Broadway - New York City - October 2009

This is my third annual pilgrimage to Broadway. There are few things I enjoy more than watching a broadway musical. My first show was My Fair Lady at age 10. I remember sitting in the balcony, watching the actors perform and listening to those famous songs - I Could Have Danced All Night.

Times Square, the heart of Broadway, is where it all happens. This intersection is alive 24 hours a day, or so I've heard. I'm rarely up after 11pm.

TKTS is the best place to purchase last minute tickets to the shows. You wait on line, up to an hour, for the day's unsold tickets. You never know what shows are going to be offered. The tickets used to be half price, but in this day of electronics, the discounts vary from 20% - 50%. I was lucky - on the Thursday I arrived I was able to get tickets to the revival of Hair - which I originally saw in 1969 in Chicago.

Billed as an American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, this show brought us many famous songs, including Aquarius, Good Morning Starshine and Let the Sun Shine In, and those lesser know songs - Sodomy, Hashish, Going Down and Easy to Be Hard. I sat in the last row of the orchestra, on the aisle, which turned out to be a fantastic seat. During the show, the actors were in the aisles many times, and the lead actor, Will Swenson - gave me a big hug during one of his entrances. I remembered very little from the first time I saw the show, but that's no surprise, I can hardly remember what I did yesterday.

What else do you do in NYC besides Broadway - EAT of course. Here I am outside the 2nd Avenue Deli, which is on 33rd Street. I guess they moved 2nd Avenue. I spent Friday with my niece, Rachel, pictured below. I can't believe I didn't take one picture of her in NYC, this picture is from my 50th, no I mean my 60th birthday party. Before lunch we went to buy a new camera - see my Cancun and Berlin posts to read more about my camera adventures.

After lunch we headed to Times Square to take pictures of me by the musicals I was going to try to see. Above is a picture of the reflection of the Empire State Building.

Friday evening Rachel and I went to see the revival of West Side Story. I've seen the show twice before. I was warned that parts of the show were in Spanish. I thought it enhanced the show, and only one song was completely in Spainish - Me Siento Hermosa (I Feel Pretty). The Jets - the American gang - sported current hairstyles and honestly, looked like a bunch of gay guys dancing in the street. The Sharks - the Puerto Ricans - were a little more rugged. My favorite songs include Tonight (Quintet), America, Gee Officer Krupke, and Somewhere.

Saturday I got matinee tickets to Mamma Mia. Who doesn't love ABBA? Fourth time for this show - including once in Spanish in Barcelona. One of the reasons I love Broadway shows is that they find the hottest, well built men. Usually the best are in the musical Chicago, but this trip Mamma Mia won hands down. Almost every guy showed a six-pack and... Now where was I - oh yes, you probably know almost every musical number, including Dancing Queen, Mamma Mia, Thank You For the Music, The Winner Takes It All, and Voulez-Vous.

Saturday evening I had dinner with my sister, Evelyn, my cousin Dianne (pictured above), my niece Staci and her boyfriend, Michael (pictured below) and my brother-in-law Steve (not pictured). We ate at Mangiao Bevi, and enjoyed the food and entertainment. We then took a ride to 12th Street, to find Rachel, who had been out drinking since 1pm. She was very funny and directed me to the nearest gay bar. I tried to take her cute friend with me, but he wasn't game.

My final show for the weekend was Chicago. I think I've seen it five times, but who's counting. It has a long way to catch up to my number one show - A Chorus Line - which I've seen at least twelve times. My favorite songs - All That Jazz, The Cell Block Tango, We Both Reached for the Gun, and Class. If its there next year, I'm sure I'll see it again.

This picture, of Times Square was taken with my new camera, using the panorama mode. You take two or more pictures and the software combines them into one long picture.

What's NYC without a subway ride? Growing up I remember taking the subway for a nickle - Am I that old? Hope you enjoyed my adventure and look forward to your comments.