My brother just recently moved to New York, so since I couldn’t go home for thanksgiving I decided to come visit him for the weekend. The most family I’ll get for another month before I head back to Hong Kong for Christmas! I’m totally excited to see home again.
I watched a musical tonight, it’s called “The Fantasticks.” It’s the longest running musical in broadway, a few friends and I stood in line for an hour and a half to get discounted tickets and even then they were quite pricy. But I didn’t want to line up for so long and not end up buying tickets! Anyhow I had no idea what to expect cause I’ve never heard of it before.
The show was in quite a small theater, and we soon realized it was a cast of eight, small cast. Despite feeling like we weren’t in the most popular environment, I really enjoyed the musical. Perhaps I haven’t seen a musical in a while and thats why I enjoyed it but the atmosphere was great. The actors did a good job keeping the audience captive, they were very lively. This musical is about two teenage kids whose fathers put a wall between their houses so they won’t see each other. But of course with teenage kids, when you say no to them, they’ll do the exact opposite.
Therefore, they fell in love and the thrill of having to see each other in secret was what kept them going. When the wall was broken down and they were seeing each other in the public eyes, in the “sun light” as they might call it, everything was different. They had arguments and eventually led to the boy going out to see the world, and the girl semi experiencing the world. Before I spoil the plot, I might’ve already but they both realize that the world out there is not all that exciting.
Anyhow, towards the end of the musical, I realized it was quite brilliant. I really enjoyed the idea of proving that teenagers would do the opposite of what you have said “no” to, and when we are not confined to that space or rule anymore, the real world is out there and it’s ugly. It’s not as magical as one may seem, and problems come as we learn more about ourselves, each other, and the world around us.
One of my favorite quotes from tonight is…
El Gallo: There is a curious paradox that no one can explain: who understands the secrets of the reaping of the grain? Who understands why spring is born out of winter’s laboring pain, or why we all must die a bit before we grow again?
Besides the musical, we went to a Turkish restaurant tonight and had really good Turkish food. I like to believe because I had two friends who are from Turkey, therefore, we were able to order a bottle of wine without getting checked. Ate too much today already…… more food tomorrow! Did Americans invent this holiday so they can have an excuse to eat as much as they want?
Joanne Lam 
I lived in NYC for 6 years but I never went to the thanksgiving parade. Actually, I did go once, but we got there just as it ended… it was crazy (the crowds… macy’s)