My December 2018 Trip To NYC

I'll be in NY the same weekend, though staying until the 25th. Is Chicago atill worth seeing after all this time? I last saw it on the tour in either '98 or '99 & it was my big obsession back then.

My last trip to NY was 4 years ago. Right now I've booked Mean Girls, Dear Evan Hansen, & The Band's Visit & for X-mas eve Magic Flute at the Met Opera. Having a hard time deciding which of the other new shows - especially ones that haven'y opened yet - will be worth my time & $$$.

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I've bought my ticket for "Chicago" (quelle surprise) for Friday, December 21, 2018 @8:00 p.m..  Front row center.

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I've booked my 3rd show for my upcoming trip:  "The Prom" on Sat. Dec. 22 @ 2 p.m.   Two more shows to go to add on  Sun. Dec. 23rd.  I'm interested in seeing "Beautiful" for two reasons:  one:  I grew up listening to many of those songs in the show and two:  Evan Todd.  : )

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RWPrincess said: "Evan Todd is amazing! I’m holding off until January so I can see Chilina for the first time as I’ve already seen Abby Mueller as Carole.

Sounds like a fun trip you have planned!"

You won't be disappointed. In my opinion, Chilina Kennedy's Carole King is an underrated revelation. 

I don't know about fun - I get more & more stressed out as I plan. After noticing in June what day x-mas was this year I decided it might work for a quick trip to NY without using any vacation days. If I coukd have made a trip in August work to see Hello Dolly! I would have, but it was impossible.
I booked tickets in June for Mean Girls, DEH, & The Band's Visit. Very thrilled to see Barrett Wilbert Weed again, as seeing her off-Broadway was a highlight of my last trip to NY 4 years ago.
There is one reasonably priced daily red-eye to NY & held off until September to book that - I say reasonably priced, but it is still $250 more than a good price on a direct flight from here to Hawaii or Cancun!
Anyways, hoped to see Carousel as a matinee on the 24th, but now will see Aladdin, & in the evening Magic Flute at the Met - excited to see Nathan Gunn.
On the 25th during the day will go to The Big Apple Circus. Flying home that evening so won't be able to see anything that night.
After I made all those plans I spent months deliberating on what to see for a Sunday matinee. When cheap tickets were still available I passed on Network, Mockingbird, Girl From North Country, Yiddish Fidler, & Clueless. Then watched as those shows sold out & questioned my decisions. Debated with myself about merits of My Fair Lady - actually that was easy, saw part of it on TV & remembered how much I hate that show. Hamilton? Oh, either $649 or $998? I think not.
Then I flipping back & forth between Cher Show, Anastasia (someone told me a totally false rumour that Adam Lambert might join that, & I was all excited for a day), & even King Kong.
Finally, when all the garabage happened here this past weekend, I thought "Gosh I wonder how expensive Frozen is? Is it Hamilton crazy?" I had briefly looked in June, when I had booked other shows, but already at that time dates in December showed as sold out. But when I looked Tuesday I was surprised to see a few random singles & a couple at a very reasonable price. I took a few hours debating with myself, "Do I really want this to be a trip where I see two Disney shows? At 45 is this what I am reduced to? Am I really that 'over the hill?' The last time I was in NY I saw Hedwig & after went & partied with porn stars at the Hustlaball - and now two Disney shows??" Anyways, I got a ticket for Frozen.

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I've ordered my fourth ticket:  "Beautiful" on Sun. Dec. 23rd at 7 p.m.  I have an afternoon matinee to select and then I'm done.   (minimum or no threadjacking please)

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I have finally completed my show selections:   

Show #1:  Fri. Dec. 21st:  "Chicago" @ 8:00 p.m.

Show #2:  Sat. Dec. 22nd :  "The Prom" @ 2:00 p.m.

Show #3:  Sat. Dec. 22nd:  "The Cher Show" @8:00 p.m.

Show #4:  Sun. Dec. 23rd:  "Torch Song" @ 3:00 p.m.

Show #5:  Sun. Dec. 23rd:  "Beautiful" @7:00 p.m.

I had originally bought a ticket for Beautiful for 2 p.m., but I managed to have that changed.  Also, I'll have at least two chances to go to "Marie's" and sing my heart out.  Lately, I've been fascinated by the YT video of "Part of That World" from "The Little Mermaid."  I'm so excited!!

 

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inception said: "When cheap tickets were still available I passed on Network, Mockingbird, Girl From North Country, Yiddish Fidler, & Clueless. Then watched as those shows sold out & questioned my decisions. Debated with myself about merits of My Fair Lady - actually that was easy, saw part of it on TV & remembered how much I hate that show. Hamilton? Oh, either $649 or $998? I think not."

There is a lot of benefit to waiting closer to the date, since a lot of shows hold back more premium seats than they can sell and start reducing them to regular price as show time approaches... you just have to be flexible and on the lookout if you do that, though. I bought my Network ticket as they were telling us to turn off our phones, the show was about to start at Ferryman, so it isn't as laid back as having tickets sorted in advance.

