CORNWALL HILL COLLEGE DRAMA TOUR TO NYC – AUGUST 2014
MONDAY 18 AUGUST D DAY!
After months & months of intricate planning, D day has finally dawned and there was great excitement as all gathered at OR Tambo International airport this evening. I have just contacted Mrs Desmarais, who reports that check-in went smoothly and once through emigration the reality set in and everyone was so very excited! They are scheduled to arrive in Amsterdam at 10h20 tomorrow morning and thereafter connect to New York, arriving at 15h30. Here their Tour Director will be waiting to greet the group and they will then travel by coach to their superbly situated hotel. Please rest assured that all arrangements are firmly in place and a wonderfully enriching tour awaits - I will update the website as soon as I have heard from Mrs Desmarais tomorrow ....
TUESDAY 19 AUGUST A DRAMATIC START TO A DRAMA TOUR ... BUT A HAPPY ENDING!
This is not called a DRAMA tour for nothing and what a range of emotions Mrs Desmarais and I shared between 11h15 and 12h05 today!! The 1st message I received was a happy one to say: “We have landed safely in Amsterdam after a good flight – excellent service and we all got some sleep. We are now taking in some ‘Dutch’ coffee and shopping before we board”. This was really good news, until I received part 2 at 11h45: “Crisis Jenny, one of the boys has lost his passport & visa – HELP! They won’t let him board...what must we do?” Frantic messages between us as you can imagine and then the answer to prayer, as at 12h05 the message came through: “FOUND IT”!! Needless to say, we aged a great deal in this short space of time and all now have their passports firmly glued to them! At 12h30 all happily boarded flight KL641and they are scheduled to arrive at JFK at 15h30 local time (21h30 SA time). Lawrence, their Tour Director will be waiting for them and I am sure a good night’s rest at the hotel will be very much appreciated! A reminder that they will be staying at the Excelsior Hotel in Manhattan and the contact telephone number is +1 212 362 9200.
WEDNESDAY 20 AUGUST WORKSHOP 101
After a good night’s sleep, all were rearing to go and I have just received an update from Catherine Desmarais: “It is a fabulously clear day in New York City – we all slept so well and woke up to a lovely breakfast! The first subway ride was fun & successful, after a good briefing from our wonderful Tour Director, Lawrence. This morning we are participating in a Broadway 101 workshop, starting with physical and vocal warm-ups, followed by interactive exercises and theatre games....tons of fun! Later on we will head off to the Top of the Rock, as the weather today is so ideal for magnificent views! We will tonight enjoy dinner at the Hard Rock Café in Times Square, before heading off to a musical performance of Matilda...how very exciting!”
THURSDAY 21 AUGUST TOP OF THE ROCK + PERFORMANCE OF MATILDA
Given the time difference between NYC & SA, these diary entries will have take on a new format and I will update whenever I get a report from Mrs Desmarais ...understandably not necessarily on the right day! At 16h30 today (10h30 in NYC) I received this lovely update: “Going up to the Top of the Rock was a truly memorable experience and the beautiful, clear weather meant that we could view the City for miles on all sides of the building. We then enjoyed an ‘All-American’ lunch, choosing from the many deli's under the Rockerfella Centre. Thereafter we took the underground to Roosevelt Island to take in the view of the City and ride the cable car back into town. The afternoon was spent shopping in the bustling Times Square. Dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe was followed by the funniest, cleverest Broadway show - Matilda. Such a busy and uplifting day!”
FRIDAY 22 AUGUST SUCH FULL, FUN-FILLED DAYS IN NEW YORK!
Another lovely update received this afternoon: "We are all simply loving our very busy days in New York and our Actor/Director/Tour Guide is so entertaining & interesting. He has booked tickets for those in the group who have opted to see an extra show tomorrow night. Yesterday we spent the morning at the Highline Park and shopped at the eclectic Chelsea Market, before enjoying lunch at Madison Square Gardens. At Madame Tussaud’s we took about a million ‘selfies’ and we can all now say that we have ‘met’ a huge amount of famous people (mostly made of wax, but who's asking?!?). Our Broadway workshop was on Stage Combat, so we were able to get out all our anger issues! We ended off the day with the toe-tapping 50's Musical, ‘Jersey Boys’, which was well-staged and entertaining. PS We are still astounded at the Production of ‘Matilda’ and how fabulous the 10 year old performers were – something to aspire to!"
