Hello lovely people! My posting schedule kind of went all sideways because I was busy getting ready to go to New York City with the Original Kids Theatre Company! I’m currently writing this post from a Starbucks on 43rd and 8th, and I am just basking in the gloriousness that is NYC! I’m going to try and take a few minutes every couple of days and share the highlights of what I’ve been up to.

We arrived in NYC on the morning of Thursday March 10 and went on a scavenger hunt around Times Square, getting re-acquainted (or in some cases, introduced!) to the Theatre District. The weather was insanely gorgeous, and we were all running around in t-shirts and tank tops! We were able to get into our hotel rooms around 3 pm, where we freshened up, hit up Shake Shack for dinner, and then went to our first show of the trip: School of Rock, based on the Jack Black film, playing at the Winter Garden Theatre. It was a fun show, with great music and an insanely talented group of kid actors who played all their own instruments in the band! It was a great way to start off this NYC adventure.

Friday was our first full day in the city, and it was a busy day! I started out the day getting rush tickets for Something Rotten with Cole, Brenton and Lia (warning: you will be hearing a LOT about Something Rotten below!). After snagging those tickets (front row, only $35!), we took the subway to Fifth Avenue, picked up J.P. and dropped off Lia, and had a leisurely stroll up Fifth Avenue. We dropped off J.P. at Rockefeller Center (it’s weird spelling it with an ER) and had fun exploring the Lego store and Nintendo World. We checked out the New York Public Library and then ran back to Rockefeller Center to meet up with a whole bunch of OKids to experience Top of the Rock. It’s an absolutely gorgeous view. It was also incredibly windy! I’ve been to the top of the Empire State Building but this was my first time checking out Top of the Rock.

We met back up with Lia and were joined by a couple other OKids for a nice dinner at Scarlatto, an Italian restaurant just steps away from our hotel. The gnocchi was fantastic. Zach and Nic headed off to The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-Time, which was just across the street. The rest of us were cutting it pretty close to our show though, and Cole, Brenton, Lia and I had to sprint to 44th street to get to Something Rotten on time!

Our sprint was TOTALLY worth it though. Something Rotten was ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE AND I AM OFFICIALLY OBSESSED WITH THIS SHOW. It’s side-splittingly hilarious and so cleverly written, and I am going back to see it again before the end of the trip. Seriously, it was that good. I’ve already bought the album on iTunes and I plan to have the score memorized by the end of the trip. When can I get the rights to this show?!?!

We stayed to get autographs at the stagedoor after the show and I got to meet Christian Borle… witness the awesome:

I only fangirled a little bit. 😉

Anyway — it’s been an amazing trip so far, and the trip has barely begun! I’m about to sign off to go catch a matinee of Shear Madness, and there is so much more that I’m looking forward to — Sleep No More on Monday night, a fight workshop with Jared Kirby on Tuesday, The Crucible on Wednesday afternoon, and of course I’m going to see Something Rotten again. I love this city!

Got any must-sees that I should check out while I’m in NYC?
Share your tips with me on Facebook, Twitter, or in the comments below!

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