Tuesday, January 29, 2008

New York Part III

Broadway!! That's right folks we're went to Broadway and saw the Lion King. I mentioned in my first post that we had gotten really great seats and I can't impress how awesome they truly were for our budget. Sure we were on the top level but not in the very back. We were exactly in the middle with no heads bothering us. It was amazing and the show rocked. So where to begin...

It grabs you from the very beginning and never lets you go. You're hooked from the first African musical note. It's based on the movie, and they do a great job of keeping all the scences in there while still adding a few to enhance it. The costumes were great. Having people dress up as lions, and hyennas, and cats is often difficult to do and can look foolish. Not these folks. They pulled it off and made you wanting more. The two children deserve props too. They acted and sang wonderfully and really made you feel for the characters. The music too grabbed and never was cheezy or over the top. But what really made this show was the roots displayed. The movie is based in the African savannah and the musical keeps it. Jimbays and other african drums were a core piece of the orchestra. Tribal dancing was performed in beautiful increments and splendor and you really felt the African roots, the heartache, the life, the joys emitinating. I know my friends who have been to Africa would love it. It truly was remarkable.

After the LK (Lion King) we saw Times Square at night. We had seen it before during the day and I got a few, well timed shots of the advertisment for my favorite tv show in the world... LOST. However, I soon came to realize that the best way to view Times Square is at night. It's all lit up in a way I've never seen before. You're surrounded on all sides by neon blinking lights. These lights light up signs for all the broadway shows along with buildings, advertisments, and anything else you can imagine. I also finally understood that Times Square is divided into two sides, the streets split it. I never got that from tv. In order to fully grasp the design of the square you have to do a complete circle, which I did. There were lights everywhere and noises and people and really showed me that this city does not ever truly sleep. Street vendors wer out, tours were taking place and life was seen. It was a great time, until we saw the temperature and realized it was a freezing good time.

So we decided to head back to the hotel, a little earlier than planned up still definitely necessary due to the coldness. However, on the way back we saw Radio City Music Hall. This is home of the famous rockettes, and although we couldn't go inside I was still able to see the building where it all goes down. Lion King, Times Square and the Rockettes, what a nice way to end a Sunday.

Wait... there's more. Monday rolled around and we were leaving that night to head back to DC so we decided to visit one more place... Chinatown. For some reason I was under the delusional idea that somewhere in Chinatown there was this golden archway and a famous dragon hotel, or something. Sadly, we never found it, if it even exists. We did see some of Chinatown which is just an area filled with asian shops, restaurants and culture. It is definitely in more of the residential heart of NY and was nice to see that side to the big apple. Granted it still holds lots of tourists but the effect is still not quite the same. It's more welcoming, friendly and enchanting. Vendors there come at you from all sides asking you if you want handbags, or jewelry or shoes. (No, we didn't buy anything, but it made me smile all the same). So eventhough there's no golden archway that I found, nor fish market, which we asked direcitons for, it's still a great place to visit.

So after three days of trecking all over lower Manhattan we sat in a coffeeshop for a few hours trying to get warm and awaiting our bus ride home. It was a great trip and one I'll gladly do again.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I for one am so glad that you get to see so many things in this world. These will be times that you will not forget. Writing about them are so important. I am printing everying posting off and when you are older you will have them in a file to look back on to see where you were compare to were you are then. An amazing life for the little gal from the mid west who is doing it on her own!