If we do Friday at 7 pm then we can fit in the 11 pm show, but we shouldn’t do that because the 11 pm show is offered on Saturday at 3 pm, and then we can do the 8 pm other show, but we have to check to see if it’s close to the theater and tickets aren’t crazy expensive. These logistical nightmares were our daily reality for the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday trip that Grant, Emily, and I took to New York City to see shows on Broadway. With none of us have been to NYC in a few years, it being a Holiday weekend (Veterans Day) and the baby still cooking— why not?
Grant and I have a bad/good habit of trying to fit as much as we can in a timeframe that a normal traveler would take weeks to complete. We love it. Not sure if Emily loved the go, go, go, go…wait let me catch my breath…okay…go, go, go travel that we put ourselves through, but she definitely kept up. This go, go, go trip was a bit more complicated because we relied so heavily on last-minute sales because show prices have gone through the roof. But, scoring a $400 seat for $40 definitely makes the added stress worth it from a pocketbook standpoint.
On Friday, we flew Delta, arrived at JFK, and took the subway into the city. To me, sitting on a subway is better than a bus and better than a taxi/Uber ride in traffic. Fortunately, it was cheaper and also faster than the alternatives. The subway let us out right in front of our hotel— the Sheraton Times Square. A serviceable hotel, with a weird elevator system, and hard beds. I am not sure how comfortable the beds were as I volunteered to sleep on the floor. Grant knows I love teasing him relentlessly about that one time on my birthday he made me sleep on the floor in a foreign country—-(teasing…it was fine…and the lifetime of ammunition made it worth it) so he went out and purchased an inflatable mattress, pillow top and blankets so my floor experience. With the comments on the bed, I may have made out ahead on that bed deal!
Our first show, Sweeney Todd, wasn’t until 7 pm so we first went to dinner at a place Emily recommended called Wagamama. An Asian-inspired restaurant from England that specializes in Ramen. Any place that serves pork belly on crispy rice will win my vote. Emily and I both liked ours, but Grant ordered some rice dish that was a dud. I would eat there again!
Time Square was just a couple of blocks down from our hotel so walked into the insanity before veering off one of the streets to see our first show— Sweeney Todd. This was the one play that Emily had to see, it was expensive, so we pre-purchased the tickets for this one show. This Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford led version was…it was…Emily likes it. I had less of a favorable opinion, and Grant had such a visceral response to it that he left at intermission. Emily and I stayed and finished the play. We just so happened to be seeing shows during BroadwayCares, which supports actors with AIDS, so the cast stayed after their final bows and auctioned off a prop knife for the audience.
The next morning was a slow burn. Having gotten up at 4 am to catch our flight— we all went to bed as soon as the lights went out and slowly crawled out of bed. Grant and I woke up earlier than the school teacher (I thank Ludo for training me to wake up at 6:30 am every morning when the sun comes out) and set out for bagels. I searched for a good NY bagel and came across a place called Broad Nosh Bagels. The reviews had amazing comments, and with a line out the door, it seemed like everyone had read what I had. Eventually, we got the bagels, brought them back to the hotel, and scarfed them down. They were delicious!
The only problem with the bagels was that they took so long that it made it difficult to be hungry for lunch. Our last bites of bagel hit our stomachs at 11:15 and we rushed out to eat at Becco. If you are ever starving and want large portions, this Italian restaurant has you covered. It was like a homemade Olive Garden. You ordered and depending upon what you wanted— the servers would come around with a platter of salad, a platter of the 3 pastas of the day, and these huge portions of whatever you ordered. It was the right place at the wrong time. Now that doesn’t mean we don’t eat. Also, the prices were not insane comparatively so if you’re looking for a nice heavy meal this would be the place!
While at lunch, Grant surprised me by letting me know he had his next two shows booked for the day. He would be doing this random play called Chasing Happy and Naked Boys Singing. Even on a busy Veteran’s Day weekend he was able to secure front-row seats to both performances.
