They say the neon lights are bright, that there is magic in the air. After the Broadway Cares event the International Thespian Officers attended last weekend, I can attest we experienced nothing short of the magic of New York City.
After arriving in Penn’s Station early on Friday morning, I met up with the rest of my ITOs, as well as Diane Carr and Scott Wilson, for lunch. We explored the fantastic city of New York, which two of the ITO gals had never been to before. Walking around Times Square and ducking in and out of stores had us ready for a fantastic evening, where we saw an incredible performance of Something Rotten! We thought our evening couldn’t have gotten better—that is, until Ms. Carr and Scott Wilson took the girls and I backstage to meet the cast members of Something Rotten! and tour the dressing rooms, the wig rooms, and the stage! It was a night to remember, and for several hours afterwards we were in a stunned silence, unable to process how lucky and excited we were.
Our alarm clocks went off early Saturday morning as we assembled for a delicious breakfast with Jason Daunter, who told us his incredible journey to becoming a working Broadway professional. I will carry his stories and words of wisdom long after this trip, and I am so grateful to have had the chance to speak with him. The rest of the morning and afternoon was consumed with meetings in the Broadway Cares office. I had the pleasure of meeting Joe Norton and much of the staff, who prepared us for the flea market the next day and gave us all the information we needed to be experts on BC/EFA. After returning to our hotel and grabbing something to eat, the ITOs, along with Scott Wilson and Diane Carr, saw A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, and met the stellar cast afterwards (all thanks to Jason Daunter, who secured us tickets to the amazing show.) The performance was unforgettable, and we returned to our hotel exhausted and ready for the big day ahead of us.
Sunday morning = flea market time! Starbucks coffees and table cloth decorations accomplished, the ITOs, along with the help of the amazing New York STOs and their STO Coordinator, Mark Drum, got the EdTA table ready for action at The 29th Annual Broadway Cares Flea Market. The day was filled with fun adventures, including surprise interviews, Broadway stars, and lots of crazy item-selling. We shouted ourselves hoarse and even got to meet up with several former ITO who now lived in New York City! As the last few playbills were snatched up and the flea market came to a close, we tallied the bills and announced that EdTA raising almost $2,500! To celebrate our success, Scott Wilson, Mark Drum, and the ITOs walked around Central Park and saw the incredible “Top of the Rock” view, where a very long but memorable photoshoot took place.
The trip ended early Monday morning with everyone going their separate ways, holding on to the promise of being reunited in February and the memory of an incredible Broadway Cares weekend. I couldn’t have asked for a better team, and I’ll be counting down the days until I see them all again!
(While I am having technical difficulties in uploading pictures with this blog post, feel free to explore the International Thespian Officers social media platforms for images of our trip in NYC! Facebook: TheInternationalThespianOfficers; Twitter: ITOViceChair; Instagram: internationalthespianofficers; Snapchat: ITOOfficial)