Friday, May 30, 2014

NYC Musicals: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder


About 1-2 weeks before we left for New York the list of Tony nominations were released. Upon reviewing the list of nominees, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder clearly stoodout amongst the crowd with a whopping 10 nominations including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score. Hubs insisted that we try to get tickets for this musical while I tried to convince him that if this musical was as good as it seemed that it would probably be in next years line up for us as SHN season ticket holders. As usual hubs won after arguing that the people nominated from the musical for best actor in a musical and best featured actress in a musical wouldn't be performing in the traveling version. We just lucked out and got some of the last tickets available for the week we were in New York.

The musical is a comedy about a gentleman who finds out that his late mother was from a very prestigious family, but was disowned after marrying her less than prestigious husband for love. He learns that he is actually 9th in line to inherit earldom. With that knowledge in handhe sets forth to eliminate the 9 relatives (all which are played by a single actor) ahead of him in order to earn his rightful spot as an earl.

I am sooo glad hubs convinced me that it was absolutely imperative that we see this musical while in New York. The musical was spectacular and absolutely hilarious. Jefferson Mays, who plays all 9 of the relatives who are eventually off'd was absolutely brilliant. In fact the entire cast is quite sensational. I'm so happy that we had an opportunity to see this musical and I hope to see it in line up for next years SHN season.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

NYC Tapings: The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon


A few months before Jimmy Fallon took over the Tonight Show we became pretty avid Late Night fans after seeing a couple hilarious skits that were popular around the interwebs. Once we started DVR-ing Late Night we were instantly hooked. Some of my favorite skits were Ew with Lindsey Lohan, the worlds most epic lip sync battle, #hastags with Justin Timberlake, and this amazing rendition of "Your Body" with Christina Aguilera . I mean how can you not love a guy who has a serious bromance with JT? Needless to say, we were back to excited when Jimmy Fallon got upgraded to the Tonight Show and even more excited at the opportunity to see a live taping of the show.

Similarly to picking up tickets for the Daily Show our email confirmation said that we needed to pick up our tickets at the NBC Experience Store by 3:40. However, just like the Daily Show they overbook the tapings so we started milling around (aka: stalking the NBC Experience store) around 1:30. We were told to come back at around 2:30. So we basked in the sun and people watched near Rockefeller Center and checked back in around 2:15 when they let us upstairs to wait for them to hand out our official tickets. By that point there were about 10 people ahead of us.

Before they started handing out tickets they let us know that everyone's tickets would have either a number or a letter written on it. They assured us that the system was arbitrary and not to fret over which you got it because it just meant that you would be lining up to get into the studio at a different time. We were also told that there would be no food or drinks allowed in the studio and that once inside we couldn't use our phones or cameras and wouldn't be allowed to leave to go to the restroom. They started handing out tickets around 3 or 3:30. We were given alphabet tickets and were told to meet back in the lobby of the Rockefeller Center at 4:45.

We arrived just at 4:45 and were quickly ushered through airport-like security. After clearing security we were lined up alphabetically in one of the hallways in Rockefeller Center. While standing in our line we noticed a very distinct difference between our line (the alphabet line) and the other line (the numbers line). Even though the producers had told us that the selection of alphabet versus line tickets were arbitrary, the alphabet line had a significantly lower average age than the numbers line. They let us into the taping studio one group at a time we were seated in the second row front and center...I thought I was going to die of excitement. Once we were seated we looked around, interested to see how the alphabets and numbers would be arranged in the studio. By the end it was clear that the alphabets were seated up front and center...god forbid we see old people in any audience shots (JK!) The nice thing about the Tonight Show is that they show highlights from previous shows to keep the audience entertained since they don't let you use your phones inside the studio.

Similar to the Daily Show they have a comic come out and warm up the audience. The guy reminds us that we are the "laugh track" so we should laugh heartily at anything remotely funny that Jimmy or the guests say. Then the Roots came out and played a few songs before they bring Jimmy out to do the show. Once the show got started we realized that being so close to front and center wasn't all that great since the cameras were constantly moving around and blocking a lot of our view...boo. Just like the Daily Show, once the show gets started the entire taping runs pretty quickly.

The guests that night were Seth Rogan, Matt Bomer (plays Neal Caffery in one of our favorite TV shows, White Colllar), and Coldplay. Like I mentioned in a previous post we signed up for tickets for a couple of different days so that we could choose the day that had the best guests. Even though our view was always a littlee obstructed it was a great show.

Once the show was over Jimmy Fallon did a run up and down the aisles to high five the audience members and I even saw him sign an autograph or two. After that he dug out pretty quickly and the warm up comic came back out keep us company as they escorted us out from the back of the studio to the front.

