Day 4 in New York (My Favorite Day!)

               3 months later...if anyone still cares about my trip! But I'm also doing this for my own memory sake so I apologize! As I mentioned before I got there on a Wednesday, and Saturday was the day I could hardly wait for. Broadway. Now, I have to take a moment and just try to capture my excitement in text. I was plenty excited the other 2 days we drove into Manhattan. But this day...oh it was different. Almost emotional I was so excited. I was only about to do the one thing I always dreamed of since I was little. (I know that was cheesy.) But it's true-I remember when I was really really little-as soon as I knew what New York was or what broadway was-I just had to go so bad!!!

          So to actually be on the road on my way to go see NEWSIES ON BROADWAY was hard for me to believe. I was kind of having a hard time breathing in the car and-I'm not kidding, I remember the pain in my stomach from being so excited. I literally was hurting because I couldn't stand it!!! And at times on the way over as I was imagining Time Square I got a bit teary eyed. So it was the BIGGEST deal to me. (Not to mention Newsies opened in March, so it hasn't been out that long, but when it came out I have never had the desire to see something so bad.) I still can't believe I got to go and it feels like a dream kind of. Even though I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the most unreal experience!

               I think it might partly be because Time Square is just in so many movies and on T.V. and it seems like you see it alot, so it was too thrilling that I was about to go there!!!!!

                 Going to the show was me, Sara, and Sara's sister who was also in town for part of when I was there. It was an afternoon show. So we go and park in the weird parking garages and go walk on Broadway until we find the Nederlander Theatre! 

               30 minutes of being antsy and hyperventilating later....I was in my seats. So so so grateful and in awe that I was there. And then the music started. And I was in a dream.

Jack Kelly and "Crutchie" came and and sang Santa Fe and I was just soaking it in. Just in the first 2 minutes of those two characters being on stage I haven't ever seen such good acting and singing. It's amazing it was such a short time and I already could tell how good they were. Well after the first song Santa Fe, which my jaw was on the floor by the end of, I had just died., And then in the second song (which I already knew and was my favorite song)-I went to heaven. The second song which is a more up beat dancing happy number.....I found tears on my face within 20 seconds of it starting. Just the whole song, tears streaming, my smile getting bigger and bigger. Like I also have never smiled so hard!! I remember my dress was getting wet and my mouth was hurting. After I saw that number...I just can't describe how I felt during Newsies! 

On the way, I tweeted to @Newsies and said I was coming from SLC  and was ecstatic! They replied back. 

Time Square-in the day

Mary Poppins was across the street. Just got a picture by the sign for fun. :)

Oh! Outside waiting in line, they were playing the cast recording from the show and I was DYING.

The stage from our seats

 We were in the balcony, but it was a small theatre, at least to what I was expecting. I thought it was going to be like the Capitol Theatre, but it wasn't really possible to have a bad seat in this theatre.

Sara and I

My first Broadway program!

So it was better than I imagined, and I didn't even know it was possible to be at the level of performance this show was. It was just incredible. Spectacular. I just fell in love with this show. Afterwards, which was a surprise to me, some of the cast would come outside to sign autographs. But if you weren't at the gate first, people wouldn't move so I couldn't really get any pics but that's okay. I was hoping Thayne Jasperson would come out but he didn't. Speaking of Thayne Jasperson-he is from Utah and he was on "So You Think You Can Dance". And then he was the main guy in Footloose at Tuacahn, and we all LOVED him and thought he was the best dancer/preformer we'd ever seen. So now he is on Broadway and it's so cool! Here are some pics of the cast afterward.

Seee these darn fences, people wouldn't move! It's kind of cool though, you just see most of the cast walk out in their normal clothes and go on their way. You could be passing Broadway people all day and never know.

This little boy was in it! So good!

We then walked around Time Square a bit, went into the GIANT ToysRUs. It was like gigantic. There was a ferris-wheel inside. Huge. And then we went into the NBC store! LOVED IT!! They had really cool souveneirs of like The Office, Seinfeld, Friends, Jimmy Fallon, Parks and Rec, Community-it was just a neat store. I got me and Jesse mugs from Friends like the ones in Central Perk. And I got my mom a mug from the Office the one that says World's Best Boss. Then I saw Rockefeller Center and I saw where the Ice Skating would be in the winter. Then we went to 34th street and went inside the huge Macys that had 9 floors or something. It would be easy to get lost inside.
 We went to the Empire State building, but it was $50 dollars to go all the way to the top and a huge line, and it wasn't on the top of my list. So we went inside but not the top. After we got dinner it was dark outside. And I was about to see Time Square at night!! WAHOO!

ToysRUs Ferris Wheel

Inside the ToysRUs

It was like disneyland- dressed up spiderman and charcters. 

Where the ice skating is in the winter. Otherwise it is an eating place. 

AND now...Time Square lights and all!

Macy's on 34th Street

I don't understand how MORE people are here on New Year's Eve!

Across from the city. It looked so cool that night!

Preformance Workshop

Rhonda Carlson has taught theatre and writing at a number of universities throughout the country, including The Boston Conservatory and The University of Nevada. As a playwright/composer, her original musical, DEAR EMMA, has received critical acclaim from such sources as The LA Times and The Las Vegas Review Journal. She recently won The Larry Corse International Playwrighting Competition for her play, FLY OVER LAND. The piece was premiered at Columbus State University. Rhonda has produced and directed over 200 productions, but her first love is teaching. Her students have appeared on Broadway and in national tours, and her workshops have been featured from coast to coast.


I was lucky enough to get the chance to sing in a workshop with Rhonda this weekend. My voice teacher originally just wanted me to come and observe, but a slot opened up and she got me a chance to sing with her! I learned so much in the 3 hours. There were 6 of us who were signed up to sing. And the age ranged from 15 to 30 in this particular workshop. And the songs ranged from people's original songs to pop to country to musical theatre. It wasn't particularly a singing workshop as it was a performance workshop. She got every one to connect to the audience teaching us so many differnt ways we could do it. And it was amazing!

After each person preformed their 2nd or 5th time after taking her instructions, some of the audience or they just cried because they were really relating to the audience. She got everyone to play make believe without wondering what anyone else was thinking and it was so cool!!! I am so lucky I got to do it.

Then after it was over she talked to me and said "Is this something you wanna do? Cause you can really do this. You have a natural instinct and you have a good chance at getting into some of the best musical theatre Universities out there."

It was so crazy. Then the next day I went to 2 more 3 hour sessions to just observe and more professional people sang at these workshops. Holy cow Utah really has so much talent. This one guy who sang was So good like I can't even tell you. Rhonda said to him "Where are you auditioning right now? Vegas? New York?" And he was like , "Just here in Utah." Then she said, "I am telling you if you auditioned for Phantom in Vegas they would have cast you as Raoul. They would have cast you as Raoul."

I thought it was really cool and it was so cool! I was very nervous to sing though but it is good to get out of your comfort zone.