Apparently, what happens in Manhattan...
...pretty much stays in Manhattan, at least as far as photos of me go. Of course, the best shot would have been impossible to get anyway because it would have been me with a goofy grin, looking like a kid in a candy store in the second mezzanine at Radio City Music Hall. Alas, the event doesn't allow cameras, a fact of which we were not notified until we actually arrived. I did ask someone to get a shot or two after the event, back at the hotel. Unfortunately, he's not great with a camera, so you get my face but not much of the gown. (To miz_hatbox: It's periwinkle, not magenta, due to a last-minute switch. Details on request, but they're not that interesting.)
10 of the Best Things about My Trip to Manhattan
(10) Admiring the gleaming marble and gorgeous vaulted ceilings of Grand Central Station, er (excuse me) Grand Central Terminal on Sunday morning and trying to imagine the madness of the same physical space on Monday morning.
(9) Being one of 3,000 people all trying to slowly shuffle out of Radio City Music Hall at the same time and realizing that Glenn Close is shuffling not two feet away from you in the opposite direction.
(8) Hot bagels and Central Park. 'Nuff said.
(7) Watching Patti Lupone get her second Tony award, 30 years after Evita.
(6) Getting caught in a downpour and waiting it out on the red-carpeted steps of the Plaza Hotel.
(5) Watching Spring Awakening (Best Musical 2007) and A Catered Affair and realizing that no time spent at a Broadway show is ever a waste.
Well, except maybe Xanadu. No, I didn't actually see it.
(4) Strolling right past the Applebee's and Cold Stone Creamery in Times Square to Restaurant Row on 46th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, which is filled with small, low-key, low-pretention, ethnically interesting eateries in which you needn't feel awkward asking for a table for one.
(3) Tearing up, again, at the animal parade from The Lion King, with which they opened the awards show. If you haven't seen it, I can't explain it. If you have seen it, I don't need to.
(2) Reveling in the distinct smells not only of a theatre's backstage (in this case, during a tour of the theatre that's doing Young Frankenstein but it doesn't matter because it's exactly the same smell as in my high-school auditorium) but also of a grand old library (in this case, the New York Public Library but it doesn't matter because it's exactly the same smell as the downtown branch of the county library in Portland).
(1) Wandering around looking for something or other and suddenly realizing that you're rapidly approaching the New York Times building. For a former college journalist, this is truly hallowed ground.
(.5) On the morning before you leave, realizing that the NYT building is right next to the theatre for Rent, which is one of your favorite musicals of all time, and that they are both just across 41st Street from your hotel. Which means that, strictly by chance, you spent three nights sleeping next to two of your greatest passions in life.
OK, so I wouldn't go so far as to say that I (heart) NYC. But I am definitely developing a serious crush on it.
10 of the Best Things about My Trip to Manhattan
(10) Admiring the gleaming marble and gorgeous vaulted ceilings of Grand Central Station, er (excuse me) Grand Central Terminal on Sunday morning and trying to imagine the madness of the same physical space on Monday morning.
(9) Being one of 3,000 people all trying to slowly shuffle out of Radio City Music Hall at the same time and realizing that Glenn Close is shuffling not two feet away from you in the opposite direction.
(8) Hot bagels and Central Park. 'Nuff said.
(7) Watching Patti Lupone get her second Tony award, 30 years after Evita.
(6) Getting caught in a downpour and waiting it out on the red-carpeted steps of the Plaza Hotel.
(5) Watching Spring Awakening (Best Musical 2007) and A Catered Affair and realizing that no time spent at a Broadway show is ever a waste.
Well, except maybe Xanadu. No, I didn't actually see it.
(4) Strolling right past the Applebee's and Cold Stone Creamery in Times Square to Restaurant Row on 46th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, which is filled with small, low-key, low-pretention, ethnically interesting eateries in which you needn't feel awkward asking for a table for one.
(3) Tearing up, again, at the animal parade from The Lion King, with which they opened the awards show. If you haven't seen it, I can't explain it. If you have seen it, I don't need to.
(2) Reveling in the distinct smells not only of a theatre's backstage (in this case, during a tour of the theatre that's doing Young Frankenstein but it doesn't matter because it's exactly the same smell as in my high-school auditorium) but also of a grand old library (in this case, the New York Public Library but it doesn't matter because it's exactly the same smell as the downtown branch of the county library in Portland).
(1) Wandering around looking for something or other and suddenly realizing that you're rapidly approaching the New York Times building. For a former college journalist, this is truly hallowed ground.
(.5) On the morning before you leave, realizing that the NYT building is right next to the theatre for Rent, which is one of your favorite musicals of all time, and that they are both just across 41st Street from your hotel. Which means that, strictly by chance, you spent three nights sleeping next to two of your greatest passions in life.
OK, so I wouldn't go so far as to say that I (heart) NYC. But I am definitely developing a serious crush on it.