After getting out from the taping we were starving! All that cheering and laughing really works up an appetite. We grabbed some yummy ramen and headed back to our room to rest up for our next day.

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

NYC Musicals: Avenue Q


While in New York we went to see Avenue Q at an off-Broadway theater. I had heard great things about Avenue Q and it won Tony's in 2004 for best musical, best book, and best original score so I figured why not. I'd say this is like a very grown up version of Sesame Street with muppets and everything. The play is essentially about a typical Gen Y yuppie  who's fresh out of college with a BA in English and trying to muddle through the beginnings of true adulthood. It's a story that I think really resonates with my generation and their desire to find a meaningful and fulfilling job that gives their life a purpose. This musical is full of hilarious grown up topics ranging from racisim to using the internet for porn.

I really didn't know what to expect in terms of the caliber of the performance for an off-Broadway show so being the true pessimist I am I braced myself for the worst. Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised at how awesome the actors were. There are several actors who play multiple characters absolutely seamlessly and the singing was fantastic.  I think the most impressive part for me was how well animated the actors made their muppets. It's really easy to let them fade to the background and just focus on the muppets. While this musical might not be for everyone, I'd definitely recommend it for the lighthearted who (spoiler alert) aren't easily offended by things like simulated muppet sex.

Monday, May 19, 2014

NYC Tapings: The Daily Show with John Stewart


On ourfirst full day in New York we went to The Daily Show with John Stewart. They start handing out tickets to people who've already reserved tickets at 2:30. We showed up at about 1:30 and there was already quite a line ofF ople which made me pretty nervous. As I mentioned in my previous post, they overbooked these tapings, so I was a little worried that we might not get tickets. Luckily, the line of people behind us started to grow and made  me feel a little more at ease. A little after 2:30 they started handing out tickets and we were probably in the last group of 10-15 people they had tickets for. *whew*

After successfully obtaining our tickets we were told to return to the studio by 4:30. We took that time to hightail it to the TKTS booth in Times Square to try to snag some show tickets for after the taping. We were in luck, and were able to get tickets to an off-Broadway production of Avenue Q (more on that later).

We headed back to The Daily Show studio and were lined up in order of our ticket numbers. Before letting us into the studio a hipster looking girl made a few announcements about what we should expect as we headed in. We were to use the restrooms before entering the studio as once we were seated we would not be allowed to get up. Once we had relieved ourselves we were to proceed through security which was comprised of a bag check and metal detector. We were told that food, drinks, cameras, and mace/pepper spray wouldn't be allowed into the studio and would need to be left with security and picked up after the show. Hipster girl went on to say that before the show John would come out and answer a few audience questions. We were specifically told not to ask for autographs/pictures or ask creepy questions (ie: will you marry me?)

Once inside the studio we were allowed to take pictures of the studio with our phones. Of course we took an obligatory selfie with the Daily Show desk in the background. After what seems like hours but is probably more like 45 minutes a comedian came out to warm the audience up. He taught us how to cheer and laugh loudly which is very important for us to do since "there is no laugh track" and we were it. We were then instructed to put our phones away and keep them there for the remainder of the taping.

As hipster girl promised, John came out be for the show started and answered a few audience questions...none of which were interesting enough for me to remember. He then took his seat behind his desk and they started the show. Everything runs amazingly smoothly and quickly with very minimal pauses for the commercial breaks. Our guest was NY Yankee, Mariano Rivera which made for some fun banter between the two of them since John is a NY Mets fan.

Once the taping was over we were told to keep our phones away and were quickly ushered out of the studio. We were out of there by about 5:30 or 6. Just enough time for us to grab a quick bite to eat and hurry over to Avenue Q.

Check out my blog on our NYC preparations to see how we got in on this taping.

Monday, May 12, 2014

NYC Musicals: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella


On our first day in NYC hubs and I started our day with a traditional upper west side brunch at Good Enough to Eat. After we'd had our fill we made our way back to Times Square so we could check out what was available for a matinee at the TKTS booth. Hubs was so excited to see that tickets were available for Cinderella since it's featuring Carly Rae Jepsen and Fran Drescher for a limited time. I, on the other hand, was a bit apprehensive about sa musical with Carly Rae Jepsen as the primary actress.  Don't get me wrong, I get all teeny bopper when Call Me Maybe comes on the radio, I was just a little concerned with how her singing would be sans studio post-production and even more concerned with her acting abilities. Never the less, tickets were 50% off original matinee prices so I figured even if it was terrible at least it'd be cheap.

