This is not only the sharing of an evening's experience, it is the sharing of a whole four unforgettable days, spent with friends who have become acquainted through the internet and a blog - Oh My Godot. The holiday reunited those of us (although we were minus one important member - M&M, due to prior obligations) who have kept in touch and wanted to share this viewing of Jake Gyllenhaal's musical, Sondeim's "Sunday in the Park With George" together.
So there we were at the Hudson Theater (in alphabetical order!): Destiny, m (and her hubby!), myself Prairie Girl, Special K, and the blogger formerly known as JerseyTom, but now Florida Tom. ;-)
We came from all directions across the U.S. and converged on New York City to see Mr. Jake himself and the experience was to be treasured.
lol - I'm terrible with the eraser thing - look at that. But there's the eTicket and we even had these nifty passes for the little room where you could act like a semi-big shot and sip the bubbly:
Except the lounge didn't look like that at all! lol. Where did they get those pictures? ;-) Unfortunately, my pictures will continue to follow the pattern of the "eraser app edit" and go southward because "PG" is phone camera challenged. But first, the aesthetics.
You can sort of see Jake's name beyond the name of the hotel, as the scaffolding came out of nowhere and got in the way:
And here are a couple of shots I took inside the theater - don't ask why I didn't take more - don't know what was going on with my head.
Not quite sure at what point the ground level picture was taken, probably at the very beginning when the orchestra was warming up. And then you see people often taking pictures of this neon light sign - it's inside the lobby when you walk in:
lol, that gentleman was not a member of our party, nor the coat check employee on the other side of the coat rack - I couldn't get a better one because people kept hanging around the sign! plus I had to keep up so as not to get lost or left behind, ha ha.
And this is typical, right?
I think Jake is right behind that person's head!!! No joke.
Certainly this seems like a Clark Griswold photo album thus far (or better yet, that of a Jake Gyllenhaal photo op), but perhaps it lends a note of authenticity, no?
**UPDATE**!!! TWO NEW PICTURES COURTESY OF OUR OWN FLORIDA TOM - Thank you, Tom!!
The musical was entrancing from beginning to end. From the opening scene between George and Dot to the emotional ending. All of the characters were cast well, with Jake, Annaleigh, Phillip and Boykin making the biggest impressions on myself. Jake did an outstanding job and Annaleigh was perfect as Dot. She has incredible comedic timing. And Phillip Boykin has a most impressive, rich, beautiful voice. To hear him speak outside at the stage door was magic to the ears.
[SCENE SPOILER COMING UP]
The crowning moment of the musical was the conclusion when Dot leads George Seurat past the park people as the song "Sunday" begins in reprise and I was touched beyond words. I had already loved that song after first hearing it; to hear the beauty of the lyrics and melody live on stage was a spiritual experience.
The Hudson Theater was a charming historical building, quite intimate and small, actually surprisingly so. The Millineum hotel where I stayed at was actually next door to the Hudson. They are owned by the same company, so it was rather awesome that you could go out the front door and be right next to the entrance of the theater, or go out the opposite back door and you were literally right at the stage door. It came in quite handy. :-)
Special K and I did the stage door thing, yessirree. We were there after one of the afternoon shows and then I went down after an evening performance because I wanted to try for an autograph, although unsuccessfully.
Dropping the phone didn't help, but anyway, here are a few pics:
And let's hear it for the full length shot!
And how about even a tiny bit of video:
And I do mean tiny bit.
It takes a very patient person to stage door - once is good. I mean, literally Special and I were there that afternoon one and a half hours!! It took 1 1/2 hours for that guy to come out. After even an hour, it's a matter of wills and you are going to stand there, aching feet and all, until the bitter end - no going back!
But it was worth it because what happened that day?? Guess who was led in on a leash and escorted by a female through that stage door the afternoon we were there, probably about an hour into the whole stage door vigil?
"Leo Gyllenhaal".
Didn't get a picture of him, only saw the ears and then the whole back end of him as he was escorted through the door by the female. And I turned to Special and I said, "What was THAT?! What was THAT." To the point where she had to "Shush!" me, lol.
