Shaun went out to get us a morning coffee and Brett worked out how to navigate the shower control, then we went our separate ways - Brett went to a Star Wars (could be Star Trek...) exhibit, Shaun went shopping and I headed down to Grand Central Station for a look. They have 45-minute audio tours available so I got my map and my headset and set off.
It's a great tour. Starts at the information desk in the big hall. Has an information bit first, then you can listen to the secret/interesting point about the same section. So facts like the people at the information booth answer thousands of questions every day (and they have recordings of some actual questions) and interesting bits like the centre of the booth, behind the doors, is a spiral staircase going down to the next level and then down again to a break area for the workers.
Facts like the station was built in 1913 by the Vanderbilts and 700,000 people go through there every day. Interesting bits like the decorations of acorns and oak trees are everywhere coz the Vanderbilts had them for a motto - from acorns grow mighty oak trees - like the Vanderbilt family fortune.
Went all over the terminal, listening to it all, very interesting and quite a magnificent building.
The food hall below is designed to look like the inside of a carriage.
There is a clock carved into the wall which is where eastern standard time originated from. Grand central wanted to centralise all the time zones and it was based from here.
A market on the lower level as well - great looking produce.
The chandeliers in the main hall were designed with exposed light bulbs on the outside as it was built at a time when electricity had just begun and light bulbs showed wealth. They are lovely.
There is also the Biltmore room where the luxury trains went from, the most luxurious being the 20th Century. Apparently they used to roll out a red carpet out for passengers of that train and that's where that term came from. There are old-style shoe shiners (is that the term??)
Stopped for brunch down in the lower level and then headed down to have a coffee before meeting Shaun at Hamilton - the hardest-to-get tickets of Broadway - it is booked out months and months in advance but I had managed to find tickets in our price range. People queue for hours to get into this show!
All the Broadway theatres don't have big foyers so you have to queue up almost around the block. A guy comes along every now and then to make sure people in the line actually have tickets. We eventually move into the theatre and it is pretty exciting. We are in the second level and have a great view. The set looks incredible... The lady was kind enough to offer to take our photo while Shaun was trying to get a selfie - the angle was difficult...
A mother and teenager came to sit next to us and the girl was crying, she was that excited to be there! Hilarious! The audience wasn't really a theatre savvy crowd - there was the girl next to me who started eating lollies, one by one out of a crinkling bag - Shaun told her to stop, which was good because otherwise it would have continued right through the show. In front of us was another mother and teenager, the teen was mouthing the words and hip hoping, and the mother was trying to hip hop along with her - sad attempt.
The show started and it was like a rock concert - the crowd went wild!! Every time a different character came on, they screamed and applauded! The show itself was one of the best we have ever seen - just incredible! The music and style was fantastic, the staging and choreography was brilliant, the cast were phenomenal - both the leads and the ensemble - the ensemble work was sensational and sometimes you'd watch them as much as the leads. Soooooooooo good. We came out at interval and were speechless - just couldn't... Beyond words.
Show over and we walked, speechlessly, up to a store where Shaun wanted to try on a top we saw last night on the hunt for hats for the boys. Lovely top and he got it.
Then to meet the other two, who had been at another show, for coffee, at our nice place...
..before heading to dinner...
..we got a cute little balcony table.
Then it's off to our second show of the day - it's Wednesday - matinee day. Tonight it's Falsettos - another of our favourites and with an amazing cast. It's such a great show and the cast is so fantastic, it's the only show that could possibly follow Hamilton today.
Just coz these photos make me laugh...
Spectacular cast, really well staged, amazing singing and a great book - what more can you ask for? A much more theatre savvy crowd, except the woman next to me was yawning and chatting a bit. Neil Patrick Harris was there with his husband, so that was cool.
This was a pretty amazing day at the theatre.
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