Something Bad is Happening in Oz

It was a good day, it was a boring day; it was a day of wonderment, it was a day of nothingness; it was a day of surprises, it was a day of predictability; it was a day of Broadway, it was a day of reading.

And so begins Day 4 of New York.

I woke up later than usual (actually enjoying sleeping in for once) and then had to figure out what I wanted to do. Obviously, I didn't want to do much. Bearing weight on my ankle was not a pleasing idea, so my choices were limited. I decided to stay inside the apartment (as some of you online figured out) and read in the morning, if nothing else than to help my ankle heal so that I can an explorer later on in the week.

But first, I was hungry. I decided to venture outside to the corner to pick up a NY Times and a bagel. That was an extremely painful experience and I almost turned around. Hunger, however, prevailed and I hobbled on with my mission.

Then nothing interesting happened for the next hours. I read the NY Times, updated my blog, e-mailed people, chatted online, read my friends' blogs, read a book. I was just waiting for 3:30.

You see, in NY many plays/musicals have a lottery system. A couple of hours before the show, you can line up and put your name in a basket. If they draw your name, you can purchase either front row seats or box seats for $20-$26, depending on the show (I think I mentioned this the other day with "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"). Many shows offer lotteries at the same time, and you have to be present to win, so you must attack this lottery system with strategy. I did my research and found three lotteries an hour apart from each other - "Wicked" at 4:30, "Avenue Q" at 5:30 and "The Drowsy Chaperone" at 6:30. "Avenue Q" is one of my must-see shows while I'm here, while the others I would just go because of opportunity.

Anyway, off I went to the first lottery. There must've been about 200 people there and "Wicked" only allotted 25 tickets. And I was chosen!! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I had front-row tickets to "Wicked" for $25. I've never seen the show, but I have the cast recording so I was excited.

I had two hours to kill in between the lottery and the show so I went to a Starbucks on Broadway and 51st to read and people watch. As I was people-watching, who do I see walk by, but one of my freshmen. Seriously. One of my students is in NY (knowing my students, that surprised the hell out of me). He's a good student, so I went out there to say hello. He said he was on a field trip with some youth group. I didn't recognize the other students he was with, so it must've been church-related.

Then off to "Wicked"! It was amazing. The guy playing Fiyero - I've seen him before so I'm going to look his name up. And Carol Kane (from "The Princess Bride" and others) was in it! The show was wonderful. It was fun to see how they tied everything from "The Wizard of Oz" in; it was very cleverly written. It's coming to Houston in the early spring, and I recommend seeing it. Actually, I might read the book because it might be a good book to teach the kids on perspective. This is the story of Glinda and The Wicked Witch of the West and East from their perspectives and the cleverness is really quite apparent. Hmm. Maybe I'll go to The Strand bookstore and pick up a copy (along with "A Tale of Two Cities").

Today I'm going to stay put until the lotteries for the matinee. I'm going to put my name in the hat for "Rent." If I get it, it's only $20. If I don't, I'll go to the bookstore and go on mission #2 (people keep giving me missions. One is to find a specific blue coffee cup, another is to get a jar of half-sours from the Pickle Guy and the third is to eat a Nathan's hotdog). And then tonight I'll try to get front-row seats to "Avenue Q."

Oh, and I want to figure out how to see "The Late Show With David Letterman."

Cheers!