New York - Day 2

I slept so well last night! I had a giant King Size bed to myself.

Today I decided to head in a different direction to where I was yesterday. I headed out to see the Rockafella Centre. I knew there was a Nintendo Shop there and was keen just to check it out. But as I turned the corner I saw this…

INSERT PICTURE OF RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL

Radio City Music Hall. Quite possibly the most famous performance venue in the world! This was an amazing sight to behold. I arrived just in time to join in a tour. WOW! The photos help tell the story but it was fantastic. So much history. Every second picture was Judy Garland and Vince Minnelli. No Peter Allen pictures on the tour… As I sat in the very back row of the 2nd balcony I still had the most amazing view of the stage. They were in the middle of bumping out The Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. Unfortunately it finished on December 30th so I missed out by a couple of days. I did however get to meet a Rockette as part of the tour

INSERT PICTURE OF ME AND JENNIFER - ROCKETTE

I was the only person who spoke English on this tour so there weren’t too many questions being asked so it was left to me to do all of the talking. The lady who was taking us on the tour was so surprised that this 20 something kid from Australia:
1) actually knew about Radio City Music Hall,
2) had heard of the Rockettes and knew about them
3) knew who Vincent Minnelli was
4) laughed at her joke about Aretha Franklin
5) and was able to have a proper conversation with the Rockette about rehearsals and dancing styles and production elements

Anyway, this place is amazing and next time in New York I would love to see a show in here. There is so much history and grandness to this amazing building. It has just gone through a multi million dollar makeover and has been restored back to it’s former glory. Definitely a highlight of New York!

After some more exploring of the Rockefeller centre and looking at the people ice skating, I headed back into Times Square to start to consider tonight’s show. I had a heap of vouchers to go through and Next To Normal was the winner. Walked up to the box office and got house seats again fro cheaper than what everyone else was paying at the TKTS booth for 2nd row from the back! Score! I also found a great little bookshop called the Drama Bookshop. It had plays and books about theatre and film and was a great resource for anyone semi interested in theatre!

It was an early start – 7pm, so there wasn’t much time to get back, shower and head out to the theatre. I decided tonight was time for the ultimate Pizza Off. I had fallen in LOVE with the Chicago Deep Dish and now it was time to try the New York Style… And the winner is…. CHICAGO!

After the show I caught up with Mark. Mark played Cosmo in Singin’ in The Rain with Savs and we have been great mates since then! He was in New York checking out the theatre scene as well. He was there for a bit longer than me before heading back home to start working on Mary Poppins!

Day 2 in New York was over and what a day it was – I was now ready for Day 3 but which two musicals would I see…