So, I play cello in my high school's symphony orchestra, and we recently went on a trip to New York City to perform at CARNEGIE HALL (it's already happened and I can still hardly believe it). It was five days of amazing insanity. We all occupied the 19th floor of the Hilton Midtown in NYC (apparently the biggest hotel in the city). We'd walk down to Applebee's (The World's Largest Applebee's) every morning for breakfast, then head out for the day. And each day was chock-full of things to do (and a walk to either Central Park or Times Square, of course), since everything seemed to be within walking distance of our hotel. Our first night in the city, the orchestra had a group reservation at Ellen's Stardust Diner. The line of patrons outside the building went halfway down the block--not surprising for a restaurant where the waitstaff sings Broadway numbers. We got to sit in for some rocking performances! Awesome way to kick off the tour and get us hyped for WICKED the next day. Speaking of which... Wicked was the first Broadway production I had ever seen. And I was MIND. BLOWN. I was impressed by everything, from the all-out Wicked-themed Gershwin Theater to the performance itself (pure awesomeness--my favorite numbers were probably Dancing Through Life, Defying Gravity, and For Good) and the set. I've designed a stage set before, for a summer camp musical I volunteered with, but I can only imagine how awesome it must have been to design this one. I'm also fascinated by effects and am still puzzling over how Boq switched into a Tin Man. _____ On Day 3, we hopped on a bus and headed to the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey, the venue for our informal pre-Carnegie Hall performance. After our own show (which ran smoothly), we hung around to watch other groups perform as well as check out some of the exhibits. I spent some time chasing around a puffer fish with my camera at an aquatic exhibit before deciding that turtles were more my speed. While standing on the balcony of an upper floor, a bunch of us contemplated what appeared to be a massive netted conglomeration of twisting pipes suspended above the performance area (see above). The conversation went a little like this: "What do you think that is?" "Some sort of cocoon?" "Abstract art?" --We all stare as little kids suddenly flood the inside of the nets and begin clambering all over the giant disc-like platforms sticking out of the coiling pipes-- --We all stare at each other-- "Let's go." Yup. It's called the Infiinity Climber. And it is a doozy--a suspended climbing playground that turned out to be a childhood dream I never realized I had. It was loads of fun. _____ That evening, we boarded the Spirit of New Jersey for a dinner/dance cruise departing from Chelsea Piers. Tips for similar events: if you're hungry (which we certainly were), scout out the buffet tables as soon as you walk in. My friends and I were able to scramble to the food line before anyone else noticed it was open--the line ended up stretching to the back of the dining hall! The mac and cheese was heavenly--I'm always a fan of mac and cheese. It was a great evening cruise with fantastic views. The ship made some circles around the Statue of Liberty and we got to take unobstructed panoramas of the iconic NYC skyline. Well, if clouds don't count as obstructions. Watching the city light up as the sun went down was amazing. (I debated whether to call our ride a boat or a ship because both can be motored, ocean-going vessels of varying size--then I looked it up and found out there's a dictionary.com FAQ page on the topic.) Some snapshots from the cruise: We had free reign over the last day until our evening call time for the Carnegie Hall performance. A bunch of friends and I decided to head to the Metropolitan Museum of Art; a brisk walk through Central Park, alongside 5th Avenue. On the way there, we even got to walk through Central Park Zoo, under the Delacorte Clock (which I previously recognized as the "Penguins of Madagascar Clock"). We arrived at the museum 15 minutes after it opened at 10 AM. The bag-check line at the entrance had already gotten long, but it moved pretty quickly. Once inside, we got maps and paid suggested donations for admission. They give us stickers with the date that we were supposed to display on our shirts--like a Level 1 Security Clearance badge at a secret agent facility (maybe I've been watching too many action movies lately...) The Impressionist exhibit was my favorite. We also paid our respects to the Stradivari cello on display, as well as the massive painting of George Washington Crossing the Delaware, by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze. We had to be back at the hotel by 3 PM to get changed for our Carnegie Hall soundcheck. Our conductor had us begin soundcheck with a single chord, and it rang off the walls for so long I thought there was a bell choir playing somewhere above us. Mindblowing. We were told it was like every note ever played in the history of the hall is still somewhere out there, ringing in the walls. And to think, George Gershwin himself played Rhapsody in Blue (my favorite piece of all time) on the very stage we were standing on...You just can't walk into that hall without a sense of "Wow, I'm standing in history." After soundcheck, the quest for our last dinner in NYC was definitely an adventure--it started pouring the second we stepped out of the hall. We had an hour before call time for the performance, so a group of us ran back to the hotel to grab umbrellas, and decided to try the classy Italian restaurant next door (a wedding reception was hosted there a few days before). Unfortunately, they were completely booked that evening--no room for a party of about fifteen--so we headed back into the deli in the hotel lobby. Turned out they had flatbread pizza, so we paired up and shared those. Yum. Then, the PERFORMANCE! There were several other orchestra/band groups performing that evening as well, a couple of whom we already saw at the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey. Everything went smoothly, down to the cello trade-offs between performances (we had all rented cellos, which were provided at the venue and were passed from one group to the next as we walked on and off stage). We had a pretty good audience--the performing groups took up most of the center seats, and the balconies were rimmed with guests. A chance to play on that stage doesn't come along every day, and I'm so stoked to have had the opportunity to do so. Well, Day Five was good-bye to NYC, so that wraps up this trip. Thanks for sticking through this extra-long post!
Oh, and shout-out to the New York Trip 'OHANA--thanks for all the memories. :) Cheers! Clem
0 Comments
|
ClemC's Blog
|