Woke up at 7am on my final day in NY. Had planned to get to the Met around 10am.. didn't happen. Got distracted with phone calls and snow.. yes, you read right.. snow. snowed on my final day there!
Had so much to pack and organise i didn't end up getting there till around 11.30 which sucked, but i met julia and we got to go through the entire egyptian exhibition and grab a bite to eat before heading back to times square.
Decided to catch a taxi from there to times square which was fun. Julia and I were so giddy as we drove through central park, passed the Lincoln Centre and Julliard school to times square.
With 15 mins to go before my shuttle picked me up.. we split to quickly get a few things before i left.. julia to m&m's world to get me some m&m's, i went to broadway dance centre to get my pants and then a gift shop to get another jumper.
I made it back to the hostel first only to find out that my shuttle bus driver came 10 mins early and left without me.. hostel guy said he was so rude and said it was my fault i wasn't there... he was early!!
So hostel guy got another van to pick me up which was good.. so hung out with Julia out the front of my hostel till they came.
Then it was in the shuttle to JFK airport.. onto a plane to LA. Stopover in LA for 3 hours, then back onto the plane to sydney..
I'll miss you New York!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
A bad omen..
Had a taxi pick me up from the hostel in madison at 4am.. caught the first flight out of the airport back to chicago. This time it was a full flight.. only problem was that the plane we were meant to go on originally had to be taken into maintenance for security to check over as the toilet door got jammed and they could not open it (they began to think if something was hidden in there). Lucky for us there was a plane at the airport we could use.. so we all boarded that plane. What was weird was that after i had found my seat, this guy came up and asked me to move as he said he was sitting there.. but when i showed him my ticket we realised that they had put us in the same seat. He offered to move which was good.. cause i wasn't willing to haha
Slept the whole way again which was good.
Arrived in chicago and waiting for my connecting flight. The plane arrived late which meant we were delayed.. so uncool. After we finally got on and up in the air (nearly 15 mins after schedualed take off) i went back to sleep.. again, for the entire flight. Woke up before we landed in NY and realised that we had arrived at the original time which was good.
Got off the flight and got into my shuttle bus to go home.
The driver picked up 9 other people to take in which was alright, i was just praying that i wouldnt be the last to be dropped off again.
Once we hit the city, 2 impatient guys got out and caught a cab. I was tempted to.. but i didn't. He then dropped off more people till there was 4 of us left. One of the girls thought it would be fun to be sick in the van.. not cool. In the end, the driver let me out as i was sick of riding in a van full of puke, and he was dropping everyone else off around my street but not me. It ended up being easier to walk.
Moved into my new room, got changed and headed back to Wicked for my final show on Broadway.
Saw a full cast bar Madame Morrible for the matinee. Katie Rose Clarke was amazing.. as usual. Her popular is glinda on crack.. seriously!!
Decided to try my luck at stage door again.. but knowing it was a matinee, i knew no one would be coming out... but it was my last day in NY.. why not try.
Ended up being the only one there.. so decided to leave after a while as no one was coming out. The security guard was nice enough to check for me to see if anyone was coming out.. which they weren't. I said to him that it didn't surprise me and i thought i would try anyway. We then got talking about where i was from.. mentioned to him that i was heading home and was hoping to catch Jen DiNoia before i left, but being the standby she was probably already gone. He told me to follow him backstage and they (security guy and stage door manager) called jen over the pa to see if she was still in. Turns out i had luck on my side.. she was still at the theatre!
So she came down, signed my poster.. we ended up having a chat for ages about home, about the show, about carmen..
Jen was so nice to talk to me.. i really do appreciate her taking the time to come down. She said that usually she would have been away from the theatre at that time, but that she had rehersals on before so she hung around.. how lucky was i..
We both left the theatre together, still talking like mad.. she then jumped into a taxi and i thought i'd try wicked lottery for fun, even though i couldn't go. Still lost.. but i didn't care as i had a hockey match to attend!
The hockey was so much fun! Got a free tshirt for attending the game.. score!!
Was able to get a seat right on the ice.. i was down the action end ;-)
Because of where i was sitting, i was able to use the personal food delivery service too.. order food and get it delivered to my seat ;-)
NY Rangers lost which sucked, but i had a ball :-D
Slept the whole way again which was good.
Arrived in chicago and waiting for my connecting flight. The plane arrived late which meant we were delayed.. so uncool. After we finally got on and up in the air (nearly 15 mins after schedualed take off) i went back to sleep.. again, for the entire flight. Woke up before we landed in NY and realised that we had arrived at the original time which was good.
Got off the flight and got into my shuttle bus to go home.
The driver picked up 9 other people to take in which was alright, i was just praying that i wouldnt be the last to be dropped off again.
Once we hit the city, 2 impatient guys got out and caught a cab. I was tempted to.. but i didn't. He then dropped off more people till there was 4 of us left. One of the girls thought it would be fun to be sick in the van.. not cool. In the end, the driver let me out as i was sick of riding in a van full of puke, and he was dropping everyone else off around my street but not me. It ended up being easier to walk.
Moved into my new room, got changed and headed back to Wicked for my final show on Broadway.
Saw a full cast bar Madame Morrible for the matinee. Katie Rose Clarke was amazing.. as usual. Her popular is glinda on crack.. seriously!!
Decided to try my luck at stage door again.. but knowing it was a matinee, i knew no one would be coming out... but it was my last day in NY.. why not try.
