(no subject)
Finally posting one month later!
My New York trip was absolutely amazing from start to finish! I was worried that I would find it too busy/overwhelming or scary but, while it was a little (a lot!) busy and only a little overwhelming, I loved it. I don’t know if I could ever live in the center of Manhattan, but I defiantly want to visit it again.
The first thing we did was go up the Empire State Building. The view was beautiful but I felt bad for Adrian, who hates heights. During our stay we had a bus pass for the “hop on hop off” Grayline bus tour which had an uptown and a downtown loop. We did the downtown loop on Thursday and stopped in Chinatown for some shopping. We bought fake designer bags after being led into a warehouse. People would approach you all the time saying “Louis Vuitton, Coach, Rolex” etc etc. and then you would follow them to their secret hideout. Dangerous? Maybe…..
That night we went to Wicked!! I have to admit, I was ridiculously excited for this show and for the Broadway experience in general. Sitting in that theatre before it started thinking “I’m going to see Wicked on BROADWAY!!!” was an amazing feeling. And, I’ll admit that when the overture started up I might have cried a little, it was honestly overwhelming. Everything about the show was SO good. The set, the costumes, the acting and of course the voices. The emotions that these actors were expressing were almost tangible. I believed every second of it. Now, I know that this show has gotten some criticism for being too “family friendly” in its interpretation of the book. I’ve had the soundtrack for quite some time so I knew what to expect, and I’ve learned to separate the book from the musical (so I can love them both equally). It’s true that the show does focus on the love story more heavily than on the political message of the book, but the messages that the book tries to convey and the questions of good and evil are still there and incredibly powerful. I loved every minute of this show, and I could have left New York that night and been perfectly happy.
The next day we went on the Uptown loop of the bus tour, and got off on “museum mile”. We went to the Met and I felt like I could spend days there and still not see everything properly. They also have a gorgeous rooftop garden with views over central park. After the Met we walked through Central Park which was much bigger than I expected, but also much nicer. It was really cool to see Bethseda fountain since I recently watched Angels in America and one of my favourite scenes was filmed there.
That evening we ate in Little Italy. The food was amazing! As we were leaving the street was being closed down and all the restaurants were putting out tables in the street. It looked like it would be a lot of fun to eat there when the street was closed, and I’d love to go back and do that.
After eating we went to see Rent. I really wish we had gone to Rent on the first night, because it was a bit (a little bit!) of a disappointment after Wicked. The cast were all making their debuts, and while it was still an amazing show it just didn’t compare with the professionalism of Wicked, the acting wasn’t as brilliant. However, it was still wonderful. Also Tamara Gray from the first season of American Idol was in it (I was all like “she’s a quasi-celebrity!” and Adrian just rolled his eyes). I really wanted to go see the Light in the Piazza, but it’s on tour L (Maybe next time?).
On Saturday we did some shopping. We went to Macy’s, which was cool to see but pretty pricey. I spent most of my clothing money at H&M, since we don’t have one here. We also went to Century 21, which is a crazy discount store. You’d need days to look through and find something but they had lots of nice clothes.
We also went to Ground Zero on Saturday which was a strange experience. All I could think about when I was walking down that street was how people like me had just been going about their daily lives when it happened. There were people at Ground Zero with newsletters and shirts that proclaimed “9/11 was an inside job”, and I found it so disrespectful and offensive. The sense that I got from visiting Ground Zero is that, whatever your views are on the US government and the war, at that moment it’s really just about the ordinary people who lost their lives just because they went to work that day. And I think we shouldn’t forget that this is something that happens in other parts of the world on a daily basis, and we should be so grateful that we live in a relatively safe country.
After that we went on the Staten Island ferry which goes past the Statue of Liberty. The Statue is a lot smaller than I thought and we didn’t go to the actual island because you can’t go up the statue anymore. The ferry gave some beautiful views of the city though.
That night we went to see Phantom of the Opera. It was unbelievable, there were defiantly parts that left me speechless. The whole theatre seems like it’s part of the set, with the chandelier of the actual theatre being the chandelier that is used throughout the story (it comes crashing down at one point, I was glad that we weren’t sitting right below it!). The acting and voices in this production were also excellent. The man who played the Phantom had one of the most beautiful male voices that I’ve ever heard.
The thing about New York for a theatre lover is that it’s just completely overwhelming. Finally being able to see shows that you’ve listened to, read about and dreamed of for years is such and indescribable feeling. There were moments where I was just completely lost in the whole experience. For 2 out of the 3 shows (Wicked and Phantom), it never felt like “this is actor so and so playing Christine/Elphaba/ miscellaneous chorus person”, it always felt like “this person is Christine/ Elphaba/ miscellaneous chorus person”. That level of acting is something I’ve only experienced a view times in my life and it was such a privilege to see this shows. New York is a place I want to visit again and again (and there’s still so many shows to see!). I can see why people fall in love with it. Given the opportunity I would go back right now!
