Day 36 - FInal Day New York City

There wasn't much left that we felt we had to do today other than the Guggenheim museum it. The building is built as a spiral with some rooms off to the side. We started at the top and made our way down to the bottom there were some interesting pieces including some by Picasso and Van Gogh. There was also an interesting light exhibit that showed how using different shades of black and white with a light shining on them can make a 2D object look 3D.

Since that was the only thing to be done we walked through Central

Park a bit and grabbed some lunch.

From there I headed off to catch a matinee performance of Mamma Mia!, it was a great show. Had a basic but effective set and great singing and dancing. It also had comedy throughout. The tag line on one of the posters outsides says 'the most fun on broadway' and it was! Of all the shows I have been to I think it is the most fun I have had watching a show.

I grabbed some tea from T.G.I Fridays. It seems to be everywhere so thought I better give it a go. It reminded me a bit of Denny's but better food. I walked around a bit until 8pm when I went to my last show.

My last show was Jersey Boys. I was tempted to go see this when it was in Auckland but had no one to go with so glad I had the chance

to see it on Broadway instead. I went into it not knowing the story and only knowing a couple of the songs. I thought it was a good show and enjoyed how the story was told from four different perspectives. It wasn't the greatest show I have seen but definitively not the worse.

So in my time in New York I have managed to see 9 shows in 8 days, which I think is a pretty good effort. There is a variety of shows in the list and I liked them all for various reasons. In order of attendance:
Chicago: Simplicity, what they achieved with minimal set etc.
Rock of Ages: Funny, poked fun at itself and had classic rock anthems
Phantom of the Opera: Classic, everything was fantastic (story, songs, set) and a different style of show (opera)
Wicked: Story, fantastic story really well written
The Lion King: Costumes, these were fantastic in particular Timon

and Pumbaa
Spider-Man: Stunts, the aerial work was pretty cool
Annie: Feel-good, one of those stories that makes you feel good and the kids were pretty talented
Mamma Mia!: Entertaining, just all round fun and entertaining show
Jersey Boys: Arrangement, set suited the story perfectly and I enjoyed how the story was narrated.

As you can see there were parts of all of them that I liked, but I think I can actually choose a favorite show (and leave the rest unsorted). My favorite would have to be Phantom of the Opera. I think the reason is as above. It is simply a classic, it had everything: great set, memorable songs, great cast, classic story. It was fantastic and I would not hesitate at ever seeing it again!

Not sure when I will do another post, tomorrow morning will be pretty quiet, and then I will be taking the train to Newark in New Jersey to stay the night before my flight back to Los Angeles, I then stay the night in Los Angeles before flying to Honolulu. So the next blog post will possibly not be until I am in my final stop of the trip: Hawaii. But we will see!