Apple in the Big Apple

My wife and I are in the greatest city on any Earth, New York City. To be honest, NYC has ruined all other vacation destinations for us, so we come back here time and again. I must confess that, in addition to being a confessed Apple bigot, I’m also a theatre junkie. NYC is well established as the place to go for musical theatre, but it’s now also a destination for those made for Apple, as well. I remembered reading posts buzzing about when they opened their store on 5th Avenue and had seen photographs, but I completely misunderstood what I saw. Here’s my attempt to capture the scene:

I didn’t appreciate the location of the store, although it makes sense now. The red canopy seen through the glass near the bottom is the entrance to FAO Schwartz. They’ve been doing construction there for at least two years to build the Apple store — I just never knew that’s what it was going to be. Pictures of the store certainly do not do it justice. It’s a massive glass cube sitting over an opening in the roof of the store below. A cylindrical elevator is surrounded by a helical staircase. While much larger than a typical Apple Store, the contents were more or less the same (the software selection was larger and there were dozens of most products on display, all surrounded by shoppers). On a Friday afternoon, there was a considerable crowd throughout the store. Overall, it was quite an experience.

I must admit, the show we saw this evening was a much greater experience. We were privileged to see Company, a Sondheim revival. I’ve seen many shows, but never has an audience been so utterly enthralled by a performance. There were many dramatic (and comedic) pauses in the show and during every one, not even a whisper was heard breaking the moment. I know there were many a husband dragged there against their will, but I saw quite a few people sitting forward on their seats, their gaze intent on the players. If you are unfamiliar with this show, the cast is also the orchestra, each actor playing instruments as well as singing (as was done in the recent revival of Sweeney Todd). The effect of this is as hard to imagine as it is to describe, but it worked well. Raúl Esparza sang the crap out of Being Alive, which was definitely a plus. If you have the opportunity, see it!