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This was our final show for the trip – and it was excellent. It was billed with Emma Stone as the “star”, but she didn’t really have a big part to play. She can sing well enough, but the real star of the show was Alan Cumming (Golden Eye, The Good Wife, Burlesque) playing the role of a rather bisexual Master of Ceremonies at the Kit Kat Club in 1930s Berlin. I didn’t realise how risqué it would be, but it didn’t seem to faze Gracie. Unlike the other shows that were in a regular theatre, this was laid out like a cabaret lounge – ie. we had a table, drinks and nibbles (not cheap!), etc.

Well, it’s clear that 7 days in New York just ain’t enough. 2-3 weeks world probably be the right figure.

We tried to start early. The girls get a little pissed when I go from under the sheets to walking out the door in less than 10 mins. What point is makeup, eyebrows, & hair-dos when you’re rugged up like the Michelin Man anyway?

Washington Square Park (another Glee location):

A fantastic but freezing cold walk over the Brooklyn Bridge: Continue reading “Day 22 – Last day in New York”

Gracie has been coming up with some clangers, particularly misinterpretation of signage. Yesterday she topped it off. NASA announced that they’d found the Beagle – an old probe that got lost more than 10 years ago. Gracie asked “Is it still alive?”

This evening we saw The Elephant Man starring Bradley Cooper (Hang Over, Limitless, Silver Linings Playbook) & Alessandro Nivola (Face/Off, Goal) & Patricia Clarkson (Green Mile, Friends with Benefits).

Truly amazing performances from all. Unlike the original movie, Cooper wasn’t wearing any form of prosthetics, he just contorted his body & mouth.

As discussed at the end of The River, the sign of a great performance is when the audience leaves speechless – still mulling over what they saw. That’s exactly what we had. Applause & stunned silence at both intermission & ending.

Something as simple as a handshake between John Merrick (Cooper) & Mrs. Kendal (Patricia Clarkson) had the audience mesmerised.

Grace was in awe.

The USS Intrepid is an old decommissioned aircraft carrier that served from 1943 to 1974. It is now permanently docked at Pier 86 on the western side of Manhattan.

Also on display as part of the museum is a Concorde, the Space Shuttle Enterprise, the submarine Growler, and many planes.

We pretty much just wandered about. Continue reading “Day 21 – Intrepid Museum”

This cruise started at Pier 83 on the western edge of Manhattan. It travelled to Liberty Island, then up the eastern side of Manhattan passing underneath the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, then back to Pier 83.

I took my position on the bow of the ship and wondered why I was on my own. I soon realised when my frozen hands started to sting again – but I wasn’t going to let the opportunity go by and miss the photo ops.

The Manhattan skyline viewed from the river absolutely impressive. It just goes on forever.

Western side of Manhattan (looking east):

Seen it before, but always good:

Southern tip of Manhattan, looking north:

Brooklyn:

The Brooklyn Bridge, linking Manhattan & Brooklyn – built in 1883 & was the first steel-wire suspension bridge constructed:

Eastern side of Manhattan, looking west:

Manhattan Bridge:

The concrete/rock pillars in the Brooklyn Bridge took 12 years to build, whereas the steel pillars in the Manhattan Bridge only took about 4 weeks.

Looking south back down the East River to the bottom of Manhattan:

 

The show this evening was On the Town – a real song & dance performance. It had a little too much slap-stick for my liking, but it was still good.

After emptying our bank account at the jewellers, we had to make the most of our close proximity to Central Park. It was cold, but worth it. We navigated our way through a myriad of horse-drawn carts and horse crap to the Park.

We crossed Sweet Charity’s bridge, frozen lakes, watched an amazing number of birds and squirrels, and then some ice-skating.

I’m sure we only covered about 5% of the park, but time wasn’t going to let us go further.

When you think of New York, you typically picture 2 landmarks – we did the statue yesterday and the other is today.

The Empire State Building tour starts by winding the visitor through a little museum, with information about its construction, history, etc. All good, but the primary purpose of the visit is to get to the observation deck. Looking south over Manhattan – the new World Trade Center building is the tallest in the distance; Statue of Liberty visible at the right in distance; Brooklyn over the river to the left…

Looking north over Central Park:

 

Communications tower on top:

 

It’s just astounding how big this place is… then again, it’s also small – I walked around a corner of the observation deck and bumped into someone that I used to work with 6 years ago.

The internal corridor on the deck is lined with mirrors – never miss an opportunity to check the eyebrows:

Another item ticked off the bucket list.

Grace has a school ball in April, so a visit to the nearby “Garment District” was necessary to buy some fabric for her gown – of course, cos – you know, you can’t get fabric in Australia.

Then, we were on the train again to visit Tiffany’s jewellers. At this point my stress levels began to rise and after a quick 15 minute walk around their floor (wearing daggy, beggar-looking, tourist clothes) I had to vacate for a coffee to keep my heart-attack at bay. Ellie and Grace could both show and explain their purchase later.

We then grabbed a coffee and a doughnut, so Grace could have a “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” experience, or rather, “Afternoon Cuppa in Front of Tiffany’s”.

This 90 minute play called The River is perhaps the only reason we came to the US in the first place. Well, not really, but it could have been.

Why? Because it starred Hugh Jackman.

It was a good play, but if there was a meaning to it, I’m not sure what it was.

A special treat for the audience was included: Deborah had passed the script to Brene Brown (PhD studying vulnerability) who happened to be in the audience for her first viewing of the play. After the play, the cast, director, playwright, and Brene took to the stage and did a Q&A with the audience, which was quite entertaining in itself.

Ellie of course had to get an autograph afterwards, but also had a very quick conversation about being friends of WAAPA. The restraining order wasn’t quite required, but an ambulance was.