Ended up being the only one there.. so decided to leave after a while as no one was coming out. The security guard was nice enough to check for me to see if anyone was coming out.. which they weren't. I said to him that it didn't surprise me and i thought i would try anyway. We then got talking about where i was from.. mentioned to him that i was heading home and was hoping to catch Jen DiNoia before i left, but being the standby she was probably already gone. He told me to follow him backstage and they (security guy and stage door manager) called jen over the pa to see if she was still in. Turns out i had luck on my side.. she was still at the theatre!
So she came down, signed my poster.. we ended up having a chat for ages about home, about the show, about carmen..
Jen was so nice to talk to me.. i really do appreciate her taking the time to come down. She said that usually she would have been away from the theatre at that time, but that she had rehersals on before so she hung around.. how lucky was i..
We both left the theatre together, still talking like mad.. she then jumped into a taxi and i thought i'd try wicked lottery for fun, even though i couldn't go. Still lost.. but i didn't care as i had a hockey match to attend!
The hockey was so much fun! Got a free tshirt for attending the game.. score!!
Was able to get a seat right on the ice.. i was down the action end ;-)
Because of where i was sitting, i was able to use the personal food delivery service too.. order food and get it delivered to my seat ;-)
NY Rangers lost which sucked, but i had a ball :-D
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Madison.. In one word - COLD!
Up at 2.15am to get the 2.30am shuttle.. for a 6am flight :-S
Oh, did i mention that the shuttle actually didn't come till 3? Super Shuttle has been a disaster for me.. but they're the only company that runs 24/7
Got to the airport at 3.35 which wasn't too bad.. but what sucked was that check-in didn't open till 4.. and nothing was open at the airport to do!
Finally checked in at 4, then headed to the food court as the terminal wasn't open. Found one food place that was open and ordered a bagel with cream cheese.. yummy!
Then onto my flight where i slept all the way to chicago. We arrived 1/2 an hour earlier than expected.. so off to maccas i went to get 2 hash browns and a small OJ. Then onto my flight to madison (only 18 people on the flight.. 50 seats on the plane) where i slept all the way there too..
After arriving at Madison, headed down to the arrivals area where Beth (a friend from IMMB and a big theatre fan too) picked me up. We then drove around madison seeing all the 'sights' which was cool.. seeing where the theatre venue was, the main lakes (frozen over), the capitol dome, around the town and uni really..
The she dropped me off at my hostel as she had to go to class.
Checked into the hostel and headed to my room. Free wireless and a room to myself!! (no one else was checking into that room that day apparently)
Decided to buy something to eat (something small to snack on, a mini dinner and something to eat during the show or the next morning). Headed out to find a shop.. bad mistake. It was so cold!! Snow everywhere which was fine, the temp actually wasn't too bad.. it was the damn wind chill that got to me. My hands started to burn they were that cold! Silly me though walked the wrong way around the city centre.. should have turned left and i would have been at a food store, but no.. i turned right and walked the long way around.
Headed back to the hostel to warm up and eat. Jumped online for a bit, then got changed and headed to the theatre. This time it was colder than before and i really struggled walking to the theatre.
But i got there and defrosted. Bought my merch, then headed into the theatre.
Rent was amazing. So glad that i have seen the production live and at a scale like this. I know it has been done a few times in aus... but like a few other shows, it's always better in its home country (eg. WWRY in London.. nothing can beat it venue/set/costuming wise IMO).
The cast were amazing.. of course i really wanted to see Anthony and Adam (the 2 original broadway cast members) perform as really.. when would you ever get the chance? But the other cast members were just as talented :-)
Th guy who played angel (cannot remember his name.. program not near me) was classic.. brought angel to new heights :-) And lexi lawson was great as mimi.
It was kind of weird seeing a blonde maureen.. i'm so used to darker haired women playing the role, but she was amazing either way (i know her name starts with n.. nicole maybe??). Took a while to get used to looks wise (just the hair..) but she made the character her own.
After the show, headed back to the stage door to try and meet the cast. Standing in line for nearly 1/2 an hour in the cold wasn't fun (beth came to stage door to say hi).. especially with no gloves and being sick. After a while the theatre security came out and told the 50+ people waiting in line that they weren't coming out to sign stuff tonight. No offence.. but i thought that was poor. If we could stand in line in the cold for that long, they could do it for a few mins. But i knew they'd have media commitments after the show (which they did).. would have been nice to have known this and not stand around thinking they were going to come out. At least put a sign up on the door, i'm sure people would have been more polite when reading the reason why.. a few people (like myself) were not happy at all. Well.. especially me.. who had hiked all the way around the world to see them!
Beth offered to hold onto my poster and try and get the cast to sign it over the next few days which was nice. Decided to write a note on the back of the poster saying what day i had some to see the show, where i had come from just to see them and how i was a bit disappointed that i didn't get to meet them.. so hopefully they feel bad and sign it for me haha
Then it was the slow, painful and sickening walk back to the hostel. At one stage i thought i was going to pass out.. no joke! It was that cold that i was worried i had been out for too long and lost too much body heat. Took me forever to warm up back at the hostel..
Oh, did i mention that the shuttle actually didn't come till 3? Super Shuttle has been a disaster for me.. but they're the only company that runs 24/7
Got to the airport at 3.35 which wasn't too bad.. but what sucked was that check-in didn't open till 4.. and nothing was open at the airport to do!
Finally checked in at 4, then headed to the food court as the terminal wasn't open. Found one food place that was open and ordered a bagel with cream cheese.. yummy!
