Get cheaper Broadway tickets in that wonderful town

                                            me, my daughter, my granddaughter on Broadway


   In New York City new seasons are beginning--plays, musicals, operas, dance--and all the opportunities that make it such an exciting, vibrant city.  Broadway musicals are my favorite and the favorite of my daughter and granddaughter.  We experienced one wonderful weekend of going to musicals together a year or so ago, and we've all been back since independently of each other to see more.  
    My husband and I are planning our 25th wedding anniversary celebration in New York in the spring.  We already have our tickets to see the musical, "The Book of Morman." They were sold out up to April 5, 2012, when we got them . They were outrageously expensive by our provencial standards, but the play is so popular there is no choice except to pay full price.  We hope to see at least one other play, and we'll try for cheaper tickets to see "Anything Goes" and "War Horse."  
    Student RUSH tickets started the buying cheap tickets trend with the play "Rent."  Discount student tickets were offered to those who were at the box office first on the day of a performance of "Rent."  Students were spending the night on the sidewalk to be first.  To keep people from sleeping on the streets, "Rent" and some other plays instituted a lottery system, which now most plays use for anyone.  
     My daughter, granddaughter and I used the lottery to get tickets to "In the Heights" (which, by the way, is the best musical I've seen on Broadway). This meant we arrived at the theater at 2pm, put our names on pieces of paper in a hat, and waited.
About 2:30, someone drew, one-at-a-time, 25 names from the hat.  These lucky people could buy tickets for $30 each, cash only.  This theater allowed those of us whose names were not drawn to buy a ticket for a bit more.  Our seats were up close and we loved that.  
    At the play "Rock of Ages," we used the same method to get tickets and were so close I could see the fillings in the teeth of the singers and when one of the characters had to fall on the stage, his head leaning off the stage, his very long hair fell in my face. My daughter and I giggled hysterically. Nevertheless,  I prefer being up close at a play to being far back behind someone's tall head.
     To get more details about using the lottery system check the website Anyone Rush Tickets.
There is a one time $4 charge to gain information from this site. Another online option is Discount Broadway Tickets.   Actually, if you do an online word search for "cheap Broadway tickets," many, many sites come up.  For more information about SRO (Standing Room Only) and TKTS booths in Times Square see the NY University Ticket Central site.  In other words,
you don't have to pay full price for many shows unless you just want to be sure you have a ticket to a play you're just dying to see.  By the way, most people dress casually for a play, or maybe dressy casual.  I think in the old days there was more dressing up.  
    I love to view the videos from live-cast Broadway productions at Broadway.com .   You can buy tickets at this site, but not discounted ones.  You can also see videos from Metropolitan opera performances online.  But that is a subject for another blog, another day.  The last time we were in NYC, my husband and I attended a Met opera at Lincoln Center.  Our seats were lousy (we got what we could afford), but it was fabulous to be at Lincoln Center and see the drama and excitement of an opera.  People dress more for the opera than a Broadway play, at 
least that was our observation.  
        For more first hand information about plays see Broadway and Me

                                                      Clowning around outside "La Cage aux Folles"

                                           Waiting for the theater to open the doors.

Downtown will be jumpin' during Jacksonville's Jazz Festival

       If you're a fan of jazz, downtown Jacksonville is the place to be this Memorial Day weekend.  Starting Thursday, May 26 with the Jazz Piano Competition and continuing until  Sunday, May 29 with a Jazz Jamboree through the downtown streets, the Festival has a list of impressive headliners.  Most events are free and open to the public.
      Five main venues all open at the same time will have downtown jumpin.'   The Florida Theatre, Hemming Plaza, Snyder Memorial Church, Monroe Street between Main and Ocean. and the Jacksonville Landing Courtyard are close enough together for walking and far enough apart to give some elbow room.
     Headliners such as Natalie Cole, Global Noize, Joey Calderazzo, Ray Callender, Eddie Palmieri, Mavis Staples, George Duke, Marcus Miller and many other jazz artists, local and national will provide plenty of variety.   To see a full list of performers, times, dates, and other information go to the Jazz Fest website.  The Jacksonville Office of Special Events at 904-630-3690 also provides festival information.  Several free local magazines and papers have a schedule and information, most notably, Arbus, which can be found in stores and racks all around Jacksonville.  The Florida Times Union will provide information as the festival gets underway.
     As part of the festivities, a Wine Down Brew Town Tasting Experience will be on Laura Street between Monroe and Duval from Friday to Sunday.  Tickets are $25.  There will be an Art in the Heart Downtown juried art show and sale at Laura and Adams Street.  This event is free.  Both Friday and Saturday nights the 'Round Midnight Jazz Jam from 10pm to 2am at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront gives you night owls another listening opportunity.  Go early this event is quite popular.
     Don't forget to buy a Jacksonville Jazz Festival poster for $40 for a signed and numbered poster and $25, unsigned.  You can purchase a poster at the Jacksonville Office of Special Events and at various  retail stores.    I know people who have a large collection of posters from many years of festivals.  Some of them are now quite rare and quite expensive.
     So, see you at the Festival!!
  
