Going to Pass Over tonight!! Any questions about NY Theater Experience Post Covid?

[Braniff Forever]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 4:26pm

Hey Everyone! After 1.5 years, Im going to the theater tonight! Yea! I cant believe its happening! The last show I saw was The Minutes with Armie Hammer (lol!) two nights before Broadway closed last March.

My general observations today are as follows: 1. No the TKTS Booth is not open. It says they will re-open when there are more venues open.

2. So I went directly to the August Wilson Theater on W 52nd to the Box Office. The very nice person working the ticket window sold me a Fromt Mezzanine Row A ticket for $76! So I think that was a great price. She said the Balcony overhangs to Row L, so its A 101 Mezzanine Center. Ive never been to the August Wilson (I never saw Mean Girls or Jersey Boys)

3. Some of the restaurants Ive been to in the past are closed (The Carvery) on 8th Ave and West 46th? It was great for a quick piece of pizza. Gone. A Thai restaurant on W 44th gone. So I went to a Thai restaurant on Ninth Avenue between 42 and 43, and it was closed for lunch and doing take out only. So I ended up at Eat Thai on Ninth Avenue and 46 and it was very good. ands I could sit inside after showing my vaccine card, which I was happy to do. Ive only had to show my vaccine card in two restaurants. This one in NYC and one in West Hollywood (Formosa Cafe). Im perfectly fine showing it, but be prepared to show yours in other venues besides just the theater.

4. I felt safe in the subway, riding it into the city from Queens near my hotel on the 7 Train. Now walking north on Eighth Avenue around W47th to get my ticket around 3PM, a person weaving in the street and probably on drugs and probably holmeless exposed himself to me! Wow! I was shocked but kept walking. I mean Ill be ok, but it is unfortunate that I will never be able to un-see that but, Ill just move forward! And I just kept walking when it happened. I thought about not writing about that, but I wanted to be truthful about my experience. There definitely feels like less people walking around, but maybe the crowds will pick up after more shows open.

5. Ill let you all know what I thought of the show tonight. Now off to my massage! An NYC treat. The only affordable thing in NYC, lol!

[uncageg]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 5:07pm

A lot of restaurants are still closed and waiting for Broadway to come back to open. Owners have said this. Also, I really don't think we are "Post Covid". 

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 5:46pm

Thanks? I don’t really know who this is for since people who live in the city know what it’s like. The holmeless [sic] man exposure was my favorite part. Thanks for including. Live your life, sis!

[Dollypop]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 8:53pm

"I felt safe in the subway, riding it into the city from Queens near my hotel on the 7 Train."

Your hotel was on the 7 train? I hope they gave you good rates.

[Braniff Forever]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 11:05pm

Yes my hotel was free for me, so a really good rate. This post was aimed primarily at visitors to Broadway, since I know there are a lot of visitors reading these boards. Below is my review.

I like to write my review of a play or musical as quickly after seeing the show as I can, in order to be able to remember as much as possible lol! (I’ve always wondered if “real critics” see the play several times and even read the script? They always seem to catch so much more than I do after seeing a show once), but anyway, here are my impressions. The show was phenomenal! The ending is something I don’t think I will ever forget. The ending was fairly unexpected and quite spectacular ! My hat is off to the set designer for turning the very drab set into quite a wonder by the end. Now, most of the play took place under the street lamp (light) and two African American men were lamenting their fate and expressing their desires to leave the street lamp area and to “Pass Over” or pass beyond the street lamp and sidewalk to a better life. About Galway through the play (maybe a little before that) a white sort of strange guy appears wearing a white suit and offers the guys a picnic (odd). When the two men Moses and Kitch ask the white guy what his name was, he says “Master” of course that freaks them out. The white gig sort of apologizes and tries to explain his name but doesn’t do a very good job about it. The white guy leaves and the same actor comes back dressed as police man and things don’t go very well for both Moses and Kitch. The play is very timely after last year’s George Floyd issues, and it highlight African American’s oppression and fear of the police. I won’t talk too much more about the plot or what happens in the end but (I think, and I don’t know my Bible history too well without liking it up) but as per the Book of Exodus (were the Jews led out of bondage from Egypt by Moses? IDK, I’ll look it up, but go with that for this moment). The ending focuses on the two men and the policemen Passing Over or away from the street lamp and into a new life a Promised Land, but along the way, the play is full of some humor but also quite a bit of heavy material focusing on how African Americans have felt oppressed by whites for centuries since the beginning of Christopher Columbus conquest of the new world and paving the way for slaves to be brought to the New World (The name Christopher fits in at the end of the play, but i won’t tell you exactly how, go see it for yourself!). I don’t want to say anymore about what happens in the play, but the ending will amaze you! Very cool! I can see Pass Over as having some similarities to Slave Play and American Son, two plays I saw prior to the pandemic. Please see Pass Over if you can! It is a phenomenal re-entry to Broadway and a play for our times that all Americans should see!!

[Braniff Forever]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 11:07pm

You do bring up a good point. We are not “post Covid” rather I should say “post Broadway shutdown for 1.5 years for the pandemic”

[lily carver]

Posted: 8/29/21 at 12:33am

I have actually gone to PASS OVER TWICE, once in previews and again on Wed. ( I won Lucky Ticket lottery for first one and got discount ticket for the second time). I loved the play but I thought the end was a freaking mess. I know it was changed from the original because the playwright  felt it too downbeat after the murder of George Floyd. I don't have Netflx so I can't watch the Spike Lee film to know the original end but I can guess. It is almost a great play but the end was too "staged" for my tastes. I am glad I saw the 2013 revival of WAITING FOR GODOT ( my first ever time seeing it) as it adds to the experience of PASS OVER.

It was great to be back in the theater . I had no desire to eat indoors ( or spend more money) so I just grabbed something at a deli and ate it Worldwide Plaza before the show.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 8/29/21 at 1:27am

Thank you for posting such a detailed plot summary of the play. Now I don't have to see it.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 8/29/21 at 1:45am

Oh, and Braniff, may I suggest that the next time you visit the Big Apple, you bring an embroidery hoop? Then if someone exposes himself to you, you can use it to play ring toss.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 8/29/21 at 2:00am

I)’ve always wondered if “real critics” see the play several times and even read the script? They always seem to catch so much more than I do after seeing a show once),

Face it: The "real" critics are smarter than you are.

Updated On: 8/29/21 at 02:00 AM

[Braniff Forever]

Posted: 8/29/21 at 8:17am

Lol!

[JBroadway]

Posted: 8/29/21 at 9:43am

I believe professional critics are often sent copies of the script.

[amygbrooks]

Posted: 8/29/21 at 5:01pm

Thank you for posting about your experience. I don't live in the NY area, but have a trip planned for October after more shows are open. I have some anxiety about my first post-shutdown trip, so I really appreciated your perspective.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 8/29/21 at 5:25pm

amygbrooks said: "Thank you for posting about your experience. I don't live in the NY area, but have a trip planned for October after more shows are open. I have some anxiety about my first post-shutdown trip, so I really appreciated your perspective."

 

Don't forget that embroidery hopp!

 

[Dollypop]

Posted: 8/29/21 at 5:25pm

amygbrooks said: "Thank you for posting about your experience. I don't live in the NY area, but have a trip planned for October after more shows are open. I have some anxiety about my first post-shutdown trip, so I really appreciated your perspective."

 

Don't forget that embroidery hopp!