Last week I decided it was time to see my first Broadway musical of the summer. After hearing good reviews of “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” and being a long time Harry Potter Fan, I decided on seeing Daniel Radcliffe’s debut musical on Broadway. NYU offers discounted student tickets to some shows, and since I’m a summer resident I am able to take advantage of these offers. The catch is, I can only purchase them at the box office the day after they are released for sale to the school online. Unfortunately I did not get tickets after hauling it to the box office after work last week. However, my determination was not in vain, because this morning I woke up at 7am, got a bagel at Dunkin Donuts with some chocolate milk, and made it to Times Square to wait in front of the Al Hirschfel Theatre in hopes of getting General Rush Tickets. From what I understand, these are tickets that are not sold or claimed the day of the performance. They’re usually partial view, which in the theater means you may not be able to see everything with a center seat view, but they’re still really good seats. In line I met a Canadian man and a Russian women, and we had a lovely time sharing our experiences of New York City together. At 10 am, I received my front row ticket for $30 (compare this to $125-$300 ticket prices) and I got to see Daniel Radcliffe from the corner of Row A. It was a pretty amazing experience sitting in the front, as I’m sure it would be for any Broadway musical. I was able to see all the actors expressions, microphones, spit when they projected their voices as loud as possible, and of course… Daniel Radcliffe’s very blue eyes. It was an incredible experience, and well worth the 1.5 hours I spent talking to some cool people in line.
During my wait for the matineé I walked around and saw some cool spots around Times Square. The Hearst building is definitely an architectural feat to check out. According to Wikipedia, the base of the building was commissioned and built in 1928. This is the stone portion you see. The building was always intended to be a skyscraper, but the plans were put off during the Great Depression. 80 years later in 2006, the building was finally designed and completed to keep up with modern times. The building has a 3 story escalator and water sculpture. I walked into the atrium, but the fountain was not turned on. I didn’t try to make it past security since I really had no business being there! I also walked by Columbus Circle and checked out the Christopher Columbus statue. I always find it fascinating to see how different countries and parts of the world honor the same people in similar ways. This particular statue is highly reminiscent of statue located in the port of Barcelona. There, the statue faces toward America so where does it face in America? I’m not sure, I’m bad at geography and Wikipedia isn’t telling me. If you look closely at the picture, you can see the Christopher Columbus pedestal at the bottom, it’s pretty tall despite what the picture looks like. There’s also a bunch of shops behind it in the Turner building!
After the show, I tried out a pretzel croissant at the City Bakery mentioned in a book I’m reading. It was phenomenal! Flaky, doughy, and not sweet makes the perfect croissant! I really like how books and pop culture mention NYC stuff all time, and it’s all in walking distance of my current home.
