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| Two "hairy eyeballs" and a smile! |
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| Very early for our flight |
Steph, Ken and I went straight to Times Square and TKTS for same day Broadway tickets. Ken saw "Seminar" with Alan Rickman and Steph and I went to ---wait for it----"Spider Man: Turn Off the Dark"! And, I actually really enjoyed it. The music is OK, but the spectacle is truly amazing. Spidey flying over the audience, Arachne with her 8 legs being suspended over the stage, the Green Goblin scaling buildings--whoa!!!! I think I had my mouth hanging open about half the time! Really worth it to see a contemporary work on Broadway as the other shows I'll be seeing are all revivals.
Mitra and Steph-on Broadway!Raced to "Bella Napoli" Restaurant in the neighborhood of our hotel for our opening evening dinner. Delicious antipasto and lasagna. Everyone shared something they learned today--I shared that I am always startled by the pace of NYC. No stopping or slowing down--keep going!
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| Our private party at Bella Napoli |
It takes a while to get used to the rhythm and noise of the city as well as the extremely close proximity to strangers. In the midwest we like our space! Took a cab to Lincoln Center where we met with Ken's friend, tenor Adam Diegel who took us backstage at the Met where we briefly met Bryn Terfel and walked quickly on the set.
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| Backstage--nice shot, Jordyn! |
Very exciting to see how it all works--the backstage, hallways, green room and dressing room are surprisingly un-fancy. They look just like rooms in Haas back at UWEC! Sat in row DD of the orchestra for Mozart's "Don Giovanni."
Matthew Polanzani stood out with outstanding performances of Ottavio's arias. Bryn was of course wonderful, and Gerald Finley sang exquisitely as well. The show ended with fire!!! Lincoln Center is particularly gorgeous at night when it is all lit up. The weather is beautiful (probably 65 degrees today and 50 this evening) and it was lovely to stand at Lincoln Center and see the Met, Juilliard, and Avery Fischer, etc. all together. It was Jordyn's first time at the Met, and she was spellbound by the experience- I'm glad I was there to share it with her.
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| Jordyn and Abby--over the moon! |
Long walk most of the way back as we had trouble hailing a cab--it is St. Patrick's Day in NYC and needless to say many of the cabs were already busy. But we made it back in one piece. Most of the students had checked in earlier for an early night as we're all tired. Church at St. Thomas tomorrow, a meeting with my friend John Howell who is a church musician there, and the Met Competition Finals tomorrow (today)--a second busy, wonderful day.
I am gratified by some of the experiences the students have already have, both with the city and the people in it. I've challenged everyone to take in as much as they can, but to also choose one central question that they want answered for themselves during this immersion. Some people have already begun to seriously consider that question. I look forward to learning more from each of them.
On a personal note, I couldn't be more pleased with the group of students or how the itinerary turned out. The schedule includes several events suggested and even coordinated by the students and our time in NYC will be even richer because of that diversity.
Places that I will see on my free time this week: 911 Memorial. The Strand Book Store. Central Park. I will hear Audra McDonald in "Porgy and Bess" and I will probably select "War Horse" at the Vivian Beaumont for my other individual show.
There really is no place like New York.
Mitra
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