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September 27th 2009

Published: September 27th 2009

Upon arrival at JFK Airport it was with stinging eyes (due to watching about four or five films during the flight from Melbourne, accompanied by a few splashes of red wine) that we boarded the subway to make our way to our accommodation in Soho. After what seemed like an unending journey, we finally arrived at our hostel, only to be informed by a giant of man in a black leather coat and hat who spoke in a deep baritone that the hostel had been closed down by the NYPD that day due to it being a fire trap! So, after spending 24 hours in transit, we now were in New York City on a Saturday night without accommodation and the sun had long ago sunk below the horizon. It would be fair to say that we were a little flustered. Thankfully, the police hadn't terminated the hostel's solitary Internet terminal, so we searched for somewhere else to stay, but it was looking rather dire as everywhere we checked was booked out. In the end, we decided to forget about saving money and just booked in somewhere that had a a vacancy. We found a place that turned out to be only a block from Times Square and this reckless spending of money on our first night seems to have remained with us ever since, but by God we are having a magnificent time in this brilliant city!

Where to begin? In the middle of Times Square (which, by the way, is brighter than the midday sun once night comes on, due to the enormous flashing, sparkling and ever changing billboards) there is a TKTS booth which sells discount tickets to Broadway shows. On our first day, we decided to line up here and try our luck for some tickets to the musical 'Hair'. It saved us a pretty penny and the musical itself was brilliant and still relevant, despite being written for the 'Age of Aquarius' generation. Even though I knew that there was a nude scene in this musical, it still managed to completely catch me by surprise. Somehow I didn't realise that members of the cast were removing items of apparel until all of a sudden I was staring at a row of naked bodies belting out the words of a song in wonderful harmony. I'd never been to a production quite like 'Hair', with the stage being only one part of the performance space, as the cast tended to be in the audience as much as they were on the stage. In fact, by the closing song (the soul lifting 'Let the Sun Shine'😉 there were far more audience members on the main stage than there were members of the cast. It was such an uplifting and moving experience that when I emerged from the theatre I was buzzing and felt incredibly excited about the time ahead in this city.

'Hair' certainly whetted my appetite for live theatre and I have since been wowed by the spell-binding production of 'Wicked' (pardon the pun) which also had many relevant themes for our current political and social climate. On another night I found new levels of respect for the acting skills of Jude Law who was phenomenal as Hamlet in the London production of Shakespeare's play which is currently showing on Broadway. These shows were vastly different from the energy-filled exuberance of 'Stomp' which relied solely on percussion without a single word being uttered, with their instruments ranging from brooms, matchboxes, paper bags and their own bodies to rubbish bins, rubber pipes and kitchen sinks.

Added to this, we have also been to a couple of concerts, the first of which was a band called the 'Yeah Yeah Yeahs' who we have both been fans of for some time. They were playing at the spectacular Radio City Music Hall and it was a homecoming of sorts for this one time indie New York band. During their encore, the lead singer (the fiesty and electrifying Karen O) almost became overwhelmed by emotion and struggled to sing one of the songs as she fought to control her emotions. The interior of Radio City Music Hall was designed over a hundred years ago by a guy who was mesmerised by viewing the sun rise over the Atlantic as he was aboard a cruise ship from Europe to America. As only the elite could afford such a voyage, he wished to give all visitors to Radio City Music Hall the same experience, which he actually achieved. It felt as if you were looking at a sunrise! It is a truly impressive venue - even the toilets each have an opulent entrance lounge, with comfortable chairs to rest in whilst staring at the artwork upon the walls.

On another evening we went so see an American band who go by the name of 'Yo La Tengo'. They are an interesting group who we were introduced to by way of a C.D. which was a Christmas present a few years back (thanks T.C.!). Their show was at the Roseland Ballroom and one of the highlights was the stand-up comedian who entertained the crowd between the acts. Not only was he a funny Englishman, but he was a brave man, as evidenced by him performing an entire skit to a capacity American audience on how American people are idiots - and they lapped it up! I'm sure the irony wasn't lost upon him.

