ABT Day Ten and MELISSA!

Last night we had SO much fun going to Lincoln Center to see Swan Lake. We hurried to leave the apartment to get the subway, and in that we had to take one subway and transfer at Times Square to another subway, we allowed plenty of time. We arrived at Lincoln Center early and spent the time having iced coffees in a nearby Barnes and Noble which was huge--actually it was four stories high.

Amanda received her ticket at ABT before she left for the day and her seat was way, way up in the Family Circle of the Metropolitan Opera House--literally it was on the fifth level (it is a huge theatre) and she was the second to the last row. I of course felt badly as I sauntered down to my seventh row orchestra seat. I offered to trade with her before the show, I texted her again before the show started, and I texted her at intermission, but she said she would stay where she was.

The show was so incredible! First of all Paloma Herrera and Ethan Steifel were just amazing and performed beautifully--I found myself not wanting the show to end! Amanda enjoyed it as well, but she was eye level with a chandelier and said she could only see the very top of the backdrop. Afterwards she asked me if I could see the expression on their faces and I said yes. Oh dear, by this point my mom guilt was really kicking in, even though I had offered to trade several times.

So this morning, I tried to determine what ballets are left while we are here in order for Amanda to really have the opportunity to see the feet of the dancers, the costumes, and backdrop up close. It seemed that the best vantage point might be for Sylvia, a ballet by Leo Delibes, which we are seeing on Monday night. Apparently Tchiakovsky liked the music so much for this ballet, that he said if he had known about it at the time, he wouldn't have composed Swan Lake. We are in the third row orchestra right in the center, so I think we should have a wonderful view. The principal female dancer is Gillian Murphy. We are excited about seeing this show! Being in the Metropolitan Opera House was an experience in itself and we are looking forward to returning! Above you can see a picture of Amanda sitting outside in an area adjacent to Lincoln Center!

We hurriedly took the subway home (the show didn't get out until 10 pm). What Amanda didn't know as we were returning from the ballet was that Melissa had taken Friday off work and was coming up on the train to surprise her for her 16th birthday weekend. She was waiting on the street outside our apartment when we returned home--Amanda was very surprised and we are thrilled to have her visit for a three day weekend and excited that Bruce will be here on Saturday and Sunday! So, all in all it was a very nice day. I took a picture of the chandelier at the Metropolitan Opera House which I posted here. It is really quite magnificient.

More in a future blog about what Melissa and I did today--but just let me say that cupcakes from the famous NYC bakery Magnolia were involved and we also had other fun experiences!

Thanks for checking the blog--we love your comments!

We hope you have a great weekend,

Beth, Amanda, & Melissa