Hairspray and Central Park (NY Day 2)

Saturday morning Ari and I dragged ourselves out of bed and headed out to Broadway. Ari has a friend in the cast of Hairspray who told us that they hold a raffle for discounted front-row tickets for the Saturday matinee. We met up with Travis at the theater and all put our names in the drawing. Wouldn’t you know it – Travis’s name was called first! And Ari’s was second! The third name they called was this boy who was about 10 and was on crutches. When they called his name he shrieked like a 3-year old girl and shouted, “I won! I won! I’ve never won anything in my whole life! I can’t believe I won!” It was adorable to see him so excited! He kind of reminded us of Tiny Tim because of the crutches and enthusiasm for life’s little joys.

After we secured our cheap tickets, we walked a block or two to a small diner for brunch. We grabbed a booth by the window, which provided endless entertainment during our meal. New York is really a great place to see a million different kinds of people!

We wandered back towards the theater, said goodbye to Travis, and walked up the street to Columbus Circle and one of the entrances to Central Park.

I LOVED Central Park! There was a crowd gathering down on one of the grassy patches – I’m not sure what they were protesting (we couldn’t read their signs from so far away), but Ari and I decided that it was something related to protecting natural habitats. We wandered through the park, past a playground, some softball fields, a carousel, and lots of people enjoying their Saturday.

Central Park

We stopped at Sheep Meadow, a place where people lounge and sunbathe that has a great shot of part of the skyline - a reminder that this peaceful park is in the heart of a busy city. It was a beautiful day, so there were a lot of people enjoying the weather!

Ari and me at Sheep Meadow

It was about time to head to the theater for the show, so we made our way back through Central Park. I was excited to see the play, and when we walked up to the front row, we realized we would be extremely close to the stage. In fact, there were a few times during the show that I was afraid someone would fall into my lap, or drop a prop on me, or spit on me while shouting (ew!). Fortunately, none of those things happened, but we were very close. The show was great! Ari’s friend was great, and there were a lot of relatively famous people in the cast (more info at http://www.hairspraythemusical.com/hairspray_home.php).

The best part was definitely after the show. Ari and I got to go backstage for a little tour with Travis! We got to see the sets, the wardrobe and hair rooms (they have over 100 wigs!!!), the props, and we even got to meet Tevin Campbell and George Wendt! Travis walked us out, past some of the cast signing autographs for waiting fans, and we thanked him profusely. He really helped make my New York trip memorable!