Then onto my flight where i slept all the way to chicago. We arrived 1/2 an hour earlier than expected.. so off to maccas i went to get 2 hash browns and a small OJ. Then onto my flight to madison (only 18 people on the flight.. 50 seats on the plane) where i slept all the way there too..
After arriving at Madison, headed down to the arrivals area where Beth (a friend from IMMB and a big theatre fan too) picked me up. We then drove around madison seeing all the 'sights' which was cool.. seeing where the theatre venue was, the main lakes (frozen over), the capitol dome, around the town and uni really..
The she dropped me off at my hostel as she had to go to class.
Checked into the hostel and headed to my room. Free wireless and a room to myself!! (no one else was checking into that room that day apparently)
Decided to buy something to eat (something small to snack on, a mini dinner and something to eat during the show or the next morning). Headed out to find a shop.. bad mistake. It was so cold!! Snow everywhere which was fine, the temp actually wasn't too bad.. it was the damn wind chill that got to me. My hands started to burn they were that cold! Silly me though walked the wrong way around the city centre.. should have turned left and i would have been at a food store, but no.. i turned right and walked the long way around.
Headed back to the hostel to warm up and eat. Jumped online for a bit, then got changed and headed to the theatre. This time it was colder than before and i really struggled walking to the theatre.
But i got there and defrosted. Bought my merch, then headed into the theatre.
Rent was amazing. So glad that i have seen the production live and at a scale like this. I know it has been done a few times in aus... but like a few other shows, it's always better in its home country (eg. WWRY in London.. nothing can beat it venue/set/costuming wise IMO).
The cast were amazing.. of course i really wanted to see Anthony and Adam (the 2 original broadway cast members) perform as really.. when would you ever get the chance? But the other cast members were just as talented :-)
Th guy who played angel (cannot remember his name.. program not near me) was classic.. brought angel to new heights :-) And lexi lawson was great as mimi.
It was kind of weird seeing a blonde maureen.. i'm so used to darker haired women playing the role, but she was amazing either way (i know her name starts with n.. nicole maybe??). Took a while to get used to looks wise (just the hair..) but she made the character her own.
After the show, headed back to the stage door to try and meet the cast. Standing in line for nearly 1/2 an hour in the cold wasn't fun (beth came to stage door to say hi).. especially with no gloves and being sick. After a while the theatre security came out and told the 50+ people waiting in line that they weren't coming out to sign stuff tonight. No offence.. but i thought that was poor. If we could stand in line in the cold for that long, they could do it for a few mins. But i knew they'd have media commitments after the show (which they did).. would have been nice to have known this and not stand around thinking they were going to come out. At least put a sign up on the door, i'm sure people would have been more polite when reading the reason why.. a few people (like myself) were not happy at all. Well.. especially me.. who had hiked all the way around the world to see them!
Beth offered to hold onto my poster and try and get the cast to sign it over the next few days which was nice. Decided to write a note on the back of the poster saying what day i had some to see the show, where i had come from just to see them and how i was a bit disappointed that i didn't get to meet them.. so hopefully they feel bad and sign it for me haha
Then it was the slow, painful and sickening walk back to the hostel. At one stage i thought i was going to pass out.. no joke! It was that cold that i was worried i had been out for too long and lost too much body heat. Took me forever to warm up back at the hostel..
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
NY must hate me..
I don't know why.. but every time i plan to do a big day of exploring in this city.. it decided to bring on horrible weather that prevents me from doing so!
Left the hostel in light showers. Didn't bother me as i didn't have far to walk to the subway.. so didn't get wet too much.
Headed back to the WTC site to see the preview model and museum on the other side. It was very interesting and very emotional. There were people there walking around the exhibition with tears in their eyes.
What they are going to do with the site looks amazing. Where the two towers originally stood, there will be two memorial pools in its place. The pools are actually like waterfalls in a way.. better to see the pic than have me try to explain it.. would get too complicated. But the unique thing is that inside both pools will be the names of those who lost their lives that day.
On the large site where the remaining WTC buildings were will be a memorial museum and some shops (i think).
The neat thing is that if you jump online to the museum's website, you can actually see a live camera view of how construction is going :-)
Better view that what i could get there.. in person!
By the time i finished at the museum, the rain had gotten stronger. And to top it off.. the wind started to kick in. Decided to try and walk to Wall Street to see the stock exchange building and then move onto Brooklyn Bridge (which was only a stone throw away from wall street).. of course because it was wet my map was useless (actually.. not useless, destroyed!) so i tried to find it off the top of my head..
Well.. i made it to Brooklyn Bridge only to find out that the Police had blocked off all pedestrian access due to the strong winds. By strong i mean super strong.. at one stage i was walking in the one spot and not moving due to the winds!
So asked the policeman which way was quicker to get to wall street and he said all the roads in that direction were closed and that they were telling everyone to either get inside or use the subway. So what a start to the day... first i get rained on (no point for an umbrella.. within 5 mins of the rain and wind starting, the streets began to fill with broken umbrellas!) and nearly blown away, then the 2 things i really wanted to do were closed down!!
Ended up jumping onto a train to Grand Central Station to visit the station but also to walk to
the UN building. The station was really busy with people trying to avoid the rain, but also waiting to see if their trains to other cities in the US were cancelled due to the weather. After exploring the station for a bit, headed back out into the horrible weather to see the UN building. By now all 4 layers of clothing i was wearing was soaking wet.. not a fun day, especially when i had planned out the remaining clean clothes for the final few days.. and was now going to have to change this.
