New York New York, It's A Wonderful Town!

On Tuesday, March 26 my mom and I flew to New York City for our 5^th annual Spring Break trip to Broadway! Our flight left at 8am and Kevin was out of town, so I stayed the night at mom’s house on Monday night. We left the house around 6am on Tuesday morning and flew through Dallas to Newark. We arrived in Newark around 4pm and took a taxi, by way of the Lincoln Tunnel, to our hotel. Our taxi driver was awesome and got us to the hotel around 5pm. We stayed at Hotel Edison, which was located right in the middle of Times Square (47^th between Broadway and 8^th). We dropped our bags off in the room and went straight out to the box office to get tickets for an 8pm show. Our first stop was the box office for Lucky Guy, starring Tom Hanks. We knew this would be the most difficult show to get tickets for so we were thrilled when they had seats available on Wednesday night! We still didn’t have tickets for Tuesday night so we went to the box office for The Nance, Starring Nathan Lane. We were able to get 2 discounted tickets in the orchestra for that evening! We went to grab a slice of pizza for dinner and realized mom didn’t have her wallet! I rushed back to the theatre for The Nance in hopes of finding mom’s wallet and was more than relieved to learn that someone had turned it in with everything still in it! There are good people in this world! I met mom back at the hotel and we unpacked a little and changed clothes for the show. The Nance was a play about a gay man (Nathan Lane) in the 1930’s burlesque and the dangers he faced during that time for not only playing a gay man on stage, but secretly living as a homosexual. Nathan Lane was wonderful and mom and I thoroughly enjoyed the show. It was a very fitting show to see on the day that the debate over same-sex marriage began in the Supreme Court. Our country has come a long way, but we still have so far to go. We went to the stage door after the show and I was very apprehensive that Nathan Lane would not come out, (he didn’t come out when we saw him in The Addams Family) but to my great surprise he did! He seemed very genuine and it was such an incredible experience to meet him! We went back to the hotel to drop off our poster and playbills and then went to Junior’s for a midnight snack (matzah ball soup and cheesecake). We got back to the hotel around 12:30am and fell asleep around 2am. It was an amazing start to our trip!!

The Nance at the Lyceum Theatre. Mom was so excited for our first show and to see Nathan Lane!

I guess I was a little excited too!

Nathan Lane!! I was so excited he came out...

...and signed! What an incredible way to start our trip!

We woke up around 10am on Wednesday morning and went straight to the box office to get general rush tickets for Hands on a Hardbody. We were thrilled when we got two tickets in the 2^nd row of the center orchestra for $32 a piece! We decided to go to the box offices for Kinky Boots and Pippin as well to see what their availability was for the next couple of days. When we realized that the general rush tickets for these shows may be partial view, we decided to use coupons to buy discount tickets in advance. We bought tickets to see Kinky Boots on Friday night and got a great deal when the man behind the counter realized mom was “handicapped.” I would definitely not consider my mom “handicapped” but she does walk with a cane and has trouble getting up steps. He initially gave us tickets in the mezzanine in which mom would have to walk up the steps, but when she asked him about the tickets, he graciously took them back and gave us tickets that are reserved for “handicapped” people in the orchestra. He also gave us an incredible deal on the price of the tickets! We went to the box office for Pippin and the line was insane. Mom waited in the line while I went back to the box office for Hands on a Hardbody to get a ticket for my great high school friend, Ryan. When I got to the box office they still had general rush tickets and they were able to get us all seats together. This trip was turning out amazing!! I met mom back at the Pippin box office and we were able to get tickets for Thursday night. It was nice to know that we didn’t have to get up early on Thursday or Friday to get general rush tickets. We went back to the hotel around noon to shower and get ready for our matinee. Ryan met us at the hotel and we got some pizza before going to see Hands on Hardbody. This was a musical based on a documentary that was filmed in Texas in the 90’s. It featured 10 randomly selected people to compete in a 5-day competition to win a brand new truck. The object of the competition was to keep one hand on the car at all times. Contestants were given 15-minute breaks to use the bathroom and eat but other than that, they were out in the beating sun until there was only one person left standing. It was not my favorite show of the week, but I am very glad we saw it. It had some great music, but I think it will do better as a touring company or off-Broadway (unfortunately the show closed just a few weeks after it opened). We went to the stage door after the show and it was amazing how many cast members came out! Our experience in the past has been that many cast members stay in the theatre on matinee days, so it is always so nice to have a good matinee stage door experience!

The "Hardbody" the contestants were trying to win. 

Hands on a Hardbody at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. 

Mom with Keith Carradine, who was nominated for his role in Hands on a Hardbody!

Allison Case and I. We saw her in Hair in 2009 and had to get another picture....

...this is us back in 2009!

