What was your first time in New York City like?- Page 2

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 6/22/13 at 8:20pm

June, 1971. Class trip. We dropped off our bags at what was then the Royal Manhattan (45th and 8th, I think) and headed for the Empire State Building (then still the tallest building in the world). We assumed it would be easy to find.

It wasn't, not from street level. We asked passersby for directions and despite their reputation, every New Yorker we met was very kind to us. They also gave us lousy directions and we eventually ended up in Staten Island. But that was cool, too.

Saw COMPANY (with Kert), the newly opened FOLLIES, APPLAUSE (with Bacall), 1776 and THE FANTASTICKS. Spent Monday morning at Coney Island and then raced uptown to catch our bus to La Guardia.

It was sheer magic and I spent the next six years working to live there permanently.

[mar6411]

Posted: 6/22/13 at 8:21pm

I was in my late 20s when I made my first trip to NYC. It was not something I had always wanted to do - it was a city on a map. But at that point, I thought it would be fun. My husband used to have business in the city and visit frequently, so I flew up to meet him one time. On the taxi from LaGuardia, as we made a left turn, the taxi driver cut off some pedestrians crossing the street and the guy hit the trunk of the taxi. The driver threw the taxi into park, got out and got in a fight with the guy. I was pretty stunned. But he got back in the taxi and off we went.

We stayed at a place on Central Park that isn't there anymore - I think it was converted to condos. I had no history of theater - no one in my family was interested and I really didn't know too much about it - but when you go to NYC, you go to shows. So we went to Woman of the Year and Ain't Misbehavin. I loved them both.

I got back occasionally over the next couple of years. But then kids and a demanding job kind of ruled my life. In the mid-90s, I had a job that required frequent travel to NYC - and at some point, I had an office here. But not much theater then. If you have traveled much for work, you know that when you're there, you are pretty immersed in what has to be done. Besides, with a husband and three kids, I wanted to get back home. Very little theater in those years. But I learned how to get around in the city and just enjoyed being in "the big city." Always in awe.

Nearly ten years ago, when the kids were nearly grown, I decided I wanted to start coming back. I am now a theater junkie - to the extent I can be. I come to NYC four or five times a year and see everything I can. I have gone from just the big musicals on broadway to mostly plays and off broadway. I also see the "broadway series" and public theatre in my hometown. I love theatre. Reading these entries, it seems like many of you have been interested at a young age. I was a lot older when I discovered it - that probably sounds so strange to many of you.

I rarely post, and not much about theater. I feel like I don't have the "chops" to offer my thoughts. But I love to read what you all (maybe not all - looking at you broadway guy) have to say.

Don't know why I wrote this and hopefully you've all scrolled by it, but it was cathartic for me. :)

[mordav]

Posted: 6/22/13 at 10:11pm

It was 1993 - I got mugged.
I was there again earlier this year.
One of the shows I saw on this last visit was 'Breakfast at Tiffany's".
So, I guess I got mugged again.

[broadway guy]

Posted: 6/22/13 at 10:13pm

My First time in NYC was a great experience, it really is one of the best cities in the world. Saw a few shows and completely did the tourist thing. I miss it.

[iamjwk]

Posted: 6/22/13 at 11:11pm

My first trip was 5 days over Memorial Day weekend in 2001. I had always been terrified of going to NYC. Was afraid I would be killed or mugged or who knows what. Despite the fact I had travelled to LA, SF, Chicago, London, Dallas...something about NYC made me nervous.
It turned out to be fine and is one of my fondest memories. We (my mother and I) made some typical tourist mistakes, but I don't regret any of it. I had planned our show itinerary before the Tony noms were announced and that was good as a couple of them sold out. Our very first show was The Full Monty with the OBC! Fantastic!!! After the show we were out in front of the theater trying to decide where to go and what to do next when the cast started exiting the stage door! So, we joined the autograph seekers and had a blast!!!
We also saw The Producers, Rocky Horror Show, Jane Eyre and A Class Act. All original casts and all fabulous!
We did Chinatown, hansom cab ride from Times Sq through Central Park, the Twin Towers (got half price tix there for one of our shows there at TKTS), a ferry ride to see the Statue of Liberty.
Downside...mostly horrible food. We ate at tourist traps around Times Square. Since discovered better places, but we thought the food in NYC was all terrible...other than a tasty meal in Little Italy.
I have been back every year and don't plan to ever stop! Just wish it didn't cost so damn much!

