I made my way to the Fifth Avenue apartment of our hosts Charles Avery and Susan Fisher on the enthusiastic invitation of artist Zhenya Gershman to hear her daughter Nikka, a Juilliard student, perform. I was in for a big surprise.
The gracious hosts held the concert in their spacious living room, where I got to talk to some of the guests and was particularly delighted to meet Jill and David Strauss, who were big fans of our Dan’s Papers. It felt good to meet strangers who suddenly became friends because of our mutual admiration.
We took our folding chair seats and I purposely sat in the front row, closest to the piano and the performer — my favorite spot!
After greetings from our hosts, flowing into the room in a chiffon red caftan was Nikka Gershman, a world-class flutist. I know her mom spoke highly of her musician daughter, but I wasn’t prepared for such an astonishing and magnificent performance.
Not only did she play classical pieces, but the award-winning flutist also performed her own original music. It was as if she and the flute were one!
I adored the music and heard the flute as I had never heard before. Nikka enchanted us all with her talent! And the fact that she is 17 years old makes her performance even more remarkable!
Remember her name: Nikka Gershman. Great things are in for her!
Later in the week, I had the joy of bringing my granddaughter Addy to see one of the hottest shows in town: Othello.
The previous week at my friend Catherine Loevner’s birthday party, I had the pleasure of meeting Brian Anthony Moreland, who is one of the producers of the sold-out show.
He generously offered me tickets, and when I asked my granddaughter to join me, she was quick to accept because she loves Denzel Washington’s co-star, Jake Gyllenhaal!
We got to our row K orchestra seats early and had time to get some candy; even though there is an intermission, Addy wanted her treats.
When she got back to our seats, there was a lot of commotion and applause from the audience because coming down the aisle was former Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Douglas Emhoff.
She took her seat two rows in front of us on the aisle and her secret service agents sat in front of us.
Addy reached over to the agents and said, “Thank you for your service. Do you think I could get the vice president’s autograph?” They told her to wait until intermission.
We sat and Addy’s smile stayed shining throughout the first act, anticipating her meeting Harris.
When the curtain came down on the first act, Addy walked two rows down to the vice president, who had already been surrounded by a mob of well-wishers. But 12-year-old Addy stood her ground and waited to be “next.”
When she got to talk to the former VP, Addy began to cry as she said how happy she was to meet her. Harris kindly put her hand on Addy’s and said, “Don’t cry. Promise me you will be active in your community,” and she shook her head yes.
She also asked to have a photo with the VP, and a professional photographer took the picture. We had no phone because as we entered the theatre, our cell phones were locked in a bag until we left the show. That was the first time I experienced that!
But after Addy’s sweet encounter with the VP, she asked if we could wait after the show on the sidewalk for her favorite star Jake Gyllenhaal to come out. We waited and she got his autograph and a photo! She followed my golden rule: “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.”
It was a night for the memory books!
A star was born in my eyes: my Addy! So brave and so self-assured!
Another magical night was dinner at the most romantic restaurant in the world, The River Café, snuggled under the Brooklyn Bridge with a sparkling view of the Manhattan skyline and the ferry carrying people over to Manhattan.
Geraldo and Erica Rivera invited me to join them for dinner with David D. Meyer, dean of the Brooklyn Law School, Geraldo’s alma mater, and his professor wife, Amy.
We discussed their new developments and spoke about Geraldo’s donation to the school of his 50 years of journals and books.
It was so special to share a unique dinner and see that the decades-long owner of The River Café, Michael “Buzzy” O’Keeffe, was in the house and greeted us.
It was a meal and great company like no other, and I had the best dessert, the sculptured Brooklyn Bridge dark chocolate cake. It was the tastiest “sculpture” I ever ate!
What a week it was!
Love to you, my dear readers.
