In New York, You Hit Cars.
Just got back from my trip to Washington DC and NYC. I loved Washington… New York, not so much. I think it’s partly because my uncle was with me, and the other is because I hate crowds.
Washington DC was GREAT. I walked and walked and walked, visited Ford’s Theatre (where Lincoln was assassinated) the Washington Monument (the greatest phallic symbol ever), the Holocaust Museum (spent 5 hours there!) among other beautiful, beautiful museums. All the museums were free, and it was absolutely fascinating. I thought I didn’t like museums, but apparently I do, especially when they have to do with WWII.
My uncle lives in DC, so he was working, and I roamed around on my own. I do like the freedom to do whatever I want whenever I want… I don’t have to get pestered by others asking me if I want to go somewhere else, whether I want to have lunch, whether I want to visit Chinatown (of all places).
I was very annoyed with his attachment to people of his own race. He kept dragging me to Chinatown (both in DC and NYC), and continuously pointed out things in shops that had an ‘oriental chinese’ flavour to it. He also felt the need to tell me that ‘oh, that restaurant sells American food’. Honestly, I can’t be bothered if it’s Chinese or Western food, as long as it tastes good. As the days went by, my annoyance increased tenfold. We were taking a bus from DC to NYC, but I had no idea that he chose the bus service located in Chinatown.
Because, y’know, when you see a guy in a singlet saying ‘I don’t give a fuck about her’ when alerted to his wife’s need to call her back right in front of a customer, you know this neighbourhood is seedy. I was very uncomfortable in DC’s Chinatown… because that was the first time I saw how bad their English was. Most of these Chinese people migrated from China and were forced to learn English, and they speak it very badly… and I didn’t like it at all. The China-style customs/habits also reared its ugly head - whatever negative memories I held during my trips to China I saw it here. Chinese people are impolite, they push, they don’t speak English, they are only interested in themselves and money.
NYC’s Chinatown was a thousand times worse. The pavements were narrow as hell, and it was so crowded. I asked for directions from someone, and she screamed at me in response: “If you’re not a customer, then can you stop annoying me?” I had a lot more negative encounters from Asians in NYC (one of them swearing in Cantonese when another customer was tardy in procuring his ticket). The buildings are run down and old; there are potholes on the roads, construction’s going on everywhere; smoke and dirt and people jabbering away in various dialects while they’re pushing against you to cross the road… it was not a fun experience in both Chinatowns, and if not for my uncle, I wouldn’t have been in the district in the first place.
In DC, the place was spacious. All the buildings were spaced out neatly, the museums were centered on a couple of major streets, so you could spend all your time on that street. I thought the tall buildings and congestion in NYC might remind me a little of Singapore, but I was wrong. There were so many people you just couldn’t move along the street at all. I hate crowds - I don’t know why, but everytime when I’m walking in a crowd, my mood goes bad. Maybe it’s transferrence from my father or something, but it’s an unconditioned response whenever I’m surrounded by a lot of people. Needless to say, whenever I stepped out of my hotel room, I would be in a very angry mood for the rest of the day. Accompanied with the fact my uncle keeps repeating ‘3 TIMES? MY GOD’ and ‘do you want to go to [insert place here]?’, my mood went sour rather quickly.
I mentioned before that I liked doing things on my own time, and how I want it to. So I got very angry whenever we had to make a decision to take the subway. When we arrived in NYC Chinatown, I wanted to take the R line, because it would put us just 2 streets away from our hotel in Times Square. My uncle wound up pushing me onto the number 6 train, which placed us 6 blocks away. The walk was NOT FUN, especially when you’re wearing a backpack that gets progressively heavier as you walk. This always became a problem whenever my uncle and I had to take the subway. He would want to walk 6 blocks to catch a train that (possibly) arrived more frequently, while I wanted to take the closest train possible and deposit us right on the street we were at, but waiting a little longer at the train station.
Not like the train station was very desirable to wait in, anyway. There was no air conditioning, and the trains were so loud one could burst an eardrum. Rats were prevalent, the ditches filled with muddy water - and once again - the platforms were narrow.
The people are also awful in NYC. Customer service is ‘point and grunt’, and occasionally a bit of biting sarcasm, which I didn’t quite enjoy. These people have functioned for so long in NYC they know everything inside and out, and I suppose sometimes they can’t put themselves in the tourists’ shoes, so they wind up rolling their eyes when a family of four walks up to them and asks where so-and-so is. I don’t like the people in NYC. I thought Singapore was bad, but in NYC, it’s like they’re going out of their way to make you feel miserable.
Driving in NYC is a nightmare. Traffic is awful on Broadway, and I noticed a couple of things.
1. When in doubt, horn.
Consider: A person standing in the middle of a street, unknowingly blocking a car’s path.
Driver: BEEEEEEEP.
2. When in doubt to respond, swear.
Consider:
Driver: BEEEEEEP.
Person: WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? THIS ISN’T FUCKING IRAQ! MORON!
3. When in doubt to respond to swearing, gesticulate.
Consider:
Person: FUCK YOU, I’M WALKING HERE!
Driver: (flips the bird, gestures wildly towards you, clearly indicating you’re an idiot).
