Good morning on this crisp and sunny Friday.
BroadwayCon kicks off today. Cue the happy tears.
The annual madhouse at the Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan welcomes thousands of giddy theater enthusiasts from New York, small towns and across the world — as our hometown industry has gone global.
It’s a chance for Hamilfans to belt out “My Shot” en masse, aspiring stage moms to take in panels on “Parenting in the Theater,” and young men to catwalk across the convention floor in knee-high, ruby red Kinky Boots.
But what’s it like for the performers to spend the weekend among a crush of adoring fans?
Fascinating and a little strange, said Lesli Margherita, who played Mrs. Wormwood in “Matilda the Musical” — especially when you see someone dressed up as real-life you.
“Like, I’ve seen some really good Mrs. Wormwoods,” she said. “But I have also seen me as well.”
At her first BrodwayCon in 2016, she met one fan dressed as her Jack Russell terrier, Stewie, and another in workout wear with a piece of wood taped to her leg — a nod to when Ms. Margherita hurt herself doing a jump split onto a broken wood panel onstage in 2014.
“They make me laugh,” she said. “I love them.”
Erin Quill, an original Broadway cast member of “Avenue Q,” described the atmosphere this way: “Like a suffocating hug from people who love you just as much as if they gave birth to you.” (That’s a positive thing, she added.)
While fans are always respectful, she said, she will occasionally sneak off to the green room “because sometimes you feel like, ‘Wow, I love all you guys and I know you love me, but I just need to breathe for a second.’”
Ms. Quill gets it, though: Many stars were themselves superfans once — obsessing over lyrics, following casting changes and spending weekends reading soundtrack liner notes.
“We were the island of misfit toys in junior high and high school,” she said. “We look at the kid that’s almost weeping, or almost hyperventilating, and think, I remember being that kid.”
Here’s what else is happening:
Weather
Not much to say about today — sunny with a high near 37 — so let’s talk about the weekend.
It will feel like spring tomorrow. Expect sunshine, a strong breeze and a high near 52.
Sunday looks springy, too. Rain is likely in the morning, with highs in the low 50s.
In the News
• Stephanie Miner, the former Democratic mayor of Syracuse, announced that she would not run for Congress, but was instead considering a run for governor. [New York Times]
• At an Albany budget hearing, elected officials from across New York State demanded answers from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. [New York Times]
• Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo used the private plane of a billionaire hedge fund manager to attend the Sundance Film Festival, where his girlfriend was screening a documentary. [New York Times]
• A federal judge has recommended skipping the fact-finding stage to go right to awarding damages in a New York police misconduct case. [New York Times]
• A New York State task force’s plan has been seen as the starting point to build political consensus to make congestion pricing a reality. [New York Times]
• A Pennsylvania treatment center for the disabled filed a defamation suit against a New York advocacy group that released a scathing report claiming the center abused residents. [New York Times]
• In “About New York,” the columnist Jim Dwyer explores both sides of the dispute between the mayor and the governor over the priorities of subway repair and renovation. [New York Times]
• The director of MoMA PS1 and curator at large for the Museum of Modern Art, along with a Puerto Rican photojournalist, traveled through Puerto Rico to see how artists were facing challenges post-Hurricane Maria. [New York Times]
• Bernadine Morris, a veteran fashion critic for The New York Times, died at 92. [New York Times]
• Management of a Brooklyn carwash is facing a lawsuit for allegedly underpaying over $540,000 in wages and benefits to more than 150 of its employees. [Brooklyn Daily Eagle]
• A homeless man attempted to rob a bank in the Bronx with a crossbow and claimed he was “Captain America” when the police arrived. [New York Post]
• Today’s Metropolitan Diary: “The Hitchhiker”
• For a global look at what’s happening, see Your Morning Briefing.
Coming Up Today
• Plan a vacation, pick up globe-trotting tips and speak to travel experts at the weekend-long New York Times TravelShow at the Javits Center. 9 a.m. [$20]
• “One Basquiat,” including the artist’s landmark 1982 painting “Untitled,” opens at the Brooklyn Museum. 11 a.m. [$16]
• The Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir performs, along with others, at the Rink at Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan. 6 p.m. [Free]
• An evening of traditional Korean music and jazz at Flushing Town Hall in Queens. 8 p.m. [$16]
• Rangers at Predators, 8 p.m. (MSG). Nets at Bucks, 8 p.m. (YES).
• This week’s “The New York Times Close Up” features the playwright Dael Orlandersmith. Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and Sunday at 12:30 p.m. on CUNY-TV.
• Alternate-side parking remains in effect until Feb. 12.
• Weekend travel hassles: Check subway disruptions and a list of street closings.
The Weekend
Saturday
• Learn how to ski, play “Arctic golf” or build a snowman at Winter Jam at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park. 11 a.m. [Free]
• Learn how soldiers survived harsh winters during the Revolutionary War at Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn. 1 p.m. [Free]
• Six short films by Stan Brakhage are screened at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens. 1:30 p.m. [$15]
• A puppet show based on Aesop’s Fables at the Overlook at Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan. 2 p.m. [Free]
• Knicks at Suns, 9 p.m. (MSG).
Sunday
• Urban Park Rangers impart winter survival skills at Sunset Park in Brooklyn. 1 p.m. [Free]
• Enter a trivia contest based on the Watershed Relief Map created for the 1939 World’s Fair at the Queens Museum in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. 2 p.m. [$8]
• Zhang Yimou’s 2002 blockbuster “Hero” is screened as part of the “Martial/Art” series at the Metrograph on the Lower East Side. 3:30 p.m. [$15]
• Comedians and storytellers spin tales based on Instagram photos that made them feel left out at FOMO Live at Union Hall in Park Slope, Brooklyn. 8 p.m. [$10]
• Nets at Timberwolves, 9 p.m. (YES).
• For more events, see The New York Times’s Arts & Entertainment guide.
And Finally...
They’re back.
After 15 years outside of New York, the Grammy Awards will be handed out on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
And you don’t need a backstage pass to hear the nominees. Here are a few concerts by this year’s Grammy contenders and other ways to celebrate:
• Mastercard House hosts a panel with the production team the Stereotypes at 1 p.m. on Friday. Austin Brown performs at 3 p.m. on Saturday. They’re also offering free concerts by Portugal. The Man at 9 p.m. on Friday and Dua Lipa at 9 p.m. on Saturday to Masterpass holders, or those who register for the service. (Mastercard not required to sign up.) At 60 10th Avenue in the meatpacking district. [Free]
• An evening of folk and American roots music featuring Olivia Chaney of Offa Rex and the Secret Sisters at Joe’s Pub in the East Village at 1 p.m. [Tickets start at $75]
• The Canadian electronic duo Adventure Club performs at Lavo in Midtown Manhattan. Saturday at 11 p.m. [$30]
• More than 30 of this year’s nominees performed, worked or got their start at the Apollo Theater, which is hosting its annual pre-Grammy “How I Wrote That Song” panel with Faith Evans and Tory Lanez, at 1 p.m. [$25]
• Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg is hosting a Grammy watch party and donating the proceeds to Musicares. Sunday at 7 p.m. [$30 to watch, $90 to bowl]
The Grammys will be broadcast at 7:30 p.m. on CBS. You can follow along with our coverage here.
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