Do you remember this
Staples commercial? It just popped into my head.
The favorite time of the
year they are referring to is of course the fall and going back to school.
But my favorite time of
year is fastly approaching and passing us by. I am doing all of my planning
now. It gets me excited just thinking about it. I am always the busiest in the
spring and early summer because that is when the new shows are opening on
Broadway and when all of the tickets to the hot summer concerts go on sale. It
is also the best time to take road trips and plan adventures for spending the
day in the city going on tours and exploring. Not only are the flowers starting
to bloom but so is my schedule! This type of weather before it is too hot or
too cold is too rare to waste without properly planning ahead. I have no
intention of that ever happening.
Patti Lupone on the
soundtrack to Gypsy says it best:
Originally when the idea
for this blog popped into my mind I was only half serious about doing it. “My
busy season”, what does that even mean? But as the days progressed and I
started to write dates on my calendar I noticed how many weekends in a row I
was busy. However, now I am booked through July! Prior to this season I was
only booked up to April, if you don’t count weddings and family occasions.
As I attempted to keep my
weekends free, it appeared the harder I tried the less successful I became. Now
I am not complaining. I was finding out about events that were too good to pass
up.
So when tickets did come
out I knew she would be spending only one night in my city the date didn’t
matter. I would make it work. Sure enough once that date was locked in I found
out about another once in a lifetime opportunity. It was to see Joan Rivers
(three blogs from now) perform. It was a show I found out about
matter-of-factly and almost missed out on. That was the night after the Alicia
Keys concert. I knew that would be a rough few days for me and my migraine
ridden head but I was not given up either opportunity. Somehow I would make it
work.
From the beginning of this
year I knew the hottest play in town would be “Ann”. I had been waiting at least
a year for it to come to Broadway. It stars the incomparable Holland Taylor. As
this is my next blog entry I am doing everything in my power right now not to
explode and dedicate the next six pages just on this topic. We will have our
time for that tomorrow I promise and it will be well worth it. Okay I am
starting to slip. Next topic. Okay one more thing I got my ticket just as soon
as the play opened so I knew that was a must for my spring season. I am moving
on now like they taught me in the home I will undoubtedly be put in one day for
my tangents and stalking, I mean adoration of Holland Taylor and all things Ann
Richards.
Since this was the only
play I had my eye on I was looking more towards concerts this year. After all
last year I had seen more Broadway shows than at any time previously in my
life, including setting my all time high record of seeing three in one week! (http://thequeenoff-ckingeverything.blogspot.com/2012/06/for-best-man-and-woman.html)
This appeared to be my year
of concerts. They were finding their way to me, I wasn’t even really looking.
But everywhere I turned or magazine I read, I found out about another show I
wanted to go to. After Alicia Keys the next performance I had to see was New
Kids on the Block (NKOTB). I know that might seem a little random but I have
not seen them perform since I was six years old. Not even since they are “back”
so to speak in business. I feel like once more as adult is needed. This is sort
of what led me to see Debbie Gibson last year. (http://thequeenoff-ckingeverything.blogspot.com/2011/07/for-evening-with-real-debbie-gibson.html)
The only other concert I wanted to
see, was actually desperate to see, was Beyonce. Here is where things went
awry. At first she was only
performing one night, the closing night of her tour, at the Barclay Center in
Brooklyn, New York. That is a
brand new venue that her husband Jay-Z owns, but that will get reviewed later
on in another blog. Safe to say I knew it would be a great show and about
twenty minutes from my house so I was in. Actually it was the night of the
Super Bowl I knew I wanted to see her live again. I had been meaning to for
years but she hasn’t really be touring. I know she is putting out a new album
and would be traveling again. I had seen her many years ago when she was part
of Destiny’s Child when they were just one of the groups performing at Z100’s
Zootopia Concert. That was back in 2000 which was a concert held every summer
in the N.Y./ N.J. tri-state area which stopped in 2009. They were actually pretty good. It is funny that they had their brief reunion on stage again this year when I thought I might finally get to see a Beyonce show but it was not in the cards for me. I have to tell you why because everyone else around me is sick of hearing it. And, it's a good cautionary tale.
