Well, first of all, the rehearsals and “presentations” for the opera went very well. The approach to these performances was quite different from what they had done for the first two at the arts center. Here in Florida, although they had only minimal sets and props, they did much more in the way of staging and had everyone moving about the stage and really “performing” the piece. The New York performances were billed as “musical readings,” and all of the performers spent most of the time just singing or speaking into standing mics. In addition, they were recording the piece, so there was a lot more attention paid to how things sounded. So, RobotBoy had the opportunity to work closely with the music director and the composer during rehearsals, which was really cool.
They did two readings, and, as in Florida, the audience feedback was very positive. The types of comments and questions were different, with the New Yorkers much more interested in the nuts and bolts of production. However, the general feeling in both places was pretty enthusiastic. People would really like to see the full production. And there was universal praise for the whole cast, including my little guy.
By the time he was done, RobotBoy was pretty tired, but was still sad to know it was over. Fortunately, he still has the junior Pirates of Penzance production on the horizon. So he doesn’t feel completely bereft.
Although we did no formal “schoolwork” while we were away, we did manage to get in a couple of outings I can count as field trips. First on RobotBoy’s agenda, given his ongoing fascination with samurai, was the Arms and Armor exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum. He was absolutely delighted to find three rooms full of Japanese armor and swords, and I was, honestly, surprised at how much he had retained from his reading and research on the subject. We used our last free day mostly at the American Museum of Natural History, where RobotBoy spent a few hours exploring.
He devoted most of his time to the Rose Center for Earth and Space. We walked the Cosmic Pathway, which traces the entire history of the universe at several million years per foot. We visited the Big Band Theater and saw the wonderful Cosmic Collisions in the Hayden Planetarium. He found out how much he would weigh on various planets, the sun and even on a neutron star.Of course, one cannot visit this particular museum without seeing the dinosaurs. So, we also browsed the Fossil Halls before taking our leave.
In between rehearsals and performances and educational field trips,
we also managed to just plain have some fun exploring Manhattan. We rode the Ferris wheel and did some shopping in the ginormous Toys R Us in Times Square. We rode many different subways from Soho to the Village to midtown and Central Park, and we tried different restaurants in “Little India” on 6th Street. RobotBoy went ice skating (in a borrowed, too-large ski jacket) at Rockefeller Center on Monday . . . . . . and then again at Wollman Rink in Central Park on Friday:
I waited in line at TKTS while RobotBoy was in rehearsal one afternoon and scored us tickets to his see first Broadway show. We saw Curtains at the really lovely Al Hirschfeld Theater. Coincidentally, we happened to decide to go on the annual Kids on Broadway night, which meant we got a discount on dinner at the Times Square Planet Hollywood and were treated to a brief post-curtain speech from David Hyde Pierce following the show. He reminisced about being taken to see his very first Broadway show when he was nine years old, and it was just magical, like he was speaking directly to RobotBoy.
All in all, I suspect I may have done just a bit too good a job showing him around the city, since he was downright reluctant to come home! I’ve assured him I’ll be happy to move to New York with him just as soon as he gets rich and famous enough to support his dad and me in the style to which we’d like to become accustomed.
But, in the meantime, we’ll try and settle down to getting some schoolwork done.
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