Bridge and Tunnel: Heart and Soul

The world inside the mind of Sarah Jones is teeming with activity and life. Rich, deep heritage mixes with thick, sprawling cadence. Human beings concocted with only a spare prop jacket and a physical posture shift come one after the other, amazing her audiences with their insight, humor and truth.

See Sarah Jones in her one woman show "Bridge and Tunnel" on Broadway, a true love letter to New York and all its people. Or rather a true love letter to New York and all its buroughs.

The more than a dozen characters that she portrays in her hour and a half Broadway debut (all American immigrants participating in an annual "beautiful South Queens" poetry slam) are as fully realized as could be imagined on the stages of this fair city.

Each character she creates will shine light on the potential emotions of the woman sitting behind the partition of the Post Office cart parked outside your office. Or the opinions of the man who rings up your milk and cereal at the local bodega. Or even the intrinsic fears of the lady sitting beside you on the bus ride home.

The talent for pitch-perfect mimicry exhibited nightly by Ms. Jones deserves as much attention as it can garner. But the beauty of this experience for theatre-goers is in the realization (again and for the first time) that the human experience far outweighs your own. And in giving this gift poet, playwright and actress Sarah Jones deserves as much acknowledgement as can be bestowed.

To think that all of these "characters" surround us every day seems obvious. The crowded hustle and flow of our thriving metropolis is as unfortunate to residents as it is appealing. But, to think that all of these characters actually came from a place deep inside her mind is all at once remarkable, thrilling, unbelievable and well worth your time.

"Bridge and Tunnel" has extended through July 9 at the Helen Hayes Theatre on Broadway. Go there to spend an evening with a dozen or so people you'd never have thought you'd meet. Go there to hear the voices coming from deep inside your heart. Go there to remind yourself why New York is the best city on Earth. And go there for the well-deserved indication that you are not alone.