Emily and I had a different plan. We wanted to see Merrily We Roll Along. This was a hot hot hot ticket with a killer cast including Jonathan Gross (King George from Hamilton/Glee, etc.) and Harry Potter himself Daniel Radcliffe. We had been monitoring the seats all night and they were hovering around $400 apiece. At lunch, they went to $250 a piece and we pulled the trigger. However, unlike the other tickets where they came in without any issue— these did not. So we waited, waited, waited…and then got an email that they were canceled. I rushed to find new seats 1 hour before the performance and lo and behold there was another set a smidge lower for 2. I snagged those without giving a thought to why the last set was canceled. Then we waited, waited, waited… nothing. It was now 30 minutes before the show and I began calling StubHub who said it was a credit card issue. There were a lot of ticket purchases so I am not completely mad about this happening, but also not thrilled about the timing. I called the credit card company and they said it was fine. So then I called StubHub who tried to sort it out for 15 minutes and that ended up going nowhere. With 15 minutes before the show decided we chose to just purchase new seats and dispute the charge if it went through. Emily swooped in, queued up the remaining Orchestra seats, and secured them without issue. Turns out, the seats she secured were the original seats we wanted for $250 each and we shaved off another $75 each. Stressful, but well worth it! The play was my favorite of all of the shows we saw. It started backwards with the conclusion happening first, and worked itself to the very beginning. Great show!
After the matinee, we hopped on the subway and made our way to Hudson Yard. There were a few food options, but we found Little Spain Mercado and restaurants by Jose Andres. It was an entire floor of a mall dedicated to Spanish tapas, pastries, and booze— it was a sight to see. The only problem was that after we got our barring straight and got a game plan— the fire alarm went off. Only in NYC, no one batted an eye. They kept going on eating just ignoring the blinding flashes and sounds. We attempted to grab something to eat, but they refused to serve us on account of the fire. With no food being served, we did leave. It was noticeably smoky, but still saw most people ignore it.
We ended up heading to our 7 pm show, Here We Are, and had some snacks before the play. Grant got there with a few minutes to spare and joined us for this World Premiere event of the final Stephen Sondheim musical. The show was wacky, weird, hysterical… I mean everything you would want. It had a great cast headlined by Dennis O’hare from American Horror Story, David Hyde Pierce from Frasier, and Bobby Cannavale most recently from the Netflix show The Watcher. The play was so out there that you had to take a ride with the cast and I am glad we went on that painful joy ride with them. Brunch will never be the same!
The final show of the evening was one that Grant chose and somehow convinced everyone to go see at 11 pm. It was entitled Saw The Musical. And if you’re thinking… the horror movie? You are correct. We walked in and instantly knew it was going to be bad. Going from one of the nicest, modern theaters in the world to this place— made the AMT theater seem like a dump. Of course, we have the front and 2nd row. Who else would go see this junk beside us? The play starts and it’s bad. There are a few chuckles, but just as many groans with the bad jokes. About halfway through the audio malfunctions and the actor on stage breaks character and begins to awkwardly talk to the audience. I wish we would have left then, but we stayed. Eventually, it concluded and we went back to the hotel.
The next morning seemed like Groundhog Day with us repeating the bagels in the morning. They were that good. The last show we wanted to see was Kimberly Akimbo winner of the best new musical for 2023. We snagged one front-row seat online for $70. We still needed two so we went to the actual theater and got rush tickets for $40. Lunch was a cluster as we went to Battery Park to grab some lunch. I found my raclette station (stinky melted cheese) and proceeded to wait in line, and wait, and wait. Grant and Emily went to a faux-Jewish Deli and I continued to wait. Eventually, I got my sandwich and I met up with them on their way to the theater.
Grant and Emily enjoyed the show, but it didn’t resonate with me. A teenager with an aging disorder just wasn’t my jam like those two. While we tried to fit in another show— the times just wouldn’t allow it. We grabbed our baggage, made our way to the airport, where we boarded our flight, and arrived home an hour early!
Final Tally of shows:
Winner: Grant with 6
2nd place tie: Emily and Luke with 5