  

Jazzy night at Harmonious Monks

                                 The TBA Jazz Band

      My intrepid 80-something mother-in-law picked us up Monday night for another evening of jazz.  She knows when and where it's played and she is almost always there.  One of her spots is Harmonious Monks at 10550 Old St. Augustine Road.  Every other Monday night, a 19 piece jazz band plays loud and well there. The group calls itself TBA (to be arranged) band. The membership of professors, teachers, and students fluctuates a little each performance.  They are young and old, all male and, all very experienced musicians.
       On the Monday we were there, the musicians sat in three rows:  a row of 5 saxophones, a row of 3 trombones, and a row of 4 trumpets.  The drummer sat on a platform at the top, the bass player was up there near him and the keyboard was to their left.  If you add this, you see some of the 19 were not present that night.
        My mother-in-law pointed out that they all had sheet music and played by note, even the drummer.  So this is not improvisational jazz.  They played as a group, as soloist, and as small groups and the drum and bass kept up all the way.  The music was very danceable and one brave couple did get up and dance in front of a row of tables, but basically, there was not room for more than one couple.
        The musicians enjoyed themselves and the audience did too.  The group plays for tips and the bucket was passed several times.
         We had dinner there as did most of the patrons.  We thought our waiter looked like a monk in casual clothes.  He was short, a little round, balding and very cheerful and happy.  Harmonious Monks, so the legend goes (I take it with a grain of sea salt), is based on Brother Dennis, who in 1662 was expelled from an abbey in Westminster England.  He liked to celebrate life and loved great food and strong drink.  He was expelled from his abbey for having a little too much fun.
         Later, he travelled to Canterbury, built an abbey with an inn attached to it.  He enjoyed serving locals and travelers food and drink.  At the end of the evening, the monks sang for the crowd.  Their songs were beautiful and they became known as the harmonious monks.  During the Blitzkrieg of WWII, the abbey was demolished by German bombs.  There were no survivors;  only a few journals and recipes remained.
         At the Old St. Augustine Road restaurant, a huge sign hangs on the wall behind the drummer with Brother Dennis's reminder, "Celebrate Life."  Life and music are celebrated at the restaurant.  Some kind of music is happening all the time.  A Dixieland band plays on the Monday nights there is no jazz.  The waitstaff sings, there's karoke, and musical performances.

                                Play that funky saxophone

      
       

Jazz Times Two

,        My mother-in-law, who is a jazz afficionado, tells me that jazz used to be a main musical genre here in Jacksonville.  During the 1950's, every day of the week, the downtown hotels had live jazz groups playing at happy hour, and they were well attended.  Somewhere in there, rock and roll, disco and other musical forms replaced jazz.  The hotels were torn down to make way for the typical Florida style motels.  But suddenly, jazz seems to be making a come back.  Maybe it is not so sudden.  Jazz has always had its fans.
        Almost every weekend there is jazz somewhere in Jacksonville.  In the past two weeks, I attended two excellent but different performances.  The first one was at the Brasserie, a beaches restaurant and bar.  Pierre and Company was actually Pierre and one singer.  Pierre played the saxophone and Akia, his partner sang.  They were what I call "soft jazz," singing and playing such old standards as "Unforgettable," "Summertime," and "Georgia."  Their style was agreeable for the casual, low-key venue where they performed.
They did use recorded music as background.  I would have preferred just their music without the background.

                                             Akia and Pierre at the Brasserie

     The second group was completely opposite in style from Pierre and Company.  SFJAZZ Collective performed at the University of North Florida Fine Arts Center, March 20. They are a group of eight men all playing different instruments:  trumpet, trombone, piano, alto saxophone, tenor sax, drums, bass, and vibraphone.  Sunday night, the group played a tribute to Stevie Wonder.  Different members arranged jazz composition based on Stevie Wonder's songs:  "Blame it on the Sun," "Sir Duke," "Do I Do," and others.  In addition, each artist had written original jazz compostions, and the group played some of them.
      They played for two hours without an intermission and the packed house was enthusiastic and responsive throughout the afternoon.  SFJAZZ is comprised of composers, bandleaders, and teachers.
Individually, they travel the world and they are from many places in the world:  Venezuela, Puerto Rico, New Zealand, Israel, Houston, New York and Berkeley.  The music is as diverse as the group.  It was a great show!

                                    Bad photo taken from mid-theater with an iphone