Hi there everyone, THIS IS A LONG DETAILED POST!!
I have no doubt that Tim will want to add to this post. I apologize in advance that there are not any pictures yet. In all of the chaos we have not managed to get them from the camera on to the computer. I am sure Tim will add some later.
I wanted to write and update everyone on our NYC adventure. We left on Saturday morning at 5am and headed out to NYC with a few goals.
1. To see RENT one last time before it closes
2 For Tim to try out for American Idol
3. To explore the city that never sleeps and have a great time.
We arrived in the city around noon and ventured out to find our hotel. ( I use this word lightly as hotel hardly describes the place we stayed, perhaps prison camp would be a better description) Our room was small with a full sized bed, dingy carpet , narrow hallways and a bathroom down the hall. We were on the 6th floor and the elevator worked for the first day. Our room had a wonderful aroma of urine whenever the air conditioner was on and the sheets would not stay on the bed because there was no fitted sheet. I hate to sound like an old picky woman but at the bargain price of $129.00 a night I couldn't help but wonder, if we had bitten into the worm in the big Apple?
After dumping our bags we found the subway and headed to Time Square to find the Tkts booth. We were rushed to the front of the line here and then promptly realized we had no cash ( which is all the booth takes) Tim did his best not to kill me as we escaped to find an ATM. We were rerushed ( thanks to people who are afraid of canes) to the front of the line where we bouth 8th row orchestra seets for $85.00 a piece. I WAS SOO EXCITED. I LOVE RENT! With tickets in hand we made our first official Starbucks Stop in NYC. Plopped down in an outside table and did our best to rejuvinate ourselves despite the chaos around us. I had been to NYC before but I suppose it was always with a sighty, I must admit I did feel a bit overwhelmed with the chaos and loudness and traffic around us. Luckily, we were only sort of almost hit one time by a moving truck.
On Saturday night we ended up going to Ruby Tuesday( Yes I know this si LAME and a waste in NYC) BUT it was right by the RENT Theater and we wanted to make sure we had Time. $70.00 later ( I guess Food in NYC is more valuable, perhaps it is laced with crack which would explain why everyone is so rushed ) ANYWAY we were fed and we headed to RENT. Needless to say it was as great asi remembered and Tim LOVED IT! That was worth the trip in itself.
We arrived back at our hotel at about 11:30pm and set our alarm for 3:45am. A VERY short time later we arose, Tim showered and even put hair product in ( I was impressed) We got in a cab at 4:30 and an $80.00 (20 minute) cab ride later we were in East Rutherford New Jersey where American Idol maddness had already begun. The line was wrapped around the entire stadium. Tim and I began to find our way around the building to go to the back of a VERY long line when somebody approached us and quickly said we did not need to wait in line, Apparently, American Idol is EXTREMELY concerned with the ADA ( must be a California Thing) Anyway, one of the producers approached us and said that we could either choose to wait behind 5000 swooping, singing, Mariah Carey wannabees and get out of there at noon ORRR we could come back on Tuesday morning and receive priority seating right away. HMMM let's seee... Needless to say by about 5:30 we were waiting for another cab and headed back into the city ($90.00 later we were standing in Time Square as teh sun rose over the streets ( which were REMARKABLY busy for this time of day. We grabbed breakfast at a deli and then took the subway back to the prison camp. We crawled back into bed at around 9:00am and slept until about 2:00pm, it was nice despite the crummy sleeping arrangements we were tired and didnt' really care.
After shaking the grime of the city off ( momentarily) we headed back to Time Square and back ot the Tkts booth. We bought tickets to Stain , which is an off broadway play) This time tickets were only $23.00 a piece. Pretty nice. The show was GREAT!! Kind of edgy but very good acting.
Monday was an American Idol free day, I will skip the details because I know this is getting boring and nobody realy cares what we ate. But I will just say this. We paid $38.00 to to the top of the Empire State Building and it was the BIGGEST RIP OFF OF MY LIFE! Now yes, I shoul dhave thought about the fact that a great view for 2 visually impaired people doesnt' make sense but I guess I let the Sleep in Seattle/an Affair to Remember itis take over and we caved. There we SOO many people jammed around teh observation deck that just finding an edge to look over was impossible. We are probably the only people EVER who can say we did the Empire State building in less than a half hour ( oh yeah we got rushed to the front of the line here too) we also went to The Perfect Crime on Monday night, it was decent acting but I can't help but think we just didnt' quite get it. I think we both wanted to leave at intermission but felt guilty for doing so because there were only 40 people there. We stuck it out and then headed home.