Mom, Ryan, and I all ate dinner together at Sophia’s after the show. Ryan had to go to work at 6pm so mom and I went back up to the room to change before we saw Lucky Guy. I cannot even explain how excited I was to see Tom Hanks live on stage! I think he is probably my all-time favorite actor and he was just as good on-stage as he is in the movies!! Tom Hanks was definitely the draw to this show, but the cast was packed with other stars: Courtney B. Vance, Maura Tierney, Christopher McDonald, Peter Gerety, Peter Scholari, and Richard Masur to name a few! Lucky Guy was written by the late Nora Ephron and focused on the life of Mike McAlary, a controversial New York tabloid columnist in the 1980’s. It was wonderful!! We sat in a box so I was able to sneak out as soon as the lights went out for curtain call (I knew the stage door would be crazy) and I was able to get a front row spot at the stage door to see Tom Hanks!! The stage door was absolutely nuts! There were people everywhere, but it didn’t matter to me because I was in the front row! Tom Hanks was amazing! He was so genuine and happy to see his fans! I hate that I didn’t ask him to take a picture with me, but I got some great photos of him. It was a surreal experience! Mom had already gone back to the hotel, so I met her there and we had a relaxing evening.

The Lucky Guy at the Broadhurst Theatre!

Christopher McDonald. If you are a Happy Gilmore fan, he should look familiar!

Peter Scolari!

Peter Gerety!

TOM HANKS!!!! I could not believe I was seeing him in the flesh! And from the front row! Probably on of my favorite New York experiences to date!!

Here is the signature! He was amazing! 

We woke up around 10am again on Thursday morning and met our cousins in the Lobby of the hotel. My mom’s first cousin’s daughter (Heather) and her son (Ben) were visiting from Washington D.C. and we were able to spend some time with them – this was only our second time ever meeting them! It was amazing to build a new relationship with new family! Heather and Ben went to Central Park around noon and mom and I walked up to the box office for Cinderella. We planned to see this show on Saturday night, but were not sure if we would be able to get tickets. Fortunately, we got tickets in the back of the Orchestra and were able to use a discount coupon! Everything for this trip was working in our favor! The Cinderella theater was up on 53^rd street so we decided to go to the Carnegie Deli for lunch. It was delicious as always! We finally had a little down time so we decided to relax in the room for a little while before we went out for dinner and another show. We met Heather and Ben again for dinner before going to Pippin. I have to say I was hesitant to see Pippin. I saw a HORRIBLE production of Pippin in high school and at that point decided I hated the show in general. I did some research before this trip and got more and more interested in this production. This production was directed by Diane Paulus (who also directed Hair and Porgy and Bess, and both shows were amazing) and incorporated a circus theme – how can you go wrong with a circus? The acrobatics were amazing, the music was phenomenal and the show was absolutely incredible!! I honestly believe this show will win the Tony for Best Musical Revival this year. It was the show I was least interested in but turned out to be my favorite show of the week! I would recommend it to anyone in the area (and for anyone that saw the same high school production as I did, give this production a chance! You won’t be disappointed!). We went to the stage door after the show and got our poster and playbill’s signed. This show was still in previews and the entire cast was so gracious to see us waiting for them. I love the stage door experience! We dropped off our show souvenirs and went back to Junior’s for another snack (grilled cheese and cheesecake). We got back to the room around 12:30am and fell asleep around 1:30am.

Our cousins, Heather and Ben! It was so wonderful to connect with them!

Open-faced roast beef and gravy sandwich and Matzah Ball Soup at Carnegie Deli! YUM!

PIPPIN at the Music Box Theatre. Nominated for 10 Tony awards!

Waiting for the show to start.

Tony nominated, Terrence Mann! I will always think of him from his role in A Chorus Line (movie). I used to watch the movie religiously as a kid! A 5, 6, 7, 8...

Patina Miller, also nominated for a Tony this year. I think she may win it!! She was amazing!

With our signed poster and playbill. Best show of the whole trip! Can't wait until the Tony's!

We woke up around 10:30am on Friday morning and took our time getting ready. We went to Shake Shack for lunch and it was as good as ever! I still claim that it is the best burger I have ever had! We went to the box office for Once to see what time the line starts for general rush tickets and found out we had to be in line at 7am in order to be guaranteed tickets. We decided we didn’t want to wait in line so we bought tickets then and there for Saturday’s matinee. We took a taxi up to 54^th street to see a Friday matinee. We pre-bought our tickets for a show called Art and Science that was one of four full-length shows that were a part of The Midtown March Medley. This show was considered off-off-broadway but featured two Tony nominated Broadway stars, Tony Sheldon (Priscilla Queen of the Dessert) and John Tartaglia (Avenue Q, Shrek). The show was produced by Seth Rudetsky (Sirius XM Radio) and his husband James Wesley, who also wrote the script. The show was only playing through the month of March and we were so grateful to have been able to see it! It took place in a room that was the size of a one-bedroom apartment and sat about 30 people. It was the most intimate and moving show experience I have ever had! Because the show was so small, there was no stage door. Instead, the actors just came back out “on-stage” after they changed. It seemed like mom and I were the only “non-friends of cast members” there to see the show, so we patiently waited for the stars to visit with friends and then we took a few photos and got some autographs. It was fascinating to just watch them interact with all of these producers, writers, co-stars, etc. One of the audience members was Ann Harada who co-stared with John Tartaglia in the original cast of Avenue Q and who is currently playing one of the step-sisters in Cinderella (which we would see on Saturday night). Mom and I spotted her right away and we got to chat with her for a quick minute after the show. It was so cool!

