We got into the city around one (only 12 hours ago, jeez it feels longer) and walked to the Neil Simon Theatre. We were lucky that they hadn't sold all of the lottery tickets, so we were able to get front row tickets for $25 each. I called my friend Arbender who is in Hairspray and he came out and talked for awhile, but it was so cold today in the city that I felt bad and sent him back inside.
We grabbed McDonald's for lunch, then headed back to the theatre for a 2:00 matinee. Front row. I've seen this show 7 times, and everytime I see it I notice something new, something different a cast member is doing, a different note taken in a song, etc. and it just makes me smile. Diana DeGarmo (American Idol) and Ashley Parker Angel (formerly of O-Town) are both in the show,
so it was nice to see familiar faces; Diana steals my heart everytime though. After the show, Arbender took us backstage and gave us a tour of the theatre. I've done it before, so it was nice to see how excited my friend was to be given an inside look at the workings of a major Broadway theatre, from wigs to props to sets to costumes. I took this cell phone picture from the stage, looking out onto the empty audience. Arbender then dropped a bomb and told me that he was cast in The Little Mermaid, set to make its debut this Fall. He'd be leaving Hairspray to be the Prince Eric cover in a huge show. I am so proud of him. (Congratulations again Arbender!)The theatre where Hairspray is playing is the Neil Simon Theatre, located one block from the Gershwin Theatre, which currently houses the musical Wicked. Julia Murney is currently p
laying the part of Elphaba, a part for which I've declared my love in prior blog posts. I first saw Julia a few years ago in a huge benefit production of Children of Eden for World AIDS Day at the Riverside Cathedral in Harlem. She was glorious. I've loved her ever since. I own her CD, a plethora (thanks for the word Gabriel) of different performances she's given while on tour with Wicked, and other random Julia stuff. Until today, I still hadn't met the woman. My friend and I decided we'd check out the stage door at Wicked to see if we could say hello to her. As we get there, Kendra Kassebaum (Glinda) came out and was more than happy to take a picture with me. She was so sweet, and awfully cute in her coat and scarf. I looked like a goof.
Shortly after that, Julia came out. I told her how much I enjoyed her (not in a creepy way, lol) and that I was really grateful that she was here in New York. She said that she'd love to do a concert if Wicked didn't keep her so busy. I asked for a picture and she was so kind to take one with me on my camera phone. It was freezing, as you can tell by what we're wearing. I was so nervous and excited and a whole bunch of things I can't explain. Hence the smile. The goofy smile. What a thrill it was to meet her. Nice to feel so young inside again. Toys 'R Us and Julia Murney do that to me, I guess.After that, it was around 5:00, so we went over to the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. I had heard really great things about this show and plus, Barrett Foa (one of my big Broadway crushes) is in the current cast, so I had my sights set on seeing this show. Again, by some stroke of luck, they had 2 student tickets available for $25 each for the evening performance. Are you kidding? There's no way we could pass that up.
Having a few hours to kill, I pic
ked up a cute pair of underwear at H&M, then we 
did a little sight-seeing around the area, then went to the big Toys 'R Us in Times Square. It's a place I love to go when I'm feeling too much like an adult; it helps you reconnect with all the things you loved to do when you were younger. Except that huge dinosaur they have there, that thing is way too scary for me. Stay AWAY from that. I snapped some pictures with some Candy Land characters, pictures provided for your enjoyment. Then we decided to grab dinner at Mars 2112, a tourist-themed restaurant on 50th and Broadway. My friend Samantha is the person who introduced me to this restaurant one year for my birthday, before taking me to see Rent for my first time, and I've gotten more mileage out of that restaurant than I can explain. (Love and miss you on days like this Samantha, mwah)
With dinner over, we made our way back to Spelling Bee, and pumped ourselves up for a fun show. See why I was excited? Look at that boy. Ugh, it's not right how cute he is, I'm telling you. Well he was sooooo funny in the show, I definitely want to go back and see it again, with or without Barrett in the cast (but preferably wit
h, should I have to choose) because it's just a laugh-a-minute show that is really smart in the way that it presents itself. The whole theatre is set to look like you're in a high school gymnasium, with banners hanging everywhere, ads for local stores, and hand-made posters for Student Council elections. It's all very impressive in its presentation. I'm not sure how much of it you can see in my cell phone picture, but I thought I'd include it to share with you. The music is fun and smart and silly. And Barrett is in it, so.... :-)What a great day, just to be able to completely let go of any responsibility, concerns about the future, regrets, hesitations, any of that everyday stuff and just have a day to giggle and smile and feel like a little kid again. I didn't have to worry about dragging my goalie bag all around the city and transferring subways and making it to certain rinks on time or posting a shutout. None of that mattered today. Today was just me and my friend doing whatever we wanted on our own terms, and having the time of our lives. I don't know what it is about New York that just makes you feel so grown-up and so young all at the same time, but I love it. I'll need to do that again sometime soon. This is the kind of happiness you stock up on for a rainy day.
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