What should have been a quick 5 min walk to the UN building turned into a 25 min fight against the wind. By the time i got there, the building was on lockdown
(wasn't planning to go in anyway.. i think they stopped letting public in a few years ago), all the nations flags were removed from the flag poles and the building just looked plain. But i still took photos.. after all, i had battled to see the damn thing! Walked back to grand central as all taxis were taken.. got even more wet. Grr..
Caught a train up to central park to go visit the museums. Had planned to see all 3 remaining museums around the park on this day.. only to find
out that the Met was closed on mondays. Really.. could anything else go wrong??
Went to the Guggenheim Museum and was so disappointed.. 50% of the venue was closed due to installations of new exhibitions. It was a repeat of MOMA.. but worse! I think i was in the museum for just on 1/2 an hour.. 1/2 an hour for a museum.. what is going on??
Decided to walk through Central Park to get to the Museum of Natural History as the Met was closed. Hit Central Park and again.. more closures. No traffic which was good.. but half the walking tracks were blocked off due to the weather. Really New York.. why do you hate me???
Finally made it to the other side of Central Park (found the police precinct in the park which was cool) and found the MNH. Because of my city pass i got a free ticket to the planeterium which was super cool.. narrated by whoopi goldburg herself ;-)
Totally forgot that this was the museum that the movie 'Night at the Museum' was based on.. that's how annoyed i was at the day. But i perked up when i started seeing familiar things :-P
I found Jub Jub, Rex, the cheeky monkeys.. it was classic! I would have loved to have stayed there for longer.. but i still had so much to get done. But i would have to say the MNH was one of my favourite museums :-)
It finally stopped raining when i left the museum. Walked across the road to Central Park and hiked a bit more till i hit Strawberry Fields. Took a few photos, then back on a train to 50th Ave to make a quick stop at Wicked. Discovered that i wouldn't be back in time to try wicked lottery for the final time, so went to see if they had any tickets available for the matinee.. and they did :-) So bought my ticket and decided to head back to the hostel to get out of my wet clothes and try and dry them quickly for later.
Ended up getting distracted on the way home by the only and only...
NAKED COWBOY!!
This guy has been MIA since i arrived on the 15th of Jan. Of course he makes an appearance just before i leave for home.. but i got my photo so it's all worth it ;-) The guy is a bit of a sleeze.. but all the women love him.. lol
Arrived back at the hostel, changed into clothes planned for Madison and put all my wet gear onto the heater to dry.. but of course.. today was the one day when the heater wasn't put on by management all day.. so my clothes never dried!
Headed to In the Heights to try lottery there and didn't win.. so headed across to Next to Normal. Have to say though.. the heights crew must have been super busy last night as the entire theatre had new images of Corbin as Usnavi in time for his first show.
Next to Normal lottery was packed. I knew there were seats still available to purchase.. but i wanted to try and win lottery. It got down to the final 2 tickets and i still hadn't been called.. I was so desperate to see the show one more time! Suddenly a guy in the line pulled out and didn't want his ticket. Because it was a single.. me being a smart ass said i'd buy it off him. The lottery guy just laughed and said the ticket was back up for grabs. So not cool!!
Another name was pulled out.. not mine. Now only one ticket was left.. He pulled out another name and was like 'oh, this is good luck. this person only wanted one and there is one left!... i think it's eliz..abeth bl..ox..som?'
OMG... i won the final ticket in lottery!!!! haha
Ended up back at juniors for dinner as it took forever to get my ticket. Grilled cheese and ham sandwich with a pineapple ice cream float.. yummy!! Then back across the road to the theatre..
Sadly Alice wasn't on (she had been off the past 2 days) but i got to see Jessica Phillips her understudy in the role instead. She is amazing! So strong.. you wouldn't think she was the understudy! She has a very different take on the character which was refreshing..
I think Jessica was great.. but i feel like the role was written/made for Alice. I don't know what it is.. but she seems to really REALLY bring out the character.
But it was great to see the show again.. no matter what the cast as they're all fantastic :-)
After the show i got to meet Jessica which was great. She's such a nice girl.. thought it was funny that i was actually
one of the few who wasn't disappointed to see her name up on the board. After meeting Jessica, the security guy at the stage door took me backstage and i got to meet the production stage manager Judy. Spent a while talking to her about study, the show, broadway.. was great to hear an opinion from someone on broadway :-) Now i know what to expect from both theatre capitals.. London and New York.
Then it was back to the hostel to pack my bags and then get 2 hours sleep before my shuttle arrived for my flight the next day :-S
Left the hostel in light showers. Didn't bother me as i didn't have far to walk to the subway.. so didn't get wet too much.
Headed back to the WTC site to see the preview model and museum on the other side. It was very interesting and very emotional. There were people there walking around the exhibition with tears in their eyes.
What they are going to do with the site looks amazing. Where the two towers originally stood, there will be two memorial pools in its place. The pools are actually like waterfalls in a way.. better to see the pic than have me try to explain it.. would get too complicated. But the unique thing is that inside both pools will be the names of those who lost their lives that day.
On the large site where the remaining WTC buildings were will be a memorial museum and some shops (i think).
The neat thing is that if you jump online to the museum's website, you can actually see a live camera view of how construction is going :-)
Better view that what i could get there.. in person!
By the time i finished at the museum, the rain had gotten stronger. And to top it off.. the wind started to kick in. Decided to try and walk to Wall Street to see the stock exchange building and then move onto Brooklyn Bridge (which was only a stone throw away from wall street).. of course because it was wet my map was useless (actually.. not useless, destroyed!) so i tried to find it off the top of my head..
