Thanks for the information about the piano, NeoPatrick. It moved so seamlessly that it caught our attention. I hadn't thought about it being lighter than the scenery - true that.

Now, NeoPatrick, you might just notice that I am a bit, shall we say, wordy. I wouldn't have left you hanging with that little bit of information about the shows mentioned in the ticket-buying section. : )

ROTFLMAO -- someone calling herself "wordy" to ME -- the all time title holder for wordiness.

LOL, NeoPatrick.

I will hopefully have time to write up a show per day. Life is getting in the way of writing up notes.

I'll look later. I'm off to the city to see Laura Osnes, F. Murray Abraham, and a host of others in Threepenny Opera today at The Atlantic Theatre Company. Really looking forward to it.

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I wish we'd had time to see that too.

<i><b>SHOWS #2 - SUNDAY NIGHT</b></i>

<i><b>FORBIDDEN BROADWAY</b></i>

The Davenport Theater
354 W 45th (between 8th and 9th)
1 hour 40 minutes with a 15 minute intermission

http://forbiddenbroadway.com/

After <i>Beautiful</i>, we walked briskly back to the hotel where we ate a quick snack and changed clothes. As it turns out, I need not have gotten dressed up because <i>FORBIDDEN BROADWAY</i> was much more casual. It was in a tiny theater with about 100 seats. We were in Row C and I could have touched the stage if I leaned forward. The stage was above eye level and the people onstage looked like giants. Forbidden Broadway was a parody of Broadway plays. The four actors (and the pianist) were talented and we had either seen the shows or were familiar with them from popular culture. It was a fun and funny show.

Many shows are dark on Sunday night, so we had a limited choice We enjoyed <i>FORBIDDEN BROADWAY</i>. However, if we had time to see only one show, we would not have chosen it as it wasn't actually a show - just a parody of shows.

Maybe I'm splitting hairs, but I would definitely classify Forbidden Broadway as a show, not just a parody of shows....and a very good one at that! I'd put it in the category of a "revue."
And anyone who doesn't see it is missing one of the best shows in New York.

OK.

I suppose I meant that it doesn't have a story line. But I suppose, in another way, it does.

I was impressed at the talent of the actors and how they were able to do so many different voices/styles. They were really good singers and actors and the parodies were very well written.

I did like it a lot. I just wouldn't pick it for my <i>only</i> show if I could just see one. That is the case for many tourists.

You have made a good point in that if you only see only show, you're probably right to pick something else. But, if you're here for a few days and seeing a few shows, then I feel Forbidden Broadway should be included. Of course, that assumes that, like the OP, you are fairly knowledgeable about Broadway shows.

I'm making an overnight stop in NYC in 10 days. I plan to get tickets to 2 shows, a Tues evening and Wed. matinee performance. Your tips have been very helpful, especially about taking the discount codes to the box office, bypassing the wait at the TKTS booth. Thanks for posting.

Does anyone know if the 15th and 16th of April are school vacations in NY?

Thank you for letting me know shelleyk.

I don't know if the TKTS booth would have been less expensive or more expensive. But, it sure was good to have our tickets in hand more than a couple of hours in advance.

I don't know about NY school vacations, but I do have a thought about it. I am guessing you were thinking that school vacations might be busy times because of family trips and school break group trips. It might actually work in reverse because you wouldn't have local school field trips (to museums and the like).

I suppose someone local might be able to give you a better idea of the effect of vacation times. We didn't see an overabundance of families vacationing, but we did see quite a few large groups of kids that were apparently visiting NYC with a school group.

<i><b>SHOWS #3 - MONDAY NIGHT</b></i>

<i><b>BULLETS OVER BROADWAY</b></i>

St. James Theater
246 W. 44th (just down the street from Forbidden Broadway)
2 hr 45 min including 15 minute intermission

http://bulletsoverbroadway.com/

Monday night's show was <i>Bullets over Broadway</i>. It was written by Woody Allen, but the music came from the 20's. It was a quintessential Broadway extravaganza with lots of singing and dancing. My favorite dance number was set to Ain't Misbehaving in the first act.

Tip: At intermission, I went to the rest room and, on the way back, there was no line for the woman's room, but the men's line snaked back and forth in front of the rest room and then all the way up the stairway and into the lobby. So, male or female, if you'd like to use the rest room at intermission, don't tarry. Beat the crowds of people who will never read my trip report. Also, if you see only one sex lined down the stairway, you can go down the middle to catch up with your line.

(possible spoiler) The story, in my opinion, is dated: In order to get his play on Broadway, a playwright agrees to star a mobster's girlfriend. I also thought the sets were kind of, well, brown - not too colorful. On the other hand, this was what you may think of as a Broadway play - nothing too deep and with skilled production numbers and strong singing. We enjoyed the show and it might be a good choice for someone who wants the traditional Broadway experience. On the other hand, it would not be my first choice and, after seeing four more shows, I found it the most forgettable.

I meant to add that Monday night is a night where many shows were dark. On the list of shows that we wanted to see, only Forbidden Broadway and Bullets over Broadway were playing on Monday night. So that made either of them an obvious choice.

Also, earlier I mentioned that we toured the Cloisters in a clockwise direction. It was actually counter-clockwise.

So glad you enjoyed Beautiful. I loved it when I saw it during its pre-Broadway run in San Francisco. I can't wait to read the rest of your report.

Busy day - next installment will have to wait until tomorrow.

I stayed at the Travel Inn, too, in June, 2013, with my granddaughter. Though there was no breakfast at the hotel as traveler2005 mentioned, there was a diner right next door which I think had some connection to the hotel. They had good prices and decent food for breakfast. I went there every morning for coffee (my only complaint about the hotel was the lack of a coffee pot in the room). My granddaughter liked the new deli/grocery that opened sort of diagonally across 42nd St. where we could get good snacks that she liked, especially since we had the refrigerator and microwave in the room. The temperatures were good for swimming while we were there, but we were so busy doing other things that we didn't use the pool. My granddaughter had never been to NYC before so we had lots to see. I would reiterate what traveler2005 said--if you want a luxury hotel experience, you would not like the Travel Inn, but if a convenient location and clean but plain accommodations suit you, then it would be a good choice. I never felt it was unsafe.

Love your report so far though it is a bit of a tease waiting for the remaining show reviews......I want to know f you saw Mothers & Sons.

That's supposed to be an if not f.