Hi Everyone,
So I have a confession to make. I have decided to write my blog early this week. It is Tuesday evening in New York City and I have just got on the subway to JFK airport to head home. I've been told that it is over an hours journey so instead of siting here like a lemon I thought I'd start writing this weeks blog.
I have had an incredible time here in NYC. It is the third time in 18 months that I have visited and I genuinely feel very much at home in the city now. It's on my to-do list to work here at some point because I love this city! I didn't feel I needed to do any touristy stuff this time as I made the effort to see and do everything I wanted to on my last two trips here. So since arriving on Thursday evening I have just enjoyed seeing friends, watching shows and eating and drinking (LOTS OF EATING AND DRINKING!!!!)
The flight over here was slightly delayed but I didn't really mind as I was enjoying lots of free drinks and the films on the plane. I was originally sat next to what I can only describe as the noisiest kids I have ever seen -until a kind air-stewardess moved me, so I ended up with extra leg room and three seats to myself. Thank you very much!
The films I watched began with Disney's 'Tangled' as it's my nieces' favourite film and I wanted to see it so we can chat about it when I see them next- I loved it! Then I watched '127 Hours'. I enjoyed it but found it a bit boring at times. I then watched 'Due Date' which is I thought was hilarious. And then I only had 90 minutes of the flight remaining after having a snooze so I looked through the documentary list and saw 'Justin Bieber - Never Say Never' which is a documentary style film about how he became so famous and where it all began. And so I decided to watch it because I knew I wouldn't be bothered if i couldn't finish it by touch down. I actually found it really interesting how he was a very talented young lad who was very musical and then thanks to the internet and YouTube he became an over night success. There's a reason why I'm telling you that I watched it…..(stay tuned….haha)
Once I touched down, I was the first person to step off the plane, the first person through customs and the first person to get my baggage - what a great way to start a holiday eh? I jumped in a taxi and headed straight to the Helen Hayes Theatre near Times Square where one of my best friends Becca is playing the lead in 'Rock Of Ages' so that I could drop off my stuff and squeeze her so hard that she was close to death. I haven't seen her since last September!
I dropped my luggage with her before meeting my friend Tara, who is also over there from the UK working at the moment, and we had a couple of margaritas and then went to sit in our seats to watch the show. I saw Rock Of Ages the first time I went to NY but I wanted to see Becca in it. Tara and I were sat there in the auditorium and the show was about to start and then we heard a rustling as some late comers were ushered into the seats behind us. I glanced back and who do you think it was???……..It was Justin Bieber! He was there with his girlfriend and a couple of others. How weird is that?! Two hours prior to that moment I was learning all about his life by watching the in-flight entertainment and then all of a sudden he's sat behind us! I thought at first that everyone had celebrity spotted ME as they turned around to take pictures and then I noticed it was bloody Bieber! Ha.
The show was amazing and I was so proud of Becca. Rock Of Ages opens in London early September and some of my good friends are part of a great cast line up so I highly recommend you go see it for a fun night out.
After the show, we went with some of the cast for drinks and then back to Becca's apartment where I was staying. By the time I got to bed I realised because of the time difference it was actually 6am on my body clock so I was more than ready for a sleep!
On Friday my friend Josh (who lives with Becca) was celebrating his birthday so I treated them both to brunch before Becca and I went to stroll around down town Manhattan and enjoy being able to talk in person as oppose to using the internet!
Jeez this subway train is wobbly!…..
She headed to her show at about 7 and I had booked tickets to go see a play called 'The Normal Heart'. It is written by Larry Kramer and the subject matter is when the AIDS epidemic first hit in New York City and every character is based on a real person from the period and everything that happens within the play really did happen. It was absolutely heart breaking. I'm not really a cryer when it comes to shows or films but my god I was blubbing like a baby. Joe Mantello leads and incredible cast who's performances are flawless, each and everyone of them are utterly inspiring. Joe Mantello is the director of WICKED and it's his first time returning to the stage as an actor in 15 years. He is heading over to London to work with us on the show next week and I cannot wait. What a talented man.
After the show I met Becca and grabbed some pizza and then just went back to her apartment because I was really affected and moved by the play so didn't have much personality to be out partying.
Saturday morning I left Becca (because she had two shows) and walked all the way from her place which is on 125th street (way uptown) and strolled along the Hudson River on the west coast until I reached midtown 42nd street! That was a looooooong walk, but stunning!
I grabbed a bite before going to watch 'How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying' which is a new revival of the classic musical and this production starts Daniel Radcliffe and John Laraquette. (spelling???). I LOVED this show. It is everything you want of a broadway musical and who knew that Harry Potter would be such an awesome musical theatre performer. I have not seen a performance like his in a musical in a long time. He has more energy than anyone I've EVER seen. Seriously! I had tears in my eyes at one point because it inspired me so much. Daniel Radcliffe thoroughly deserved the insane audience reaction he got during his bow. YouTube what they did at the Tony Awards if you want a taster.