My New York trip was absolutely amazing from start to finish! I was worried that I would find it too busy/overwhelming or scary but, while it was a little (a lot!) busy and only a little overwhelming, I loved it. I don’t know if I could ever live in the center of Manhattan, but I defiantly want to visit it again.
The first thing we did was go up the Empire State Building. The view was beautiful but I felt bad for Adrian, who hates heights. During our stay we had a bus pass for the “hop on hop off” Grayline bus tour which had an uptown and a downtown loop. We did the downtown loop on Thursday and stopped in Chinatown for some shopping. We bought fake designer bags after being led into a warehouse. People would approach you all the time saying “Louis Vuitton, Coach, Rolex” etc etc. and then you would follow them to their secret hideout. Dangerous? Maybe…..
That night we went to Wicked!! I have to admit, I was ridiculously excited for this show and for the Broadway experience in general. Sitting in that theatre before it started thinking “I’m going to see Wicked on BROADWAY!!!” was an amazing feeling. And, I’ll admit that when the overture started up I might have cried a little, it was honestly overwhelming. Everything about the show was SO good. The set, the costumes, the acting and of course the voices. The emotions that these actors were expressing were almost tangible. I believed every second of it. Now, I know that this show has gotten some criticism for being too “family friendly” in its interpretation of the book. I’ve had the soundtrack for quite some time so I knew what to expect, and I’ve learned to separate the book from the musical (so I can love them both equally). It’s true that the show does focus on the love story more heavily than on the political message of the book, but the messages that the book tries to convey and the questions of good and evil are still there and incredibly powerful. I loved every minute of this show, and I could have left New York that night and been perfectly happy.
The next day we went on the Uptown loop of the bus tour, and got off on “museum mile”. We went to the Met and I felt like I could spend days there and still not see everything properly. They also have a gorgeous rooftop garden with views over central park. After the Met we walked through Central Park which was much bigger than I expected, but also much nicer. It was really cool to see Bethseda fountain since I recently watched Angels in America and one of my favourite scenes was filmed there.
That evening we ate in Little Italy. The food was amazing! As we were leaving the street was being closed down and all the restaurants were putting out tables in the street. It looked like it would be a lot of fun to eat there when the street was closed, and I’d love to go back and do that.
After eating we went to see Rent. I really wish we had gone to Rent on the first night, because it was a bit (a little bit!) of a disappointment after Wicked. The cast were all making their debuts, and while it was still an amazing show it just didn’t compare with the professionalism of Wicked, the acting wasn’t as brilliant. However, it was still wonderful. Also Tamara Gray from the first season of American Idol was in it (I was all like “she’s a quasi-celebrity!” and Adrian just rolled his eyes). I really wanted to go see the Light in the Piazza, but it’s on tour L (Maybe next time?).
On Saturday we did some shopping. We went to Macy’s, which was cool to see but pretty pricey. I spent most of my clothing money at H&M, since we don’t have one here. We also went to Century 21, which is a crazy discount store. You’d need days to look through and find something but they had lots of nice clothes.
We also went to Ground Zero on Saturday which was a strange experience. All I could think about when I was walking down that street was how people like me had just been going about their daily lives when it happened. There were people at Ground Zero with newsletters and shirts that proclaimed “9/11 was an inside job”, and I found it so disrespectful and offensive. The sense that I got from visiting Ground Zero is that, whatever your views are on the US government and the war, at that moment it’s really just about the ordinary people who lost their lives just because they went to work that day. And I think we shouldn’t forget that this is something that happens in other parts of the world on a daily basis, and we should be so grateful that we live in a relatively safe country.
After that we went on the Staten Island ferry which goes past the Statue of Liberty. The Statue is a lot smaller than I thought and we didn’t go to the actual island because you can’t go up the statue anymore. The ferry gave some beautiful views of the city though.
That night we went to see Phantom of the Opera. It was unbelievable, there were defiantly parts that left me speechless. The whole theatre seems like it’s part of the set, with the chandelier of the actual theatre being the chandelier that is used throughout the story (it comes crashing down at one point, I was glad that we weren’t sitting right below it!). The acting and voices in this production were also excellent. The man who played the Phantom had one of the most beautiful male voices that I’ve ever heard.
The thing about New York for a theatre lover is that it’s just completely overwhelming. Finally being able to see shows that you’ve listened to, read about and dreamed of for years is such and indescribable feeling. There were moments where I was just completely lost in the whole experience. For 2 out of the 3 shows (Wicked and Phantom), it never felt like “this is actor so and so playing Christine/Elphaba/ miscellaneous chorus person”, it always felt like “this person is Christine/ Elphaba/ miscellaneous chorus person”. That level of acting is something I’ve only experienced a view times in my life and it was such a privilege to see this shows. New York is a place I want to visit again and again (and there’s still so many shows to see!). I can see why people fall in love with it. Given the opportunity I would go back right now!