The next morning our alarm went off again at 4:00am. and by 4:30 we were in a cab on the way back to the Izod Center. We arrived at about 5:30 and we were immidiately taken into the stadium. We were seated in a section with some really nice people and got to sit and stare at a totally empty stadium for about 2 hours, it was actually kind of cool. At about 7:30 people were let in and the stadium QUICKLY filled up. We were then led through the group song by a director who even had us do harmonies. I have to admit I was pretty impressed teh 12000 could sing in Unison. The guy kept YELLING you are speeding it up follow my beat , there were cameras and it was very cool. I had heard this would last hours but for us it was only an hour or so, not bad. They began auditions at about 10am. There were 12 tables that took 4 people at a time. after you sand you were either led out with your bracelet being snipped( this happened to about 99% of those auditioning. The craziest part of this day was walking out into the hall to use to ebathroom or buy a $9 hot dog and hear about 3300 different people singing and swooping, it was very comical. It amazed me that there really were a LOT of people who tried to sound like Mariah Cary or Usher but sounded TERRIBLE!!
I must admit sitting there watching 1000's upon 1000's of people's dreams crushed I really began to see the reality of the day, there were many people who could sing but would be going home. I was optimistic for Tim but feeling realistically like we were probably going home. Tim got to audition at about 5:00pm. I watched as he crept hsi way forward on the floor of the stadium and my heart became faster and faster, He finally approached the judge in his row and I watched FRANTICALLY as he sang, then the other three sang, then Tim was asked to come forward AGAin and sing . Then the other 3 were let go and another producer was asked to come over to listen to TIm. I thought I might pass out as I saw him put his wrist down for the producer to read his number HE WAS GOING THROUGH!!! MY AMAZING DARLING GORGEOUS STUNNING HUSBAND WAS GOING THROUGH!! He received a green sheet, Now at this point it meant that he would go back stage to sing for another level of producer. Thw as all i knew so far. A nice intern girl came up and got me and by the time I got to the secret place TIm had passed the next level of auditons and his personal info was being taken. He would be going through to the following day auditions. Ouf of 12000 people about 100 people received this honor. I think we were both shocked, dismayed and well EXCITED! They had us fill out a life story sheet and took a polaroid of him. We were given an address in NYC ( THANK GOD NO MORE EXPENISIVE CABS!! and told to be there by 7am the next morning. It all felt very surreal.
Fortunately thanks to Tim's insistance we found a public transport bus and got back to NYC for $2.40 we then went and grabbed a quick dinner. We planned on getting in early but still didn't make it home until 10pm. EVERYTHING IN NYC TAKES LONGER! We had originally planned to fly home on Wednesday but now we would be spending the day with the next round so I frantically tried to change out plane tickets and find a hotel room for Wednesday night. Tim was told he needed to have 2 songs ready so he worked on that and also steamed and ironed his shirt since he had to wear the same clothes the next day and we had no way of washing it. We finally got to bed at midnight and got up at 4:30 ( I know Tim didn't sleep much at all , which you all know is pretty unusual) I think this had gotten very real for both of us.
The next morning after our 28th trip to Starbucks we were at the location ( I would tell you where we were but I am afraid if I give too many detaisl The American Idol God's may seek me out and destroy me) We waited in line from 6:30 till about 10. They searched our bags, put us through metal detectors, it was all VERY Exciting. Now they CLAIMED that if Tim made it through this round he would have to come back on Monday ( yes I was partly panicking thinking how are we going to fly him back) Anyway due to the helicopters, secret service, body guards and mysterious red carpet in the back entrance we bagan to think maybe Randy, Paula and Simon were actually there.
The contestants were lead into a second room and family was kept in an outside room where we were told the contestants would go through another round of judging , if they came out with a big sticket on then we were to go with them to the back immidiatley for a final round, if they came out with a small sticker it was time to go home. I sat in a chair half panicked for about the next 8 hours. I wantecd this so badly for TIm. It seemed so surreal, We were both So exhaused. I was so nervous, he was so nervous, we waited and waited and waited, I had no idea how emotionally difficult this would be. At about 4pm a Gorgeous, Handsome, Amazing Tim came through the doors with.......a small sticker... Just 3 hours after we missed our non refundable, non transferrable flight we were going home. I know from my perspective I was very sad for TIm, hewas very disappointed. but I am so proud of him, he is so talented and this just wasn't God's plan. As we made our way to a $220.00 confort in we talked about the benefits of not making it, of getting out of this crowded dirty city and going HOME!! I know we were both disappointed, but you begin to see that it would have turned our lives upside down. and we really like our lives teh way they are.
That being said, I think that if they extend the age he will try again next year. it was so close , and he has the talent, there was a blind guy who went about 15 people before Tim, I wonder if he had a better story. For now, I am so proud of my husband, so glad to be home and so relieved to live in Kalamazoo, we may not have broadway or sophistication but the awesome life do have ABSOLUTELY makes up for it!
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It's probably all that sitting around chewing on hats with my dog.
Not a great picture, but definitely gives you an idea of the montliness of the crew! I"m up in the top left lookin' as cheerie as ever.
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