SATURDAY 23 AUGUST SO MUCH ON THE GO!
Yet another wonderful update received and thank you to Catherine Desmarais! “The New York weather was over-cast and slightly cooler as we ventured out yesterday. Our morning workshop was wonderful and made us feel as if we were really working on Broadway. We were taught some songs & dance routines from the show Newsies, so tomorrow when we actually see the show, we will feel the urge to join them on stage! We met and chatted to performers from the show and they were truly inspirational. This was followed by a visit to the World Trade Centre Memorial and our Tour Director, Lawrence talked sensitively about 9/11 and we all felt very moved. The ‘history lesson’ was extended further as we took a ferry to see Lady Liberty - luckily the weather held so we were not rained on! Lawrence did a great job of explaining the immigration system of the past to us on Ellis Island and we all feel very blessed to be living in 2014! Supper at Carmines Italian Restaurant was absolutely delicious and the best meal so far! After dinner we took a leisurely stroll back to our comfortable hotel, shopping along the way of course and we enjoyed a relaxing evening together, recharging our batteries for all that still lies ahead….”
SUNDAY 24 AUGUST YET ANOTHER WONDERFUL DAY!
Yesterday started with a walking tour through the Financial District and a visit to Wall Street. We moved toward Brooklyn, enjoying homemade ice creams and riding the carousel at the famous Brooklyn Bridge. Then we visited Little Italy for delicious Cannoli pastries and China Town for some shopping! Shrimp dinner at Baba Gump was fabulous & fun and then we bought discounted tickets to see Fuerza Bruta, which was exciting post- modern theatre and ends with the audience dancing in a shower of water! It was yet another wonderful day for us!
MONDAY 25 AUGUST OUR FINAL FULL DAY IN THIS MAGICAL CITY!
Yesterday was our last ‘full’ day in New York City. The morning Workshop was all about backstage and behind the scenes of a Broadway show. We enjoyed lunch at Grand Central Station- this beautiful building has featured in many movies we have seen. It was almost torn down and replaced by yet another Sky Scraper, but the people fought in court to keep it and so it was restored. After lunch we took a relaxing stroll through Greenwich Village, where the warm sunshine and green trees were being enjoyed by locals and tourists together. The afternoon show of Newsies was a truly unbelievable experience because it happened to be their ‘closing’ show after a 10 year run on Broadway. It was electrifying and in the audience there were the previous cast members, directors as well as the Director of the Disney Production House. The audience gave 5 standing ovations throughout the show and we were very excited to be part of it all. Plus we had met one of the performers in our Song & Dance Workshop and we had learnt to sing and dance one of the numbers ourselves - it was all extremely invigorating. Dinner, a last shop in Times Square and a visit to Macy's saw the end of our final full day here and we will all be so sad to say goodbye to the ‘city that never sleeps’.
TUESDAY 26 AUGUST ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END ....
It is unbelievable how quickly the week has flown by and everyone has seen & accomplished SO much! As I write they are travelling on KL591 from Amsterdam to Johannesburg and I am sure I do not have to remind excited families that they will be arriving at OR Tambo @ 21h15 this evening. Catherine Desmarais has been such a pleasure to work with on this tour and your children have certainly been ver y privileged to travel with such a warm, caring and knowledgeable person, ably accompanied by Mrs Ulandi Weyers & Lawrence, their Tour Director. All will undoubtedly be exhausted upon arrival and whilst the many wonderful anecdotes may not immediately be forthcoming, they will, I know, reveal themselves in the days, months and even years to come! As parents you can rest assured that you have afforded your children the most wonderful opportunity and I have no doubt that each and every child will return not only academically enriched, but enriched as a person, having matured and grown in confidence and the precious memories & firm bonds of friendships will last a lifetime. It has been a joy and privilege to be associated with Cornwall Hill College on a 2nd Drama Tour to NYC and we all look forward to the 3rd!