The Play That Goes Wrong 1.0.

So I rolled those dice.

I bought a second ticket, for Wednesday night. Tickets at that price level were divided into “Spiritualist” and “Pragmatist,” which determined which character you would follow through the events of Houdini’s last month alive. I had selected Pragmatist for the Thursday, thinking it would mean more run-ins with Bess Houdini, but I asked the woman running box office if I could do Pragmatist on Wednesday and Spiritualist on Thursday, in the hopes of seeing more of the show.

I let slip that seeing Ms. Anderson’s last show was a driving force here. She did me a solid and assigned me to Bess Houdini Wednesday night. Nice lady.

Next Page: Get me to the show on time