Well.. i made it to Brooklyn Bridge only to find out that the Police had blocked off all pedestrian access due to the strong winds. By strong i mean super strong.. at one stage i was walking in the one spot and not moving due to the winds!
So asked the policeman which way was quicker to get to wall street and he said all the roads in that direction were closed and that they were telling everyone to either get inside or use the subway. So what a start to the day... first i get rained on (no point for an umbrella.. within 5 mins of the rain and wind starting, the streets began to fill with broken umbrellas!) and nearly blown away, then the 2 things i really wanted to do were closed down!!
Ended up jumping onto a train to Grand Central Station to visit the station but also to walk to
the UN building. The station was really busy with people trying to avoid the rain, but also waiting to see if their trains to other cities in the US were cancelled due to the weather. After exploring the station for a bit, headed back out into the horrible weather to see the UN building. By now all 4 layers of clothing i was wearing was soaking wet.. not a fun day, especially when i had planned out the remaining clean clothes for the final few days.. and was now going to have to change this.What should have been a quick 5 min walk to the UN building turned into a 25 min fight against the wind. By the time i got there, the building was on lockdown
(wasn't planning to go in anyway.. i think they stopped letting public in a few years ago), all the nations flags were removed from the flag poles and the building just looked plain. But i still took photos.. after all, i had battled to see the damn thing! Walked back to grand central as all taxis were taken.. got even more wet. Grr..Caught a train up to central park to go visit the museums. Had planned to see all 3 remaining museums around the park on this day.. only to find
out that the Met was closed on mondays. Really.. could anything else go wrong??Went to the Guggenheim Museum and was so disappointed.. 50% of the venue was closed due to installations of new exhibitions. It was a repeat of MOMA.. but worse! I think i was in the museum for just on 1/2 an hour.. 1/2 an hour for a museum.. what is going on??
Decided to walk through Central Park to get to the Museum of Natural History as the Met was closed. Hit Central Park and again.. more closures. No traffic which was good.. but half the walking tracks were blocked off due to the weather. Really New York.. why do you hate me???
Finally made it to the other side of Central Park (found the police precinct in the park which was cool) and found the MNH. Because of my city pass i got a free ticket to the planeterium which was super cool.. narrated by whoopi goldburg herself ;-)
Totally forgot that this was the museum that the movie 'Night at the Museum' was based on.. that's how annoyed i was at the day. But i perked up when i started seeing familiar things :-P
I found Jub Jub, Rex, the cheeky monkeys.. it was classic! I would have loved to have stayed there for longer.. but i still had so much to get done. But i would have to say the MNH was one of my favourite museums :-)
It finally stopped raining when i left the museum. Walked across the road to Central Park and hiked a bit more till i hit Strawberry Fields. Took a few photos, then back on a train to 50th Ave to make a quick stop at Wicked. Discovered that i wouldn't be back in time to try wicked lottery for the final time, so went to see if they had any tickets available for the matinee.. and they did :-) So bought my ticket and decided to head back to the hostel to get out of my wet clothes and try and dry them quickly for later.Ended up getting distracted on the way home by the only and only...
NAKED COWBOY!!This guy has been MIA since i arrived on the 15th of Jan. Of course he makes an appearance just before i leave for home.. but i got my photo so it's all worth it ;-) The guy is a bit of a sleeze.. but all the women love him.. lol
Arrived back at the hostel, changed into clothes planned for Madison and put all my wet gear onto the heater to dry.. but of course.. today was the one day when the heater wasn't put on by management all day.. so my clothes never dried!
Headed to In the Heights to try lottery there and didn't win.. so headed across to Next to Normal. Have to say though.. the heights crew must have been super busy last night as the entire theatre had new images of Corbin as Usnavi in time for his first show.
Next to Normal lottery was packed. I knew there were seats still available to purchase.. but i wanted to try and win lottery. It got down to the final 2 tickets and i still hadn't been called.. I was so desperate to see the show one more time! Suddenly a guy in the line pulled out and didn't want his ticket. Because it was a single.. me being a smart ass said i'd buy it off him. The lottery guy just laughed and said the ticket was back up for grabs. So not cool!!
Another name was pulled out.. not mine. Now only one ticket was left.. He pulled out another name and was like 'oh, this is good luck. this person only wanted one and there is one left!... i think it's eliz..abeth bl..ox..som?'
OMG... i won the final ticket in lottery!!!! haha
Ended up back at juniors for dinner as it took forever to get my ticket. Grilled cheese and ham sandwich with a pineapple ice cream float.. yummy!! Then back across the road to the theatre..
Sadly Alice wasn't on (she had been off the past 2 days) but i got to see Jessica Phillips her understudy in the role instead. She is amazing! So strong.. you wouldn't think she was the understudy! She has a very different take on the character which was refreshing..
I think Jessica was great.. but i feel like the role was written/made for Alice. I don't know what it is.. but she seems to really REALLY bring out the character.
But it was great to see the show again.. no matter what the cast as they're all fantastic :-)
After the show i got to meet Jessica which was great. She's such a nice girl.. thought it was funny that i was actually
one of the few who wasn't disappointed to see her name up on the board. After meeting Jessica, the security guy at the stage door took me backstage and i got to meet the production stage manager Judy. Spent a while talking to her about study, the show, broadway.. was great to hear an opinion from someone on broadway :-) Now i know what to expect from both theatre capitals.. London and New York.Then it was back to the hostel to pack my bags and then get 2 hours sleep before my shuttle arrived for my flight the next day :-S
Monday, January 25, 2010
2 loses.. but 1 winner
Headed to the World Trade Centre site this morning.. and of 
course with my luck, i pick the weekend where the direct train to that location is closed..
