Adventures in NYC

[chanaleh]

Would be marginally more fun if it weren't Passover, but. :-)

As previously reported I went down to DC for seders with lonebear and giraffeaholic (the adorable senora_gem was well asleep), leiacat and bfudlmint. Meantimes, we hung around in a very mellow fashion and watched a lot of Disney Channel :-) and Tuesday afternoon dancingdeer and points dropped by, which was lovely. Wednesday I got up and out and met up with NaomiF (formerly of the Menschen) for brunch (Busboys and Poets at 14th and V was quite awesome), then knocked around the National Gallery (lovely exhibition of view paintings of Venice, which made me quite nostalgic for the place) and the Folger Shakespeare Library before catching my bus back to NYC.

Yesterday I decided to do one of the Things I Have Never Yet Done in NYC, which is go to the Statue of Liberty. (I didn't feel like Ellis Island so I just wasn't planning on it for this trip, period.) I had booked a "reserve ticket" online for noon, so I got there about 11:30am, but I still had to wait in line for TWO HOURS -- apparently it's school vacation week? >:-} -- and THEN go through "airport-style security", right down to taking my shoes off, which anyone who knows me well can predict that I found infuriating. Also, I had decided against reserving what they call a Monument Pass, which lets you go up into the base of the statue (the "Crown Pass" tour is sold out months in advance because they only allow 240 people a day). So once I was finally there (about 2pm), I just walked around the little island and took a bunch of photos (oh yeah, should post those), then got right back on the ferry 25 minutes later and back to the mainland. Went up to Union Square, did a little shopping, then walked up Broadway all the way to 57th St for my dinner meetup before the night's big adventure...

So, for those who are not big musical theater geeks, Stephen Schwartz is the composer of Godspell (one of my earliest and enduring favorite shows) and Pippin and Children of Eden and one or two other things and, oh yeah, Wicked. He's also now composed an opera called Seance on a Wet Afternoon (based on a novel by the same name) and it's premiering in NYC this week, and thus moria923 is also in NYC this week/weekend to see it (tonight). She also alerted me that there would be a related concert last night called "Defying Gravity: The Music of Stephen Schwartz" -- basically a musical retrospective, featuring guest vocalists Ann Hampton Callaway (who I hadn't actually heard of previously, but she was a powerhouse), Kristin Chenoweth, Raúl Esparza, and Victor Garber (who played Jesus in the movie version of Godspell, which is my preferred soundtrack, as well as -- he recounted -- in the original Toronto cast along with Martin Short, Gilda Radner, and some other luminaries, and music-directed by Paul Shaffer, which made me want to build a time machine to go see it, but anyway). So, when I heard about the concert, I immediately passed it along to jessruth saying "we should totally go with Masha to this!" and so we did! -- splurging on second row orchestra seats (house right side, near the timpanis, so it was the 2nd-rung pricing, but really worth it). The opening Godspell medley between Raúl Esparza and Victor Garber? Dayenu. Hearing Kristin Chenoweth try to sing "For Good" directly to Stephen Schwartz as the closing number, and be unable to get through it for crying? Priceless (even if it was out of our sight line around the orchestra).

Today I slept until 11am (awesome -- I had made a vow to try to average 8 hours of sleep per day on this vacation), and have been puttering about, and am going to get going soon. Plan for today is to do some more shopping trying to find, among other things, a new clasp for my necklace and a small b'day present for my mom. And I'm planning to go to services tonight and tomorrow -- probably Shaare Zedek (7pm) tonight and either Hadar or Ansche Chesed tomorrow. And Saturday night I'm going to see the show that justom has been running light board for all this week, which (based on the tail end of the talkback I caught last night on the way home) is going to be very cool.

Shabbat shalom and moadim l'simcha, everyone.

Comments

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Re: school vacations week--it's been horrifically, unbearably crowded at the museum this week. Lines down the hallway to get into the cafeteria. Lines down the hallway to get onto the elevator. We've been cowering in our office and refusing to leave.

[leiacat.livejournal.com]

Was fantastic seeing you.

[c1.livejournal.com]

and THEN go through "airport-style security", right down to taking my shoes off,

Thanks for the tip.