Jessie and Kevin's World Travels: The Big Apple

Mom and I got in to New York City around 7pm on Tuesday, March 22. We took a taxi to our hotel (The Doubletree Hotel – Times Square) and went out for dinner. We had Italian food on 47^th and 9^th, and then called it an early night.

On Wednesday, I got up early and went to the Wonderland box office to get student rush tickets for the Wednesday Matinee. Then mom and I went to the recording of Sirius XM’s Live on Broadway with Seth Rudetsky. The special guest star was supposed to be Will Swenson, mom’s current favorite Broadway star, but he called in sick at the last minute (mom was so disappointed L). The guest ended up being Miranda from Miranda Sings, but we still enjoyed the show. We went to the matinee of Wonderland, and new musical about the Adventures of Alice in Wonderland. It was similar to the classic story, but had a New York twist to it! It just started previews 2 days before we saw the show, so you could tell there were still some glitches they were working out, but it was still SO good! Certainly not my favorite show ever, but I am so glad we decided to see it! We waited at the stage door, in the freezing cold and rain and hail, and then went back to the hotel to thaw!

Mom with Seth Rudetsky

Mom with Miranda from Miranda Sings

Our first show of the trip!

Around 5:30, we went back out, into more favorable weather, and got our tickets to see Book of Mormon (Saturday night). Let me just tell you how excited I am to see this show! The show is practically sold out for who knows how long, and they have a lottery every night with probably 200-300 people waiting for discount tickets or standing room only tickets! It was an insane scene, and I am so glad we were actually able to get tickets! The show we saw on Wednesday night was Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, starring Robin Williams!! We entered the lottery for this show, and won 2 front row seats, at very discounted prices! It was amazing to see Robin Williams live! I will say that this show was not typical of what you think when someone mentions Robin Williams. It was NOT a comedy….it was very much a drama, but so incredible! The story took place in Baghdad during the Iraqi War. It showcases the post-traumatic stress that so many soldiers experienced while fighting. Most of the characters were acting as ghosts of their former selves “haunting” the people that did them wrong. The show pushes some political boundaries, but I think that was one of the reasons it was so good! It talks about something that so many people aren't willing to talk about. It was certainly not a “feel good” show, but it was absolutely PHENOMENAL! And that fact that Robin Williams was in it certainly didn’t hurt! We went to the stage door again after the show, and Robin Williams was so genuine! He posed for photos with people and signed playbills! Such a great experience!!!

Show number 2!

OMG!! Robin Williams!

So incredible to see him live!

Thursday was a very relaxing day! Mom and I were pooped, so we slept in and hung out at the hotel until about 4:30pm. I finally had some time to update the blog (check out the previous posts J) and figure out our schedule for the rest of our time here in The Big Apple. Around 4:30 mom and I walked down to the Stephen Sondheim Theatre to get tickets for Anything Goes with Joel Grey and Sutton Foster. We got there 10 minutes before student rush tickets went on sale, so we waited and got incredible seats for ½ price (row F, directly center)! We went back to the hotel to change and then met a friend of mine from the Broadmoor for dinner. Alyssa moved out to NYC in January to go to Nursing school, and it was so great to see her! We ate at a restaurant called Langan’s and then she went to see Catch Me if You Can, and we went to see Anything Goes. Anything Goes was absolutely awesome!! First of all, the singing, dancing, and set design were amazing! Second of all, we knew one of the chorus members!!! Josh Franklin, is from Colorado Springs and is a Doherty Graduate, and he is now performing on Broadway, 8 shows a week! Josh and Kevin went to school together, and Josh also sang with Lynn! It was incredible to see him on stage! We waited for him at the stage door after the show, but he never came out L. The whole cast was performing on Good Morning America the following morning, so many of the cast members snuck out different exits to get some good rest before waking up at 5:30am. I was disappointed that we didn’t get to see Josh at the stage door, but it was so incredible to see him on stage!

Alyssa and I

Show number 3...SO good!

Laura Osnes from the T.V show "Grease, You're the One That I Want" is now one of the stars in "Anything Goes."

Friday was another slow day for us, although we did accomplish more than the previous day. We finally got out of the hotel around 2pm and went to the box office for Catch Me If You Can. We got our tickets for the 8:00 show and then got some pizza for lunch. I love me some New York pizza! We had to be back at the hotel by 5pm, so rather than mess with the Subway, we hailed a taxi up to the Guggenheim (89^th and 5^th). On one of our previous trips, we spent some time at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), so this trip we decided to see the Guggenheim. I think the Guggenheim building is just as spectacular at the art inside. It was built by Frank Lloyd Wright as a circular building in which you can walk from the top to the bottom on ramps (no stairs), and the artwork lines the walls on your way down. We saw some great art – Picasso, Kandinsky, Monet, and much more! We also saw Kevin’s friend’s Caitlin and Drew while we were there! I tell you it is a small world! It was a great way to spend the cold afternoon. We went back to the hotel at 5:00 and met up with Nick and Chelsea (friends of mine from high school who are now living in New York) for dinner. We ate at a little Jewish Deli in Time’s Square and then went over to the theatre. Catch Me if You Can is a new musical based on the life of Frank Abignale Jr. (it was very similar to the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks). The show starred Norbert Leo Butz, Aaron Tveit and Tom Wopat, and was great fun! They told the story in a very clever way and the music and dance scenes were great! One of the big draws to this show are the tall, beautiful, leggy “showgirls.” If you liked the movie, you are sure to like the show! Of course we went to the stage door after the show, and we got to see all the stars! Mom had been craving cheesecake since we got to NYC, so we decided to go to the Carnage Deli and get a midnight snack. Boy was it good! Nothing compares to New York Cheesecake! We finally made it to bed around 1:00am.

