Showing posts with label World Trade Center. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World Trade Center. Show all posts

Saturday, December 31, 2022

NYC

 

Manhattan, taken from the Staten Island Ferry

All my life I have wanted to visit New York. Since childhood I have been a fan of Broadway. The past few years I have been a blogger for the Facebook group All Things Broadway (2018-2020), and an admin for the group Broadway Remembered (2019-present). Broadway Remembered is a growing group (currently with about 53,000 members), and as of earlier in 2022, I was the only admin who had never actually been to New York. The closest I had been was Washington-Dulles Airport on the way to France in 1999. The other admins generously helped me to fix this problem, and I finally got to achieve a lifelong dream in September 2022.

I was scheduled to see The Phantom of the Opera the evening of September 22. With plane delays and transportation issues, it was a bit of a tight squeeze, but with my host Michael, we were able to make it on time. As this has been one of my favorite musicals since childhood, I thought it would be an appropriate first musical on Broadway.


We got off the subway and came up to Times Square. I was blown away. I had seen pictures, video, seen the ball drop at New Years Eve on TV, and so I knew what it looked like, but nothing could prepare me for the sense of awe I felt. It had always been on a TV or computer screen, in magazines, books and other sources. But this time it was all around me. Screens were everywhere advertising products, TV shows, restaurants, Broadway shows, and more. They have a Disney Store, Hershey's store, M&M's store... Of course, we didn't have a lot of time to take it all in due to the rush to get to The Phantom of the Opera, but it was still an amazing experience.

The Phantom of the Opera


It was indeed an excellent first show on Broadway. I saw the show in Seattle on tour a few years ago, and I have seen the movie and the 25th Anniversary filmed production. But to see it on Broadway was an amazing experience. The sets were similar to how they were in Seattle, but more lavish. I figured they were able to do more, as the show has been in the Majestic Theatre over 30 years now, as opposed to a touring show that is only there for a few weeks. Performances were amazing.


After the show, we were planning to meet the other admins, Jeremy and Melly, at Sardi's just across the street. However, they had just closed when we arrived. We met at another restaurant nearby, and I finally got to have my dinner that had been delayed due to transportation issues earlier in the day. It was great meeting them in person and talking with them.

Harry Potter Store


The following day, I visited the Harry Potter Store. It was like a small Disneyland for Harry Potter fans, and I thoroughly enjoyed wandering around the store like I was a kid again (aside from the fact that I was an adult when the books came out). It is two floors and has a large phoenix statue in the middle of the round staircase.

One of my favorite Dumbledore quotes,
in the middle of the staircase

They have an area where you can find wands (replicas of the wands in the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts movies and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child). One room is dedicated to merchandise from each of the four Hogwarts houses. They have candy and treats mentioned in the books, as well as items from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes (such as extendable ears). Downstairs they have more treats, an area where you can have items personalized, Hogwarts trunks, robes, and more. They also have virtual reality experiences, which I didn't get to do, but hope to do next time I go. As you are exiting, they have a butterbeer bar, where you can get butterbeer and snacks. (They do not have pumpkin juice. I asked.) You have to drink your butterbeer there, but you get to keep the cups. They have a cleansing station where you can clean your cup before leaving.


World Trade Center and Battery Park


After leaving the Harry Potter Store, I took the subway to the World Trade Center. Before coming to New York, I painted rocks with Broadway quotes. I left my first one at the WTC. It had a quote from Come from Away: "Make me a channel of Your peace." I hope it found a good home!

The World Trade Center was a moving experience. The names of the victims are inscribed around the imprints of the two towers. So many names. Due to time constraints, I did not go to the memorial museum, but hope to do so next time I go.


Following the World Trade Center, I walked to Battery Park a few blocks away, where I left my second rock ("I am not throwing away my shot" from Hamilton). I saw the Statue of Liberty from a distance, though it left me wanting to see it closer up, as it was a small silhouette with cranes behind it from that angle.

Beetlejuice


That evening, I went to see Beetlejuice. I have seen the movie that it's based on, and I have enjoyed listening to the music from the cast recording, and it was great to see it onstage. I was struck by how different the theatre was from the Majestic. This one was at the Marquis, which is in a hotel. I went in the hotel lobby, and up an escalator to the second level where the theatre is. I was impressed with the set. It starts out in a graveyard, and most of it is in the house. Parts of act 2 are in the land of the dead. They had a large portion of the house onstage, and some scenes on the roof. It was a very complex set, and impressive the way they did it. Performances were also excellent.


The following day, we waited in line at the TKTS booth in Times Square, where you can get discount tickets to shows. While waiting in line, I left my third rock ("Shepherd's pie peppered with actual shepherd on top" from Sweeney Todd). After we were done at the TKTS booth, I left my fourth rock ("You're one of a kind, no category" from Six).


