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