4. When driving a vehicle and in doubt, hit the car in front of you.
Consider: A car in the middle of a right turn, and he’s a little slow about it.
Driver: (gestures, and attempts to overtake the car RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING TURN, bumping him in the process. I should mention this guy was a taxi driver.)
Because traffic’s so awful and drivers so crazy, they’ll run past red lights and wind up stopping in front of a pedestrian crossing. As people cross, you can feel the collective word forming in everyone’s head: idiot. Driver then has the audacity to horn at you when you cross in front of his car.
In New York, you hit cars, not the other way around.
Of course, the only saving grace in New York was Broadway. Beauty and the Beast was AMAZING. I loved every single minute of it. I taped Friday’s evening show and did audio boots for the Saturday matinee and evening shows. More detailed info under the cut.
Beauty and the Beast - 27th July 2007 (evening)
Beast: Steve Blanchard
Belle: Anneliese van der Pol
Gaston: Chris Hoch
Lumiere: David deVries
Mrs. Potts: Jeanne Lehman
Cogsworth: Glenn Rainey
Relooking at the tapes… I was rather bad at filming, and I made a mistake to choose to film it sitting on a seat right in front of the entrance. I had a rather unpleasant usher during Act 1 that was a little too vigilant, and I was caught twice by her (she shone her flashlight at me). As a result, the filming of Act 1’s a little mangled. ‘Me’, ‘Gaston’, and ‘Be Our Guest’ are cut, and the camera work is very shaky. Railings are always in the way at the bottom, and I didn’t pick it up until at least half an hour in because I was so nervous. Act Two is much more complete because the offending usher was taken over by someone else, but I’m extremely disappointed that I didn’t record the little part where Steve did a crazy dance with deVries during ‘Something There’, which was hilarious. The camera work’s still shaky, because I didn’t dare use the strap, which would draw even more attention to myself. But I do think the quality of the tape is rather good - there are washouts at some point, but (I hope) it’s the only video bootleg recording of Anneliese out there, which should give me an edge. ^^
I didn’t pay too much attention to this performance… because my eyes were darting between ‘is the camera centered?’ and the ushers.
Beauty and the Beast - 28th July 2007 (matinee)
Same cast as above.
The matinee… had a lot of children, and you know what happens when there’s a theatre full of children. I haven’t listened to the audio boot yet, but I was sitting rather near the stage, and the orchestra was drowning out out the voices, so I doubt the quality is good. I’m pretty sure the mic should have picked up the children talking as well.
In ‘Gaston’, there’s this bit where Gaston goes off to the side with the three Bimbettes while the Ensemble and Lefou do a dance. Chris Hoch wanted to plant a kiss on Bimbette #1’s neck, but I think his teeth hit the girl’s locket instead. I was watching with some amusement as he was fingering his teeth, and Bimbette #1 was saying ‘I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry!’ It was so sweet.
I also wonder what Anneliese and Steve were talking about when they were in the background while ‘Human Again’ was playing. Sigh, I guess we’ll never know.
Anneliese is still the angry self as I saw her in the video. When she was singing ‘A Change in Me’, she likes to ball her fists and make stamping gestures. I don’t quite like this particular interpretation, because I always imagined Belle to be like a ballerina, and sudden, forceful gestures aren’t really what I had in mind. Anneliese also dances rather badly. She was stumbling along the floor while Steve looked like he was trying to guide her along.
Beauty and the Beast - 28th July 2007 (evening)
Same cast as above.
WOW. There was a standing ovation when ‘Be Our Guest’ ended, and there was an immense amount of cheering when the Beast transformed.
There’s this little bit (as I mentioned previously) about Steve doing this little routine with deVries during ‘Something There’. After the Beast says ‘what a nice dress’ and Belle responds, the Beast runs to Lumiere and does a little victory dance. The house came down after this for this performance. The applause went on for so long Steve had to break the fourth wall a little - he raised his hand and sorta wagged his finger at the audience.
Also, the finale, where Belle and the Beast kissed. Steve’s and Anneliese’s noses accidentally got in the way and they had to shift their heads a little, and you could see them both laughing while they kissed. So sweet!
Anneliese’s voice is absolutely amazing. ‘A Change in Me’ completely reflects what she has (although I still don’t like the angry!Belle she portrayed). She can go soft, loud, high, low… and it’s in perfect pitch. She has an absolutely amazing voice, and I take back what I said a long time ago when I mentioned how her voice sounded ‘generic’.
I still don’t like Steve’s talking during ‘If I Can’t Love Her’. Sing, damn you!
Being the little coward I was, I didn’t wait by the stage door. I wish I had the courage to do so, but it’s just too late.
I was elated… and then I was just hit by a sudden bout of sadness when I left DC for Columbus. Beauty and the Beast has ended - even the Disney on Broadway site has deleted Beauty and the Beast from their roster - and you just don’t know if a revival’s going to happen. 10, 20 or even 30 years? This would be the last time ever that I get to see Beauty and the Beast… and it was so much a part of what I desired for the past 3 months. So all the emotion caught up, and I wound up crying on the plane. I was just so immensely sad that it’s ended, and it’s something that I’ve truly loved for a very long time.
I hope TLM fails. I really do.
