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03/15/2004 Archived Entry: "The Naked Cowboy"

Yesterday I drove for a company tour to Hairspray, the hit musical playing at the Neil Simon Theatre on 52nd Street in New York City. After finding a parking space on 11th & 60th, I decided to go for a walk. It was a cold day -- the thermometer on one of the buildings in Times Square indicated it was only 34°F -- but I was dressed warmly and ended up walking all the way to Times Square and doing some window shopping along the way. I stopped for breakfast at what has become one of my favorite restaurants in that part of Manhattan -- the Olympic Flame Diner. With plenty of "walking fuel" I walked to the theatre to try and reclaim funds for an unsold ticket for the company (the Neil Simon Theatre is one of the few that will try and resell a ticket for you); then I headed down Broadway toward Times Square. I was a little surprised at how crowded the sidewalks were for a cold Sunday afternoon. But what really surprised me was the crowd around the center of Times Square where the Naked Cowboy hangs out in warmer weather. Sure enough, the Naked Cowboy WAS there -- despite the temperature in the 30s -- in all his "glory," if you can call it that. He was singing and posing as usual, except that everyone else had on their winter coats. He seemed to be making even more of a stir than usual because of the cold weather. I watched a short while as women stuffed cash in his boots for the privilege of posing for a photo with him. At one point he actually had to reach down to stuff the cash deeper into his boots so there was room for more. A TV crew from the M-TV studios across the street came over to interview him (photo above right). Well, even with my winter trenchcoat, I was getting a little cold so I headed back to the theatre -- they had indeed sold my extra ticket at full face value so the boss should be happy -- and then on back to the coach for a short nap before picking up my group.