That meant i wasted valuable time getting there which i needed to use to get to other commitments. After finally getting there, i only ended up getting around half of the site (inc. one WTC museum) as i had to be at Madison Square Garden in 15 mins. So i've decided to head back to ground zero tomorrow morning..
But for what i saw there.. it was a very emotional site. A lot is now fenced off due to construction, but they have live webcam feeds that you can view to see the site.
Jumped onto a train to Penn Station and arrived at Madison Square Garden. So many people around!
Took me forever to pick up my ticket (they weren't going to give it to me at first as it was under mum's name).. i ended up missing the first 4 mins of the game. It was a very different atmosphere to the
basketball back home. A lot of music, constant crowd participation, endless games for spectators to play during the time outs..
Have to say, my favourite bit about the whole thing was the Knicks Kids (i think that's what they're called..).. a group of about 10 kids of all ages who do dance and acro at time outs.. AMAZING! This one kid looked like he was 7 and could breakdance :-S
Sadly, i think that was the only enjoyment the fans got out of the game.. as the knicks got smashed by dallas mavs. Final score was dallas doubled the knicks score.. not cool. But what was so wrong was that only 1/4 of the crowd remained at the end of the game. New Yorkers are bad sports when it comes to basketball. Yeah, the knicks played like crap (dallas were on fire).. but still, support your damn team! Don't leave the game during the second quarter!!
After the basketball, decided to walk back to the hostel.. and it started to rain.. grr
Headed to M&Ms world.. god i love that place!
Hersheys was a major disappointment.. so tiny!
But i made it back to the hostel.. in time to have a break/rest, then headed to N2N to try lottery. Put my name into the lottery, then 5 mins before it was drawn found out that Alice wasn't going to be on.. so i quickly raced over to In the Heights and got a killer seat for a discounted price (down from 120-140 to 74).. 7th row, 5 seats from the isle in the middle. Lucky i did see it that night as one of the leads Javier was having his final performance that night. Corbin from High School Musical was to take over on the monday.
Went to juniors for dinner and watched the NY Jets lose their division final in the NFL.. wasn't a good day for NY.
The show was amazing! Such a clever mix of different dance styles and lyrics. Not your typical musical.. very modern :-)
Very talented cast.. who can all dance! And i don't just mean dance.. i mean DANCE! Pop and lock, salsa, hip hop, breakdance.. the list goes on!
It's definately a musical like WWRY and Rocky Horror that gets the crowd involved :-)
Because it was Javier's last performance, a lot of the old cast members returned to the show for the night to see him perform.. which meant the audience was roudy as ever! (bonus was.. they all sat behind me.. so it was good to meet them all)
Went to stage door after the show and it was packed! But i found a good spot and got to meet pretty much the entire cast.. photos and sigs on the poster :-)
They thought it was so cool that
an aussie knew about their show and came to see it. Javier thought it was so cool that i only got my ticket an hour before the show to see his final performance :-)
course with my luck, i pick the weekend where the direct train to that location is closed..That meant i wasted valuable time getting there which i needed to use to get to other commitments. After finally getting there, i only ended up getting around half of the site (inc. one WTC museum) as i had to be at Madison Square Garden in 15 mins. So i've decided to head back to ground zero tomorrow morning..
But for what i saw there.. it was a very emotional site. A lot is now fenced off due to construction, but they have live webcam feeds that you can view to see the site.
Jumped onto a train to Penn Station and arrived at Madison Square Garden. So many people around!
Took me forever to pick up my ticket (they weren't going to give it to me at first as it was under mum's name).. i ended up missing the first 4 mins of the game. It was a very different atmosphere to the
basketball back home. A lot of music, constant crowd participation, endless games for spectators to play during the time outs..Have to say, my favourite bit about the whole thing was the Knicks Kids (i think that's what they're called..).. a group of about 10 kids of all ages who do dance and acro at time outs.. AMAZING! This one kid looked like he was 7 and could breakdance :-S
Sadly, i think that was the only enjoyment the fans got out of the game.. as the knicks got smashed by dallas mavs. Final score was dallas doubled the knicks score.. not cool. But what was so wrong was that only 1/4 of the crowd remained at the end of the game. New Yorkers are bad sports when it comes to basketball. Yeah, the knicks played like crap (dallas were on fire).. but still, support your damn team! Don't leave the game during the second quarter!!
After the basketball, decided to walk back to the hostel.. and it started to rain.. grr
Headed to M&Ms world.. god i love that place!
Hersheys was a major disappointment.. so tiny!But i made it back to the hostel.. in time to have a break/rest, then headed to N2N to try lottery. Put my name into the lottery, then 5 mins before it was drawn found out that Alice wasn't going to be on.. so i quickly raced over to In the Heights and got a killer seat for a discounted price (down from 120-140 to 74).. 7th row, 5 seats from the isle in the middle. Lucky i did see it that night as one of the leads Javier was having his final performance that night. Corbin from High School Musical was to take over on the monday.
Went to juniors for dinner and watched the NY Jets lose their division final in the NFL.. wasn't a good day for NY.
