My one and only full day in New York. So amazingly worth it.
My phone alarm woke the living daylights out of me. It was not even funny. I had a very good night sleep. Maybe it was because I was dead tired the night before. Figures.
Of course, I had to go to Starbucks two blocks away from my hotel. I needed my Grande Extra Caramel, Caramel Machiato.
My first stop was The Rockefeller Center. I went and did the NBC Studio Tour. I was kind of iffy at first about the studio tour, but I actually really enjoyed it. There’s a lot of history behind that broadcasting company, more than just TV shows and programs. Of course, I got to see and learn about the stuff that makes SNL. (So I think I crammed about 100 years of New York history in two days. Whoa.) I got crazy at the NBC store. You should ask me about what I got! Anyways, then I did the whole Top of the Rock observatory experience. It was really cool. It wasn’t as crowded as the Empire State Building, and it wasn’t as high as the Empire State Building. It’s really cool though. They have this one room that has lights all over it. When you come in and you move, the room sensors assign you to a color and then when you move, your color lights up. Am I confusing you? Anyways, it’s really cool. I spent more time in that room than the others that visited the room.
What came after the Rockefeller Center? I walked to Grand Central Station. I really love the building. It’s really cool. However, I got really tired. I’ve been wearing flats everywhere I go and it’s killing me. So, I went and got this Jamaican snack thing and some pop and just people-watched. It was good and relaxing. I sat in front of this flower vendor, and it was very interesting to watch the different people who bought flowers from the vendor. I started creating stories in my head about who they are and what the flowers are for. Maybe not really creating stories, but more trying to guess.
By this point, my totally Wicked experience was a mere three hours away, and I head down to the Broadway Joe Steak House on 46th Street for my reservation. I feel like the servers were kind of taken aback by me - a girl, traveling alone, dining alone. I mean, I could have just gone to a fast food restaurant. I assume that was what they were thinking. Why do fine dining alone? My answer? Why not? Broadway Joe is a very quaint little steak house on theatre row. I sat facing the streets and had a theatre show of my own. What I mean by that is people watching. It is interesting seeing how people interact with each other and how different people carry themselves. The food was great. I got a very good deal from Broadway.com. To start, I had caesar salad and bread. It was really good. I don’t think it came out of some package you buy from the store. For the main course, I had sirloin steak with baked potatoes. Seriously. Best steak I’ve had in a very long time. It was just the right amount of juiciness. Ah. Even writing about it makes my mouth water. To drink, I had a Hemingway Daiquiri. To think about it, I forgot to ask why the drink is named after Hemingway. Did it used to be Hemingway’s favorite beverage? It was good though, although much more than I wanted to spend. (Broadway.com didn’t cover drinks other than soda, water, coffee, or tea.) For dessert, I had a slice of New York Cheesecake, accompanied by some coffee. See, I still haven’t told my mother about this meal, she would go bezerk. She loves cheesecake. Well, I guess I can tell her that I ordered it for her. So, I think the server was frustrated at me. He seems to have trouble understanding me and communicating to me. This, in turn, becomes frustrating for me because he talked to me like I was in third grade. After a while, though, I just had to laugh about it. When I was enjoying my dessert, I looked up at the television and saw a soccer match. Manchester United playing against some league wearing blue and white that I can’t seem to remember at this point in time. I think it might be a Scottish league? Anyways, I was watching this game and realized that Manchester United isn’t the same team I watched growing up. They did some very idiotic blunders. Really. After a while I just had to get up and leave.
Which proves to be a problem when you’re really, really full. Dragging my feet to the Gershwin Theatre on 51st was long and arduous. I thought I was about to burst. Anyways, I found Gershwin Theatre without much of a problem. I went in and found myself very giddy. Much like a schoolboy. (Okay. Although I know how and when to use this American phrase--or maybe it’s a British phrase? Wherever it may have originated from--I don’t quite understand the origins of it. Oh well.) I found my seat quite easily, K 155. At first I thought that I didn’t get a good seat, since it’s way up in the balcony. I was wrong. It was a really good seat. I was at the end of the row, so to my right was the stairs and to my left was a big blue pillar. It was like I was in my own world, watching my favorite musical. Yes, this performance of Wicked solidified the fact that Wicked is, indeed, my favorite musical.
The girl who played Elphaba in this, was really good. Definitely a legit mezzo soprano-belter. (It’s okay if you’re not following my little rant here. It’s something my voice teacher, Bernie, and I have been discussing lately.) The girl who played Glinda (the “Ga” is silent), was not Kristin Chenowith, but she acted and sang like she was playing Chenowith playing Glinda. She’s still good, though. The number, “Popular,” was eerily blond-ish. (Please. Nobody take offense.) The show was amazing. Hilarious. Lots of side comments. The three hours passed very quickly, much to my dismay.
If you’re at all familiar with who I am, one thing that characterizes me is that I always have a song stuck in my head. Maybe even more than one. Of course, “Defying Gravity” was looping through my head after the show. “it’s time to try defying gravity... you can’t bring me down... da da da da” (That’s how I describe the musical interlude.)
The original plan after Wicked was to go see Diane Schuur, one of my favorite Jazz vocalist of all time. However, they were out of good table seats by Monday, so I decided not to. Also, my friend Annette (whom I have known for 22 years) asked me if I would be able to hang out after Wicked. Her apartment building is just a couple of blocks away from the Gershwin Theatre. Isn’t that convenient? I walked over to her apartment and we hung out. We chat a lot and we caught up on each other’s lives. We realized that we haven’t really hung out in two years. That’s a long time for people that have been friends since baby-hood. (Did you know that on our grade school report card, there was a note that said something like: Annette and Tirza aren’t allowed to be in the same class. I think we had a really big fight when we were in first grade. The next time we were in the same class together was ninth grade. Wow.
I left Annette’s apartment at like twenty til midnight, when she looked like she was about to pass out. I thought that taking the subway back to my hotel would be dangerous. But I actually managed very well. In one piece.
The excitement of the night combined with fatigue made it difficult for me to wind down to go to bed. I ended up going to bed at midnight. Seattle time.
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