New York, New York, A Wonderful Town!!!! (Day One)

Well, we made it!  And we had a great day too!

Alan and Ruth Rieck and I traveled to Saint Paul on Friday night (after a nice dinner with their kids at their house) through the snow and wind and stayed at the La Quinta Inn.  The weather was pretty harrowing, and I was very glad that Alan was driving.  We couldn't see the center line, but Alan drove cautiously and we eventually got there.  I had purchased a new backpack and shoulder bag and I transferred my stuff in the hotel.  I knew that 5:00 a.m. would come quickly, so I had everything out and ready to go for Friday morning.  5:00 a.m. wakeup call, and we headed on the airport shuttle to MSP.  Met the group at the Delta counter at 5:45 and we went through long, long lines (lots of other spring break travel plans I guess!) and boarded our flight without problems.  Minor kerfuffle when the students decided to sit in different seats (the guy at the gate wouldn't let me on until he figured out exactly who was where!)  Once we had that straightened out we had an uneventful flight though we sat on the tarmack at Laguardia a long time before we could approach the gate.

I'm running out of steam, so I'll put the rest of the day into bullet points.

1. After sitting in the plane for an interminable amount of time, we finally set foot on NYC soil!
2. Rounded up the group and bought Metro tickets.  I was never able to get ahold of anyone at MTA to preorder tickets though I called at least ten times so I had to do it at a kiosk.  I could only get two tickets with each credit card, so it was quite a mess :(
3. Alan, Ruth and I got in a taxi!
4.  The students took almost two hours to get to the hotel via public transportation!!!
5.  Went to Ravaugh Persian Grill with first Alan and Ruth, then Nancy joined us, then three students.  I was absolutely relieved when everyone loved the food!  It was so delicious!  I had beef kabob and Mast (yogurt and cucumber).  Delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
6.  Back to hotel to check in, relax briefly.
7. To Luzzo's pizza with Jordyn and Katherine at 5:15.
8.  6:00 arrival time at Luzzo's in the east vallage.  We had our first night dinner all together there and had yummy neopolitan thin crust pizza and a rude waiter!
9.  Took Miles and Jordyn to will-call to pick up the tickets for "Passion!" by Stephen Sondheim.
10.  Found a wallet on the street with cash and cards.  It was wild out because it was St. Patrick's Day!  Jordyn used her mad stalking skills to find the owner of the wallet on the interwebs and returned it to its happy owner!
11.  At 8:00, saw "Passion" by Stephen Sondheim!  My first off-Broadway show.  Very enjoyable.
12.  Saw my grad school friend Jennifer Hope Wills in the audience in the row in front of us and stopped and talked to her.  She spent years singing Christine in "Phantom of the Opera" on Broadway, starred in "Wonderful Town" on Broadway with Brooke Shields, and "Woman in White" on Bway and was able to introduce her to the students.
13.  Because we stayed around to meet Jennifer, we were still there when the leads--Fosca (who was the original Cosette and also the voice of Pocahontas in the Disney movie), Giorgia, and Clara-- came out to talk to their friends.  And us!  Clara told us to keep your own light shining!  Don't look for your light in the words of critics or of other people--you fire can only truly be lit by you.
14. Bought cupcakes--red velvet-- in the bodega across the street from us (and milk), and then had our group meeting in the lobby at 10:45.  Two discussion points:  One thing that surprised you today, and then Miles led a discussion about the musical "Passion."
15.  Nancy got back from Avery Fisher where she heard the divine Anne Sofie von Otter in the Bach b minor mass (so jealous!!!!!!!!!!).  We ate the cupcake and had tea and I kept falling asleep over this blog!

Tomorrow morning at 7:00 we are meeting to leave for a Baptist Church service in Harlem.  Then we will have a masterclass and Q and A with David Sytowski at Opera America, then Paul Taylor dance company at 3:00 at the David Koch Theatre at Lincoln Center.

Yay!
Mitra Sadeghpour