The Events of Wednesday, November 17, 2010

          A bright, happy Mom tore us from our restful sleep at 7:03 to begin a perfectly orchestrated day. Time to get moving! After a whirl of breakfast, packing food, reviewing plans, and walking to the bus stop, we were on the 8:19 bus from Wyckoff to Port Authority in New York City. We hustled out of there, walked down 42nd Street, and arrived at our first destination of the day: Times Square. It is quite a contrast from any other street. There are signs, billboards, flashing lights, and huge video screens all over the buildings, all the way up to the top floors. In my opinion, this is a fantastic place for a person with a really short attention span. They could let their attention go from screen to screen to billboard to sign to screen—and never get bored!

          Around 9:40, Dad got in line for the TKTS booth, which sells tickets to certain Broadway shows at an enormous discount. He stood there while we explored the Disney store and was still there at 10:00, when the ticket window opened. The line moved surprisingly fast, and there were still some tickets available for the Broadway musical Mary Poppins when Dad reached the front. He purchased six orchestra seats in the sixth row for half of what we would have paid in the box office. Although Dad still had to take a few deep breaths after seeing the total price, but he survived. We made our way, via the M&M store, to 56th Street and the vicinity of Carnegie Hall.

          We had, through a magazine, received a recommendation for a deli near Carnegie Hall. Although it wasn’t lunchtime, it was on our path, so we stopped in to peek at the menu. That little peek changed our plans. We had to think about which purchases would both give us a good taste and not empty our wallets. On average just a sandwich cost over twenty dollars! As we pondered this, we headed toward Carnegie Hall for the museum and a tour of the concert hall. When we arrived, it seemed that our perfectly timed schedule had gone awry: they weren’t open yet! So we sat down in a ticket line to ponder the question of what to eat for lunch. Seriously, I don’t think anyone has ever thought that long or hard about what to order at a deli!

          Once the museum opened, we hustled in, determined to take it all in before it was time for our tour. There was only one exhibit room, but the facts and fun stories were entertaining. At 11:25, we headed down to the start of the tour. Since Mom and Dad had already taken the tour (when Dad sang at Carnegie Hall) and it was a little pricey, only we kids went on the tour. The tour took us to the dress circle, the parquet (orchestra level), and the first tier. The tour was filled with amusing stories and little details about the hall that you otherwise wouldn’t notice. We also learned a lot about Andrew Carnegie and the story behind the hall.

          Once our tour was complete, we hustled out to meet Dad at Carnegie Deli, where he had picked up our meal. We walked down to Times Square for a nice lunch. I never thought that having lunch in the middle of an intersection would be so fun. We enjoyed our two sandwiches: the Woody Allen and the Reuben. The Woody Allen was, in the menu, advertised as “lotsa Corned Beef plus lotsa Pastrami”. It was lotsa meat. There was no way one of us could have eaten the entire thing. In fact, if Dad had just gotten the Woody Allen and divided it by six, we would have all been well fed, instead of stuffed. Inside two pieces of bread was around a pound and a half of greasy deliciousness. We passed it around and around and around, each taking a bite—it seemed like a bottomless sandwich! The open-faced Reuben was made in a pie pan with two slices of bread, huge piles of meat, a layer of sauerkraut, and a topping of melted Swiss cheese. Again, we spread it around so each of us got a taste of the fabulous sandwich (if you can call it a sandwich). When we thought we couldn’t eat another bite, Dad unveiled the famous New York style cheesecake, topped with cherries. That was the best cheesecake I think I have ever tasted.

          Our stomachs full, we walked down to the New Amsterdam Theatre for the 2:00 matinee of Mary Poppins. The New Amsterdam Theatre itself is spectacular. It is covered in flowers, ornate decorations, and painted plants everywhere. It makes you feel like you are in a fantasy woodland. Promptly at 2:00, the show began. Right from the beginning, we saw differences between the musical and the Disney movie. Certain songs from the movie, like Sister Suffragette, were omitted, and other songs not in the movie, like Cherry Tree Lane, Practically Perfect, and Brimstone and Treacle, were included in the musical. It was a very unique experience, and we were in the 6th row‼

          Something very interesting happened at the intermission. As the curtain fell, several vendors made their way to the front to sell all sorts of souvenirs. There were T-shirts, CDs, carpetbags, and umbrellas with parrot heads on the end. It was crazy commercialism, but it brought business. As the lights dimmed and the curtain opened for the second act, the show gained momentum and energy to a fantastic ending with Mary Poppins flying over the stage and over the audience to the rafters. Amazingly, she ran back down in time for her curtain call!

          After the show, we headed to the Port Authority Bus Terminal for the ride home. After a quick dinner of leftover pizza and spaghetti, we showered and headed to bed for an exciting day tomorrow.