The show was amazing! Such a clever mix of different dance styles and lyrics. Not your typical musical.. very modern :-)
Very talented cast.. who can all dance! And i don't just mean dance.. i mean DANCE! Pop and lock, salsa, hip hop, breakdance.. the list goes on!
It's definately a musical like WWRY and Rocky Horror that gets the crowd involved :-)
Because it was Javier's last performance, a lot of the old cast members returned to the show for the night to see him perform.. which meant the audience was roudy as ever! (bonus was.. they all sat behind me.. so it was good to meet them all)
Went to stage door after the show and it was packed! But i found a good spot and got to meet pretty much the entire cast.. photos and sigs on the poster :-)
They thought it was so cool that
an aussie knew about their show and came to see it. Javier thought it was so cool that i only got my ticket an hour before the show to see his final performance :-)I wont post all the cast photos up as there are too many.. but i decided to post Javier's photo since it was his last show :-)
A night in..
Woke up that morning feeling very tired.. i think the trip is starting to take its toll.
After a lazy morning (was going to try wicked lottery but couldn't get ready in time) i decided to head to MOMA to see what they had to offer. On the way i passed many locations like Magnolia Bakery, Radio City Hall (which had Lady GaGa playing there that night), the NHL store..
Finally i reached MOMA (Museum of Modern Art).. and chaos began. There were so many people there! But then again, it was a saturday. I was shattered to see that they had a Tim
Burton exhibition on and that all tickets for that day were sold out.. so not fair!
MOMA was a twisted museum.. it was fun to walk around, but half the exhibitions either confused me or were boring/not art in my opinion. Since when was 2 pieces of wire joined at one end considered art??
But a lot of the pieces on show were wacky.. so it was fun to see them and guess where the inspiration came from. Only downside to the museum (apart from the 1000+ annoying people and sold out tim burton exhibition) was that they had large sections of the building closed off due to setting up new exhibitions for the future.
After MOMA, headed to
Tiffany's (which is 6 floors of stuff mind you!), Saks, Apple Store (found my dream laptop at a bargain).. then decided to head back to the hostel quickly to drop off my stuff before lottery.
Headed to the wicked lottery.. and lost. So quickly raced over to the next to normal lottery.. and lost too. So decided to spend the night in the hostel relaxing.
After a lazy morning (was going to try wicked lottery but couldn't get ready in time) i decided to head to MOMA to see what they had to offer. On the way i passed many locations like Magnolia Bakery, Radio City Hall (which had Lady GaGa playing there that night), the NHL store..Finally i reached MOMA (Museum of Modern Art).. and chaos began. There were so many people there! But then again, it was a saturday. I was shattered to see that they had a Tim
Burton exhibition on and that all tickets for that day were sold out.. so not fair!MOMA was a twisted museum.. it was fun to walk around, but half the exhibitions either confused me or were boring/not art in my opinion. Since when was 2 pieces of wire joined at one end considered art??
But a lot of the pieces on show were wacky.. so it was fun to see them and guess where the inspiration came from. Only downside to the museum (apart from the 1000+ annoying people and sold out tim burton exhibition) was that they had large sections of the building closed off due to setting up new exhibitions for the future.
After MOMA, headed to
Tiffany's (which is 6 floors of stuff mind you!), Saks, Apple Store (found my dream laptop at a bargain).. then decided to head back to the hostel quickly to drop off my stuff before lottery.Headed to the wicked lottery.. and lost. So quickly raced over to the next to normal lottery.. and lost too. So decided to spend the night in the hostel relaxing.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Next to Normal...
Woke up that morning and decided i wanted to see the views from the Empire 
State Building.
Had a shower, got changed and walked the short distance (it was actually quite a few blocks, but it felt short for me) to the building. Now i thought being around 12 midday that there would be a line of people to head up, but when i arrived there.. there was hardly anyone buying tickets!
Bought my new york city pass and headed up to the observation deck. On the way i was given an audio guide (free with my pass) which was very useful. Decided against buying a map.. the guide was enough for me.
OMG it was freezing up there! The winds were so icy and i totally forgot to take my gloves
(haven't needed them here since i arrived) so my hands were frozen and burning from being so cold. But the views were amazing.. got to give it that. At one stage the NYPD helicopter decided to come over and hover near my corner of the deck for everyone to take photos which was pretty cool.. then they never came back haha
Was great to see how much of NY i had explored and how much i have to go.. everything from the bottom of central park to downtown and brooklyn has been explored (except brooklyn bridge.. will get there soon).. now just to explore central park and uptown :-)
After exploring the observation deck for as long as i could (it was damn cold) i headed back down to ground and walked up 5th avenue to check out some stores.
Thought i'd try and visit this other toy store on my list, so started to
follow my map to this circle i had drawn.. passed bloomingdales on the way, but didn't have a chance to go in. Walked down the street of where i thought the toy store was and realised i thought of the wrong location.. i had walked myself not to the toy store, but to serendipity which i thought was further away!
Serendipity 3 is an amazing cafe. They are famous for their frozen hot chocolates.. which are to die for!
But stupid me decided to add a dessert onto the list and boy did i regret it when it came out haha
I chose the forbidden broadway sundae (which the waiter recommended) which ended up being huge!! Piece of chocolate cake, vanilla ice cream, fresh whipped cream, hot chocolate sauce... umm.. opps! :-S
Tried to eat (and drink) as much as i could and then decided to walk back to the hostel. But i was so tired from all the walking before that i ended up catching the subway back.
Had a bit of a rest at the hostel, then headed off to the theatre to see Next to Normal.
