So, Marty and I headed out yesterday, bright and early, driving into the city with the hopes of a little exploring prior to the 3:00 pm performance. We were making great time, exiting the Lincoln Tunnel way before noon, headed on our way to the hotel parking lot. We did notice that traffic was extremely heavy, but didn't give that much thought.....until......we went to make a turn as directed, and there was a blue barricade blocking us from entering the street.
We traveled a few more blocks, only to find ourselves in repeat. A quick google search, and I learned that yesterday the city hosted a half marathon, which began in Brooklyn and finished in Central Park. As our Gps kept directing us to "turn right", I located a map for the race online, and quickly determined that the only way to achieve our goal was to drive west, travel down to the middle of Central Park, scoot through the transverse (that part was a breeze), then head back on 5th Avenue, turning on 51st street. This way, we would be able to enter from the opposite direction, as 7th Avenue was closed.
It was a clever plan...don't you think? And we were finally making our turn onto 51st street with just a block and a half to go. And, what do we see? A blue barricade with a policeman standing behind it. Our hearts sank.
As we sat at the light, I decided to pop out of the car, cross the street, and throw myself at the mercy of the policeman manning the barricade. (Ok, so maybe it wasn't quite that dramatic)....But I did very sweetly ask him if he could help me....and he was actually quite happy to do so.
In the meantime, Marty took advantage of a break in traffic, and worked his way to the spot where the man moved the barrier so that he could squeeze the car by (without hitting any pedestrians....that was key) , and we could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The result was that we reached our destination an hour and a half after entering Manhatten. Obviously, the garage wasn't busy (since no one could get on the street to enter the building), so we had no issues handing over the keys, grabbing our luggage, and making our way to the hotel lobby. We couldn't check in yet, so we handed over our bags and headed out to find the theater.
It wasn't far from our hotel and there was no one in site when we managed to capture a photo in front of the sign outside.
We popped inside a nearby restaurant for a quick bite to eat. (the beer belongs to the photographer).
The ambiance was quite lovely, and this large mural on the wall was really quite clever, filled with so many familiar faces from films over the years.
Having recouped from our driving adventure, we headed outside, only to find ourselves in a throng of people who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere....all lining up to see Sweeney Todd. (Good thing we took that photo earlier!) We headed in the opposite direction of the theater, because that was where the end of the line could be found. But the staff at the theater were extremely efficient at getting the people in and seated in relatively short time, all while treating us as valued guests. How great is that?
This was a "preview" performance of the musical, and I will admit that at the beginning, I had a bit of difficulty understand the words as the ensemble began singing the lyrics of "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd". But as the show progressed, that problem seemed to vanish, and I was able to absorb the content without issue.
Let's face it....the plot is rather macabre, but the musical performance manages to capture the audience's sense of humor with some extremely entertaining puns thrown in for fun during some of the musical scores. Annaleigh Ashford plays the role of Mrs. Lovett to perfection, complete with a convincing cockney accent. She had the audience in stitches numerous times through the performance.
And as I mentioned, Josh Groban played the role of Sweeney Todd, and there's no doubting his entertainment value. My eardrums nearly burst at the roar of approval from the audience as they applauded, hooting and hollering, at the end of the performance. He had missed the prior three shows, due to illness, and I think the audience was eager to show their appreciation at his return. I know that we were certainly happy to hear him!
The show lasted nearly three hours, and, afterwards, we did a quick check in at our hotel, then headed out to an Italian Restaurant, Azaleas, which was just a block away.
We enjoyed a lovely dinner to end our day.
About the play......let me just end on this note:
Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd
He served a dark and vengeful god
What happened then, well, that's the play
And he wouldn't want us to give it away....
Guess you'll just have to find out what happens yourself!
Glad you finally were able to park and enjoy the performance. I’ve seen it on PBS, not with Josh Groban, of course. I’m sure he was great in person.
ReplyDeleteHugs n love, Aunt Susie
An adventure! A good story to tell at gatherings in days to come. Bruce
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