edensgarden's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On to Broadway....my kingdom up in the sky New York City has always held a certain mystery and mysticism for me, so it was fitting that the day I went there for the first time it was cloudy and rainy. As we approached the city from Jersey City the tops of buildings shrouded in clouds added to this mystical image of New York. After fighting our way into the Lincoln Tunnel and what seemed like the most congested stretch of commuter road, we emerged from below the Hudson River in the heart of Midtown Manhattan! I just looked around, and up, in speechless awe! Everything was so tall, so dirty, so noisy, so New York City. I was finally here!! We�ll have Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island too... We parked our car at the Port Authority and began our walk into the heart of New York, the Theater District. I was so thrilled, more than thrilled, who am I kidding, to be going to see Into the Woods, my favorite musical, on Broadway. I was even more thrilled that I was there with my sister!! The rumble of the subway trains, the rattle of the taxis, the daffy dills that entertain at Angelo�s and Maxi�s. Good night ladies, good night, milkman�s on his way....it�s the avenue I�m takin� ya to 42nd Street!! There was so much to see, queues of people waiting for famous yellow NYC taxis, drunks and vagrants, stylish business people, tourists, flashing lights, policemen in bright orange rain slickers, busses, the narrow caverns created by the small streets and tall buildings. I was trying to drink it all in, hold my umbrella up, keep track of my purse and look as inconspicuous as possible. It proved to be an impossible task. My sister kept turning around and saying �THIS IS SO COOL!!� Oh, yes so cool. We finally made it up to 44th street and rounded the corner to see the flashing lights of the Majestic Theater, home to Phantom of the Opera. Across the street at the St. James the marquee for The Producers was blazing white. But down from this, was the green and yellow of a giant foot draped over the side of the Broadhurst, this was where Into the Woods was. We walked up and huddled under a canopy of lights along with hundreds of other theater goers and waited for the theater to open. Suddenly there was a surge and the crowd started to slowly to lumber along toward the door. I was caught up in this gentle motion and soon found myself in the lobby. Once seated with Playbill in hand, I looked at the stage. There were three oversized story books, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk and The Baker and His Wife. Just from this, I knew that the scenery was going to be beautiful and amazing. I was not disappointed. As the music carried the scenes along, the sets moved quietly and flawlessly across the stage. The actors were costumed in rich, bright colors. Their singing and acting was more than I could have hoped for. Every single member of the cast was so talented, especially Vanessa Williams as the Witch. The timing was amazing, the staging was incredible. There is something to be said about Music by Stephen Sondheim and direction by James Lapine! The Tony they won back in June for Best Revival of a Musical was well deserved, of course I thought they should have won back in 1987 for Best Musical when Into the Woods was on Broadway the first time, but what can you do when you are in competition with Les Miserables? When it was all over, we stepped out of the theater into the pouring rain and stopped to take some pictures under the marquee, just to prove that we were there. What a day so far, what a show, what an experience...on to Times Square.... 2:47 p.m. - October 18, 2002 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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