(This was written mostly by a friend of mine, in detailing my trip up to NYC to see CATS on Broadway. I went through and added here and there. There were also originally pictures to link to, but the links were taken down, so I don't have any pics right now to show up on the web. Because of the nature of this - being up on the web - all names are the "cat" names of the board, and not our RL names. My cat name is Shadowcat, or Shad for a nickname.)
We started showing up on Shad's doorstep near DC by one's or two's. First Similyn who came in almost a week ahead of time and the two best online friends became even closer in RL Minstrel and Duchess show up (very late at night) the morning of (try about 2am) before we left on Friday Sept 3. Wolfcat and Terossa fly in the morning about 11, and we all loaded up in the white minivan we rented and Shadow began to drive out of Virginia, through Maryland and Pennsylvania, and finally into New Jersey. As we rode, we talked and learned a little more about each other. We also played a game called Mad Libs, each taking turns at calling out words. The talking finally stopped when we put in Sim's Cats CD, and everyone sang along to it. We had no trouble finding our way across the states until NJ, when Shadow stopped at a rest stop to find out where on the map we were. Then it was time to find the Holiday Inn we were supposed to stay at. It turned out that Shadowcat made one wrong turn, and as we were all pointing out the Empire State Building, and the Twin Towers, she was oblivious to the fact that we were in New York! There were also some strange helicopters flying around low we wondered about. (We found out later on the news that they were spraying for mosquitos that were carrying a particularly bad virus!) Well, we got ourselves turned around and went back to New Jersey where the hotel was, found the hotel, and checked in. After having to reconvey to the front desk that we wanted adjoining rooms (OK, how hard is it to find 2 rooms that adjoin??), we settled in and went to the pool for a swim. 15 minutes later, we drug our poor frozen bodies back to our rooms and decided to play board and card games (one was called Encore, the other was called Idiot). We finally went to sleep about 1 or so; right after this, Wolf had an asthma attack. Terossa saw to him, and we kept the connecting door ajar from then on. (Except for dressing/ showering times)
Shadow's little beeper went off and woke up all the girls the next morning. She had set it to go downstairs to wait for Jospher, not realizing how much like a fire alarm the thing was, and EVERYONE woke up! Terossa joined her downstairs ~ they got there just as the cab with Jospher in it pulled up. Well, the girls woke up before he arrived; the guys were woken up when he walked into their room. Had breakfast there in the hotel - we determined NEVER to eat there again! High prices, and takes up way too much time! Terossa just ate some leftover pizza, so when the rest of us came back up, she had straightened the room, and then off to NYC! We then went to Manhatten on the bus and subway where we immediately found the Winter Garden Theater, but we had time to spare, so we went in and walked around Central Park where Wolfcat was happy to see the statue of Balto. So were the rest of us, I think, for walking in Central Park was a bit more then we expected. I think we ended up walking about 2 hours more then expected!
After eating a well deserved lunch at McDonald's (or Starbucks), we arrived at the theater and got our first look at the Broadway stage. It was like walking into another world! The theater was smaller than expected, but we didn't mind that! We found out that there were seats actually on-stage, but were told that you couldn't see the whole show from there. Then the music started and we were pulled into the world of the Jellicles. As the show progressed, we observed the differences between the live show and the video, such as: how Jennayanydots and Rum Tum Tugger were portrayed, and, of course, the Growltiger song. Seeing it live also answered many questions that had popped up about the video. During "The Naming of Cats", Jellylorum came and stood near us, with Demeter just down the row. During intermission, we were allowed to go on stage and we got to see Pouncival, Skimbleshanks, and Old Deuteronomy up there. Later in the show, Munkustrap and Mistoffelees came down our row (and yes, we were happy to see that they were being played by Michael Gruber and Jacob Brent). At the end of the show, we gave them a standing ovation, of course! :o)
After the show, we went to the Jekyll and Hyde Restuarant to meet Munkustrap, Tantomile, Cheshire, and their parents. The restuarant was....original. We enjoyed being able to talk with everyone and finally be able to put faces with names. I'm sure we made quite an impression with the staff there as well. Topics of conversations ranged from storylines on the board, to different ways of talking, to Wolf's fingernails and hair, and more. After the meal, we took group photo's The trip back to the hotel was an adventure in and of itself. After getting off the bus at the New Jersey Turnpike, we had to walk a ways to get to the hotel. There was one problem...we weren't sure how to get there! We had walked about 3 hours before Shad and Sim both came up with the idea to call a taxi. They were home wihin ten minutes (why didn't we think of it earlier!?!?!). Sim wrote some humorous songs about it. Showers, much appreciated foot massages by Jos, and a tickle war later, we all fell asleep.
Sunday morning, we got up and decided to drive into New York this time. Wolf and Terossa went to Central Park and to do some shopping, while the rest of us went to see the Statue of Liberty. While we were waiting in line it started raining. So, we bought rain ponchos and had a little fun dancing in the rain! We met back up, got in the van and left for home after that.
During the trip home, we played more Mad Libs, and listened to some Weird Al Yankovic. Jos and Wolf gave Shad a massage which made her fall asleep. After a dinner stop, it was Terossa's turn for the "cloud 9" treatment. We put in the CATS CD again, and sang along until we reached home. We gave each other nicknames too. We had "Mama Shad", and "the Quiet one" (Sim), "The Fearless Leader From Behind" (Min), "Hair" (Wolf), "The Flirty One" (Ter), "Miss Giggles" (Duch) and "Magic Fingers" (Jos). We watched the video of our trip, then we all went to sleep. Wolf and Terossa were the first ones to leave the next day. They were followed by Jospher later that day, and then by Duchess and Minstrel. Sim left on Wednesday and all was finally quiet at Shad's house.