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 6/22/13 at 11:25pm

1960's - went to my first game at Yankee Stadium with my family. Seeing Mickey Mantle play was a amazing, he hit 2 HR's that game.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 6/23/13 at 1:27am

"Saw COMPANY (with Kert), the newly opened FOLLIES, APPLAUSE (with Bacall), 1776 and THE FANTASTICKS." Whatever our first memories of NY, I think Gaveston has us all beat by a mile. Lordy, to have those shows be your first view of NY theater!

My brothers and I were apparently great little classical pianists when we were little so my folks would bring us to NY from Connecticut each year between '62 and '64 for competitions at Carnegie Hall. There would always be a meal at a different Kosher restaurant at each visit (I remember the Kosher Chinese restaurant best.)

But we didn't see a Broadway show till '67 when my folks splurged for the family of 6 to see Fiddler on the Roof (the Harry Goz cast another poster mentioned seeing). On that visit I would have been 10 or 11 and distinctly remember passing the marquees of Celeste Holm in MAME and Pearl Bailey in DOLLY and thinking from the pictures that those shows would have been way more fun then watching the dour shtetl peasants WE were stuck with.

By 1981 I had moved to the West Village for good and thought of myself as a Native New Yorker until I moved to LA in 1994 and relegated the city to tourist status again. The hole in my heart has always remained.

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 6/23/13 at 1:31am

My first trip to New York City was in December 1998. I was newly 21 and I went with a friend from my English class the previous semester. As soon as we booked the airline tickets, the next thing I did was call for tickets to The Phantom of the Opera. I could not believe it when the woman on the phone said that front row seats were available. I could hardly contain myself waiting for the weeks to pass until the trip was here.

Unfortunately, those seats turned out to be in the front row ALL THE WAY ON THE SIDE so I basically didn't see anything lol. But it was a lesson learned. We saw Phantom our first night, Les Miserables our second night, and Rent our third night. We left the 4th day open because I wasn't THAT much of a theater nerd yet. I ended up getting TKTS tickets for Miss Saigon. It was so great seeing those shows on Broadway.....people cheered and hooted and hollered for Eponine's On My Own, and the audience at Rent......they raised the roof on the Nederlander. I had never seen audiences so responsive; it was thrilling.

The rest of the time was spent touring and getting to know the subways. I insisted we take subways everywhere and not take cabs at all. We constantly got on the wrong train though because neither of us could figure out the difference between the local and the express trains lol. We would keep saying "Why didn't this train stop at 18th?? Why didn't this train stop at 28th??" Oh well.

We took a whole bunch of great pictures on the roof of 2 World Trade Center. I thought it was so great to be able to stand on the actual roof (or at least a platform raised above it).

Times Square was so exciting to us that we stayed in our booth at Howard Johnson Restaurant (where American Eagle is now) til probably 4 or 5 in the morning because it made us so giddy to just be in Times Square. God we were nerds.

One thing that we did not do on that trip, even though we had just turned 21, is go to any bars or clubs. My friend threw a fit every night because he said that at he age of 21, we just HAD to see how NYC bars were. I told him that bars are the same whether its NYC or Omaha. Dim lighting, music and alcohol. Big deal. I wanted to get to sleep early so we could pound the pavement at 8am each morning. We stayed in a hotel that had bare light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. One of the beds broke when we put a suitcase on it. The shade on the window came crashing down on me when I opened it one morning. And the bathroom door had about an inch and a half gap to the wall so that we could see each other while we sat on the toilet. Awkward.

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 6/23/13 at 1:38am

It was June 2004, a week after the Tony Awards, and I was going in to the fifth grade. We did lots of the touristy things, such as a ferry tour of Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island, Ground Zero, Empire State Building, Times Square, American Girl Place (I was nine and already very gay), a guided tour of Central Park (by a friend who lived there), Fifth Avenue, and some fancy dinners such as Mercer Kitchen, the Four Seasons, and a delicious Italian restaurant I can't remember the name of but we went there again in 2006.

