NYC, part 2

Today was Wicked.

As in, Wicked the musical, and “wicked awesome.”

I could see how one could begin to justify living in New York City if it meant going to Broadway shows. On the other hand, this place is still nutty, and it’s probably a much better place to visit than to live! I’m afraid I’m still very much from eastern WA. :)

Really all I did today was saw Wicked. Though beforehand I had an excellent lunch involving an avocado/tomato/mozzarella wrap and a mango smoothie. At the show, I got a sweet shirt that says “defy gravity.” It was LONG, and I had an EXCELLENT seat, and the whole thing was simply fantastic. I’ve always loved The Wizard of Oz, I had a Dorothy phase just like I had a Winnie the Pooh phase and a My Little Pony phase. This musical incorporated all this great stuff from the original story and just ran with it. So many good songs, such an amazing production. (And yes there was a viola in the pit orchestra! If I had five lifetimes, one of them would definitely be spent as a violist playing in pit orchestras.) It’s just too bad that normal people who don’t live in New York can’t see awesome musicals like this very often. All the more reason for Hanford High School to keep up the drama program!!

It got over a bit before 5 (yes it was nearly 3 hours long), so I wandered down a few blocks to Times Square. Silly me, I thought it was an actual square, like one block with a “this is Times Square” sign, but it’s more just a few-block-chunk of obnoxious advertising with a bunch of people walking around. This odd, flashing blob of consumerism made the rest of Manhattan seem relatively, well, normal. So, now I can add Times Square to the “been there, done that” list. Made me wonder how much power is used each day just to light those silly ads…sigh. I also contemplated trying to see Les Mis tomorrow but they didn’t have any reasonably priced tickets and I figured, well, I’ve played in the pit plus seen it done twice professionally (in Seattle and LA) plus I just splurged on Wicked, so I think I’m good for now.

And now I’m back at the “Broadway Hotel,” which is code for “hostel on 101st street,” and I’m lamenting at the impending $2 for 20 minutes of internet. My roommate situation has changed a bit – minus Franzesca, plus Oliver, a guy from France who thought he was checking into an actual hotel and not a hostel, so we’ll see how long he actually stays here.

All in all, I’m really enjoying myself pretty well. Trying not to think too much about how very odd my situation is. That’s all for now.