I promise you we are doing more things than just seeing shows! My mum really wanted to go up to the top of the Rockefeller Centre. Slight tangent here but when I was about 10, my mum and I walked all the way up the Monument in London. I loved it and she spent most of the time panicking. 10 years later, my mum loved being 70 floors high and I was the one panicking/feeling sick/ feeling like crap for paying $34 to feel like shit. I did manage to get one good enough photo though!

I’m usually alright with heights! Looking up at tall buildings makes me feel dizzy but at least I’m on the ground. On the flight here I insisted I have the window seat. Even in our hotel I can look down from being 36 floors up. My dad was better than I was but he refused to go near the edge of the deck. I will say it is an amazing view, I just wish I had the guts to actually have looked at it properly. 

After some much needed Ben & Jerry’s and retail therapy, we headed back to our hotel to rest up before we went to see Sweeney Todd at the Barrow Street Theatre, my first Off – Broadway show!

Sweeney Todd is one of my favourite Sondheim shows. I had previously seen a big scale production in London a few years ago starring Michael Ball & Imelda Staunton. But this is a completely different production! It’s minimalist Sondheim. The cast is led by the incredible Norm Lewis as Sweeney and features a cast of just eight actors and three musicians. The theatre is tiny but creates such an atmospheric impact on the audience. The show is staged in an actual pie shop, audience members can order pie before the show! The stalls are laid out like a proper dining hall, allowing the cast to fully interact with the audience. Norm Lewis is terrifying as Sweeney Todd. I was right at the back of the balcony and I felt scared he was going to chop my head off. There are moments during the show where he is right up in people’s faces, no way I could hack that! He is supported by an excellent company with Carolee Carmello & Matt Doyle as Mrs Lovett & Anthony respectably.

It is a truly spectacular production. Certainly a rare gem in New York City, because trying to hail a taxi was hard enough. We got to meet Norm after the show and he was just as lovely as he was when we saw him in Les Mis all those years ago!

And also he wants to come back to the west end and I hope it happens sooner rather than later! 

Until next time