I've seen many shows on tour and at the local CLO, but my five shows that week were THE BOY FROM OZ with Hugh Jackman, MOVIN' OUT, WONDERFUL TOWN with Donna Murphy, HAIRSPRAY, and WICKED with Eden Espinosa and Kristin Chenoweth. First time ever going to stage doors.

I've only been one other time, in spring 2006 as a weekend layover to Italy. We saw two shows in one day: THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA and THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE. I'm heading back in August for an intensive training program and already have my MATILDA tickets!

[hushpuppy]

Posted: 6/23/13 at 8:17am

October 1980. Flew in from San Francisco, arrived JFK, took the Train to the Plane into the city. I was staying at the Vanderbilt YMCA on E 47th (for some reason I thought the East Side would be classier than the West Side). The room was $13 a night. Dumped my bags and ran back to Grand Central. The subway fare had just gone up from 50 cents to 60 cents. I hopped on the shuttle to Times Square, wondering how I'd ever find the Nederlander Theater. I ran up the first stairway I could find and there it was, right in front of me.

My very first Broadway show? ONE NIGHT STAND, music by Jule Styne, book and lyrics by Herb Gardner, sets by Robin Wagner, directed by John Dexter. Starring Jack Weston, Charles Kimbrough, and Kate Mostel. Certain it was going to be a big hit, I had sent away for tickets as soon as I saw the ad in the Times. I loved it. It closed in previews.

I had better luck with the other shows I saw that week (10 shows in 7 days):

BRIGADOON (Jerry Mitchell in the chorus)
42nd STREET ($35. How could I spend that much on a ticket??)
A DAY IN HOLLYWOOD, A NIGHT IN THE UKRAINE (loved it)
BARNUM (Jim Dale & Glenn Close)
MORNINGS AT SEVEN
CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD
OH! CALCUTTA (It was the only show with a Sunday evening perf)
WEST SIDE STORY
BEVERLY SILLS FAREWELL GALA (me in the same room with Mary Martin and Ethel Merman!)

Days were spend shopping (RIP Gimbels, B. Altman, Alexander's, Korvettes) and trying to eating cheap (RIP Chock Full O' Nuts, Wiernerwald, the soup bar at Lord & Taylor, Schrafft's and the Automat).

[canmark]

Posted: 6/23/13 at 8:51am

My first visit to NYC was in the summer of 1992. I stayed at the Paramount Hotel on W46th and saw Falsettos at the John Golden Theatre (on a TKTS half-price ticket, mezzanine) and Miss Saigon at the Broadway (partly obstructed view seat, first row orchestra on the far side). The bright lights of Times Square and the sketchiness of 8th Ave./42nd St. seemed to encapsulate New York City for me: both glittering and lurid, this was the meaning of Big City life.

Updated On: 6/23/13 at 08:51 AM

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 6/23/13 at 9:15am

I made a joke in the earlier part of this thread about being born here..but when you really get down to it, I sort of missed all the "first stories" you all are telling. Having grown up here, I guess I sort of took for granted all the things that amaze so many.

I don't "LIVE" in Times Square but I don't think I ever said "WOW" when I come here either. It's just part of my life ..seeing Times Square and other touristy things just fit in with doing the laundry, going to work, raising kids, etc. The most I remember is when I was young, my mother was "old school" and we had to dress up if we went to the theater. I saw all my first shows wearing my best party dress and my good patent leather shoes.

Not that I don't appreciate what I have for living in Manhattan. One of my kids makes her living as a working musician on Broadway, as do a number of our friends. And I am still excited to see another Broadway show - no matter how many times I go. And I pretty much can find something to love even in the worst productions(even though really thinking hard for the recent Jekyll and Hyde production...LOL). But know I am not as critical as some either. I am usually just happy to be in the audience again and seeing another Broadway show.

Updated On: 6/23/13 at 09:15 AM

[allyk]

Posted: 6/23/13 at 2:47pm

I was probably 6 or so, so 1995. I remember we went to visit my father's cousins in Queens. We did the typical touristy stuff - the zoo, FAO Schwartz, all stuff like that. The following year my parents took me to see my first show - The King and I. I loved it. We then went back once a year to see a show (or two or three). I ended up going to college on Long Island and went into the city a ton (it was close and I was there often for internships and such) and throughout my four years of college I saw probably 100 shows.

