On the Wheels of a Dream

A few months ago my dear friend Brett told me that she and her husband would be in New York for a few days in March and asked if Bryan and I could join them for one of those days. We cleared our calendars and thoroughly prepped the kids to take care of everyone (mostly Topher) at home.

On a day in mid-March we got up extra early, made sure we were ready for an adventure, dropped Sophie off at chorus before school, and drove to a park and ride lot in New Jersey. We took a bus into New York, then walked to The Morgan Library and Museum to meet our friends!

This is the second time I've been to this library, but I had only seen one small section the first time. Most of this was new to me. And it was so beautiful!

Photo credit Brett

In addition to the three story collection of books, there were grand offices, an art display, and exhibits about Mozart and storytelling.

This was Mozart's childhood violin.

And this is where Mozart sat and did most of his composing.

Me and my buddy Will.

I feel this quote deep in my soul.

I really loved the exhibit about storytelling. These are pictures from Maus, a graphic novel about the Holocaust.

Here are some of Henry David Thoreau's journals.

A cell from Plane Crazy, the first Mickey Mouse film.

After the library, we grabbed some pizza, took a few pictures in Times Square, and headed to the theater.

Photo credit Brett

Photo credit Ben

The first Broadway show Bryan and I ever saw was The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee during a trip to visit our friends who lived in NYC, almost twenty-one years ago. Here's a much younger version of me next to that original poster.

When Brett said she and Ben wanted to see the off-Broadway revival and invited us to join them, we said yes!

It was a fantastic production! And it was in a theater complex I'd never been to. It was almost completely underground and had six theaters, kind of like a movie theater with several screens, but for live theater instead, which I think is such a cool concept.

We took a picture with one of the cast members after the show.

We had a little time between the show and dinner, so we explored The Drama Book Shop.

We ate a delicious dinner at a noodle shop that had gluten free options. Then we said goodbye to Brett and Ben (and Brett's brother and sister-in-law who had joined us for dinner) and Bryan and I began the long walk uptown to Lincoln Center.

I've wanted to see Ragtime since it first debuted in the 90s. When I heard it was being revived, I brainstormed ways to go see it. The invitation from Brett to join them in NYC gave us a reason to be in the city. Why not stay a little longer and see a second show? Bryan and I talked about it and we tried to get tickets, but were initially unsuccessful. A few days before the trip I was looking up other shows that we might see instead. Bryan asked me what I was doing and I told him. His response, "Oh, don't buy tickets to anything. We have tickets to Ragtime that night."

YAY!!!!

It was absolutely transformative, possibly the best thing I've ever seen on Broadway. The singing, the acting, the staging, the lighting, the costumes, the pit, all of it was stunning. And the message of Ragtime was so beautiful and sad and full of hope. It was just what I needed.

Also, a key scene takes place at The JP Morgan Library! It was so cool to see a replica of the big bronze doors that we had just seen in person that morning.

Brett and Ben, thanks for asking us to join you in NYC, it was a wonderful day! It was so great to hangout in person and to talk as we walked around the city!

Two Strangers and Juliet

A few months ago a friend from church sent out a group message that she wanted to put together a group for a Broadway excursion. Amazingly, I was free that Saturday and added my name to the list of people going. About a month ago, six of us drove to a park and ride in New Jersey (I was the driver!), then took a short bus ride into the city. We were blessed with a surprisingly warm February day!

There was standing room only by the time we got on the bus.

Here we are at Port Authority, just after our bus ride into the city. I guess this was our "before" picture.

 

My friend Laura saw this sign and called for me to go stand by it so she could take my picture, which was an excellent suggestion.

We got into the city early enough to eat lunch. After some wandering and waffling, we decided on a sandwich shop. They didn't have anything I could eat. Thankfully, this pizza shop was next door and they had the best gluten-free pizza I've ever had! I had to get a whole pizza to get the gluten-free crust, but I was happy to share.

Look! It's a marquee for the show we were on our way to see!

I love the interiors of the old Broadway theaters!

The set for Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) was so creative and clever. I'll be very surprised if it doesn't get a Tony nomination for set design.

We waited after and got pictures with both of the actors in the show. They were fantastically talented. His character had golden retriever energy and her character was more like a cat. The juxtaposition of the two was very interesting. 

We had planned to see the one matinee and then head back home. But we all enjoyed the show so much that we decided to see if we could get tickets to another one. We all called our husbands to make sure everyone was holding up at home and to let them know our plan. Then we ran over to the TKTS office to see what was available. Amazingly, there were six seats in a row for &Juliet, the first choice show for the day that had been too expensive originally. But these new tickets were a screaming deal and roughly $120 less per ticket than they would have been if we hadn't bought them last minute.

Instead of getting on a bus and heading out of the city, we stood in line for an hour so our servers could sing to us while we ate at Ellen's Stardust Diner! I was the only one that had eaten there before (or even heard of it), so I was happy to introduce them to this Broadway tourist highlight.

We speed walked over to the theater for our second show and got there three minutes before it started. It was such a fun, energetic show! I loved all the Shakespearean dialogue woven throughout.

We skipped the stage door this time and caught our bus back to New Jersey. I made it home after one o'clock in the morning. Staying awake through church the next day was tough for all of us and a Sunday afternoon nap was required. But I'm so glad I was included in the Broadway fun!

Potter!

The idea for last Friday's activity started back in June when Tom Felton announced he would be taking on the role of Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. We bought six tickets on June 10th and a seventh ticket in September when we learned Peter would be home during Thanksgiving. We've slowly been watching the Harry Potter movies throughout the past month and a half, which involved covering a certain seven-year-old's eyes when stuff got too scary. I thought for sure this would clue the kids into our plan, but no one raised any questions. Then on Thursday night, when Thanksgiving was nearly over, we told the kids what we would be doing the next day.

We spent a frigid day in NYC. We arrived early enough to eat lunch at the delicious and totally packed Los Tacos No. 1 (most of us, Peter patronized Taco Bell down the street). The food was so good it was worth the standing room only dining space.

We waited in a long security line to get into the theater.

The lobby was super crowded with other theatre goers. I took the younger three on a walk around the building and found this photo backdrop. We weren't the only people who took advantage of it.

The audience was warned that ushers would hunt us down if we had our phones out during the show, so I snapped a quick blurry picture of the stage and a group shot, then put my phone away. The seventh ticket we got was on the other side of the house and Bryan offered to sit there, which is why he missed out being in this picture.

The special effects were the true star of the show. It really did feel magical. And it was really fun seeing Tom Felton as Draco. The audience went nuts when he entered for the first time.

Bryan and the kids waited at the stage door and got autographs from the actors that played Albus and Scorpius. I can't tell you which is which though, we were too far back in the theater to get a clear look at their faces. It wasn't until the next day that I even looked at the program to read their bios. That's when I discovered we knew someone in the cast! The fellow that played James Potter Jr/James Potter Sr/Cedric Diggory was in our ward in New Jersey! He was in high school while we were there and he's since graduated from BYU with a BFA in Music Dance Theatre. I sent his mom a message when I had the realization. Apparently some of her other kids saw the show the same day we did!

I love that we live close enough to New York to have adventures like this!