The Theater District, depending on whom you listen to, is either on the edge of Hell's Kitchen or included in the notorious district. Most likely the more colorful, eccentric and on the edge show people are the ones quickly to embrace my new neighborhood with its colorful past. Any night (with Monday being dark), my intersection is filled with theater goers flocking to the numerous theaters in my area.

At night, I perch in my little nest that I have made in my window and watch intently as all types pass just below. In the corner of my living room, I have created a special chair, with warm throw blankets, to sit in my twelve foot high windows and witness the world unfolding below me. On my street alone, currently playing is "Race", "Rock of Ages" and "Royal Family" which guarantees a huge crowd right at my corner waiting for curtain time.

Now, Lord knows I am no fashion plate. Tom Ford would be appalled at my taste which tragically means most likely I will never get to meet the man that turns me on so much. My basic style for years has been blue jeans, a blue work shirt and either cowboy boots or sensible shoes. Recently my grandfather's wooden cane has been added to the mix. The Hemingway in me likes to think it is some sort of political statement or perhaps makes me look as though I am living the life of a rogue writer. Actually, it is just who I am and just plain comfortable. So don't look for me to become a judge on "Project Runway" anytime in the near future.

However, I would never dream of attending the theater in my revolutionary outfit. But I am in the minority. You would not believe how people dress to go out for such a special evening now. Maybe it is because I am in my sixties but I would not dream of going to the theater without a suit and tie or the very least a pair of pressed slacks, nice shirt and maybe sport jacket. Oh no, nowadays they attend what should be a very special evening out in shorts, t-shirts and flip flops! I kid you not.

Yes, I know that Shakespeare was held in a theater filled with dirty every day people sometimes sitting in the mud. They were called "Groundlings" for a good reason! And I believe in the summer at outdoor spaces one should come dressed for summer and the spirit of outdoor theater. Blankets on the ground, wine, cheese and lots of laughter leading up to showtime. But that's a different venue. And allows a more casual attire.

Never attended a real Broadway show until I was in college at Arizona State in Frank Lloyd Wright's magnificent auditorium. Even then, at the height of hippiedom, we dressed up to go see a national tour. I was so excited and actually very scared. Didn't know what to expect, how to act, what to do at intermission and looked to others on just how hard I should applaud. Quite honestly, as I watched the magic unfold before me on the stage, it could have been the world's worst production of Eugene O'Neill, I would have still jumped to my feet and cheered. That evening opened an entire world to me.

In the late 1970's and early 1980's, at the height of the sexual revolution, we would still put on a suit and tie, have a great dinner before hand and then afterwards trot off to the enchanting Palm Court at the Plaza Hotel for dessert. There, with chamber music playing underneath the beautiful chandeliers, we would heatedly discuss the merits of the show and watch to see who would honor the room that night with their attendance. Often, especially on weekends, we would change right after the show and go to the 'spots' where either the writers and actors would gather and drink and argue politics well into the early morning hours. Or after a special evening, we would head out to the bars down along the docks.

Sadly, the Palm Court and its ilk are, in essence, a thing of the past. Indeed, those sort of drinking holes rarely exist anymore. Actors and writers head home and audiences head to the buses lining the streets waiting to carry them back to the suburbs. There are few places you can walk into after the show palaces close and expect to see theater people celebrating the lives they live. You can enter the restaurants of "Restaurant Row" and the walls are covered with images from the past but few are there in the flesh to create the images for the future. You can seek out the former haunts of the likes of Pete Hamill, Jimmy Breslin, Jack Newfield and others and find them void of their passion.

Quite honestly, I miss the sense of glamour of getting dressed to attend the theater, I miss the hang-outs of theater people and I miss the spirit of lives on the edge, creating and yes, even being somewhat eccentric.

So right now, I have to settle for sitting in my nest with my binoculars judging the world below me as it passes. Every couple of evenings, I seek out those places in Hell's Kitchen where I might recreate moments from my past. And maybe, just maybe, one evening I will walk into a bar and there they will all be hanging out and they will size up the new stranger in town as I walk in to join them.

How I would love that!