 I've never actually read the original Cinderella story and only know Disney's Cinderella story from the movie so I'm not sure how close the musical was too the original story, but it was quite different from Disney's version. Because the plot was so different from what I know the story to be it was a lot more interesting to me.  As much as I've enjoyed Disney's adaptations of Beauty and the Beast or Mary Poppins as musicals there's always a little bit of excitement missing for me since I already know what's going to happen.

Unfortunately, Fran Drescher wasn't performing at our show. Even though the actress playing the evil stepmother was great I think that it would've been awesome to see Fran Drescher do it. But I must say I was surprised at how good Carly Rae Jepsen's performance as Cinderella was. She did a great job singing and her acting didn't induce cringing like I thought it would. I must say I have a lot more respect for her as s singer now... if only she would sing some songs with substance in them.

Overall,  I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this musical and would definitely recommend it to people who were looking to see something fun and light to watch.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

NYC Preparations

Hello from NYC, loves! Hubs and I are waiting in line for a table for dinner right now. If you follow me on fb or instagram you've seen all the fun we've been up to the past couple of days. I've been getting a lot of questions about how to get in on the show tapings we've been to so far so I thought it'd be a good idea to blog about all the hard prep work hubs did to get our trip to NYC full of fun times.

Attractions:
Yesterday we took a great boat tour around half of Manhattan Island with Circle Line Sightseeing. We booked that a day ahead with no problems. We went on a weekday, so I'm not sure if that would change for the weekends.
We also went to the top of Rockefeller Center yesterday morning and night. We bought our tickets online the day before. This is not necessary, but it ensured that we got to skip the line to buy tickets and get right in line to get up to the top of the Rock.
We haven't been there yet but before heading to NYC we looked into seeing the Statue of Liberty. Depending on how high up you want to get up in Lady Liberty determines how early you need to get tickets. If you want to get up to the torch...sorry bub, you're SOL. No one has been up there in like a hundred years. If you want to get up to her crown you should look into getting tickets 2-3 months in advanced. Unfortunately for us we hadn't even decided to go to New York early enough to even feasible get tickets for that. We got our tickets to the pedestal about a week before leaving for our trip. However, hubs mentioned that when he looked tickets were still available for the following day; so buying tickets the day before should probably be okay for this too.
We also haven't been to the 9/11 Memorial yet either, but we made our reservations about a week before we left for New York. Making reservations ahead of time is most likely not necessary, but it should save us some time from having to stand in line the day of.
Check out my post on all the spots we visited

Tapings:
Yesterday we went to a taping of the Daily Show with John Stewart. Hubs doesn't quite remember how we came across these...we think mostly by sheer luck we looked at the website and sign up for tickets was available. For really good detailed info about how to get in on the Daily Show you should check out this super helpful website (the article is almost a year old, but still relevant).
Today we went to a taping of the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Signing up for this taping was significantly more difficult. Hubs ended up coding a program to text and email the both of us when tickets became available. If this isn't an option for you I'd suggest liking the Tonight Show facebook page because they make announcements on when tickets become available on there. In general we found that they released tickets a month at a time at the beginning of the prior month. For example if you want to go anytime in August you should be getting ready to sign up for your tickets in the beginning of July. You have to be on your A game here since we found that sign ups filled up within about the first 5-10 minutes.
A couple of notes on signing up for these tapings before we move on. First off, just because you've signed up for the taping it does not...I repeat, DOES NOT...guarantee you a seat at the taping. These tapings are all overbooked to make sure there's a full audience so pay attention to what time you need to be where to claim your actual tickets to the tapings. Secondly, when you sign up for these tapings you never know who the guests are going to be. Since we didn't know who the guests were going to be or what our schedule was going to be like we signed up for a couple of days for each show. They don't let you sign up for more then one taping per show, but we made reservations under hub's name one day and my name the next day. I'm sure this is probably frowned upon, but it gave us a little loop hole to have some extra flexibility during our trip.
Check out my Daily Show and Tonight Show experiences.

Broadway/Off-Broadway:
At least a month before leaving we purchased our tickets for Hedwig and the Angry Inch and A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. While in New York we've been able to score discount tickets to Cinderella and Avenue Q. If you want to see popular shows (ie: Wicked or the two shows we purchased tickets in advanced for) best buy your tickets at full price ahead of time. Those shows rarely make it to the TKTS discount ticket booth...in fact I overheard them saying that they NEVER get Wicked tickets. Otherwise it has been easy for us to get good seats from TKTS to the shows we've wanted without even having to stand in line before the booth opens.
Check out my reviews on CinderellaAvenue QA Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and Rocky

Anyway, I hope this was helpful for all of you guys planning upcoming trips to NYC.