NYC in two parts (part 1)

We had such a big weekend in New York City last weekend that I had to break up the reporting into two parts.  We're still recovering  :)

Recently I figured out that St Patrick's Day was on a weekend this year, and we didn't have any particular plans for that weekend yet so we decided to jump on the opportunity to head south on the train.  John has been talking about trying to get same-day tickets to the Book of Mormon Broadway musical, and this seemed like a good time to at least find out how difficult it might be or what it might take.

The adventure started when we pulled into the Beacon train station - what a mob of green!  Tons of young kids were having their own exciting St Patrick's Day party, starting now.  We barely had time to wait in line for tickets before the train arrived; we got lucky with that one.  Several of the train cars were full of loud revelers, but we managed to find a car that wasn't quite so overwhelmingly raucous.

We stopped at Ron and Jerome's place to drop off our bags and then went straight to the theater to get in line.  There were a few folks ahead of us at 10:45 am, so we might have a shot at standing room tickets but it wasn't for certain.  Also, at 11:30 am they handed out tickets for a noon lottery for a chance at front row or box seats for $32.  That would be amazing.

The crowd for the lottery was a lot bigger than the standing room line, but still at least 3 people from our line scored a set of lottery seats - we had been talking with a couple of them, so that was doubly exciting.  A small consolation since our names didn't get pulled.

Notice the sign on the light pole that says "No Standing Anytime" - we would be doing plenty of standing in that spot, to heck with the sign:

One of our "standing line friends" won lottery tickets - AND this cool button!

We did score a free cheese and crackers tray that someone from the theater gave away - it was new/unopened when we got it, but we had already done a number on it by the time I got around to taking a photo to remember our good fortune:

At 1 pm they opened the ticket window for standing-room tickets.  As we made our way forward, I had to consider that if we didn't get in then, would we stay in line for the evening show to be guaranteed entry then?  It was snowing and we were a bit chilly at that point.

Happily, the question was moot because we got in!  Happy day!

We had just a few minutes to try to "experience" the St Patrick's Day parade over on Fifth Avenue, so we jogged in that direction.  However, police barricades were preventing anyone from joining the parade route in that area (the parade might have moved on further north by that point anyway).  So we consoled ourselves with some views of the mass of greenery:

I couldn't believe my luck when I caught a couple leprechauns checking for directions at the subway station:

Green version of "I heart NY"

We grabbed a quick snack and jumped in line to get into the theater - still snowing!

Pretty stage before curtain time:

OK, what to say about the show itself - first I want to thank John again for lobbying to come see this.  It was a chance of a lifetime and I'm glad we didn't miss it.  Not just a Broadway show, but THIS show.  It was spectacular.  Amazing.  Irreverent.  Funny of course, off-color of course, plenty of fun songs.  But also so many unexpected things about it.  Surprisingly serious at times.  I was sure the ending would have to be tragic for everything to work out.  But no, they resolved it somehow and it all made sense by the finish.  Too crazy and magical.  I had no idea what to expect, and I still didn't expect what we got.

Yep, totally worth it.

Pedicabbers waiting outside the theater afterward:

Still snowing!

This frog will change your life (they actually sell these as souvenirs, and it won't make sense unless you have seen the play.  Even then it doesn't really make sense):

Afterward we wandered around Chelsea for a bit, running into John's favorite store that we didn't know also existed here:

Photo shoot at the Flatiron Building:

Statue of Admiral Farragut:

Statue of Gandhi:

A while ago we heard a story about performance art that happened in the windows of a department store at night.  I can't remember which store, but it's fun to think that it could have been this one:

Time to head back to Ron and Jerome's to crash for the night.  What a day!