Not All Witches Are Bad

Check this youtube out of some of the music we got to experience. Not the same actors, but the same music and all of it amazing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlMBcTGJ4YM&feature=related

Cue Stage Green Light Left *FLASH*
Cue Stage Green Light Center *FLASH*
Cue Stage Green Light Right *FLASH*
Cue Rolling Fog Across Bottom of Stage *Fog Rolls In*
Cue Orchestra, Maestro *Strings, Brass, Percussion Sound in pit*
Cue Back-ground Purple/Pink/Orange/Blue/Yellow Lights Around Stage *FLASH*
Cue Flying Monkeys…
WHAT????
Yes, cue flying monkeys I said…*Ee-ee-oohh-oohh-ahh-ahh-ee-ee-oohh-oohh*…
Okay, hopefully I’ve set the scene for you as well as I could, and hopefully you are still reading and aren’t thinking to yourself, “Okay, this blog has gotten out of hand!”
Yes, the envy of Broadway-buffs around the nation, and we were at the center of it all. Ten rows back, 3 and 4 seats in on the left, close enough to see the expressions on the faces of Glinda and Elphaba – the untold story of the witches of Oz, we were at the Gershwin Theatre for the production of the Wicked, the one made famous on the actual Broadway in Manhattan. As hard as it is to believe for some of you, I do feel like a fairly well-versed musical watcher (South Pacific, My Fair Lady, The King and I, Beauty and the Beast, Brigadoon, Wizard of Oz, Mama Mia, Mary Poppins, among others…). Rachel on the other hand, is what somebody like me would call a “professional musical watcher.” Her list is too long to put down here, but trust me, it is extensive. But I can speak for both of us (with permission I might add) when I say that this production blows all others out of the water. From the choreography of the dancers to the lighting and scenery created by the stage hands to the most amazing, spectacular, awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping, heavenly-sounding voices in America, the Broadway Wicked has, to say the least, GOT IT GOIN’ ON!!! I wish we had another week in New York, because we would make it a priority to see as many Broadway shows as possible. Truly, if you ever find yourself in New York, you HAVE to go see a Broadway show, Wicked in particular. There are no words to describe just how good these performers really are in person – simply amazing.

After the show, we went just down the way to a little restaurant on the corner called Stardust. The outside of the establishment touted singing waiters and waitresses, but as we sat down for a early evening dinner, we were shocked to hear yet more amazing voices coming from nearly every waiter and waitress in the joint. I thought to myself, “Okay, is everybody in NY this talented?” Then our waitress, Amanda B. (a.k.a. Mustang Sally) grabbed a mic and informed the well-pleased customers that the workers at this particular restaurant appreciated all the tips because most, if not all of them, were taking voice and acting lessons in hopes of being one of the stars we had just watched in Wicked, or any other Broadway show. These hard-working, extremely talented servers were trying to work their way up in the Broadway business and Stardust was their start. The food was good, the entertainment lively, and it made for an overall brilliant Broadway experience.

Before the matinee showing of Wicked we worked our way through downtown NYC to find the store of all stores (in my opinion anyhow). The NBA store was truly one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. It was like a scene out of a majestic, heart-warming, sports-based movie where the little fan that could, finds his way home. This store had everything an NBA fan could want – you name it, they had it. In fact, I consider my leaving that store the start of my coaching career, as I walked out with a book that is titled, “The NBA Coaches Playbook,” a book that has numerous offenses run by NBA teams. I also found a sweet NBA mug that will most likely be on display come this fall in my classroom, but we’ll see. I’m sure Rachel was less enthused about our stop, but hopefully she knew what she was getting in to when she said, “I do.” She did in fact almost pull the trigger on a wonderful purchase of an NBA plate and bowl party set, but being the ever-conscious consumer (a.k.a. cheap-o) that I am, I nixed the buy. *sigh*, what was I thinking???

Did you know that it actually is possible to drive 40 mph in a tunnel 2.5 feet wide, side-by-side with another bus that is 8 feet wide and make it out alive? Really, I saw it happen. It’s called the Lincoln Tunnel and we experienced this miracle first-hand. I know, I know, you are saying to yourself, “It’s not possible for two 8-foot wide vehicles to travel next to each other in a 2.5 foot wide tunnel,” and I too was a skeptic…but seriously, it happened. You have to believe me. I didn’t think it was possible for any city’s driving to top Atlanta or Houston. But now I know why they say do NOT drive in Manhattan. And what is it with the honking NY people…if the 20 cars in front of you can’t move, then reason would say…you aren’t going anywhere!!!!! Honestly, it’s just annoying so maybe the NYPD should start passing out tickets for noise ordinance violations to anyone who honks when there is more than 5 cars or 5 pedestrians directly in front of traffic. This will make me appreciate the “traffic jams” we see on the interstate going from Boise to Nampa at 5:00 in the Treasure Valley. I’ll be glad to be out of metropolitan driving…but we’re not ready to leave quite yet!

One more thing. To all of you who lied to us about how “easy” the subway/bus system is in and around NYC, shame on you. Next time we come to NY, your number is going to be on our speed dial and we will be calling you to inform us, since it’s so easy, of what route and line/zone we need to take to get to our next destination. No one, and I mean no one, has seemed to care to answer our questions about the NYC/NJ Transit system. Not even an on-duty police officer. Okay, we’re not really that mad, but we must not be getting the same help you all got when trying to decode the mess known as the Metro/Transit system in NYC.
Two more blog-days for New York City (we are one day behind), but we’ll get caught up soon. Just wanted to thank everybody who has been commenting/emailing/praying for us. We love reading your comments as we sit and reflect about our day at our hotel room at night. Keep ‘em coming and we’ll keep blogging. Thanks again, more soon…

From the Road Less Traveled,
Josh and Rachel

NYC Day 2 Highlights: The NBA Store (Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Dwayne Wade, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant and all the rest…), Amazing talent in the performers of Wicked, surviving our first bus ride to NY and back (from NJ where we’re staying), a good breakfast every morning at our hotel to start the day off right.