New York: Day 5

I had today planned out pretty well, even with secondary plans in case things didn’t go as I hoped. But I got myself into a mess anyway. Plus one of the highlights of today was something that wasn’t even in the plan!

I’ve been hearing good things about the new show called Wicked. Apparently it’s a post-modern prequel to The Wizard of Oz. It’s very popular right now, so no chance for half priced tickets. However, I saw on their site that they do a lottery for 28 front row tickets for each show. You put your name in 2.5 hours before the show, and if they call your name, you get a ticket for only 25 bucks! I figured it was worth a shot, so I showed up at the box office this morning at 11:30am. Well, actually I was a little early, so I ate a bagel on the street to pass the time. At 11:30 I wrote my name on a card and it got put into one of those bingo tumbler thingies. The drawing was at noon, so I had to entertain myself for another half hour.

I started walk down the street, and I stumbled across the Ed Sullivan Theatre, home of the Late Show with David Letterman! Went in to see what the story is on getting tickets. They said it was a lottery system too, and had me fill out an application. I thought that was it, but no... they brought me to another room and sat me down at a table. I was being interviewed! The guy asked me what brought me here today (“I was just walking by”) He asked if I was a fan (“Yes, Tivo records the show every night!”) He asked me if I have any favorite bits (“I love ‘Will it Float?’ oh and ‘Is This Anything?’”) As we were talking about the show, we were laughing about stuff. Oh, I SO got the job. I told him I could come see the show today if I don’t win in the Wicked lottery, and if I did win then I can definitely come the next day. He said I’d be getting a call later in the day if my name came up in their lottery (but he pretty much said that it would).

Walked back to the Wicked box office, waited to hear my name not be called. While they were calling other peoples’ names, my phone rang. It was a NY area code, so I figured it was the Late Show already calling back. The guy said that they would leave a voice mail if I didn’t answer, so I let it ring and kept listening for my name... The lottery ended, no Wicked ticket for Jake, but a listen to voice mail confirmed my Letterman appearance. I had to be back at the Ed Sullivan Theatre between 3 and 4, it was 12:30 at the time. My backup plan for when I failed to get a Wicked ticket was to visit the New York Transit Museum to see just how they built that amazing subway system. But, did I have enough time now to do this and be back for Letterman? Maybe...

The night before I had scribbled down the subway lines that run to the museum as well as this map so I could find the museum once off the subway. Now to find a subway entrance for the right line... I found an entrance for N/R so I went down the stairs, paid the fare, and went through the turnstile. Only to discover that I was on the wrong side of the platform with no way to actually get to the other side!! So, I had to leave, go back up the stairs, cross the street, and go down a different set of stairs. The fare is good for only one entrance, so I had to pay another 2 bucks but at least now I wasn’t going to be going the right way, right? The train showed up, I got on, and away we went. After some time, the train actually emerged from its burrow and transformed itself into an el! I didn’t know there were els in New York! After a while, though, my stop hadn’t come up and I started wondering where the heck I was. I was about to check the map on the wall when the announcement came that the next stop was the last stop... and it wasn’t my stop. When we got to the end of the line and I was the only one still on the train, it was pretty obvious that something went wrong. I checked the map, and whadda’ya know, I went the wrong way. Which means that the first platform I was on WAS the right one. Sigh, I stayed on the train and had to ride it back the way I came and then past to my destination. Remember how it was 12:30 when I headed toward the subway? Well it was 1:30 by the time I got back to the platform that I originally got on at. From the announcements it sounded like we weren’t going to stop at the Canal St. exit that I was expecting either. I was closely watching the map this time, and decided to bail at the 7th street exit because it looked kind of close to where I wanted to be.

Up the stairs, back in the city and I have no idea where I’m at. Now when I look down at the map that I scribbled down I realize how poor a job I did. I only labeled a few streets assuming that I’d be getting off at one of the labeled subway exits... and the street I was on didn’t match any of the labeled streets! I started walking in an arbitrary direction hoping to stumble across a labeled street (keep in mind that this whole time I’m under a tight schedule). After a few blocks I stumbled across State; I’m at least in the general vicinity! One block up and I hit Schermerhorn, but now the question is, am I east or west of the museum? I had no idea... but I continued! I walked for quite a few blocks before I hit Hoyt! At this point, it felt like I was hunting for treasure with an old treasure map. I had just enough information and luck to get to each next landmark. I sighed a breath of relief when I saw a giant banner for the museum.

The museum was actually in an old subway station which was pretty neat. There were lots of pictures of subway construction which is what I came for. There was also an exhibit on the els of New York (Manhattan used to have them, and they used to be steam powered so they’d constantly drip water and coal and crap down on the streets). The subway system and el train system were privately owned by two separate companies. Apparently both companies were in financial trouble so the city bought up both systems and joined them up. In the lower level of the museum were a bunch of old subway cars that were open to walk through. It was kind of neat seeing the different styles through the years. The museum also had stuff on the bus system but I just glossed over that stuff since I was still in a hurry (and because who cares about buses?!?)

When I left the museum, I stuck to the labeled streets and went to the subway spot that I thought I was originally going to get off at. At this point I really needed to hurry and I had to walk pretty far through the tunnels to get to the right platform. When I got there, I was a little frantic; it looked like one track was for the M train and the other track was for the R. But which way were these going? As I was reading the signs, a train pulled up on the M track. I continued reading signs on the R track when I realized that maybe both tracks were M/R tracks, one for each direction. I quickly looked at the train that had been sitting there for a while, and sure enough it was the R train! But is it going the right way? The doors are starting to shut. Look at the sign on the train, does it help? Nope! What do I do? I panicked and slid through the just wide enough doors as they closed completely. Well, now I’m on this train, is it going the right way? I guess I’ll soon find out, wait for me David Letterman!

It was going the right way, everything would be alright. I could relax. Got off at Times Square, got my Letterman ticket but had to wait another hour! Ate dinner at a Thai restaurant (Pannang Chicken) and had a slice of zucchini bread from a deli. And then Letterman. I had an awesome seat, 5th row, right on the aisle. I could see Dave the whole time, but the guests (Patricia Heaton and John Witherspoon) were blocked by the camera and crew. It was fun to see, but it’s actually better to watch the show on TV. When you watch at home, you are free to respond however you choose. But at the show, you are expected to clap and laugh on cue like a trained monkey. It wasn’t horrible, it just got a little annoying that they were constantly trying to “fluff” the audience. I recommend doing it once, but I bet you won’t want to do it again.

As soon as the show got out, I walked to my favorite new place, the half price ticket booth! Got a ticket for Fiddler on the Roof and went back to the hotel to relax for an hour. Fiddler was excellent, it was funny but poignant and it was neat to hear all these songs I’ve heard before in the context of the actual story (“Matchmaker”, “If I Were a Rich Man”, “Sunrise, Sunset”) I’m soooo addicted to Broadway.