AJ Akinribade ’15 – 7:30am. Up and at them! My first full day in NYC started off with the normal shower and brushing of teeth. Next was breakfast with beautiful female strangers from halfway across the world (France it seemed) and hostel staff who appeared inaudible; now I know I’m in New York.
9:30am. We walked to the New Ohio Theatre in the West Village. Today consisted of a lot of walking. We also rode the metro to the theatre and I am yet to fail at the card swipe, #Winning, unlike some of my fellow NYC visitors.
At the New Ohio, an uniquely shaped red building that you cannot miss, we did an acting and movement workshop with one of Dr. Cherry’s established New York connections, Mr. Marc Weiss, Viewpoints extraordinaire. During the workshop we sat, we stood, we fell, we jumped, we ran, we stopped, we fidgeted…we exhausted ourselves. But it was awesome! The experience was really worthwhile because we got to fully engage ourselves in an acting concept that made us think outside of ourselves and grow to appreciate the nonverbal relationships we build with our fellow stage members. Through the Viewpoint exercise, Mr. Weiss challenged us to feel the stimulus of our group, which would inspire us to respond. It wasn’t easy and even after the crash course in it we learned that Wabash doesn’t really teach us how to follow directions well, but in the end, and I’m sure I can speak for the class in saying that we are extremely grateful for the opportunity to learn and grow as actors.
2:00pm. The 9/11 memorial was an honor to see! Before landing in New York, I was unaware of the waterfall memorial—it’s simply gorgeous! First of all, the square -fall is enormous. Second, the power behind the waterfall representing the fallen, whose names are engraved along the stone ledges for all to read, is truly commendable.
Also the fact of how impressive the new towers look after more than ten years into the process exemplifies the resiliency of the American spirit. We may get knocked down six, but we’ll get up seven. I also love the way the towers in construction are right there, in your face.
We’ll skip the part where I got lost from the group.
4:30pm. Sooo the view from the Brooklyn Bridge was phenomenal. The walk seems as if it’ll take a day and a half. Every step is worth it! And sure it’s a tourist attraction so you’ll see all sorts of people alongside you, but the true richness and diversity in culture that I soaked up walking along the bridge, captures why New York City can be rightly claimed—capital of the World.
8:30pm. And then the thing happened! The Wild Bride at the St. Ann’s Warehouse theatre in DUMBO, Brooklyn was beyond words. And this is coming from a football guy who felt spooked by the play when I read the preview and saw the set. The performance completely flipped the script on me! Yeah!
The bluegrass folktale told the story of a poor old country bumping feller who gets duped by the devil into selling his daughter for a fancy hat. Without giving too much away, the story continues with the little girl breaking the deal with the devil and finding her true love. The play was filled with mucho creativity and talent. All the actors acted, sang, danced, and played in the band effortlessly. The performance was inspiring! Our night ended perfectly with junior Josh Lutton spitting mad game to one of the actresses, who beautifully played the young version of the wild bride, and got her and the rest of the cast to snap a photo with us.
It’s only day two. How can New York get any better?!
