NYC with V (mega post)

I am having a busy week trying to finish editing three versions of a concert video on top of my usual day job and family things, so this post is kind of an unorganized dump of media from my weekend in New York with Veronica. 

She and I went out there for two nights to see the Tony Award-winning actor Aaron Tveit reprise his role (for a limited time only) in the Broadway musical Moulin Rouge. I didn't know who this was until recently either, but V sure did!

We had a wonderful trip. I had some doubts at first about if it would be worth the time/money/energy, but it definitely was. Just spending some one-on-one time with my girl was worth it. Seeing the city through her eyes and witnessing her excitement over everything added to the thrill. She is such an incredible kid.

The first place we went upon arriving at Penn Station was the Al Hirschfeld Theater:

It was a place we would end up spending a lot of time. Let's just jump into the video to show you the pinnacle moment of our weekend, when V handed off some artwork she made to Aaron Tveit on his way into the theater:

It's called "stage-dooring" and it involves a lot of waiting for stars to come out, sometimes even in the rain. Here's V in front of the door on Friday, a night we didn't even attend the show:

She had an umbrella but didn't use it because she needed to keep her hands free, ready to record Aaron. He apparently took the secret exit and didn't come out that night anyway.

Here's a little video preview of the rest of the weekend:

The first afternoon we climbed around Central Park...

... before heading down to Chelsea for the Edward Hopper exhibit at The Whitney Museum:

I was really pleased this worked out (the exhibit closed a few days after we were there) and were able to see these really famous, interesting paintings, some of which inspired David Lynch. I posted more of what we saw in an Instagram post.

Here's V checking out the view from the roof of the museum:

We grabbed dinner nearby afterward:

We stayed at a place near Times Square that was touching the theater where they shoot the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The room was not large, but it was comfortable and stylish.

It was fun being so close to Times Square (which was empty thanks to the rain).

Stumbled across this while walking around:

The next morning we had a breakfast I'm still enjoying in my head at a place called Jane. R and I have a friend who used to work there, and we would visit when we lived in Wilmington. It was near the NYU campus and Greenwich Village, so we walked around afterwards.

I like the vibe in this neighborhood.

I'm a little worried we might lose V to New York (or California) one day:

Travel by subway:

We probably had the time to explore more of the island after this, but instead we went back to the theater to catch Aaron walk in for the matinee. This is the group we waited with for three hours (it was a fun group of ladies from all over the US and also Hungary, there for the same reason as us):

Somebody else took this shot and sent it to me (V even made some waves on an Aaron Tveitor fan page and posted a pic of her artwork here):

After all that excitement (and after warming up in a coffee shop), we headed toward Rockefeller Center and saw some more famous places, FAO Shwarz, etc.

Then we toured the History of Broadway Museum, which looked a little like this:

Then we grabbed dinner at a diner, and it was time for what we really came to New York for: an evening performance of Moulin Rouge!

(We were almost first in line. If you look closely, you can see V in the pic below.)

Needed some proof that I (an honorary Tveitor Tot) was there too:

The excitement was palpable!

This is what it was all about:

It was an unforgettable trip! And a great musical! I've had the songs in my head all week.