Last weekend, my friend Jo and I took a weekend trip up to New York City (3/25-3/27). We had tickets to see How To Succeed In Business for the 26th! We knew, if we wanted to stay for the entire show, that our only chance at meeting Daniel Radcliffe was to go the night before... so we did!!!! And boy, did March 25th end up being a magical night!!!!
We arrived in Time Square, only to be greeted by this lovely sight!!! Look who made their grand debut on NYC's billboards!!!!
Of course, I had to be the fan girl and get a picture of it with me in the background! =)
After Jo and I had our fan girl moments, we decided to go check out where the theatre was located for our stage door expedition that would take place later on that evening. We would rather get lost during the daytime in the big city than at night! We ended up taking one street too far and ended up on W. Broadway and 44th... which to my surprise ended up being the street where Discovery is where the Harry Potter exhibition is!!!!
So then we had to walk one more block over and one avenue down and we reached Hirschfeld Theatre where 'How To Succeed In Business' is performed!
The theatre is amazingly beautiful compared to most of the theatres in the city. I was surprised!
Right before we reached Hirschfeld, we saw a poster of Daniel Radcliffe's musical surrounded by some very well known musicals as well! I was proud for Daniel!
Jo and I were forturnate enough to have come on the day where the cast crew invited their guests to come out and enjoy a complimentary coffee from the coffee van!!!
So as fan girls, after we enjoyed our coffee, we also had our moments taking pictures by Daniel Radcliffe's poster plastered on the theatre doors.
So after we did fan-girling at the theatre, we decided to head over to FAO Schwartz!!!! Seeing as my friend Jo had never been to the city before, we headed straight up to the Harry Potter section!
Of course, we had our fun with the Harry Potter hats there! I wore the sorting hat and the Quidditch hat!!! Jo wore McGonagall's hat!
Then after we ate dinner at Bubba Gump's, we went back to the hotel (Double Tree in Time Square) and got dressed. Johanna and I decided to grab our gloves and headed to the theatre!!!! They had amazing barricades with Daniel's picture on the cover!
Also, here is the lovely stage door where all the magic happens (excuse the pun)!
Here is Daniel's 'How to Succeed' sign shining bright on a lovely night out on Broadway!
When Johanna and I first arrived at the theatre, we were the only ones there.... so I just took a random picture of the mirror ceiling that we were standing under.... random, I know!
Of course, I had to have my crazed fan girl moment, and pretended to kiss Daniel's poster.... I'm 21... blame the hormones and excitement!!!
Since we were so early, we arrived before the barricades had even been set up! We got there around 7:45 pm. So we got talking to two other girls who arrived to the theatre about 20 minutes after us!!!! (Cierra & Ashley)
Then, it was time to take our positions behind the barricades! We ended up standing there, in one position, for like 2 hours.... That gets rough.... and COLD in 20-something degree, WINDY weather!
Finally around 11, Christopher J. Hanke came out!!!! Such a lovely and funny guy, compared to the dork he plays in the musical!
Then Rob Bartlett came out! He was so friendly! He even suggested I pose with him for a picture to prove that I was really there!!!
Then finally..... like 30 minutes later, at 11:45, DANIEL RADCLIFFE finally made his presence!!!!
I had watched a youtube stage door video, and noticed that some fans had asked him to smile and he did.... so I tried it... and HE DID!!!!
My friend got a shot of him while he was signing my poster and I snapped a pic of him signing mine as well!
Then my friend shot this lovely picture of him as well!!! When he was signing her poster!
Then he crossed to the other side of the barricades!!!
I was lucky enough to have Dan personalize my poster for me! I will save that story for the next post... but here is my signed poster of Daniel, Christopher, and Rob!