I have been out of school for two years now and got a job back home and I try to get to New York whenever possible. I've only gone down once this year (I am in Massachusetts so it's about a 4 hour bus ride) because my work schedule has been nuts. I am going down for the day in about 2 and a half weeks to see a show at NYMF and might try to grab a hotel room that night so I can squeeze another show in.

I am planning to move back to New York in the fall - most likely for graduate school at the same school where I did my undergrad work - and hopefully finding a job in my field that will get me through two years of grad school!

[hairspraydude1962]

Posted: 6/23/13 at 3:29pm

It was the winter of 2001. I was ten years old and very excited to finally see the "Entire" State Building. Yes, I was one of those kids. Anyway, I don't remember a whole lot, except for standing outside of the Music Box Theatre and meeting John Ritter, who was starring in The Dinner Party. He ended up being one of the nicest celebrities I've ever met.

[lovebwy]

Posted: 6/23/13 at 3:39pm

1977- I was 7 years old. My mom took me to see The Magic Show. I remember seeing pictures of naked ladies on porno stores everywhere. It struck me as dirty both literally and figuratively. Of course as an adult I would have loved that!!

[Replacement Cast]

Posted: 6/23/13 at 4:55pm

Took the train in with my parents and sister in 1967; I was 6 years old. All I can remember is "Thoroughly Modern Millie" (the film!) was playing at RCMH. Spent a lot of time in Manhattan and Brooklyn (family stuff) in the subsequent adolescent years. Didn't hit Broadway until May 10, 1978, "The Wiz" -- original run. Tons more since then.

[justoldbill]

Posted: 6/23/13 at 5:57pm

August, 1968. My first night in New York with my first Broadway show being HELLO, DOLLY! with Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway. Pure magic. The response after the "Hello Dolly" number was such that the cast did the entire number over again. (I found out only later that this actually happened a lot.) Pearl Bailey gave me a big ol' smooch from the runway during her curtain call in front of a cheering, on-their-feet audience at the St. James Theatre. Yes, my first night in New York. My fate was sealed.

[Kad]

Posted: 6/23/13 at 6:48pm

I was 16, it was 2006. I came up with my mom. We saw Avenue Q, The Wedding Singer, and The Drowsy Chaperone- and I saw the Saturday of Sweeney Todd while my mom went shopping.

I loved it, though the trip was mostly confined to Midtown.

We did the Empire State Building and hated it. They had a motion simulator ride tour thing narrated by Kevin Bacon.

[GaryinLA]

Posted: 6/23/13 at 8:22pm

My grandmother took me in 1971 on a bus for the day from central PA. I was 13. We were great travelling buddies and planned our day in advance...A Gray Line tour which took us to Chinatown and the Statue of Liberty, saw Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick's Cathedral, had dinner at Mamma Leone's, and saw my first Broadway show--Fiddler On The Roof--at the Broadway Theater. A fun filled 12 hours. Thanks Gram.





Updated On: 6/23/13 at 08:22 PM

[all that jazz]

Posted: 6/23/13 at 8:46pm

"We did the Empire State Building and hated it. They had a motion simulator ride tour thing narrated by Kevin Bacon."

LOL! My mom and I hated it too.

[IronMan]

Posted: 6/23/13 at 10:15pm

Show Choir trip, May 1981. After a 12-hour bus ride from Ohio, we disembarked at the Taft Hotel (51st/7th, across from the Winter Garden) and I knew I wanted to stay.

We performed in a competition at the theater at NYU (we didn't know we sucked) and did the usual sightseeing: Empire State at midnight, Rock Center, Chinatown, Times Square, but most memorable was on our bus being driven around on a Sunday evening through the West Village when our driver says, "Look to your right- that's a gay bar called the Ramrod." And the sidewalk was filled with men in leather vests and chaps or shirtless, and while all the kids on our bus laughed and hooted, this budding young homo was internally screaming, "LET ME OFF! I'M HOME!!"

