Monday, Oct. 27, 2003 | 10:24 AM

New York City revs my engine. Every time I�m there I ask myself, When the FUCK am I going to leave Boston?

On Saturday afternoon, my mom and I took a cab from our hotel on the Upper West Side down to the Lower East Side. I had the cab drop us off right in David Cross�s neighborhood on the off chance that he might be walking around. I told my Mom why I wanted to go there (I�m head over heels crushing on this brilliant comedian whom I don�t know one iota�) and she seemed non-plussed�my mother and I have the same sort of far reaching imagination and ambition. It didn�t seem crazy to her at all that I was hoping to just run into him.

Of course I didn�t see him (drats) but it was cool just to walk around this random neighborhood and stop in an all Spanish speaking diner for a cup of the best chicken soup I have ever had. The soup was so amazing and so cheap that I left a ten-dollar tip. After treating my Mom to the soup, we walked on up to the East village and browsed in bookstores and then we walked from the Village to Times Square. In Boston I hate walking, but whenever I�m in New York I just want to be out strolling the day away. I feel so much more energized.

On Friday night my Mom and I saw Gypsy with Bernadette Peters. I�d been psyched to see it and knew it would be good, but I was unprepared for just how AMAZING it was. I have never enjoyed a theatrical performance more than that one. Sam Mendes is a fucking genius. He knows how to get to the heart of a Broadway musical and treat it with the kind of reverence he employed in directing American Beauty. The show was done with a degree of realism and sympathy for all of the characters. Benadette Peters was so fucking phenomenal�she got it just right. I was beyond impressed. And Tammi Blanchard who played Louise (and was the younger Judy Garland in Me and My Shadows) was awesome. She brought so much depth to the role. I wish I could go back and see the damned thing again next week. Seriously, if you�re in New York, go see Gypsy.

Saturday evening we saw The Producers, and honestly it was just so so. I loved the movie, and I�m sure that the original run of the musical with Nathan Lane and Mathew Broderick was hilarious because the two of them are excellent comic actors. But I was really disappointed in the show overall. It was sooooooo schticky and jokey and much of the movie�s cynicism was diluted. There was a tacked on love interest subplot and they changed the ending. Very traditional Broadway musical schlock. However, the Springtime For Hitler production number was worth the price of admission. Tap dancing Storm Troopers, Hitler as a Screaming Queen, Chorus Girls in shimmering Brown Shirts forming a rotating swastika�it was some of the greatest satire I have ever been privy to. It made a big point about how easily people are sucked into evil political movements because of the pomp and circumstance, and also about how the entertainment community exploits the average person�s starry eyed longing for glitz by trivializing world events and serving them up for our amusement. Good stuff. Too bad the rest of the musical wasn�t nearly up to that standard. The rest of the musical is playing to all the little old ladies in Dubuque. Ba humbug.

Anyway� I had a great time with my Mom. Lots of bonding and such. When I got home last night Angus and I watched Raiders of the Lost Arc, which is one of the most fun movies ever made. Forgot how much I�d loved it.

This morning I spent time researching the summer stock auditions I�m going to most likely go out for in March. God wouldn�t that be amazing if I got in and could leave Boston and act full time? I�m chomping at the bit. I�ve gotten so bored with everything. And Angus, much as I adore him is not a reason to stay here. I want to get on with things and I�m so fucking bored all the time. I�m bored with my job. I�m bored with Boston. I�m bored with almost everyone and everything. Except of course acting class, which is going fantastically well. I have to do my scene again tomorrow in class. Wish me luck.

I so want my teacher. Yow.