Whenever I know I am
attempting to get tickets to a popular event I am a good little soldier and
make sure that I am logged in and on the website and on hold with the ticket
agent by the magic time those tickets go on sale. I have never ever had a
problem before and I have seen many sold out shows. However on said date and
time I had no luck. The website froze and the lines went dead. The sale had
crashed multiple websites. So the next day another show was added. I repeated
the process once again getting my hopes up. Guess what happened? Another show
was added. Rinse and repeat. This went on for days. I am not even sure how many
days she is performing her farewell tour performance there at this point. It
can be anywhere between three to fourteen days. I don’t care I will not lower
myself to look. Worse than the pain of being a loser was finding out why I
lost. I already knew it wasn’t from lack of trying.
I just couldn’t let it go.
Apparently no one else could either. How could thousands of seats disappear
into thin air? Well they didn’t exist in the first place. The reasons why are
incredible. You can’t make this kind of stuff up. It started online and then
across media everywhere I saw how scalpers had been given access to seats
before they went on sale at record levels, and not to mention prices, unseen at
previous shows. But my all time favorite is that tickets were exchanged as a
reward for turning in firearms!! If ever I wish I had a gun……………
Going forward I will be
looking to see music groups at places more intimate and with more personality
than mass venues who apparently don’t need to care about their customers. Two
of my favorites are Joe’s Pub and 54 Below. Joe’s Pub held the album release
party for Megan Hilty (of Smash fame) this week and 54 Below has many legends
grace its stage such as our good friend Ms. Lupone. But even though such super
starts perform at these places doesn’t mean indie artists can’t. That’s the
best part. One of the most talented artists I am lucky enough to know, Mr. Levi
Kreis, (http://thequeenoff-ckingeverything.blogspot.com/2012/12/for-new-venue-where-performers-are-just.html) introduced me to both introduced me to both locations.
He is definitely someone to keep on your radar and visit nation-wide.
Besides plays and
concerts, what I am most excited for are the many cultural events that I am
eager to pursue. Recently I visited the New York Historical Society (see
previous blog) and now there are many more exhibits and museums on my list.
Currently I am waiting for the Intrepid Museum to complete the work it is doing
to recover from Hurricane Sandy, although it is open at this time. I also would
like to take the borough tour aboard a Circleline cruise.
I should point out that
these events are in no particular order, nor the order I will or have
participated in them.
Another great activity will be when New York Restaurant Week returns in the summer. I haven’t heard anything yet but it is still pretty early. The last time it took place was in January and it usually happens again around July. It is a great way to try amazing restaurants, maybe even more than one, for less than half of the original price.
At the beginning of any
year I look ahead to where I might travel to, where I might want to go, or
especially where I will be able to go. I think right now I am locked in on two
very different locations. I am not going to give them all away but I am
starting my research. I will say that one is a domestic city and one an
international. But to be honest any place I read about sounds more incredible
than the last.
Just like when I am in a
good restaurant, I too like my plate to be full of good treats when it comes to
outings. I can never get enough.
With all of that I will be
busy through July. I am sure there are plenty of things that will come up and
get added to that list. I look forward to each of them because if they make it
on my calendar in this season they must be pretty special. That’s what makes
each year so exciting. There are never two years that are the same.
“Some
people can thrive and bloom
Living life in a living room
That’s okay for some people
Who don’t know they’re alive”
So that’s all folks. I
will be posting all the individual posts about what I do and sharing them with
you, of course. You will have to stay tuned tomorrow to see which activity I
reveal next.
I hope this season is
merry and bright, and may all your springs be busy!
For all the information
you need to have a busy season:
Why no one who isn’t
willing to pay a million dollars will ever see Beyonce anywhere but on T.V.:
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