Lauren B. Lentini

One of the benefits of living in Connecticut that we don’t take advantage of nearly enough is that Manhattan is just a day trip away. Because we’re lame theater geeks, we usually only do this to take in a Broadway show. This time, it was my Christmas present: To Kill a Mockingbird.

Jerald planned all the details, including arranging for pet-, baby- and house-sitters, dinner reservations, and a hotel in New Haven for the night. We left the sitters with more instructions than they could possibly need, drove to New Haven and tried but failed to check into the hotel, and then got on a train to the city.

I love traveling by train. To me, it’s the most relaxing way to travel. Halfway between flying and driving, but you don’t have to stress out about security at the airport or traffic on the road. It also just feels so delightfully retro. And there are outlets for your phone charger.

We arrived at Union Station with plenty of time to make our dinner reservation, even after the traditional gawking at the beauty of the station. Another thing that just never gets old. Jerald also led us directly to the restaurant without getting lost, so we walked around the block — freezing! — to people-watch and window-shop before deciding to see if they could seat us early. They could.

Jerald chose MáLà Project for himself, but I was happy (if a bit apprehensive) to participate in the experiment. It’s a trendy, Michelin-recommended Sichuan dry-pot restaurant, whose name is a reference to the tingly, numbing feeling of the spices. How could he resist? It was as promised — I’m going to have trouble reviewing this place because I don’t know enough synonyms for “spicy.”

But first, drinks. It was still happy hour when we got there, and they had my signature beverage on the menu. My go-to drink is whatever concoction the bar has come up with featuring gin and cucumber. It’s usually a little bit sweet, often herbed, and almost never disappointing. MáLà knew the way to my heart. The Double Happiness, as it’s dubbed, was so true to its name I had a second. Drinks came with spicy peanuts, and we ordered candied garlic and cold noodles to go along with them.

I can’t remember the list of vegetarian items we had them throw into our dry pot, but it turned out spectacular. I like spicy, but I can only tolerate so much before it loses all flavor and just turns to indistinguishable fire in my mouth. The heat here was beyond my normal comfortable range, and yet it was still…so…complex. With the first bite, it was like the food was tapping all of my taste buds and welcoming them to the party. It was rather intense for a full meal, but the variety of textures and flavors kept it interesting. And it was just so fascinating! How often does a meal truly fascinate you?

Still with plenty of time to spare, we made our way to the theater. We stopped at the bar to add to our Broadway sippy cup collection, and were intrigued to discover they no longer serve ice because of the noise. So considerate, my lukewarm G&T notwithstanding. (At dinner, we discussed what kind of inappropriate themed cocktails they might serve. I won, with “Chiffa-Rob Roy.”) Many flights of stairs later, we made it to the nosebleed section. And there was no one sitting to my left! It was a Broadway miracle.

After all this detailed prelude, I don’t think I have the words to do justice to the show. It was wonderful. It was jarring, at first, to see Scout, Jem, and Dill being played by adults, but it makes so much sense. Scout wasn’t a child narrator in the book, either. Their costumes were well-designed to immediately evoke children’s clothing without making the actors look comical. The actors’ mannerisms, too, were perfectly childlike without being played for laughs. When Scout snuggled into Jeff Daniels’ arm, she somehow managed to look three feet tall. Jeff Daniels, while not my mental image of Atticus Finch, gave a heartwarming performance. Everyone did, in fact.

The writing was distinctly Sorkinesque. By which I mean he recycled his own words at least three times. There was the line about keeping 10-minute breaks to fifteen minutes, the line about how to tell who won at the end of a prize fight (look at who’s dancing around), and another one we couldn’t remember afterwards but noted at the time. In spite of that, it was Sorkin at his best. And, in spite of all the terrible things he’s been saying to the media lately, I still love me some Sorkin. One line would be laugh-out-loud funny, and the next would make you profoundly uncomfortable. It was extremely well-paced and never dragged.

I’ll always remember To Kill a Mockingbird as the first book I ever finished reading, then turned back to the first page to start again. I wasn’t exactly worried, but I am relieved that this adaptation didn’t disappoint. It wasn’t a tear-jerker, but it was plenty thought-provoking. We left the theater and quietly found our way back to a train.

When we got to the hotel in New Haven, we found they had upgraded us due to not being able to check us in earlier. We laughed at the two-story suite with a fireplace and kitchenette that we’d hardly be spending any time in awake. We woke up early the next morning to hurry home to our boy after our first night apart. I’d say it was a success.