We started by driving into midtown on the west side (aka Hell's Kitchen) and then walking over to Times Square while enjoying the New York atmosphere! (My dad's a big city lover like myself).
We then got on the TKTS line. This is basically where you can buy half priced tickets to Broadway and Off Broadway shows day-of. The line is right in the middle of Times Square and has a big "TKTS" on the wall so it's pretty hard to miss. It opens at 11AM most days for matinees and 2PM for evening shows (check me on that cause I'm not positive). The link will give you more info but it's a really great way to see shows since a ticket in advance can easily cost $140 or more!
Sometimes the TKTS line moves slowly but we caught it on a lazy Sunday so it moved quick (only about a 30 min wait) and we got 50% off tickets for The Little Mermaid!
Cost: $78 per ticket
Often times there are even less pricy ways to get tickets for shows: Rush Tickets. I won't go into this too much now, because I'm sure I'll use it in future blogs, but that link gives a really good description. As expensive as tickets are, a lot of shows make it really easy to get standing room, partial view or lottery tickets for under $30!!
After we had our tickets, we wanted to grab a bite to eat! The restaurants in midtown are often very touristy (meaning EXPENSIVE!) so we tried to head as far over to the west side as possible to find some more reasonable food. We stopped at this delicious french bistro called Marseille. It wasn't the cheapest food, but it was AMAZING and totally worth the cost! I had the french toast and couldn't even finish it all so I ended up taking half of it home!
Cost: about $30 +tip
At this point we still had about 2 hours left until curtain since we decided to show up at TKTS right at 11 when it opened and The Little Mermaid curtain was at 3PM. My dad reminded me about the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market that we had passed many times in the car but never stopped at. I had always pointed it out as something that looked cool (it opened with a giant blowup of a devil, how much cooler can you get?!). Since we were in the area already, we decided to stop by! I saw some really cute shoes but they weren't in my size. =(
Cost: $0
Flea Markets are always a fun option to attend in the city. Sometimes you hear about then before hand and sometimes you just wander onto them but either way they sell food that smells good, they sell outfits that look nice and are fun to try on and best of all the vendors aren't pushy and don't guilt you into buying anything if you don't want to! They're basically open air malls except with trendier cloths, better food, and more awesome people! And even if you do decide to cough up some cash, most of the time you wont spend much and although the items may not be the best quality, I think you certainly get your money's worth!
Even after hanging out at the street fair for a while, we still had about an hour till curtain, so we decided to wander around the fashion district and stop in a few fabric stores (I like to sew!) and then make our way over to Bryant Park. Bryant Park (located at 6th Avenue and 42nd Street) is an ideal location for theater goers and really anyone to spend a lazy afternoon! It has food stations, a giant lawn, a carousel and an ice rink in the winter! Contrary to about 20 years ago, it's a very safe area. My dad and I spent about 30 minutes at a lawn table people watching before heading over to the theater.
Cost: $0
So next, we saw the show! It was very good, very campy, but I liked it! The actors were great (Faith Prince as Ursula, Drew Seeley at the Prince). After the show we stage doored. (Stage Door, verb, After a theater production, fans go to the stage door usually located just outside the theater and ask for the actors' pictures and autographs). By that time it was almost 5 and mom wanted us both home for diner so we walked a few blocks back to the car and headed home after a super fun father-daughter day in New York City!
The Little Mermaid Tickets: $78 per ticket
Brunch at Marseilles: about $30 +tip
Hell's Kitchen Flea Market: $0
Bryant Park: $0
Total Cost of the Day: About $110