I love Shake Shack! Delicious!

Mom with Anne Harrada. 

Tony nominated actors John Tartaglia and Tony Sheldon. This show was such an incredible experience!

We did a little bit of shopping after the show and then sat in Times Square and people watched for little while. It was a little too chilly to stay too long so we went back to the room and changed for Kinky Boots! We had great seats again in the center orchestra and the show was so much fun! It was a little slow to start and seemed a little disjointed at times, but overall we thoroughly enjoyed it! How can you go wrong with drag queens and thigh-high boots? Of course we went to the stage door after the show and our playbill and poster filled up quick. It was a large cast and it seemed like they all came out to sign. It was awesome! We were pretty tired and had a big day ahead of us so we went back to the hotel and fell asleep around 1am.

Kinky Boots at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. This show in nominated for 13 Tony awards this year!

Stark Sands nominated for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. 

Billy Porter also nominated for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. I think He will win!

I went star gazing after Kinky Boots and found Matthew Broderick!

We woke up around 11am on Saturday and got ready for our Matinee. We ate lunch at the hotel café and then met our great family friend, Sarah, at the theatre for Once. Once won the 2012 Tony for best musical and it is still a hot ticket to get on Broadway, so we weren’t able to get three seats together. Mom had a seat down in the orchestra and Sarah and I sat in the Mezzanine. When we walked into the theatre the cast/orchestra was already onstage playing music. There was also a bar onstage in which audience members could purchase drinks. It was very unique and entertaining. One of the most unique parts of this show was that the orchestra members were also the cast members. It was an amazing story and the music was beautiful. I know understand why it won the Tony Award! At the end of the show, the cast members announced that they would be selling signed Playbill’s in order to raise money for Broadway Cares, so we purchased a signed Playbill and skipped the stage door.

Once at the Bernard B Jacobs Theatre. 

My playbill overlooking the stage. It is hard to see the stage, but this was the "scene" before the show. Very unique!

We went over to Guy’s All-American restaurant for dinner, which is where my friend Ryan works, and then went back to the hotel to start packing for our very early flight the following morning. Around 7:15 we started walking up to 53^rd street to see our last show of the trip, Roger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. The costumes and set design were exactly what we expected….extravagant. This was your typical Broadway show. Big everything – cast, costume, set, choreography. It was wonderful! This cast was also selling signed playbill’s so we purchased our playbill but had already bought an unsigned poster so I went to the stage door anyway. We had purchased tickets to 54 Below to see Charlie Rosen’s Big Band and the show began at 11pm, so mom went to get seats while I waited patiently at the stage door. A few of the stars from Cinderella were actually performing at 54 Below so not everyone came out, but I was able to see almost everyone I wanted to see - Laura Osnes, Cinderella, did not come out because she was performing at 54 Below. I have now seen her in 3 Broadway shows (South Pacific, Anything Goes and Cinderella) and have never met her at the stage door. The show at 54 Below was also wonderful. The big band played a variety of Broadway songs and four people who we saw throughout the week sang with the band – Laura Osnes, Santino Fontana, and Greg Hildreth all from Cinderella and Jay Armstrong Johnson from Hands on a Hardbody. It was another great experience and we look forward to going back again. We got back to the hotel around 1pm and by the time we finished packing our bags it was about 2am. It was a very long, but incredible day!

Cinderella at the Broadway Theatre.

Santino Fontana played the Prince and he is nominated for a Tony. 

Inside 54 Below. 

All of our signed playbills. Such an incredible trip!

Our flights out on Sunday left at 7am, so we got a full 2 hours of sleep and left the hotel around 4:30am. Mom flew back home and I flew to Salt Lake City to meet Kevin and attend a wedding on Monday. I can’t explain how much I value, cherish, and appreciate these special trips I get to take with my mom. Her mom died when she was only 18 so she never got to have these experiences with her mom and that makes it even more special for the both of us! We had an absolutely incredible trip, probably the best trip yet, and can’t wait to go back again next year (maybe even this summer)!!