Five Hundred Twenty Five Thousand…

So yeah, eventually we get off our ass the next day and hit the town again. Our first stop was the Nederlander Theater, to try to snag tickets for that evening’s performance of Rent. Upon being successful at that, we hoofed it over to the lower west side docks, where we’d read in a brochure there was a cruise type thingy that circled most of the island and showed you the major sites. As it was it turned out to be a slightly longer walk than expected, which was pointed out repeatedly by my company. :) Manhattan as a whole though is only two miles wide at its widest though, so if you’re somewhere in the middle it’s not like it’s a gigantic distance to get anywhere. Besides, easier to enjoy the sites if you’re moving slowly.

We eventually made it over to the NY Waterway cruises I believe it was called, and bought two tickets for the 90 minute half island dealy. Basically the 90 minute one goes halfway around the island via the southern end and then comes back, whereas the 2 hour and more expensive one goes all the way around the circumference. We decided all the cool stuff was on the southern end anyway, and we’d rather see it all twice. It was a gorgeous day, so we decided to hang out on the upper deck of the little ferry ship thing. They had a narrator who would go through all the different things we’d pass by, and give all sorts of need facts or inside stories about the buildings, bridges, and monuments. He was really good, didn’t sound bored at his job or anything, which made the cruise really enjoyable. I learned a lot about the different aspects of the city I never would have known before. Zipping underneath the massive bridges was pretty nifty, that’s not a view you normally get. The thing that worked out best for us on the cruise was the view of the Statue of Liberty. As we found out earlier, they had closed the statue to visitors, so you could go to the island, but you couldn’t go up in the crown or into the pedestal or anything. As it was, the boat took us right up to the front of the statue, basically as close as you can get without being on the island. Being up close and personal was really cool, and mad picture taking took place. I’m now even more glad I had the experience of going up in the statue during my last trip, as since September 11th, no one has been able to share that experience, and it’s unknown whether it will ever be reopened. It was also pretty trippy checking out the former World Trade Center site, and the gaping hole that it left. More on that later as I visited it the next day.

We eventually made it back to dry land, although I had really enjoyed just sitting on the sundeck zipping along with the wind in my hair. We then discovered the free bus (oops) that ran from the ferry service to the main bus terminal over by Times Square where we’d just walked from. These things are always useful after the fact. We got plenty of exercise during the weekend anyway, that was a good thing. It’s kind of sad that I’ve waited so long to write this, I’m sure I’m forgetting about all sorts of cool stuff that happened. Blah, next time I’m taking a laptop and updating every night. ;)

I’m not entirely sure what happened in between, but eventually we ended up back at the Nederlander Theater just in time for the massive line to start moving in. Our seats were assigned so it wasn’t a big deal we were near the end. As it was we were up in the mezzanine a bit towards the left, but I didn’t really mind. The orchestra level was all flat, so being in the back of that a person is probably way worse off trying to see over everyone. There was a decent about of depth and height to the stage as well, so being above and able to look over the entire expanse was advantageous.

Now I am a loser, and thus even though I lived in Los Angeles the majority of my life, I have never been to see a major musical that has come through. I’ve always talked about it, but never gotten off my ass and done it. So this was the first real musical I’d ever seen. I am now very sorry that I’ve wasted so much time. Coming out of the show, I really really wanted to extend my vacation a few days so I could watch at least a few more shows. It was just phenomenal. There were times when my mouth was hanging open for minutes at a time. Some of the performers were just unbelievably talented. Both male leads harmonized really well, while also dominating the stage when singing solo. I actually think that it’s better that I’d heard virtually none of the music going in, it really created a more powerful effect as I was exposed to it for the first time. The sound system in the theater was just out of control. We’re talking LOUD. Even I was impressed, and I tend to only enjoy it if I can FEEL it. There were literally a few times that I thought one of the performers was going to blow out one of the speakers, or at least an old lady’s eardrums in the audience. The most obvious example was the soloist during the one song I had heard previously, the signature piece “Seasons of Love.” The performers all walked out to start the second act after the intermission and lined up on the edge of the stage, and just stood still and sang their hearts out. For me it was reminiscent of “Heal Their Hearts” in Riverdance, the song that doesn’t involve any dancing, just a large group of motionless singing performers harmonizing. Interestingly enough, according to an insert in the playbill we received it wasn’t the normal performer in place that night for the soloist role. Whoever it was though, she just dominated. I was never more impressed than during the thirty seconds or so that she simply took over the stage. They basically had to hold up the next scene for a period while the crowd just went crazy with applause, cheers, and whistles largely supplied by myself. The show was only halfway over though, and I ended up loving pretty much the whole thing. After returning home I snagged the soundtrack by the original Broadway cast from a friend, and was playing large portions of it several times over for days. Some of the music even got better the more I listened to it. Seems like every time I listen to it all the way through I discover a song I hadn’t listened to so closely before, or it just moves me in a different way. My personal favorites other than the aforementioned in random order are “One Song Glory,” “Will I?,” and “What You Own,” as well as of course the “Finale B” immediately after which the crowd goes nuts. When it comes to getting stuck in your head though I’d have to go with “Santa Fe,” which is a catchy little tune by one of the secondary male leads about opening up a restaurant that I’ve been annoying my friends with repetitively for days now. As I mentioned before, when I came out of the performance I was revitalized, the energy level in there was infectious. The fact that you pop right out of the theater near NYC’s Time Square helps too. HIGHLY recommend this show to anyone who is ever in New York. I hear the travelling performance is pretty good to, but as they say, nothing beats the original. The fact that the show has been at the Nederlander for its entire seven year run makes it even cooler than I managed to see it there. At least download the music and give it a look see, you won’t be disappointed, there’s something for everyone.

We’ll have one more pause here, and the next post will finish up the story.