This musical is so unique.. similar ideals and settings to Rent, but WAY more depressing. It is..
oh, words cannot describe how different and amazing it is!
It's about a family.. a loving but ill mother (has a mixture of mental illnesses), a dedicated and caring but helpless father, a brainiac but confused daughter and a strong willed brother and how they all deal with life and the mother's illnesses. Cannot tell you much more on the plot as it will give the entire story away..
It is a small cast for a show, but there are only a few roles in the entire show so they easily manage.
The set is created like a house, 3 levels all connected by staircases with the use of plastic walls with painted patterns on them to simulate walls. What is neat is that the walls change locations to create extra/new rooms or images during scenes. The band is visible on the 2nd and 3rd levels of the house. They only have 2 set tracks for the show, one track for a table and chairs, one for a chair and side table (with a lamp) which move to front and back of stage when cast members move them manually.
After the show i went to stage door.. this would have been the busiest stage door i have attended since being overseas.. Japan, London, Germany (is a close second.. a lot of people, but not as many as N2N) were quite and not many people as i thought. Broadway i thought there would be a stack after shows, especially at shows like Wicked, Lion King, Avenue Q... but so far it has been quiet. But N2N was busy..
Was able to get photos with all the cast and get my poster signed which was neat. Alice's bodyguard (also security at the door) went around and told everyone that she doesn't take photos with people which i already knew.. so bummed. But after speaking to Alice (about my trip, about coming to see her 
from aust.), she was so nice and offered a photo because she loved that i had travelled so far to see the show. So i now have a photo of alice and i (it may not be facing the camera.. but it's a photo with her none the less.. and she offered!) which i will treasure forever :-)
When i got back to the hostel, i stayed up for a bit talking to the girls in my hostel room (julia, sam and nat) then headed to bed
State Building.Had a shower, got changed and walked the short distance (it was actually quite a few blocks, but it felt short for me) to the building. Now i thought being around 12 midday that there would be a line of people to head up, but when i arrived there.. there was hardly anyone buying tickets!
Bought my new york city pass and headed up to the observation deck. On the way i was given an audio guide (free with my pass) which was very useful. Decided against buying a map.. the guide was enough for me.
OMG it was freezing up there! The winds were so icy and i totally forgot to take my gloves
(haven't needed them here since i arrived) so my hands were frozen and burning from being so cold. But the views were amazing.. got to give it that. At one stage the NYPD helicopter decided to come over and hover near my corner of the deck for everyone to take photos which was pretty cool.. then they never came back hahaWas great to see how much of NY i had explored and how much i have to go.. everything from the bottom of central park to downtown and brooklyn has been explored (except brooklyn bridge.. will get there soon).. now just to explore central park and uptown :-)
After exploring the observation deck for as long as i could (it was damn cold) i headed back down to ground and walked up 5th avenue to check out some stores.
Thought i'd try and visit this other toy store on my list, so started to
follow my map to this circle i had drawn.. passed bloomingdales on the way, but didn't have a chance to go in. Walked down the street of where i thought the toy store was and realised i thought of the wrong location.. i had walked myself not to the toy store, but to serendipity which i thought was further away!Serendipity 3 is an amazing cafe. They are famous for their frozen hot chocolates.. which are to die for!
But stupid me decided to add a dessert onto the list and boy did i regret it when it came out hahaI chose the forbidden broadway sundae (which the waiter recommended) which ended up being huge!! Piece of chocolate cake, vanilla ice cream, fresh whipped cream, hot chocolate sauce... umm.. opps! :-S
Tried to eat (and drink) as much as i could and then decided to walk back to the hostel. But i was so tired from all the walking before that i ended up catching the subway back.
Had a bit of a rest at the hostel, then headed off to the theatre to see Next to Normal.
This musical is so unique.. similar ideals and settings to Rent, but WAY more depressing. It is..
oh, words cannot describe how different and amazing it is!It's about a family.. a loving but ill mother (has a mixture of mental illnesses), a dedicated and caring but helpless father, a brainiac but confused daughter and a strong willed brother and how they all deal with life and the mother's illnesses. Cannot tell you much more on the plot as it will give the entire story away..
It is a small cast for a show, but there are only a few roles in the entire show so they easily manage.
The set is created like a house, 3 levels all connected by staircases with the use of plastic walls with painted patterns on them to simulate walls. What is neat is that the walls change locations to create extra/new rooms or images during scenes. The band is visible on the 2nd and 3rd levels of the house. They only have 2 set tracks for the show, one track for a table and chairs, one for a chair and side table (with a lamp) which move to front and back of stage when cast members move them manually.
After the show i went to stage door.. this would have been the busiest stage door i have attended since being overseas.. Japan, London, Germany (is a close second.. a lot of people, but not as many as N2N) were quite and not many people as i thought. Broadway i thought there would be a stack after shows, especially at shows like Wicked, Lion King, Avenue Q... but so far it has been quiet. But N2N was busy..
Was able to get photos with all the cast and get my poster signed which was neat. Alice's bodyguard (also security at the door) went around and told everyone that she doesn't take photos with people which i already knew.. so bummed. But after speaking to Alice (about my trip, about coming to see her 
from aust.), she was so nice and offered a photo because she loved that i had travelled so far to see the show. So i now have a photo of alice and i (it may not be facing the camera.. but it's a photo with her none the less.. and she offered!) which i will treasure forever :-)
When i got back to the hostel, i stayed up for a bit talking to the girls in my hostel room (julia, sam and nat) then headed to bed
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