Broadway Rose visits Manhattan on theatre trip

Just gave a New York City Jim Dykes private tour for FIVE days for a group of 49 people from the Broadway Rose Theatre group from Portland, Oregon. Such nice people-- I've done their New York trip before and I'm so glad they called me again. The arrived Wednesday and checked into the Broadway Millenium Hotel on W. 44th St. Christina Gonzalez from the hotel sales dept. was very charming and checked us in right away. Shows they saw included: NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT starring Matthew Broderick & Kelli O'Hara, MEMPHIS, SISTER ACT as a group and many folks took in extra shows including PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, THE BEST MAN, SPIDERMAN, EVITA, THE LION KING, MARY POPPINS and more! Restaurants we went to included: Butter (fabulous food but they do NOT know how to serve large groups efficiently). Dinner took 3 hours plus. Also we dined at THALIA in the theatre district; our last night together we dined in the lovely garden at BARBETTA on W. 46th St. in Restaurant Row. The weather that night was "perfect" with low humidity, no rain, a light breeze...as I said "perfect." One night we took over La Mangeoire on the fashionable East Side...a lovely French cafe. The owner Gerard couldn't have been more accommodating and charming. He told us he met his wife years ago in France...he was running a small cafe in the country and she was a backpacking American tourist. It was love and she brought him back to New York where he opened his "country cafe" in midtown Manhattan! Also we took the Circle Line 2 hour cruise around Manhattan, met with one of the artists appearing in SISTER ACT on Broadway (Charles Brown) at the Chelsea Studios, toured the 9/11 Memorial and saw the new World Trade Center buildings going up and so much more. I was so sorry to say goodbye on Sunday! Many thanks to Dan, Sharon, Alan, Brenda, Grace and all!
www.JimDykes.com www.richandfamoustours.com http://www.broadwayrose.org/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Getting Treated Like CRAP at the RACHEL RAY Show

Image
I attended a taping of the Rachel Ray Show last week and let me tell you: this was a nightmare. Once we actually got into the studio and the cameras were rolling, things were O.K., but Oh My God…what an ordeal just to get your butt into one of those 124 turquoise plastic seats on the giant lazy susan platform that rotates the audience around to whatever set Rachel is taping on. Off camera (and on), the chunky, plucky Rachel seems nice enough (she's Miss Personality on camera), but her staff and the treatment of her studio audience was the worst I have ever experienced. I’ve been to most of the shows that record in NYC and LA (Regis, Ellen, Letterman, Martha, Rosie O’Donnell’s old show, etc.) and I’ve never been searched so thoroughly, treated so rudely or made to wait for so long. We arrived at 9:30am (our ticket said “ticket holders check-in at 10:15 am) and we waited ON THE STREET (like we were waiting for tickets to a Springsteen concert) for TWO HOURS before they let us int...
Read more

Robert Wagner made me lose my breakfast on LIVE With Regis and Kelly

Image
Robert Wagner made me lose my breakfast on LIVE With Regis and Kelly Robert Wagner , an aging pretty-boy with limited acting skills who became famous for starring in (mostly) B movies and “romances” with beautiful A-list film stars, has written a memoir: Pieces of My Heart -- so he must need money. I’ve always heard stars only write books when they need money. (Above is a pic of me in my tux taken the night after this event. As you can see, I'm another "pretty boy"...I'm 27 years older now). On Regis & Kelly this morning he is obviously trying to sell books so he attempted to come off as just “one of the boys.” I met Mr. Wagner when I was working backstage for producer Alexander Cohen in the Green Room at Radio City Music Hall for Night of 100 Stars II in 1985. Originally from Michigan, one suspects he portrays his climb to stardom as much of a “Little Me” version of things. He said he moved to LA (Bel Air!) as a teenager and got a job as a caddy at a golf cou...
Read more

Jim Dykes, NYC Celebrity Tourguide writes about Opera Superstar MARIA CALLAS- Diva Supreme-- raised in Manhattan's Washington Heights Neighborhood!

Image
La Divina. Prima Donna Extraordinaire, The Golden Voice of the Century. These descriptive terms were all used in reference to the legendary opera star Maria Callas, who spent ten of her formative years growing up as a bright, chubby child in Washington Heights in Upper Manhattan. In fact, her initial musical training and first public performances took place in this Northern Manhattan neighborhood. When Callas died at age 53 on Sept. 16, 1977, the world lost one of the greatest singers in history. She had also slimmed down and become not only an opera star, but a fashion star. Without any question, Callas was a celebrity. Even for those who were not opera devotees, she provided front page reading and was a source of gossip due to cancellations in major opera houses, a much-publicized divorce from Italian industrialist Battista Meneghina after she met the infamous Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, and a humiliating rejection when Onassis tossed her aside to marry another cele...
Read more