1776


While waiting outside the American Airlines Theatre, I left my fifth rock ("Paciencia y fe" from In the Heights).

I was struck once again how different this theatre was from the others. The auditorium was not nearly as long as other theatres. It was probably the most intimate of the ones I attended. I was in the back row in the balcony, but it wasn't all that far from the stage.

This set was much more simple than others. It mainly involved curtains, tables and chairs. 1776 was still in previews. It is an unusual take on the show, as the cast was all female and non-binary performers. They made no changes to the script, but I felt they nailed it.


Between shows, I left another rock ("This one could be one of the great ones" from A Bronx Tale).


Aladdin


I saw Aladdin in its pre-Broadway run, a few years before it reached Broadway. At that time I felt it had potential, but wasn't quite there. It had a song for Jasmine called "To Be a Princess", which was very much out of character for her, and I wasn't a fan. It also felt like a theatrical travel brochure for visiting Agrabah. The line "another Arabian night" got old. The "A Whole New World" scene was not fully developed yet, and the carpet just rose up and sat still while the stars rushed by on the backdrop. However, I loved that they put "Proud of Your Boy" back in. It was cut from the original movie, but it is one of my favorites in musical theatre. They even gave it reprises.

So I was excited to see how the show had changed since I saw it pre-Broadway. They addressed all my issues with the earlier version, and I felt while my previous experience had potential, this had met and exceeded that potential. The sets were better. "To Be a Princess" was gone, in favor of "These Palace Walls," which is much more in character for Jasmine. The carpet was much more impressive as it soared around the stage. The cave was much more impressive and sparkly. It felt more like the story I know and love than the travel brochure I felt previously. Michael Maliakel shone as the tallest and most expressive Aladdin I have seen. Sonya Balsara was a fantastic Jasmine and Michael James Scott killed it as the Genie. One of my favorite lines was when the Genie was talking about the lamp at the beginning of his show. He makes to pull the lamp out of his pocket, and instead pulls out a Statue of Liberty. He said something to the effect of "Sorry, I did a bit of pre-show shopping." He then put that back in his pocket and pulled out the lamp.


As the sign outside the theatre stated, my Broadway wish was indeed granted. Aladdin was one of the best parts of my trip. In fact, I even got to meet Sonya Balsara (Jasmine) the following day! More on that in my next post.

After the show, I left another rock ("A little reinvention" from Dear Evan Hansen, a show I would have loved to see on Broadway, but it closed shortly before I went.)

To be continued...

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Who Knew?

I shared my memories of September 11, 2001 back in May, and now I thought I'd post this poem I wrote shortly after the horrible events of that fateful day.

Who Knew?
by Steven Sauke
© September 2001

It began as a peaceful Tuesday morning
The sun shone, the birds chirped
Who knew what was about to happen?
Who knew the peace would be shattered?
That planes would crash into buildings?
That thousands of lives would suddenly be cut short?
That fireballs so huge could billow out of national landmarks?
Who foresaw bodies falling 110 stories to the ground?
The World Trade Center plummeting after them?
The Pentagon in flames?
Smoke billowing into the sky,
Blotting out the sun,
Turning the bright blue sky a dismal gray?
Dust blanketing a city in a velvety, macabre coat?
Who could have known on such a bright sunny day
That in a few minutes a nation would be in shock?
That a planet would be in grief?
That in 225 years the US had never seen such a disaster
As what was about to happen?

Who would have guessed that in one morning,
A sharply divided nation would come together
To donate blood, to pick up the pieces, to pray for our fellow Americans?

Who could have known that in one morning,
A nation, an earth, would forever be changed?

Who foresaw an outpouring of grief,
Of sorrow,
Of love,
Of flowers,
Of candles,
Of silence,
Across the nation,
Across the earth?
Who knew flags across the world
Would soon be placed at half-mast?

Only God knew
And He held up the towers for an hour
To let people escape

Only God knew
And He caused the planes to hit the towers high enough
That they collapsed straight down
Rather than falling over
And wiping out more of Manhattan

Only God knew
And He diverted a plane away from the White House
Into the only part of the Pentagon
That had been retrofitted
For terrorist attacks

Only God knew
And He stopped in mid-flight
Another plane headed for the White House
Sending it crashing
Into a field.

Praise be to God
For sparing us from something worse
Praise be to God!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Mixed Feelings

Last night, I checked my e-mail "one last time" before going to bed and found some significant news. President Obama announced that a small group of Americans had found and killed Osama bin Laden, and they had positively identified his body via DNA tests.


It was 1993 the first time I remember hearing about Bin Laden. A bomb went off in the parking garage below the World Trade Center. Bin Laden took credit, and he was attempting to take the building down by destroying its base. Thankfully, that attempt failed, and the damage was repaired.

