No it’s not a sudden change in plan, it’s just the show Chicago. Everybody calm down. More on that later.

We didn’t have a matinee show to see today but Broadway was still calling, so our destination this morning was The Museum of Broadway. Well that was our second destination. Our first, a near(ish)by Bluestone Lane cafe – founded by Melburnians, so you an be sure the coffee is good. Very happy to say that yes it was very good indeed.

The museum itself was really interesting – a history of Broadway from its very beginning to the present day. The first show in New York was performed in … wait for it, 1732! I don’t think it had too much in the way of laser effects of Dolby stereo sound systems of whatever, but a show is a show. (The museum also discounts however many Native American events that took place on the land for who knows how many years before that)

All the theatres used to be Downtown (at the bottom of Manhattan), they later moved around the 40th-50th street district because (and this makes me laugh) the real estate was cheap 🙂

There were about 70 theatres in the area before the Great Despression, but of course that affected quite a few.

In the late 1960’s / early 1970’s, the whole area was kinda in peril – New York had a lot of crime, Times Square particularly, and it was a pretty sordid and seedy kind of place. The show creators even seemed to lost their way – with quite a few shows only last a week or two before closing down (which has to be a colossal waste of money and effort). But we all know how to story ends, everything bounced back slowly but surely and here we are. If you can believe what you read on the internet, there are 41 large theatres currently operation. Not 70, but still about 37 more than Sydney 🙂 (State, Lyric, Capitol, Theatre Royal, are there any I’ve forgotten?)

The museum had three floors of exhibits, a great big history chock full of shows of course, but also an interesting section on what it takes to to get a Broadway show happening these days – it doesn’t take a village, it feels more like a city. You need a good sized creative team to make it come to life, you need a theatre that will actually decide to show it, so you need a ton of financial backing … it can’t be an easy thing to pull off (as we learnt the other night at Smash, the musical about a musical). All the tech stuff required these days was also pretty cool -the sound desks and lighting arrangements and all the other stuff you don’t normally see, plus the stage manager who ‘calls’ the whole show making sure all the sounds lighting, actors etc all turn up and go away when they’re supposed too — with so many piece in motion it’s amazing any show works at all. The example they gave was for Wicket, where there about 125 staff in addition to all the cast and musicians, just making sure everything happens when it needs to happen and the show runs smoothly. It helps give a little perspective to the expensive theatre ticket prices. A LOT of work goes into it. I took way too many photos, here are some of them:

Next up was a small bit of nostalgia for us – lunch at a place we were really happy to discover on our first visit to New York – a casual dining place called Schnippers. Nice food, reasonable prices, so was good to drop in again and get one of the world’s largest Caesar Salad for me and some delicious gooey mac’n’cheese + sloppy joe (cooked mince) combo. Good stuff!

In the afternoon we popped up to the bar at the top of the hotel to take in some views and a cocktail because hey, did I mention we’re on holiday?

Tonight’s show was Chicago, at the Ambassador Theatre up on 49th St. While we were lucky enough to have tickets in the front row, I think this was one of those shows where it would have been better to be a rows back, or the front row of the mezzanine. It’s great that the performers use the whole width of the stage, but at times it’d be easy to get whiplash trying to cover what was going on.

One thing I loved about it was the band was literally on the stage – on tiered platforms so you could clearly see, and hear, every note, and every performer. They weren’t tucked away in a hole under the stage like most orchestras. There was still plenty of room downstage for all the performers, including famous (once Perry told me) plus-size supermodel Ashley Graham as Roxie Hart. Her looks? Flawless, she is absolutely gorgeous! Her acting? Great. Her dancing? Absolutely fine. Her singing?

Anyway, as we probably know the story is mostly about Roxie Hart and fellow alleged criminal Velma Kelly and their struggle to build their fame and careers of the back of their crimes. It’s a good story, well told, and I really like the fourth-wall-breaking that goes on throughout, where the show acknowledged that this is indeed a show, here for us to enjoy. I don’t know if it was just me but maybe for the first half hour or so the energy felt ever so slightly low. I guess doing a show day in day out, and especially on a Monday when nearly all other shows take a rest, may eventually take a toll – it wasn’t anything I could put my finger on really. Having now seen the show, I can only imagine how incredible Caroline o’Connor must have been when she performed as Velma, that must have been epic.

I know next to nothing about choreography, but I can identify a Fosse move when I see it. Almost everything is said through small movements – the roll of a shoulder, the curl of a wrist, and of course, ‘jazz hands’. It’s kinda sparse, very precise, and really makes you pay attention to the detail. Fantastic. I can see how he and Gwen Vernon caused a bit of a revolution when they arrived on the scene, and still to this day I guess.

It must be a difficult show to stage, despite the lack of sets, minimal props, minimal costume changes and so forth. Like they say on Masterchef, if you only have a few ingredients, they all have to be perfect as there’s nowhere to hide. So, the show as a whole didn’t quite hit those levels of perfection, but was still really enjoyable and a fun night out.

After that, the usual walk through Times Square which is still completely bonkers as usual. We popped into Maccas for dessert and it would have to be the bleakest one I’ve ever seen.

Before long we were back at the Hotel and I was able to FaceTime Dad, was good to have a chat.

That’s it for another day, hmm, might go see a show tomorrow! 🙂