Aside from theatre outings, we have been soaking up the New York atmosphere and way of life. We have become quite accustomed to having a toasted bagel for breakfast, with cream cheese filling. This habit was creating a sense of guilt about our diet (especially when considering the burgers and fries we were eating at diners and the like), so we have also been going for daily jogs along the winding paths of Central Park. This is a place where serenity can be found if you need some respite from the hustle and bustle of the city streets. Its sheer size and layout enables you to find a quiet nook all to yourself, if you so desire. It's a wonderful park and, for me, makes living in the city a viable prospect. Another great place to sit and unwind is Washington Square, which is located at the southern end of Fifth Avenue in Greenwich Village. Having read and taught the novel 'Washington Square' by Henry James earlier this year, I was keen to see the actual setting for myself and was so taken by it that we returned a few days later to spend some more time relaxing there. There is a corner where you can take on some locals in games of chess, in other parts there are usually some excellent buskers performing (including a phenomenal group called the 'Baby Soda Jazz Band' on one occasion - I even bought their C.D.) and I even saw the house where Henry James grew up (No. 21). This is quite a literary area, with Mark Twain also having lived in the neighbourhood, as well as a poet (Edna St. Vincent Millay - the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry!) who lived in the smallest house in New York City - it's only 3m wide!

We have also visited a few of the famous buildings, such as the Empire State and the Rockefeller Centre, which both afford stunning views of the city from atop their art deco designs. 'Top of the Rock' at Rockefeller was better, in my opinion, as it takes in more of the city and has a superb unobstructed view of Central Park. As it was a Wednesday, we just happened to be there when it turns into a jazz lounge, which created a great atmosphere. On the day we visited the Rockefeller Centre, we were making our way to the NBC studios when we were asked if we would like to be audience members for 'The Dr Oz Show'. We went along and found the whole thing rather amusing. Apparently he found his fame as a guest on Oprah and now has his own show. Firstly, before the show began we had to be filmed making certain reactions, such as laughing, confused, a shocked gasp and a knowing/approving nod. Needless to say, it was rather hard to take all this seriously, especially the shocked gasp which ended up being just a whole lot of laughter. The show finally got under way and there was an interesting segment on hermaphrodites, obviously as a result of the South African athlete Caster Semenya who won at the recent World Championships in Berlin. Did you know they're as common as people born with red hair? Anyway, Dr Oz is a man with an enormous ego - how else can you explain having an assistant who between segments dashes out to you to pour your mug of coffee into your mouth and tuck your shirt in for you? Most of the audience had pre-booked their tickets to sit in and watch this guy in action, so we felt a little guilty sitting in there for free, but it was a laugh and there may even be some footage of us on TV in America!

On another day we visited the Statue of Liberty, which was most interesting for learning about its construction. I didn't realise that the internal supporting framework was actually designed by Gustave Eiffel (of Paris fame) and the process of creating the mould for belting the copper into the necessary shape really needs to be seen to appreciate how time-consuming and laborious this task must have been. Thankfully we were on the second ferry for the day to visit the Statue, for when we left we noticed that the queue to visit was at least two hours long (which is largely due to the multiple security checks you have to pass though, including a particle analysis for explosive residue. Oh the irony of going through this stringent process in order to visit a celebration of liberty!). Next stop was Ellis Island and it was very interesting and humbling to learn about the trials of those who made their way to the shores of America in the hope of a new life. It also helped explain the unique inflections heard in the New York accent.

We have also walked along the Brooklyn Bridge which is a remarkable feat of engineering for its time, as well as visiting Wall Street and seeing where George Washington was sworn in as the first President of the United States (I think there were only 13 states at that time). In fact, we had lunch that day at a tavern which is where he bid farewell to his Officers when he retired as General of the army prior to being named as President. By chance, this tavern had the original copy of Magna Carta on loan from England, as well as the Declaration of Independence and the original hand written copy of the poem 'The New Colossus' written by Emma Lazarus for the Statue of Liberty, which was placed upon a plaque at the base of the statue (it contains the famous lines "Give me your tired, your poor..." etc.).

Another excellent exhibit was the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Soho. Highlights for me were original handwritten poems by Jim Morrison, letters between Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel when they were just teenagers working at summer camps, letters to fans by members of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix's guitar, the piano John Lennon wrote 'Imagine' on and the temporary exhibit put together by Yoko Ono, which included the brown paper bag of the clothes John Lennon was wearing the day he was murdered. I felt a hollowness in the pit of my stomach looking at this and found it hard to talk for a little while afterwards. Beside this was a photo that Yoko Ono had taken of John Lennon's shattered and blood stained eye-glasses. It hit me with a thump.

This has become rather long and involved, so if you have managed to get this far - well done! I probably would have given up by now.

Next stop: Washington D.C.

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