Music

M. E. LaZerte in New York!!

Over spring break, nine LaZerte students went on a fantastic trip to New York City!!

After arriving in New York, we went straight to the Empire State Building…what an incredible view of the city!

The second day was quite amazing. First we went and watched part of the Early Show for CBS Studios. Some of our group were seen in the audience for live TV! Next we went to a drama workshop with a professional actor. It was a lot of fun, and we later discovered that this actor (Tim Booth) was in the cast for “Mama Mia” which we saw the next night! After the drama workshop we had a stroll through the famous Central Park. It was a great place to relax within the busy city environment. Here in Central Park we also saw the memorial to John Lennon in Strawberry Fields. Next, the students were treated to a “meet the artist” program at Julliard School of Performing Arts. The performance was great and the students asked some great questions. We then had a tour of the school and saw some of the performing halls, including the concert hall where the New York Philharmonic Orchestra performs. It was a spectacular tour! After supper, the students saw the first amazing Broadway show…Mary Poppins! The production was spectacular and the students had the songs stuck in their heads for a long time afterwards.

On day three we started with a bus tour of Manhattan…China Town, Little, Italy, Central Park, Greenwich Village, Soho, and then into Harlem. So many sights, so many points of interest…so much souvenir shopping! Next we went to the famous Grand Central Station…the building itself was incredible, and the amount of trains and people that pass through there everyday is mind boggling. Next we had a tour of Radio City Music Hall…another famous landmark theatre…and we met one of the Rockettes! Our supper that night was literally out of this world! It was a restaurant set on the planet Mars…complete with lots of Martian characters! After supper was the second Broadway show, Mama Mia. The choreography and singing was unbelievable!

Day four began with a boat trip to the most famous New York site…the statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. After seeing this statue in many movies, it was really neat to see it in person. After the boat ride and seeing some of Battery Park, we next visited the Museum of Modern Art. There were some incredible displays, including a fantastic display from Tim Burton! His drawings were as interesting as some of his movies (Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, and many more). The Andy Warhol art was also really cool to see. After supper we had some excellent free time in Times Square for shopping! The highlight stores were the Toys r Us store with the giant life-size Barbie house, the M&M store, the Hershey Chocolate store, and many others. It was awesome to take in the vibe here in the heart of Manhattan!

We started day five at another famous location…the Metropolitan Museum of Art! This was a huge building with all kinds of interesting displays. From there, it was a quick walk down the street to NBC studios! We had a great tour of various studios within, including the set of Saturday Night Live! Two of our students participated in a realistic news broadcast using the same equipment as the professionals…very amusing to see Kylee and Sean as TV newscasters! After NBC, the group had free time to see the VERY expensive stores along 5th Avenue…Tiffany and Co jewelry store was absolutely amazing to see! The night ended with our final Broadway show, Million Dollar Quartet. This was a highly entertaining story about the days at Sun Records with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins. The students loved this show!

On our final day, the group decided we wanted to spend it back at Times Square. The weather was nice, the atmosphere was electric, and we soaked in the excitement of the “Big Apple” one last time.

It was an amazing trip, and our students had the experience of a lifetime!