Patti LuPone FANatic said: " I hope there is a cast recording."

The cast album is already available digitally! :)

 

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Now, where was ?  I am finishing off a slice of cheesecake I got at a deli on 8th Ave.  Seeing “ The Prom” was very enjoyable.  The humor... the dancing was spot on.  Who knew Beth Leavel and Brooks Ashmanskas had such amazing dance moves?   There is the character of “Angie” as played by Angie Schworer.  In the show, she is mentioned as having been in the Chicago chorus for 20 years.  Interestingly enough, she was a Chicago cast member at some point.  She reminded me of a blonde Julie Newmar.  The show had a bit of everything for the young kids... as well as the middle aged ones.  I hope more and more people discover this gem of a show.  I did speak with one of the ushers at the Longacre by the name of Sharla.  She knew so much about this show and of the history of the Longacre.  This usher was all business.  P.S.  On Friday night, I went to Marie’s Crisis.  Lately, I have been obsessing with the song “ Part Of YourWorld” from “ The Little Mermaid”.  I had every intention of requesting that song to the pianist.  Strangely enough, when I arrived at Marie’s, I caught the tail end of that song.  That was bizarre.  I may go there later tonite after “ The Cher Show”.  It is frigging cold outside.  I am staying at a place on 49 th St., not terribly far from the Neil Simon Theatre.  One more thing, I was very surprised by the number of empty seats in the upper mezz section.  I changed to a better seat at intermission.  I stage doomed after the show.  Michael Bernese came out.  Othrts I spoke with briefly were: Micaela Diamond ( Babe), Michael Campayno ( Rob Camilletti), Charlie Williams ( who was very brave for going out wearing a t shirt in the coldness), Ryan Worsing ( dance captain) and a few others.  



 

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Updated On: 12/23/18 at 05:59 PM

A Recap of the five shows I saw during my recent trip:  

1.  Dec. 21, 2018:  Chicago:  Anytime Charlotte D'Amboise is on as Roxie, you're in for a treat.  She adds little touches and flourishes here and there to her dancing.  I love Jessica Ernest as Go-To-Hell-Kitty.  I met several of the cast members after the show, at the stage door.  Ryan Lowe is always a doll, as is Donna Marie Asbury.  I had a change to take a picture with four of the ladies:  Jessica Ernest (Roxie u/s), Naomi Walley (Velma u/s) and Beth Nicely.  Brian O Brien was asked by one of the ladies to take the group picture.  I had a blast being in the front row.

2.  Sat. Dec. 22, 2018:  The Prom:  I had a FANtastic time seeing this show.   I need to download their cast recording.

3.  Sat. Dec. 22, 2018:  The Cher Show:  Loved the performances.  There is so much dancing and costume changes.  I admire the ensemble for their high energy movements.  

4.  Sun. Dec. 23, 2018:  Torch Song:  I saw this show off-Broadway last year.  It seemed like the same show, just better seats.  As I saw the play unfold, I began to realize that many of the elements of (without getting into details) the Arnold-Ed relationship were familiar to me.  The battles between Arnold and his mother were heartwarming and gut wrenching.  I wish Murray had been a visible character, instead of soley a telephone friend.  

(Pause)   Now, this gets wild.  Torch Song began at 3:00 p.m..  I thought...I'll have enough time to get back to my hotel room and rest a bit before going to "Beautiful" at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.  When I exit "Torch Song", it's 6:04 p.m.  I panicked.  I ran down 8th Ave. to 49th St.  Then ran down 49th St. all the way to 6th Ave.  From there, I ran to 43rd St. and close to the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.  Needless to say, that was NOT a fun experience.  

5. "Beautiful-- I arrived with minutes to spare.  I had a fairly decent Mezz seat.  There was a mother-daughter duo who were being too talky during the show.  Also, I noticed a woman two rows below me who kept looking at her brightly lit phone and texted from time to time.  I grew irritated at that and told her, from two rows away to "turn that phone off."  It didn't do much good, plus Idk if she heard anyway.  The show itself was o.k., but I found myself distracted by being very hungry and worrying about packing up since I had a 4:20 a.m. Super Shuttle pick up.  The performances were fine enough by the leads and the associated acts.  I had gone to this show to see Evan Todd specifically.  He was out for that performance.  His u/s Daniel Torres was on as Gerry Goffin.  Still, I made the decision (with much regret) to not return for Act 2.  I apologized to the usher at the entrance.  She kind of understood.  I think I will consider future visits to NYC in the warm summer rather than in the cold winter.  

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I had to go from 8th and 44th St. to 8th and 49th.  5 long blocks with sidewalks full of people.  Then, I had to go from my hotel all the way to 6th and 43rd St.  It was not an easy feat, but I managed it.  I thought about taking a taxi, but the traffic was (and always is) horrific during the evening hours.  My personality is such that I absolutely hate being late to anything.  

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