BROADWAY!

After 2 days of street-wandering and factory outlet shopping, it's time to sit back, relax and enjoy the city life in Manhattan. What better place to start than:



Have got to say, NYkers love their theatres, musical and plays! The atmosphere is really upbeat as long queues formed outside more than 30 theatres, each waiting to get his/her prized ticket and eagerly anticipating its twice-daily perfomance. Billboards and ads are everywhere at Times Square.

Disney Broadway shows:

Lion King:

All great shows, I'm sure. However, I'm one of those sceptics who needs to be convinced of the value of anything I buy, & theatre ticket definitely falls into the list of 'To Be Evaluated'. So to be sure we're getting our money's worth, we bought the tix to the Phantom of The Opera (longest running Broadway shows: 20 years & going strong!) since it's supposedly the most well-known Broadway musical EVER!

Yes Phantom, take us to your lair tonight!

So we arrived at the Majestic theare (where Phantom has been/is still showing), and saw this:

Had to stand at the end of the queue around 50 metres from the entrance! The line moved pretty fast though, and we were inside within 10 mins.

Pre-Phantom chatters:

The famed Phantom stage:

With a bit lighting twist to make it feel more Phantomy:

& for the next 2.5 hours, we were taken into the amazing world of theatre performance. Magnificient performance/singing by the stage actors, out-of-the-world stage settings, & extravagant costumes filled the night as it brought priceless entertainment to the audience. No amount of superlatives would be sufficient to convey my appreciation for the show that was put on before us that night, & there was not a single moment when it did not carry us emotionally with it throughout the show. The music featured in the show was so touching and apt that I still have it ringing in my head right now! In a fitting ending, the audience gave a standing ovation to the great actors that gave us immense pride to just be there and witness the world-class performance, which is nothing more than what they deserve.


Particularly loved the perfomance from Marni Raab, who played the role of Christine Daae, the lead female role in Phantom. She looked so guile & vulnerable, yet possessed the strongest vocal the role asked for. Phantom has got to be the biggest stage she could ask for to display her talent, and she fully deserved to be there.


Went back that night thinking how crazy it'd be not to catch another Broadway show when we were still at NY, so we decided to get tix for either Mamma Mia or Chicago the next evening. In the morning while we were walking to the theatres to get the tix, I suddenly had a thought, 'hell, if both are gd, WHY NOT BOTH??'.... and that's what we ended up doing!


Mamma mia in the afternoon session:


Mamma Mia is a comedy/musical play, and although it lacks in the stage setting, it makes up for it it in the entertainment value. Enjoyed the show as the atmosphere was really uplifting, and definitely felt like back in the disco 70s!

& Chicago in the evening!:

Chicago on the other hand is a darker show with a classic feel. Again there wasn't much of a stage setting, as most of the stage is taken by the orchestra, which left the performers with little space to move about. Dark humor through & through, and definitely a must-watch for technical performances.

.... & that concluded my Broadway weekend. 3 different shows of 3 different genres in just 2 days! Undoubtedly, picking Phantom as my virgin Broadway experience has got to be a good decision because it really ignited the passion to watch more and more theatre plays, even though it did set a really HIGH bar for future shows.

.......... & if I forgot to mention it, YES BROADWAY IS WELL WORTH IT!