NY Theatre

Sight & Sounds of NYC.

/ brisbanefrannie / 3 Comments

Finally made it to The Whitney Museum. It’s at the start of the High Line walk in West Village.

Unfortunately 3 floors were closed due to installation of the Biennial due to open on May 16. Get there if you can.

Having limited floors to cover actually allowed us to take our time and really enjoy the exhibitions.

So what we saw were 2 great exhibitions:

I love the work of Edward Hopper and Georgie O’Keeffe and they both featured in the ‘Where We Are’ Exhibition.

Leaving the Gallery we headed uptown to Mykonos Blue in 29Street. We met friends Lynn Sherr and Lois Dubin from our Galapagos swim trek two years ago.

Such great ladies who have become great friends. Both still involved in their professions – Journalism and Landscaping. Lois did the landscaping on Roosevelt Island several years ago. It’s worth a visit.

Walking down 29 street we noticed many trees and flower shops. Turn out it’s one of the main wholesale place for larger trees and planets. The hydrangeas the lillies and the orchids were fantastic. There was also every accessory imaginable for arrangements. Ribbons, vases, coloured sands. Etc etc.

NYC is great for walking if you have the stamina. It’s set out in a grid system so easy to follow and you just count how many blocks you have to walk. We decided to walk back along to the High Line. It’s like a spine running along the east side of the city for about 20 blocks. The sun was out and so were the walkers. It was crowded.

We started at the Hudson Yards. It’s newly finished with it’s new sculpture feature. The Vessel.

It an amazing honeycomb type gold copper type material. It has steps going up and down like a maze. It reflects what is going on around it.

We didn’t climb it. 2.500 steps if completed it. That would be too many! So we viewed it from the new shopping centre. It’s all shiny and filled with big brand names.

We enjoyed the walk in the sunshine and couldn’t help but comment on the building projects and street works going on.

We are staying right near Chelsea Market so got off there and explored the markets. Lots of great eating places and great little shops. It’s an interesting area to stay if you’re wondering where to base yourself in NY. It adjoins West Village another terrific area to stay. If you watched the TV series Friends then this is where the apartment is set. And Magnolia Bakery is here. It’s smells delicious!

In the evening we made our way to Time Square. We all had tickets for the The Temptations. We collected the tickets and had a drink nearby. We got back to the theatre and found like all the theatres here, there is no real foyer area so the line forms outside on the footpath. Somehow everyone gets into their seat on time.

We had great seats in the balcony but so close there was no room for legs!

The show told the story of how the Temptations formed with all their ups and downs. There were something like 42 guys making up the Temptations over a 25 year period!

Interval came and we decided on a quick trip to the restroom and boy did we get a laugh out of that. The queue went zig zagging up and down stairs with at least 100 in it.

Elizabeth and I decided we were chatting anyone so we’d try our luck. The lady who we christened the ‘toilet monitor ‘ was directing with all the energy and authority of a NY Police officer. Perhaps more because you wouldn’t want to cross her!

Sure enough they managed to get everyone through when the bells rang. Perhaps it works the other way round. They don’t ring the bell to return to your seat until all the ladies have been through the restroom!

The night finished with us all dancing and singing all the way home.

Rain rain go away. New York on a rainy day.

/ brisbanefrannie / 5 Comments

Rain alters your perception on how you enjoy your holiday.

I don’t believe in grizzling about it. You can’t change it. Just change what you do.

Jordan and Rob are great at finding interesting things to do – so today it involves eating , walking, viewing, walking, eating, viewing. Eating!

We started with a late breakfast, sitting at the bar at Jeffrey’s Grocer. It’s a typical NY corner cafe/bar with a local crowd. We had to take a place at the bar and that was great. We were at the curved end so talking was still possible and we had a great view of the very small kitchen and all the activity.

Steve and Jordan started with a ‘wake-me-up’ Bloody Mary. Rob & I stuck to healthy juices!

Then it was lox and cream cheese bagels. Yum.

Back into the rain. Umbrellas up until we entered the subway station which took us to Times Square. We walked around the corner and into Gullivers Gate. It’s a museum of miniatures . It had cities and scenes from around the world. It’s fascinating.

See if you can pick the countries.

It had an airport with a take-off and landing runway. The planes were all on time!

 

We spent quite a bit of time examining the countries before we went back out into the rain and had a 30 min walk to 32nd street to Eataly. This is one of the latest food areas. It’s a huge area / markets. A sort of shop, bar, little restaurant all under one roof. It’s fantastic.

We once again sat at a high table and tasted cheeses, meats, veggies & bread and food all washed down with Rose. We sat and talked and got a fix people watching.

Then back into the rain and a return to the apartment for a small rest and preparation for what was to come.

Rob & Jordan suggested we attend a play they had seen a few weeks before. It’s an interactive play (be wary I thought!) set over 5 levels in a warehouse building with stairs and corridors – in almost total darkness.

You enter the ‘McKitterick Hotel’ to participate in the play Macbeth – it’s called appropriately ‘Sleep No More’

Oh my goodness.

It was amazing. Scary, fascinating, unbelievable. There were strange characters who acted in different rooms and then moved between floors and scenes. You followed whichever you wanted.

Everyone wore a mask.

There were some strange scenes. And it was exhausting. Running up and down stairs in the dark. Sometimes in a creepy room by yourself! Steve and I got separated at the beginning and there is no talking at all.

This is a theatre company that specializes in “immersive” theater in which the audiences wanders in and throughout spaces, interacting with the cast to one degree or another and having a unique experience often quite different from the people they attend the show with.

The audience is an integral piece of this theatre. Actors will approach individual attendees, whisper in your ear, kiss you on the hand. While performers gauge the comfort of those they get close to, if you don’t want this type of interaction—no problem. Situate yourself within the crowd instead of at the very front.

BONUS: Prepare for a one-of-a-kind experience.

Enter Sleep No More with an open mind. No two visits are exactly the same and the film noir vibe makes for a mysterious, sensual, and exciting evening.

Quite a NY night!

Anyway I survived!