The New York Trip

Final pictures of the New York trip. Actually these are the from the start of the trip.

Here’s what happened. Stu and I caught the midnight bus up to New York. No problems on the way up. I actually got some sleep. We arrived in New York on time just at 5 am.

Now New York may indeed be the city that never sleeps but it does take a nap. And this was definitely nap time especially 5am on a Sunday morning.

We went to Macy’s and saw their windows. Then we headed up to Rockefeller Center. There were maybe a total of ten people there. Got some spectacular shots of the tree and decorations around there with no one in the picture. It was so very cool. There were some brave souls out and about. I helped out a couple of tourists from Australia by taking a picture of the two of them.

Then we walked up 5th Avenue toward Central Park. We stopped off at the 24 hour Apple Store. There were actually people at the Genius Bar being waited on that early in the morning. The decorations going up were fantastic. Once we hit the Park we walked west on 59th Street. We walked to Columbus Circle and then headed up to Lincoln Center. By that time the sun was just coming up.

Decorations Around New York

This is a little more about the snake in the last few pictures:

In the international arms race known as Holiday Window Dressing, the jeweler Bulgari went one step further this year. Rather than putting baubles and decorations in their selling space, they had metallic, light-up snakes (which apparently are the brand’s “legendary symbol”) installed across the façades of their flagships in New York, Rome, and Tokyo. Here in Manhattan, the Cut tagged along exclusively as they installed 52 iridescent scales, each one more than three-feet tall and lit from below with LED lights, on Fifth Avenue.

This is just soooo cool. This is on the side of the Bulgari

Decorations in New York

Some more decorations and a few other things from the trip.

At Lincoln Center

I'd hoped to be able to post things in the order in which they happened. But I am having problems with both my computer and blogger not working correctly. It is getting very frustrating.

Anyway the end of our long morning walk in New York Ended at Lincoln Center. The sun was just coming up it was around 7 or so when we got there. We ducked into a near by Starbucks to warm up and for me to charge my phone.

We then proceeded down Broadway heading for Times Square.

Walking Down Broadway

After Lincoln Center and the Starbucks, we headed down Broadway. There's a mall right at Columbus Circle which was open and we went inside and saw some their cool decorations. There's a Whole Foods there that must open at like 7am on Sundays. I was surprised at the number of people that were there.

The decorations at The Shops at Columbus Circle

The stars change colors

Wow have to plan a trip to New York in February to see this mega-hit!

Wandering Around NYC at Night

After the show (see more about it a few posts down), we wandered around. We tried to find a place to eat but the places we went to were all very crowded in part because the Giants were on TV. So we just grabbed a quick bite and continued to look at the decorations which now had some snow on them!

And of course a trip to Rockefeller Center.

Rockefeller Center packed with people. A far cry from 12 hours earlier

Just a spectacular view.

Looking down towards Time Square.

The Bus Dilemma

Our big dilemma after lunch was what to do about the bus. We felt fairly sure that the bus would be cancelled. We were in touch with a couple of people in DC who kept us up to date on the weather there. They said the forecast was for freezing rain to start sometime around 5 or 6 that evening.

The bus was going at 9. That meant 3-4 hours of freezing rain or some sort of slop coming down in DC even before we left New York. At first we were just going to get the tickets. Then we checked the Megabus app and found buses were stilling going to DC.

Back and forth we went. We'd check things after the show. Finally Stu said lets get the tickets because if we don't all we will be thinking while we're at the show is about getting the train tickets.

And that's what we did. We went down to Penn Station and got our tickets. We ended up on the 11pm train because that was the cheapest at $84 per person. The train just an hour early the ticket was $40 more. Trains earlier than that one cost even more.

Turns out we made a very good choice.

The Glass Menagerie

There have been very few times I have come out of a play almost speechless but the Glass Menagerie is one. The other one I can think of is Exit the King. I turned to Stu at the end and we just looked at each other. And then one or both of us said wow. Just an amazing show from start to finish.

Here's some of the reviews:

From the Daily News:

In keeping with the strong, spare scenery, performances are lean and natural. Jones, a stage great who’s won Tonys for “The Heiress” and “Doubt,” endows Amanda with potent vitality. She can lose herself in the sweet-scented memories of jonquils and gentility, but she’s no shrinking violet. She’s fiercely maternal.

