Although we were not able to sell Marvin's hotel room or show ticket in order to have money for expenses, we somehow made it go right for the three of us to go to New York. Trying to feel holiday cheer when you are worried you've just been scammed along with your sister, your husband and your friend, is not an easy task! But being in NYC for the holidays and seeing some Broadway shows was on my sister's bucket list. So, I swallowed my discontent as best as I could.
I had prepaid for three hotel rooms at a great rate in a nice hotel near Central Park. Since we only needed two rooms, the manager of the hotel was kind enough to at least give me and Gene a room with a view of the Park as a gesture for losing the non-refundable fees for Marvin's room.
The view from that room had a beautiful but dismal feeling about it. I snapped a shot with my phone because it captured how I was feeling right then. I felt gray...
We had hoped to go see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular that night, but the sale tickets were gone by the time we got to the TKTS booth in the middle of Time's Square. So, we had something to eat and then walked around in the cold, Winter night.
Rockefeller Center was nearby. I thought it might be nice for Renee to see the big Christmas tree and the ice skating rink. Of course, she got some great pictures.
The next morning, I let Gene sleep in while I went over to my sister's room just down the hall. She was so excited to be there and wanted to get outside to see the sights. We were able to get discount tickets for the Radio City Show that afternoon.
Even though the weather was freezing with flurries of snow, walking the seven blocks to Radio City Music Hall was not too bad, especially when you are holding the arm of a husband you love dearly. Renee stopped at some of the street vendors to find a knitted beret. Then, we waited in the show line for a short while.
The gnawing in my stomach over the situation with Marvin was somewhat dulled as I watched my sister's enthusiasm upon entering Radio City Music Hall. She is a photographer amongst her many other talents, and her camera was now being engaged from nearly every angle in this most festive and iconic theater lobby.
I love watching artists as they devour their craft! Renee was in her element!
After the creative photo shoot in the lobby, we filed into the famous theater itself. Our seats were not too far from the stage, which was pretty cool considering we got them at a substantial discount. As the audience took their seats, an elderly gent sat next to Gene. He was alone. My sister looked at me with the telepathic message that we should invite him to go with us to see Billy Crystal later that night. So, Gene and I struck up a conversation with him.
The old gent had indeed come alone to visit the city and see a few shows. His wife had died years earlier. We asked him if he'd like to join us later that evening to see Billy Crystal, and he agreed. We all then gazed at the perfection of this magnificent Christmas Spectacular, decorated with the dazzling Rockettes and sprinkled with 3-D technology, grand sets and beautiful music. It was a glorious experience I highly recommend!
After the show, we walked back to our hotel to rest. But the walk was overflowing with holiday scenery, so Renee's camera and artistic eye were hard at work the entire way!
I have to say that the store windows in Bergdorf Goodman were the most beautiful of all! Thank goodness the store was right next to our hotel because it was really cold outside!
That night, we walked for about 40 minutes to get to the theater where Billy Crystal was performing his one-man show, "700 Sundays." We were on a budget, so walking was the cheapest way to get to where we needed to go!
We waited to make sure the older gent we had invited earlier found us in the theater lobby. I took a picture of him with my sister once we arrived at our seats.
I was so happy that we could put Marvin's ticket to good use. And, I was even happier to finally get to see Billy Crystal in this particular show. You see, I had read the book ten years ago, and I absolutely fell in love with it and him. I was in NYC when he first performed the show around the time I read the book, but I did not get a chance to see it. This was to be his last time ever to perform the play and I was finally there to witness it in person. Here is a picture of the set from our seats in the mezzanine.
If you haven't read the book, "700 Sundays," please consider doing so. It is about Billy's family and the number of Sundays he had with his father until he died. The story captivates you and Billy Crystal is one of the best performers ever to grace a stage. I was in hog heaven!
In the play, Billy talks about how he either wanted to be a Yankee baseball player, a comic, or a comic Yankee baseball player. He said he wasn't sure if he could be a great ball player but that when he saw comedians performing in the Catskills, he looked at them and said, "That, I can do!"
Well, I looked at Billy Crystal performing up on that stage in a play he had written and I said to my husband and my sister, "That, I can do!" I was exhilarated! It was the perfect night...well, except that Marvin never did get any money into our bank account and I had to figure out a way to see a few more shows so that my sister did not feel cheated. It was important, so I figured it out.
There is a thing called "General Rush Tickets" wherein people can stand in line before a theater opens in the morning to get what they call "rush" tickets at a very low price. Normally, I would never get up early and walk blocks in the cold just to wait in line for over an hour to save some money. But, for my sister...yes, and these "rush" tickets were all only $37! (Renee and Heidi in hotel lobby)
I made a plan for the following morning. Gene and I would walk Renee over to the theater that had rush tickets for "Pippin," because she really wanted to see that. Gene and I had seen it already, so we would go to another theater that had rush tickets for a new show called "After Midnight." We would all buy matinee tickets and then meet at the TKTS booth in Time's Square to buy discount tickets for another show that evening. That was the plan. I set my alarm and went to sleep.
(I will continue the NYC trip on the next blog post. I hope you will join my "followers" by clicking on the "join this site" icon to the top right of any blog post. It will help me in many ways and I'd really appreciate the company and support! See you next post! Heidi)