The inside of the Guggenheim

The outside of the Guggenheim

Show number 4!

Aaron Tveit

Norbert Leo Butz

We got up earlier on Saturday and went to the box office for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. The box office opened at 10am and when we got there at about 10:05 the line for tickets was already about ½ a block long! This show sells general rush tickets, which means that anyone can get 2 tickets for $30 each for either performance on the day of the show. We certainly miscalculated this one, as there were people lined up at 5:45am! I guess I should mention the star in this show is Daniel Radcliffe aka Harry Potter, so there were lots of younger girls fawning over the chance to see him in person! At about 10:30 the show sold out of their general rush tickets and the line instantly died! Mom and I were then able to get tickets for the matinee at a discounted price with our coupon! After we got our tickets, we decided to go down to SOHO to get some lunch at what I think is the best Jewish Deli in NYC, Katz’s Deli. This deli is where they filmed the famous scene in When Harry Met Sally, which I am sure adds to the appeal, but they really do have fantastic food! We took the subway down to the restaurant and got there just in time. We did not have to wait for a table and we were able to enjoy incredible Matzah Ball Soup, Corned Beef Sandwich on Rye, French Fries, Pickles and some Dr. Browns Soda! DELICIOUS!! When we left the restaurant, the line to get in was out the door and ½ way around the block! I am so glad we got there when we did! How to Succeed started at 2:00pm and was a very fun show. It definitely was not the best show we saw all week, but it was so cool to see Daniel Radcliffe sing and dance. He was not amazing at either, but he pulled it off! He really was just so cute! Because we were at a matinee, the kids were more prominent in the audience and they went “Crazy for Radcliffe!” It was a great experience. I attempted to go to the stage door again, but let me just tell you how unsuccessful this attempt was! There were so many people waiting for Daniel Radcliffe on either side of the barricades and across the street. I have never seen so many people at a stage door in my life! It was totally insane! And to top it all off, no one really came out to sign autographs because they had another show later that evening. I knew Daniel Radcliffe would not come out, but I had to make sure. As crazy at it all was, it was interesting to observe.

The crazy line to get general rush tickets!

Inside the deli. The sign on the left says "Where Harry Met Sally...Hope You Have What She Had!"

The line to get in while we were leaving! So glad we got there when we did!

Show number 5!

The insane stage door after the show!

After the matinee we had dinner with Nick and Chelsea again, went back to the hotel to change and get our tickets, and then went over to Book of Mormon! I grew up with a lot of Mormon friends, so I was especially interested in this show. I think the more background knowledge you have about the LDS church, the more funny this show is (although my guess is that many Mormons would not see the hilarity)! The show focuses on two Missionaries that are sent to Uganda to serve their mission. The show was written by the same people who wrote South Park, and the music was done by the same people who wrote Avenue Q. That being said, you can imagine the show was rude, crude, vulgar, and absolutely HILARIOUS!! I don’t think I have ever laughed so hard at a Broadway show! The show had a great message and as long as you go into the theatre with an open mind and no offense to vulgar language, you will love it!! This show is definitely going to win some Tony Awards this year! We went to the stage door again after the show and we were 2 of about 10 people waiting to meet the cast. I was shocked that there were not more people there (especially after my experience at How to Succeed), but it made the experience that much more special! I decided to go back to How to Succeed and try to snap a photo of Daniel Radcliffe and I was in luck this time! Unfortunately because I was so far away, I didn’t get any decent photos, but I still got the “proof!” We ended the night with Cosmopolitans in the lobby of our hotel.

Chelsea and Nick

Show number 6!

Josh Gad - one of the lead missionaries!

Like I said, it's not the best quality photo, but you can tell its him! DANIEL RADCLIFFE!

On Sunday we got up around 10:30 and went to the Student Rush for La Cage Aux Folles. The show didn't start until 3pm, so I hopped on the subway and went down to Strands bookstore by Union Park. It was incredible! They advertise that they have 18 miles worth of books! You can imagine I was one happy reader! I met mom back at the hotel and then we went to see La Cage Aux Folles. We had box seats which were not the best, but still had a great time. This show was written by Harvey Fierstein almost 30 years ago, and now he is staring in the show! It was absolutely incredible to see Harvey in the role he wrote! We decided to skip the stage door because it was so cold, but I went back to get a photo of the marquee and got sucked into the stage door! I was so glad I went back! We did a little shopping and grabbed some pizza for dinner and then went to our last show of the trip... Priscilla Queen of the Desert. We saw this show on London's West End last summer, but we were so excited to see it again because it starred moms current favorite Broadway star - Will Swenson! The show is about 3 drag queens who travel through the Australian outback to a casino where they will perform their show. It is full of 70's and 80's hit songs and becomes one massive dance party. It is a classic feel good show and will be in close competition with The Book of Mormon come TONY time! We went to the stage door after the show and mom finally got to have her picture taken with Will Swenson! She was so excited! We went back to the hotel to pack and fell asleep around 1am!