After our big night out seeing Operation Mincemeat (which everyone generally liked), we were up again the next morning and off to a theater talk. This meant we walked about three blocks to a building that housed some small playhouse-type theaters (that hold about 50-60 people and are used for small plays, rehearsals, and the like) and went up to one of the theaters on the third floor to meet with two fantastic people. The first was Tim Dolan. Tim has been a longtime actor and dancer on Broadway and in touring shows. But a few years back, he decided he'd better find a more regular paycheck (because he now has a family), so he started a tour business giving tours of Broadway and also started one selling Broadway souvenirs. We have had him as our speaker twice so far, and he is an absolute font of Broadway knowledge. And because of his acting experience, he is a JOY to listen to.

This morning, he was moderating a discussion with Cassie Silva, who is a currently working actress that we will see on Tuesday night in the musical & Juliet. In the very short hour we had them talking to us, we learned so many behind-the-scenes facts and heard so many great stories that we wanted the talk to last all day. Sadly, we only had them for about an hour (but we got Tim back two more times later in the week). In the video below, I want to give you a small example of what the talk was like.

After our theater talk, the entire group of 41 had four walking tour options to choose from in the city. Group one headed out to walk the High Line in Midtown and visit the Little Island. I have walked the High Line numerous times, so I skipped that one. Group two would take a tour of the Gilded Age neighborhoods. If you are familiar with the HBO series of that name, you will know that this is the area where the turn-of-the-century new money clashed with the old. It’s a great story, and I highly recommend the show (created and written by Julian Fellowes of Downton Abbey fame). Group three took the subway south to Lower Manhattan and did a tour of Hamilton’s New York.

I chose to join the fourth group for a walking tour of Midtown and Grand Central Terminal with our guide, Bruce Roberts. I would have to call Bruce a mensch. A very interesting one. He used to be a full-time guide, but then he went into producing. He currently has productions running in two or three places around the country and is part of the production team for a West End (London) show coming to Broadway later this year.

Bruce had been brought in by Alex of Break-Away at the last minute. It seems we originally had only three tours scheduled: Hamilton’s NY, Midtown, and GCT and the High Line. I was excited to do the Midtown tour because I had never really been to Grand Central Terminal to take photos. But a group of ladies on the tour (unbeknownst to me) corresponded with Alex and asked about a Gilded Age tour. When we got here, I was fine with that and thanked Alex for setting it up for them, but he had worked it out by canceling the GCT/Midtown tour I wanted to do. I told him that and said, “It’s OK. I can walk over on my own.” Lo and behold, the next morning when we met up, Michael, our head guide, said, “We now have four tours and the Midtown/GCT tour was back on.” Alex really goes the extra mile for his groups.

Bruce got into all this because he has worked with all the guys who have been touring us around, and they called him to ask if he wanted to spend his weather-perfect Saturday walking a bunch of old people from Washington State around midtown. He said yes, and we got lucky. Our tour went from the theater where we had heard Cassie and Tim speak, through the theater district, to Rockefeller Center, around the Chrysler Building and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and we finished up at Grand Central Terminal. Photos are below. Remember to click to enlarge them. Again, we learned all kinds of trivia and heard many background stories about the city.

After that tour, it was a quick (I mean, really QUICK–3 minutes on the train from GCT to our hotel) ride, and it was time to dress for dinner. I had picked out what turned out to be an outstanding Spanish tapas place called Boqueria. The food was superb, the service excellent, the company better, and the Sangria the best I have ever had. We had a wonderful time.

After dinner, we headed to our second Broadway show. Tonight, we were seeing Oh, Mary, a complete farce about our 16th First Lady. Suffice it to say, they threw out the history books on this one. Mr. Lincoln was black… and gay. John Wilkes Booth was his gay lover. Mary Todd was a drunken, delusional want-to-be cabaret star. OK, are you totally mixed up? So were we, and we saw the play. There were mixed reactions within our party the day after this show. But with that kind of story, there have to be. Most of the folks were nice and said it was “Not my favorite.” I appreciated that. It’s not a play for everyone. Even with Maya Rudolf as Mary (she was hilarious, though in a very broad, physical comedic portrayal).

On Broadway, there is no censoring, just self-censorship and doing what makes sense.  —Robert Lopez