36 hours in New York
I love Broadway musicals, and I try to visit New York at least once a year to see a few new ones. (OK, maybe I end up going more than once a year but we’re not going to admit that it’s an addiction lol). With the Tony awards coming up on June 9th, I realized I hadn’t seen any of the shows nominated for Best Musical, which immediately turned into a frantic search trying to figure out how I could make it to New York to see them before the ceremony. With things being very busy at work, D and I decided we could only go for the weekend. My best friend Liz decided she wanted to tag along but had to work on Friday, and thus our 36-hour show marathon was born.
We found Basic Economy (BE) flights on United direct from West Palm Beach to Newark for $180. Typically, BE is a pain in the ass because you can’t bring a carry on, a checked bag, or choose your seat. But because we have the United Explorer credit card and used it to pay for the ticket, we were still allowed to bring a checked bag and a carry on with the BE ticket. It also allowed us to board early in Group 2. The only thing we couldn’t do was choose our seats. We could have paid extra to do so (usually about $9 each way) but we figured it didn’t matter for such a short flight. The card also allows one other person traveling with you to bring a carryon and checked bag, so I charged Liz’s ticket to my card and she was set as well. If you want more information on how to make airline credit cards work for you click here.
Newark is my first-choice airport when visiting NYC because there is a train directly from the airport that gets you to Penn Station in about 25 minutes. It costs $25 round trip, and there are certainly cheaper ways to go such as a bus, but when I have limited time in the city, I like the consistency of the trains. This way I can see a matinee on Sunday and not worry about being late on my way back to the airport to catch a flight home that evening. We checked in on-line as soon as we could (24 hours before our flight left), and all 3 of us were seated together in the same row. I have found that if we check in quickly, United tends to sit everyone in our party together. That being said, if you really need to sit next to someone, especially a minor, pay the extra fee because you never know.
We tend to play hotel roulette in NYC and stay at whichever place has a deal going. For this trip we ended up at Row, near 45th and 8th. This is a great location for a theater trip as most of the major theaters can be found between 6th and 8th Avenues from 42nd to 53rd Streets. The room itself was pretty basic, nothing special but it did the trick. There was a food hall located in the hotel, which was nice since the hotel wanted $9 for coffee in the morning – what?! It was $3.50 at the food hall so definitely don’t buy it at Row.
We got into Newark at about 9:43 a.m. and made it into the city by 10:30 a.m. At the last minute my friend Tracey decided to fly out with her mom and daughter the same day we did, so we all came in together. We went to Tracey’s hotel first to have the concierge store her bags until her room was ready, so she didn’t have to lug them around all day – then went to Row to do the same thing with ours. We were pleasantly surprised though because Row was able to give us a room right away when we arrived at about 11:30 a.m.
We had 12:00 p.m. reservations at a new restaurant called Gayle’s Broadway Rose which is right across the street from Row. Similar to the NYC landmark Ellen’s, Gayle’s features actors waiting for their big break moonlighting as waiters and singing to you throughout your meal. The restaurant is actually part of Roxy’s and uses their menus. The food was nothing special, but their ice cream menu was to die for. They had several kinds of shakes and sundaes for $15, and for $5 you could make it “boozy”. I had a Cookie Dough shake, with vanilla ice cream, bits of cookie dough, chocolate sauce, Oreos, chocolate chip cookies and whipped cream. Tracey’s daughter Grace had a birthday cake shake, complete with a piece of rainbow birthday cake on top! I have to admit I expected more from the singing and if that your reason to visit the restaurant – I’d stick with Ellen’s. Gayle’s is open from 12-3, and again from 5-8. We arrived at 12:00, and they did not start the first song until 12:35 p.m. They didn’t sing another until 12:55, where they sang three in a row, and then only 2 more before we left at 1:30 p.m. Perhaps it’s because Gayle’s is new and they’re working out the kinks, but Ellen’s had a much better “show”.
Our first show of the day was Ain’t Too Proud, which is a musical about the singing group The Temptations. Done in the same vein as Beautiful or Jersey Boys, the show told the story of the Temptations rise to success from the point of view of the original Temptation, Otis Williams. The choreography was great, and it kept you entertained. The Temptations had so many hits that were played throughout the show which made everyone want to sing along. We had a group of older African-American women who sat behind us and thoroughly enjoyed themselves yelling, “yaaasss young blood”, every time a new dance move was performed and talking to the actors as if they were part of the show. To be honest they might have been more entertaining than the actors lol!. If you loved the Temptations music, then you will like this show.