And look what appeared on Instagram that same evening - the finished product:
Leo is so cute!! 😘#JakeGyllenhaal #LeoGyllenhaal #SundayintheParkwithGeorge https://t.co/89ZkqmeQuk pic.twitter.com/IISH5EuoqO— Nikki Huang (@HuangNikki) April 23, 2017
LOL! "Leo Gyllenhaal" being brought to the theater for his photo op and Insta-Story. Funny thing don't you think, that Leo didn't arrive until after the first show? And where did he come from? Was that supposed to be the dog sitter? Dog trainer? Whaaaa.... And when I was at the stage door later that same evening, I don't recall seeing Leo with Jake. And I had an excellent pole position - nope, don't recall seeing "Leo" with Jake as he came out of the stage door and proceeded down the line of fans. Was Leo just running late? Or did the celeb shepherd leave earlier in the evening? Why come at all, then, if he misses the first show and were to miss the end of the second show? If he didn't leave with his papa, who took Leo home? Isn't that whole pondering just interesting? I thought so.
via GIPHY
Any way.....not to get too hung up on the whole Leo mystery. In neither stage door experience, was I there in its entirety. There were things to do, places to go!
Indeed. For this was The Big Apple.
Incredible skylines!
Central Park and pretty spring blossoms!
THE Met!! Yes, where the Met Ball was just held - look how massive:
Chinatown, Little Italy, Greenwich Village, SoHo, Times Square, Wall Street, you name it, I/we were there...
The Brooklyn Bridge, which Destiny and I crazily walked the afternoon that I arrived!
The New York Stock Exchange...
Isn't the stained glass just breathtaking? I visited two churches, Trinity Church where Alexander Hamilton is buried and St. Patrick's Old Cathedral...
And Little Italy
The cutest community garden...
Flower shops, corner shops and bakeries galore...
Tulips everywhere!!
And people and crowds!
At night, the crowds don't stop!
And the somber and impressive 9/11 Memorial and museum:
We all shared an unforgettable meal and fellowship prior to Jake's show at Carmine's: Grand Poohbah Special K, Destiny and her girlfriend, m and her husband, OMG friend Roma, Tom and two of his buds, and myself !! It was the meal to beat all meals, everything was absolutely wonderful:
The play was the most I could have hoped for in experiencing my first Broadway show. Jake was so good and brought so much to the character of George Seurat, along with a very, very good voice. The ending stuck with me and I found myself thinking about it for a day or so afterwards, even tearing me up a couple of times. I saw in Jake, a very nice young man at that stage door, quite soft spoken, almost genteel in his dealings with the fans. He signed playbill after playbill, took picture after picture with fans, and was engaging, friendly, humorous. That was a side of Jake I am so thankful to have witnessed in person. And that's not to sound like an utter idiot; it is indeed different to see someone in person.
But most of all, what this trip brought was an appreciation and gratitude for the friendships that have endured amongst us OMG'ers and those we're meeting through each other's friendships and relationships, like with Roma, m's husband, Dest's partner and Tom's friends. What a wonderful time we had with Tom's friends, a HUGE THANK YOU for one of them to walk with me from the train to the corner of my hotel, lol. What a nice gesture that was. And the day that Special and I spent with Roma was also so, so memorable - will never forget it, the Spotted Pig, the bakery, the art show, the rain... And Destiny and her gf? What can I say? I'm forever indebted for their time and generosity - what memories we made and it was just one of the best times I have ever had - the Sunday afternoon at the Met was perfect, an awesome Irish pub. Lots of chatter and hugs and laughter.
Again - Jake and Austin brought us all together and we all risked meeting each other, we reached out and look what we still have. It's really a miraculous and enriching permanent part of our lives.
So, thanks to all who participated in this excursion and Lord willing, we will do it again and hopefully, M&M can join us on the next round. ;-)
pic sources: Prairie Girl, IHJ, Giphy, Walmart.com
Special Shoutout: to Special K for giving me her extra Playbill after I lost my two that I had and I'm not sure what happened to them. It was a near tragedy! But she saved the day.
our playlist: Sunday - Sunday in the Park With George
New York, New York - the Chairman of the Board,
Frank Sinatra and Liza
Minelli (Live)
New York, New York - Ryan Adams
Sunday in New York - Bobby Darin
