New York NEW YORK!!!
New York NEW YORK!!!
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/28/04
New York NEW YORK!!!#0
Posted: 9/15/04 at 10:23pm
It's a helluva town!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow! Sorry it took so long to post back ya'll, this is the first week since my school started that my school does not have a hurricane day so, naturally, they slammed us with as much homework as possible! But I had one of the most fantastic New York trips EVER!!!
I listened to Bare on my way to the airport, read Frankenstein on the plane, and when I saw a Wicked billboard outside my taxi window, I knew I was in the city.
Our Taxi driver from JFK drove like a loon from the airport up unitl the diamond district when we suddenly moved at turtle speed. Saw many Orthodox Jews handcuffed to their briefcases. The driver also said "sh*t" many many times.
When I finally got to my hotel, I got a phone call from luvtheemcee and we decided to meet up. From the moment we saw each other in the lobby, it was like we knew each other our entire lives! We passed the Palace and reminenced about AIDA and she told me about her toils with Adam and a leaky gold pen. She introduced me to two of her friends from school and we did the tourist thing: bought those overpriced watercolor pictures of Time Square on the street, went through Shurbert Alley and commented on the posters, and soon we were on a quet for an original Wicked poster (one that said Kristin, Idina and Joel vs. Idina, JLT, and George). We found one on display, but they could/would sell it. Oh well! Then we bumped into newyorkstateofmind and again, it was like I just meet my best friend! (You BroadwayWorld people are unbelievable, I just love you all!) The only bad part about meeting these two was that I could only spend time with them for an hour. But not before I did one more major tourist thing: took a photo of them on my cellphone in Times Square! 
Then I saw Kristin Chenoweth at Carnegie Hall. Oh. My. G-d. I've been a fan of Ms.Chenoweth's since You're a Good Man Charlie Brown but this completely exceeded my expectations. There should be a new adjective to describe how phenomenal this women is as a performer. Easily one of the best theatrical performances I’ve ever seen. The moment she walked on stage she got a standing ovation that lasted for at least two minutes, full of woops and cheers and it was all uphill from there...except for one thing: the heckler in the upper balcony. He started when she sang "Fatso" and continued through most of the rest of the show ( he was especially annoying during Glitter and be Gay when he started clapping the off-beat to try to through her off). However, Kristin being as magnificent as she was during all that crap raises my respect for her as a performer even more. The cheers for Popular were amazing. She did her “La La” choreography and the crowd went nuts. It is quite simply the best concert I’ve ever seen.
That was all just day one!
Day 2:
I saw Avenue Q for my third time for the Saturday matinee and then saw Wonderful Town for the first time. I'll start with Wonderful Town. I knew that Ms. Westfeldt had already left the show but we also had Linda Muggleston understudying for Ruth. During my trip, I saw three amazing understudies for the shows I saw; Linda Muggleston was amazing! I already heard her sing 100 Ways from Chatterbox so I like to think of it as a promise of a good performance fulfilled. Excuse, I was wrong. It was the promise of a GREAT performance achieved!
Nonetheless, there is a line from the Avenue Q skit they did for the Gypsy of the Year Competition that summed up my experience with the show that goes something like this:
Princeton: Hey Gary, how was Wonderful Town?
Gary: An OK Village.
I'm not going to pretend I'm a critic so I'll just give my honest opinions: The ensemble was terrific. Stanley Wayne Mathis was great but I feel didn't really get to stretch his talents. Gregg Edelman was good but I felt like he was sleep walking through the show. I know when someone’s not giving me 100%. He most definitely was not. However, while I'll admit it did not become my favorite show, the rest of audience loved it, so I'm glad that my opinions don't matter.
Now for Avenue Q
The show itself: SPLENDEFEROUS! 
We had two understudies: Aymee Garcia for Kate/Lucy and Carmen Ruby Floyd for Gary.
Aymee was terrific. I heard her sing at John's Ars Nova concert via the radio on this site but was sooooo not prepared for her. She got cheers after she sang Special that you wouldn’t believe. I'll admitt, I know very little of puppetry, but I know enough to know that she was great at it because she made Kate do things that made sense that I knew Stephanie didn’t. Her Lucy was amazing. Her Kate was different but great. I don’t mean different in a negative way at all, I mean different in the ways of character choices. Her Kate was more optimistic sure of herself. More the “pick yourself up and brush yourself off” type. Stephanie’s Kate was rooted in insecurity that’s what made you love her so when she stood up for herself and also what made your heart break when bad things happened to her. Still, not bad. Not bad at all. And my g-d what an incrediable voice. She should so take over when Stephanie leaves. When she said, “Is her name Purpose?” the audience went nuts.
Carmen was also excellent. The only difference I could think of is that I think Natalie had better comedic timing. She also has a great voice. Could easily take over the part.
John got entrance applause. So did Jen and Rick and Ann. It was a terrific audience and they gave the cast standing ovations immediately.
At the stagedoor, I got autographs from Peter, Carmen, and Jordan and THEN Rick Lyon came out.