Part of our package included having breakfast at the Times Square Howard Johnson's- which is the only time I have ever actually been served green eggs and ham. Never went back there!

We had a Saturday night free to wander (with chaperones, of course) and a few of us wanted to see a show- the line at TKTS was terribly long, and they said the only things available were "Best Little Whorehouse" (which our chaperone refused to let us near) and some plays, but we wanted a musical, so we went to the box office at the Imperial and got front mezz seats for "They're Playing Our Song" ($27) starring Ted Wass and Diana Canova.

It took me 16 more years, but when I worked at the Imperial, every time I was on stage I'd look up at the balcony and think, "I sat right THERE."

Updated On: 6/23/13 at 10:15 PM

[carlyrachel_]

Posted: 6/23/13 at 10:46pm

mine was so magical :) I went for the 4th of July last summer and spent 4 days there.. I got to see everything all over the city, shop on 5th ave all day, I went to see my first broadway show (wicked), and got to meet Keira Knightly and Adam Levine :) I fell in love so much that I went back in November and I'm hopefully spending a month and a half there next summer!! I can't even explain in words how much I loved it there

[VotePeron]

Posted: 6/23/13 at 10:52pm

My freshman year of high school (200 was when I really got into musical theatre, after recently seeing Hairspray the movie and being in my high schools production of Sound of Music. All I asked for for christmas that year was to go to NYC for the first time, and see Hairspray before it closed on January 4th, 2009. I can't believe it actually happened, but it was magical! Seeing and meeting Marisa Winokur and Harvey Fierstein, who had to returned to the company for the closing of the show, was like a dream come true because I couldn't stop listening to the Hairspray OBC!! We only did a day trip by bus, so we got to the city, explored TS, saw the Friday matinee of Hairspray (4th to final show, I believe) and then ate at Ellens Stardust diner! What a magical, amazing day it was.

Now I study theatre and go to school in the city! Still love Hairspray, and see a local production whenever I can :)))

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

Posted: 6/24/13 at 5:01am

My first time was not about Broadway at all...i was a cheerleader at UCLA, during the Lew Alcindor era and we were playing in Madison Garden during the week before Christmas, so i flew to NYC and stayed at friends of friends near Columbia U...it was in 1970 when i had left UCLA and moved to NYC that i saw my first Broadway stage production...COMPANY...i had been very lucky to meet some other gay young men who were Broadway musical lovers and as a result i saw Company with Kert and then second-acted it 9 other times, and that started my adventure on Broadway...

[Patash]

Posted: 6/24/13 at 8:29am

Thanksgiving Weekend 1966. I was third year in college at Bowling Green University in Ohio. I had finished my second summer of Equity apprenticeship at Flat Rock, North Carolina that summer. I got a ride with other students to New York, driving all night -- I think there were 7 of us in the car, and I didn't know any of them. They let me out at the NJ side of the GW Bridge and I was on my own at about 4 in the morning. I was to stay at the West Side Y on W 64th. I "KNEW" that Fifth Avenue was the dividing point of East and West, so the Y at something like 25 W. 64th HAD to be right off Fifth Ave. Right? So I took a bus across the bridge and down Fifth Ave., getting off at 64th and discovering there was this little thing called Central Park in my way. So before dawn I walked through the park to find the West Side Y. (Horrors from everyone I told that story to). My room at the Y with shared bath was $6 a night!

So I checked in early morning, got about an hour's sleep and then headed out to explore. Heading south, the first theatre I came to was The Winter Garden and I bought a ticket for a new show called Mame for that afternoon (Wednesday). It was in the mezzanine and limited view and it cost me $6.50. All I knew about the show was that it was from the same guy who wrote Hello, Dolly! On Thursday matinee (Thanksgiving) I saw Ethel Merman in the revival of Annie Get Your Gun at The Broadway. Someone in the balcony yelled out "Ha. Grandchildren" when she first said, "these are by brothers and sisters". She stopped dead and then just walked through the entire show without any emotion, except when she poured it on for "Old Fashioned Wedding". That weekend I also saw the original cast in Cabaret at The Shubert, and the best of all -- an APA production of School for Scandal with Rosemary Harris, Will Geer, and HELEN HAYES!

It was an amazing weekend.