2018-19 Winter Break: Day 6 New York

[Update in 2020: Since JKR’s attitude toward the trans community is hateful and dangerous, I will no longer be promoting any of her works. See my post here.]

Day 6. New York: New-York Historical Society (Harry Potter: A History of Magic). Hudson Theatre (Head Over Heels). Famous Famiglia Pizza. Winter Garden Theatre (School of Rock). [HI New York Hostel]

Best day ever! I cannot stop smiling.

Magical World

A few months ago, my dad sent me a piece of news on the exhibition of Harry Potter: A History of Magic at New-York Historical Society (October 5, 2018 – January 27, 2019). I was so excited I immediately booked a ticket (college student: $13.00 excluding fees; $14.39 with fees), and have been looking forward to it ever since.

I finally woke up at a normal time today at 9 am. My timed entrance was at 10 am, and I was several minutes late, so I waited until the next time slot, which was 10:15 am or so. Though the day just started, there were already a lot of people. Since no pictures were allowed in the exhibition, I took notes by paper and pen. Nothing beats the old-fashioned way.

The exhibit was curated pretty well, as I originally thought it would be tiny and take about 30 minutes to go through. I surprised myself by spending nearly 3.5 hours in there, and I might have stayed longer if I didn’t have a show scheduled at 2 pm. Not only were the displayed items nicely selected, they even put effort in decorations to add to the overall atmosphere.

The exhibition consisted of many amazing illustrations by Jim Kay, sketches and original drafts (including deleted scenes) by J.K. Rowling, rare manuscripts and more. One notable highlight was in the centre of charms section: the top of a hanger was enclosed in a glass box. The tag on the glass read ‘Invisibility Cloak’. It was really clever and funny.

The museum shop had a wide range of merchandise, including attires of different Hogwarts houses, wands, books, etc. I didn’t have time to do any real shopping, so I ended up just buying a chocolate frog ($3.95 excluding tax).

After exiting the exhibit, there were more items on display, such as illustrations of some Harry Potter illustrators (the weird thing is that all 4 of them are Hufflepuffs) and costumes of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child stage play.

Oh My Heart

For the past two Broadway shows, I arrived about an hour early and stood in line to wait for the doors to open. This time, I was nearly late, arriving at Hudson Theatre 10 minutes before the Head Over Heels started.

I bought the ticket to this musical at the last moment on Christmas when I suddenly couldn’t resist squeezing in a matinee performance. Since Head Over Heels was closing soon on January 6th, the matinee performances were on sale. While I checked the ratings on some tourism websites to make sure I wasn’t getting myself into some mediocre play, I saw that the ratings weren’t very high. Then I read the comments, and realised that most low scores were by homophobic and transphobic people. So I decided to take the risk and bought a second row seat ($89 excluding fees; $101.50 including fees). It turned out to be one of my best spontaneous decisions ever.

One of the actors in the main cast, Peppermint, is the first transgender woman to originate a principle role on Broadway. How cool is that? And the fact that her character is a non-binary person makes it so much more fabulous. The play also includes cross-dressing (typical in theatre), love between two women, love involving a non-binary person. This play is no doubt the gay paradise on Broadway.

For a show that did not leave me in tears (crying is usually an indication of goodness), I loved it and the audience were just awesome. Upon the first appearance of Peppermint, everyone cheered like mad. Oh, she was the runner-up of RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2017, so maybe some people knew her from there. Head Over Heels left me so happy.

Sole Meal

Before my next show, I had to eat something. I haven’t had time to eat anything for the whole day, so when I passed by Famous Famiglia Pizza, I had to try. I ordered a piece of chicken pizza ($4.75) and a chicken stromboli ($6.50). Turned out I didn’t really like New York pizza and I ordered too much.

Adorable Kids

After grabbing a latte from Starbucks post-dinner, I strolled Times Square for a while, and walked to Winter Garden Theatre before the doors were open. Again. And waited in the lobby for School of Rock.

I have to admit I bought the ticket (partial view: $59.00 excluding fees; $73.75 including fees) to School of Rock before I even tried listening to the soundtrack. After I listened to the soundtrack, I regretted buying the ticket but it wasn’t up for return. So I could only hope I wouldn’t hate it.

I felt that the audience were not as ‘good’ as Head Over Heels, but since School of Rock was targeted more towards younger audience and the general public, I think it was understandable. The musical turned out to be pretty good, and the children performing were incredible. They were probably about 10 years old, and so talented that I wondered what I was doing with my life.

Summary

Today was the best day ever. Both Harry Potter: A History of Magic and Head Over Heels made me so happy, and School of Rock wasn’t bad. Now, I have seen 5 Broadway shows, and I hope there would be a lot more to come.