My views do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.
January 2023
On Sunday morning Amanda and I woke up before the alarm we had set, packed our bags, checked out of the hotel and set out to take another bite out of the big apple. Instead of taking the PATH train, we decided to take the ferry across the water. On the way, we went around a corner to check out the view.
My mom and Ron Voyage like light houses.
Amanda noticed this statue further up the river.
At first I couldn’t make out what it was, but then it looked like a lady shushing New York City. Amanda looked it up to see what it’s about. It’s called ‘Water’s Soul’ and the artist, Jaume Plensa, says it symbolizes quietude and empathetic self-reflection and “one drop of water is quite alone, like a single person, but many drops together can create a tidal wave, and form immense rivers and oceans; When individuals come together to exchange ideas and create community, we can build something incredibly powerful.”
When I went to visit my friend Andi on the Caribbean Princess while we were both in New York, I had taken a ferry from Manhattan to Brooklyn. This was a view from the other side.
It wasn’t very busy on a Sunday morning in January.
We snuggled right into lower Manhattan right by the Irish Hunger Memorial (which wasn’t looking great this time of year). Amanda said we could go check out the Oculus – that word had no meaning to me. Let’s go! We walked by the 9/11 Memorial.
Which is still really spooky. It definitely conveys the feeling that it intends.
This is the Oculus!
What a cool building! It’s kind of a mall above the subway and it’s part of the World Trade Center.
We took the train up to Union Square, where we stopped for some bougie bagels.
There was a long line, and these were not cheap bagels. But they were SOOO GOOOD!
After a stop at CVS to get some bandaids for my feet (I was was finally feeling the consequences of wearing shoes that I hadn’t worn in about 5 years), I insisted that we walk the rest of the way to the show… With breaks of course.
Our first stop was Eataly, a celebration of Italy, where I had to have a glass of my favorite red sparkling wine, Lambrusco.
Our next stop was Korea Town,
where Amanda introduced me to Sesame Donuts. She tried to describe the indescribable to prepare me.
The tastes and the textures are too incomparable to anything else. You’ll just have to try them next time you’re in NYC- they’re delicious.
And then we arrived.
Okay. So. This show.
I love Into the Woods. I first saw it as a kid with my Grandma Alice at the high school I would end up going to. We left at intermission because we thought it was over (after all, the first act ends with ‘happy ever after’). I played Little Red Ridinghood in the summer production right before I went to high school, and then I played Jack’s Mother my senior year at the same high school where I first saw it. It is a show that is so dense that you can notice new things every time you see it.
This rendition started out as a concert (or a staged reading), but it was so popular that it was brought to Broadway for a short run (thus it had minimal sets). It remained popular both for audiences and actors who wanted in on the fun and it kept getting extended. Actors would leave the production to go do another project and come back. Sara Bareilles opened the show as the Bakers Wife, and then was later replaced. Amanda was excited to see Joshua Henry as Rapunzel’s Prince. He had left to play Gaston in Beauty and the Beast, and she wasn’t sure if he’d be back.
Well this was the final final performance.
The energy was palpable. Everyone in that theater knew that these next few hours would be exciting and precious.
As we approached showtime, the excitement grew. We were way up at the top. Suddenly the crowd in the orchestra level started cheering and the applause grew. We couldn’t tell what was happening- was everyone just excited? Later, Amanda saw online that Sara Bareilles had joined the audience.
This performance was everything I had hoped it would be and more. Every time a character entered for the first time, or finished their final song, the audience lingered with applause. I thought, this well, this is going to be a loooong show- and I wanted it to last as long as possible. I loved watching the actors play with the attention- they were living their best lives. It made me think of the things I do over and over and over again. It’s good practice to remember that while our activities are routine for us, they are a special for the guests who are only seeing these things once. Sometimes magic happens and an event turns out better than it ever has, or we play a little bit more because it’s the last one with these people. Everyone in this theater was having so much fun and savoring every moment.
The cast was amazing. I can hear the original cast in my head so loudly that I love when actors make different choices. The Witch was absolutely the best I’d ever seen.
After they applauded the orchestra, the crew were brought out onstage, which I loved.
Being here was the best gift Amanda could have given me.
After the show we were buzzing. We weren’t very hungry, but I wanted to eat something good in New York rather than something mediocre at a rest stop. But what did I want? I had no idea until I saw it. Bri had been telling me about Artichoke Pizza and I meant to take note of it. The whole weekend on the edge of my brain, I remembered Bri telling me about something I wanted to try in New York but I couldn’t remember what it was. And then there it was:
Artichoke dip on pizza. Need I say more?
It was cheesy and delicious (although the artichoke dip itself wasn’t quite as good as my Aunt Wendy’s).
As we drove back to Baltimore Amanda and I critiqued our weekend: We had gotten the absolute most out of New York City. We assessed that we could not have spent our time better. We basked in a variety of shows, flavors, friends and experiences. Saying we were happy would be an understatement.