my week in NYC (3 days really)

[Dre2387]

Posted: 1/17/08 at 2:59am

So, I had little more than a week left in NJ before going back to college and of course, most of that time I had to spend in NYC.

I first saw Is He Dead with Norbert Leo Butz. Brilliant show, fantastic acting by all, perfect comedic timing, and simple but detailed set. Hopefully, it lasts for a while.

Next I saw The 39 Steps. Not as funny as i heard it was. I feel that one has to have seen the Hitchcock movie to understand most of the play. And it took me a while that they were also doing parodied of a lot of Hitchcock's titles like Psycho and Rear Window and others. I didn't laugh as much as I did at Is He Dead. But one reason to see this show would be for the staging which is very simple, but very affective and would be simple to do with college students. Also, the 2 men (who didn't have the main roles) were brilliant, playing dozens of characters each.

On Tuesday, I went into the city around 1:30pm and stood in line at Barnes and Noble for the Mel Brooks cd signing. Even thought I was there really early, it was worth it. I was 15th in line and there must have been like 200 there. I got great shots and a short video of him describing how Jews are terrible at singing "Dancing in the Dark." I'll put it on youtube soon.

That night I went to Curtains and decided to try and get a front row ticket for $57. They said it was partial view, which I can sort of see why, but it's not as bad as other shows when say they are partial view seats. I was right behind the conductor. Every since I sat in the front row at DRS, I really can't sit anywhere else. I love the front row and seeing Curtains again from the front row confirmed this love even more. I was grinning from ear to ear during the whole performance. There were a lot of understudies on (mainly because of Edward Hibbert being on vaca.) John Bolton ('Daryl Grady') became 'Christopher Belling.' Michael X. Martin ('Johnny') became 'Daryl Grady' and jerome V. (swing/2nd ass. stage manager/fight captain) became 'Johnny.' Plus 'Randy' and 'Jessica' had understudies. Although John Bolton did well as 'Chris,' Edward Hibbert is perfect in that role. Almost every big name came out after the show. I think the only one that didn't was John Bolton.

Today, I saw Is He Dead (had to see it one more time before going back to college). Flawless yet again. And this time, Norbert almost cracked before delivering a line. It was hilarious!

and this evening, I saw Young Frankenstein. I tried lottery, but lost. They did decide to sell balcony seats for $26 for those who had put their names in the lottery, so i got in row B in balcony, and then sat house left front row during the 2nd act. It was a great show, and afterwards, I stage doored it. The only ones that came out were Shuler and Megan. It turns out that Mel Brooks was there tonight and most of them left with him through the 42nd st. entrance. But bother Shuler and Megan were so sweet.

So that was my 3 days in NYC, Broadway filled. and I loved it all.

[Bwayfan4]

Posted: 1/17/08 at 4:19am

Interesting. I saw 39 Steps a few weeks ago and loved it! I thought it was hysterical, and I know very little about Hitchcock (haven't seen any of his movies). Glad to hear you enjoyed your time in the city.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 1/17/08 at 8:41am

"I was right behind the conductor. Every since I sat in the front row at DRS, I really can't sit anywhere else.:"

Good times Dre, good times. (Especially with the conductor!)

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 1/17/08 at 10:25am

Thanks for sharing! Sounds like you had a great time!

[Ticketguy2]

Posted: 1/17/08 at 3:11pm

I saw ACL with partial view from winning the lottery 1hour before curtain and it wasnt that bad. I wasnt able to see the whole part of "i can do that" Or the good part of "Tits and ass" but whatever. I was able to get my mom and sister better seats the next night through tickex.com. i would highly recommend using them to search the cheapest tickets for any show.