New York # 5 - Broadway Madness

I suppose a visit to New York is never complete without visiting Times Square and catching a show on Broadway. The first time we tried queuing for half-priced tickets to the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, it was like a revisit of my experience queuing for Billy Joel tickets in August, except 20 times worse – the queue 30 minutes before the ticket office opened snaked up and down outside the Marriot hotel and around the block!

Alright, the Spelling Bee was worth queuing for since it was 50% off and the seats were great as the theatre was one of those built in a round.

We enjoyed the musical so much that we were torn between spending our last day chowing down the supposedly legendary porterhouse steak at Peter Lugers and catching another Broadway musical. Too overdone with the meat, we opted for the musical and caught The Producers. We had a rollicking good time – it was one of those rare productions which didn't sag midway through and carried a high-octane energy right to the last notes.

Earlier that day while queuing for the tickets to The Producers, we noticed a huge crowd of people across the street, apparently lining up for a chance to have lunch with some celebrities. Oh well, we laughed it off and thought that maybe Cameron, Eddie and George were in town (by the way, they were as everyone else BUT ME caught a glimpse of these individuals!!).

Stepping out of the theatre later that afternoon, we find ourselves in the midst of an auction! Curious, we stop and listen to the babel of voices and the frantic waving of hands; peering over someone's shoulder, I note that it's part of Broadway Cares – Equity Fights AIDS fundraiser when all of Broadway comes out in support of AIDS. Items on the auction block include impossible to obtain chances to appear in a Broadway production, to join in the after-production cast party or to invite 10 of your friends to join you for opening night! We listen astounded at the amounts people pay for such "experiences" including 2 separate chappies who each paid US$9,500 for opening night tickets to Les Miserables!

Not the best photo of the Chorus Line hottie but there he is on the podium!

The best bit was when one of the stars on The Chorus Line auctioned himself off – well rather, a chance to have dinner with him and attend the opening night for The Chorus Line! When this was happening, I couldn't help thinking of one of my galpals, T and C, who would have been more than happy to help raise the bids! ("GOING GOING GONE to the ladies wearing the animal print scarf and the tartan miniskirt!")