Between shows we over to Milk Bar Chelsea. Liz is a major foodie and had been dying to try their desserts. Milk Bar is an award-winning bakery from chef Christina Tosi known for innovative desserts like Cereal Milk soft serve, Compost Cookies, cake truffles, and naked layer cakes. I’m pretty sure Liz got one of everything!
Our second show of the day was The Prom. I knew the show was about a lesbian who was not allowed to take her girlfriend to the prom, but I didn’t know that was just a backstory for the real plot. The Prom was about four, aging, narcissistic Broadway stars who were finding themselves without work and no longer at the top. In order to try and make themselves more relevant, they decided to champion a cause that would get them noticed, Emma and her prom. The four start out thinking about themselves, and eventually end up changing themselves and helping Emma instead. I thoroughly enjoyed the show, it had me laughing from beginning to end with the Barry Glickman character bringing in a ton of comic relief. Beth Leavel played aging star DeeDee Allen, and I haven’t seen a mid-show standing ovation like the one after her 11th hour song The Lady’s Improving in a very long time.
The next morning, we got up and checked out, once again asking the hotel to store our bags. We made our way down to Hudson Yards at 30th and 11th. The draw here was the brand-new Vessel, a structure with a series of 154 flights of stairs and 80 landings that visitors can climb and view the city from different heights. Tickets to climb the Vessel are free, but you have to grab them before they sell out. You can get tickets here, and they are available for the following two weeks. Each morning at 8:00 a.m. EST tickets are opened for a date two weeks ahead. There are also Same-Day tickets available on site at 9:30 a.m. for slots throughout the day. Hours for the Vessel are M-S 10 am. To 9 pm.
The view from the top was pretty spectacular, but I’m not gonna lie, once I got up there huffing and puffing and out of breath, we used D’s ankle as an excuse to take the elevator back down. It’s a cool attraction, nothing worth going completely out of your way for but if you’re in the area – I’d definitely go.
Next we wandered over to Mercado Little Spain for Liz to try some of the dishes at their kiosks. The Mercado has a number of food kiosks serving all kinds of Spanish delicacies sweet and savory, as well as Spanish restaurants. Something about seeing squid in a vending machine did me in, so I held out for Chelsea Market, but Liz of course tried some of their desserts. At Chelsea Market we wandered a while looking at all the stalls and ended up with two of my old favorites and one new dish. I of course had to have Tacos from Los Tacos 1, and D and Liz had to get a dozen donuts from the Doughnuttery. The Doughnuttery serves hot, fresh, mini-donuts made right before your eyes then dipped in the powdered sugar and toppings of your choice. Examples are the Urban Monkey (Coffee, Banana and Coconut), The Purple Pig (Maple, Purple Potatoes and Bacon), Flower Power (Hibiscus, Honey and Rose Petals), or Paris Time (Lavender, Pistachio and Vanilla). I did try something new at Miznon which specializes in Mediterranean street food. I had a run over potato, which is a smashed and flattened baked potato with sour cream which is then perfumed with garlic and green onions. It is dine-in only, but it was pretty good!
Eventually we meandered back to Broadway to see our third and final show – Hadestown. Hadestown is centered around Orpheus (Reeve Carney), who journeys to the underworld to save his lover Eurydice (Eva Noblezada). Orpheus must petition Hades (Patrick Page) and Persephone (Amber Gray), the gods of the underworld, to allow him to bring her back to earth. Hadestown was a bit dark and different than anything I’ve ever seen before. Eva Noblezada’s voice was amazing and my mind immediately started listing a number of parts I’d like to see her play. The set and costumes made you believe you might really be in the bowels of hell. The voices of Gray and Page were so deep and raspy, that it made you feel the part just based on the tone alone. I thoroughly enjoyed all three shows and think The Prom was my favorite, I’d probably go back and see it again – but Hadestown is my pick for the Tony. There just hasn’t been anything quite like it on Broadway and based on originality Hadestown wins the Tony in my book.
An Afternoon in Old San Juan
