Yesterday I returned home from New York. I figured out that I have now visited the Big Apple six times. Each visit was a different experience; two visits were just with my husband, two with family and the last two visits were solo, but I stayed with my daughter and her husband and visited with my other daughter.
My passion is art so visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a favorite stop; this time I chose to visit the Met Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park. It was full of medieval treasures and some amazing architecture. I also made it to the Guggenheim for the first time. But NYC is known for Broadway and it really is the best place to see a musical. So I thought about the six visits and the musicals I saw (or didn’t see) during those visits. Here’s a quick snapshot:
1993- No Musicals
We had our firstborn toddler with us so our biggest challenge was maneuvering the umbrella stroller through the subway entrances and exits. The subway did provide us with some free musical performances, some better than others.
2008- Wicked & Spamalot
We heard from reliable sources that Wicked was a must-see. Even though Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel had moved on from performing years earlier, it was still magical to watch. I loved the costuming and stage effects as well as the story of two school friends and their diverging futures. Spamalot was a lot of fun and I seem to remember the main draw was Clay Aiken, a recent American Idol alum at the time. But the clopping coconut shells representing horse hooves along with crazy stage antics kept me laughing.
2010- Mary Poppins, Phantom of the Opera & South Pacific
This was the trip where we took the entire family — all eight of us. We let the oldest three see Wicked while we took the youngest three to Mary Poppins. It was an excellent performance. The set changes were phenomenal; the Banks’ house was cleverly transformed into a park scene with the use of sliding backgrounds. I took the older girls to see Phantom; we loved watching the chandelier descend with our bird’s eye view from the balcony. And our entire family saw South Pacific at the Lincoln Center. We figured it was one of the more family friendly musicals in the city — until the beach scene (I’m Gonna Wash that Man Right Outta My Hair) when the guys decide to run off stage with bare bums.
2019- Dear Evan Hansen & Jersey Boys
My husband and I enjoyed a getaway attached to a business trip of his. I already loved the music of Dear Evan Hansen before I saw the show, but I was floored by the show’s emotional pull. It was definitely the most “modern” musical I’d seen with the well-placed use of technology. Jersey Boys was a singalong type of show that my husband particularly enjoyed because he recognized many of the songs. We both loved the band’s choreography of swaying and snapping fingers in sync. Fun fact I learned: “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” almost didn’t get recorded; Frankie Valli’s manager at the time didn’t like the horns. Ironically, it was their biggest hit.
2021- No Musicals
One word: COVID. I still had a great visit and got to hear my son-in-law perform at Mimi’s restaurant. My visit was a month ahead of the reopening of Broadway which was a slow rollout. Masks and vaccination cards were about to be the norm for a while.
2023- Hamilton & Funny Girl
Hamilton holds a special place in my heart. It might be my new favorite musical (Les Mis still holds the record for all-time favorite.) I think the lyrics are pure genius and Miranda’s combination of Broadway & rap just works so well. When Disney aired the original in July of 2020, I finally got to see what all the fuss was about. I credit Hamilton as being one of the things that “got me through the pandemic.” I tried for the Hamilton lottery a couple of weeks ahead of my visit but didn’t win. I showed up at the Richard Rodgers theater at 10:30 am last Wednesday hoping for the best. I purchased a Row H orchestra seat for a fraction of the original cost by waiting until the day of the performance. I sang along with many of the songs and made eye contact with a couple of the actors. Funny Girl was a last minute decision — I got a great deal at TKTS and surprised my older daughter with orchestra seats. We saw Lea Michele’s understudy perform the role of Fanny Brice and she did a fantastic job. My favorite character was Fanny’s mother, Rose.
I’m not sure when the next NYC trip will happen, but I’m grateful for traveling shows. Last fall, I saw Hadestown here at the beautiful Majestic Theater in San Antonio.
Coincidentally Hamilton is coming to the Majestic this summer. I’ve looked at the prices just out of curiosity. They’re not bad — most are resale tickets since the show was canceled last year and rescheduled. I still paid a little less for my Row H orchestra ticket. But since I might be on a road trip during this summer, I didn’t want to take the chance of missing it.
I’m glad I didn’t “throw away my shot.”