The next time I remember hearing of him was that fateful day in 2001. I woke up the morning of September 11, and I was headed toward the bathroom to start getting ready for work. My mom stopped me at the door of my room, and she was visibly shaken. She told me that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. Not being fully awake, my first thought was, "Who cares?" As it sank in, I started to realize that I cared. We hurried into the living room and watched in horror as the news reports showed a huge plume of fire and smoke billowing out of the World Trade Center. Further horror ensued as we watched a plane slam into the second building. At that point, I had to start getting ready for work, as I wanted to be sure to arrive on time. I took a small portable radio into the bathroom while I was getting ready, and I prayed desperately. It was then that I heard on the radio that a third plane had slammed into the Pentagon. I prayed even more desperately, and later heard that a fourth plane had crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, thanks to the heroic efforts of some passengers who had tackled the hijackers and prevented them from reaching their target. Walking to work, I glanced at the newsstands and saw a headline about whales...suddenly such a trivial subject. By lunch time, the papers had been replaced with special editions proclaiming, "ATTACKED!"

My job at the time was on the 9th floor of a Seattle highrise. At the time, nobody knew where the terrorists' next target would be, and early in the day, our managers told us we could go home if we wanted. I opted to stay, as the worst that could happen was that a plane would slam into our building, I would be killed, and then go to heaven, never to suffer again. That didn't seem to me such a bad option. Thankfully, there were no more attacks, but one thing I will never forget is the news reports of people dancing in the streets in the Middle East, celebrating the fact that America had been attacked and thousands had been killed. It hurt deeply to see their sick glee.

I never dreamed that nearly ten years later, the same celebrating over a death would be taking place in America. At long last, the perpetrator of these attacks has been caught and brought to eternal justice. Part of me is thankful that Bin Laden will no longer be inflicting his fierce hatred on America. I'm grateful to our brave troops for going in and doing the job that needed to be done, carefully avoiding the killing of innocent lives, and getting the bad guys. This is a great victory, and for that I'm glad. However, it saddens me to see Americans gleefully celebrating a man's death. I don't care who he was or what he did, celebrating any death is a sin. Proverbs 24:17-20 states:
Do not gloat when your enemy falls;
when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice,
or the LORD will see and disapprove
and turn his wrath away from them.
Do not fret because of evildoers
or be envious of the wicked,
for the evildoer has no future hope,
and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.
It makes me incredibly sad to think that a man who had so much potential could go so wrong. He was definitely an evildoer and an enemy, but Jesus gave His life for Osama bin Laden just as much as He did it for anyone else. Whatever evil Bin Laden did, it is truly a tragedy that he now has to pay with an eternity of fire and torment. It is without a doubt what he deserves, but that is a punishment I would not wish on my worst enemy, and it is what all of us deserve.

I think about Bin Laden's sympathizers dancing in the streets celebrating the attack on America, and I am ashamed to think that we would do the same thing when Bin Laden is killed. Yes, victory is a cause for celebration, but death is not.

On the other hand, just yesterday our pastor preached on King David's friends later in life. One of those friends was General Joab. David's reign was threatened by a bitter enemy named Absalom, who was determined to overthrow the King and take over. One catch: Absalom was David's son. David commanded Joab to crush the rebellion but to spare the life of his son. However, when Absalom's hair got caught in a tree and Joab was nearby, Joab took that opportunity to put an end to the threat to the King's life. When David heard the news that his son was dead, he was heartbroken. He mourned so deeply that his army slunk away as if they had suffered a defeat rather than a great victory. Joab then had to go to the King and remind him that the army had saved his life. While David didn't celebrate his son's death, he did realize the need to encourage the army and his subjects, and he returned to his duties.

Another thing that just came to mind was that after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea on dry land, and then the sea collapsed on the Egyptian army, the Israelites sang a song of praise to God for delivering them from the oppressive Pharaoh. They brought out their tambourines and danced in celebration.

All that to say, I have mixed feelings about Bin Laden's death. This is a great victory, and I think we should be thankful for God's protection and that He allowed us to get the bad guy. I believe that this action saved thousands of lives, and the soldiers who carried out the attack on his compound did a truly heroic thing. But the fact that he died without a Savior or a hope of salvation is a great tragedy.

Maybe the thing we should be celebrating is not his death, but the fact that the lives of who-knows-how-many people that would otherwise have been killed by his evil have been saved.

Finally, I will say something that may sound strange at first. I am thankful for Osama bin Laden. I know he was an evil man. He was a perpetrator of genocide, and he probably would have made Hitler proud. But he did what very few people have done in recent American history. His deed on September 11 united America. Democrats and Republicans and people of all religions came together in a way that I have only seen once to march behind a common purpose, and for once, we all agreed on something. It was a beautiful thing. For that, I thank Bin Laden. May we continue in that spirit of unity.