I’m combining two days in this post since we spent the better part of them either 1. standing in line for rush tickets or 2. in workshops with the Gay & Sober Men’s conference.
On Friday morning we got in line for rush tickets for Water for Elephants at around 8:15am for a 10:00am box office opening. There were only a few people in front of us, so we knew our chances were better than the long lines we saw across the street for The Outsiders and Stereophonics, both shows we were interested in. But when we asked the folks at the front of those lines what time they got there, the answers were in the 6am neighborhood – something we weren’t interested in doing.
We got our tickets for $49 each – the reason you do rush. They weren’t great seats, but we were glad to get them at that price. While I was standing in line, Ash was getting coffees for us and also went to check us into the conference since we had missed doing that the day before due to our late flight.
The morning from our hotel window
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After we got our tickets, we went back to the hotel for breakfast. We’d gotten breakfast vouchers with Ash’s Marriot status, and thank goodness since the price was $35. This was not a great buffet at any price so we were glad it was free. But it was convenient. We left the hotel around 11:30 and walked up 8th Ave to Central Park. We walked around there a little while Ash did some work over the phone and then headed back for workshops in the afternoon.
The first workshop was on mental health, the second one on building queer community. We enjoyed both of them, and in between we went to Schmackary’s on 45th just off 9th Ave for a cookie and coffee break. We were the first ones there and then a bunch of other guys from the conference had the same idea.
After the last workshop ended at 5pm, we got a snack and coffee from Dunkin Donuts with our friend Jonathan and came back to the room to rest and visit a bit. He left around 6:30pm and we went on to our 7pm show. We were at the Imperial Theater on 45th Street – that block between 7th and 8th Ave with like 5 theaters on it, the most of any in the district we learned later. Our seats were way over to the right in the upper mezzanine, but we noticed that much of the lower mezzanine was vacant. So at intermission, we moved and that helped immensely. And about 10 other folks from the upper area did the same thing.
The show was enjoyable, a love story set against the backdrop of circus life and an elephant named Rosie. The dancing and acrobatics are what made it for me. I don’t need to see it again but might just for that.
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The Imperial Theater, Water for Elephants
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Requisite Selfie
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Inside of the theater from our original seats, near the top
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Much better seats!
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Water for Elephants. Clever, huh?
After the show, we got Zeus from the hotel and went in search of dinner. Again, we moved over to 9th Ave to get away from Times Square madness and ended up at 5 Napkins at 45th St. I’d eaten here back in 2019 and, like Schmackary’s, it was on a list of eateries the conference had provided which were giving discounts to attendees, 10% and 15%, respectively, in these cases. The food was really good actually, but we ordered too much of it: fried cauliflower bites, with a Nashville sauce that was too hot for Ash even, but that orange sauce was great; chicken, greens and grains bowl for Ash; burger for me; sweet potato fries which we shared.
Speaking of Schmackary’s, it’s practically next door on 45th St, so we made our 2nd stop of the day. Ash had the darker cookie – chocolate chip loaded with other stuff, butterscotch for one. I had a strawberry rhubarb which – surprise! – tasted oddly like pie. But was wonderful.
Saturday morning, we did the rush thing again, this time for The Notebook. Ash really wanted to see it. I’ve never seen the movie and for some reason had a bias against it – let’s just say it’s not about what I thought it was about – and we scored 2nd row center seats for $49 each. THIS is why you do rush! We had breakfast in the hotel after 10am then walked up 9th Ave just to get some steps in. We ended up at Lincoln Center and stopped to feed Zeus his lunch at Dante Park across the street before heading back. Ash took this shot while we were sitting there.
We did the two afternoon workshops again. None of them this year were at the hotel, all at St Luke’s on 46th where we’d gone Thursday night for the Midnight Meeting. The first workshop was on sex in sobriety, a standard at these things, and the 2nd was a speaker – Dr. Alan Downs who wrote The Velvet Rage, a well-known book in the gay community that I’d read on the plane home after the 2019 conference.
Jonathan had put together a dinner for after the workshops at Sicily, just a few doors down. There were 8 of us total; if he sends the group photo before I’m ready to post I’ll include otherwise it may show up later! The food was good. Ash had a fennel salad and chicken parmesan. I had grilled octopus on wild rice with dried cherries and pine nuts – it was a great dish that could easily have been my main. But nope, had the rigatoni on top of it. All great. We passed on dessert and had coffees instead.
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Sicily - on 46th between 8th and 9th Aves, aka Restaurant Row
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Ash's fennel salad
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My grilled octopus
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Ash's chicken parmigana
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My rigatoni
We sort of rushed out of there after 7pm since we had a show to catch, and still had to get Zeus back to the room. He made himself at home on the bed, as he always does.
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The show was Amazing, really glad we saw it. We were at the Schoenfeld, and realized it was our 3rd time there – first for Come From Away in 2022, its longest running show at 4 years, and next for Take Me Out in 2023. And each time we had either 1st or 2nd row seats on rush tickets. If you’re, like me, one of the few people on the planet who wasn’t familiar with the story, it’s about a woman with dementia who wrote the love story of her marriage in a notebook, promising to return to her husband from this state if he read it to her. It was very well done, cast with 3 different couples to interplay different parts of their lives. The voices were strong with some powerful songs, and I’ve never experienced this many people crying in a theater before – at the end of each act especially. Very glad we saw it and I would see it again.
An interesting tidbit: there was a scene with the “middle” couple in a rainstorm and actual water was used. I thought while it was happening: Hmm, Take Me Out used real water for their shower scenes in the locker room – must’ve made the engineering for this show that much easier. I don’t know if this show is touring but seems like a tricky feature to duplicate on a national tour!
We collected Zeus again after the show and returned to Schmackary’s for cookies.
The conference is essentially over. Today is the NYC Pride Parade, and there’s a spot reserved where all who are interested can gather to watch the parade. We had expected to walk the parade like I did in 2019, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but learned when the final agenda was announced that the city had limited the number of people who could march with each group to 100. When Ash checked us in, we weren’t already on the list but were given the opportunity to get on the list for a donation of $100 each. We passed and made our peace with not marching. At around 6pm last night, we were sent emails announcing that we had in fact made it to the list for free. I think this is because we were early registrants who had checked the box that we would march, which they had said would be given priority. But at that point we were already over it and declined so they could give the opportunity to others.
All that to say, not sure how it’s all going to go today. We will try for rush tickets again and will probably make an appearance at the parade watching social. Tune in tomorrow…
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Sounds like a fabulous time guys!! Yes Rush tickets are the way to go unless you have your heart set on a particular show.
BTW There’s no middle couple in the movie, but plenty of tears!!