I then met Becca and her work mates for dinner before watching 'Catch Me If You Can' the new musical starring Norbert Leo Butz and Aaron Tveit - both of whom have played Fiyero in Wicked on Broadway. Norbert originated the role so I was looking forward to seeing him. I really enjoyed it. It's cleverly put together (based on a true story which was also made into a film of the same title a few years back starring Leonardo DiCaprio). The music and choreography was great and everyones performances were fab.
I've just sat down to continue writing after making my way through customs here. Everyone always warns me that the security here at JFK is really strict so I always leave plenty of time. I literally just walked straight through every part of security chatting to all the polite airport staff - it wasn't like that at Heathrow - miserable buggers! Anyway, it's a bit rubbish that I now have 2 hours to kill in the departure lounge.
So…After watching Catch Me If You Can I met my friend Scott (who I've mentioned before - he's written a song for my album). He knew a few people in the show so we went back stage to have some drinks with some of the cast and then went out to a couple of bars. My friend Tara happened to bump into us at one bar and she was there with the cast of HAIR who she worked with when it came over and played the West End last year. I LOVED that show and it was great to hang with some of the cast.
The next day, Becca and I went for brunch to Cafe Lalo which is featured in the film 'You've Got Mail'. It's really cute and has amazing food. Then I met one of her friends, Sam, while she went to do her two shows and he and I went to watch 'Anything Goes' which he sorted free tickets for which was nice. I enjoyed it and the cast were fantastic especially Sutton Foster as Reno and the choreography was fab - but I realised as I watched it that I just don't really care for the show that much. Cole Porter's music is of course wonderful but I personally feel the show is a bit pointless. I don't enjoy theatre where you don't really feel anything for the characters or the story.
Afterwards I had the best night just hanging with friends, meeting new people, eating, drinking, and laughing until my stomach nearly exploded. Really fun night.
Monday was July 4th which is of course the biggest American holiday of the year - Independence Day. Becca and I walked along the Hudson into midtown to meet my friends in Central park before we headed to a BBQ where I met lots of lovely people and I was really pleased because Daniel Radcliffe was there with some of the people from his show and I had wanted to congratulate him on a great performance so we had a nice chat. He was enjoying chatting to someone British. What a lovely humble guy!
Becca and I then went to meet my friend Paul and a few of his buddies down at the SouthStreet Seaport. Paul works in Tourism and every time I visit he's so kind, he organises free trips and tours for me and he sorted for us all to go on an evening river cruise around the island and over to the statue of liberty before heading up the Hudson to have the perfect spot to watch the famous fireworks. It was an incredible night. They provided food and we had beers and watched the sunset before it got dark enough to begin the most unbelievable firework display I've ever seen. It lasted well over half an hour and they were so spectacular. There were so many boats lined up full of people watching and when it was done each boat honked their horn loudly and everyone was cheering and clepping- it was incredible moment, and the atmosphere was immense! Once in a lifetime opportunity.
Then Becca and I met a few friends for drinks before heading to have my last sleep at her apartment.
Copy and paste this into your search bar to watch a short VLOG I made on our July 4th -
http://vimeo.com/26086177
I woke this morning and Becca had an audition so I left her to get on with things and enjoyed wondering central park for about 4 hours - I'm actually pretty sunburnt as it was about 30 degrees here today without a cloud in the sky! Beautiful
Then before leaving I met a lovely friend for dinner and frozen yoghurt before picking my luggage up from Becca's theatre and bidding her farewell and heading here! Which kind of wraps up my time in New York City.
I will land at 9.30am UK time. I will be losing 5 hours of my life tonight because of the time difference, ha!
I'll head home to do my laundry - oh how American of me - sorry, my washing, hehe, then I'm gonna make the most of having one more day off before heading back to the show on Thursday. So I am finally going to get to watch my friend Haley in Love Never Dies and I'm just gonna chill in London for the day.
This week has been the perfect tonic. I needed to get away from having to juggle all the different work things I have going on in my life and I feel certainly refreshed. Which is a good job as all day Thursday and Friday I have the camera crew following me around for the T.V documentary which they're filming about me this year. Gonna be pretty jet-lagged by the weekend. I'm returning to the show very inspired by broadway and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again, even if I am about 17 stone heavier!!!
Thanks for reading about my little NYC expedition. It's been nice writing this, thinking back over what I've done and that's why I love my blog. Can't wait to read them back in years to come. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be in a position to write an autobiography - these blogs'll come in handy eh?! - I'm adding an autobiography to my to-do list! Ha.
Hope you've all had a great week! I'll be back to tweeting fully by the time you read this.
Keep loving your lives. Smiling and laughing is the way forward!
Get in touch on twitter - @MarkHEvans
Sh-boom
Mark
ps - the pilots of our plane have just boarded so if this never gets posted and I don't make it back…blame them! Sorry that's a bad joke but that is very much my sense of humour! Teehee!