Quinto, of the “Star Trek” reboot, streaks Tom, the stand-in for Williams, with exasperation and surliness. His cruel abandonment of his family in the dark is all the more credible.

As the delicate Laura, Celia Keenan-Bolger draws you in with her transparent honesty. A simple line (“Mother, you’ve made me so nervous”) or lifting a typewriter shows how everything is a chore and painful. She has lovely chemistry with Brian J. Smith, who brings easygoing charm as Jim, the gentleman caller.

The fall Broadway season has just begun. This shattering and shimmering “Glass Menagerie” is the first must-see.

From the New York Times:

Brian J. Smith plays the emissary, whose glory days as a high school hero are behind him, in a performance that more than holds its own amid the histrionics of the Wingfields. He makes it clear that while this Gentleman Caller may hail from the bustling land of reality, he, too, seesaws between highs of illusion and the harshness of life as it is. And his scene alone with Laura — in which he gives her and himself a lecture on becoming a positive person — may be the best version of it we’ll ever see.

Perhaps what’s most surprising about this production, though, is how thoroughly it makes us understand that Tom is the center, nay the author, of “The Glass Menagerie.” Mr. Quinto (best known as Mr. Spock in the current “Star Trek” movie franchise) plays Tom with more than a touch of the author who conceived him. This kinetically charged, purple-prose-spouting Tom is an angry young man who, in his way, is as self-dramatizing as Amanda and as much of an outcast as Laura. No wonder he feels he has to run away; at home, there are too many mirrors.

Neither of us had seen this as a play. Both remembered the TV show many years ago that had starred Katharine Hepburn. And that's about all we remembered was that she was in it.

It was just over powering. Even though the ending is far from happy, I didn't leave the theater feeling depressed I was in awe of the performances and still feel that way.

This is a must see.

A Little More on The Glass Menagerie

We came into the theater after the drama of the train tickets. As I was sitting down I got a message from Megabus saying that the bus had been cancelled. We felt very good in our decision.

I'm waiting for the play to start and I think to myself I haven't seen anyone famous yet. I always see at least one famous person.

I'm looking around the theater and I see someone. I recognize him but can't exactly think who it is. I point him out to Stu. He agrees with me. I remember him being in Clear and Present Danger. I get out my phone and look on IMDB to see if I'm right. Stu finally comes up with his name Donald Moffat. Just as he's saying that and I confirm that that is who is in another guy is coming into our row. He sits down three seats from me. Stu recognized him immediately and so did I it was Paul Sorvino.

But it gets even better. At intermission the guy sitting in front of Paul Sorvino turns around and introduces himself. I recognize him. Point him out to Stu who recognizes him as well. We have no idea who he is. But from the conversation I could here between the two of them, it sound like the guy got his first break working with Sorvino.

So ample famous people in the theater and all stacked right next to each other.

After the show, they did a fundraiser for Broadway Cares. As Brian J. Smith says it's rare to auction off one of the characters in the show but they would in this case. As an added incentive, Zachary Quinto would match the bid dollar for dollar. The character was the horse in the show. And the bidding started at $300. One woman bid that much. Then Quinto counter bid. It went to $750 with the proviso from the woman bidding that Quinto personally give her the horse.

If you gave $20 you got a signed program from everyone. For $60 you got a poster and I think a program too. It would have been cool to get the poster but I had no idea how I was going to get it home. So I gave $20 and got the program. I got to shake Cherry Jones had and say what an amazing performance it was. She thanked me very much.

As to our three famous people well Cherry knew all three. In fact the guy whose name we can't think of she knew the best because he got a kiss from Cherry.

And one final really cool thing as they opened the doors (there are exit doors in the back of the orchestra section that go directly to the street), it started to snow.

2013 Saks Fifth Avenue Holiday Windows

Probably the best windows in New York are at Saks. Here's a description of them:

For the first time ever, the six animated Fifth Avenue windows will feature the story of the legendary Yeti, who is rumored to live on the Saks Fifth Avenue roof, making snow during the holiday season. Each window depicts a scene from The Yeti Story—from the Yeti’s life as an under-appreciated snowmaker in Siberia to his starring role as a true snowflake artist in New York.

And here are the windows

Here's the light show on the building.