Earlier this month, I celebrated my friend Adrienne’s birthday in true Adrienne style with an immersive adventure. This time we got ourselves locked up in jail for the Shawshankd cocktail experience. The show is inspired by the movie and was fun and laid back. Our group had a blast because we all embraced the role-playing aspect of the night. The strong drinks were a bonus.
Here are some pictures of the night.
Need to find my next adventure!
I’m actually more of an X-Factor girl myself but when I heard about the opportunity to attend an audition for America’s Got Talent in Newark I couldn’t pass it up. I’ve been on shows before in college, I was on Total Request Live once and went to The Daily Show but never anything talent/contest related.
So the taping was at a performance art center in Newark and I was a little bit worried about transportation, turns out it was a piece of cake. Two $5 NJ Transit tickets to Newark at Penn Station and a 20 minute train ride later, boom Adrienne and I are in Newark. Adrienne’s friend Aileen picked us up from there but the center was pretty close to the NJ Transit station.
I must say getting in was pretty smooth, we were barely online for five minutes. We got our tickets, showed our bags and then headed to our seats. We unfortunately were in the third ring and probably won’t get any TV coverage but it was still fun. They had an Audience Manager/Producer that was pretty on point and kept everyone lively practicing how to clap and cheer. One thing that I actually was pretty surprised about was how many kids were at the taping. The audience was definitely mixed but it just so happened the area that I was located in had a ton of kids, at least everyone was well behaved.
I had a great time with the girls even though there was a lot of waiting time but I must say no one really wowed me. They had about five singers, two comedians, three dancers, a psychic act and a magic show act. I really wanted to see a dog/dance act but that didn’t happen. Only a few got through to the next round….so there may or may not be a cool magician act or weird dance act going to the next round but those were my favorite ones =).
Here are some shots…
Adrienne, Me and Aileen taking a selfie
Waiting to be entertained
Growing up I loved watching the Golden Girls. I mean I wasn’t the obvious target audience, being a kid and all, but I enjoyed it never the less. Blanche was my favorite, with Sophia being a close second. The friendship these women had and the story lines were heartfelt. Even as a kid I related to some aspect of it. For instance the relationship between Dorothy and Sophia reminded me of my relationship with my mother. Being that I’m an only child and my parents are separated, I always wondered how it would look like taking care of my parents and we bickered constantly. Also the crazy relationship with Dorothy and Stanley resembled my parents at times.
Anywho, I decided to go with my friend Adrienne to ‘The Unofficial Golden Girls Musical’ in early February. The plot was absolutely ridiculous -Ricky Martin became their new neighbor and had crazy sex parties that the girls found disturbing- and the actors were in drag but it was hilarious.
Since it’s the ‘unofficial’ musical, all the names were changed. Blanche became Blanchet, Dorothy became Dorothea, Rose to Roz and Sophia to Sophie. Again the plot was absurd but they made all important ‘Golden Girl’ references and I applaud how these men got the mannerisms of these ladies down to a tee. They added a special sub plot about ‘Dorthea’ that I didn’t really enjoy but it was still fun.
The show itself was only $20 but you had to spend a minimum of $15 on drinks or food; which I didn’t mind. We sat closer to the stage and could see everything the only negative part was that I was right under their A/C system and was freezing. Don’t know why air conditioning was on in February but I had to cover myself with my coat.
Don’t have a picture to share and wouldn’t go again but it was a funny night of sh*t and giggles with Adrienne.
I first heard about the show through my boyfriend, Andrew. I got tickets to see Sleep No More in October and he mentioned a couple of interactive shows he heard of that would be great to attend, this show being one of them. I finally got tickets to see it with him and two of my friends, Adrienne and Christine, on a Friday night.
The show is actually inside a pop-up space with the best outdoor bathroom trailer I’ve been to so far :). The atmosphere is very dark, clubbish, with old school paintings everywhere to set the mood and show timeline of Russia in the 1800s. Seating is a combination of bar stools, tables and lounge tables. I paid for bar stools but once we got there, we were given a table, BONUS.
The show is based on the novel War and Peace, which I never read but overall I enjoyed my experience. It was very interactive, the performers dance and sing all around you. Due to our location, we always had a performer near us and we also had a few sit at our table as part of the show. The performers and wait staff also do there best to try to get you to understand who is who. I also like how they modernize the music and how they give you some what of a small summary to follow if you want via the program. It might have been too whimsical for Andrew but the ladies and I enjoyed it.
Here are some pictures:
Program…you’ll need it
Atmospherics
The Ladies
Ghostly paintings
Pricey food snacks
I spent about $134 per ticket. We received some snacks (perogies, bread and pieces of vegetables and olives) but we bought a cheese and charcuterie plate, shrimp cocktail and plenty of drinks. Andrew, I believe, spent around $200 on us ladies. I don’t regret my night trip to Moscow, it was quite entertaining, but I’ll pass on the food and drinks next time.
I have been wanting to see the Holiday Train Show at the Botanical Garden for some time now and I thought it would be fitting to start the new year with an adventure.
I went with my friend Adrienne on New Year’s Day. I met Adrienne on the D train, we then took the bus to the garden. I don’t normally ride buses so I was amazed to find out that you could actually track the bus by accessing a QR code at the bus stop. People must use the service as Adrienne and I were the two lonely birds at the bus stop but as soon as we saw the bus 10 people magically showed up. It’s a great tool to use in the future to beat the cold, lesson learned.
We got there around 3pm but had to wait to enter for 3:45pm. We found the holiday food court, while we waited, and ate but it was pretty expensive and there was a just a small selection.
The train show itself was great. All the materials used were apparently plant based. All around were NY bridges and mostly well known buildings and landmarks. Here are few pictures of my favorites:
Queensboro Bridge
Building with a train
MET
Frick Museum
Guggenheim Museum
Yankee Stadium
NY Landscape
Spent a total of approx. $40 ($25 admission, $10 for food, $5 for transportation). I would definitely go again but next time I might go at night, when they have ‘Bar Car Nights’. The garden had a couple of nights in Dec, where adults can go and see the show and have cocktails. Probably more my scene and hopefully a lot less crowded.
The Casual Explorer 