Now, I sent a care package to Avenue Q when the Tony Nominations came out that consisted of fan letters and doodles I made of the characters, basically just thanking them for the joy they've given me through Q. I'm a shill. I know. But some of the cast members actually responded back saying how much they loved the pictures and Mr. Lyon was one of them.
So as he's signing my Playbill, I tell him thank you so much for responding to my fan mail and he looks right at me and says, “Why didn’t you just say you were H__!”
He remembered my name! Needless to say I was in complete shock but that was only the tip of the iceberg because THEN he says, "Do you want to come backstage?" and I say most articulately: Could I? and he said "Sure, just go in the alley and I'll be there in a minute"
omigawd omigawd omigawd omigawd omigawd
And then I bump right into Ann Harada! I asked for her picture and autograph and I thanked her for responding to my mail too and she said
Ann: Oh YOUR H___! Well thank you. Is Rick gonna take you backstage?
Me:I think so (OMIGAWD SHE KNOWS MY NAME TOO!!!)
Mr.Lyon comes by and he says c’mon and we’re off!
We go through the stagedoor and who's coimng out but JOHN TARTAGLIA! My eyes became saucers. Mr.Lyon noticed and he goes “Hey Johnny! Come here for a sec. This is H____G_____” (HE REMEMBERED MY WHOLE NAME!)
John: Oh hi H___! It’s so nice to meet you!
He signed my Rod's Dilemma and then Mr. Lyon gave me the premium tour. We went through every corner backstage, he told me some behind the scenes Q secrets, then he took me ONSTAGE (I have unofficially made my Broadway debut! Woohoo!) but the most amazing thing of all was that he took me to the guys' and girls' dressing rooms and showed me that they did indeed not only keep my pictures and letters, but also had them posted on their walls and mirrors. I felt like crying. I told him this was all very All About Eve-ish and he laughed and said “Are you gonna kill Stephanie now?”
Me: No, I probably couldn’t puppeteer my way out of a paper bag.
Mr.Lyon: Well, we all gotta start somewhere
Me: Yeah (like a completely tongue-tied teenybopper)
(Here's a even freakier thing: All Above Eve actually used exterior shots of the Golden Theatre whenever you seen the theatre for Aged in Wood!)
When we were outside I hugged him and thanked him like a complete dork but he hugged me back. He pointed John out to me (I must have been extremely obvious) but I ran out of film so I figured I'd let his other groupies have him to themselves. I got Aymee's signature and then I went back to the hotel. I still can't believe that it actually happened! I mean, even reading over it now, I sounds like some really extravagant fan-fic. I guess fantasies really do come true after all. 
Day 3: Sunday. Not much really happened, but while waiting for a taxi to take me back to JFK, I heard Q performing for Broadway on Broadway and the last thing I heard before the driver slammed my door was: Till our dreams come true, we live on Avenue Q!
That was my trip in a nutshell. I love you all!!!MUWAH
re: New York NEW YORK!!!#1
Posted: 9/15/04 at 10:25pm
Awwww sweetheart, I'm glad you got to do all of that!!!
It's so awesome when people get to do things they never thought they'd get to do.
Rock on
re: New York NEW YORK!!!#2
Posted: 9/15/04 at 10:26pmThat's awesome! Glad you had so much fun! Maybe someday I'll get to do that.
re: New York NEW YORK!!!#3
Posted: 9/15/04 at 10:38pm
Awwwwww, YAYYYY! I love long story posts, and I'm SO happy you had a wonderful trip. I really had a great time meeting you - it's not often a native New Yorker gets to act like a tourist and have it be okay. "Toils with Adam..." that made me laugh! I didn't want him to get pen on his suit!!
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/14/04
re: New York NEW YORK!!!#4
Posted: 9/15/04 at 10:47pm
Aw, that was a great story. You are extremely lucky, and this just proves how extremely friendly the AQ cast is. Sounds like you had a lot of fun.
re: New York NEW YORK!!!#5
Posted: 9/15/04 at 11:15pm
Wow, awesome story. If i was in your shoes then, id be going CRAZY too. I am completely envious of you. What an Avenue Q-full vacation.
re: New York NEW YORK!!!#6
Posted: 9/16/04 at 12:48am
WOW! What a great story, that's like a fan's dream come true, I'm sooooo happy for you!
And it was really nice meeting you too!
And yes, it is a hellva town! I'm LOVIN it here, make sure you come back A.S.A.P.!
re: New York NEW YORK!!!#7
Posted: 9/16/04 at 1:45amBS2B~I am so happy for you! What a wonderful story...thanks for sharing.
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/28/04
re: New York NEW YORK!!!#8
Posted: 9/16/04 at 4:55pm
It was awesome meeting you too nysom!!!
I know I'm coming back either Jan or Feb for my college auditions so we'll see if we can arrange something then 
I have to say, the only thing I truly regret about this vacation was that despite the fact I ran out of film so early in my trip, I completely forgot I had a camera in my cellphone when I went to Q! Oh well! I know I was there, and that's all that matters
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