Of course, after Daniel had left the premises... and boy do I mean, they shoot off like a rocket once he's in that vehicle... Me, Jo, Cierra, and Ashely got a picture taken with ALL of our signed posters! We were so freaking excited!!!! We'd only waited out in that bitter cold for 4 hours long!!! (7:45-11:45)
Then of course.... there was the next night, where the second round of magic happened!!! Saturday night at the theatre to see 'How To Succeed In Business'! Jo and I decided to dress properly... elegantly!
Then we were off to the theatre! We ended up being one of the first few people there and the first in the door! We were all excited!
Then there was the new picture of Daniel during a rehearsal that I had never seen before.... so I tweeted about how sexy he looked in it!
The musical was absolutely amazing... beautifully choreographed.... full of humor... and just a very exciting show to watch! Seeing as how we saw it 3/26 at 8pm... it was the very last show before it officially opened the next day, so the cast let loose and had fun with storyline that night!
Three mistakes happened but that occurs! And I got a giggle from the one! Two mistakes that happened were, a piece of paper fell off of the one desk onto the ground. Then an envelope fell off the mail desk... the one dancer on stage had to be careful not to slip on it. The third mistake that had me giggling was, once again, during the mail room scene. The dancers were throwing boxes to Daniel and Rob's characters.... well the one dancer threw the box off its target and Rob was unable to catch. I saw a smile escape Dan's lips... but he and Rob continued on as if nothing had happened!!!
I will say, Dan does struggle through his solo song "I Believe In You".... Not tone wise.... it's just he has trouble enunciating the "i" with an American accent... so he starts off with the British accent and quickly changes it to American... and you can always distinctly hear him correct himself... but overall, he does a pretty darn good job with that song!
The big number in the first half "Grand Old Ivy" is bloody brilliant and fantastic! I was on the edge of my seat the ENTIRE time just wildly anticipating what was going to happen next!! Daniel and John do such a superb job! I absolutely adored and laughed at their "Chipmunk" dance moves!!!! I was cracking up during that number!!!!!! Seeing Dan "leap frog" over John... who's basically hunched down at Dan's height.... I was stunned. I was thinking, please don't stumble (on Dan's behalf) and he doesn't... he lands solidly!!!! I was astonished at Dan's jumping ability!!!!
The spectacular final number of the musical occurs as the last scene of the musical called "Brotherhood of Man"! Dan just makes you smile and feel proud of yourself. His dance moves are absolutely stunning! You literally, are glued to your seat, as you watch in awe and amazement at Dan's dancing ability. For someone only being 21, with a few years of dance lessons under his belt, he looks like a natural born dancer!
Now, if you'll recall, I said they definitely had a looser last preview performance that night.... well, Chris ( who plays Bud Frump) jokes with Dan's character (Finch) and he said an impromptu line that night to him (at least that's how it seems) and caused Dan to slip out of character for a second and he giggled before pulling himself together. Dan was able to think of a clever response and it got the audience howling with laughter! The line was during the conference and decision on who should play the showgirl in the commercial!!!
Frump: Maybe we should ask Queen Elizabeth?
Finch: No, this is an American program!!!
***Seeing how this is an American musical based on an American corporation and story, Chris made a joke with the lead actor (Dan) because of his British heritage.... the irony was perfect and completely appropriate! That got a laugh from the audience that lasted a minute!!! And seeing how Dan was able to use his cleverness so quickly, that just shows the high level of professionalism that he possesses.***
For Daniel Radcliffe, I give him a 9/10 star rating!!!!
For this being his first ever Broadway musical, he is quite stunning and very talented! Everyone's first time around is not going to be perfect, and every actor has some issue they have to work on to become better! I think Dan has finally found his singing voice... just needs to work on stronger projection of his voice. But his voice is amazing... and with more practice, it will be even better!!!!
For Dan's dancing ability, man does that boy have talent!!!! Who would have ever known that he could dance!? Dancing is Dan's strongest point in this show! I can't wait till his next musical, and he's even a more superb dancer than he is now!!!!!
***LOOK TONIGHT or TOMORROW for my personal story on Daniel at STAGE door!!!!!***
