Broadway: Monday 31st March

Today was our final day in New York City and we will miss her! She has been the most spectacular of cities to visit, with a character and charm about her loved by all on the tour. The students have embraced New York for all it had to offer. From the wonderful Broadway plays and musicals, to the bustling city streets and crowded subways. You could even tour New York just to see the beautiful architecture of the buildings, alone.We have indeed been privileged to see some fantastic theatre shows on Broadway over the past ten days. I would say the students saw Wicked for what it really is … a mega musical on the grandest commercial scale and thoroughly enjoyable. But probably most of the students’ favourite musical was Spring Awakening, with its gritty teenage themes everyone could relate to. As for the plays, From Up Here with Tony Award winning actress Julie White was fabulous. At that point, we didn’t think it would be topped, but a couple of nights later August: Osage County hit the jackpot with superb acting and a nail-biting plot.

Our industry sessions with Broadway professionals – actors, producers, marketing managers etc have all been very stimulating and highly educational for the students. Between these sessions and the theatre shows, this tour has been fantastic for the students and will both directly and indirectly impact everyone in their drama studies at school back home in Melbourne.

Today was our first real day of rain in NY. It clouded over and rained fairly early in the peace which was a little disappointing. We had a bus hired so we coached to the famous Brooklyn Bridge and got off and walked from one side to the other.

We then went to Macy’s shopping centre for all those girls who haven’t yet bought an extra suitcase full of clothes and other stuff for the trip home! Actually, I don’t have a leg to stand on myself. I went a little crazy on the ‘kicks’ (casual Nike, Adidas and Converse shoes) while in NY … because they were about one-third the price of those in Melbourne. After buying nine pairs of new shoes, it was off to buy a new suitcase especially for them! For those who didn’t already know, Macy’s is two adjoining buildings, nine storeys tall. It spans one entire block of New York City and is the largest department store in the world. Its quality is a cross between Myer and David Jones back home, leaning towards David Jones.

Finally we went to Central Park, and while overcast, by this time the rain had stopped. It was still picturesque without the sun overhead and we all enjoyed a half hour walk in the park before taking the 75 minute, 5-mile-an-hour bus ride to one of New York’s three airports, JFK.